I guess the setting it where the difference is with licensing? I remember when my FIL had his stroke the CNAs changed sheets and reassembled his leg circulation pads, but they were not allowed to turn on the switch. They would finish and whenever the nurse had time she would come in and push the button which turned on the air for compression. I started just turning it on myself since it was so silly.

Actually I am surprised it could be a problem. When my Dad was in hospice there were lots of things we learned to do that I could not have imagined and I would think that a CNA with some medical experience is preferable to just anyone. I also think the pay scale depends on where you live. We paid $12 an hour for in home care.

We basically do the same. We give our kids an allowance based on their age just for being part of the family and so they can budget extras. They do chores for the same reason. They are part of the family. They have short term savings. Long term savings. As well as spending money. If they want somethings extra we often agree to pay half. If they break a siblings property or have a fine they make it right with their money, and if that means doing without or delaying gratification, even better. We don't make them give to charity, but we decide as a family where our charitable dollars are spent.

When we began we had a school room. We never used it. We always wind up on the couch, the kitchen table, or in my bed. Crazy as it seems we get the most focused work done on my bed. I changed our school room into an office area and kept the bookshelves with our books and materials which I can't live without. We also have the cloth square bins with handles for our current books and we carry them around with us.

In public I always covered the diaper. At home or in the yard not a big deal. But I do hate to see a little one wearing a diaper sitting in dirt.

A recent thread about library fines and children got me thinking about how kids learn responsibility. Financial responsibility. But I didn't want to hijack that thread since it was a different situation. When your kids break something that doesn't belong to them, or have a fine because they were irresponsible, how do you use the experience? I thought, wrongly I guess, that most kids have allowance, chores for money, or savings from gifts that they save and use when they break something or have a fine. If your young child broke something or incurred a fine (without special circumstances) are they expected to pay it out of the money they saved or work it off with extra jobs? If not how do you handle these situations?

I have to quote your post so I can find it and print it later. Thanks for sharing!

Look at the series "on my own history" They are at that reading level and fictional stories from history. Sadly my library doesn't catalog them as a series but if you Google on my own history's the list will pop up. They are very comparable to the I can Read level 4.

The little's (They range in reading levels) Nate the Great (eases them into Encyclopedia Brown book which is a decent foundation for reading comprehension and critical thinking skills) Amelia Bedelia is quality at this age because the get the joke and is great at expanding vocabulary and language skills Ramona series (although these might be a bit higher in reading level. 2nd to 3rd grade) The Chalk box kid I feel your pain.......We hated magic tree house and barely tolerated A-Z books.

I love TT for my average mathy kiddo. He uses it a year ahead and I have had to supplement it some. When he was in TT3 he did math drills with Timez attack until he knew his facts cold. This year and next we are using the Key to workbooks to supplement. (I can't say enough great things about the Key to workbooks) and we also add word problems. But I supplement everything so I don't feel guilty for adding to TT. I also consider it about right since he does his TT lesson and then an extra 15 or 30 minutes of the supplement later. So math is on average an hour a day give or take and he gets excellent scores on our end of the year testing. He is happy and I am happy. If he was a math wiz, then it wouldn't be enough.

Word ladders or if he is older there is a free Ap that I love called 7 little words.

My husband was able to retire early and with full salary so we are lucky, but it meant some changes for all of us at home. While working he didn't keep bankers hours and with his commute he was too busy and tired to be a real presence at home with the day to day life. This is his second year home and I treated the first year as his time to decompress, develop hobbies, and see how things go and didn't ask any more than I had when he was working. Which was next to nothing because of his schedule. Now it is different. He doesn't teach our core subjects but he is great at science experiments and deep discussions involving history. Especially since we decided to teach history this year based on wars. He comes on some field trips, helps chauffeur, and has taken over quite a bit of the cooking. He is fabulous at honey dos and projects around the house and needed a nudge to let the kids learn beside him. After all we know it is faster sometimes without them but they are important skills. I felt pretty good when I realized that the kids were beginning to seek him out instead of automatically heading my way. But that is a rare situation. When he was working I would have been in the camp where he went to work to pay for our lifestyle and enjoyed the kids when he was home. His biggest contribution at that time was being around so I could have small bits of time for myself.

You could use it as his reader and then have him outline the corresponding sections of Kingfisher. I like using "below" level books with grade level materials. I think they are able to learn more when they have easy and harder things to delve into. Even for myself I like reading children's non fiction to narrow down a subject until I decide what I want to research.

Thanks I got one for us.

Baking soda and alcohol. Use a light colored cloth and it should come right out. B

I live outside this time of the year. I am on my porch with my coffee and Kindle right now. I love a shady hammock for reading and adore being on the water. When it gets to be 100 degrees and the humidity feels like you are breathing water, I am done.

They charge 5¢ per day up to I think $2 here. I believe it helps teach responsibility. If a child leaves a math book in the rain or forgets to bring it to school there are consequences. Same difference. Even a seven year old can learn to take care of books and return them especially since library day is usually the same day every week. But I am sure if the OP called the fine would be dropped.

Yep. You should have heard the people here screaming about snow days and what were they expected to do with their kids since they had to work. I feel for them, but at the same time if the back roads are icy the busses have no business on them.

They do here. They consider using the library a skill taught and want the kids to learn to choose appropriate books for their reading level. They also learn about the Dewey system and how to research topics in non fiction. The books chosen are usually one fiction at reading level which they are expected to read each night, and one non fiction of their choice. I don't think there is a permission slip process at the public school. All the students just do it.

I just noticed your signature line. Our homeschool name is "The Ruff Academy for Boys." Our last name is Ruff, so it was an easy pick. I will probably change it for high school transcripts, but in our hearts we will know.

I read an article yesterday about raising happy and healthy children and a couple of things came to mind while reading your post. The best way to raise happy children is to be happy ourselves. If our children see us following our passion and living life, they see it as a valuable goal. The other thing was to be or become an optimist and to teach our children how to find the positives in every situation. So for the positives. There is no better lesson in how important education is then seeing you getting more. Your kids can be partners in study time. What a wonderful adventure for all of you. Change means growth and life. How amazing.

Never done this before, but I think I got it. I am going to enjoy the gorgeous weather this morning with a cup of coffee and gratitude since it rained the last 3 days. Then; Vacuum the pool Wash, FOLD, and put away a couple loads of clothes Grocery shop

Yep. Take a flashlight and look for spots or shedding skins. We check every single place we stay. We had a friend get bed bugs and it cost thousands of dollars.

No. Most pesticides do not work. I know how to check hotel beds and I ALWAYS keep my suitcases in my very hot car with the Windows up so anything I might have missed is killed by the heat. If bedbugs invade your home then it results in replacing all furniture, bedding, and carpeting. A thousand times worse than lice.

Oh, and remind them not to play in the elevators, that older people on scooters will run them over if they aren't careful, and to stay out of the adult hot tubs since it makes people without kids REALLY cranky.