Are you putting all your stuff in storage? If we go this route, we'll get a POD, we think.

So...this was actually the plan for this summer before we knew we were moving. All of our family is in the west. The catch is, if we don't have our place here, then my husband has to find a place to live when he isn't traveling for work, plus pay for storage for our stuff. Hmm. I'm also not sure I want to leave him for that long. I've romanticized that scenario before and after a month with my mom, I was ready to burst!

OK, with camping... Besides KOAs, what are other groups to look at? Also, I've done camping with just my girls and the dog by myself, but only once. It was totally fine. But, my husband will be gone quite a bit. Would you still camp?? Do any of you camp alone as a mom with kids? I'm not sure what kinds of safety features to look for.

Super expensive through Cruise America, unless there is some way to get a deal that I am missing.

I keep looking at this option, but campers are dang expensive! I'm not sure how to do this on the cheap. Plus, we'd have two cars, neither of which could pull a camper. One car is the perfect camping car though and we are good tent campers. Although, I really can't see us doing that for more than a week at a time.

DITTO. Anna Comstock has been staring at me for three years. Her cover isn't even creased. And Drawing with Children lasted two weeks.

Thank you!!! Her problem looks a lot like apraxia but comes from global dyspraxia (different part of the brain I guess??). Anyhow, this is how I left feeling. We've seen a lot of rude doctors, but I've never had one actually get irritated with dd herself.

We may need to find a place for 3-4 months after our lease is over, before making a bigger, permanent move. We're trying to figure out the best way to do this without breaking the bank. Hubby travels 50% of the time for work and we can live anywhere from VA to ME. We have a dog and twin 10 year olds. Ideas we've bounced around: -Move into a month to month rental with all our stuff (least desirable, but probably most likely) -Put everything in storage and rent a furnished place for three months (blah, not appealing) -Put everything in storage and take some sort of adventure??? Camping?? ***Whenever I try to make traveling work, it always seems SO expensive!!! Any advice on any of the above? Any other ideas? We are up for something different, knowing it would be short term. It's the cost that has us worried.

Yes, absolutely. This whole thing caught us a little off guard because she's never had any problems at the optometrist's office. In fact, after lots of vision therapy, she's very comfortable there. The whole "timed" nature of this appointment is what threw her (and me) for a loop. It will definitely be a conversation we have before EVERY appointment now. I won't assume...

Thank you. DD has had so many delays and I've felt like a broken record, constantly explaining all her "weaknesses" right in front of her to every doctor and therapist I see. Most of them comment on how they wouldn't have even known, she did so well, etc. Now that she is older, I struggle with just seeing how things go, letting her start to advocate for herself, or continuing to preface introductions with "by the way, she has x, y, and z, and can't do a, b, and c..." I think this appointment helped me to formulate a script though.

We LOVED the Yoga Kids DVDs by Gaiam.

We went to stupid America's Best the other day because I just wanted to check my twins' prescriptions and order new glasses, if needed. It was just easier than trying to get into their regular optometrist and America's Best was giving free eye exams anyway. Well, I got what I paid for. Poor dd10 has a *severe* speech delay and dyspraxia- it's hard for her to talk and she struggles with motor planning. We've never had any issues at the eye doctor though and she's been wearing glasses for 5 years. The older female optometrist (who made sure I knew she used to be a teacher) spoke SO quickly, I could hardly understand her. She got frustrated with dd because she couldn't answer fast enough. Apparently this lady was all about getting people to say whether or not the image was fuzzy as FAST as possible, to be more accurate?? I've never had this experience. DD was trying as hard as she could and the optometrist kept telling her she wasn't fast enough. At one point she told dd she wasn't going to give her a prescription if she couldn't answer fast enough. The doctor was visibly irritated and really rude. It all happened within 5 minutes, and I could tell dd was ok and really just trying to do what was asked of her. After the appointment, dd said she was fine and didn't care. But now I'm MAD. I'm mad at the doctor for treating a child that way and I'm mad that I didn't immediately stop the doctor and correct her. Oh, and the best part? At the end of the appointment, the doctor asks if I've had her hearing checked (right in front of dd). I calmly replied that she struggles with her speech and left it at that. I just wanted to get out of there! Lesson learned. I'll be prepared next time. I'm always just so shocked when people behave this way, I question whether I am reading them correctly. It isn't until after the situation is over that I realize what complete morons they are. Should I leave it alone or write a letter to the facility, complaining about our treatment and reminding them not all disabilities are visible?

Whaaaat? That is ridiculous. We go through more than that in one meal.

Oh, and the fish???? NO. Because I don't believe eating low grade farmed fish twice a week is healthier than eating fresh fish one every week or every other week. There's no way to afford good quality, non-farmed fish twice a week on that budget while still eating meat other nights. If someone has a secret fish supplier, let me know!!!

That's $140 a week for our family of four. Yes and no. I did it in Utah, but that was shopping at Winco with a $100/week budget. We've always eaten a lot of fruits and veggies and fairly healthy. I would really struggle here in VA. I spend about $150 a week at Whole Foods plus we eat out once or twice a week. We aren't super tight with our budget anymore though. There is a LOT I don't buy though. Virtually no snacks (we eat fruits and veggies or air popped popcorn), no drinks (except beer), and not a lot of prepackaged food. Edited to add that I have girls. I'm sure I couldn't do it if I had teenage boys!

I think it's totally inappropriate, especially given recent events. I'd be making a stink! Flame away.

So, the $1,000 equipment kit isn't necessary? ;)

I'm leaning toward this for 6th, 7th, and 8th. What do I buy? What extra equipment did you end up needing for Earth Science? To those of you who have used one year of it, are you continuing? Did it work for you?

This thread is making me nauseous!

Well, 5th grade is half way over and we've done a smattering of science- reading, documentaries, some projects, and a few outsourced classes. But, we've been studying what they want to learn about. We haven't stayed in one area. So now what? I want to get back to WTM science, or at least one field per year. I'm thinking we stick with earth science, life science, and physical science---in that order??? Do we wait for chemistry until high school? What would you do?

So far... History: SOTW 4, lots of reading Science: not sure??? Math: CLE 600s into 700s Grammar: Finish FLL 4, then maybe Hake? Writing: Continue with WWS Spelling: AAS for 1, Megawords for other Latin: Lively Latin 2 Logic: Finish Building Thinking Skills and something else

FWIW, I think SWB's goals are the same as yours for pre-high school students, especially after rereading this section last night. I do think it helps moms like me, who are not science oriented. We need the read, do a project, write about it approach described in the logic stage. Would you mind sharing what you are using for high school?

This is where I feel I am. You have a good attitude about it. I need to channel that...

Interesting. I like the idea of a private school blog. We may be moving to a state that requires a portfolio, so that would be an easy way to do it.

If you have a public blog about your kids (homeschool or family related), do you ever worry about what your kids will think of it in ten years? Will it bother them that so much of their life is "out there?" Do you think things are changing so quickly that it will just be normal for their generation to have photos and blogs? I like my website because it's a fun record, it is nice for family and friends to see what we are doing, and it's been helpful to other families who are just starting to homeschool (that have told me so). But sometimes I want to delete it all and hide. :) sometimes I feel so exposed and I worry that it is too much. Do you ever feel this way? Why or why not? How do you protect yourself and your kids?