I just wanted to update that they are here now and at the school. I think this will be a one time experiment. I am finding that I am afraid to offend DH's colleagues by asking questions on how they teach my children and I think it will be strange for the son that will have him as the teacher next year. There is a very large Catholic homeschooling community here, I have discovered. Apparently, one of the families lives across the street! I will admit that it's nice to have time to get things unpacked and not worry about schooling. When I'm done, I will have a few months to start picking things out for them! thank you everyone that responded!

I loved barbies and would have loved princesses if they were a big deal when I was a kid. I am not a girly girl type either; mine were friends with my my little ponies and care bears and my sister and I had elaborate adventures. I also learned to sew because of my Barbies because I wanted her to be dressed better and made her a gown :lol:. We always got the cheaper Barbie's that only came in their Bikinis and they needed some clothes ASAP! I notice even now that you have to put up the $$$ if you want Barbie to come in full clothing. The cheaper ones that are still Barbie brand are still underdressed! My boys have used Barbies in their army to make it bigger though I bet they would have a cow if they knew I was mentioning that on the internet. I also love the 18" dolls too, whether they are princesses or American girl knock offs. (I'm not anti-American Girl, just lacking the $$ and not seeing the point if there are cheaper versions.) Honestly, I want to go out and buy the DIsney animator's collection of the princesses myself. They are adorable! Wow, this was a bit rambly, but you get the point. :001_smile:

:grouphug: You are in my thoughts.

the last school we were at used Everyday Math and we supplemented with both Singapore and Saxon (depending on the child.)

I hope the numbers are just a fluke and you have a well placed implantation. And this board has been awesome support for pregnancies even when everyone in your offline life is looking at you like you are crazy. When I discovered I was expecting while experiencing extreme financial hardship and home loss, this board was the only place someone said "congratulations and good luck" to me. Everyone else was not very nice, but they sure like the product 9 months later.

I have homeschooled for about 5 years now with various kids at a public school or at home. We believe that each child has different needs at different times and our reasons for homeschooling were to meet those needs. Over the last year and the beginning of this year, I had no homeschooling option due to extended unemployment and a necessity to live with family that disproves of homeschooling. I will be out on my own again at the end of October. Originally, I had planned to homeschool all four children again (6th, 5th, 3rd, 1st) and start some preschool with my 4 year old. My husband has started a new job as one of the 7th and 8th grade teachers at a small country public school. They are giving him the option of enrolling his own children to the school as a perk. Class size is less than 15 and most often averages 5-9 students (I know my 3rd grader would be student #10 in the class when she goes, my 5th grader would be the 11th student.) Are there any cons to having your own child in school with you if I choose this route for some of the kids? The only one I'm thinking of right now is accusations of favoritism, but Dh wouldn't have one as a student until next year. ___________ For more detail, here's the breakdown: My 5th grader is super excited to start homeschooling again, so his path is set. My other three though are not sure. I would have to find music lessons for him because he just started trumpet at school and loves it. My 6th grader is very uncertain because he is accelerated and schoolwork now is too easy for him. He loves the social aspect and band, but he feels he is not challenged in math and language arts. My 1st grader is incredibly social and really loves the school environment. She loved going to her own preK part of the homeschooling group we were part of that met twice a week. She loved Kindergarten. She likes first grade so far, but she's being influenced by some pretty nasty peer groups at school and has picked up some bad habits. However, being in a diverse classroom of 35 in the southwest side of Chicagoland is going to be much different than a small country school. My 3rd grader is on the fence. She really thrives with one-on-one and takes her time. She needs a slow learning pace. She's quiet and shy, but she likes being part of a group. ___________ Difficulties are going to be that I am moving to a new area I know nothing about. I won't have the networking available right away for outside learning for my homeschoolers. $$$ will be tight for a while, though I have bits and pieces around. I am afterschooling right now in various subjects and SOTW, so I'd continue that as well for the ones in public school. Any ideas? Comments? Experiences?

We get 'all youse guys' over here. My dad will call up and ask if 'all youse guys wanna come over today'. He grew up around Marquette Park in Chicago in the sixties. When I was in Southern Illinois, I heard all y'all quite a bit.

I just watched two sets of lower income parents (my DH's parents and the bride's parents) take out loans or get second mortgages on their house (in my DH's parent's case) to pay for a wedding. My Bil and his FI came home one day saying they were engaged and wanted to be married in 9 months. They expected to contribute nothing. Both parents went along with it because one was the baby of the family and the bride was the only girl. :glare: I think it was immensely stupid since they are very young and naive and that didn't help teach them anything. Also, I might be biased because those same parents didn't offer to help with anything for DH.

I have to be honest, that first point actually kind drives me nuts. I see it brought up all the time in these sorts of discussions. But there are huge honking swaths of population in those cities trying to make it by on 40K and under on their own. Therefore, when we see statements which indicate that someone making 100K, 200K etc. need to because of cost of living in that city or that they are barely scraping by at these incomes, what does that say about the chunk of population in those lower brackets? re the OP, cost of living here is higher; I am in the southwest side of Chicago area. DH just found a teaching position that grosses in the lower 30K, but it does not offer health insurance, so we have to factor that in as well. We will eventually move to the new area with slightly lower cost of living, but it will take a while to save up to do so. Now obviously this poll is skewed because you have to be interested or actively homeschooling to answer. But income discussions like this are one of the reasons you often see people saying they don't make enough to homeschool. If you are living on a lower income in a higher cost of living bracket, even outside classes or filling your tank or buying a bus pass or purchasing a curric is difficult. If you have two parents working to increase your income, you still might have issues trying to find and pay for child care if you work similar hours. I think it's why there's this perception, especially in these higher cost-of-living areas, for homeschooling to be an endeavor for those with the luxury of having either a substantial income or a stay-at-home parent or both.

your icon alone requires it's own shout-out!

How many will you have with you, what's your budget, and what's their interests/age level? I used to work for Chicago tourism and souvenir stuff. Back before it cost ten thousand dollars to park your car. :tongue_smilie:

' :lol: It could be the most sterile thing in the world, and I still wouldn't want to sit in someone else's body fluids!

We have been using the food pantry here over the last year due to unemployment. I love powdered milk and baking staples because you could get a few meals out of that. I also liked occasionally getting whole grain items, which is very rare. I realize that many people might be without a home or a stove, so some of that is impractical, but we have access to those things.

:D congrats! you give me hope.

I am so sorry for your family. :grouphug: