One thing I do when I start to get overwhelmed, discouraged, or freaked out is remember why I am homeschooling. I write out all the reasons.. and refocus onto my vision and purpose for homeschooling. You are not alone in this struggle at this time of year either. It is a slump time. And tonight on a chat I go to, that is the topic... Our reasons for homeschooling. Sometimes we all need to re-focus. To catch the fire again. You will find that balance and the passion again.. and then maybe in a bit you will go through it again. We all do. Hang in there.

And remember, TOG can eat up your day... but if you are doing TOG you are likely doing enough. I am sure you are getting enough history and literature. For me most of the rest are extras.. except writing. So look at writing separately.. and see.. is it enough? Too much? At that age I believe writing is vital but should not be a burden, either. Each child is different... go with what your heart says. We have LOVED TOG. Hope you do too!

There are so many ways to cut a budget... and plenty of people out there with info on how to do so. We began making our own laundry detergent and cleaners. I make things from scratch. I search ads and shop loss leaders. I stock up with the loss leaders. In fact, I almost only buy super sale items at this point because I have a good stock of sale items in my pantry and freezer. What really helped me is to keep a modified version of the envelope system. I have envelopes for food, gas, and of course extras. When that extra money is gone it is GONE. I keep it low but it does allow for the occasional item at the gas station if I did not plan properly or coffee out with friends or if I save, a movie matinee for the family. It has changed my life. I can't believe how the dollar here, dollar there added up. If you are doing these on a regular basis it is hundreds if not thousands of dollars. I can generally feed my family of 4 (which includes an 11 yo boy who can eat enough for 2 and a 13 year old girl) for 50-60 per week, including paper products, and cleaners. (Since I make my own, the cleaner section is tiny.) The mentality that every little bit helps is sooo important when the budget is tight.

TOG is wonderful because it IS flexible. I don't think I would spend 2 hours a day on TOG, for sure... but if you already own it, I would consider using it in a more relaxed way. We love it... but when things are crazy or I just can't manage I feel free to go less in depth. The history core should not be taking near that long for grammar stages. We did tops of 30 minutes out loud during the grammar stage. And you can use a mix of reading picture books to them both and having your 5th grader read independently which is a vital skill as they get older. We have used tapestry for 4 years now... and last year my younger was in 4th grade. He did lots of independent reading, but sometimes we would stretch a literature book over an extra week. Sometimes we would do the picture books instead, for a light week. Cut back if needed to make things work. Then I required 30 minutes of independent reading... 45 minutes if I knew it was a longer book and time allowed. Then we did hands on and geography more sporadically.

Why would the Word of God tell us, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved," if this is not something we have control over.... if we are elect we will do so, whether or not we are instructed to, and if we are not elect we will not do so regardless of the instruction. I simply do not believe this is the logical interpretation of this and other verses. I do believe God foreknew who would come to Him... but that we each have a choice... He knows the outcome of the choice and He weaves it all together for His purpose.... but why would God weep at the tragedy of the world if He created the tragedy deliberately? I don't believe He does create tragedy or people who He created to be unsaved. I believe He KNOWS that it will happen but does not necessarily want it to happen. He allows Satan in this world. He allows free will. And He allows us to reject Him. How do you explain that God does not wish any would perish but all would have everlasting life? If He is in control of who is saved, as the Calvin doctrine states, and He wants everyone saved, then everyone would be saved. Then that Bible verse is a lie. OR He wants everyone to be saved but He allows free will, and therefore some do not choose Him... and He weeps and mourns over the lost sheep. Then the Bible verse makes sense. And my view of belief is much more than the rational. He is telling us to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ... to follow Him... to love God with our heart, mind, soul, and strength. He tells us to do that... but He doesn't force us to. The entire story of salvation is one of free will in my opinion. From beginning to end, it is a beautiful love story. But love forced is not love. A robot designed to follow is not the same as someone who follows despite free will.

The problem with that is that it would reward people who lived in massive debt and punish those who lived debt free.

Let's start with the statement that I am not a Calvinist. I understand the doctrine but just as you say that there is overwhelming evidence FOR Calvinist doctrine, I see overwhelming evidence in the opposite direction. Some of you stated that it freed you from the pressures of leading others to Christ, that you had to share the Gospel but the rest is up to God. And in a way I agree with this. It is not ME that is responsible for whether or not they accept the message, for whether or not God has softened their hearts or opened their ears... but I see a much greater responsibility. "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20 Here we have several commands... go and make disciples... go baptize them... go teach them to obey. I see Acts 1:8 as part of this same command. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." We have the Holy Spirit in us as we live in the age past the Pentecost, and we are believers... and we are called to be witnesses. The main concept I see pervasively throughout Scripture that does not fit with a strict Calvinist ideology is the statement repeated over and over and over again to believe and to have faith. If God is the one who causes us to believe and have faith this command is useless. But if God is offering us the choice, then the statement to us to believe is understandable and vital. And because I believe in this verse: 1 Timothy 2:3 For this [is] good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. If God desires all men to be saved.. and did not allow for free choice... then all WOULD be saved. This is totally inconsistent with Calvin doctrine... if Calvin doctrine is true then all would be saved. All are not saved. Logically this is because although God DESIRES that all men be saved, He offers us free will and a choice whether or not to accept Him. And btw, I would agree that I am not saved because of ME... But by God's grace and mercy, and His love for me, offering His Son on the cross for me. I came not because I am worthy but because God kept on calling... and by God's grace I heard and listened and said yes. At first a very faint yes but God grows that faith like the mustard seed. All praise and glory and honor belong to Him!

Well, I don't support the stimulus package at all, but aside from that, this stimulus package seems to be more about pushing pet programs and pork than stimulus. And, from everything I have read a huge part of this money will not make its way into the economy for a year or more. How will this fix the immediate situation we are in? If it will not be trickling in for 1-3 years then it is not stimulus but just big government spending.

And if I was a small business concerned that I would not legally be allowed to sell it in a month i would be doing a clearance. Better to take a little loss than a total loss. I am fairly sure they will change the law... but would you risk everything on it?

The library associations are concerned because older books were sometimes printed before the limits were in place... AND because the new limits are stricter than the old limits... and will be stricter still later as it is a stepped approach. Anything with dyes or inks is suspect. Our library says they expect that the law will be amended but they are watching the situation very carefully.

I do so sporadically... I use http://www.sparkpeople.com which is a weightloss site... has the best tracker I have found. It is similar to fitday but I found it a bit easier to use.. and since I am using it for weightloss it had many other features I liked.

According to Wiki The Series of Unfortunate Events falls in this genre.

Well, I had not heard of it but have mixed feelings. As it seems to be a solid translation of the Bible. It is good that it is recycled. And actually I think it could be a nice devotional Bible for a year to see all God has said about our Earth and taking care of it. BUT.... I am bothered that the only emphasis seems to be on the Earth... to highlight text about the Earth in green and not highlight Jesus's words or any other instruction seems out of balance and puts the Earth as the focus instead of God. God's Will for us most certainly does include taking care of the Earth but so much more... and this seems to make everything else secondary. God said love God first, and neighbors second. He said to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength. This Bible seems to put the emphasis instead on loving the Earth. And frankly that could be dangerous. Even so, since it is actually God's Word and not a perverted version of it, I can not get toooo worked up about it without having actually seen it. Studying God's Word is a good thing... and this is an aspect often overlooked. There are many versions out there for all sorts of devotionals, but God must always be at the center.

Well, we used to be unschoolers, especially with my daughter... but I have never been a radical unschooler. That said I know families for whom it worked brilliantly. Many families. One family comes to mind. They had 3 children. Until 8th grade they did no formal work although all 3 learned to read before then because of interest, 2 had almost no math. In 8th grade they sat their kids down and said it is time to start looking seriously at your future. You know that you have these interests and passions. In preparing for your future we will be going through Saxon 8/7 this year, and look to what you need to reach your life goals. Her two older children had both been to college.. and in fact attended early. Once they decided the path they wanted to take they dug in and did so with great skill. They used American School for high school and graduated in 2 years. The third was not yet college age when I last talked to them but had developed a passion for music. In fact, at 15 she was playing as guest pianist to the near big city Symphony and as the pianist for a local theater. These are NOT lazy people... but they worked developing passions and pursuing them. They go into such depth with their passions and work so hard at them. This is in many ways of more value than the repetitive shallow learning of grade school. The two girls both wrote beautifully and did the newsletter.... they started it and ran it for most of the time I knew them. It was a way for them to showcase what homeschoolers were doing... including themselves. I do not know about the son but he went on to graduate college. The mom credited being avid readers and being motivated as the reason for their skills. I did not go that route. I chose to slowly become more and more formal. Even so what I have seen with most unschoolers frankly surpasses most homeschoolers by the time they reach high school. On the other hand.. what I have seen in classical methodology surpasses most also. lol. I do think that unschooling has more risks ... some parents use it as an excuse to do nothing and that is not unschooling works well.

Well, my first thought is that this is a burst of growth and development. As said, new skills can disrupt sleeping habits. And around 6-7 months is a common time for a growth spurt. I would feed as your baby wants until you talk to the pediatrician. Nice healthy foods, as I am sure you are doing. At this point I think this is just developmental but you certainly don't want to reward and encourage bad nighttime habits. If you don't have a good routine now is the time to try and put it in place. Keep everything dark and quiet at night. Do a bath and quiet story and/or song at bedtime. When he wakes at night interact minimally. Then after the holidays... which will be a week or so after this began, call the pediatrician, if you are still concerned. You probably won't be. My guess is this will pass quickly.