Thanks everyone. I pulled out our old set of Horrible Histories and had him pick one. I’ve been having him read 1 paragraph a page plus the comics for his reading practice while I read the rest. I was trying to find something high interest and it seems to be going well. He likes it and doesn’t complain at all about the reading. Even though he’s my 5th, I guess I was feeling like we needed to “do” stuff like everyone else. All the other people are doing some curriculum with their K-2 and we are kind of just hanging out, reading, and doing a little here and there. I did CLE, Climbing to Good English, and other typical LA stuff with my older kids in early elementary but I know none of that would work with this kid. He would cry from boredom. I think we will just keep doing our own thing like we’ve been doing- casually, lots of games, and lots of white board. Maybe I’ll find a scope and sequence from the district and use it as a checklist to make sure I’m not missing anything. He hasn’t been tested for giftedness but he’s intense and a handful.

Mr Barr is the bar that DS compares all his instructors to! But really, he was just what I expect a normal, responsible instructor to act like.

I have some DC enrolled in CC with the intent to transfer to a very good nearby university after completing their basic courses. The university and CC have an agreement and smooth transition process and it saves us thousands per student. My DC are telling me that the classes, mostly online classes, are just terrible. They said that even the worst homeschool online classes were better organized than these. Even an in person class might literally be just an online class. I don't know how it works, but I guess it was a hardware class (IT) and all the instruction was online and in canvas, and you could come in person to work in class or with the hardware, but if you had stuff at home- no need. We had expected it to be in person- it was listed as in person- and driving into class was a complete waste of time. The syllabi are also ridiculous. That's my biggest complaint. They are jumbled, incomplete, and don't make sense. They look like they were cut and pasted from previous semesters without any proofreading. I didn't believe my DC when they said how bad they were but there is no hyperbole. I was the type of student who read through the syllabus and wrote everything into my calendar and planned my schedule to accomodate big projects and tests from multiple classes so there would be no surprises. I tried to help my DC out by doing the same when they were getting overwhelmed and surprised by big projects. The syllabi were literally incomprehensible. I guess a syllabus is a requirement, but they don't expect anyone to read it. Say you have a 15 week class- the syllabus is written as if it's for a 4 week summer course, with dates from that course, but the summary mentions 15 weeks- and also 8 weeks! The dates don't match the current calendar at all. In other classes, assignments are TBD, readings are all online and you can't access them ahead of time to see how long they will be. Often assignments are only revealed one week at a time and the syllabus will read something like: Week 12: Lesson 12. So if you wanted to plan your semester like a good, organized student should, you are out of luck. I've encouraged my DC to reach out to the instructors but they get no response. One child had an assignment with a dead link. The only info for the assignment was the link, and she obviously couldn't do it. She reached out to the prof and asked for assistance, and also if they'd consider giving an extension. She got literally no response other than the guy fixed the link. He didn't inform the class that it had been fixed or was dead. In that same class, the biggest assignment, worth the most points, was due in week 2! That seems so backwards to me. Shouldn't the students do some learning before outputting- especially in college? We have about 7 classes combined between the DC and only 1 has been "ok," which was an in person Composition class. Is this CC these days? If DC just switch immediately to the higher price university should we expect better? I told DC to send the syllabi to their respective Deans and complain, but we're pretty disillusioned.

His handwriting and spelling are very impressive, IMO. He's my 5th and my daughters also have beautiful handwriting, but he's there earlier and more easily. Or maybe I'm just a better teacher now. He used to have a phonics workbook that encouraged free writing (with a picture prompt) and he enjoyed it and did pretty well. When he finished it, we did Draw Write Now, and he began some copywork, which was fine, but after a book or 2 he refused to write or draw anything. That's why we moved to cursive- once he mastered print it was too boring. He wouldn't write anything but I was worried about hand strength and losing skill so we went to cursive and he really likes it. He only likes new stuff. He'll copy words for me in cursive but doesn't want to try writing anything in print or cursive on his own except during spelling. I will try letting him dictate sentences or a story for me and see if he will cooperate. Maybe he'd like it if I record it for him and let him watch it back. We've gone through AAS 1 and most of 2 just doing it casually once a week or every other week. He memorized all the blue cards (rules) before starting AAS, so now every lesson feels like review or too easy. We don't actually do that much school even though it sounds like it. Except for math or reading, most things only get done once a week or so because we're pretty laid back for K- especially since he's so ahead. He's already being treated for ADHD because that was super obvious. My other kids have ADHD and I never suspected it. We found it during their teens when other issues came up. With him, it was obvious right away- literally running in circles and bouncing off the walls!

The state gave us money for "tutoring" so I gave him a few sessions with a reading and math specialist. I wanted verification of his math skills mostly. He's so advanced that I was starting to think I must be cuing him like Mr Ed. 🐴😁 She put him at 2nd grade reading and they gave us that reading app to use at home. He really likes the app so I let him do it on his own. We only had about 6 sessions with the tutor and he doesn't go anymore.

I don't know. They use leveled readers and he likes to read between "K"-"P." I looked them up- I think he reads from early 2nd-early 3rd

I hadn’t thought about vision issues. He’s been to the eye doctor for a routine exam and had no issues. I think he dislikes reading because of low frustration tolerance and a lot of ADHD. He likes being read to, and he actually can read pretty well for his age. He thinks he can’t read because he can’t read “everything” and he’s an all or nothing perfectionist type. He’s reading Cat Kid by himself now, so I’m hopeful he’ll take off once he builds confidence. As for the topic sentences, his tutor gave him an app called Raz Kids that has comprehension questions after he reads a story. It was asking him about main ideas, supporting details, and facts vs opinions, etc, and he had no idea what those phrases meant. He could answer once I explained them but it made me think we were missing some basics.

I'm looking for something for language arts for my rising 1st grader. He's very accelerated in math, but LA is not his favorite. I think he's a little ahead in reading, but not super advanced- he's not happily reading chapter books. He'd prefer no reading. He says he can't read, but he's been evaluated as being at a mid to late 2nd grade level. He's the type of Kindergartener that watches adult science documentaries for fun and doesn't understand why the other kids don't find them super exciting as well. My problem is that he hates review and he picks up on things really quickly so regular curricula becomes review quickly. I've already wasted a lot of money on curricula that we find he doesn't need. What he can do: Phonics- he just needs practice for fluency. He knows 99% of the rules and has completed Alphaphonics and AAS 1 and most of 2. He lacks stamina and gets tired and bored easily. Handwriting- he writes beautifully and has moved from print to cursive because print was too boring. We're still working through the cursive alphabet. Grammar- he LOVES Grammar Island. It's the only thing he likes and he is great at sentence analysis. Lit- We aren't doing much because he's K. I'm reading aloud and we finished Exploring the World Through Story A and I plan to do B next fall. Punctuation- He knows to start sentences with capital letters and end with an ending symbol. What I want: I want something that doesn't duplicate too much what he already knows or what we're doing with other stuff. I plan to continue MCT and EWS. I have AAS 3 already, but would kind of like to drop it because it's too slow and we skip half the pages. He doesn't mind AAS, but it's really more like I do my own thing inspired by AAS because it's way too slow as written. I think he needs more practice writing (composing) on his own. He would want something structured because he gets anxious about wanting to do it "correctly." He needs to go over the basic vocabulary kids get in early elementary that the other curricula haven't really touched- things like antonyms, topic sentences, main ideas, and who knows what other basic stuff I'm forgetting. I need the reading to not be too high level- I know he'll probably be better by the fall, but I think placing him above level would be a mistake. I'm not sure if EWS will be enough for literature or not. It needs to be short lessons or fun lessons, and it needs to move quickly or be easy to skip review without feeling like I've wasted half my money. Any ideas?

I would do per person unless every room and bathroom to use is objectively equal. Usually couples would get the bigger rooms with fancier bathrooms. I don't think it's fair for the singles to pay the same for a lesser experience.

MCT is so easy to do sitting on the couch next to your child that I honestly don't see a value in a class for it. I think it may even detract from the experience.

We replaced gas with induction because I have asthma and it really exacerbated when we moved into this house. Removing gas is also expensive, fwiw. I had gas before, but maybe it had better ventilation or maybe my asthma hadn't gotten that bad yet, but for me, I will never go back to gas. My asthma is so much better now and I love how quickly water boils. I'm not a gourmet chef, but I feel the pans are responsive and everything cooks well. We don't have to worry about people accidentally turning the burner on or leaving one on and we can even put a towel under a messy pan. I love it!

My daughter got an inhaler at urgent care for cough. I have cough variant asthma and she had typical symptoms. They can also give a shot to kick the cough. It will work faster than anything else. You might need to ask to try the inhaler if they don't think of it themselves.

I think my voice might sound like a "fundie baby voice." Someone who knows me would have to say for sure, because I can't usually hear my own voice accurately, but it's my guess based on the feedback I get. I apologize. I was not taught this voice although I grew up moderately fundie, but nothing like the Gothards. I've always wanted a more mature voice, but it was not to be. I have taken voice lessons for drama and singing, but it could only do so much. Please don't assume all us baby voice women are baby beating submissive women happy to be "under his eye." I don't think I have the sing song cadence, but I have a little bit of a southern accent which makes up for it.

I suggested CLE because you wanted a lot of review, but I've used MM with all of my kids and it is so good for the right person. I was a good math student, but it really taught me (as I was teaching my kids) math in a way I hadn't been taught as a kid and I'm so much more confident now and am able to really teach my youngest by pulling from my own brain in a way I wasn't prepared to with my oldest kid. Please don't be scared off from MM because of your own skills- it can teach you. That said, it only worked for 3/5 of my kids. The others needed more daily review, more drill, and more traditional instruction. CLE is super cheap, so you can buy 1 light unit and see how it goes and only be out like $12.

Maybe CLE. It has a lot of review built in and is open and go and solid. It's not super challenging, but you could add some challenge in other ways. Beast Academy has puzzle books that she can do a few a day, or there's lots of word problem or challenge problems workbooks in the market, or even Alcumus.

The only economics education I have is what I followed along with and learned while teaching my kids, but this was explained in their course as "the tragedy of the commons." The main idea is that everyone needs clean air, fresh water, biodiversity, educated population, healthy neighbors and communities, but there is very little individual benefit to making less profitable choices to protect or achieve these things unless everyone has to do it. Left to choice, someone will selfishly benefit with little risk as long as everyone else protects it. But everyone knows this and who wants to be the schmuck who doesn't take advantage of something their neighbor is doing? Thus, unregulated capitalism does not protect "the commons" well.

We are already defacto boycotting because I won't pay these recent price increases. Cereal, pop tarts, chips, soda- all of these have become ridiculously expensive and provide such little nutritional value, that they are no longer even "fun" foods. Our budget isn't even that tight but I grew up with a very price conscious parent who grew up *VERY* poor. I grew up with the idea that consumers must punish price gaugers. $10 Disney Ice Cream Ears? Heck no. My dad would give us ice cream at home. Kellogs and Pepsi are pricing like the grocery store is an amusement park or airport.

I think for many people in the pre-Civil Rights Era, segregation was absolutely a moral issue and tied to deeply held religious beliefs.

MY DH is delusional too. We had 4 kids with special needs who required appointments, in person, multiple times a week. I have a higher degree than him and he would say things like I should/could get a job and make as much as him. He hires people! He should know. He also wanted to cheap out on life insurance because I should be able to support all those kids myself after a few years. It was very frustrating at the time.

Anectdotal, but I received paxlovid and it made my symptoms literally go from feeling miserable to no symptoms overnight. My family members who didn't qualify were actually sick with symptoms for days, sometimes weeks, while I had no symptoms except for the few hours of sickness I felt before getting pax.

You might find it too stimulating, but my little one loved the Marco Polo Learning app. We had to cancel because he did absolutely everything they had to offer and they couldn't add new things fast enough. Reading eggs was too game like and simple. He also liked khan academy for a while and it's free.

My asthma is similar- triggered by cold air and viruses and the cough can be bad and last forever. I know you said you can't take prednisone, but could you handle a hyrocortisone injection? I get 2 shots sometimes when it gets bad and it works pretty well. You also haven't mentioned a nebulizer. I like the one with albuterol/budesonide much better than just albuterol. My doctor has me using it preventively if I get sick (before the cough sets in) and it has done really well. Other than that, my daughter has been on dupixent and it's a good medication. They have discount programs if your insurance isn't government funded and even so, I know tricare covers it with a decent copay. We didn't have any problem getting it covered other than needing a prior authorization but she wasn't using it for asthma.

Have you tried something like Alphaphonics? It's really basic and there's no extras or review but it gets the job done and is inexpensive. I switched after trying a more complete program that I felt was too much fluff that he hated. But now that we're done I'm not sure what to do. I think we can just wait on or skip entirely all the "put this list of words in ABC order," or "circle the words that say ee" exercises. I've flipped through some other workbooks and seen curricula samples and, with my 5th kid, I'm starting to think most of it is busywork or just handwriting practice until about 3rd grade. DS wants to learn cursive so we might start that soon- at least it'll be new.

I'm not sure what to do with my 6yr old for language arts. He's technically still K but he picks things up quickly. Anything like AAR or LOE seems like too much, or that he's really between levels. I hate spending money on a full $$$ curriculum when we only need 1/3 of it. We are doing AAS because I have it from older kids and it's boring and only spelling, but then again, he's only K so it probably doesn't matter. He's finished Alphaphonics, he's reading at about early 2nd grade/late 1st grade level, he can spell pretty much all the level 1 words in AAS and most of level 2, and his handwriting is good. But he gets bored quickly, hates review, and I'm not sure he has the patience for any kind of grammar or workbooky thing. All other subjects are covered. I kind of feel we could just read and practice fluency, keep doing a little AAS, write a few sentences, and draw a picture for English for the rest of the year, but then I feel I'm being a slacker. For other subjects- he's doing MM, dreambox, and a little BA for math. I have Young Scientist kits and a few kits from Home Science Tools, and we were doing Exploring the World through Story, but now I'm holding off on level B until he's older.

Maybe Malta? Food, accomodations, and activities are pretty cheap and there's a lot to do in a fairly small area. You have good transportation and many areas are walkable, nice climate, English speaking but exotic in many ways. The food is not extremely different. Your flights can be $$ but you should still be able to get flights in your budget if you combine it with a stopover in Rome or something.