Vermont Nut Free. Yummmmmm...

I'm a dog person. :) We have always boarded our dogs, or found a pet sitter. However, we've just come home from our first vacation with dogs, and I have to say it was a lot of fun. We rented a wonderful pet-friendly cabin in the mountains, and our dogs absolutely adored it - and the long mountain walks. Our plan was not to stay with family, though, thus we took the pups. It was enjoyable, so I can see why people take dogs along to cabins, etc. As we were leaving the cabin, my aunt and uncle called out of the blue, and invited us to their mountain house. They specifically invited the dogs as well, and despite my misgivings about bringing our dogs to a relative's home... We went. We discussed it in depth ahead of time, and they assured us over and over that they are dog people, and that it would be fine. We were worried about accidents in the house, or our dogs getting rambunctious at an inappropriate moment - but my aunt and uncle have always had dogs, so seemed very comfortable. Plus, their dog was going to be there also. On the whole, it was fine. But I worried constantly about the dogs getting into something, or having an accident, or ... well, anything that might go wrong. Honestly, I'd never choose to be a guest with dogs again. It was fun to travel with the pups, but the worries about troubles that the dogs might cause to our hosts was too much for me! What about researching a doggy day care near your home? Maybe that would give the dogs an outlet for their energy during the day (and get them out of your hair), and they could still spend the evenings with your in-laws?

I hear you. I'm a newbie here - but not a newbie to raising a bi-polar, improperly medicated teen. Mine's a boy though, and now an improperly medicated young adult. But we are working hard to get that med issue straightened out, and he is finally, finally, finally on board with that. Whew. But - what a roller coaster!

I've been lurking for months, and decided it was time to come out of the closet.

We use the PEG System by Family Tools. My kiddo loves it. We have a few extras to go along with it, but they aren't really necessary. I'm just lazy about making my own goodies at times, and I liked the idea of the "Pick a Privilege Jar" as a reward. We don't use it exactly as described - we've tweaked it a bit. But it works for us. :) If you want to know how we use it, I'll be happy to try to describe it to you. My kiddo seems to find it motivating, but the most important thing is that I stay on top of it to make sure it all gets finished. The behavioral component is a big part of why we chose it - the bonuses for doing "good" deeds and the penalties for "bad" behavior. We even have the chart they sent with the kit laminated, hanging just over the chart. I find it helpful to refer the kiddo to the chart at times, since it reinforces nice values. Since you've already got that one, what about adjusting the way you use it to fit your needs? I think any chore system can work for our kids, it's really about finding something that works for *us* - so we stay on top of it.

Thanks so much, patchfire. I was hoping to hear from someone who'd used one of the kits - they look like fun, but I wanted to be sure there was some substance to them.

Hi, I'm looking at these kits: http://kids.woot.com/ as a fun little extra for my 6 year old science lover. Has anyone used these little kits? Are they a good buy? If so - enjoy the link, too! Thanks for sharing any thoughts on this!

Thanks for posting this - just ordered some goodies! We are a playmobil house here, too. A few days ago I saw 2 fairly large sets on the Costco website for $49.99 each. For any Costco members out there!

That's it! Homesciencetools... the kit came with most of the RSO supplies. Made it much easier to get things ready for the year.

We're using R.E.A.L. Science Life, and love it thus far. The only hassle tracking down books has been finding the Usborne Illustrated Enyclopedia of the Natural World - it's out of print. We found a used copy. Honestly, now that I have it in hand - I don't think it's entirely necessary. I find that we do the lessons and experiments and some extra reading from our own selection of books, maybe find some science related videos, and it's enough. As for the supplies - I found a supplier that had gathered most of the supplies into one lovely shipment. That saved a lot of time in tracking down the various components. If you want that source, I'll try to find it for you. Or maybe someone else here will know offhand. We have the hard copy of the book - but I think next time around I would just print my own. I ripped everything out of the book to file weekly anyway!

Does he have any food allergies? The brand escapes me at the moment but there is one type of inhaler my son cannot use due to nuts. Apparently, some type of tree nut is used in the carrier for the active ingredient of the inhaler. We have a friend who went into anaphylaxis as a result of using that particular type of inhaler, on top of an asthma attack - eek. Almost lost her. You might try OTC Zyrtec or Claritin daily, to see if that helps - could be something in the air right now. Does he normally cough or get out of breath when playing outside, on the Wii or exercising? My son did not seem to be able to articulate that he felt short of breath, but there was a cough that would crop up each time he exercised that finally clued us in.

If you're doing a slow dejunking process, freecycle has worked wonders for me. I didn't have time or energy to do a major de-junking (in which case, calling a truck to pick up a load of donations would have been the way to go!). So several times a week, I load up a bag or two, post them to our local freecycle group, and put them on the porch. Before I know it, the items are gone, there is a sweet thank you note in my email inbox, and it was all fairly painless. If you're worried about people coming to the house to scope it out, that might not work. But if you're like me, in a low crime area, it might work. I have been freecycling for a good 4 years - with no problems. Our house has gone from over-flowing to ... well, not perfectly organized, but definitely not over-flowing.

This might be a bit off the beaten path, but it's really nice - the National Building Museum. Right now they have a Lego exhibit, and who doesn't love Legos? The only problem is that you can't get tickets online (timed ticket entry), so you have to go to the museum and get your tickets in person at the info desk. If you're going on a weekday, it probably wouldn't be an issue to just walk right in and get your tickets for that day. But weekends are hectic there, so you have to plan ahead. While you wait, they have some great toolbox kits you can check out to use... your kids can try to build a large arch, or use some of the other family kits. They are fun, and there's lots of space to spread out and create on the floor. There's also a play area for the younger set.

Thanks! Strangely, I think I needed *permission* to skip and combine lessons. Have to laugh at myself for that, but it's true.

I'm sure I've seen this discussed here, but can't find that thread right now. Does FLL gather speed quickly? I am hoping to hear that we will start leaping forward, rather than continuing at the same pace. We started a few weeks ago, and my 6 year old son is, quite simply, bored. We are doing 1st grade, but I must clarify that a lot of our K work was 1st grade level as well, although I tried to save a lot for this year, and focus on play in K. I wanted his fine motor skills to catch up with him. What we love about FLL - it is short and sweet. We do it while the kiddo is active, so it is compatible with his incurable case of the wigglies. It is not heavy on the handwriting, which is improving, but not his favorite activity. I just worry that the pace is too slow for him. He memorized the poem on the first day it was introduced, and the same goes for definitions of nouns, etc. It doesn't seem to be challenging him at all, but maybe it's too early in the game to make that call. Would it be best for me to combine lessons, skip lessons? Or simply plug through and have him do one lesson per day? Any advice from the veterans would be appreciated!

My DH primarily works from a home office, and generally joins the family between 5:30 and 6:00 pm. We also have lunch together, and if we're lucky - a walk to the park! My perception of normal is skewed, also. :) When he is with a client, though - all bets are off. If he has a commute (traffic here is bad), I hope to see him by 7:00 pm, but plan on later. And travel... well, what can I say? He tries to limit trips to 5 days max. But was recently spent 10 days in Amsterdam... Felt like forever.

The Switch Witch comes to visit us on Halloween. My kiddo has food allergies - so after he trick or treats (with gloves), he empties his candy into our "cauldron" to hand out to other kids. Then he goes inside to find a clean Halloween container of safe goodies on the kitchen table. We put in treats that he doesn't often have - mostly candies from Vermont Nut Free Chocolates (yum!) and some other special candies. And I throw in games, toys, and little "goodies" to make it fun.

Thanks!

We use them, too! We started in K, and now we're into first grade... so they are all my kiddo knows... I love them. They keep me organized. I use the Trofast system from Ikea instead of the shoeboxes - the only drawback is that our boxes aren't clear. But truthfully, I prefer the way it looks since it's out in the open (we don't have a schoolroom anymore). The Yahoo group is full of great ideas!

I'm a newbie here, and somewhat hesitant to jump into this discussion, but here goes... Before I dreamed of homeschooling, I dreamed of archaeology. Following that path has never been a regret of mine. There is nothing like doing something that one loves, and even out of the field - it still makes my heart pound. If you feel that way about becoming a curator - then pursuing that path will give you great joy. That joy will trickle into other parts of your life. I also have a degree in American Studies, and was planning to teach, which I believe would have afforded enough flexibility to homeschool. Life happened differently for me, though, and my health intervened. Still no regrets. Now I am a full time HSing mom, and love every moment of it. I'm of the mindset that if you pursue what you love - you will find a way to make it work. There are so many, many programs to finance grad school. This is certainly something that you can make happen.

Whew, reading this is a relief! We are on week 4 of 1st grade - and have been going at it all slow and steady. Kind of like our pet turtles. Next week will be our first week doing all subjects, so I am feeling some anxiety there, but hoping that keeping the lessons short and sweet will help. Thanks for the encouragement here.

Thank you! We signed up also!

Hi! I'm new here - and this is only our 2nd year homeschooling. PS is not an option for my kiddo. Breathing is more important than the painfully lacking education that he'd get at our PS. (We started for health reasons, and are now convinced this is the only way to go - regardless of the health issues.)

I think there is a 25% off code for Headsprout floating around somewhere... Are you a facebook person? Check out Headsprout on facebook... (I am one of the last facebook hold-outs, but have read that Headsprout sometimes has discount codes posted on their facebook page.) It is pricey, but I've been happy with the results. Maybe you can have your kiddo try the free samples to see if it's a good fit before splurging?

Another Headsprout house here... My munchkin has loved "sprouting his head" and he is reading wonderfully now. He's on episode 52 of 80, and still loving it.