Remind me of this thread when my middle child (for whom MUS is the only thing that works for math) is older...she wants to be a doctor, and at some point I will feel pressured to switch her to a "better" math program, and I KNOW that it will not work and will only leave her behind. I am already upset with my future self for making such a dumb decision! :D

None of mine were ready to start handwriting until the age of 6, and I didn't consider that delayed at all, but developmentally appropriate. My kids worked on their fine motor skills before that, but trying to teach them correct penmanship would have been an exercise in futility. Their lines still wavered and wandered and it would have frustrated and tired them to try to copy a straight line when they were unable to. It didn't harm the older two; they have beautiful handwriting which always gets compliments, and I expect the youngest will turn out the same (he is a couple months shy of his sixth birthday).

Thank you!! The $50/kid is being stretched pretty far by doing most of what you have listed...two of the big gifts I got on ebay, and two of the small gifts for the stocking are handmade (a sewing kit for my oldest and a fort kit for my youngest; both ideas I got from the thread on homemade gifts). The stocking gift for my middle child is a scrapbook kit I got at B&N this summer on the half-price clearance table. The purchase of the big gifts was spread out over the last several months so that we didn't have to put them on credit...we don't have that much extra money at one time in any given month. If you wanted to share any of the ideas on your list, I would appreciate that! So far I had already planned to do a Jesse tree and read from the House of Wooden Santas every day, and at some point we are going to make cookies. Our Christmas Eve tradition is to watch a movie together after church, and we watch a different movie each year (one that the kids haven't already seen). We plan to help serve Christmas dinner at the local homeless shelter...my husband and I figured it would not only help the kids feel more blessed by what they do have, it will help us with our perspective as well. ;) This year (and the past few years) have really made me appreciate my parents more. They had seven kids to buy for every year, and we were dirt poor (as in, many years we didn't even have a tree, we had a Christmas card table). I always used to assume that my grandparents only sent Christmas money for each of the children; we always got to cash the check and spend it however we wanted at Toys R Us after Christmas every year. It wasn't until I was an adult that I found out that my parents each got a check as well, but they would use the money to buy us each a gift and fill the stockings, they never once spent it on themselves.

I should not have read this thread. :crying: Our budget this year is $50/child, and that includes one big gift to go under the tree, stocking stuffers (a couple bags of candy split up between the three stockings and five items each from the dollar gift bins at walmart), and one homemade gift in the stocking from Santa. No gifts for my husband or I (maybe some candy in the stocking, though) unless the church gives my husband a Christmas bonus...but that is about as likely as pigs flying by outside my schoolroom window.... :laugh:

Do you mean like the Rod & Staff manuscript and cursive wall cards? That is what I have up in my schoolroom; they get a lot of use! The manuscript cards have a picture above each letter that begins with that letter (i.e. a nest above the letter "N"). The manuscript and cursive cards are the same size, so I put up the cursive cards directly below the corresponding manuscript card so the child can look and see the upper and lowercase of every letter in both types of handwriting along with a picture starting with that letter all lined up vertically.

My middle daughter is using Alpha; we watch the video together then she does the A page to practice the new concept and D, for review. If she seems to have the concepts mastered she does the activity sheet and the test the next day. If not, she does pages B and E the next day, then the following day she tests. If necessary she does pages C and F; I think one time I even had to use the worksheet generator on the MUS website for a fourth day's practice before she was solid enough on the material to take the test. My youngest is also in Alpha (along with SM 1A); we usually watch the video and then he takes the test...he already has his fact memorized and understands the concepts; I am just using it so he can practice visualizing it with the MUS blocks.

One thing I have found that works for my family is to start the day off with me reading aloud to them as we snuggle on the couch. It helps everyone begin the day with a good attitude, helps motivate the slowpoke to get ready in time to listen to the story(ies), and no matter how poorly the rest of the day goes with schoolwork, I can rest assured that the children will have ONE good, fuzzy, happy, warm memory of me from that day.

I spent most of September in despair, so I promise to hold off any further discouragement until February, LOL! To keep us going till Christmas I have some fun stuff planned...a Jesse tree with daily readings and the House of Wooden Santas to read every day until Christmas. It is like clockwork, though...every February it is dark for so much of the day, it is cold so we hardly ever leave the house, and the drudgery of daily schooling starts to wear on me and brings me down. And my husband thinks we should school year-round! :smilielol5: I really need there to be a light at the end of the tunnel, so that isn't going to happen.

My oldest (a girl) prefers workbooks; she learns best by reading the information. My middle child (a girl) is very much a kinesthetic, visual-spatial learner; she despises workbooks and can't learn unless it is hands-on and discussed. My youngest (a boy) seems to absorb everything no matter how it is presented...if he hears it once, he knows it. He is only in K so I don't know how much he will like workbooks when he is older; he likes them just fine right now because he feels like he is "doing school" like his big sisters if he gets his own stack of workbooks out each day.

My oldest is in 5th grade and she does all of the R&S writing lessons plus she outlines twice a week from her history book (Famous Men of Rome). Writing is her weakest area, so she does Jump In as well every day (she just finished Wordsmith Apprentice). She does narrations from her science once a week.

If you click on your user name at the top of the page, one of the options now is "manage classifieds." On that page you can select to create a new advert, which I am guessing means that you input your sale post there and it appears on the classifieds page. I haven't tried it, though...I don't have anything for sale.

I think I found it! Click on your user name at the top of the screen and one of the options now is "manage classifieds." On that page there is a button to make a new advert, which I would guess means you create your sale post there, and it shows up on the classifieds page. This place is in serious need of a user's manual. Just sayin'.

Well, looking back at what I wrote almost a year ago I should have not stressed about it and waited to see where we would end up. :D We have taken a totally different approach than I thought we would! We are still holding off pre-algebra, but I have dropped R&S. She knew most of the concepts in 6 & 7, but she was stuck because she was making too many careless errors...and doing them over or more of the same did not fix it. So for now she is doing a combination of LOF Fractions/Key to Fractions, and when she finishes with that in a couple of weeks she will continue with LOF D&P/Key to Decimals & Percents. She is also doing the first Elements of Mathematics course...I have no idea where it is mathematically (probably pre-algebra), but it is making her think HARD, as well as providing the incentive she needs to prevent careless mistakes. She loves earning a gold star for a perfect set of exercises! LOF also provides some incetive, as well; she likes the challenge of passing a bridge on the first try. At this point I am not sure if she is learning new concepts so much as learning how to think mathmatically and do her work carefully, but I honestly don't care. If that is what she needs, then so be it. Now I have a whole 'nother set of options for pre-algebra once she is solid on fractions, decimals, and percents (if she had done math over the summer as instructed, she would have finished all that by August, grrrr!). I can continue with LOF Pre-A/Key to algebra, continue with the next course in Elements of Mathematics (except future courses are under development and I am pretty sure she will work faster than they are putting them out), or order AOPS Pre-A. Or I have Jacob's on the shelf. And Dolciani. Guess i need to wait and see, again. :tongue_smilie:

Hmmm, I haven't looked into other Latin programs, so I haven't heard of this before. MP consistently pronounces the "c" before an "i" or an "e" as "ch" in PL, LC I, and FFL, but I haven't heard any audio outside of those programs (beside the Latin Christmas CD from CAP). My goal is for my children to eventually transition to Henle after the Forms series, so I guess I had better look into it a bit closer.

MUS is supposed to eventually cover the topics you listed. Alpha is focused on the basics of place value, addition, and subtraction...telling time is also included. To help with memorization of math facts, xtramath.org is awesome (and free). If your son is not mathy, I would recommend sticking with MUS, based on my own experience with a non-mathy child; this was the only program that explained math in a way that she could understand (she is 3rd grade and using Alpha). For a mathy child I would recommend Singapore Primary Math...that is what I am using with my K'er. He already knows far more math than my 3rd grader, so to keep things going at his speed and to protect my 3rd grader's self-confidence, I started him on SM 1A.

My kids understand that they must give me twelve years of schooling (bwahaha!), so the first of those twelve years we call first grade, the second we call second grade, etc. regardless of what level of work they are doing in each of their subjects.

:grouphug: I will be praying for you, your husband, and your family. We live in the same area, so if you ever need anything, PM me for my contact info and I will do whatever I can to help out.

That would depend on her height. In TX, once a child is 8yo they no longer have to be in a booster seat of any type. If my child were still too short for the seatbelt to fit properly, though, I would put her in a backless booster to bring her up to the proper height.

The books printed by the Harvard Book Store have the title and author printed on the cover and the title on the spine. The pages inside look like an exact reproduction of what you see on your screen when looking at the book, including every smear and blotch. The margins appear the same as they are on the screen. The books are like a regular paperback in that they are not designed to lay open on their own, so for a math book I would find a way to have it spiral bound.

Lol...that was when I took it as well, during a psych course (personality theory maybe? I dunno). I think this is the one that I took.

Hydrocortisone cream (once daily) and Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief Moisture Cream (not the eczema one) twice daily works wonders. My son has had eczema since he was a few months old, and this routine keeps it under control. If we skip it for a day or more, it is back with a fiery-red vengeance. FWIW, we have done elimination diets with everything we can think of...he just has the dryest, most sensitive skin on the planet. I get the occasional flare-up myself, but using only fragrance-free products keeps it pretty much under control. If I do get it, I use the above treatment and it goes away pretty quickly.

Another INFJ here, and the only way things get done is if it is part of a routine. I am slowly learning to not be upset about the things that I think should get done, but somehow don't seem to fit into our routine. Reading the original relaxed homeschoolers thread on the Logic stage board really helped me. I'm not supposed to be relaxed about what I teach my children, but accept that what they are learning each day is enough and to not stress about what they aren't doing. I use HST to schedule out what needs to be done each day for the entire school year, so I have that schedule to keep to and to mark off so I know that they are getting enough. My problem is that I have the tendency to buy extras that seem oh-so-very important, but since they aren't part of our core of subjects they don't ever get done. I end up beating myself up about it on a daily basis, which is completely unnecessary because my kids are already doing plenty! So reading the relaxed homeschoolers thread really helped me with that.

I second this. I bought the majority of our Memoria Press products through them last year because they sell them for 25% off. I think I ended up saving close to $100, if not more.

I had all three volumes of The Progressive Composition Lessons printed by the Harvard Bookstore. Shipping time was quite reasonable, and the books are simple, paperback books with a generic blue and white cover. I was very happy with it.