I also marked the over 50% (but I'm not sure which price category), although our kids are still young (2 & 4), so the money isn't there yet. Like some of the other posters, college is very important to both dh and myself as well as our extended family. We were fortunate enough that our families paid for our undergrad degrees (we contributed what we earned working over the summer) and we want to give our kids that same start in life. When our first was born and we wanted to start saving, our financial planner told us that if inflation for tuition continued at a similar rate, it would be $150k (total) for a state college by 2024! :confused: Yikes! So, I'm not sure we'll get there, but we're trying by saving a little at a time and letting it grow over time. We also will expect our dc to work during the summers/part-time to help. We did not do a 529 for a couple reasons: 1) terrible investment choices & returns 2) if the kid wins a scholarship or doesn't goto college, all that money is locked up in the 529. We just put our money in a Vanguard Stock Market Index Fund to let it grow over the years. My dh and I also have several graduate degrees between us that were paid for in other ways. We cash flowed the first from my salary, while living in government subsidized housing to make ends meet. We also used the continuing education programs at our employers and the GI Bill. If one of my dc had the interest I would encourage them to check out the ROTC program to pay for school. Johanna

My daughter was in a similar position. We bought the K teacher and student book and the 'Stamp and See Screen.' After reading a lot about the HWOT methodolgy, this seemed to give us the chalkboard experience without the chalk dust! Similar to the process they describe in the teacher's manual, I would have her use the small, magnetic wood pieces that came with the screen to form the letter, then trace with her finger, then use the magnetic 'chalk', then erase and write it herself (or fewer steps if she was already very familiar with the letter). This seemed to work well for us and has done a nice job fixing the pencil grip, starting from the bottom, and various other bad habits she had picked up in her Pre-K class! Since she is so young (4 yo) the gray blocks really helped her bound her letters. I've been very happy with the results! :lol: Johanna

If you are looking for non-LA ideas, my kids (also 4 and 18m) and I have been enjoying the "Mudpies to Magnets" book we got for Christmas! These are pretty simple experiments, usually with things we can find around the house. Johanna

My new Kindle and I are ready to give this a try! Johanna

My kids love their Marble Run and pushing each other around in the new Cozy Coupe!

Speaking as someone with a slightly different spelling than pronunciation (spelled Johanna, pronounced Joanna), it wasn't a lot of fun to have to correct every teacher/professor who pronounced my name wrong or wait nervously in the graduation line to see if they would pronounce it right! If you pick a name with an unusual spelling or pronunciation, you will have a lifetime of spelling and correcting people in exchange for that uniqueness! I ended up going with more traditional names for my kids, but tried to pick ones that weren't super common.

We have not decided for sure yet (~90% there), but what led me to seriously investigate it was my concern over the push to do academics in Kindergarten and hearing stories of K kids coming home with 30 minutes of homework a night! I was also concerned because I remembered being bored in school ~2nd grade and I want to make sure my kids have a life-long love of learning and don't learn to hate school! Johanna

A financial adviser is probably the way to go if you are not comfortable doing it yourself. A book I found really helpful when I was looking into the question myself is The Four Pillars of Investing by William Bernstein. He does a good job of explaining the basics behind concepts like diversification and why you should do it without a lot of financial jargon. Johanna

I agree. I listen to him on the radio a lot, so I think he would suggest, halt the debt snowball (keep paying minimums) and pile up cash for the ortho, then resume debt snowball once you have money set aside for the medical bills. Then, you will still be debt free and ds's teeth will be fixed! :001_smile: