This is completely non-spiritual, and possibly not very helpful, but we are planning to buy our sons when they turn 14 a broken down car. One that would take them about 2 years to fix up on their own (with Dad's help) and finance the re-building on their own. Just a thought...

I was posting a LOT about my kids. They're the only grankids/great grandkids for my husband's family and my mother's side of the family. (My father's side of the family is about 4X those two families, combined.) But then I realized how little the other parents were posting about their kids. I wasn't getting a lot of comments back, and some of the comments, while nice, made me feel like people just thought I was bragging or looking for attention/validation through my kids (which I wasn't.) So I created a "group" that I can post to that only goes to the relatives who do want a daily dose of cute or "hey that's neat!" Ever since I've stoped posting on my main wall (the group is on the secret setting, so only the people who are in it know about it) no one has asked about the dc. So I think I did the right thing.

Both my husband and I thought it was the one above it :confused: It seemed lighter...

:iagree: When dh and I first got married, for a long story's reason, we lived with his parents for almost 3 years. They were canned peas people :ack2: I was frozen peas. Because we shared shopping and cooking, it took them over a year before they would even try frozen veggies. Now they eat only frozen :D A year back I was talking to the in-laws about artichokes because they were on sale. My dh had never had them. My fil mentioned that he really liked them (which is :svengo: because he is SUPER picky) and my mil said "I didn't know that!" In 30 years of marriage she had never made them because she didn't think he'd like them. I'm still teased by his family every time we eat steak there. I say they like their meat burnt, they say I like it still moo-ing :D

I was unclear. By K, 1, and 2, I meant Kindergarten, 1st grade (which is levels 2 & 3) and 2nd grade (which is levels 4 & 5.)

It struck me reading your op that your daughter might benefit from/enjoy this game: http://www.amazon.com/Think-Fun-7090-ThinkFun-Knot/dp/B0032UP5R8/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2U299KHORTKM&colid=9CLIMPJ6JSLZ It could be good spacial reasoning practice in a fun environment that could translate to tying shoes.

We are using OPGTR and HOP. I know that OPG gets you to a 4th grade reading level, but I don't know if that means you're ready to start 4th grade reading or you've finished 4th grade reading. But it OPG does not give you grade levels. So I compared OPG and HOP and I used HOP as the guides for K, 1, and 2. If you want me to list which OPG lessons correspond to which grade level, based on this, I can. I will consider my son to be reading at what level the HOP is is currently working with.

Do you have to do a math curriculum? Why not get a math games workbook? We found the sylvan math games workbook for, I think, $8 at Sam's Club. I think you should be able to find something like it at a teaching store/bookstore/maybe Walmart. It's a fun way to do math, work on skills in a different way, and warms them up for doing "real" math when your shipment comes in.

I write my husband's name, then mine, and then the kids' names in birth order if it for a non-family member. I write my name and the kids' names on cards for my husband's family and I have dh sign it for himself. I write my name first, then my husband's name, and then the kids' names in birth order if it is to my family. If it is to my son's friend I sign it "Auntie ____" and "Uncle _____." (I do not approve of children calling adults just by their first name, unless the adult requests it.) Saddly, I have no one to whom I am "Mrs. Warde" to, except here :tongue_smilie:

http://homeschoolclassifieds.com/planner_form.asp

:iagree:This is what worked for us.

I haven't read all the replies, but two things stand out to me concerning tithing. First is the verse (sorry I don't have time to look up the references for these) is the one that says we should give what we purpose in our hearts to give. Meaning if you believe it, you should do it, not go back and forth when it's convenient or not. The other is that tithing is the only case in the Bible where God tells us to test Him in this and see if he dose not fill your storehouses (paraphrasing.) We've been unfaithful and not being on top of our finances, forgot to tithe for a few months. We did not have any extra, leftover money those months. But when we got back on track, our expenses matched our income. Right now we are very blessed to live in a good condo with a wonderful price. We could not do so well anywhere else, not even government-assistance. I consider that a blessing from God. He keeps our car running, and the times when something breaks and needs replacing is usually about the same time when my husband gets a bonus at work. We purposed in our hearts to give 10% to the body of Christ to further His work on earth (our personal church.)

I can't stand the thought of eating in the morning. It started as a kid sleeping in until the last minute-running-to-the-bus. Now, I feed my kids, but I offten forget about eating until after their lunch. And then I end up eating what my husband calls "fourth meal" at 9/10 at night. And I know that's contributing to my weight problem. I might try Dolphin's idea to self-train.

:grouphug: I also have bipolar 2, and I have no answer for you. I deal with the same problem. I try to take caffeine to get me up and moving, but it just ends up making me sick :glare: I'm on two medications which really help, but I still have those don't-want-to-move weeks. I am planning on homeschooling year round, so those times when I'm not getting done what needs to be done can be made up later.

Your name can affect the way people treat you, which in turn can have a lot to do with how you respond to people in general. I'm thinking of kids in elementary school making fun of a different name, or just one that rhymes/sounds like a silly/bad word. If you're being picked on in elementary school, while your social skills and view of yourself is being developed, then it defiantly will affect who you grow up to be. There is also the case of people being named after a father or other relative. In a lot of cases, from what I understand, that can go two ways Either the person named after a relative tries to live up to the example set by the relative, or they rebel and do everything they can to be different. Either way, that is affecting who they are. It's why ds#1 wasn't a Jr, even though originally that's what I wanted (he is sooooo not his father's name.) ETA your post title is different than your poll question. I agree with the post title that our names affect who we are, but I do not believe that our names determine who we are.

We live off a very narrow lane and people are constantly parking right next to the "no parking at any time" sign. And it's always right behind our car, because we are at the end. We can not get out, and if there were an emergency the responding vehicles would not be able to get through (there used to be "fire lane, no parking" signs, but someone illegally removed them, and neither the fire department nor the HOA will do anything about it :banghead: I feel your pain.

I finally did e-mail her and I did get a prompt response. I was very impressed by how quickly she responded! She did send me the pdf for 3/4 pages I asked for, and reminded me that they had the appendices printed on card stock to buy for $10.

We're using Right Start Math level A and I need extra copies of the appendix pages. And I found this out after I cut some of them out :glare: Does anyone have scanned pictures of these? Or will the company e-mail me a pdf of them? Or will I have to pay for more :confused:

Level 1 is K, Level 2 & 3 are 1st grade, and Level 4 & 5 is second grade. Additionally, HOP Level 1 corresponds with OPGTR Lessons 1-40. Level 2 & 3 together is OPGTR lessons 41-53. Levels 4 & 5 start getting more different from OPGTR, but I'll be using them as supplements of OPGTR for lessons 54-124. (I found the ENTIRE set of HOP with all but one of the workbooks still in the shrink-wrap for $15!)

:lol::lol: My fil and I were in the car a few months after ds#1 was born and he said we needed to stop so he could go and I said "Oh, are you poopie?" :blink: Oops.

Sickynotes have more room, imho. And you should definitely mark what's important to you :001_smile:

In the resources sections for my child's age group I sticky note review notes from Amazon and here. I'm starting from a young age, so I've read the grammar stage chapters more than I've read the rest (I've read all of WTM 2 or 3 times and I plan on getting the 3rd edition and reading it within the next 6-9 months.)

I think the best thing I did with WTM was read parts of it to my husband. I'm a fast sight reader, and reading it out loud helped me see things I missed, as well as cement in my mind what it said. It also got my husband from 80% sure about homeschooling to 200% :D

:smilielol5::smilielol5::smilielol5:

Thank you for all of this from me, too! We will need to start "officially" next year, and I like to be prepared in advance. I'm saving this thread!