Not in Australia. We supposedly have universal healthcare...until you earn a ton of money and find out that you don't. Health insurance here is generally not worth it unless you have a lot of medical needs. It's very expensive and barely covers anything...so you still end up paying a lot out of pocket. If I am admitted to a public hospital ...its all free. If I need outpatient testing etc etc...it is not. We don't qualify for a health care card which means I pay upfront or the doctor refuses to see me. Yes...this does and has happened to me ...even in Australia ...though you generally don't know about it if you have a lower income. It's something other Australians don't even believe when I tell them I have been refused medical care becuase I didn't have the $68 available to pay immediately. No credit allowed..see you later...come back when you have the money. And then they wonder why the hospital emergency rooms are overcrowded with people who have minor illnesses...probably couldn't afford to see their GP either.

People in poverty don't use the laundromat..they can't afford to. They wash their clothes in their bathtub. Last year our washing machine broke and we couldn't afford to replace it. I used the laundromat and it cost $3 per load and $1 per 10 minutes in the dryer ( I took mine home to dry on the line). With 3 kids it cost me $30 a week to do washing. There were a few times I washed my kids clothes in the bathtub because I couldn't afford the cost. So really...poor people do not use the laundromat...middle class people do. Those who are 'elite' might think that only poor people use the laundromat...because it seems like a poor person thing to do... People who live in true poverty wish they could afford to wash their clothes...middle class people are grateful they can afford to...even if they can't afford a new machine. Elite people just go out and buy a new machine...no worries.

I'm not suprised they would say that...we earn over $100 000 and struggle to pay the bills. We have two almost dead cars...rent because we can't afford to buy. Because of our income we recieve no benefits and pay for everything. Every time I go to the doctor I pay $68 ( yeah so much for universal healthcare). I pay upfront for x-rays, ultrasounds, MRIs to the tune of $500 each. Blood tests seem to be the only thing we bulk bill for. No rent assistance so we have pay extremely high rent. We recieved no school kids bonus this year...$600 I had to pull out of our already stretched budget. No electricity discounts. No gas discounts. No Tax Benefits A or B I have many lower income friends who do extremely well...better then we do..and the amount of free things they qualify for is amazing. They have nicer cars...own houses. To live comfortably in Australia I think $200 000 and up would be the goal. The higher the income the less tax breaks and discounts and goverment help...that is often forgotten by people " looking up". They snark about how hard it must be for people on higher incomes to live when they manage on lower...but they have no idea. There are many weeks we eat peanut butter sandwiches to make ends meet just as much as they do. We never go on vacation. Some weeks we don't even have gas for the car. We don't even have any debt we are paying except one small loan almost paid off. Its just cost of living expenses. We earn more so we pay more.

Exactly what I meant...there is no recorded history before the English arrival. Aboriginals have been living here for 60 000 years...their history was passed down through oral methods. If you want ancient history you will need to read stories of the Aboriginal Dreaming. Also look for books that have recorded oral stories told by Aboriginals of their history and traditions. A great book rec is The First Australians...it also comes in DVD version. It's an adult book but gives a good overview of our history and also Aboriginal pre history. Also worth doing is comparing scientific evidence of creation and origin to Aboriginal stories of the same. DNA research has linked Aboriginal origin to be from Africa...most closely related to Indians. Their blood types indicate European descent as well.

I use Moving Beyond The Page 4-5...it's awesome. Very easy to do while also teaching my older two at the same time. My boys motor skills were non existant...couldn't even hold a pencil when he started...or colour. In 6 months of gentle instruction he has improved put of sight. Phonics Pathways might be good for teaching reading. It really helps pronounciation. All my kids learned to read using it...including the one who needed speech therapy.

Yeah ...I kinda feel the same way. My Canadian DH won't shut up about how perfect it is and it's giving me the :cursing: Been there..done that..too cold... and I don't care how pretty it is you can't see it anyway under all the snow :001_tt2: DH wants to go to NZ.. I keep telling him it can't be that great since all the Kiwi's are trying to move here :leaving:

Yes melatonin helped my non-sleeper sleep...but her issue was falling asleep..not staying asleep.

Vaccines are free in Australia. In fact the government pays YOU when your child is fully vaxed..I think I recieved $120 at 18 months and another $120 at 4yrs old. The rates are dropping...especially in areas where they have a high ' alternative population". These are also the areas that have had a few outbreaks of diseases like whooping cough and such. My kids are fully vaxed...they were born in Alice Springs where the Indigenous population still suffers outbreaks of rare diseases like TB and we had a government camp across the road from our house...I wasn't taking any chances. Our schedule and amount seems similar to the US..we also have the same conspiracy theories although it makes me laugh when people tell me that vaccines are pushed by the big pharms to earn money because in Australia they are made by a government non profit ...so obviously they are not researching their info correctly and just jumping on the band wagon using American sites.

I sort of just did this...although I didn't put my kids in school. I'm doing my school online so I can still homeschool. I figured I should do what I keep telling my kids to do LOL. So far I love school...my kids..not so much. So even though my "plan of inspiration" doesn't seem to be working at least I can shut the door after listening ro my kids grump and groan and enjoy my own learning LOL. Gives me something to look forward to at the end of the day.

DH may have just bought home leftover chocolate cake from work and *possibly*mentioned something about sharing it. I can't remember really because I was too busy shoving it behind the milk so the kids won't see and then there will be less for me.

Told the kids we were starting back Monday...all I got were groans and sighs. Biggest groans came from the 5 yo who hasn't even been in school yet..he's just starting Reception." I hate school "he said..how would he know..he hasn't even done it before. I'm already fearful of the fallout on Monday. Seriously..I would love to try natural learning if I thought they would do anything but beg me to play the Wii all day.

Not quick if you live overseas...takes 5-6 weeks to get to Australia...however shipping price here is excellent.

Kiwi is not a derogatory term...its just a nickname...everyone uses it here. Refers to the " kiwi bird" of New Zealand.

Are you talking books that cover Ancient Australia or just regular books....because we really don't have an ancient history ( that is recorded beyond the English arrival).

The questions you are asking might be too easy for her. My supersmart DS often does this when he is bored...either to add extra challenge or to send a message to me that it's " baby stuff". But then again my 5 yo also does it just to be a pain in the butt... I'd add extra challenge and if thats not it then just ignore it and hope it goes away.

Well I took 143 photos of my kids first day back to school LOL. We went to an Adventure Park with waterslides and mini golf. For some reason I didnt get any pics in my newsfeed of friends kids going back to school this year...maybe the kids are getting older and not wanting pics or something IDK. Field trip day tomorrow again Homeschooling is awesome LOL

We love CLE for LA and Math.....the other subjects look totally unappealing. If I was you I would definately use the LA and maybe the reading...only because so many people seem to like it. We haven't used it though as I don't want more workbook learning for my kids. Have you looked at Memoria Press...that is workbooks I believe.

Your DS sounds very much like my DS7. He only gets involved with projects with his siblings. When he is on his own he watches tv, reads his minecraft manuals, follows me around the house or sometimes tinkers with his Legos. He is very laid back and not really an initiator. My other two are the initiators..coming up with the projects and getting into everything..DS just follows them along with whatever they are doing. Your son might just not be an initiator and that's ok. Help him gain skills and confidence that he can do things he sets his mind to. My DS is actually on the gifted range but is paralysed by perfectionism. He doesn't want to do something that won't turn out right. At one time he refused to do any writing even though he writes fantastically creative stories because he didn't want to get it wrong. I had to drum it into him that there is no correct plot or story...it's your own imagination and opinion. You might need to work alongside him for a while. I found a great provocation for my DS is to be doing something myself and DS always wants to do it too. If I want to suggest a book to him I sit down and read the first few chapters and he'll come along and try to read it over my shoulder and eventually take the book from me becuase I'm turning the page too slow. If I want him to do woodwork I bring out the wood and start hammering it myself and he turns up in 20 seconds and 'takes over'. If I ask him straight out if he wants to do something he always says no but seeing someone else do it first seems less risky to him I guess. The silly thing is..he is great at everything he tries...the perfectionism just makes him a non-starter. My DS prefers company when working on a project. I rarely see him playing or doing anything alone. He is always happy to join in with a group but solitary projects are not his forte.

You guys are just fast workers. Takes my kids 1.5 hours just to do their CLA LA and CLE Math and they are only on the second level.

Here I am again to promote my favourite K program LOL. We are using Moving Beyond the Page 4-5 level. Very age appropriate...not a ton of worksheets. My boy who is not keen on lessons at all will willingly do most of it. The books are awesome and it doesn't require much planning beyond gathering resources. You can also buy the activity box that comes with it and then you don't even have to do that...it comes with every last thing you need. It doesn't include a phonics program so you can choose your own to use. I just made a fresh post on my blog of our Unit for this week...I didn't list ALL the activities we did...just the ones I remembered to take photos of. www.movingbeyondthepage.com It doesn't have to be that costly. I can borrow all the books from our library. I skipped the activity box as I have most of the supplies on hand already or decent substitutions. I use the online version so all up the program cost me $50... well worth it.

The first principle of PBL is that you are not the one coming up with the suggestions or projects...you are only there to facilitate the childs ideas. Asking him if he wants to make a comic strip is still parent led ...he needs to come up with his own ideas that are meaningful to him. You might try providing him with stimulus. For example...my DS loves Minecraft too. I mentioned to him that I found some Minecraft stories on Audible. He said nothing about it for a week then yesterday asked me to download them. He listened for over two hours. Whilst He was listening I put paper and crayons on the table ( didn't say anything to him) and came back later and found he had drawn a ton of minecraft scenes. Later in the day he used the pictures to start writing his own Minecraft stories. Provide the stimulus..but don't provide the project...and don't require them to use the stimulus you provided..it's just a suggestion. My daughter was also listening to the stories and I noticed she was using her kindle to read a How To Draw book and was making sketches of dragons. We have some other books on how to draw dragons put away so I got them out and put them in front of her. She didn't use them and went on using her kindle book. It doesn't matter...it was a reminder that we had them and next week she might ask for them. When I ask my young kids straight out what they want to learn about they come up with nothing. When I leave them to their own devices they always manage to fill the day ...I just take notice of what they are doing and encourage and make suggestions to plant ideas in their head they may or may not follow.

The problem with infants is they grow up....so pretty soon you will have toddlers running around whether you want them or not LOL. My personal preference would be pre-schoolers. Easier to entertain, more freedom on outings if you plan field trips and if you get one thats a pain you don't have them in your home long before they head off to kindergarten LOL. I might be biased though...I had the type of babies/ toddlers that couldn't be trained to sleep on schedule or even sleep longer then 20 minutes...I'm scared of kids under 3 now LOL.

Goodness...if you pronounced any other way but Nut ella in Australia people wouldn't know what you were asking for...or they would laugh at you for being fancy. All our tv commercials say Nut ella.

Would you believe that just yesterday we finished last years schoolwork :) My kids have two weeks holiday now till we start back...which gives me time to finish planning for the first term. I need it all planned properly this year because I'm starting up a Uni degree.... and I MUST be organised. Just looked at my coursework and one of the subjects has 143 readings :(. ... normally during term I'm lucky to read even one novel to myself LOL..so why I had this fantasy I would be able to fit in study I do not know. Oh and my kids still have two more weeks of holiday because we are still waiting on our new books to come from the States which I ordered late this year because I only just found out we don't qualify for the school kids bonus anymore and I had to scrape up money out of the budget to get them instead...lots of peanut butter sandwiches this week...I wish I would have known it was going to be means tested sooner so I could have planned better...stinkin fickle govt.

We use the online version..the stuff you need to print is in a seperate section so you can print off the whole lot at once or print as you go with links included in the lesson. There isn't much you need to print for this level...usually between 2-8 pages per week. I've never printed off the the whole lesson...just read it off the Ipad or laptop. It is very user friendly. I also didn't buy the materials kit as we have more then enough of that stuff hanging round as it is. its super easy to make your own templates when you need too...I just find some online. Substitutions work just find and I find it really easy to substitute. Of course..it is nice to have it all ready in the box to go...but I live in Australia and didnt even want to know what the shipping cost would be lol. I can get all the books from our library system so all up the program cost me $50...just for the online lessons. I never used their reading program...I just use my own.