I didn't get to reply to you sooner, but I'm so glad for the good news! God amazes me all the time when He makes things happen that realllllly don't look like they will happen!

If heavy Christian influence is acceptable to you, you might look for the Mr. Pipes books; the second one focuses on hymns of the Reformation, and others focus on medieval hymns. Maybe a fun side trail, learning about the music of the time period.

A Child's Story of America is. . . okay. Some of the info was good, but I found that it was extremely biased in its political/religious leaning, way more than I even expected from CLP. I wouldn't hand it to a kid to read on his/her own, but I have read selected parts with some editing. (We also read This Country of Ours with a first grader, but again, I did edit it while reading out loud, and we had to stop to explain sentence structure/vocab to the first grader.) For a first grader, I would get a bunch of the "If You Lived" books and read those, plus whatever supplemental picture books your library has for various topics. We have a gazillion books on the Pilgrims, Colonial America, etc., and few of them are essential; just read whatever's available. My kids really enjoyed the Sleeping Bear Press books about the states as well; we read each state's book when we came to its founding (for the original 13 colonies) or its joining of the Union (for the rest of them), and we colored them on maps too, so the kids could see the country growing. My kids loved American Pioneers and Patriots from CLP as well, and it's Christian-oriented but not as heavily-handed as A Child's Story of America. For first grade, I'd also read the American Girl series, because those are a lot of fun for showing kids what daily life was like. Oh, and this book series is kind of fun if you enjoy cooking, although it's a little light, so I would only use it if you can borrow, rather than buy, it: http://www.amazon.com/Recipes-Pilgrims-Cooking-Throughout-American/dp/0823951170/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378650378&sr=8-1&keywords=food+and+recipes+of+the+pilgrims This is a pretty good series too: http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-Days-Discover-Projects-Activities/dp/0471161691/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378650427&sr=8-1&keywords=pioneer+days Lots of good stuff for US history, although I have never been satisfied with the spine otions (I don't care for Hakim's tone, personally), so I cobbled it together myself.

Coming back to this thread to add some stuff. We planned on hs'ing long before we even had children, because we felt that hs'ing would work best for what we wanted -- strong academics (but also, a gentle introduction to heavy academics for young children), support for our religious and social beliefs, and just a general feeling that keeping our children at home was right for our family. We decided that we would have a parent (and likely me) stay home with our children if at all possible, and homechooling seemed like a natural extension of that. And the we actually HAD children, haha. Yeah, I'm pretty sure a public school couldn't meet our oldest child's needs in a lot of areas. I'm really glad we had already decided to hs her. But if we'd muddled through public school with her, it would have been DS1 that turned us to hs. At 5.5, it was obvious that he was plenty bright but just not ready for heavy academics or for a group social setting; he was very shy, and he wasn't ready for reading at that point. Keeping him home and not forcing him into a classroom environment was the best thing I could have done for him. He was ready to read when he was about 7, and at 8.5, he is THRIVING at home. He's a strong reader, strong at math, willing to challenge himself, and while he's always going to be a little less outgoing than some of his siblings, he does beautifully in social settings. (Otoh, one of his little brothers is not quite 5, and that child is outgoing, Mr. Personality, and raring to go, academically; this is the one child I could actually see doing okay in a public school classroom, but I'm glad I get to keep him here with me so that I can enjoy him, and our home schoolroom would be lacking something without him.) For each child's individual needs: THAT is the true reason I homeschool.

I couldn't list all the reasons I homeschool, and depending on the day, different ones are more important. Some days, I'm grateful to be homeschooling because my kids can have water and bathroom breaks whenever they need them. Some days, it's very important that I'm able to control the amount of pop culture they're exposed to frequently. I originally thought about homeschooling for a combination of social, religious, and academic reasons; academics were indeed a huge thing. DH and I both went to a pretty good school and got into the honors program at our first choice college, etc. -- and we still feel that the public school failed to meet our needs in many ways, especially academic. But that's not the only reason, for sure, and around here, I think religious reasons are huge for a lot of people.

SnapCircuits would be a great choice! I would consider getting something like the Usborne History Encyclopedia, because the Kingfisher one is in my cart right now, although it's for older kids than yours. Do you have Story of the World already? If not, I'd get at least one of the volumes of that.

Good to know -- thanks! Still a little expensive. . .

Since someone alerted me that they usually have this sale in September, I was watching for it (and just got a couple of levels of HO to use toward the end of this year/beginning of next -- almost certainly before next year's sale, so I'm really glad I didn't miss it this year). Thought I'd pass it along! Also, the timeline. It seems quite expensive, and I don't really have a place for a wall timeline anyway, so I was thinking a book format would be better. Has anyone made their own timeline, and if so, would you mind sharing how you did that?

I have the Kindle app and iBooks. I get free classics from amazon or from Gutenberg.org. I also suggest looking to see if your library has e-books, or look into getting a Free Library of Philadelphia card. FLP and one of my libraries use amazon/Kindle, and it's really easy to use. Another library uses 3M, and it works, although I don't think it's quite as nice.

So cute!

Of course!

11 yo and 8 yo each have a small table, facing each other. 4yo has a small table tucked into an alcove in the same room (because that's where it fit). I have a desk, and they all bring me work, one at a time, or I answer questions needed. I start the older two on their reading, and then they move on to whatever else they can do independently, and I call each child to me, but the order varies, depending on who finishes what first. And we do group subjects when I have a chance. The kids do sometimes take their work to another room if siblings are being distracting.

As some one whose first three boys all share names with US Presidents as well as people from the Bible (son number four got a Biblical first name but his Presidential name is his middle name, and it is a Presidential last name -- hey, I was running out of choices, but he did get his own President!) I wouldn't worry about using three tsar's names. The names you have, plus Peter, are all classic names (and Biblical too), and I don't think it is a big deal. My boys aren't Millard, Barack, and Rutherford -- you don't immediately hear my boys' names and think President, kwim? (Now, if you used Ivan, maybe people would think tsar.) I like Peter, and if DH liked it, I think I could love it. I think it is classic, not dated. As for nickname, if you want him to be known as Peter, introduce him as Peter and gently correct people if they shorten it. Our first son is Andrew, and while I like Andy just fine, I wanted it to be his choice to go by it, so we always introduced him as Andrew. Nobody calls him Andy (he is 8). Otoh, we shorten the second and third boys' names all the time, but they're just short forms of three-syllable names, whereas Andy isn't really any shorter to say than Andrew. Son number four has a three-syllable name that sounds more like a two-syllable name, and it get shortened sometimes but generally not, although he's still new, so I don't know what will happen.

Cool, thanks! What do you like better about the Android OS over Apple? I really have no idea, and the iPad was a gift, so I didn't pick it out. I love it, but maybe I'd like another tablet even more. There is an app called Notability, and it works really well for PDFs. You can use your finger, but I prefer a stylus, even a cheapie one, and while it isn't quite as smooth as a regular pen and paper, it works well for making notes on PDFs, or for coloring maps or marking out items on a grocery list. I really, really like Notability plus the stylus combination.

Coconut oil, and if you need something thicker to use as a barrier, Seventh Generation cream.

I honestly don't know; the iPad (regular size, not the mini) is the only tablet I've ever actually used. I find it easy to write on it, but I can't compare to other tablets. That would be a huge deal-breaker for me, though; I'm thinking we'll need a second tablet at some point, for the kids, and I was thinking I might get a cheaper one than the iPad, but if they're harder to write on, no go.

You might check out this book for some more ideas -- what a great art approach! http://www.amazon.com/Great-Global-Puzzle-Challenge-Google/dp/B008W3BEMU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378224535&sr=8-1&keywords=Puzzle+challenge+google+earth

I mainly alternate between Singapore and Miquon, using Singapore roughly three days a week and Miquon two. Sometimes we do more of one on a weeks than the other, and part of that has to do with how much time I have -- my son can do Singapore mostly on his own, but since we largely do Miquon orally, that needs me to be with him. Adding MEP was too much for me, personally, but ymmv.

On an iPad or other tablet, the ability to write directly on it with a stylus has been a huge help to me, as well as to my kids. I'm also using the HomeschoolHelper app, which is only for tablets, and I really like it. Also, PDFs open way faster on my iPad via Notability than they do on my PC using Adobe. The iPad also comes along very easily as a notepad or list, whereas an actual laptop would be more cumbersome. That being said, I also have a keyboard case for my iPad, and it functions very much like a small laptop. I feel like I really have the best of both a tablet and a laptop that way.

Yay! Congratulations! So glad he is here, and he even came on his own! Enjoy your sweet boy!

I hope he is here right now, or at least that he comes tonight! Hugs to you, Dustybug!

Braxton Hicks, to me, feel squeezy and maybe a little uncomfortable but not painful. They're usually up high and in the front. Labor contractions, for me, are lower and more all-over but especially toward my back, bottom, and cervix. And they increase in intensity until I have to breathe through them. Then I can't talk through them, and then I pace, and then I yell through them, and then my water breaks, and then very shortly, we have a baby in our arms. That's how the last three labors went, although the time varied -- eight hours, four hours, and one and a quarter hours. If you feel comfortable, you can check your own cervix with clean hands. Before the contractions are real labor contractions, my cervix feels mushy, mostly closed, and hard to reach. Once the contractions have picked up to real labor intensity, my cervix is easy to find and open, and I'll feel a bulging bag of water and probably some bloody show too. This last time, I had a few hours of contractions that were early labor in intensity but which were going nowhere, until I got up and stayed vertical. Then my cervix went from nothing to a few cm, bulging water, and bloody show in half an hour to baby out in another forty-five minutes. Oh, and if they're just Braxton Hicks or not real labor, for me, they'll go away if I get up, change position, drink water, or use the bathroom. Real labor contractions don't care what I do. :)

Congrats! Five is great! (Says the woman whose fifth is only fifteen days old.)

You just need to move up over the line! We lived down where you do, and it was the same -- nice history and seasons, too expensive, and too busy. We are so much happier up in south central PA. It isn't perfect, but I hope never to leave. Cheaper here too.

Other. Breastfeeding round the clock has been reliable for me for at least the first year, if not longer. Not sure what we'll do after this baby is a year; in theory, I'll be 37, and my fertility should be declining, but if anything, it seems to have increased in my 30s as opposed to my 20s. I'm good at tracking my cycles via NFP/FAM/temping/charting, but that second year of nursing can be some back and forth, not regularly ovulating, so I don't know if we'll end up abstaining or not; we've never actually tried to avoid getting pregnant, because we've never really felt done before, but I don't know how we'll feel this time.