I got a minor in history. In my case, it was very easy to get that minor, because my major was medieval studies, which is an interdisciplinary major comprised of classes in art history, literature, history, religious studies, and philosophy. Most of my classes for my major were in history anyway (with the required few from the other areas; we just had to select 10 classes from three of those five areas, including two required introductory-level classes and a certain number of 400 or 500 level classes), and for a history minor, it was only six classes, two at the 400 or 500 level. So simply because of my interest in history over art or literature, I had the required six classes for the minor just by completing my major, so it was easy. Plus I had six credits of US history that I took at a different college while I was in high school, and those also transferred. I graduated a year early, though, so I was doing all of my major work (plus language requirements and everything) in six semesters. Had I stayed another year, I could have gotten a minor in Italian, English (again, I had transfer credits, so it probably would have meant just two 400-level classes), and/or child development (I took some classes in that, including independent study working in the on-campus preschool/daycare). But there are only so many hours in the day, and I was also working every semester, writing my senior honors thesis during my last two semesters, and planning a wedding (long distance) during my last semester, so I didn't cram my schedule with non-essential classes. (And anyway, my first job out of college landed me a position as a nicely-paid private nanny, so the lack of an official major or minor in child development didn't hurt me a bit.) I think in liberal arts majors, minors are common, but they weren't required.

We like the Eight O'Clock too (I especially like the mocha blend), and our stores will fairly often have it on sale for Buy One, Get One Free, so I buy a bunch and put them in the freezer. DH also likes Aldi's Donut Store coffee (I think that's the right name), and they also have a fair trade (IIRC) coffee that is inexpensive. I'm a little fuzzy on that, though, because I have only shopped at Aldi a few times, since it's not really convenient to us.

We finish by Memorial Day and start back with the new year right around July 1 because that's when our state allows us to start counting for the year. This year, we will be taking a few weeks off in August when our baby arrives, and I don't think that will be a problem. What's the worst that will happen -- they may have forgotten a little of the last thing we studied, or we have to re-cement the routine? Eh, no big deal, and we'll feel good because we've gotten several weeks of work done already, thus allowing for more flexibility throughout the year. I would start as soon as your state lets you, if that is a concern, and then I'd just take a few weeks off when you need to. We start with a couple of subjects and add more each week until we're at full schedule. We won't be starting history at all until sometime in the fall, once the new baby routine is somewhat established.

Bumping for the morning crowd. Maybe not possible?

I was also thinking that academics were covered elsewhere (on the report card, in conferences, whatever), but she wanted to put something more personal to your child, and she noticed that he's good at soccer and is a good teammate. Perhaps she put on someone else's something like, "I enjoyed having Susie in class this year; she often volunteers to help in the classroom," or whatever she noticed about each particular child that was more than strictly academics.

My DH and big kids have just gotten into cycling together, and they're having a blast. (I'm obviously not biking this year, but we're hoping I'll be able to next year, and we're planning to get a trailer for DS3 and the baby.) I can't answer your questions about the seat or clothing, but for your 3yo, you might consider a trail-a-bike, rather than a trailer. We just got one of those for our 4.5yo, and he loves it. It's like half a bike -- one wheel and handlebars -- that hooks to the back of an adult bike, and the child can just ride along, or he/she can pedal. Our 4.5yo is really happy with it, and it will last him longer than a trailer. (We found ours in excellent shape via CraigsList.) ETA: Never mind -- I typed my response before I saw your answer. :)

I just got a Kindle, the basic $69 one, for my kids to use. (I'm very impressed with the parental controls, btw.) So far, I like it a lot and think they will too. But one thing that I find a bit frustrating is that the page numbers are not showing on any books (whether they're library Kindle books, purchased Kindle books, PDFs converted to Kindle books, public domain books, etc.). At the bottom, it just shows the percent finished. It only shows "page 1 of 317" if I press the "menu" button to bring up the menu where I can change font size. Is there a way to have page numbers show up at the bottom or somewhere all the time? (I want to be able to assign the kids things like "read pages 52-60 and do the exercises.")

I don't really care for the idea of highlighting a child's nametag if he/she has special needs; that seems like too much singling a child out. Kids with special needs don't need to be made to feel any more different. At the same time, in a large group, I'm not sure if there's a better way to handle allergies or the like. Our co-op had about 50 kids this year, and generally, there was an informal policy about allergies or other needs. Typically, parents would let their children's teachers know if there were food allergies or gluten-free needs or whatever, but also, if the teacher knew that food would be served as part of the class, he/she would ask the parents to please let him/her know of any needs. I myself have a child with an anaphylactic allergy to bee stings; it's not a huge issue, since co-op is usually inside, but I absolutely did make the teachers aware of that, in case they went outside for any reason. I have not trained the teachers on epi-pen use, and I keep the pens with me (in my bag, instead of in DD's), but she and the teachers know that if she is to be stung, they need to get me immediately. If I were to leave her (as in, drive away), I'd make sure that someone else was comfortable doing the injections. It's pretty informal, though; I know of a couple of my friends' children who have specific food needs, but I don't know about the general group's food needs. Hmmm, this is good food for thought. I'll bring it up at our next co-op meeting. We don't have an official policy about handling injuries either, because it's a fairly small group still, and most of us know each other's issues pretty well. But we should have an official policy, plus latex-free gloves, on hand, just in case.

One other very helpful app: the TV Sideview app. We got a streaming BluRay player (instead of AppleTV), and if the remote is missing (not uncommon with a toddler who thinks all the remotes are phones), the Sideview app will act as a remote. Also, not an app, but Guided Access is very helpful. It has to be enabled under the Settings, but you triple-click the home button, and it lets you lock the iPad onto one app. It can't be moved without a passcode, so it's nice when the toddler wants to "help" you read your email (or whatever) and insists on pushing the home button.

One thing I've noticed is that some of the cheapie ones are better than others, and even within the same batch, we've had some that work better than others. We've had these; the latest batch seems to be better than the others, grippy but not too grippy: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005AOKW8Q/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 We also just got these; we haven't used them much yet, but they seem really nice. They're also smaller, and the tip is smaller too. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008JC82BA/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Homeschool Helper app; I have our plans in it already, and it looks really good, like it'll be a good fit for us. I'm particularly pleased about the ability to "bump" lessons with a couple of clicks, rather than having to rewrite things on paper.

We do some of the Critical Thinking Company's materials sometime between ages 4 and 6, depending on the child, because we happen to have them (the two Can You Find Me? books). We did CryptoMindBenders from CTC last year with DD, 5th grade. This year for sixth grade, DD will be trying Art of Argument; if it turns out to be too much, we'll wait a year or so. We're eclectic when it comes to logic, but there's a lot of informal logic that goes on too -- puzzles like Sudoku, games like Chess, Latin. . .

Jon Sciezka's (spelling?) Time Warp Trio. Carolyn Haywood's stories about Eddie, and she has a few others that are about boys; the Betsy books are great, but maybe he would appreciate boys as the main characters more. Matt Christopher's various sports books; DS1 really seems to enjoy the Soccer Cats series. Erin Hunter's books about the dogs (Seekers, I think, or maybe it's Survivors -- the other is about bears, so maybe good too). Laurie Calkhoven's Boys of Wartime books -- my son LOVES these. Hardy Boys, Bobbsey Twins, maybe.

If you were interested in Saxon, what level?

I would try lemon juice; it seems to work better for us than vinegar. I run a pot of lemon juice through the coffee maker about once a month, but I also run several pots of plain water after it (like four), and nobody's complained about the taste.

DD went on to Latin's Not So Tough, Level 3, after GSWL, at age 10. Level 3's grammar was actually too easy for her (nothing new after GSWL), but the vocabulary is somewhat different. I didn't want her to go into Level 4 without knowing all the vocab taught in Level 3. She did quite well and went on to Level 4.

Bumping. . .

My 11yo girl and 8 and 4 yo boys all LOVE Zeus on the Loose and Sleeping Queens. Someone was asking about Dutch Blitz; it's been years since I've played it, and I've probably forgotten how, but I remember it being fun. My kids are huge fans of poker too. :)

It doesn't sound to me like you were overly harsh in how you handled it, and at 9, she should be old enough to understand that you've asked her repeatedly not to do this. But what a sweet girl! I just went through a somewhat similar scenario today -- similar in that I get how you feel about the starter. We make kefir from live grains, so every time we make a smoothie, we take the grains out of the kefir and put them in new milk. It's difficult to get the grains, so it's a really big deal that they not get tossed into the smoothie. I showed my kids how to do that today, and I stressed that the really important thing was to take the grains out and put them in new milk. I really hope that wouldn't happen, but I hope that if it did, I could put my frustration aside and be grateful for their help. It is hard, sometimes, isn't it, to look on the bright side when you've told kids one thing or another several times? I would take the board down and keep the menu more private. I would also work with your DD on ways she can surprise everyone that would be easier. Another thing I would do is buy some colored sticker dots -- put those on any food that people can't use without checking with you first. Tight budget or not, sometimes you just need an ingredient for a meal, and it is a real pain when that gets changed last minute. So on the last bit of yogurt, or the carrots you need for a dinner, or the two remaining eggs you need for the brownies you promised to bake for a meeting the next day, or whatever. That should make it a lot more obvious to everyone. (I really do get you; we have a very tight food budget too, even after relaxing our standards for what we'd prefer to be eating, and we live ten miles from a grocery store, so it's really a huge pain if something that I'd planned for gets screwed up.)

Reminds me of the time that our first son didn't want ham when we were out at a club meeting; normally, they served hot dogs, and that's what we (and he) were expecting. So DH goes, "Oh, see, it's just a flat hot dog." DS1 gobbled it up (and he actually likes ham; he just wasn't expecting it that night).

Our cheapie e-reader (an E-Matic) died, and I want to get something else. I need it to be able to read PDFs and Kindle books, because some of DD's curricula for next year is in Kindle form. I was going to get the $69 Kindle for the kids, because for them, I really, really want some sort of e-ink technology. The problem is that one of our library systems uses 3M, which the Kindle won't do at this time, and one of our systems uses Overdrive and runs through the Kindle store. That one is the larger system with the bigger selection, but they definitely seem to have different selections, and both systems seem to be growing. I have no interest in rooting any e-reader and thus voiding the warranty. Is there an e-reader currently on the market that will do 3M AND Kindle books, and which also uses e-ink?

Hoping things are going well, Imp!

Be extremely select and cautious with whom and what you will say that is negative about your spouse, no matter how small it is. A vent can easily turn into bashing, and that's not productive or helpful.

I'm sorry; I just now saw this. We're planning to use the regular Chemistry.

Notability, definitely. I am really looking forward to trying out the Homeschool Helper app for tracking completed work next year. Also, consider a bluetooth keyboard case. The keyboard takes my iPad from nice to really, really useful. It has almost replaced my desktop machine entirely.