Yep, science, especially the messier (or possibly grosser) sorts. That would be so much fun with a friend! Art and geography would be good too. I'd have said history, but I kind of feel like that should be more than just once a week. Perhaps if you were both doing the same time period, and you could hit the hands-on projects or more in-depth stuff during your once a week time -- then I could see it working. Shakespeare or other literature might work too. I taught a co-op class this year that used Treasure Island as its basis; the boys (ages 6-8) read the book at home (actually, they listened to it being read), and then during our co-op time, we discussed the book and looked at different elements of it or did projects. We hit literary discussion, theater (that was a huge hit, acting out scenes), art, mapwork. . . It was a lot of fun, especially in a small group. But that kind of thing might actually make more stress for your friend because it would mean she'd have to make sure her son read/listened to the literature ahead of time.

History and literature. History and science, possibly. History and geography, easily. If you do Bible/religion, that can combine with history and geography easily. Writing combined with history or science, or even music/art -- writing about what they've read for history/writing reports on historic figures, writing about lab results in science (or videos or field trips), writing about their reactions to art or music.

Also, if you're ever wondering what specific people can see, FB has a thing where you can view your page as if you were someone else. You can view it as "general public" (which in my case means you can see very, very little -- my name, one photo, a very small blurb about me, and my college, I think) or as a specific person from your friends list. I keep my friends list heavily filtered, partly for privacy, partly because it makes sense (my sister and SILs, although we're close, and they'll all see the funny things I post that my kids do, don't need to see stuff that's only applicable to my local homeschooling friends, for instance). I'm sorry about your ill family member.

Yep, so very true. My kids remembered them much faster than I did.

-Purchasing and planning early; we won't start for about 3.5 more weeks, and I still have some small stuff to accomplish, but I could start today if I wanted. -Putting everything into my planning app -Getting our boxes and everything cleaned out and restocked and ready; everything is printed and bindered or whatever. -I'm making a list of library books and supplies I need to have on hand for the first month or so; I'm hoping to do that about once a month for the upcoming month. -I think I am going to do a trial run today to set up our first day's worth of work, so I can see what is not as easy to use as I expected or what I might have forgotten.

Another vote for "you're just fine." I do think there is a line at which siblings are doing an inordinate amount of care for youngers, but I think that line is different for everyone (and I don't think you're anywhere near it). I think it's when you're still obviously parenting but asking the kids to help a bit that you're fine. For instance, if I ask one of my big kids to put the baby in his seat while I'm dishing up plates, or if I ask one of the big kids to set the table while I'm putting the baby in his seat, I think those things are fine (or when I'm loading the car and have the big kids get the little guys buckled, or I ask them to load the car while I'm zipping jackets and putting shoes on small boys) -- everyone pitches in and helps, and many hands make light work. And I think that's all good for kids to help, to care for younger children, to contribute to the running of the family. There *are* times when I am really tired and ask the big kids to do something specific with the littles, like watch them outside (actually, they usually do this voluntarily because they like taking the baby outside) or care for the baby while I take a nap, but I do try to limit those times (and often reward them with something special later), because I don't want them to resent the babies. It IS true that they didn't choose this lifestyle; I did, so I definitely make sure they don't feel forced too often. But really, it hasn't been a problem. They generally adore the littles and WANT to do stuff with/for them. (My 11yo loves the 22mo so much and wants to know why he can't just be HER baby when the new baby arrives, LOL.)

I use different math curricula with my older two children, as they have very different math needs.

Congrats and happy birthday! I love my iPad so very much; I forget how I functioned without it. I have a long charging cord (6 feet), which is really nice for charging it while sitting in my rocking chair. I also have a screen protector that is immensely helpful, especially with children. I've had no problems with the protector interfering with sensitivity or anything; mostly I forget it's even there. I also like having a stylus for it, and the super cheap ones have worked fine for me. I do have a card reader that plugs into the iPad so I can download my camera card; I don't use that very often, because I only have a 16G iPad and don't want to use up its space with pictures, but it is occasionally useful. If you can swing it, I would get the cover that has a keyboard. This is what really takes the iPad from "nice toy" to "super, super useful" for me, because it functions either as a tablet or as a small laptop. Even with the keyboard cover, I don't really find it cumbersome to lug around. Have fun exploring apps! There are lots of threads on here with suggestions, but I seriously love Notability and am also looking forward to using HomeschoolHelper next school year.

I use a tablet or e-reader; if I had to print out e-books, it wouldn't be worth it to me. I didn't get *everything* that I could in e-book form, because I didn't want everyone needing the e-reader/tablet at the same time. But I have science (Mr. Q), DD's logic (Art of Argument), and DD's writing (WWS1, student portion) in e-form, plus many literature books. (Otoh, I opted to get the teacher portion of WWS1 and DS1's WWE3 in paper form to avoid backlog, as they'll also need my tablet for doing their Mango language lessons, and they'll need the desktop PC for typing and music.) I find a tablet/e-reader much easier to read from (compared to the desktop PC), and I find it much easier to hold while sitting in my comfortable rocking chair with several small people on my lap, than a paper book.

Congratulations, and prayers for a sticky baby! (Fwiw, I don't have the gap that you do, but having older kids has been such a blessing when it comes to chasing toddlers!)

I'm in Sue's state, and we can start counting as of July 1. So that's what we do. We finish for the year around Memorial Day and have a good five or six weeks off (during which we read, and that's all that's required, although this year, my rising third grader likes Singapore math so much that he's voluntarily pulled out his next workbook a few times to do a few problems). And then we'll start the new year all ready to go right around July 1. If I were concerned about the five or six weeks off and kids forgetting things, I'd simply add a bit of reinforcement. My kids will read anyway, but I require a certain number of pages from something that is decent literature, and I could see adding a page or so of math, or a bit of Latin, or a grammar worksheet, or whatever they each needed. Some drill games or edutainment might help with retention too. But yes, our school session looks the same regardless of the season. We just take the 8-12 weeks of break at various times, instead of June through August -- this year, it'll be about 3 weeks in August (only because we're having a new baby), 1 week in November, 3 weeks around Christmas and New Year's, 2 weeks surrounding Easter, plus all of our birthdays/our anniversary/DH's few holidays, and we should still finish easily in time to have 5-6 weeks off after Memorial Day.

I knit sometimes, like when I'm doing Latin with DD or math with one of the big kids; I'll knit a bit while they're working practice problems/translations. Otherwise, I'm generally helping someone -- writing down a narration, helping the preschooler with something, answering a question, or just holding a little one. If everyone's working independently, I'll switch laundry (and next year, we'll be adding nursing/changing diapers to that too). It's not that my big kids aren't independent workers; they are, but it's that I also have/will have several small ones too.

Both of my big kids went through stages where they didn't want to use the rods. DD thought they were babyish (and she never really loved Miquon anyway), and DS1 got to the point where he found them tedious or something, I think. So I just let him solve problems without the rods. I use them judiciously (they were a great way to help him visualize cups/pints/quarts/gallons), but not for every concept, and I think that helps him to feel that they're useful and not tedious. He'll even ask to get them out sometimes if he's trying to figure out something, but he's very much into mental math and picturing things in his head. (This child tends to be a bit spacey and in his own world; he actually told me one day, "Mom, when I'm staring into space during math, it's not that I'm not paying attention; it's that I'm picturing it in my head." LOL, okay, then.) So I would just let your child solve problems without the rods, gently suggesting them if a concept isn't making sense.

iTunes never comes up right when I click on links on my iPad, so could you post the name of the app? Thanks!

For all that people mutter about how terrible the laws in Pennsylvania are, that is one huge benefit to this state (er, Commonwealth) -- I was required to do a portfolio for my fifth grader, so I've already organized her work and picked out what I feel is important from it. The rest is sitting in a box, waiting until I get the official word from the school district that they consider it all good, and then I'll toss the extraneous materials. It is a big job, though, but it helps that I'm all excited about next year's plans, so I was anxious to finish this year and clear its books/materials out of our box to make room for shiny new stuff.

Another vote for Notability here! I just use a stylus to write/color whatever I need to on it, and then I would just print whatever I needed. Could not be easier. As for styluses, I have a toddler who likes to practice his engineering skills (ie take things apart occasionally), and I tend to lose things, so I wanted cheap styluses that I didn't need to worry about. These have been working very nicely, especially for the price: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008JC82BA/ref=oh_details_o08_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

We used GSWL with our DD, starting in third grade, and it was a HUGE hit. She and I both loved it! I will be starting it with our DS1 this summer. I really felt like it introduced a lot of grammar and gave DD a solid Latin foundation. (She then transitioned easily to Latin's Not So Tough, Level 3; Level 3 has no grammar that GSWL didn't have, but it does have some vocabulary.)

I'm less offended by the photo itself than the caption. I think there's a time and a place for teaching people to protect themselves, male or female, but at that age, the little girl probably just needs to know that her parents will protect her. (Which is what my 4yo knows.) I support the sentiment for older children, just maybe not quite that young. However, when I look at that picture (aside from the caption), I see a child curious about something that a parent has, and I see the child handling the gun with her parent's hands on her (and the gun). I see early training in an age-appropriate way, which will then breed respect for the seriousness of firearms. Far, far cry from the parent who left a loaded gun unattended with a small child, who then killed a sibling. If my child is curious about a knife or fire, I would go over those things with the child, allowing them to handle them in a safe and appropriate way. That doesn't mean I'd hand them a sharp knife or matches; it means that I would guide them and possibly allow some handling of the potentially dangerous objects. (And before anyone jumps on me, no, I would not allow my child to drive or drink alcohol or take medicine just because he/she was curious. Let's be reasonable. But neither would I simply ignore the child's curiosity about such things; we'd have a discussion/demonstration/whatever was appropriate for the situation.) If my kids are curious about guns, sure, we will be happy to show them guns, discuss them, and possibly take them to a range where they can use a gun with a parent's hands on them at all times. That being said, the thing that jumps out at me the most is that there's no eye protection on the child and no visible ear protection on either of them. That's a major no-no, *especially* with children, and it bugs me that gun rights advocates would choose to use *that* particular photo. If you're going to advocate for something, pick a good example.

I have a three year gap between my older two (and will have four between my second and third), and I combine a lot. This past year, for instance, we did SOTW1, which was just right for my second grader. So I added harder/longer/more in-depth books for my fifth grader to read on her own (using Kingfisher or something like that seems like a good plan too) and picture books to emphasize things and to include our preKer more. I would just have your older child do some more in-depth reports or projects.

I can't comment on that car, specifically, but I can tell you that the big Graco infant seat (not sure what they're calling it now, but it goes high enough in height/weight that my babies can fit in it until about 18 months) will fit in a 2004 Ford Focus (though maybe not behind a tall person). We also have a Graco MyRide (and the newest model is *really* nice with a lot of padding and special inserts for infants and everything), but it is a HUGE seat, very tall and wide. I do think we had it in the Focus rear-facing for a while (I know we had it in there forward-facing), but for a very young infant, it may not have worked, as it may not have been able to be reclined as much as a newborn needs. (I have the same problem with it in my Ford Windstar minivan, so if you need it to go behind a tall person, I probably would not recommend that seat for a newborn.)

I really like having a homeschool room. Do we always do our schoolwork in the schoolroom? Nope. We do schoolwork all over the house, depending on where I am and who needs my help, or who needs some quiet space, or whatever. But we keep workspace for each child in the schoolroom, plus my desk (aka organization central), computer/printer, current homeschool books, art supplies, workboxes, etc. It's nice not to have to worry about clearing the table for meals when the kids are still working on something, or vice versa.

I grew up drinking raw milk, and now we've been drinking it off and on (when we can afford it) for almost seven years, from three different dairies (including during pregnancies and including giving it to young children, usually after age 2 because I don't give them cow's milk when they're still breastfeeding a lot). I would only buy it from a certified dairy (I could conceivably drink it if I raised it myself or if a very close friend raised it, but I wouldn't buy it from a stranger who wasn't certified), but I have felt completely comfortable drinking it. That being said, there was a local certified dairy that did have some problems that caused contamination and illness (I don't think any deaths, though). They redid their entire protocol for handling and worked to make themselves better and stronger. But really, life is a risk, plain and simple. It's up to you what you feel is an acceptable risk and what's not.

Do you happen to have an iSomething? There's a free app from the National Archives called Today's Document, which looks pretty cool. Every day, it has a new historical document and a little bit about that document.

I have been having a blast finding preschool packs for free online; there are a lot of them. There are lots of good ideas on Pinterest too, if you search "homeschool preschool." Before FIAR or FIAR would be good options too.

We have a computer program that does that stuff; I think it's called MusicAce.