I love Fresh Prince! Arrested Development would get my vote. We've seen every episode at least five times, and it still makes us laugh. Usually we're laughing before the lines. "Has anyone in this family ever even SEEN a chicken?" That's my favorite line.

Mine used to have "Fight On State," but I ended up switching it because I could never hear it. I keep my phone in my bag or on my counter, and that just wasn't distinct enough to be heard over the general commotion that is a bunch of small kids, LOL. :)

I just had to get a new phone, so I haven't picked a ringtone for the general public yet. However, I did put DH's ringtone on it -- Michael W. Smith's "Do You Dream Of Me?," which has been my ringtone for DH for about six years. (In fact, when the kids hear the actual song, which is one of my favorites, play, they think Daddy is calling.) For a while after we moved to farm country and bought an old tractor, I changed it to Kenny Chesney's "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy." I think I need a new general ringtone, though; the one that's there is boring.

I think I'd look for a second cheap vehicle for your DH to drive to work, or to be your vehicle if that works better. I've done the "schedule with DH when I need a car" thing, and it's a huge pain. An extra four hours worth of work, plus getting the kids up and out of the house earlier, would be so hard -- I am not sure I'd save any money in the end. I *can* tell you that we try to go out just once a week, sometimes twice if we have to. We live at least 20 minutes from anything, so there is never a quick trip. We do a LOT on the days when we're out. We pack lunch and drinks and audio books and sometimes even schoolwork, and we plan on it being pretty much all day. I won't lie -- it's a pain. It's long and tiring, and it gets so tiresome, getting everyone in and out several times a day. And since groceries need to be gotten last (even with a cooler), I end up in the grocery store with four tired children. It's not the greatest thing in the world. But. It works. It saves us money in gas, and the biggest thing -- it means that the other days I don't have to go anywhere. And that is truly worth the trouble. We're pretty much used to it by now, so if you opt for that, it can be done.

So I have some almond milk that I got because I thought it might be good in my coffee. It's not. It's terrible, and I can't stand it. So what recipes are good with almond milk? (It's the plain, unsweetened kind.) I also have some almond flour, and I'm interested in grain-free baking with it. Anyone have any favorite recipes (like for pumpkin or zucchini bread/muffins)?

Bumping this for today's crowd -- I'm really curious about the Nordic Naturals type and dosing.

That's the kind we use, only we buy it in 1000 IU doses. The 3yo gets 1 tablet (1000 IU), the 7yo gets 2, the 10yo gets 3, and I (a nursing adult who had a lowish but normal level a year ago on a test) get 5 tablets, so 5000 IU. I did quit for the summer, but I really need to start up again and be consistent about it. We got a lot of little colds last winter, and I really want to avoid all of those again. (I do think some of that is somewhat inevitable, though, because the 1 and 3yo's touch everything and put a lot in their mouths still.) ETA: I looked at that again -- that is the brand we use, but we buy the chewable tablets rather than the softgels.

My 3yo is wearing Carter's sleepers that were the 7yo's, and my baby is wearing Carter's sleepers that at least the 3 and 7yo wore, if not the 10yo. My MIL shops department stores and is a whiz at sales, so she often buys stuff that's only a few dollars and sets it aside until it fits someone. Other than that, I've found pajamas at the thrift store, but often sweats or sweatshirts or t-shirts work too, and they always seem to have those around. Flannel pants are also super easy and super cheap to sew (especially with coupons from JoAnn's).

I selected "other" for my second-grade son, who will be 8 in February. He was really only ready to read a year ago but has progressed quickly in a few months. He can read Magic Treehouse and Ready Freddy books mostly on his own; he has the stamina to read about a chapter at a sitting (7-10 pages or so) but needs my help with a handful of words in each chapter.

I skip parts of the Bible if necessary. Just because it's there doesn't mean it's necessarily appropriate for all ages at all times.

Those of you who use the Nordic Naturals -- which kind, and how much?

We don't have a specific policy. Most classes are "bring your own kid's snack." The preschool class gives out a snack. We have a few kids here and there with sensitivities/allergies, but the parents have made that known -- so when I worked the nursery, I knew to keep certain kids away from other kids' snacks, and the cooking class has a couple of kids who get a gluten-free option, etc. Food is sometimes used during other classes without specifically notifying the parents first, but afaik, it hasn't been an issue. I currently have 7-12 yo's, but if I planned to bring a food item, I would send an email around asking about any food issues. I do think this is a subject worth discussing, though, so I think I will mention it to our co-op leader and see if she has any considerations.

They should definitely look into state insurance for the kids. For themselves too, if the state has it. Even if their income limits seem too high, they should have the mom apply for it anyway, because sometimes there are special state insurances for pregnant women. The kids may have to be uninsured for several months to get CHIP, though, so that's something to consider. It makes me angry to hear that someone's paying 30% of their income for health insurance! I'm appalled that things got so bad in the US.

Major medical issue with DH, me, or the kids, with death imminent if we couldn't come up with the cash. Not sure I'd do it to save a home. Guess it depends on the situation.

Math would probably be an easy one. I'd probably opt for some good readalouds, or free reading, some board games, maybe an art project (or science/history project that you've been meaning to get to), or a good educational DVD. Or youtube videos of something science-y.

I've told my children similar things -- that we are mammals and share some traits with some animals; we birth babies, nurse and nurture our young in similar ways to some animals. And we can often accept parts (like heart valves, not to mention milk) from some animals. But we're the only ones with souls that worship God and are capable of sin and accepting Christ's death on the cross. I love the explanation that "animals" covers men AND beasts -- that makes good sense to me. But for a young kid, I'd probably just let it go for now. And yeah, sometimes you just have to say, "well, that's the way it is" to some kids.

I "only" have four, but if people ask, I'm likely to say, "Hopefully at least one more." (I've always wanted five, and I do still feel like there is someone we haven't met yet.) What I really want to say is, "my DH and I make such darn cute babies that we should have a hundred," because that's how I feel when I look at my children. I have said "better full than empty," but I know that's not really fair to those having fertility issues (but I also doubt they're the ones saying, "you have your hands full," either). I often have the youngest in a baby carrier, so I like to wave my hands and say, "no, I don't!" But most often, and especially because my children are generally in hearing, and I would never want them to think they were anything less than wanted blessings, I say, "heart too!"

That is fabulous! Our school name has "Academy" in it and sounds fancy. My children have permission to tell people that's where they go, if they want to. OP, that woman was rude. How obnoxious. I had an elderly gentleman ask the kids about school once, and when they replied that they were homeschooled, he nodded approvingly and said, "you must get pretty high grades being homeschooled." They didn't quite know what to say (we hadn't done grades), so I just smiled, ruffled the hair of the nearest boy, and said, "they do pretty well." The one semi-negative comment I got was from a cashier (a young, twenty-something girl) when DD was about 4. She was like, "You're not sending her to preschool? Aren't you worried she won't learn the stuff she needs?" Meanwhile, DD was reading the words on the groceries and counting things and spouting off a bunch of big words to the cashier. I just said, "uh, no."

Nope, you're not the only one. My parents and ILs are totally supportive, and so are the other people we know. We get positive comments from people all the time. Nobody even blinks at seeing kids out in public in the middle of the day. Also, homeschooling is the least of my oddities, LOL. I think everyone's used to us by now.

As maybe a side note, I want a tablet that will be able to load spreadsheets that are on my desktop. I use OpenOffice's spreadsheet for school planning -- can the iPad access Word/OpenOffice documents? I was looking at the iPad for the notability-type apps so I can write with it.

Thank you for that reassurance -- that's what I do at home as well. I teach to the older ones and supplement with picture books for the littler ones. I'd rather stop and explain something to the youngers, or have them do a smaller assignment, than have the olders be bored.

The class is Renaissance history. The stated age range was approximately 8-12, independent readers and writers, but even within that, there's a big range. I did not know the ages of all of the children beforehand, but I knew there were several 10yo's, including my own 10yo DD. My DD requested specifically that I teach this class, so I geared it toward her, and her buddies who are in the class. My DD is also not a particularly quiet child; if she's bored, we'll know it, so I really didn't want it to be below her. The 7yo in the class does have a 10yo sibling in it, but I think the 7yo just wanted to be in the class, even though her mom told her she might not be able to do all of the writing. I'd rather have an interested student who needs a little extra (I do have a helper who helped the 7 and 8 yo's some yesterday) than have that child be bored in a different class. This is what we did yesterday (we are a portfolio state, so I wanted them to have stuff that would go easily into a portfolio): -I wasn't sure whether any of the kids besides DD had studied the middle ages at all, so I wrote a couple of paragraphs that highlighted feudal society and the church's role. I read/talked about that, and then I read a bit from SOTW about the start of the Renaissance and the printing press. I also read/discussed a couple of paragraphs that I wrote about Luther, the start of the Reformation, and Henry VIII (six wives and two beheadings got some dropped jaws!). I felt that they needed some background to see just why the Renaissance was such a big deal. I emailed the paragraphs I wrote to the parents afterward so they could go over the info again with their children. -I wrote a worksheet with about 20 statements on it, and I asked the students to read them and decide whether they applied to the middle ages or the Renaissance, as a reinforcement from what I'd read. I gave them some time to work on it, and then we went over the answers. The younger children did not finish but wrote the answers anyway. -I gave them a map of Renaissance Europe. We labeled several countries and four cities. I also showed them a map from the Renaissance era, and we talked about what was missing from it and what was distorted, so they could see what was gained with the new discoveries in the Renaissance. -I gave everyone a copy of the Greek alphabet, along with its sounds, and they wrote their names according to the Greek sounds. That was a hit. All of the kids needed a little help with that, and my helper made it easy for everyone to participate. -I gave them a wordsearch with 15 clues, more reinforcement from the lesson. I did not give them a wordbank, because I wanted the older kids to try to recall the answers themselves. We ended up going over the answers, and I wrote them on the board (which I didn't know I would have, so that was nice) and then emailed them to the parents as well. The 10yo's were able to figure out the answers to the clues, though the wordsearch itself turned out to be pretty tricky for everyone. -I had a bunch of printouts of Renaissance dress and handed those around. This was just for fun so they could see the crazy hats and such. Everyone seemed to enjoy giggling at the outfits. -I assigned a research project, due at the last class (there are four classes, all two weeks apart), a report on a person from the Renaissance (I gave some examples but said they're not limited to those). My guidelines suggested at least a 5-sentence paragraph, with at least two sources, and a basic bibliography (I included some examples from MLA). The email to the parents said that they can determine what is appropriate for their children; they can insist on a longer report or not. I also handed out a notebook page with some blanks to fill in (name, birth and death dates, country, contributions to the rebirth of learning, interesting facts). For the older kids, I thought that could serve as an outline, and for the younger kids, that may be sufficient, no report needed. (My own 7yo, who is not in the class, could handle the notebook page, with some help from me, but I probably wouldn't have him do the report unless he really wanted to.) I suggested that they choose the person by the second class, do the notebook page for the third class, and the report by the fourth class. I really think the older kids are ready for a longer-term project with defined goals, and some research/citation practice. The following weeks will probably not have as much writing. We'll look at some art and architecture, discuss some scientific stuff (haven't quite gotten all of those plans nailed down yet), talk about some literature. I just want the younger kids to be interested -- it's not going to offend me if they don't write a single thing, but I don't want them to be turned off of history!

If you've taught a co-op class of mixed-age, say about ten kids from ages 7-12, mostly around age 10, do you have any tips for me re: keeping the 10yos gently challenged and not bored, while not intimidating the 7 and 8yos? I don't expect that the two younger children will complete the work that the older kids will, but I don't want them to feel frustrated either.

:grouphug: mama. It does take time. I think it took a good two years of seeing the same moms at our homeschool group's events before I felt like I had friends that were more than just "Susie's Mom." But often, it starts with the kids. Maybe your child mentions Johnny a lot, so at the next event, you can find Johnny's mom and say, "Hi, you're Johnny's mom, right? I hear so much about him." Sometimes that helps break the ice a bit. It is so hard, though. I'm super shy; it takes so much effort for me to go up to anyone and introduce myself. But it's been worth it.

Oh, no, not for every book. Just any one at a time. She picks (or occasionally I assign) one book that is her "school reading book," and she has to read some from that book every day until it's done. What she does or doesn't read in her free time is up to her. She generally has several other half-read books lying around, but she's at least finishing more of them since I started enforcing it as part of her schoolwork. (I did set some limits on what she can choose for her schoolwork -- it has to be a decent reading level for her, and it can't be pure "junk food" -- no Jedi books, for instance.)