In general, I try to avoid: hydrogenated oils high fructose corn syrup soy artificial colors/flavors juice/soda artificial sweeteners None of us consume those things regularly, except for DH, who insists upon splenda in his homemade iced tea. He hates the aftertaste of stevia (though I like stevia just fine and use it myself and will occasionally make hot drinks for the kids that have stevia, whereas I don't want them consuming splenda or aspartame at all, ever), and splenda is the lesser of the evils (over aspartame). I also don't worry too much about the occasional consumption of any of it. We don't eat large amounts of soy, but if I need an ingredient for occasional use that has some, eh, not the end of the world. If it's an ingredient we use frequently, or that is reasonable to pay a bit more for the non-HFCS version (like for ketchup, for instance), I'll buy the better one, but otoh, the pickles we bought for the burgers probably have artificial colors in them, and it's not the end of the world.

I'd say reading and writing skills, because if you can read well, you can teach yourself a lot, and writing/communicating skills so that you can communicate what you know. As I think I've said on here before, if you're not great at math, that is not necessarily immediately apparent, and people seem to be more forgiving about that anyway, because lots of people seem to think that "math is tough." However, if you have poor grammar skills, those show immediately; nobody can tell at first glance at your resume that you aren't a math whiz, but poor grammar/spelling/etc. will show right away.

We do a co-op, but it's mainly for social reasons, rather than academics. We do get some academics from it, but it's mostly just icing on the cake, as opposed to major core subjects. The kids get to do some fun stuff, and they get to play with other kids (there aren't many kids around our home), and I get to socialize with other like-minded adults. There are very academic co-ops here, which would cover all major subjects, and those have not been what I want at all. (Our co-op is also not every week; it will meet a total of 12 times this school year, for about three hours each time.) We live 20 minutes from everything, and so on co-op afternoons, we go grocery shopping on the way home, so it's not any extra traveling for us. But no, I don't feel that I *need* a co-op for academics at all and would feel completely comfortable teaching all subjects here at home.

I had to relate it to food so that DD got what borrowing was. (I also stopped calling it "borrowing," because "regrouping" sounded more accurate.) Once I talked about how the tens were like hams, and the ones were the hams sliced into ten slices each, she understood. Relating math to food often works for her.

:grouphug: It is still hopefully a long way off for me, but I know it is going to be a hard day when it does come.

My current routine (subject to change on any given day, based on the needs of the baby) is this: -Make three piles of workboxes -- one for DD's work, one for DS1's work, and one for stuff we do together. (And one for DS2, age 3.) -Put DD's pile by her desk; DS1's pile and the group pile stay on my desk. -DD can work on her independent work (handwriting/grammar, French on some days, and reading) while I work with DS1. 3yo is usually happy to play for a while, and baby is generally napping or playing. -When DS1 is finished, I either work with DD on math, Latin, and memory work, or I do history, science, and the daily "special" subject (geography, picture study, music, religion, and hopefully soon, Shakespeare) with the whole group. Then I finish with DD, and she finishes her independent work. -Projects are for after lunch.

I think of a "warm" mother as being a smiley, cuddly sort of one. My own mommy is definitely what I think of as "warm." She was always ready with a hug and smile, and she loved hearing what was on our minds. My associations with her are of snuggling on her lap, reading stories, singing songs together. As a grandmother, she welcomes all of the grandchildren with open arms. Hugs are more important than messing up clothing. Lots of eye contact. When I call her, she always makes me feel like I am just the person she was hoping to hear from. Otoh, I would think of a cold mother as being more reserved and formal. She rarely says the words, "I love you." She is quiet and maybe not so interested in hearing kids ramble. Hugs are infrequent and maybe sideways, rather than a two-arm full snuggle. You don't sit on her lap; she doesn't really look you in the eye often. You know she loves you, but her love languages run more toward things she does for you, rather than the things she says to you or to the hugs.

With her family not super close, I'd offer to drive her to the hospital and to stay with her until her parents/sister could get there. Meals after the baby arrives, and even before (or have her over to dinner as much as you can beforehand). Help her get the carseat installed. This poor woman -- how awful for her!

I would consider that to be pretty healthy. You had a good protein, multiple vegetables (including a leafy green one), and a fruit. And, if you're okay with grains, you included that too, so I would consider it a balanced and nutritious meal. Plus, you can pronounce the items you used, and there was not added sugar, nor hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup. If I were making the meal, I'd buy organic and free-range when possible, but it's not always feasible for me to do so, and still, unprocessed is unprocessed. Fresh is great, but I don't worry about using frozen when it's more feasible either. I would probably use fresh or frozen corn instead of canned, and if I used rice at all (we are low-grain here), I'd use brown. If budget permitted, I'd probably buy the "fancy" traditionally fermented soy sauce (I don't really use soy other than that anyway), but at least for me, it's all about balance, especially for occasional use. I really think this is a pretty darn healthy meal. :)

Wall maps of the US and world. A globe, but tbh, we have an old one, and it works okay for now. I like having one, but I wouldn't necessarily buy brand-new at this point. I hate to say it, but I'm really glad we have a computer in our school room. So very handy. A battery-operated pencil sharpener. A big table for two children (that is also suitable for art projects), but also a desk for the child who is easily distracted. Workboxes, color-coded for each child, one for each subject. Individual boxes for the two older children that hold colored pencils, regular pencils, pens, glue sticks, scissors, pencil sharpeners, and erasers. They keep those at their workspaces, so they don't have to hunt for those things, and they're all ready to go to co-op. I do hope to get a microscope at some point. But really, my favorite investment was a freebie. It is a HUGE old office-style desk. It's probably five feet by about 3.5 feet, and has several huge deep drawers, plus pull-out shelves on each side. I LOVE it. I can put a dozen workboxes on it and still have room for the computer monitor, keyboard, globe, and the crate where I keep our books. I'd always wanted one of those, and when someone offered us one, I took it.

I tried 100 Easy Lessons with my DD, but it wasn't really her thing. She took off reading on her own very quickly and at a very young age. I tried it this year with my 6yo son, and he thrived on it. We skipped the writing part, and I didn't necessarily read it just as it was scripted, but I really liked that pretty much right away, he could read a short word, and he was so proud of himself. He also appreciates that the stories are humorous.

If *I* were buying, I'd buy BrainQuest or Comprehensive Curriculum workbooks for the next few years, the next several levels of Nallenart French, several levels of Latin books, Handwriting Without Tears workbooks, lots of paper/construction paper/binders/notebooks, really nice colored pencils/crayons/paints. Maybe a microscope. What a nice bonus to have (especially if you'll have that again every year)!

Joy! (Only because Joy is my middle name, and Grace is my sister's; Caroline was on our short list for both of the little boys, with Joy as the middle name.)

My kids have enjoyed (and learned a lot from) the games at sheppardsoftware.com.

Excellent; thank you for clarifying that for me! Great! Things that benefit a large family. . . :)

Feltboard stories have been hits with my 3yo!

Thank you; that is very helpful. So I only need the Instructor Text if I want to choose my own copywork/dictation? If I buy the workbook that you linked to, I don't need the instructor text after all? I thought I needed both, so great! (Dumb question about copyrights. If I buy the PDF version of the workbook, am I allowed to use it for my daughter and then later for my sons?)

Usually until it's really worn out, or I really hate it. I'm not hard on clothes. I have a shirt that I bought about twelve years ago; I wear it frequently, and it's one of my favorites. It is just now starting to show a bit of fraying, so its days are limited, but I will be sad to see it go. Today, I am wearing a shirt that is at least seven years old, and it may be a tiny bit faded, but not too badly. It's far from on its last legs. It's a thick Lands' End knit and has held up very well (have not noticed that about their more recent items, though).

Depends on the book, and the kids. Sometimes I do stop to explain something, or to summarize a lengthy and confusing paragraph. I think it's good for them to hear language and sentence structure that is above their own reading levels, but I also don't want them to be confused. Sometimes it can be a little frustrating, but it's worth it. (DH spent a lot of time stopping to explain The Hobbit to then-4yo DS1, but in return, DS1 loved it and did indeed understand the story.)

Based on recommendations, I think I am going to do WWE with my 5th grader next year. I'm probably going to try level 4 with her, and if it's too much, we'll go slowly, or we'll drop back to level 3. But while her creative skills are great, I think she needs the help with organizing and composing. I've been looking at the sample pages online, but I still have a few questions. So, I need the big parent guide and the individual workbook, right? Do I need the student pages too? How many days a week is it designed to be used? I should expect to spend a fair amount of time with her on this, correct? It's not so much self-taught? I know there are reading selections for each lesson. Will it also work to coordinate it with history, so that her practice exercises are also history narrations, or is that not feasible? Just wondering.

I'm planning on doing SOTW1/Ancients with my 5th and 2nd graders next year. We have the Activity Guide, and it looks like it has lots of great supplemental stuff in it. I'm figuring on about a chapter a week, maybe two weeks if they're really into some of it. We will plan to do history about three times a week (one day is co-op/educational games/catch-up day, and the other day, I use for doing geography, civics, other social studies related stuff, but we can do projects on that day too). My kids don't really like coloring books very much, and my budget is pretty limited anyway, so most of our supplements will be from the library. For US history this year, I generally read the spine chapter and/or a chapter from a good novel aloud, and then on other days, we read corresponding picture books so that my littler ones get something out of it all too. Additionally, my oldest often has independent supplemental reading. We have been using the sheets from History Scribe, and that seems to work well, so we'll probably continue something like that. I'm also looking at using WWE4 for my 5th grader, so maybe we can incorporate that into history narrations as well (not sure; that's a different thread). So, what are your favorite picture books and harder novels/good non-fiction books for this time period? Specifically, things that aren't listed in the AG.

My main rule is "no light sabers/swords/noisy toys in the schoolroom during school hours." Too distracting. (3yo can bring quiet toys in, but the playroom is right next to the schoolroom, so he can play with noisier toys in there without being too far away.) My other rule is, "if I'm talking, you should not be," with regard to readalouds. I'm happy to read aloud to them, but they either have to be quiet, or leave the room. I also routinely find myself saying, "Yes, he's cute, but you still need to do your work" with regards to the tiny brother who is usually in my lap. Lessons often are interrupted to cover him with kisses. But that isn't really a problem; I'd rather foster sibling love over academics. :)

We love the BW CDs here! I know zero about classical music but was determined to teach at least something to my kids. Sure, they know the silly lyrics, but I think those also helped the pieces stand out to them. (And it doesn't hurt that they also learned the kings and queens of England because of one of the songs.) For *me,* things like BW act as a gateway to appreciating classical music. :) My kids also really love Susan Hammond's Classical Kids series -- Beethoven Lives Upstairs, etc. They're not as silly as the BW, and they include several pieces by each composer. I like how the music is in the background, and they use different pieces to highlight different moods in the story. And the kids get a bit of biographical information too, which helps them understand the composer's perspective. (Also, the one that is a simple version of Mozart's The Magic Flute made the basic plot of TMF accessible to them, and then DD went through a stage where she was comparing various singers' versions of The Queen of the Night on youtube, so that was not, IMO, a bad thing.)

LOL! We did the jello-and-candy-cell model earlier in the year, and it was a hit. It did help them remember the functions of the various cell parts. (I just read about the mummifying chicken project in the SOTW1 AG last night, and DH and I were laughing about it -- we think they might actually enjoy that one.) I go back and forth about projects. In theory, I like them and think they are an interesting way to add a dimension to a lesson, to make it more relevant, to break up any monotony of reading/narrating, to give them a sense of what life was like in a particular time period. In practice, it depends. A lot of the history project books seem, to me, well, silly. We tend to like stuff like games or recipes from various time periods, but with a lot of stuff, the kids want the real thing instead. They want to do a real historic craft, not an imitation. However, I'm looking forward to the SOTW1 AG next year, because we have not studied anything about ancient history yet, and I think the projects will be fun. If we get to them, that is; I'm not great about getting to them.

I have brought baked pasta dishes (with meatballs, meat sauce, or sausage), because they freeze and reheat well. I also bring banana or zucchini bread. Sauteed green beans (with or without walnuts added) reheat nicely too. When DS3 was born, a friend brought several items, which were all delicious, but the main one was a chicken corn pie. It reheated very nicely, and we all LOVED it, especially the kids!