My SIL planned to use cloth diapers, so I got a wipes warmer and also sewed a bunch of flannel wipes. She seemed to appreciate them. Books, for sure! The Very Hungry Caterpillar is my favorite, and there are cute toys to go with it too. If you can afford it, or if you go in with someone else, an Ergo baby carrier is really nice and also Dad-friendly. The hospital gave us a Halo sleep sack for our sixth baby, and it was so great that I ordered a second one immediately. They are wonderful!

I started using Trello this year for all four boys. I haven't been using it much lately for the younger two, except that I do use it for our history, because I put the stuff to read and all in there. I think it would be more helpful if they were more independent, but they aren't much yet. My older boys, 6th and 10th, do continue to use it. I made each card a day's worth of work per subject. Some subjects don't need the cards as much, but for history and English, it's been great. I like that I can see it on my phone or laptop, and it syncs well with their devices too. I will probably use it for next year, especially for things like Notgrass history, which will integrate history, literature, and Bible, varying a bit throughout the days, so my 7th grader will be able to tell what his daily assignments are easily.

Spanakopita!

I think he didn't care for the discovery sort of method, the "what do you notice about this?" sort of thing.

I did it with one son starting in 6th grade. That son liked math and was good at it, same as I am. He turned out not to love AOPS, even though I liked it. I don't wish I had started later; he was ready for it and did well with it, but its style just turned out not to be one he likes. I recently started it with my current 6th grade son, also good at math but differently from his older brother. He's doing really well with it and likes it a lot! We're on the third chapter so far; we take 2-4 days to do each section, and that works well for us so far. I feel like this has been a great time to start it. My goal is to finish it by the end of 7th grade (so a bit over a year from now), and I don't think that'll be very difficult. At the same time, if he decides he really doesn't like it, we have plenty of time to find something different for him. ETA: I do it all myself, no online class. AOPS is a good fit for me, though.

Homeschooling everyone from toddler to teen here! I started here when I was pregnant with my fourth child, who is almost ten.

Zombie thread! But I will update it to say that I now have indeed had experience with a c-section, since I commented upthread, and I also had a wonderful VBAC 23 months later.

Look at study.com. It varies a bit, and you would need to correct the supplemental work, but it may be helpful to you. You can easily pick and choose and even make custom courses.

I've homeschooled in PA over a decade. You'll be just fine! It's some silly hoops to jump through, but they have really no bearing on what you do with your kids. It is easiest to stay off the radar, so most people don't really advocate never happening to have kids in the testing grades.

I would not be in favor of portfolio reviews if you don't get to choose your reviewer. That could have potential for bias in several ways. We choose our own reviewer. I'm free to choose someone who is a good fit for my family. If you have a documented special ed child, they do have a bit more oversight from the school and also have to use an evaluator approved for special ed, but even in that, they get some choice. That doesn't seem too terrible to me, but I don't have personal experience. But if, say, your child is just taking longer than average to learn to read, that shouldn't be an issue at all if you choose an evaluator who understands.

This is why I don't especially mind doing a portfolio. Ideally, I wouldn't have to do one, but if we HAVE to have some sort of reporting or oversight, that's the part that actually makes some sense. I agree that standardized tests don't generally tell an involved parent anything they don't already know, and they don't really tell your evaluator anything either, just that your kid did the required test and got a score. (The law specifically says the test scores may not be used to judge effectiveness of the homeschool program.) Attendance is pointless. A portfolio can look however you want it to look. You include information about what YOUR family does. It can be samples, photographs, lists of books, even videos these days. We are supposed to show samples of work, and progress, but those are vague and can mean a lot of things. Basically, you and your child sit down with the evaluator and talk about what you've been doing for the past year. The school never sees your portfolio (or test scores); they get a letter, often a form letter, from the evaluator that says you met the requirement of the law. If we absolutely HAVE to have some sort of oversight, that's a reasonable balance, IMO. The school knows that an outside person with some degree of qualification has at least seen and talked with my kid, and I know that I've chosen someone whose educational philosophy meshes well with mine. It's not a terrible compromise. I do think that most people are not doing *nothing.* Their schooling may or may not resemble mine; they may be more or less rigorous than I am, but I think most of them are at least trying. Some may be expecting their kids to educate themselves, but while I don't think that's necessarily a goal, I also don't think they're doing absolutely nothing. Most parents do at least try. People in our state talk about trying to get the laws changed, but the concern is that they may become stricter, or that if the state does things like giving homeschoolers money, they'll then want more oversight. No, thank you.

Soups, casseroles, tacos, spaghetti, chili. . . Quiche or meat pie or spanakopita? My family loves what the kids call snack plate and the adults call charcuterie, where we bring out small dishes of snacky things like cheese, meats, olives, pickles, dips, chips, crackers, fruits, you name it. Sometimes we make a couple of frozen appetizers to go with them. Aldi has tons of that sort of thing. And yes to sandwiches. A friend once brought some platters of sandwiches, pastries, and fruits/veggies, and that was fantastic for grazing.

I think you have to define what "no curriculum" means. Is it no set curriculum, meaning that you pick books, DVDs, experiments, etc. without picking up someone's guide that says "read these pages and do this project today, read these pages and fill in this worksheet tomorrow," such that the kids choose what they want to learn (perhaps with some suggestion from the adults in the forms of requesting interesting library books or such), and so that there is a rich learning environment that just doesn't happen to look a lot like a public school? Or does "no curriculum" mean "we can't be bothered to do anything, so the kids play video games all day, and once in a while, I go, 'oh, yeah, I guess I should make them add something'?" Because those are very different things. (And it's okay to have some days like the latter, IMO, or to have seasons where academics aren't the main focus -- but those are temporary, not ways of life.) I aim for the first. I do use curricula sometimes and in some subjects and with some ages. We are not currently using any formal curriculum for science, but we are jam packed with science books, new ideas being introduced, questions being asked, hands on projects to do, cool videos to watch, etc. They know and love science a whole lot more than I did as a kid. (@8filltheheart, I want to thank you for your comments about science. They helped me find the courage to follow my heart and to let my kids lead, and I am thriving along with them.) I'm also not a complete unschooler, and I do make my kids do things they don't want to do sometimes because I think preparing them for the future means that "I don't feel like doing this hard thing" isn't really an everyday attitude to have. Buuuuuut, especially with younger ones, I also think it's really important to remember that some days, playing in the sunshine, riding bikes, sitting on the back hill talking with your brother about whatever comes to mind, and watching the birds is more important than book work, and even the occasional day where they play video games all day has value too. Balance is important. Work is important, service is important, learning is important, and leisure is important. I live in a high regulation state. 180 days is required. We do have to do a portfolio every year, but we have an evaluator of our choice to review our portfolios. We don't have to have the school's teachers review them. There are evaluators of all types available; some want an evaluator who thinks more like a public school teacher, and that's fine with them. Many of us prefer a more laid back approach where the kids can show the list of books they read, photos of the projects they did, etc., and so we find evaluators who are of the same mind. It's possible to "game the system" here, but it's not easy to do so. I personally would not want more oversight and don't love that we have any, but I also recognize that some parents will not make an effort to have a learning-rich environment unless someone else forces them to do at least a little something.

I know nothing about Lawrence, but I did go to a very big state school and was quite happy there. The size can be an advantage or a disadvantage. On the one hand, it's perhaps a bit harder to get personalized attention, and a lot of the gen eds will be large and more impersonal. On the other hand, there were lots of options -- multiple dining halls, multiple sections of classes, lots of clubs and activities, big library, etc. For extroverts, lots of chances to make friends and do things. For introverts (of which DH and I are very, very much so), you'd think the big size would be overwhelming, but it was kind of the opposite. Large classes meant you didn't have to be in the spotlight, and it meant you could just be part of the crowd if you wanted. Large gen eds tended to be easier, typically fewer papers or required homework, so for a self-motivated student like myself, it was a nice balance with smaller upper level/honors classes -- not everything needed to be a high pressure situation. Also, easier to find your tribe, IMO, because there were more likely to be your kind of people somewhere. I really never felt the hugeness of the school except at football games. 😉 Disadvantage for some: you may need to work a little harder to get help or to be noticed, depending on your major, and they don't come chasing you down if you're falling behind in work or not going to class. DH and I were both very happy there, but my younger brother, also an introvert, visited once, prospectively, and froze at the size; it was just too big for him, and he was happy at a much smaller school which, while lovely, seemed stifling to me. Everyone's different. I also was in a tiiiiiiny major (out of 40k undergrads total, there were two others in my year and none right before me), so I had a close relationship with one particular professor and some upperclassmen in the major, and I was also in the honors program, which also meant there were people there to help or to make connections if desired, and honors students did have some special privileges. So I felt like I really got the best of both worlds -- the large school advantages and the small school ones too. It sometimes is what you make of it.

WalMart substituted stir fry sauce packets when I asked for wasabi paste. As if Asian is all the same! Mostly, WM has been good, but there is the time they forgot HALF my order! And I was 30 minutes from home, in the summer. I had placed a large order (well, normal for me), and they needed two carts but forgot to bring out the one that had all the perishables. I was left with no complete meals for dinner, so I ended up going back to get it. Now I double check. Ordering from Aldi is better, though. They text in real time, and I like that. One day they texted to say they didn't have X but could substitute Y. That was fine, and I was able to ask them to add an additional quantity of Y. It's more like sending my husband or daughter shopping for me -- "they don't have this, but would this work instead?" rather than guessing. I have noticed that recently that WM is more likely to refund than to try to sub. Wonder if they've had too many complaints.

Some kitchenware like a colander, pie plates, Revereware copper clad stainless stockpot, and some others. I've replaced some of the Corelle dishes but quite a few are still in fine shape (although I got tired of the pattern and have replaced it with white as I have needed more). Still use the cooking knives that I, a poor college student, thought were soooooo extravagant to ask for, but an aunt bought them for us, and we use them daily. Probably what I use the most is the Oneida stainless, mid-level, flatware that I picked out. Even after almost 23 years of very heavy use, it still is in excellent shape. I've added to the collection over the years, and it's actually fairly difficult to tell the brand new from the original stuff. And, I still love the pattern; whereas my Corelle feels a bit dated to me, the flatware feels timeless and classic. We still have quite a few fancy cake plates and such that were gifts too, but those don't get used daily. We had two sets of sheets that were wedding gifts that we used until just a few months ago, used but still serviceable. I didn't *need* to replace them, but they were always a bit tight on our current mattress, so I wanted deeper pockets, plus we needed a new quilt anyway and decided to go in a different direction. But I'm impressed that they lasted so long.

We have used Latin's Not So Tough for middle schoolers after GSWL, and I like it okay. I used it with my older two. I really like CAP's Latin Alive, but it's too fast for early middle school IMO, without enough vocabulary review. I am planning to use Keep Going With Latin with my rising seventh grader, as we've been taking GSWL nice and slow (mainly because he prefers GSWFrench), and then I'll try Latin Alive; if that doesn't work, then I'll probably try LNST because I have it already.

Thank you for sharing the NTSA lists! Our local library branch is tiny, and I'm limiting visits for browsing because of covid, so I'm always happy to have specifics I can type into the search to get from other branches or to support my used book addiction.

I have tried more formal science, or even science by topic, and we don't really stick. Soooooo, I've been going completely interest led for the last few months, and it has been wonderful! My kids pick what they want to read (or have me read) every day, plus we have non-book options like science kits and Curiosity Stream available too, as well as gently guided nature study journals (from Our Journey Westward). It's really been great. Even our two year old likes picking a science book from our collection every day. And we read biographies of famous scientists too. Right now their daily request is Theodore Gray's The Elements, and they love learning about what makes each element special. (I pretty much just read as is, but I do occasionally shorten very technical details because they're only 7 and 9.)

Also, the Halloween episodes! Some of those are creepy! And the one with the blind school burning. I didn't like that one as a kid, and I like it even less as an adult. (Ditto for the ones where Laura's brother and then her son die.) And the one where James and Cassandra's parents die in the wagon accident. Or how about the one where the woman whose daughter dies kidnaps Laura? There were a lot of really good episodes, but read the previews ahead of time. I know there were a couple we weren't allowed to watch as kids (Sylvia). And I'd take the books any day but grew up on both.

I am a senior mod for a very large FB group for a particular illness, and we use the Learning Guides (used to be called Units). We also have links to the most common questions that are in our Guides, and so when newbies ask the newbie questions, we can say, "Hi, Sally, welcome, I'm sorry you're dealing with this. Here is a post that explains more -- please let us know in that thread if you have additional questions." And if need be, we can close Sally's original post so that she is encouraged to put additional questions in the comments on the explainer post. We have a lot of explainer posts, and people really, really like them. (They also save the mods from typing our same experiences over and over.) In addition, we have post approval on -- all posts are seen as pending until a mod or admin approves them. That means that right away, we know what's being posted, so that we can ensure scientifically accurate information is given, and we can set the tone for the thread. No newbie bashing! Also, we have a lot of mods, and we use the keyword alerts liberally, so that if something gets ugly, we can clamp it down quickly.

I used to keep about 7-10 days' worth of food on hand for us just in general, because with a large family, sometimes things are just out, especially if I'm doing a grocery pickup and can't adjust brands or whatever as easily on the fly. Aldi is sometimes hit or miss, depending on when their trucks arrive. With covid, I've been keeping more like 14 days' worth of food on hand, and I'll still keep doing that for a while. Not always for meat, because freezer storage becomes an issue, or for produce, but basics, canned goods, cheeses, eggs, etc. It gets weird though, because sometimes they'll only allow me to choose one or two of something, so I'll also add one or two of a different brand/flavor/scent in case the first one is out, and then all of it will be available. So in order to make sure I don't end up with no toilet paper or conditioner or spaghetti sauce, sometimes that means I end up with a lot. I do feel like the stores have strange outages sometimes. My husband was grabbing some food the other day, and a kiddo had asked for pepper poppers. He sent me a picture of the completely empty frozen snack section.

I don't, but I've been pretty pleased CAP's Art of Poetry! We have used it with two kids, just orally, but I like it a lot. Good variety of poems, good questions; I'd say fairly comparable (albeit clean, without being overly sanitized) to the survey of poetry course I took in college. I would vote for getting both the student and teacher editions and reading them out loud as you go. I have a lot of like for other Memoria Press books and have used some of their Poetry, Prose, and Drama book (using it with my 10th grader now). I like it okay, but it has a LOT of stuff, and three books to juggle.

Not sure if Google Sketchup might work?

Get an upper arm cuff, and make sure it is the right length. Sometimes you need to order a cuff separately from the machine. Amazon has longer cuffs. (Wrist cuffs are harder to use accurately.) Omron is the most recommended brand by doctors. They come in multiple price points, but the extra money just buys more features. I have the basic $30 one from WalMart/Amazon, and it has been very reliable for me. I checked it every day twice a day for two years, and it was very reliable and compared well with my doctors' office machines. It saved my life twice when I had preeclampsia, no exaggeration. Make sure you sit quietly for a while before taking it, and sit like in the graphic here: https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/high-blood-pressure-toolkit-resources I volunteer for a nonprofit support group for survivors of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, so proper BP taking is a big focus of ours.