My son is 4,s o apply salt grains liberally... I have also thought hard about what to do if our income were to fall drastically, as I anticipate it will inthe near future. Here is what I would do... Math- Strayer Upton - about $45 for all math up to algebra. Then, a solid algebra, geometry, pre-calc, and calc text. These might be able to be salvaged at a school sale, library sale, etc. I would supplement these by learning about how young kids learn math, and creating appropriate manipulatives. For another $60, I would add Miquon, but this would be only if the budget allowed. Grammar- I would buy a full grammar reference book, then print off someone else's scope and sequence and teach it myself, in conjunction with PLL and ILL. For writing, I would probably buy just the TWSS from IEW, and then teach it myself. If that were too expensive, maybe do the WWE book for a better lesson plan layout. For reading, I would use Webster's Speller (free), and library books, possibly the McGuffry reader set mentioned above. I would stock up on Classics. Also, probably some good reference texts on literary analysis Spelling- How To Teach Spelling Science- Nebel's three books, plus nature study and gardening History- Timeline cards, book lists from other curricula, a good encyclopedia (like those mentioned in WTM) for each stage. Art- an art appreciation encyclopedia, plus drawing Music- Music Master's CDs boxed set, plus library, and try to barter piano lessons for something Geography- Evan Moore, a children's atlas and a "real" atlas, and some map outlines to fill in

I showed this to my native speaking husband and he said he was having frightening flashbacks...

Thank you again for all this information. I will be compiling a list of questions for the orthopedist based on all of your wonderful comments.

Thank you all for your responses. I called our city's children's hospital where we will probably be going for treatment, and they do practice the Ponsetti method of treatment!!! I am very excited and hope that we will be part of the majority of cases where this method works.

Thank you so much to all of you who have responded so far. I have a couple more questions I just thought of... - How did you prepare older children, if you had older kids? - During the newborn casting stage, will I be able to "wear" my baby in a wrap style or other carrier? I LOVED doing this with my others...

Hello, I just had my 20 week ultrasound, and everything is fine with the baby except... club feet. I'm looking for any first hand accounts of moms dealing with this, how long treatment lasted, etc. Thanks!

Thank you for all the responses! I feel much better!

Thank you Paige, that is reassuring!

Nope, perfect health.

I like to buy nice, quality open-ended toys for my kids. But since their grandparents love to shower them with gifts, half of their stuff is junk. They buy them WAY too much, they buy US way too much, everyone just gives us so much CRAP! And I don't mean to be ungrateful!!!! But I'm tired of being surrounded by so much stuff, and every time I purge, Christmas or a birthday comes around, and we are inundated again. Meanwhile, there are things we could actually use, that I'd rather have... Has anyone found a way to successfully handle this?

Twice this week, my 4.5 yo has heard a voice in his head telling him to do something. The first incident, he was in his room playing by himself during quiet time (little sister's nap time). I heard him say rather loudly, "NO! I won't!" I went in to ask him to lower his voice, and also to ask what he was talking about. He said a voice in his head had told him to throw his McQueen car in the garbage. I didn't make any comment on this,a nd just asked him to keep it down during nap time. The second time was at dinner later in the week, when he touched the side of his head and said "There is something bad in my head." I asked did he mean his head hurt, did he have a headache? ANd he said "No, there is something bad in my head telling me to throw *other toy* (can't remember what) in the garbage." I todl him that everyone had good and bad ideas in their head, and the important thing was to only do the good ones, then changed the subject. At this point, I assume this is just imagination and normal, but I'm just wondering, have other people already had their four year olds say these things? I'd hate to call the exorcist for nothing... :-P In every other way, he has never, ever given me any cause for concern and is a bright, obedient, and loving kid.

I'm sorry I0m getting to this so late... just saw your message in my inbox! Vaud is one of the "loosest" HS cantons in Switzerland, so a good chioce for a HS family. School becomes mandatory here starting at 6 years old. Once your child is that age, you need to give official notice that you will be HSing. You will then have a yearly home inspection. I have not gotten to this stage yet, as my son is only 4. There is a yahoo HS group for Switzerland if you search for it. Best of luck!

I miss the prices. I also miss single family homes. It's all apartments or homes in the million dollar range here. Mexican food libraries with English books general friendliness. Don't get me wrong, I love the Swiss (I married one!) but there's not a lot of free smiles floating around over here.

I just read through the whole Little House series, and I always think of Laura sitting at the table by lamp light, reading the same grammar book her mother had when her mom was a student. She turned out ok. :-)

I *think* her website claims a 12th grade reading level (not necessarily comprehension) if you finish Webster. I can't help much with how much to do, but for my much younger child, we randomly go over a few blocks of the syllabary, then I do one line from one lesson to read, and one line from the same lesson to spell. We're only on lesson four though. At 8, once she's mastered the syllabary, you'll probably be able to zoom through the earlier lessons much faster than we do, then slow down for the longer lists. Hopefully Elizabeth will chime in!

Also a diva cup fan, but like everyone mentioned, it takes a few months to get used to it, find the right position for your body, etc. Keep trying!

I love to see posts like this!!! Now... tell us what curriculum you used. :D

Wow! Fantastic!

Hello, I have children of similar ages and am expecting a third in December! Our experience with ETC was that books 1 and 2 flew by- we did four pages a day, no problem. They are entirely short vowel books. Book 3 is much more difficult, as it introduces long vowels as well as vowel combinations. We have slowed WAY down on book 3, and have actually set it aside for a bit to do some other work and then come back to it. RS A is good, but I don't like it personally because I can't stand spiral math programs. :-) I am going to combine some of the ideas and a lot of abacus work and RS games with Miquon. I do think RS is a good program though. Handwriting is on hold for us until my son's fine motor skills improve. Except reading, everything else is done very informally, but we will start more formally in the fall. My son just misses the cut-off for K this year, so I'm not sure if I will do two years of K type work or advance him a grade. It'll probably depend on how he does with some of the other subjects as we add them in.

My son is 4.5 and also has not chosen a hand. It is very frustrating to me, but he doesn't seem to mind! lol. For the moment I have put handwriting on the back shelf, and instead I encourage drawing and coloring and fine motor skill activities because I think his fine motor is a bit behind due to not choosing a hand to specialize in.

Rockermom- I think the Activities for the Abacus is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you!

I have discovered that spiral is hard for *me*. I just can't stand it, so I don't like to teach it. But I would like to do abacus work, and the idea of RS is appealing to me. Can it be modified? Has anyone done it and wish to tell the tale?

Wow! Thank you so much for sharing your work!

Oh I also got Texte et Expression. According to the books, these two are the only things needed. I plan to get the guide pedagogue too though, as it lays out lesson plans.

For Leo et Lea, I got the following- Methode de Lecture CP 1 De La Lettre au Texte CP Cahier d'exercises 1