My son was 9 last year and took a class using Lego mindstorms last summer and then participated in First Lego League last fall. The class was great and we would do it again if it wasn't so expensive. They had 2 kids per robot and taught them how to build, program and "compete" with their robots. The First lego League was a bit of a dissappointment after the fun summer he has. First Lego league is a group of 4-10 kids, who get together, build and program a robot, do a research project, create a presentation, and then are scored on their research, presentation and how well the robot performs. Around here one of the high schools runs the program and has many mindstorm kits. There is a team fee of $250 that goes to First Lego League and then we had an individual fee to the high school club to cover missing and broken pieces, field set expenses etc. Most of the teams were sponsered by their school and later I did find one homeschooling group (faith based and a very different faith from ours so not likely something we would join). WOrking with the "schooled" kids versus homeschooled kids was a quite an experience for us. For one we are used to doing everything during the day, but of course they can only do things at night. It was on the other side of town so lots of driving for us, and the team was managed by the parents of two of the team members. Normally that wouldn't be a problem but both of these kids has special issues which really affecgted their behavior and interaction with others. We weren't told of this until well into the season and couldnt switch. Of course everyone had to bend over backwards and accomodate those two kids and my son wasn't able to get involved because of those kids flat out said he didn't like my son and refused to work with him on anything. So while the potential for fun can be there, I wouldn't join a group unless I already knew the people/kids involved. You should be able to google First Lego League and get their website. I "think" they listed groups by state but not totally sure. I found out about ours since they were advertising the summer class in the newspaper. Stephanie

My mom was second oldest of 13 and talked about many many summers where her job was to potty train whatever younger sibling was at that age (granted they were training them around 18 months which I still find hard to believe). My first 2 are boys and my 3rd is a girl. We were in the process of potty training the girl when i got pregnant with number 4. My oldest son got designated to help with potty training. A job he hated particularly when he had to wipe her butt. I did feel bad for him but when I was laying on the couch with my head in a bucket there wasn't much I could do to help her learn to wipe. She was far enough along in the process that moving her back to diapers wasn't an option, she just needed help with the snaps/buttons, wiping and washing her hands. She knew when it was time to go. Hubby was at work and she needed help so oldest DS got stuck. Life happens that way sometimes. So there was never an issue about what other saw. With that many kids running around it would be pretty hard to keep things "private". But the older kids haven't changed diapers just because I want to make sure they get them on tight enough because I don't want to deal with leaks. When #4 arrived DH thought I shouldn't nurse in front of the boys anymore. He thought I needed to go into a separate room so they wouldn't see anything. I laughed at him. I asked him if he really expected me to leave three kids completely attended for up to an hour at a time every 2 hours just to feed the baby. If I did that, he would be lucky to have a house to come home to at night. While I certainly don't flaunt things in front of the boys and I'm mostly covered by my shirts, they do see some flesh. I have always just told them those parts are for feeding babies. They don't see anything sexual in them at this point and I'm perfectly content to have them think of them as having a single purpose. As far as having older sibling help in other ways besides feeding and/or diapering. My oldest DS was designated baby holder when #4 was a baby as he was the only one mature enough to hold her. She is now 18 months and he has the BEST relationship with her of all of them. If he hears her in the morning before I get up, he rushes to get her out of the crib, he will get her breakfast for her and play with her until I get up. If he has been gone all day, he will come home and say how much he missed her and specifically ask for time to play with her alone. And the smile she gives him when he carries her around just melts my heart. I don't know if this fabulous relationship will continue as she gets older and gets into more things but right now she is his favorite playmate. So I think having an older child help out wiht a younger is a great way to foster the relationship and teach important skills but yes there is always the danger of putting too much on the older child. I guess it's a case of watching how the older one reacts. If they are asking to be more involved certainly let them, if there is a bad attitude try to back off on the requests for help if possible. Stephanie

We never have because we tithe on our gross income but not that you ask it made me realize we get back more than we pay in because of the child credit stuff. I guess we should tithe on that. I'll have to talk to DH about that. Never thought about it before. Well my grandparents are doling out their money quarterly to my dad (he's and only) and the grandkids (there are 3 of us). We tithe on it because I just feel more comfortable doing so. I don't tithe on birthday cash gifts etc but it just felt right to tithe on the inheritance stuff. Yes I would. We have been the recipient of surprise help in the past (for our mortgage payment) and we simply trust God that he will make the 90% with his blessing go farther than the 100% on it own would. I have to say that approach has never failed me. Stephanie

I can't think of any reason to get a side by side, with children of two different sizes you have to provide considerabley more force on the side with the heavier child just to keep the thing straight. My sister had twins but they were always a couple of pounds different and even that was enough to cause steering issues. I have never owned a stroller that "went" with a infant car seat, however, both my single and my double, i can set the carseat in and it stays securely. I'm really glad I never bought the set since my oldest is 10 and the carseat would have long ago expired and needed to be replaced but the stroller would be just fine. the biggest problem with the front to back, is that if you put baby in front, then toddler can reach, hit, touch baby and baby is pretty far away but if you put baby in back (without car seat) all the weight (of toddler) is up front which does make steering harder so definitely check out how well it steers. Stephanie

I'm due in 8 weeks and oh so very tired. But we were off all of May and the first 2 weeks of June (I work in a greenhouse 6 weeks out of the year) so I'm very much feeling like they need to get back to school. Plus they have been done long enough that they are so bored and thus extremely naughty (or maybe that's just my perception being so very tired but it sure seems like they go out of their way to be obnoxious these days). I still have plenty of work in my homework database to assign to the oldest and he is self teaching so I just have to assign dates and he is okay. Next one can FINALLY read some basic instructions on his own after about 3 years of my working with him and since his books are all technically a year "behind" is age he can actually work on his own (but needs someone to sit and remind him every 30 seconds that he is suppose to be doing homework not counting dust specks). Then my oldest daughter is "suppose" to be starting kindergarten. It just hasn't been happening. We have had 1 day in the last week and a half. I hardly have the patience to read the instructions to her let alone teach her letter names and how to properly write them (over and over and over and over again). Then the 18 month old is into everything even when I do think I might attempt school. Fortunately I don't have to really do much to get ready for baby. This will be my 3rd girl in a row and I haven't really put anything away since the last one. At some point I will buy a package or two of diapers in a newborn size but otherwise I really don't care. I actually find the post-partum period to be so EASY compared to being pregnant. Give me about 4-5 days and I'm in great shape. So while we are trying to do some school, it is very light. Our new books arrived today and we won't even remotely consider a "full" schedule till after baby is born so I have 8 weeks to work on lesson planning. Write now my oldest (who is working on a 7th grade level) is doing some business math stuff (super easy for him), finishing up his grammar book (but no writing assignments) and doing some health lessons on the computer (switched on schoolhouse). That's it. But it's what we can manage for now. At this point school is simply a diversion so they don't spend hours fighting, I mean playing, with each other every day. So if you can't handle everything, drop a few subjects. If you can't handle anything drop it all. Honestly your children will have plenty of time to learn this stuff later. You need to rest now. By the way I would agree about checking out your iron. I am severely anemic and I know from past experiences that it is a major component of my tiredness and crankiness. Stephanie

Normal for me is about 9 hours. However, I frequently get anemic and as soon as my iron levels drop my need for sleep goes up. Since my doctors won't treat it until it gets really really bad (I can't take oral supplements and the only thing that works for me is iron infusions), I have just learned to accept that the majority of the time i need 9-10 hours a day plus at least 1 daily nap (2 is preferable but seldom happens). Stephanie

I love soup and I could eat it as complete meal every single day. Hubby grew up very different than I did and soup is very much an appetizer to him. I can't even get away with making chili a complete meal on it's own. I'd fry up some meat along side with it and let everyone to choose meat or not. Stephanie

Well I found MOTH to be way too regimented for my tastes. I would go absolutely bonkers if I had to live by the clock. I understand the times are meant to be guidelines to help you get everything done in a day but it just totally rubbed me the wrong way. However, on the whole the book did give some great ideas to help organize my life. On the other hand I LOVE MOTC and we are still using it daily after 1 1/2 years. She recommends making chores cards for things like getting dressed, brushing teeth, reading Bible etc. But my kids already have that routine down and I really didn't think they need a card to remind them. So I just implement it for chores only. And since most of our chores don't need to be done every day, I made complete chore paks for each day for 5 days (we only do chores on school days). That way each day we just swap cards from the page that stores cards into the holder and everyone knows exactly what jobs to do this day. I can't tell you how much that saved my house this winter between battling morning sickness and a range of colds, flu, and unknown fevers that kept me in bed for 8 full weeks this winter. At least when it was all over, it was still safe to walk across the floor and there were no unwanted critters living in dishes in my kitchen. My kids are now 10,7, and 5. I'm about ready to revamp my cards because each kid is now a year and half older than when I started and each could tackle a few more complicated chores that they weren't ready for before. i really can't say enough good things about MOTC because now my kids do almost all the daily cleaning in the house and I just have to worry about deep cleaning, the 18 month old and the new baby soon to arrive (I do the cooking and homeschooling as well). I'm sure the style won't work for everyone but it's exactly what I needed to force me to sit down and figure out who could be doing what and an easy method for each child to know what is expected of them each day. Stephanie

I got this book from the library about a month ago. I have never baked bread before because the whole mix, knead, raise, punch down, raise process seemed a bit daunting to me. With this book I through 4 ingredients (water, salt, yeast and flour) in a plastic bucket stir it up. Let it sit on the counter for a while and stick it in the fridge. Over the course of a week or so (the longest I've kept it was 10 days and yep it was still good) I just scoop a chunk out of the pan and spread a little flour over the service so it doesn't fell sticky anymore and drop it on a piece of parchment paper. Come back later and put it in the oven and we have fresh bread. I've only tried wheat once (and with my first ever attempt at fresh milled flour at that) and it came out way too heavy so I mixed another batch of straight white in on top of the remaining dough and our 1/2 white 1/2 wheat came out very tasty. Anyways I bought the book before my month from the library was up because I was so impressed and with 76 people on the wait list at the library it wasn't likely I'd be getting the book again anytime soon and my family was so spoiled with the fresh bread that they would not have been happy if they had to wait months for me to make some again. Stephanie

Well I just received an ancient mill from an aging relative. Other than it weighs a ton (in a big wooden box like another poster mentioned) it worked great. It wasn't nearly as loud as my vacuum cleaner and baby slept right through it. I'm still working on how to adapt recipes to use the whole grain flour because I've never worked with anything but all-purpose and have never baked bread before either so I'm being very ambitious. I'm using the book Artisian Bread in five minutes a day to get started learning how to make bread. My family loves it and I loves just stirring some stuff together once a week. I don't think I have the patience to mix, knead, wait, knead, bake. I think the kneading step intimidates me. I like the mix, flop it on some parchment paper and bake for supper approach. The only drawback is now trying to figure out how to incorporate my fresh wheat flour into their recipes without making biscotti (which is exactly the texture and shape of my first attempt). Stephanie

I baked a ham for supper tonight. Normally I just throw the bone and whatnot away but I've been trying to cut food costs as well as learn how to cook dried beans so I'm planning to cook up some beans with the bones. But what about all the juice/broth that cooks off the ham when it bakes? I haven't come across any recipes that talk about using that stuff and I hate to throw it away if I can use it to flavor the beans but I don't know if it's too salty or what. Does anyone use the leftover juice from a baked ham and what to you do with it? Thanks Stephanie

I haven't done it personally but my dad did when I was a kid. Since we were in the country and other critters were around, we always locked them up at night. I spent many hours over the years chasing birds (they also raised, geese, ducks, and turkeys) back into their building - especially right before approaching storms. Ours were free range during the day but they got corn for their night feeding. My grandpa was friends with all the local produce managers and outdated produce was also fed to the birds (of course that wouldn't work to keep the organic label) but it did help keep the cost down since the managers were just throwing the stuff away anyways. By the way, as far as pricing, here I know one person sells theirs for $3.25 a pound at the farmers market, organic but not certified since their grain supplier is not certified organic. Stephanie

My parents own a greenhouse and I totally agree with burying the stem. We actually do that with certain of our plants before we ever sell them so the customer gets big strong healthy plant from the start. However, we don't recommend planting in trench (we suggest going straight down even though it's a pain to dig a deeper hole) for two reasons. First where you lay that stem is where it will develop roots. If you only have it in the top couple of inches you are directing your plant to develop roots close to the surface just where the soil will dry out the quickest. You want those roots deep to take advantage of the moisture. Second if you are the type of person to hoe, you are then hoeing exactly where you have trained the roots to be and will then chop up the roots and slow down your plant. We think it makes for a much better plant to go straight down. Stephanie

Depends on how strong of vanilla you want and how sweet but after it cools down and I have stirred the yogurt culture in, I add the vanilla and sugar. I have 5 cups of milk and 1/2 cup yogurt and to that I add about 1/3 cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla. You will have to alter that amount based on the amount of milk you are working with and you taste preferences. Stephanie

We also use raw milk. My SIL tried this with store bought whole milk and it didn't work. Has anyone had success with store bought milk? Well I have a yogurt maker but all that really does is maintain the temperature for you. I have never used anything but store bought milk (due to economic difficulties as a child my parents got raw milk from my grandparents. I STILL can't drink a glass of milk plain because I remember so vividly having nasty chunks of cream floating in my milk. Don't know how you all do it but I thought it was horrible stuff). Sometimes I use straight whole milk and sometimes I use half whole milk and half skim milk (but then I will add 1/4 cup of dry powdered milk) and it comes out great everytime. Stephanie

I didn't like MOTH because it was just too strict for my personality. I couldn't stand being tied to the clock (at least that's what it felt like to me) however I LOVED Managers of their Chores. This worked so well for us that I made a chart for me as well. I didn't implement it exactly like she suggests but modified it to fit our needs. For instance, my kids didn't need much for daily chores. they already know to get dressed, put pj's away, brush teeth etc so it seemed pointless to make cards for those activities. Instead I used the cards for actual work i wanted them to do around the house such as clean the bathroom, fold and put away laundry, clean their room etc. Some things are done daily (like wash out the bathroom sink) others a few times a week (laundry) and others weekly (clean out the van). So we made enough cards for each chore for each day it's assigned. I get some extra cards holders and filled 5 slots (Monday-Friday) for each kid. that way each day I just pull out that days set. My kids grumbled at first but now they get to work quite quickly. When we start my kids were 9,7, and 4). My chart is more general, for instance one day a week I assign myself Kitchen. Obviously dishes and stuff get done every day (or nearly so) so I didn't need that but I needed to be reminded to put away things that accumulate on the counter, clean the stove, wash the cupboards etc. So I give myself the "freedom" to pick a Kitchen chore that needs to be done. I don't have a set amount of time just whatever I can work in that day. SInce obviously everything can't be done in a day, I can leave the chore at whatever point during the day I want. I know I have accomplished something and next week I will get back to it. It took me about 4 month to get my house in order. I know it seems depressing to think of things taking that long but I just worked when I could (and decluttered a TON during that 4 months - I took several van's full of stuff to goodwill) and eventually I made significant dents and I always knew that if i didn't finish an area, I would eventually get back to it. So while MOTH didn't work for me (since it turned out my trouble wasn't so much managing my time), Managers of their chores was exactly what I needed to get my kids and myself cleaning on a regular basis. Stephanie

This was what my sister always wanted for her birthday when we were growing up. YUMMY STRAWBERRY DESSERT 1 large package strawberry jello 1 3/4 c hot water 1 pint fresh strawberries with 1/2 c sugar OR 1 pint frozen strawberries thawed 12 large marshmallows, quartered (or use 48 minis) 1/2 pint heavy cream, whipped baked angel food cake (1/2 of the amount from a boxed mix) Note: Double recipe size to fill a standard 9x13 pan. Combine berries and marshmallows and let stand 1 hour. Prepare jello, let cool until just starting to thicken, then whip. Combine jello and marshmallow mixture, then fold in whipped cream. Line pan (sorry I don't have the measurements but half of a 9x13 sized pan) with broken pieces of angel food cake, Pour mixture over this and let stand in refrigerator overnight. This isn't exactly low fat but I have swapped the different permutations of low fat/low sugar versions of cool whip for the whipped cream, sugar free jello for regular jello, sweetened the strawberries with splenda instead of sugar and it still works fine and reduces the calories. Stephanie

I've worked in a greenhouse most of my life (my parents own one) and here is our recommendations for care. I hoping these pots are at least 5 gallon in size or larger. Tomato plants suck up water. Here in WI they can easily take a gallon of water a day or more. SInce I'm expecting your summers are warmer than ours, they would need more water than that. It always works well if your pot has holes in the bottom so you can slide a tray underneath and fill that up with water to. The plant varieties that Doran listed would all work well. Basically you need a compact plant. These have a stalkier/heavier stem and don't vine out the way a traditional plant would. Note: the vinier types "can" be grown in a pots but you have to plan on at least a 20 gallon pots, a very large cage, and even then you will likely need more support. Not always a pretty option but it can be done. I do this every year because my kids love cherry tomatoes so we keep one on the deck for the kids to eat whenever they feel like it, the rest of mine go in the ground. You would want to get tomato cages and/or a heavy stake (tie with old panty hose since this will stretch with the growing plant versus a twistie that may cut off the branch of a growing plant) because these plants can get very top heavy and you want to provide some support if it gets really windy. Soil should be a mix of black/top/potting soil (it's sold under varies names but any of these will do) and peat moss (to help keep the soil loss and retain moisture) and mix of about 2 parts soil and 1 part peat moss works good. Definitely invest in some fertilizer. I know there are organic things out there but I don't know those. Otherwise good commercial products are Osmoscote (this is one we use in our greenhouse) and can be mixed with the soil before filling the pots and lasts about 90 days. Other options are Job's tomato spikes (i think a 6 weeks duration but I could be wrong it's been years since I've used these), Miracle grow (must be added to the water) or anything else that says for tomatoes will work fine. Tomatoes need lots of nutrients and so when container gardening it is especially important to replace this because otherwise the soil will be quickly depleted. HTH Stephanie

My first was a c-section for "failure to progress" because he was in a bad position. My second was a failed VBAC after 3 hours of pushing (he was face up and got stuck in my pelvic bone). With number 3, my friend who is a doula offered to help. First she had me do exercises and stretches to help ensure baby was in the proper position prior to labor. Second she advised me to not be induced (I was induced with both the first 2 for slightly medical reasons but not urgent ones). Well baby number 3 arrived like a lightening bolt. I went from 6 to delivered in under 30 minutes with NO pushing (no doctor so my doula had me breathing through them trying to stall). Despite that super easy birth my OB with #4 really tried to convince me I NEEDED a c-section. She just kept citing the .5 - 1% risk of uterine rupture. But she failed to mention that the rate of uterine rupture is only slightly lower for those who have never had a c-section and that my risks really weren't that much higher. Plus we believe in allowing God to control our family size and consequently, the risk of complications to future pregnancies and babies was actually higher with having another c-section than my current risk was for a uterine rupture. Finally she allowed me to "try" but of course insisted I be constantly monitored etc. Well baby #4 was pretty easy to. It took about 2 hours to go from 6 to 10 and 2 pushes. But it was still a piece of cake compare to recovery from c-sections. Doctors are so worried about possible lawsuits, I think they just naturally advise to go with a c-section because then they aren't likely to be found at fault. Even though there are plenty of risks with a c-section (i.e., infection, surgery complications etc), the doctors seems to like to minimize those. I be having my third VBA2C in August. I had to switch doctors (from the one who delivered #4 to the one who delivered #3) because of an insurance change. While she is willing to let me VBAC again, she had to "warn" me about all the possible risks. That's fine. I know I can do it. I do really recommend getting a doula, they can help in so many ways that doctors and nurses can't. My doula taught me to use combs in the pressure points in my hands. They worked so well I never needed ANY kind of pain medicine. The medical staff just shook their heads because they had never seen or even heard of using the combs. Good Luck

I understand that gas is expensive so I can see why that is a concern to you but honestly 11 miles is not very far. At least not around here. People regularly drive farther than that to many stores (and I live in a county with 500,000 people so it's not hicksville but probably not as populated as where you live either) and probably 95% of the population drives farther than that for work. That distance wouldn't influence "my" decision in attending a co-op at all because I would simply group other errands in the area at the same time. On the other hand the price of the class itself would definitely influence me. Co-op classes around here are about $75 per semester for a 1 hour class (so probably 12-16 weeks). $50 a month is quite steep (but then again I'm not in CA). I have never heard of a co-op where the "manager" was making a profit. Not that they don't exist but I haven't heard of them. Typically they are formed because someone is trying to meet an unfulfilled need of their children. Not to say you couldn't make a profit but personally if I knew the person in charge was making money I would be a bit uncomfortable with it and would probably look elsewhere. Of course all the co-op teachers around here are also volunteers so the whole concept of anyone being paid is a bit bothersome to me. (Not that people's time isn't valuable and they shouldn't be paid but it's just a very different set up than I am accustomed to). Another thing around here is that all parent's are required to help as a teacher, assistant, grading, snack monitor, day care worker (for younger siblings of parents involved in other aspects of the classes). Another concern I would have is how large is the homeschooling base in your area. 50 students is not a lot and if that was your main pool it seems that trying to break it up would probably make each group too small to work with. I think the co-op by us serves around 100 kids at a time. But obviously all those kids are at different levels and have different interests. So I would definitely consider if there seems to me a lot more homeschooling families around who want classes but for whatever reason the current co-op isn't meeting their needs. I'm not trying to discourage you but those are just some things that I see as potential problems. If your distance was farther away I think it would be less of an issue but since you are practically next door you might cause some hard feelings. Otherwise try talking to the people in charge, maybe they would be willing to hold some of the classes at different locations (i.e. YOUR church) that would make things more workable for you. Or could you just plan to spend the time between your DD classes in the area (pack a lunch, visit the library, go grocery shopping etc) so that you don't have to make the double trip every week. HTH Stephanie

Well I'm a strong believer in following the needs of the individual kid. My son LOVES math and was asking for an Algebra book when he was 7 (we didn't get him one). When he was 8, he already tested well into Algebra despite never having a book. So he did Algebra in "3rd grade" (by age). Yes he's way ahead of the curve but he's very happy. Before I let him move ahead at his pace, we were having lots of behavior problems especially towards his younger siblings. Since I have allowed him to advance beyond what "I" thought was reasonable, the behavior problems have disappeared. Turned out he was just bored. Once I occupied his mind with learning, he stopped thinking of devious ways to torment other family members. So I'm not giving him high school credit at this point, there are lots of other maths out there to study past the precalculus/calculus level. There was 3 levels of calculus when I went to college plus all the other types out there. He will probably go to college quite early (either online or locally) we'll see when we get that far. If your son is enjoying learning and is grasping the concepts than I see know reason not to let him move forward at a normal pace. it really isn't a big deal if it doesn't follow the "traditional" pace of learning. Stephanie

Does that mean I could just sign DS up for the ACT directly next year even though he'd be only 11? While the comparisons to others kids is nice, it doesn't really tell me anything useful for planning. We wouldn't take classes anyways as they are too far and too expensive for us (I think DS is way too young to be overnight away from home). I'm guessing it would also be cheaper and lots more testing dates to chose from if we went with the "open" one. So yours is "technically" a 4th grader too? My son is pretty much 7th grader as well (except reading comprehension - that's his weakness). I'm always torn on how to "grade" place him because we just don't worry about that at home. I pick whatever level he is at for each subject. His 24 is in math. He reads math books for fun in his spare time. I think he's strange :001_smile:. While I like math, I would never read a textbook for fun. But he's been doing it so long we see it as normal now.

I guess Duke is a bit more limited than ours. CTD allows the Explore starting in the 3rd grade - 6th grade and the ACT is for 6th-8th. CTD doesn't say anything about exceptions but I think I will probably end up calling them to see.

So is your son actually old enough to take the ACT next year. Mine would technically be in 5th. I've always just used the grade he would be in if he attended school, but he got a 24 in one subject (although the rest were in the upper teens) and I was wondering if I should "advance" his grade level to 6 next year just so he could take the ACT. I hadn't even thought about getting the scores online but that would be a definitely plus.

My son took it for the second time this year as well. We have NEVER gotten it in 6 weeks. Last year took 7 weeks, this year 6 weeks + 1 postal day. So he tested in January and we just got the result on Monday. I always make sure we keep the January date open because I could never stand waiting another whole month to get the results (even though the wait time is the same, I wouldn't get to find out till later in the year) Stephanie