The actual "Well Trained Mind" book gives what you're looking for, if you haven't checked it out. Granted, there are curriculum choices there, but as others have said, each child is different, or some parents have a religious-orientation where others are more secular. You'll find recommendations for each subject, by the various ages. There do seem to be favorites, but there is not one favorite. So for history, many many people like Story of the World (not surprisingly). Some choose to use Tapestry of Grace or Sonlight or a Child's History of the World. All are great programs. For math, many people love Singapore. Many love Math Mammoth, which is not a SIngapore approach. Many love Miquon and RightStart for the early grades, etc. Beast Academy is very popular for 3rd and now 4th grade. AOPS is popular for pre-algebra and up. What might help is to look at the "What are you doing for X grade" type threads. You'll definitely see trends as to which programs are popular here. I have one kid going into 5th grade, so honestly, I haven't thought much beyond that. I have some ideas as to the Middle School type curricula I'm interested in, but I won't really start looking at it until later next year.

Ask to be put on the list to be called if there are any cancellations. You could end up getting in much much sooner.

How often do you usually meet with them? May have found a tutor for Arabic and French for next year. Hoping it works out. :) I was hoping we could meet with her two times/week, maybe three max due to budgeting issues. What's typical? Also, for what I'm looking at, I'm seeing prices around $50/hour. Does that seem right?

No. DH is a doctor. Patients come to him from other physicians all the time, and I'm sure some go to other physicians from him. It's the norm. Both you and the doctor want it to be a good fit. If it isn't, keep looking.

I was given three homemade cards…. a homemade picture frame….a homemade bracelet…. and a potholder with DS2's handprint on it. The kids decorated a Publix Mother's Day cake for me. DD and I had a girls' day on Saturday…and we went to Sephora and I bought myself some new foundation and a fun Benefit kit. DD said that her Dad was getting me a new phone, but it was a secret…but I never got one. :(

I was bullied and I think it was strongly correlated with the depression and suicidal thoughts I had in my teens and twenties. I finally did get beyond it, but it took awhile. When DS1 was being bullied at school last year, it was just another reason why we returned to homeschooling.

Yes, the price seems high, so I was contemplating buying one of the units that they have for 6th-8th as a trial. I figure DS1 will be in 5th and likes science, so it shouldn't be too much of a jump.

This year, we used Galore Park Jr. English which had some writing lesson intertwined, but mainly BraveWriter. Then I was given the book "Writing Skills" as part of a bunch of used homeschool materials I bought…so we used that as well. It was (of course) much more structured than BraveWriter, which I actually think worked well for DS.

For the first semester, I printed the whole book A. This semester, I've been printing a chapter at a time. Both seem to work fine. I punch them with a three hold punch and put it in a binder. Usually we do an entire topic per day…but if it's really long or intense, I divide it.

For that age, I really liked Brite Music's Standin' Tall. My kids still remember some of the songs. :) http://www.britemusic.com/standin-tall-set-downloadable You can buy them individually to try. I would recommend starting with the Land of Obey one. It's from an LDS company, but I did not find anything explicitly religious in the materials.

This past year, we did Galore Park Jr. Science, and then watched every Bill Nye video known to mankind. DS1 is also watching the Cosmos series on TV. Previously, he was a big fan of Wild Kratts and Magic School bus. I did see this new deal on Homeschool Buyers Co-op. https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/sciencefusion/?source=GBC&c=1

We have a 2006 or 2007 (can never remember which) Honda Odyssey. Haven't had any issues with it. I would buy another one when this one finally dies. One feature I wish I had is onetime we rented a minivan that had the back windows kind of able to push out for some fresh air. I loved that. I think it was a Chrysler.

For Mother's Day, Publix usually goes into the local schools and lets the kids decorate a cake. It's a fundraiser for the schools. I think I paid $6 or $7 when DD did it. THey're homeschooling friendly, though. The weekend of Mother's Day kids can also come into the store and decorate a cake…or take one home with a little kit. It was only $4.00

Second the recommendation for Veer-Zaara. If you've never tried a Bollywood film, it's a great beginning. It's on Netflix too. :) Also…basically anything with Shar Rukh Khan in it. :) "We Are Family" was good. "Kahaani" was good, but not a typical Bollywood film. Barfi! was a good film as well. France: Jean de Flourette and Manon des Sources Amelie 400 Blows The Artist Au Revoir Les Enfants Persepolis (may count as Iranian too…great graphic novel) Jules et Jim The Dinner Game Romantics Anonymous Italy: Life is Beautiful Cinema Paradiso Two Women Germany Das Boot I love the Marianne Sagebrecht films Anything by Wim Wenders Saw a German film called "The Hairdresser" on Netflix recently which was good The Lives of Others Mostly Martha Chinese (mainland, Taiwan, etc.): The Wedding Banquet Eat Drink Man Woman Raise the Red Lantern Japan: Shall We Dance Tampopo Whisper of the Heart Vietnam: Scent of Green Papaya Sweden: My Life as a Dog Denmark: Babette's Feast Mexico: Like Water for Chocolate Spain: Anything by Almodovar, but especially "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" :) Lebanon: Caramel

Happy Happy Birthday….and Happy Mother's Day! Hope your family spoils you. :D

Do the best you can, but realize that holidays can be harder. As long as you're back on plan tomorrow, you should be fine. You can check and see if the restaurant has calorie info online, or find a similar chain to give yourself some idea. Then pre-plan what you want to eat, and try to stick to it as best you can. Give yourself the option of more fruit or veggies.

Google and see if you have an Indian or Pakistani grocery store. You might find a card for somebody who does it there.

If you have an infant or a toddler, sign up for their Baby Club and Publix Preschool Pals. For the baby club, they send you some really great coupons…even on stuff like fruit and veggies. Publix Preschool Pals has a great software game to download, sends an apron, and other stuff. Kids love it. (Free). Publix will also usually give free cookies at the bakery as well as balloons at check-out. Publix Subs are great. Yum. The Publix branded cold cuts are good too…but you can get Boar's Head as well. They also have a bunch of deli items/salads. I used to love buying their chicken tarragon almond salad. (Think that's what it's called.) So is there chicken (rotisserie (I like mojo) and popcorn.) Their fruit/veggies are usually quite good quality. It's corn season here now, and they always have excellent looking sweet corn and a nice big trash can if you want to shuck it yourself. Knowing their customer service, if you bought some fruit that wasn't ripe, they'd refund your money. Their breads are wonderful and their cakes are wonderful too. Best place for a birthday cake, but usually more expensive. Of their specialty cakes, I love the Latte Blast, White Raspberry Elegance, and Coconut one. If we're going to a dinner party, we'll often bring one. Publix branded stuff is usually quite good. They have the best price for a gallon of organic milk that I've found. It's Publix brand….in an opaque bottle…and costs $5.99/gallon. Publix brand ice cream is good. Usually Publix, Edy's, or Breyer's is on sale alternating.

Oh yes to water. Where I gave birth, they did not have a tub, but I stood in the shower for-ev-er. It was wonderful. Also, for me, keeping the room darker helped. Best thing though was having somebody push as hard as humanly possible on my sacrum. If they pushed when the contraction hit, it was like I felt nothing.

Math in Focus is the same as My Pals are Here… just the American version. I used it the first semester this year with DS1, but I found that it was really hard to transition to a Singapore style program in 4th grade. They have free samples you can access online at the Harcourt site which gives you the entire book, workbook, and teacher's manual.

My second was a precitipitous birth….less than three hours from start to finish. It was also back labor and very very intense. To be honest, it scared me a little, so when I had the chance to induce DD (and get an epidural), I did. I got myself back into a "I can do this" type mentality by doing some of the hypnobirthing type CDs. It really did help. #4 was also precipitous…only this time it was less than an hour. I knew something was up, so I had my Dad drive me in when I felt my first pains in my back. When the nurse saw me at the desk, she said, I thought you had at least 5-6 hours. This time I didn't even have to argue with them about not putting in an IV because there was no time. I really highly recommend the visualization/hypnobirthing stuff. It helped a lot. I had the "real" CDs, but I think I actually used something I found on iTunes more.

I've had good luck with Coromega, which is kind of like an orange pudding. I've heard good things about Barlean too.

Our house has a cement foundation, and is made from cement blocks covered with stucco. It's light brown with white trim. Some day I hope to live in a house with a bright purple door.

I think this guy did a good job explaining how your eyebrows affect your nose.

There is an Aldi's right near my Mom's house. The first time I went, I was like…blah…it's OK. Now that I've been quite a few times, I kind of get what they have, etc. I usually find good deals on produce--but their selection is not as great. I needed baby wipes one time, and they were by far the cheapest. They have a lot of good copycat products as well. At Christmas time, they get in yummy cookies and chocolates. I can't do all my shopping there, but for what I do buy, I can get a lot and save a bunch. I didn't know about the new GF label. I can't wait to visit my Mom to try it out.