In case anyone is looking for it, I just listed Barton level 1 for dyslexic and struggling readers in the for sale board.

We used mus from the beginning (and love it!) and when my dd hit algebra,it was a struggle for her and for dad who taught it - like you said, an age thing. It took us two years! And now we are playing catch-up. We switched to TT and my kids are all doing well with it - once they got past the silly-kid help in the corner. (After the lesson, they turn the volume off so they don't have to hear "time out for hint!" And just turn it back on if the teacher is talking) It is a year behind, but if you move up a year, it's fine. My best friend used it all the way through and her daughter just scored in the 99th percentile on her SAT! Her other kids score crazy high in math in their standardized test. So it didn't seem to set them back! :) TT has taken out the "teacher intensive" part of math and erased almost all of the tears and complaints - not because it's sooooo easy (we don't find that to be true) but because every problem has an explanation if needed. Dad still helps when needed, but its much more rare. It has been a huge blessing here. BTW, my oldest is a comp sci major.

My poor youngest! With the older three, all 1-2 years apart, we did crafts and projects and unit studies and literature studies with read alouds and lots of mom interaction. They are all older now and have basically self-directed curriculum. Oldest is doing Running Start (college and high school together) to get some free credits for college, next one is going to try high school, third is still at home, but loves to do things independently. My fourth is just in 1st grade and with all the carpools and driving and sports and youth group activities, I hardly have time to do anything with her. So I'm moving her to more independent work even though she is young. Teaching Textbooks, Online Veritas History, lots of books to read, I'll basically be doing English stuff with her and that's it. I'm hoping I can work in some fun stuff, (I bought art curriculum, but even that is on a video!) but it seems to me we have to fit in whatever we can between taxi-ing everyone else around!

Thanks for posting this, I just bought it for my dauther!

We only have four, which seems perfectly normal to us, but we get comments all the time! "Don't you know what causes that?" Yes, and we're really, really good at it. Wink. Wink. "Your hands are sure full." Full of good things, yes. "All girls? Poor daddy." Then one of the girls will look at them with sweet eyes and say, What do you mean? I love my daddy! "Too many kids!" Well, friend, why don't you look my kids in the eye and tell them which one doesn't deserve to exist? I have no problem with comments, really. People are surprised, I get that. It usually makes me laugh. But I have gotten a couple of the extremists that are actually not just surprised at our choice to have children, but are actually offended on behalf of humanity and the planet. Seriously people? I've even had people cream me for adopting. Really? You are going to scold me for loving a child that is already here and all alone? I don't get it...

We don't have to make an official name of our school, but I'm just about to make my dd freshman transcripts... Is Liberty High School OK? Or should I do academy or such? My town has Liberty in it's name... My other daughter recommended Mathin MyJammies Academy. As for the leprechaun name I got Weebit Potfiller!

1999 Suburban with 215,000. Love it!

Try lands end. I love their short sleeve shaped t-shirts!!!! They also sell them in relaxed fit if you don't want them too fitted, and now "slub" fit which I don't really know what that is. but you can order in multiple colors and sizes and styles, try them on at home, and then return them at the nearest Sears store! Easy - and they wear great!

I've read the older threads about this, but I'm wondering if anyone has found something new or just loves what they use to make a transcript. I don't need a program that tracks all their assignments, just a form to fill out and look professional. My dd is a freshman and I want to decide what to use by the end of the year so I don't get behind. So, what's the latest and greatest and why do you like it? If you have a great Word document, feel free to share! :)

Yes to Carrots - it's not greasy and not pasty white. SPF 15, fragrance free. It also has a good number rating on the skindeep website.

My dd just signed up! Thanks for posting!

MFW for high school - very independent, very good Aplogia for Science with the dvds of lecture and labs

Many of my friends take their families to Disney on a regular basis. And Hawaii. My kids ask me when can they go to Hawaii? I say, "Maybe on your honeymoon!" It's a little annoying when others tell me that "all kids need to go to Disneyland." or "you could do it if you just plan well enough." Any idea how much 6 plane tickets alone would cost? All the discount lodging and eating tricks won't help nearly enough to counter that! If we had one, maybe two kids... sure, we could save and do it. But I decided to give my kids more siblings. Not going to Disneyland is not some kind of sacrifice - it's just a choice - a natural consequence for having the family life we have chosen. No loss, just different. I just wish people would stop gasping when I say we've never been and don't plan to. We are fine with it. Everyone makes financial decisions based on what they value. Some go without cell phones, some eat beans and rice, some don't do big vacations, some share a car, some wear second hand clothes - all the while all these different families are looking at each other and both saying, "They shouldn't have to do that if they just planned better."

Median in my county is 37,000. We make much more than that, certainly not close to the 150 mark, but like others have said before, we have a single income, more dependants, high medical bills. Mortgage is our only debt, but we drive cars from the 90's both over 200,000 miles. It just doesn't go as far as it used to. We do have a savings, though, and that puts us ahead most of our friends. But really, it's all relative. I have friends who make less than us, but because they started without a mortgage or any personal debt, they seem ahead. Each individual circumstance will prove a different viewpoint as to what is necessary, and what is abundance.