Thanks for the suggestions! I will check them out!

This is making me re-think what is really needed for next year. I was planning on spending a lot more than $200, and I have 3 children. I was not aware of many of the pdf versions of some books which would make them more cost-effective, since I would only have to buy the book once. I am actually getting excited for planning next year. Thanks for all the great, frugal ideas!

These are such great ideas! I also felt like this past year went by too fast and I felt a little out of control, not being able to finish all of our lessons. I do plan to switch some curriculum, and also have plenty of freezer meals available for those days where school just takes over.

Anyone know of any good magazine subscription for kids? I was thinking something like Newsweek or Time, current events for children. My kids are 6th, 5th, and 4th grade. It can be an online magazine or print. Any suggestions?

Thanks. Do you know where I would get a license from, and how much you would need to make before paying taxes? I really have no idea.

Wondering if I can start a small business by making things in my home and selling them via ebay, or etsy, or local flea markets or craft shows. I'm not thinking food, I thinking more like sewing items. Do I really need to go through the process of getting things certified and permits for working in my home?

I, too have had hair loss since having my last child, who is now 7 years old. I feel like I have tried it all, and have had my thyroid checked, along with CBC for bloodwork, and everything came back normal. I will try adding some more of the foods to my diet, and see what happens. Just wanted to let you know that you are not alone in this hair loss thing!

Anyone here know if Sea World in Orlando offer any discounts for homeschoolers? We are headed there in about 2 months. Also, looking into maybe Silver Springs Park? I haven't been there in about 15 years or more. Thanks!

We are headed for vacation next week and was wondering if you have favorite eating, shops, or activities that you like in the Pigeon Forge area. We were there last year and liked it so much. We went to the aquarium last year in Gatlinburg, which was pretty neat. Any places has homeschool discounts that you know of? Thanks for your time.

Last year I picked cherries, and about 1-2 days after that, I broke out with deep red spots on my arm, it looked like poison, but, not bumpy or itchy at all. A friend of mine said that maybe they treated the trees with some kind of spray. It took almost a month for it to completely go away. Wondering if your garden or lawn has been treated with any sprays or fertilizers????

We have made 2 trips to the AMC, Air Mobility Command Museum in Dover, DE, and the kids really enjoy going there. It is free, and they have a place where you can give donations. We were there last Wednesday, and got to see some of the huge cargo planes they use for military training flying right overhead. They have some planes outside that you can actually tour through, which is really neat just to see the size of them. It's worth it to go sometime.

I had a terrible cold last year, and a worker at our health food store suggested a product called Allimax. They come from garlic, but do not give you the crazy garlic taste for hours afterward. He said that they cannot keep this product on the shelves fast enough. It has been proven to kill most any infections, staph, ecoli, etc. They sell it in liquid form or capsules. If you are sick, I'd take more than just 1 capsule per day, at least until you start to get better. It is expensive, around $30.00 for 30 capsules, but it's still cheaper than a doctor visit.

I've heard that IEW does just that, teaches them how to form an outline and paraphrasing into your own words. ( Institute for Excellence in Writing.) Our co-op is just starting to teach it this year, but it can be done at home, also.

I live in PA, and not sure if all Aldi stores are like this or not. On my first trip to the store, I had to have someone help me get a cart! They kept them locked, and to unlock a cart, you need to insert a quarter! This is because they do not want to pay an employee to retrieve carts from the parking lot. Also, they charged you for using their grocery bags. You can bring your own reusable bags, but if not, they will charge you a small amount to use theirs. I bought just a few items there, and have not been back since. It was ok, I might go again, but it is a little out of my way.

I have a son who is 9 and right now he loves anything mystery. He likes Boxcar Children, A-Z Mysteries, and we ordered Viking Quest series which is more like a historical fiction. HOD recommended Book 1 of the Viking Quest series in their Preparing Guide, which we will be starting this year. Also there is the Scripture Slueth, something like Concord Cunningham? I forget exactly what it is called, I'll have to look into that again. In those books, they actually have you look up scripture as part of the story.

Have you ever seen the blog called "Confessions of a Homeschooler'? She has some wonderful printables on there, and she uses some sort of "Letter of the Day" curriculum and would have great ideas for you. Check is out if you get a chance.

I purchased the Quarter Mile math game online with the publisher. They have many different options available for download, some are for 1 year, like a trial run. You can get the advanced version, etc. My kids seemed to like it, but I kind of forgot about using it over the summer. Once we stopped schooling for the year, I pretty much stopped everything. I need to get them back into using it.

I don't think it works well with most people to change dramatically all at once. I will encourage you and your family to be in the same boat together, and just start with some small changes.

I have a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grader and we will be using Heart of Dakota (HOD) for this coming year. We are using Preparing guide for 2nd and 3rd grader, and Preparing for 4th grader. You could check their website for the placement guide to see if you could use 1 program and combine them together, just use more extensions for your 4th grader. We are not using the Singapore math, though. We are using CLE, Christian Light Education for Math and loving it so far. It is very thorough and includes a lot of review. For a new homeschooler, I would really look into Heart of Dakota. There are many threads here comparing MFW and HOD, which could make you go crazy after reading them, I know!

I'm not sure how you would feel about this, but we are starting Heart of Dakota this year for the first time. This is a program that has lesson plans filled out for you each day. We are starting with Bigger Hearts, and Preparing Hearts, and I have a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grader. The reason we chose this curriculum was because I was tired of throwing together language arts, spelling, grammar, phonics, and hoping I wasn't missing anything. With Heart of Dakota (HOD) she has listed that the program will only take about 3 hours a day to complete. That is LA, history, geography, art, math, and science! For me, we are really looking forward to starting school this year because I don't have to play the guessing game for curriculum.

I heard this from a friend of mine who has chickens and eats eggs often. If you give the fresh eggs a gentle tap on the countertop, on the bottom or fatter side of the egg, and then place into the water, they will not stick. I personally have not tried it, but I will the next time I make deviled eggs.

I'm in PA and this was my first year handing in a portfolio. It wasn't as bad as the "law" makes it sound. You do not have to cover every subject every single year. I included History and Civics together in the portfolio. For something like Music, I just put a few worksheets that I printed off the internet that showed my son how to label notes on a scale. Hope this helps. let us know if you need more specifics.

Thanks so much for all the info. I didn't realize there was temporary insurance that you could apply for. I will also look into the medical share programs here in our area. Glad to know we are not the only ones that are paying through the roof for high coverage that we rarely use. We are a healthy family, and it just gets me mad to know we have to pay so much for something we really don't use.

We already have a high-deductible health plan, and the monthly premium is skyrocketing. Any options out there of where to look for actually affordable health insurance for self-employed? Thanks.

I live in PA. Veritas doesn't have an actual store, but a warehouse. They are only open to the public on 1 weekend in the spring. I agree about Ken's Educational Joys, it's a great store.