I think for me it depends on the context a bit... When people I haven't seen in a long time ask what I've been up to, I often say, "Oh, keeping busy with the kids and homeschooling and their activities." I don't necessarily feel "too busy" most of the time, but I am just trying to give a general impression that we aren't sitting around all day...LOL! When we've had seasons with lots of extra appointments, special activities, deadlines for a particular volunteer responsibility, husband traveling so I have to bear a greater share of the load at home, etc...then I "feel busy" because I don't have enough down time or enough sleep. I often have "seasons" like this for a few weeks at various times during the year, but I try not to let those seasons dominate my year as a whole. I usually think someone else is busy if they have so many commitments in their schedule they can't fit me/us in or they make me feel like they have just a very tiny sliver of time to offer me. "Sure, let's get together to discuss XYZ activity we're planning together, but I am really only free between 2-3pm on Wednesday and then I have to go pick up my kids but I can't do it any earlier than two because I have yoga class." Or whatever. I mean, each to their own and they may be perfectly unstressed and fulfilled in their busy life...but it makes me feel like they are too busy for me (or for whatever they have committed themselves to that also involves me.)

I bet Yosemite would be beautiful that time of year. We just visited there last September, and while it was absolutely beautiful, we had many people tell us that the time to come is in the spring/summer when the waterfalls are flowing. We did Yellowstone in late summer a couple years ago too and it was wonderful, but I have no idea what it would be like in the early summer.

I think some very compliant 4 year olds will just stop if you tell them "no", but most need more reminders, wrangling, time ins/time outs, etc. I have a very stubborn 4 year old who very rarely does what I want him to the first time, and often tries to do the opposite. We're working on it (obviously it causes some big problems), but he just has a very stubborn personality. My DD was kind of like this too, and grew beyond it for the most part (though she certainly still has a stubborn streak!). I also have an almost 7-year-old that we suspect has ADHD or some sensory issues or...something. (We have testing right after he turns seven next month). We are pursuing testing because the things in him that were sort of over-active, impulsive, sort-of-immature yet also "normal" at 4 or 5 are seeming more and more out of place as he hasn't "grown out of" them. He struggles to participate appropriately in group settings that most 6 year olds can handle. He wants friends but has a hard time actually developing a friendship. His meltdowns are increasingly causing stress for our family. I don't think for us getting a diagnosis of ADHD or SPD or ?? in and of itself is going to help us, but I am hoping that having an expert point us in the right direction to helping him or possibly getting some type of therapy or just knowing what kind of coping strategies will be most effective will make our life more reasonable and peaceful. I didn't seek this until I thought, "I will go crazy here unless we get some help to figure out DS6". I also want it for a future paper trail. I don't want to try medication right away, but maybe we need to go there. He might need accommodations in the future. He might want or need to try public school at some point. I've also seen first hand that there is a correlation in the teen years between ADHD and struggling with other mental health issues, addictions etc. We know two teens personally with ADHD and depression who tried to take their own lives. Not that every teen with ADHD goes down that road certainly, but knowing if I have an impulsive kid with ADHD (if that is what it turns out to be), I would want to watch all the more closely for the warning signs as he gets older.

Its up to each small group in our church to decide how to handle child care, and we've been in groups that did things a variety of different ways depending on the particular age-grouping of the kids and who was available. In some groups where we had oodles of little kids we hired teen/college sitters and everyone pitched in to pay the sitters. Some groups each parent rotated through taking a turn watching kids in another room. We were in a group for a short time that expected everyone to find their own sitters at home so as not to bring kids -- that was challenging for us (not because of money -- more because of even finding a sitter available every time the group met!). Some groups with mostly older kids we just sent kids to another part of the house/church building and asked the older kids to "keep an eye" on the few younger ones and come get an adult if issues came up. Right now we are in a group where men and women meet separately most of the time (men one week, women the next, with an occasional potluck meal for the whole group), and then the spouse that isn't meeting that week stays home with kids. That isn't our favorite way to do small group, but it's okay for a season.

I post pictures of my kids and funny things my younger kids say. Sometimes I post fun things our family is doing...playing a board game, an interesting museum we visit, etc. Sometimes I post links to local events I've heard about that I think my local friends would want to know about. I post questions directed to local friends like "anyone want to meet up with us at...?" Or "Who knows of a good..." I never post politics, random links, etc...maybe once in a while I post a cute animal video that my kids beg me to share. ;-)

We've done "British New Year's" a couple of times where we counted down when London was having their midnight (I think this was 6pm for us). My DH figured out a way to use a little bit of "internet magic" to somehow show the BBC New Year coverage. This may have been one of those legal-gray-area sort of things, but I didn't feel too guilty about stealing an hour's worth of tv from the BBC. ;-)

Also check Craigslist. We've had very good luck in the past buying lightly used phones from people who are upgrading or didn't like the phone they purchased and want to try something new. It was much cheaper than buying new!

This. I've been in a couple situations where someone else selected a babysitter that was not previously known to me (once when a child was staying with my mom for several days and my mom had a friend watch watch this child while my mom had an appointment, and once when attending a very special "no kids invited" party out of state, and the hostess offered to find a sitter for our kids so that our kids could come on the trip but not attend the party). In both those situations we knew someone else would be finding a sitter. My kids each (individually) spend a few days to a week with grandma each summer, and I wouldn't bat an eye if my mom needed to find a sitter for a couple hours while they were there even if she forgot to check with me first. They wouldn't get to stay at Grandma's house if I didn't trust all aspects of her judgment. I didn't vote in the poll because I have no idea if I represent my "subculture" of Caucasian, middle-class Midwesterners...or if that just represents my relatively laid back personality.

Since my oldest is 6th grade my thoughts are more based on elementary/middle school. I'm sure high school might be different. I think over $75 for a single-subject resource/curriculum is my price point at which I start thinking "that's expensive", and I have to think very, very carefully before I purchase. Not to say I haven't spent that, but those are the purchases I have researched most and really thought long and hard about. We are currently spending a little over $100 for each full year of Beast Academy for DS8, but it is the perfect fit for him, and I am pretty sure younger brothers will use it to some extent (and/or it would be fairly easy to resell the comics). Most of our other resources are much less expensive!

You'll get more replies on this if you post it on the learning challenges forum. Even though all of what you are seeing isn't learning challenges per se, a lot of the people who frequent that part of the board have a lot of experience with all kinds of evals. What you probably want to check on first is what requirements and coverage your insurance has. I could have skipped talking to our primary care doc all together before scheduling an evaluation for all the insurance company cared. No referral required. I did talk to our doc to ask for suggestions on where to fo for an eval, but she turned out not to be very helpful in that regard (I found better testing options by googling than what she was aware of). A full neuropsych eval is what is going to give you the most complete information. But if your insurance won't cover it, it is a lot to pay out of pocket. If you post on the Learning Challenges board, I am sure the other people who post there can talk you through other options as well. You might have a long wait for a neuropsych eval - our wait time from when I made the appointment was six months (well, we still have about a month left to wait). If you do need a primary care doc referral for insurance or just want to talk with someone about what you are seeing, I wouldn't hesitate to try a new doc. But instead of saying, "I am worried he has ADHD", you could lead with "I have developmental and educational concerns". And after sharing your concerns if the doctor does not suggest ADHD, then ask if he/she thinks it is a possibility. Some primary care docs (I've heard) will give a prescription for meds just based on an office visit, but ours said she doesn't do that and definitely suggested we get testing for DS6 based on what we are seeing in him.

I can't wait...we are going at 1pm this afternoon!!!

At Target in the checkout line the other day I saw "Minecraft gift cards" you could purchase which would (I assume) contain a code for downloading the game after you purchase it from Target. The pocket edition has improved greatly over the past couple years. The game play is very similar now, but you still can't do mods on the P.E. And you can't connect to desktop version servers. They could all share one account if you only have one computer - if they are ok finding a user name they all agree upon. As of right now, you can't change the user name after you select it. The only benefit I can think of to a separate account for each player when you have only one computer is that they would each have a name they personally liked, and they could pick their "skin" (customizing what the player looks like), and not have to always change it after another kid changed the skin to their preferences. We have three PCs and three accounts, so that three people can play at once. When we only had two accounts and three computers, we could install Minecraft on all three but only two could play at once (unless we turned off the wifi on one computer so that someone could play a local world...but I think that was cheating the system, really, so we bought a third user name/account eventually).

My DD11 loves to do DIY.org and find projects to do and then upload. She has tried a lot of new things that she was inspired to do because of challenges/skills presented on that site. I also let her browse on my Pinterest account and she likes to spend time crafting and cooking based on ideas she finds there!

DD is in Writing with Skill 1. We're not using a program for literature this year - just reading books from a list I compiled from various sources. For Grammar, DD is focusing on learning diagramming this year. She is finishing up Big Bad Grammar Slammer and then will do a basic sentence diagramming workbook I picked up at Rainbow Resource after that.

Uncovering the Logic of English by Denise Eide

My DH works pretty long days during the week, and then he makes his big household contribution by doing yard work, small home repairs, and most of our auto repair/maintenance. He puts away his laundry after I wash it, and often helps with any dishes left at bedtime. I do pretty much all the cooking, and most of the cleaning (not counting what the kids do). Though when I have felt overwhelmed at various times, I have called a "family cleaning day" on a weekend and we both spend hours cleaning. :-)

Plans have mostly held for DD except for math. We're about to bail on CLE having just finished 606. CLE was perfect for my DD for the last couple years...until suddenly the bite size pieces, the amount of time spent on topics my DD just "got" already and the lack of significant truly new topics is driving us both crazy. We're going to take a look at Dolciani pre-A this week but DD is nervous about the sudden transition to a textbook instead of a workbook/work text.

Burglar Bars That doesn't sound like the type of establishment I would recommend visiting. Next time, you might want to try a martini bar or even a karaoke bar instead!

Agree...Google for a local coffee shop that roasts or other local roaster. A local natural food store/co-op would probably also stock interesting locally roasted coffee. That's where I get my favorite local coffee. :-) I can't imagine anything on Amazon would be all that fresh.

Ok, this is a bit of a tangent, but I think another way to do spelling is typing-intensive. My DD does nearly all her spelling practice now in Spelling City...Partly because it is independent and partly because I think typing is what she will realistically do more of in the future so I don't mind her developing better finger memory for spelling than writing memory. Spelling has never been my strongest suit, and now after much practice with typing over the years, sometimes I can spell a word correctly if I type it out, but get stuck if I try to write it on paper.

We've never done Santa at our house, but the presents still "magically" appear under the tree on Christmas morning. Mostly because I don't want to deal with the drama of possible premature opening by little ones (My four year old would so still do that!) And I don't want to deal with premature guessing to ruin the surprises. Some things, like Lego sets, have such an obvious sound there is just about no way to hide it!

I would just go through it a bit slower and try and work up to more writing stamina. There are some times where the same word/sentence are repeated 2x or 3x or more in the same lesson, and I do (sometimes) let my DS skip a second or third repetition of the same word/sentence. There are also a few times where the student writes the morphemes both separately AND together as a whole word...i.e. writing work, ed, worked. I might let him write just the whole word instead of the separate parts as well as long as he says them out loud separately first. So far, so good...he has passed every "test" that occurs once every 10 levels.

Hand raised in confession...I read the forums and facebook while dictating A&P sentences to DS8. Sometimes I lose track of what I am doing though I DS is like, "Mom? Mom! Ready for the next sentence..." My DS8's progression went Foundations in K (when it was the Beta test...he was already beyond what became level A so we basically did what became B and C). D wasn't out yet at that point. Then we did about half of the original edition of Essentials in 1st grade (I already owned it from when I did it with DD). It was okay but he was kind of young for it. Then we did sentences and lists from Spelling Plus/Dictation Resource Book when he was in 2nd grade, but he wasn't really retaining. He actually asked for a workbook, so I decided to try A&P on a whim and he really likes it. I bring some of our knowledge of rules and phonograms into it, and point out the rules/phonograms we are practicing even if A&P isn't specifically pointing them out. I am liking this so much that I think I will start DS6 on A&P when he finishes foundations D (which I think will be in March or April). He is already beyond Foundations in terms of what he can read anyway, but he really likes it so we will finish out. Then I'll see where he places in A&P. You definitely can jump into A&P where ever your kid places on the placement test. Technically DS8 placed into the last 10 lessons of A (see, he really hadn't retained a lot from what we did in 1st and 2nd!), but he was close enough to B that I didn't want to get another workbook and teacher book just to do 10 lessons! I think that decision has worked out okay. There is so much review and practice that we haven't noticed any gap from not doing those ten lessons). We spend 15-20 minutes, 4x per week. That gets us through 2 lessons per week, generally speaking...that is more than enough to get through the whole book in a year since there are I think 59 lessons in B. He definitely doesn't use his best handwriting on those pages, but they get done and I do make him re-do if they aren't at least legible. ;-)

If you can keep your little guy away from the small cuisinaire rods, Miquon might be a good fit. It is very workbook based yet fun and "playful". You can also watch the free videos at Education Unboxed to get a good feel for the general methodology of using c-rods.

We never did WWE, but my 6th grader was able to tackle WWS this year with just "ok" paragraph writing skills. We did Treasured Conversations last year, which was a great preparation. It took my DD from really not being able to write a paragraph with a topic sentence at all, to having basic paragraph skills. She is getting a lot more practice with WWS this year. If you try WWS and it seems too hard, TC might be a good fit, and with a 6th grader you should be able to modify/accelerate it enough to get through it in well less than a year.