We have a set of Alfred books that I've been slowly going through. We went with the advice of the owner of a local music store. They have 2 lines of instruction books, one for kids and one geared towards adults. Since they are pretty much the same, we bought the kid's set. My oldest was 3 at the time and we figured she could use them as well. I think the only difference is colorful pages and cute song titles. :lol: I've been using it in my spare time and am on book 3...just don't ask how many years it's taken me. :blush: ETA: Here's the first book of the set. They also have recital, theory, etc. books, but we just bought the lesson ones.

My DS is also an older K-er, so his curriculum is more 1st than K. He's using: HOD Beyond with my 3rd grader--pretty much as is, covers history, science, Bible, copywork, spelling, read-alouds Singapore 1a and 1b workbooks coordinate with HOD hand's on math lessons ETC 1 and 2 McGuffey Readers (and other early readers) Little Contenders for the Faith--for handiwork, health, etc. Last year (age 4/5) his did the following: ETC primers Singapore Essential Mathematics McGuffey readers (added towards the end of the year) FIAR Artpac 1

I love our laser printer...Ours is a Brother, but I'd go with the one on sale in the pp. We spend $120 on sale a few years ago. I also use a cheap Inkjet when I need color...color laser printers (and toner) are not in our budget. A $60 cartridge lasts us about a year with lots of use.

I think it looks great!

http://www.heartofdakota.com also has a similar science program starting with the Bigger guide. I wouldn't want to buy the manual just for science, but it would give you a nice list of books to look at.

Another Rainbow fan. I order from all 3 throughout the year, but I always order the bulk of our HS materials from RR.

Here, but I usually stick to the K-8 board...this one eats up too much time. :blush:

There are 2 pages for Q...One for each.

They are pretty basic. They also show a few different ways to write each capital.

We're using Cheerful Cursive. My DD does a short page each day. Many lessons have practice reading cursive and circling a specific letter. How old is your DC? I debated teaching cursive last year for 2nd, but decided to wait. We're just starting 3rd and her writing has improved so much! I'm really glad I waited another year.

I haven't used EB, but my DS used Essential last year and I really liked it. It was very straightforward.

We don't. I use to be one of those moms that spend more time planning than teaching. :blushing: This year I went with HOD because everything was already planned out for me...now I can spend my time teaching instead of planning! Any system like filing or workboxes will create more unnecessary work for me. Not to mention the fact that filling (and emptying) 4 sets of boxes everyday sounds like torture. :lol: I bought each child a folder to keep work in. At the end of each unit, we'll be adding it to their binders. I also picked up a cheap planner to write down what manual pages we cover and extras that don't fit (gymnastics, poetry, crafts, field trips, etc.).

I picked up some wooden models for my 5yo DS from Harbor Freight. I haven't opened them yet, but I think you just pop out the pieces and glue them together.

I buy a lot from http://www.hslibrarybuilder.com --great shipping prices and great service!

We live in NE, but we're on the other side. We're planning on taking a trip over to Scottsbluff...I knit and spin wool, and there's a yarn factory I really want to go to! :D We're also hoping to visit SD. We haven't ever taken a family vacation and I'm hoping this doesn't fall through. We also live in a rural area. We have a few locations that are with 1.5 hours. I combine it with a grocery trip so it's not so bad on gas. I also make sure to take my DH (or another adult) with me. :lol: We usually plan a few field trips throughout the year. Some we've done: Pumpkin patch--there are several within a couple hours of us bowling alley Planetarium/museum 2 pioneer museums Fort Kearney various botanical gardens and parks we've also visited a few farms ;) We used to live in St. Louis and there was a ton of things to do! There isn't as much here, but we've learned a lot about pioneers since we are on the Oregon trail. Awhile back it dawned on me that as long as they have a few good field trip memories, I'm happy. We don't need to constantly go on field trips for them to have a good education.

So much better than new binders! I'm going to steal your idea too. :D

We had some bills pop up last month and no money for groceries. I found this site and it had some great ideas! It's pretty much old-fashioned cooking. I didn't follow it exactly, but I think I learned a lot with it. I spent under $25 dollars at the store and we had no problem making it through the week. My favorite tip was to buy bacon ends and pieces...a $6 box has lasted us 2 weeks (with lots of use)! http://www.menus4moms.com/frugal/meals_for_hard_times_1.php A favorite here is Hamburger Hash. I melt a little butter (or oil) in a skillet, then add a pound of hamburger and a bunch of diced potatoes (I usually do 4 or 5). For seasoning, I add a bit of Chili powder, paprika, and salt and pepper. You break up the meat as it browns, then cook it a bit with the lid on (to get the potatoes tender). After they are almost cooked, I cook it the rest of the way with the lid off to brown the potatoes a bit. It's delicious with peas. I also make "tacos" that everyone loves. I basically use whatever is in the house...a bit of meat, veggies, and cheese. We had some Italian ones that were delicious! They had Italian sausage, bell peppers, onions, and mozza. The sausage was from the links you buy in the store (I use 2 links per meal and they are great for pizza and pasta too). I keep lots of tortillas in the freezer, but I've also made my own in a pinch. I also make up my own stir-fry dishes using up any leftovers. These are both great ways to use up veggies at the end of the week. Our quick meal to keep on hand (our closest fast food is 40 miles) is a big can of chicken and Chicken Helper fried rice. It's actually pretty good and I like that everything can be kept in the pantry since we have very limited freezer space. For fruit and veggies, we try to always keep potatoes, bell peppers, onions, carrots, celery, bananas, and grapes on hand as these are usually inexpensive. The rest we buy in season.

My policy is to only buy good books ahead of time...no curriculum. When I had my first baby, I stocked up on picture books. When I had a preschooler, I started adding chapter books (and more picture books). Now I'm stocking up on history and science books. I also studied lots of curriculum book lists and catalogs (Sonlight, FIAR, HOD, MFW, etc.). Many of the same books kept popping up on several lists. Those were the ones I wanted to add. When we switched to HOD this year, I already had several of the required books. :001_smile:

We just use the regular pencils for my kids since they seem to lose all the lead of the mechanical ones. :lol: In school, I loved the Bic ones.

For us it seems to gradually go up each year. Partly because older students need more books and partly because we add another student every couple of years. I don't think I've ever gone overboard with curriculum. We've done a lot of unit studies where I bought a little at a time. This year we spent quite a bit at once, but I think we'll come out cheaper in the long run. I also try to buy non-consumables as much as possible, but the few workbooks I buy for my 2nd child have added onto the consumables and non-consumables I've buy for my oldest. I also spent a bit on my 3rd child. Jr. high and high school scare me...I think I need to start a savings account right now to cover those years. :eek:

We're using Beyond this year for 1st and 3rd. For the 3rd grader, we're using Bigger for English and Math. I'm hoping to add LHTH for my 3yo when we can spare the money. We're on unit 2 and so far I love everything about this program! My only regret is not starting with HOD. :lol:

My DS is a little younger, but my plans include: album/scrapbooking--I figure if we call it "albums" instead of scrapbooks, it'll be okay. :lol: wooden models--I picked up a few cheap ones at Harbor Freight cooking--I think this is important for boys too! making knots--while my DD's are learning embroidery learning how to use tools quilling cardmaking--rubber stamps, drawing, embossing, etc. latch-hooking--I've seen some boyish kits paper airplanes--there's lots of great youtube videos for this! learning to play recreational games (checkers--chess for older kids, croquet, etc.)

We're using American Pioneers and Patriots for American history for 1st and 3rd...They enjoy what we've read so far. We're also using Stories of the Pilgrims and Boys and Girls of Colonial Days, but I haven't read them yet.

I also love their writing tablets...super cheap and they go by grade! I usually pick up their library pockets (for lapbooks) and pre-drilled index cards with rings. This year we got a few of the Primary dry erase boards (and markers and eraser) and they've been a hit with the kids. We mainly use them for math, English, and spelling. My 3yo uses hers whenever I'm working with the older two. I like the cooperative board games (we have Harvest Time). For books, we like the If You Lived... series and the One Small Square books. I usually check out the math manipulative section too (we have more than I could list). :lol:

Ours are already typed up, so I've just been photocopying them. They then write them out on lined paper. I wasn't sure if DS would be okay with this, but he hasn't had any trouble.