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Dawn in Ohio

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Posts posted by Dawn in Ohio

    Where do you put dirty diapers? and a bonus question...

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    My little Grace was 8 lbs. 14 oz. I bought one small pack of newborn diapers. By the time we had used those up she was ready for size 1. Actually the hospital used size 1 and just folded them down for the cord and that worked fine also. So I think if you wanted to skip the newborn size altogether, you could. The newborn size did fit very nicely and I enjoyed using them, I just wouldn't buy too many.

     

    I have a big box of size 1-2 that I will probably try out next week. They are supposed to fit up to 15 lbs. I'm not sure how much bigger they are than the regular size 1. I think you'll want to use newborn or size 1 for at least a little while.

    What are your tricks for an efficient homeschool day?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Having a checklist for each of my kids so they know what to do if I am unavailable. It seems like I am the one holding up the show a lot of the time. If they know what independent work they need to do, then they can keep busy if I am distracted by a phone call or something else.

     

    I have my boys get out of their seats and walk around the kitchen island as they work through their math flashcards. Just getting away from the table and moving seems to help. (I don't let them as far from the table as the "fun moms" who allow school outside or in the bathtub. :) )

     

    Reading aloud during lunch works well for us.

     

    And the most important thing to our successful school day is me getting a good early morning routine established for myself. If I wake up early, read my Bible, pray, exercise, shower, dress, etc. before the kids are up I am better able to handle the school day. I am afraid with a new baby it will be hard to drag myself out of bed early... but I'm gonna' try. :)

     

    I'm anxious to hear other people's ideas.

    Do you follow a budget?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Our budget consists of "Don't spend any money you don't have to!!" ;)

    When we were first married and had no money we kept a very strict budget and now we are still in the habit of spending money very thriftily. We have enough money now that we wouldn't really have to live the way we do, but we save for things like travel that are important to us. Dh is very thrifty with money and thinks a lot about the cheapest way to do something, and I'm just not a huge spender, so it works pretty well. But, we don't keep any written records of all our purchases or anything like that.

     

    This sounds very similar to dh and I. :)

    Do you follow a budget?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

     

    Because you're a Christian, I'm going to challenge you on this. Do you believe that everything you have really belongs to God? Is it His money? If so, do you think you need to be accountable for how you use it? Are you (at a minimum) tithing? Are you saving for a rainy day? Is there someone in your church or neighborhood who you could help?

     

     

     

    Thanks, Anj, for your reply. I do believe that everything belongs to God and that we are accountable to Him for how we use our time, money, talents, etc. I am just not convinced that a budget is necessary to establish that accountability.

     

    We do try to plan for the future and save. It is just that for the smaller things, like clothes for example, I don't take any allocated amount out of an envelope when we go clothes shopping. Instead I check through the kids clothes, make a list of what they have and what they need, and shop accordingly. I look for sales and try to make wise decisions, but at the end of the day does God care whether I spent $200 instead of just $150? I don't know.

    Do you follow a budget?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

     

    I do NOT do a Zero Based Budget, telling every penny where to go. But I have worked up a standard 4-week budget that has us paying ourselves first (retirement, college savings), housing expenses, groceries, gas, and sinking funds. These are set expenses that will not changes. Any money leftover is available for clothes, Target trips, Starbucks, etc. :) This is enough of a 'budget' for us.

     

    Maybe a Zero Based Budget is the only thing I can imagine. Maybe I am too strict when I try to budget and that is why it seems so restrictive. Your approach seems more reasonable.

    Do you follow a budget?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Wow. Thanks for all the feedback. While I'm mulling it over, let me add some quick details.

     

    We do tithe. We are putting money toward retirement. Plus we have other savings. Our only debt is our mortgage. We aren't specifically saving for our kids education, but because my husband is a college professor there is one university they can attend for free. :) So I think we are doing OK. No doubt there is room for improvement, I'm just wondering if I am motivated to tackle it?? Keeping track of spending seems so burdensome. And because I tend to obsess about things, I'm afraid I would end up nagging dh constantly.

    Do you follow a budget?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Do you follow a household budget? Do you do it because money is tight and you have to? Or do you think everyone should follow a budget? Do you feel it is irresponsible to just spend and not keep track of where the money is going? Dh and I do not follow any preplanned budget. I have no idea what we spend on food or clothes or entertainment. We are both fairly conservative with our spending and there is always money left in the bank at the end of the month. Occasionally I feel guilty that there isn't more structure and planning to our spending... (but then other times I think we are doing fine and I don't need another thing to obsess over).

     

    What do you think? (We are in the middle of a Sunday school class based on a Larry Burkett book. That is what has spurred this question. And then I keep seeing questions here asking how much people spend on various things.)

    vocabulary 3rd grade

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    At the study center my children attend, there is a significant amount of vocabulary in their literature class. I think many of their comprehension guides come from Veritas Press, but I'm not positive. So that would be one place to look, if you want to incorporate vocabulary.

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