Start one! My sixth grader would love it.

This year, I want to read a bunch of books about different tribes throughout November, as opposed to the traditional thanksgiving narrative. Trouble is, not having had an unbiased education myself, I'm not sure where to find accurate information and books! I have two in elementary and one in sixth grade. These would be read aloud books we read together. Websites or craft/project ideas that honor American Indians greatly appreciated as well! Thanks.

It's more religious than i like, but other than that, it looks pretty perfect for what I am looking for...phonics, easy to implement, simple, thorough. anyone here use it? thoughts? *sorry for my lack of capital letters and short post...feeding the baby and typing one handed :huh:

I wear mine all the time. After breaking his finger and having his sawed off and losing the second one cliff diving, my doh now wears a rubber one lol.

I was very very lucky to have a wonderful ped with my children when they were younger. I was completely honest about how and where they slept (on me, in my bed), how often they nursed (all the darn time!), and everything else. He was 100% supportive. We did have to leave two other doctors before finding one who was a good fit for us, but it was worth the hassle.

I've never liked milk ðŸ˜My kids drink about a cup a day.

Wednesday went well. We did school from 8-9:30, and then went to science coop. My friend drops her two big kids off at my house and I take them with us in exchange for her taking my five year old to play with her littles (she has a 5, 3, and 2 year old). It works perfectly. Three of the families doing this coop (for middle schoolers) also have third graders, so we've started a class for those guys as well. I love that each of my kids gets exactly what they need from this coop-dd1 gets some challenging work with kids slightly older than she is, and she gets to do experiments and work with a lab partner. Dd2 gets a smaller group of close knit friends, and gets to do experiments. I also love the small group of moms (I am usually helping lead the younger group, so I am with those moms more), I feel like they are my tribe lol. They each have a child with dyslexia/dysgraphia, and are just reall understanding, warm ladies. My dd3 gets to have a standing play date with just *her* friends, which is important since she generally tags along with her big sisters. Plus, I'm not there, so she is having to learn to work things out. And, this mom is a saint. Really, she is truly the sweetest, most patient woman. I'm so lucky my kid is in her care. As for the two kids I take with me, they are wonderful and I love having them. It's a win-win-win! That being said, Wednesday's are hectic. After coop, I drop the kids off at their house and retrieve my dd3. We head home for an hour of rest (screen) time while I make dinner. Beans and rice. Then we all head to the gym by 2:30. I also swung by the instrument rental place to return the violin and cello we borrowed over the summer. 😳 A month late, but it's better than never I guess. Today we are taking baby Bird to visitation. There is a nice park about ten minutes away from the office, so I think I'll pack up our school, drop Bird off, and head to the park. I can do one on one school while the other two kids play. I'll need to pack a lunch, which will be hard considering I don't have many packable lunch items...I have fruit and raw veggies with ranch...Also, I need a dinner plan...I think I'm doing grilled chicken and roasted brussel sprouts with bacon.

Ack! Forgot to check in yesterday. Monday- Dd1 did math, spelling, history, and root words before coop. At coop she did creative writing, art, and logic. Dd2 did math, reading, cursive, grammar before coop. At coop she did math games, engineering, and theater. Dd3 did math, phonics, and handwriting before coop. At coop she did art, martial arts, and science experiments. All three had gym practice- Dd1 4-6 Dd2 5-8 Dd3 3-5 Monday's are long. 😣 Tuesday- Dd1 did math, spelling, history, literature, grammar, writing. Dd2 did math, grammar, reading, mystery science. Dd3 did math, reading, handwriting, mystery science. Older two dd's had a private lesson from 3-4 at the gym. I got my sheets washed and my winter down comforter on the bed. Also folded an additional load of laundry. Regular cleaning got done-dishes, wiping counters, bathrooms, sweeping. Took the kids to kids night at Texas Roadhouse. Tomorrow is another long day-we have to get school done by 9:30 so we can go to science coop. After that, we rush home for lunch and then head to the gym, same schedule as Monday. I'm not hopeful that any chores will happen besides the basics. Sigh.

Rosie, where would I find these? Thanks!

I feel like this very often. I'll stand in front. Of the stocked fridge or pantry and nothing will stand out as appetizing. It's very frustrating.

14 dogs?! I can't wrap my brain around it😜

Oops, apparently I don't know how to quote...How do I get my text out of the quote box?

We are back from our trip. It was exhausting. Fun, busy, wonderful, but positively exhausting. I was on my own with the kids for the ride there (8 hours) and most of the trip. DH was able to come for the last day and a half. The girls wouldn't have been hard, but a newborn that hates the car was stressing me out. He did fine though. I had grand plans of doing some school while we were there and that only happened twice. 😣 To be fair, I thought we would have more downtime that we did. We did receive Monopoly as a gift from my dad, and spend many hours playing it. 😠I also go them a coding book/game, and dd1 spent some time doing that. They all did prodigy math, and they all read some. Yesterday was our first day back to school. Sunday we arrived an hour past bedtime, so I knew Monday would be rough. We did history (encyclopedia reading and SOTW cd for dd1, story reading for dd2/3, and lap book component for all, which included a good amount of writing so I'm counting that as done too), writing through their history work, coop science (read chapter 3 of dd2 book and completely the journal pages, read the encyclopedia pages, completed the sketch, wrote vocabulary words, made element flash cards, and watched memorize academy's video for the first twenty elements for dd1), prodigy math was played by all three. Today I want to- DD1- CLE math-first lesson in book four Writing-Hernan Cortes Grammar Spelling History-start new chapter book Science-memorize academy DD2- CLE math-first lesson in book four Writing-letter to penpal Grammar History-If You Lived...Colonial Times DD3- Math-next page in Miquon Reading-next few pages in her reader Phonics-Memoria Press K Writing-letter to penpal, I'll scribe and she will copy We might try to head to the park. Our only plan (visitation for bird) got cancelled so we are completely free! I should probably make a dinner plan...😳

We are on vacation this week. Yesterday was a long driving day, and i just let them veg with dvd's so I could focus on driving. Their brains are probably mush by now. This morning we went swimming and played at the beach. We are having rest time now, but in an hour I'll have them do 'school'. Yes, much to my kids dismay, I brought some. I have small blank books for them to journal our week in-the 5 year old will draw a picture of our day and dictate a sentence to me. The 8 year old will draw and write 3 sentences about her picture. The 11 year old will journal a paragraph about our day. They will all play Prodigy Math for 20 minutes. They all have a book to read. DD5 will read to me for ten minutes, dd8 to herself for 30 minutes, and I don't need to monitor dd11, she will happily read for several hours. I plan to have them watch some history and science videos from New Dimensions. Should take about 90 minutes total.

I have nothing to add regarding teaching Euclid. I just wanted to say how much I love and look forward to your posts Hunter. I so wish I could sit and chat with you someday...Thank you so much for all the time you spend collecting resources and sharing your wisdom.

Sunday!!! I'm mostly packed. I need to do toiletries, diapers/wipes, and the cooler will get packed in the morning tomorrow. I forgot how much more STUFF a baby needs! A pack and play, diapers, formula, bottles, bottle brush, wipes, sound machine, bibs, swaddling blankets, colic remedy, pajamas, onesies, pacifiers, baby wash, diaper cream....the list is endless!!! We had gotten to the point with the girls that a few t shirts and shorts, toothbrush, hairbrush, and flip flops would be plenty! Birthday gifts and car snacks were bought, bathrooms cleaned, main floor dusted. I will try to get all of our bedding washed today, so we can come back to clean sheets.

*Official* school work for September is done, so today is a rest and packing day. Girls watched some New Dimensions videos on their science and history studies. Love those. The dishwasher and a load of laundry is going. I've had to wash the same load 3x so far trying to get cigarette smoke smell out. Baby Birds mom sent some clothes for him and I threw them in with our clothes, not thinking they'd make the whole load reek. :confused1: I've done two regular cycles and one with Tea Tree Oil in the rinse cycle...I think that did the trick. I have two more loads waiting in the wings. I'll have the girls pack their clothing for our trip, and I'll start packing for myself and Bird. Kitchen got vacuumed and mopped yesterday, but the main level didn't get dusted. Nor did the bathrooms get cleaned. Sigh. Will attempt to get to those things today. I also need to get to the store to buy some things for the trip, a birthday gift, and a small little something to bring to my nephew when we visit.

We have basic "you are a part of our family and so need to contribute by helping" chores and then additional "for hire" chores. Things they need to do are mostly related to their own personal stuff-pick up things left out, mop up spills, clear their own dishes from the table, put their laundry in the hamper/dresser, ect. The extra chores are posted each Monday. I tape about 50 index cards with the chore and the amount I'm willing to pay for it up on the mantle. We each have a bunch of paoerclips in our own color. When a chore gets done, we clip that card. I included myself in the clips because I certainly don't want them to feel it's just on them. They have until Friday to pick what ever chore (or not!) they want, no obligation. On Saturday though, we all work as a family to do the remaining chores, and I don't pay on Saturday. That's voluntary work lol. So far, it's worked out wonderfully. My super motivated child was racking up the money the first few weeks, and now my not so motivated, doesn't notice things that need to be done child is realizing just how much has to happen to run this household. She is taking intiative because she wants to earn money. They've all three started just stepping in to help me when they see me working on something. They have always been willing to help, if I asked. They are sweet, just not always aware. With Baby Bird coming home two months ago, I've been run ragged and extra tired. This has been an incredible help for me, one that I am more than willing to pay for. Plus, they are really being careful with their hard earned money. Whereas before they would ask for things without understanding how much work goes into earning that $20, now, they carefully consider the value of the thing they want versus how much work it is to earn enough for it. The biggest thing I love about doing it this way is that I don't nag. I don't even mentions chores. They can choose to do them of not. I don't care either way. So far, we've not had to work on Saturday. ðŸ˜

Thursday. Baby Bird woke up a few times more than I'd like last night, but in between, he did actually sleep, which I am grateful for. Now if I could get DH to stop snoring. :glare: He did let me sleep in a little, so I've forgiven him lol. :laugh: Kids are having half hour of screen time so I can drink a cup of coffee in peace. Today we will tackle history, geography, and LA. Math is done for September! Well, not for the year old, but she's working ahead in Miquon, so I don't really care about skipping a week with her. Yesterday we vacuumed and mopped the kitchen, wiped the cabinets and appliances, scrubbed the bathtubs, and dusted the basement (where we have 8 bookshelves of books, so its a huge job). Today we will dust the main and second levels, vacuum and mop the main level, vacuum the second level, clean 2/4 bathrooms. Well that is my goal anyway, but we will see if it actually gets done. DH is home today, so I want to take advantage of him being here. Plus, Baby Bird is at visitation today for a few hours, so that will help too. I have no idea what the kids have had to eat today so far. I slept through breakfast. :huh: I suppose I should think ahead to dinner, but my brain is fried. I think I have a roast in the freezer, if I can get it thawed in time, I'll make it in the dutch oven. *School work done! *Vacuuming and mopping of main level done! *Roast thawed and in the oven. Baby Bird is back from visitation and he is ALL out of sorts. 😢😣 Poor little guy.

I need some fun nick names! 😂 I'm boring, so I've got nothing. This week is...going. Baby Bird has NOT been sleeping well. Let me rephrase that. Baby Bird has not been sleeping. Period. 😖😩 He's officially 'woken up' since he's past his due date now. He's aware, and he's NOT happy being put down to sleep. If he were mine, I'd snuggle him in my bed, but that's not allowed, so he must get used to his crib, like it or no. It means a lot of shushing, patting, picking up/putting down, and crying. For both of us. 😞 I have been positively exhausted. On top of that, Dh has been working a ton and has had a few out of town days. All that to say, school this week has been minimal at best. Next week we go on vacation, so we are trying to finish up September work this week. The big two girls are testing out of CLE math book 3 (603 and 303), I told them if they score a 90% they don't have to finish the rest of that book (they were both on lesson 11 of their book). I have decided to put IEW writing aside for the week, and we will instead do some free writing for both big girls and writing across the curriculum for history for dd1. We have one section left for our family history reading, and dd1 is moving along nicely through the DA book-she should finish it this week. Today is science coop for the two big girls, while my little dd has a play date. Luckily, we do most of the work during coop, and there is minimal homework. We will have to complete next weeks work either Thursday or Friday since we won't be there for coop. We added in Nature Study yesterday, it went well, even though I wasn't into it as much as I'd like. 😣 I was so tired, I just kind of let them do their thing while I sat and held the baby. Dd1 needs to do her root words, she did logic at Monday coop. I feel as though I need to add in spelling for dd2, who is in third grade. She is actually a natural speller thus far, she doesn't have too much trouble with it, but I feel I should address the spelling rules with her. I'll have to look and see what I already have... She is mooing along nicely with cursive. It's nice to have one that doesn't detest writing and spelling like dd1 did! Both big girls are doing Critical Thinking Co. for grammar, which is going well. Dd3 is finally getting somewhere with reading. We've been doing phonics, but she hates it. I pulled out my First Steps little book, and though she struggled at first with the sight words, now she is recognizing them more and her reading is becoming more fluent. Plus, she feels so big now that she's reading a "chapter book" like her sisters do lol. Miquon math, Memoria Press, Cristical Thinking Co. logic, and copy work are all going well for her. Chores are getting done regularly with our new system. I'm paying out a ton each week, but it's worth it for now. I can use all the help I can get! I have got to pack for our trip. I've got most of the pantry items done. The girls will take care of their clothing and car bags. I also need to do baby birds things, which will be a ton. I need to make a grocery run before we go. Kids are getting up, so I suppose I should tend to them lol.

Buy them all! We have four-challenge math, elementary challenge math, problem solving genius, and real world algebra, and they are all great!

Forgot, again, to check in yesterday. 😣 It was a good day, we got all our school done by 11:30, and so we headed to the playground for nerf gun wars park day. We stayed for only two hours because it was HOT. Hopefully in a month we will have some cooler temps and can turn Thursday's into a fun outing. Today we have our 'fun schooling' day. History projects and task cards, writing assignment presentations, and challenge math. Then the girls favorite gym coach is coming over to play Catan. 😠We â¤ï¸ her. She is so sweet. And how cool is it that she will come over and have play dates with us??? I am planning a salad and sandwich bar for lunch for when she arrives. Gym practice is from 4-7 today, but only my big two girls go.

Forgot to check in yesterday. I wanted to maybe head to the park, since it was 73 in the morning, but no friends could meet us, and I would rather save our 'ditching school' days for when we can play. So it was a home day. School got done by 1. My new chore system is working out swimmingly. I've written up about 30 chores on index cards and assigned them a monetary value. They are 'for hire' chores, aside from the normal daily stuff they do. At first I was only putting ten cards up, and whatever didn't get done by Saturday, we all pitched in together to get it done. Catch is, I only pay M-F. If it's not done by Saturday, I consider it a volunteer job. Every morning now, the girls rush down to pick the chores they'll do for the day. Some are higher value, but bigger jobs. They negotiate with each other, decide if they'll split a job and the payout, bargain and trade jobs. Best of all, they are HAPPILY working. Not only that, but they are going above and beyond the written chore because I've told them I give bonuses for an exceptional job. They don't know when I'll award a bonus, so they are diligent in all jobs. Plus, now they have a reliable way to earn decent spending money. I only sign off once I've inspected their work, and I'm a tough critic. One job is making a healthy snack for everyone, and the creative culinary creations were so fun to see. Last week, I paid out $52 between the three girls. 😳 Way more than I was expecting, but they kept pulling extra cards from the stack and I didn't want to discourage them. Anyway, I'm sure it will eventually fizzle out like every other system I've tried lol, but I'm taking advantage of their excitement. Started trying to nudge Baby Bird into a schedule of sorts, since his night time sleep has been slowly deteriorating. 😣 I've never had a crib sleeping, bottle fed baby, and it's HARD! He clearly does NOT like his crib, which I completely understand. I've been trying to catch him drowsy and lay him down for his daytime naps, but I feel bad about not holding him-he is still sleeping 18ish hours per day, which is a LOT of time to be in a crib. I also finished up my monthly logs and training hours for foster care. Today is a normal school day, adding in some Mystery Science for fun. Then we head to the gym at 3. Between the three girls, we'll be there until 8. Dinner is already made though! ;-) My chore for the day is my bathroom.

Monday- So stinking proud of myself lol. I planned, bought the ingredients for, AND actually cooked four meals today while the girls were at coop. Woot woot! I just kept rinsing my pan and utensils and only had to wipe the kitchen down once instead of a bunch of times over the week. We did our short day of school this morning before coop. Got snacks and lunches packed for coop. Got to coop ON TIME. All kids had shoes and looked somewhat presentable. 😜 And I got my bedding and bath mats washed. It's the little things.