If the kids are always home, give them age appropriate tasks to do at set times on set days. Mine are 10, 8, and 6 (the ones that are old enough to help). They sort and fold laundry, do dishes, clean bathrooms, dust, vacuum, sweep, and clean mirrors. They know what they need to do on any given day (not all chores are done each day). Maybe while the parent on duty is preparing a meal, they can do their jobs!

I plan for the following school year off and on the entire month of April. (Although, this coming April, I will have a newborn, so I don't know what I'll do?) I research what I need to buy the first week - and purchase anything I don't already have. Inthe second week, I pencil my plan. In the third week, I type it up. The fourth week, I print all my pages - my year plan, calendars, attendance sheets, and weekly fill-in sheets - organize it all, and take it to the office store for spiral binding. I'm not wed to my year plan; it merely serves as a guide. I fill in the blank weekly pages as each week happens and check my year plan to see if I'm close.

* I don't hang any children's clothes, except for my girls' church dresses. * On Monday morning, I put 3 collapsible laundry baskets in the hallway - one for darks, one for lights, and one for whites - and the kids sort. I wash and dry, then they fold and put away. * I have a chore chart on the fridge. The kids check it every day and do their chores, usually while I cook dinner. They also have to clean their rooms each day. * Because we have limited closet space, I have cubbies by the front door. In the cold months, each kid has their own cubbie for coats, hats, and gloves. In warm weather, I put sunscreen and bug repellant in one cubbie, light jackets in another, sunglasses and outdoor blankets in one, and chalk and bubbles in another. * I have a large basket for library books. Unless they're being read, library books stay in the basket. * I wipe off my shower walls and the tub with an old washcloth after I shower. Cuts down on the cleaning time later. * Each of my children has their own special color of bath towel. Once I started that, my husband could tell which kid was leaving their towel in the bathroom floor.

Well, you're definitely nesting! That's a good sign, right? I guess the best signs are physical (like losing the plug). If you do learn you feel different, let me know. I'm expecting #5 in April - of the four children I have who are here, I went into labor with 3 of them while wrapping or unwrapping Christmas presents. I don't know how to tell for an April baby!

I work one day a week. Until March, I worked 3 days per week. I'm an attorney and I work for an attorney who loves being in the courtroom, so he litigates in court while I do his written litigation. I love it and have been working for him for 7 years. I work because I love my job and because we have debts and a mortgage that we are trying to pay off. With any luck, we will be debt free in 5 years and I can spend my "free" time helping my husband who is an attorney with his own practice.

I make my own planner every school year and have it spiral bound by a local office supply store. They usually charge me around $2.50 for the binding and the plastic covers. One year, I asked if they could put a heavy-duty clear cover on the front and back - and they did for no extra charge! This year, they didn't have the heavy-duty stuff, so I put in a cardstock page in the back and one just after my title page in the front.

I am doing SOTW 1 with my 5th, 3rd, and 1st grade children. This is my 5th grader's second time going through and so far she's enjoying it. I give her a lot of additional reading, and she has to do the outlining, timelines, and summaries of her additional readings, so she is challenged. I've sweetened the deal for her by promising she can teach some of the lessons (she knows more about Egyptian, Greek and Roman mythology than I care to know, so those are hers to teach).

About three years ago I stopped brushing my hair (dyed, course, thick, wavy) and my daughter's hair (not course, thick, curly). Instead, I comb my hair only just prior to showering and my daughter combs hers in the shower between shampoo and conditioner). I also shampoo every 2 to 3 days, only shampoo my scalp, and use conditioner on my hair. My daughter and I both use Pantene's curly hair products including the spray on curly stuff (gel/conditioner). I highly recommend the book Curly Girl by Lorraine Massey.

My hair (in its natural form) sounds very similar to yours. I started coloring mine black years ago and love it! I have very pale skin with olive undertones, so black works for me, albeit, better in fall/winter than spring/summer. Perhaps go black with the colorful ends for summer then all black for cooler months?

My 2.5 yo son can't keep his hands off. He strips, pulls and twists (*ouch*) while I'm changing him, and sings himself to sleep at night with opera-like melodies about his p€n!$. I'm going to start potty training soon - and I dread it: easier access! :glare:

Maybe this is some effort on the part of the federal and/or state governments to force Amazon into making people pay sales tax. Amazon won't budge so government is hacking the site! :D

There is something wrong. My husband didn't believe me at first, but I told him to do a search on his computer. Nada, zilch - it just pulls up books (or other stuff) you recently searched for. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

I like it, but I don't use it as a tool for measuring what we need to do, but rather as a record to show my children what they've learned.

In SOTW 3, I chose to skip 6 chapters in favor of expanding the 8 pages in SOTW devoted to the founding and the Revolution. I used the American Revolution for Kids as my spine. This year we are on SOTW4 and I'm omitting several chapters in favor of an in depth view of the Civil War and World War II, again using books from the For Kids series.

Mine is up! See sig line.

We chose karate because of the convenience to where we live, the good things I'd heard from other people about the instructor, and the price (I have 3 kids in, now, taking up to four classes a week for $100 a month). My almost 5 year old just started in August; her two older siblings have been doing it a year. All three LOVE it!

I thought I'd get this started for this week! Mine is in my sig line!

My fourth grader is working on it now. I read it to her in rhyming fashion and it didn't make sense to her. When I read it as prose then explained the irony, she loved it! She almost has it memorized and really enjoys my (prose) reading of it! ETA: My four year old has picked up a big chunk of it, too!

Mine is up! Link in sig.

We are covering this period in history this school year. Instead of focusing much on Vietnam (which is important, but may be a little heavy and confusing for my kids this go-around), I'm going to spend time discussing inventions - especially within the context of the Information Age. We'll also focus more on the Presidents - who they are, significant parts of their individual Presidencies. As far as resources, I've purchased several age-appropriate biographies of various people/Presidents.

It's up!

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I use SOTW as the spine for our 4-year history rotation. In year 3, I took out some of the chapters and spent 2 months on the Founding of the Country. I used the American Revolution for Kids as the spine for that period. This year, we're in SOTW year 4. Again, I've reworked the year, took out some of the topics covered in SOTW4 and I'm spending 2 months on the Civil War (using Civil War for Kids) and 1 month on World War II (using WWII for Kids).

We do 4 days a week virtually year round since I work 3 days per week. Our nanny oversees some extra, light subjects on the days she is here (usually about an hour's worth).

I am an attorney and work 3 days per week, Monday through Wednesday. A nanny keeps the kids on the days I work. I (and occasionally my DH will do some, too) homeschool the kids Thursday through Sunday. since I only teach 4 days per week, we have school year-round. I'm in my fifth year of homeschooling on this schedule and so far so good. I am a planner by nature, so I take a very long time to thoroughly plan down to very minute detail what I will be teaching all of the children each year. If I didn't do so much planning in advance, I don't know how I would manage.