Do you have an emergency cash fund? Any retirement money? Any educational money already established? I was reading a Kiplinger's magazine article recently that commented that many people separate their money too much. They tend to mentally earmark this for retirement and that for education when they might be better off to just save (and probably save a lot more) and invest. You might look at articles by Michelle Singletary (The Color of Money). I find that she writes at a very basic level. Investing isn't necessarily a bad idea, if you get something that is very diversified, such as a fund that spreads out amongst stocks and bonds and in several different industries.

I had ds in for a follow up for a concussion last fall. The DR asked what happened. I started to answer and he stopped me and said, "Let him answer and I'll ask you what I need to." I'll admit I was taken aback. But the DR continued to ask questions about things like diabetes and high blood pressure in the family. DS had no idea. The DR asked me. Then he turned to ds and said, "These are things that it is important for you to know." I felt like it was actually a good way for the DR to acknowledge that ds is getting older and does need to take a more active role in his health. I've also been in a dental exam and heard teens in the next chair give very different answers to questions about tobacco use than they might have given if their mom was sitting right there.

That strikes me as high. I'm also reluctant to enter into contracts. It is one thing if there is a contract option that might save me $10-20 a month. It would be a warning flag if an annual option were the only choice. Our instructor is very good and has had several students on the junior national team and he was able to coach one student at the Olympics (Marshall Islands). We pay about $250 for three students (it is prorated for additional student in the family). The kids continued to wear uniforms from their old school until they outgrew them. Uniforms are nice quality and cost about $35 for a child's size. Tests are scheduled as a student or group of students is ready, not based on a calendar schedule (this is an important thing to me). Sparring is optional, but is included in the monthly price. We were given sparring equipment by a family that had bought a larger set. Before that, kids were able to use sparring gear from an equipment chest. Also, sparring is open to young students, but they need to be yellow belt and they are paired up according to size and ability. I think that there is a cost for a higher quality program. We have good mats on top of a sprung floor, mirrors on two sides, five heavy bags and lots of paddles and shields for practice. These are some of the items that were missing at the class we took in a school gym. I think that they help the class be better training and safer (time floors at a community center are hard). And there is a cost to the school to provide this. On the other hand, there are schools that are much more interested in money making than on high quality training. It is hard to spot, but if it doesn't feel right, then go with your gut. Or ask if you can start out month to month to make sure that the kids really have an interest. If you still feel pressured to sign on long term or buy lots of equipment, then you were probably right in the first place.

As military officers, dh and I routinely arrived at work at 6:30 am and left after 6:00 pm. When we were serving on ships underway, we had two 4-6 hour watches each day plus our normal work as division supervisors. I was pretty happy if I got six hours of sleep a night underway (and it was often split into a couple hours before and after a night time watch).

I frequently have fines under $10, but I did get a $50 last year. There had been some confusion, but it was mostly my fault for making an assumption. However, a few weeks later they did erase a $30 fine and they've searched for books that we returned AND sent books to a neighboring library when I dropped them off at the wrong place (not the same system). I guess the fact that I will pay a big fine cheerfully(?) makes them more likely to believe me when I protest.

"You are a great deal of trouble, Mrs. Peticaris" from The Wind and the Lion "Stu-uff Mart" from Madame Blueberry He/she "is seriously damaging my calm" from Serenity

I sold $42 worth of books to the local used shop and still had five boxes of books and one box of junk for Goodwill. (Then I got home and found 3-4 more boxes of stuff). I think that in effect I've been hoarding stuff. I'm really working on weeding out the semi good in favor of the great. And I keep telling myself that something good will find someone who values it. I don't have to find the right home for everything. Today in favor of my youngest's birthday, we're having a giant craft day. I'm planning on having some stuff used up/sorted out/given away at the end of the day.

The couple of places I checked suggested using the phrase "used personal effects" when appropriate as well as checking gift. I also saw one suggestion to keep the value of the package below $30. We have a family story about a friend who was living in Germany. He got a box marked Gift. The small town post office made him come down and open the package there. They were concerned because Gift in German means poison.

Do make sure that it is an officer recruiter that you're talking to. A general recruiter often isn't prepared to discuss officer programs, especially for folks who already have their degrees. Often, there are only one or two officer recruiters in an area, so be persistent. This isn't intended as a slam on enlisted recruiters. But they have there area of expertise and it doesn't always include oddball programs that are smaller and less well known. I can say that a friend of ours just retired from Air Force civil engineering. He had incredible jobs running base equivalents of public works departments. He is in his late 40s and now working for a big construction engineering firm. As a former naval officer and a current navy wife, I think that the benefits are pretty good.

I just wanted to second the recommendation of Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell. I read it this year and thought that it was a really good book. One of the things that it helped to to recognize is when a pundit on tv is expressing how they think the world should be, rather than the way the world is. I came away with a very different view of prices and wages and even things like commodity futures than I had had before. I also enjoyed Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt.

I wish I could make it to the DC exhibition. We visited Pompeii and Herculanum a couple years ago and had a great time. I did find the NGA classroom materials on Greco-Roman Origin Myths. It includes Student Activities and Printable Worksheets. Hopefully they'll come out with a teacher guide for the actual exhibit, too.

One trick that I use is to staple them in place, then sew them on. I use thread the color of the border and run stitches that go the same direction as the border (in other words, radiating out from the edge of the patch). The stitches pretty much blend into the threads of the border edging. Then I take out the staples. The reason I like staples is because it holds the patch steadier than a safety pin. I have fewer problems with the patch shifting around and getting crooked while I pin it. I haven't tried the badge magic yet. I've heard some people rave about it. I do agree with having Boy Scouts sew their own. Mine are still in Cub Scouts for a little while longer.

Masters in Education through an program for non-traditional students (ie, mostly former military). Did everything for certification except student teach. DH likes to put my masters diploma up and explain that his kids' teacher does have a masters in education. (Not that it makes it any easier to teach a child to read. One day at a time.)

Because if they think he's a tattletale they'll hold him down and hurt him? Or look the other way while someone else does? Not trying to be harsh but if the parents are never told because they might not take it well, then they will always have the excuse that no one has ever complained before.

Ask if there are holiday foods that you might send. Brownie mix, American brown sugar, muffin mix, chocolate chips and American cake mix were things that I bought at military commissaries when I had the chance. Books were a huge thing, especially easy to read chapter books for my beginning readers. A box of books from the grandparents was always a great thing. My MIL used to scour the clearance section of the used bookstores for us.

We used the On the Fifth Day - Swimming Things book last year. I agree that it would be way too much for a 1st grader. If your first grader is reading well, I might do the Real Science for Kids. That has very technical language and good experiments, but might feel too schoolish. I might also suggest the Sonlight science curriculum. I've used pieces of these that friends have passed along to me. I'm pretty impressed with what they include. I might also suggest lots and lots of books from the library. One Small Square is Great, Magic School Bus is good, Let's Read and Find Out science series (many by Branley) is also good. Remember that at 1st grade, your kid still has lots and lots that he/she has never thought about. That trees are plants, the existence of planets, that stars are great big balls of burning gas, the difference between a polar bear and a panda bear. I've also been impressed by the series of science books by American Education Publishing that includes The Complete Book of Our Solar System and The Complete Book of Animals. There was lots of good stuff in these. They are big (300+ pages) of workbooks. You can pull pages out and make units by chapter (great for travel).

I've used all three versions of RS a lot over the last five years. Version 3 is a significant reworking of the program. If you are using a Vista machine, the older versions will not work. That was the goad for us to get a newer version. The lessons are structured differently, with several modalities in each lesson (reading, listening, speaking). Speaking starts with the first few lessons and has more of a requirement to pass in order to move ahead. (The older versions had speaking as a non graded section). Also the pictures are newer and higher quality looking. The homeschooling scheduling software is much friendlier. Where you had to schedule lessons individually in the older SMS, in Ver 3, you can pick tracks based on your language goal. There are about 8 tracks from a speaking listening brush up to a full year of study. Then the computer picks the individual lessons for that goal. We have five people enrolled in two languages and the system has no problem with this. I've blogged quite a bit about Rosetta Stone over the years if you want to see more detail of what I've found in the program. Or just ask and I'll try to answer here. If you are comparing costs, do remember that you can use it with any number of students. It also comes with a USB headphone/mic for the speaking sections.

Here's my take. Kids at the elementary age and younger are wired to learn new stuff and really can resemble sponges. Think about one of your kids and something that they are passionate about (sports, horses, Pokemon, whatever). They can probably tell you about it in excruciating detail. They can do the same thing with parts of a flower or terms for scientific actions or names of the kings of England or different types of Roman gladiators. That doesn't mean that you have to quiz a second grader on science vocabulary or that there needs to be a cumulative list of terms to define at the end of elementary school. But it may mean that you don't shy away from using the correct term at the right time and thay you gently correct with the proper term. Just restating what the child said with more specific terminology is probably enough.

I think my mom may still have my Little Professor, somewhere in a drawer with my Speak n' Spell. I'm with Aubrey, the Math Shark is a nice math game. It is even a little better than Little Professor was because it has more levels and a wider range of problems to solve. We used to take ours on long car rides to give the kids something to play. My only gripe with mine is that it often gets the on button nudged, turns on and then runs the battery down (like if it were stashed in a backpack). It would have benefited from a more solid on off switch. Another thinking handheld game is 20 Questions. We've had more fun with this than I expected and it does teach some logical thinking patterns. It is probably a game that kids will tire of relatively easily, so putting it away for months at a time is a good thing. Also, you have to be able to read well to use this on your own.

I'm not someone normally in favor of abridging books. But this is one that is almost two separate stories. One line is the Hans Brinker story. The other line is the history of the Netherlands. I found that the book was very dry at points and I think that many kids would be floundering trying to follow the historical asides. It is ok to decouple this from your history schedule. Keep reading it if you all want to. Or let it drop. Or skim and read just the parts about Hans and the race and his family.

What about Lego robotics? My kids have one of the Mindstorms sets. I'd love for them to get involved with First Lego League, but we will be moving during the prep season. The group in our area is totally welcoming of groups that are independent of schools. Some local homeschoolers did very well in last years competition.

It is fairly easy to drop the last name or go with honorific + first name. But how would you handle it if you did want to be called Mrs. Last Name but children started off with your first name instead. Any gentle way of changing this to a more formal footing without causing ill feelings with the child and/or their parents. For example, I would really prefer that the 6-10 yo scouts in my cub scout pack not call me by my first name but as Mrs. Den Leader. I would be ok with Miss Sebastian or Mrs. Sebastian. But, "Hey, Sebastian" makes raises my hackles.

Depends on the 8yo. There is a series of Meet the Author interviews done by WETA. Try searching for "Meet the Author" and they should show up. There may be both video and audio casts to download. Look for a tab near the top of the list to change from video to audio.

When we are traveling, I don't try to teach new concepts in math. Instead I have a book of challenging word problems that they do a couple pages in each day. Or I make up really long problems to calculate. I assign a lot of reading, especially related to where we're going. I don't know how often your kids get back to VT. I would emphasize stuff that is different there than in NZ. When we visited OH this summer, we did lots of hiking. Even something as common as a blue jay or cardinal was new to them. A nature center exhibit on turtles was incredible (they normally only see sea turtles, not box turtles or snapping turtles). Same with seeing frogs in different stages of metamorphosis in a pond. I also like to work on scout activities that tie in with the travels. So we did traveler and geology activity badges for Webelos (senior cub scouts). Are there scout badges that have to do with geography, history, aviation, or something else related to the travel? And keep in mind that some of the stress of the situation will spill over onto your son. Try to be gentle with each other.

I like when the reviews indicated lots of substitutions, then say how bad the recipe was. Something like this happened when we were newly married. I tried a veggie lasagne recipe, made a bunch of substitutions and ended up with something quite inedible. We made a new rule that you couldn't substitute more thatn 50% of the ingredients on a new recipe. I don't have a huge problem with using bits and pieces of different curriculum. What I do have to really watch is how I let reviews influence my choice in first place. Did someone love a certain program (after they had added or dropped a bunch of features)? Or did someone else tell me how such and such math curriculum just didn't work (omitting the fact that they hadn't done the pre-lesson meeting, did the problems out loud instead of in writing, and only did odd numbered problems). In other words, the success or failure of the program might have been application, not the program itself.