Mommy2BeautifulGirls
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Posts posted by Mommy2BeautifulGirls
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LOL!!! I couldn't figure out how to delete it, once I figured out my original problem! Maybe next time I should title it "Delete this thread?"
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Currently, I have a file folder system that I use for the six-week periods in which we do school. It holds any worksheets that they will have to use for their assignments. I think I want to keep that, but I'm thinking of writing down each subject's assignments for the entire year as a separate list. That way, I can still keep it relatively open-and-go, but still have that wiggle room that the six-week planning affords me. Based on all of your responses, it sounds like this should be feasible.
I need to be prepared, but with the laid-back nature of our homeschool, I also need to have that flexibility.
Thanks, everyone, for your insight!
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I currently do my lesson planning every six weeks, since we do six weeks on and six weeks off. I'm considering switching though, so I'm curious as to what everyone else finds efficient.
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Nevermind! Figured it out!
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I really like Elemental Science for the logic stage. My oldest daughter does, too. I don't care for grammar stage as well.
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Wouldn't that be awesome? We started Elemental Science last fall, and LOVE it!
Maybe someone will provide the answer we're looking for.
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Thanks for updating us. I am glad you were able to work out a scaled back plan. Best wishes to you in your new home!
Thanks!
FWIW we moved into a house 15 years ago that took 40% of our take-home pay for a 30 year mortgage. I was scared to death, but we had babies at the time, and DH is a stable job. Our expenses were minimal. For many years we took no vacations and bought very, very little. I was in no outside activities that cost $ with the children until the youngest was 5.
And it has worked out. We live in an extremely expensive area and didn't have too many options. We looked for over a year, so it wasn't something we took on lightly.
It's always scary! We've been looking for quite a while, too, and there just hasn't been anything out there in terms of pre-existing homes for the last few years. That's why we decided to build.
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For the record, as I've realized it may have been misunderstood from the beginning, my original question was never about whether or not we should build a new home. It was about WHICH home to build. We had already decided to turn our current home into a rental and build a larger home in a better area before I asked the original question.
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Dawn - We're "loosely" following Dave Ramsey. We don't agree with all of his philosophy. But the snowball list has definitely gotten most of our debt paid off, and we don't rack up the credit cards. We try to live within our means while still putting money into savings.
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Don't we all?
Like I said before, God has showered us with blessings. We thought we were in deep trouble when our smart ARM was approaching the switch from fixed to variable interest nearly five years ago. Then the market crashed, and our interest kept going down.
God will provide for us now, just as he did then. I would be more worried if my children had to continue being raised in the neighborhood we're in now.
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Scarlett - Not the original house we found. One quite a bit cheaper. We decided it wasn't worth the extra money to get the other one, so we went with the back-up plan.
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I strongly advise you to take Crown Financial. Learning Biblical principals on how to be good stewards of God's money is invaluable.
We've been following Dave Ramsey loosely for a few years now. Almost all the cards are paid off, and we have 1-1/2 more car payments, then we'll be car-payment free!!! WOOHOO!!!
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Taxes. I always did our taxes until we became landlords. We now pay an accountant and are happy to do so. We put the houses in an LLC a couple of years ago, and that made tax time even more expensive.
Blessings on your new adventure.
My father-in-law is an accountant, and he ALWAYS does our taxes for us. When he can no longer do them, my brother-in-law is an accountant, too. One of the perks of being in a financially-conscious, numbers-minded family!
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If there is nothing nice/bigger to buy in your area, I would be very leery of building the best house in the least area. I also have heard horror story after horror story of builders gouging buyers, and the neighborhoods ending up being dumps and with many foreclosures. I would feel most comfortable buying a preexisting home where there has been sustained stability, and in a 'good' school district. You may well want to sell someday. Where do the rooted middle class/professionals in your area buy homes? (And I am not talking about the Bill Gates folks). Look to the most stable and cared-for communities(s).
We are actually in phase 2 of an established community in a rural area. There was a break between phase 1 and phase 2, while they waited for the market to recover a bit. It will literally be a breath of fresh air, after spending so many years near a large city and a Ford plant. We will be about an hour north of where we are now, in an extremely good school district (from what I've heard/researched). Quite the opposite of where we're currently living, which has horrible schools and the only sales taking place are of foreclusures that have been sitting empty for quite some time. In fact, most of them have been gobbled up by money-hungry slum lords already, and when I looked the other day, there were NO listings in my area.
NO middle class/professionals buy homes in my current area anymore. Only people looking to turn them into rentals.
Here's some interesting data: Current home population density: Approximately 2,532 people per square mile New home: 154 people per square mile. LOL! That's quite a difference!
Oh, AND... my childhood hero, Laura Ingalls (well, Melissa Gilbert!) has recently moved to our new area. She was sick of LA, and wanted something quieter. I would probably absolutely faint if I ran into her at the grocery store! :D
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We absolutely plan on sitting on that money. Our house was built in the 40s, so you never know when something will need to be updated. :D
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I ran across this thread, and since we are going to be closing on our new house soon, I thought I would give an update. We have built a new home, taking advantage of the great interest rates and new construction prices at the perfect time. The base price of our particular model has already jumped up $32,000 since we signed our contract. The base price is actually more than we are paying WITH all of our "options." We might even have some equity built up by the time we actually close! The neighborhood looks great so far. We have already met a few of the people who live across the street, and it appears that it's going to be a child-filled neighborhood. (Our current one only has one other child who we know, and we've been here for nine years.)
We will be handing over the keys for our current home to the property management company just as soon as we close, get moved, and finish up a few final details. (We still have to repaint our bathroom and hang some trim in our kitchen.) We will make two final mortgage payments on this house, then begin receiving rent from them each month. Since they are actually the lessee, they will pay us whether or not they have found tenants to sublease from them. (Our contract is with them, NOT the future tenants.) However, they had another house around the corner that they leased last summer, and I swear the sign was only up for a few weeks before they found tenants. This has totally turned into a mostly-rent neighborhood in the last few years. They will also take over any lawn maintenance, water, gas, and electric bills until they find a tenant.
It may seem like a risky maneuver, but I feel like God has led us to this point in our lives, and with God on our side, who can be against us? I found out that the owner of the management company is actually a good friend of some friends of mine, including the pastor who married my husband and me. My friend's sister-in-law works there, too. That alleviated any remaining doubt we had about the company. (Well, that and the fact that it was voted one of the best places to work in Metro Detroit in 2012 AND was the 99th fastest-growing private company in the nation and 1st in Michigan in 2013.)
So, while we weren't able to get the "dream house" we originally had set our sights on, we were still able to take advantage of the down market at the right time to get out of this house and into something more suitable for a family of five. And in the process, we'll be getting about $150-200 extra per month, depending on how much our taxes go up. (If I figured it out correctly, I think they're only going up about $35/month, based on the millage rate the city gave me.) The landlord insurance is only a couple hundred dollars more per year than what we're paying for homeowners' insurance, which is awesome! I had actually figured it out to be a lot more expensive than what it ended up coming out to.
All in all, we are more confident that we made the right decision than we were when we first signed our sales contract.
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I have horrible GI issues since having my gallbladder out. I went through a period years ago where my stomach hurt all. the. time. no matter what I ate. They did a scope, and found out that my stomach wasn't emptying all the way. Just a hit or two for like a week was enough to alleviate the stomach pain so that I could eat without wanting to throw up afterwards. I think that it not only helped the nausea, but it also relaxed my digestive system so that my stomach could sort of get back to normal. I never felt strange or anything, never got hooked. I also slept really well for that week, which was also helpful, since my heartburn kept me from being able to lie down all the way.
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I already know that I'm going to use certain things with him for kindergarten, since they worked well for my girls, so I dropped the Language Lessons for Little Ones and What Your Preschooler Needs to Know, and added a few of the hands-on activities. I think that you just have to stay at or above the cost of the basic package to still be eligible for free shipping.
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That's what I was thinking, too. Just the first course, followed by pre-algebra. I'm still undecided as to whether or not I want to finish MM5, then switch to Holt course 1, or go through MM6 first, then right into pre-algebra.
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I should have mentioned that there is a spot where you can click to "customize package." :D
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You can actually tweak them to make them better suited for what you want. I just recently got a quote for the pre-K package, and what I wanted was to drop two items from the basic kit, and add a few items from the more expensive kits. It's only going to cost me about $25 more, and I get what I actually want.
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I'm trying to look ahead just a bit in math. My daughter is currently using MM, and I'm trying to decide where to go after that. I was originally thinking about Thinkwell, but now I'm wondering if a textbook approach would work better than an online course. My research has led me to Holt Mathematics. Here are my questions:
1. Should I start out with courses 1 through 3 or just move into pre-algebra. I would think that if the courses are meant to cover 6th-8th grade then they would be followed by algebra. Is this correct? My daughter doesn't usually require a lot of repetition, so if this is the case, then pre-algebra would probably be our best bet.
2. Do I need the teacher's manual? Or are the videos by Prof. Burger enough to teach the lessons, should my daughter need additional help?
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:lurk5:
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I used K and 1st for my girls, and will probably use it for my son as well.
Lesson Planning Poll
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
I used to use Skedtrack. :)