I think I read that, too. I thought it was a wonderful idea! And didn't they only have a certain amount of time to eat their lunch, too? And get picked on during recess?

... What do you mean by "loop scheduling?"

One of the things that I like the most about our pediatrician is that they have a nurse call number. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've called to see if the girls need to go in. Thankfully, most of the time they say, "Oh that sounds like a virus that's going around. Next you can expect _______. In about 2 days, your other one will probably start showing symptoms, too. [Do this], and call us if it's not showing signs of going away by _______ or if there is any ________." This has been an invaluable service because my husband doesn't have to leave work (we only have 1 car), we're not paying the copay, and we're not spending extra gas to get there. And about the medical records, in the future you can ask for copies of a few things each time you go in. For example, if one of your kids has a broken bone, when you go for your followup you can ask for copies of the records pertaining to the broken bone. I have found that they usually won't charge if they're just making copies of a couple of pages. It's if you want the entire file copied that it gets expensive for them. And honestly, you probably don't need every piece of paper that's in there, just the highlights, mostly pertaining to any meds that were given or procedures performed. Good luck!

Oh, I forgot a couple: H says smarshmellows (with the accent on the mell) for marshmallows. When my cousin was little (he's 18 now!) he used to say wud for love. That has stuck through the years, and we all still say it all the time.

K: covered = cupboard amn't = aren't For some reason, she has started thinking double T's are double D's. She tries to enunciate her words by saying things like "pod-dy" instead of "potty." It's cute. H: acorn candy = corn candy recsue = rescue popaco = Popsicle sur = sure Scunday school or Cunday school = Sunday school I'm sure there are tons more, especially from H, but I can't seem to recall them at the moment. As I hear her talk to me today, I'll have to jot a few down.

Here's my dilemma about hiring someone younger: There is a very sweet girl down the street, and I love her to death. She also has a younger sister, 5, who is a friend of my girls. However, her dad works days, and I don't think she's allowed to leave the house while he's sleeping. I'm sure he would let her come to my house, but then she would probably have to bring her sister. If that happens, I would feel more like I am the one babysitting. I think I will make an offer to the 16-year-old, and if she is not happy, I will see if the younger girl would be interested. The 16-year-old does not have a summer job, so maybe she will jump on the opportunity anyway. Minimum wage here is just over $6.00 for people under 18, so I guess I'll offer her that. If she would rather go someplace else, I certainly understand. Of course, if we ever hired her to sit by herself without me around, I'd certainly offer her more. Thanks, everyone for your tips.

I am planning on having the 16-year-old girl from down the road come over a few days a week this summer to watch my girls so that I can work. I work from home doing medical transcription, so I would be home, just not able to play games, go outside, etc. I'm wondering what I should offer to pay her. I myself make about an average of $9.00 per hour, since I have only been working for about 6 months. Do any of you have regular babysitters, and if so, what do you pay them? Thanks in advance!

I have heard things about Scholastic representatives being rude to homeschool mothers while on the phone making orders. They also will not allow you to sign up with their teacher program as a homeschool teacher. (I don't buy from them, so I'm not sure what the program is.) If they are not careful, they will be in the same boat that Sprint is in when their next quarterly sales information comes out! I think that we should all write letters about this. Can you imagine what would happen if those 1.1+ million families all sent letters in?

Those don't look so stable. I hope you heal in time to enjoy your middle-of-the-summer pool party! :party:

Did you consider just a DayRunner type of planner? You can buy the calendar refills in many types of formats, both dated and undated. Check with Office Depot or Staples, and they should have something that might work perfectly for you. HTH :D

Thanks so much for this info! I wonder if this is something that is carried in the teacher store I go to. I will have to look. I'm always looking for easy things to do with my daughter, since she's only 4, but preparing to do 1st grade material. This is right up her alley!

I just had to post for you so you could test your poll!:tongue_smilie:

This will be the first year that my 4-year-old will be an independent reader instead of the Read-To-Me. Since she will sit down and easily read 3 or 4 books when I bring them home from the library, sometimes more, I'm hoping to get her to read at least 10 per week during the program. I won't really push her, though, since she's still so young. She just turned 4 in February. I love that she enjoys reading so much, so I try really hard not to make it seem like work to her. She's the kind that likes to do things when they are HER ideas. :glare:

The last movie I saw in a theatre was Veggie Tales! I'm not sure what the last adult movie was, but I'm sure it was at least 4 years ago! (Before my first was born!)

OH, I FORGOT MARY POPPINS!!! Spit spot! (I say that to my girls!) :lurk5:

PG-13 + Legends of the Fall Lost Boys Major Payne Sweet Home Alabama Zoolander Under PG-13 Beauty and the Beast Holiday Inn Monsters, Inc. Robinhood Wizard of Oz (I would probably also try to sneak the Toy Story movies and Harry Potter movies in. Although, I think Prisoner of Azcaban and beyond can never live up to the books.)

That's funny!

Thanks for sharing!

Does he already have plans to work on Apple certification? My husband wants to finish up his MCSE first, then start working on the Apple equivalent.

I'm going to be doing most of my planning in a good, old-fashioned paper planbook. However, I also have a free program for the Mac called Planbook that I will probably also put the info in, so that I can print off a copy for my daughter. Even though she is only 4, she still really likes to know what is expected of her. She will often ask me to make her a list for cleaning up the playroom. If I really like the program, I may switch to it for next year.

We were using Calvert this year without supplementing, so we just had one purchase last year. However, this year we're using a different approach, because my daughter's knowledge is all over the place. She is reading at a much higher level than she should be at, and it's too hard using an all-inclusive curriculum like Calvert. I don't want to move her up in everything, just reading. I need something that will better allow me to work at her pace. We already have our SOTW items and our science books for next year. We're going to be doing the notebook animal study throughout the summer, as my 4-year-old is so into animals. She has already started an animal science book like Diego has! This will also give me plenty of time to read SOTW on my own, since I'm lacking in the ancient history department. I have it all planned out that I'm getting some used material from a couple different sources now, making a Rainbow Resource order in June, ordering our language arts materials in July, and going back-to-school shopping for supplies in August. I think our target start date is going to be August 18th. Currently I'm making a running list of needed items as they come up, such as glue, construction paper, colored file folders, Kumon workbooks, word wall, etc. Doing it this way doesn't seem so overwhelming and is easier on the wallet!

Here's another question. Have any of you used Rosetta Stone for Latin? Or would you recommend something different?

Oh, that's nice. Maybe I should see if our library has something like that.

Good, I'm glad. When I posted, I thought, "What if they don't offer than anymore???" Regarding it being boring: Is math supposed to be exciting???

We are finishing up the K with my daughter. She finds math easy for the most part, so what I do is look through 10 lessons or so and do all of the similar ones at once. For example, we'll do three geoboard lessons in one sitting. It is quite easy to manipulate it in this way. I'm sure, however, that once we hit 1st next year we will be able to do that. She can do simple addition, but a lot of what seems to be covered in 1st will be new for her, so we won't be skipping around. If you contact Saxon, they can send you a sample packet. They have them grouped, so you can ask for a sample packet for K-3, or for the middle grades, etc. I ordered one last year, but it never arrived. I was going to call again, since there was probably just an error with the post office, but by then I had my K materials, so I figured it was just a waste of paper. Hope this helps!