i worked as a substitute teacher in the DODDS school system. I had a degree with a focus on juvenile delinquency and intended to work with youth offenders in some way but.... then I had kids and have stayed home since then. I have had little jobs here and there: yoga instructor, etc since then.

Thanks though for the idea. 1. When I make a list, I accomplish what is on it. 2. I try to take care of family and friends around me. It's good to have a nice thought instead of the other ones. :)

In particular, if I can get out by myself and go for a walk it often helps. It helps even more if I can get the kids to be playing quietly when I get home. Alternatively, it can help if I don't jump into working right away--i.e. housework, breakfast. If I can't go for a walk sometimes it helps to get the kids to cuddle up with me on the bed and to read a book to them. Just a couple of ideas. I have found that not feeding my mood too much coffee also helps.

I am so happy for this family. It was a good slow down call for this family. I wanted to edit this to ad that I meant a slow down call for MY family.

It's fun to make this all work.

It is usually cheaper to upload and have them print for you. I do it at staples and they often run half price sales for online submitted orders. Just a thought. Otherwise I would agree the above poster. At my staples it is 8cents each at the store for b/w. Color is 49 cents. HTH!

I have seen these but always thought that the expense would be in getting the laminate material. How does that work out? Does it stay pretty reasonable? I know in the city here they have Mardel's and they charge .25 per foot --it is dity but it was only $7 to laminate all the cards. I would call office supply/educational stores and see if they have one you could use, if you don't want to buy one. I am considering buying one now. I would love to have the option of laminating things. Thanks for the tip.

My son was already in 3rd grade when it came out but I used it in one year for my dd and she looked forward to it. We did skip stuff and didn't memorize all of the poems-- we memorized a lot of them though. Were you hoping for more of a workbook? It was done primarily oral for us and that was why she liked it. I still felt like she learned a lot from it. I haven't used the later book because it hadn't come out yet and we moved on with other things. I am still deciding what I will use next year for my youngest ds. HTH!

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We hope to retire to Alaska-- possibly near Anchorage although we would prefer Soldotna, Homer or somewhere a little farther from the big city. We won't be there for 5 years or so. Enjoy!!

I really wish we were moving to Anchorage. We lived in Eagle River too but it would be fun to be on base as well. Sounds like it will be fun!!:)

Just my experience but I grew up in WA and have lived in CA and AK since then and our neighbors were friendly. We looked out for each other...etc. In OK, NC, FL etc we might have said Hello and introduced when we first move in but then it becomes like the other poster where they smile sometimes, ignore others--its weird.. Also, the OK, NC and FL towns were smaller- maybe that's why.

This is what I use: http://simplycharlottemason.com/timesavers/memorysys/ I use it for all of our memory work- not just scripture memory. It has helped me to remember to do it and the kids can do it without me occasionally if something interrupts our day.

On my list : raw milk fresh farm eggs organic produce almond butter wheat berries honey oats grassfed beef/buffalo and chickens allowed to live naturally (all from my local coop or farmers) From the store I tend to buy yogurt fill in items Its been fun to see other lists!! I am lucky because we have an amazing local coop of other moms who work hard to get stuff together.

With all of the granola you are making you can make them into handy bars: http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/granolabars.htm My family loves this recipe.

It looks like you are headed to Alaska? That was our favorite assignment so far and we hope to retire there. We were at Elmendorf. Will you be in the Anchorage area? Just excited to see someone heading to Alaska...

Praying for the family and everyone. Oh my--that breaks my heart--one of my biggest fears. :grouphug:

I have used them all up to Core 5 and since they are primarily TOPS books and Usborne books it should be simple. It is just like when a Christian uses a secular book- when you use the Christian based ones you would talk about any difference in beliefs. We are Christians but I do think my kids need to know what others think/believe. YKWIM?

I have been known to send my kids on laps/races around the outside of the house if it is a day that they haven't done anything physical. My oldest two stay pretty fit with swim team almost daily but my youngest needs a little more direct exercise. I bought the homeschool family fitness book and just never could get to it.

I have never enjoyed art but my kids love it and have some talent (dh's side...:)). I look at art programs and then don't buy them because I just don't see how to do them. Really do them. I also don't want it to be too crafty-- my kids like to paint and draw etc. Thanks for the rave. I'd love to know what you love about it.

There are lots of homeschoolers in Enid they just aren't on here. :) We are in the AF but we were stationed in Pensacola a number of years ago. I had an 18 mo and 6 mo when we left so I didn't know there were homeschoolers there. I hope you find some fellow homeschoolers out near you....

:iagree:We have lived in a lot of small towns- as military folk we are always in new small towns it seems like. We do have the military wives network to help but in general-- we don't find out about the neat things in town because we aren't connected to the public schools. It was neat at our last place I met a school secretary on one of my kids teams and she put me on the mailing list so I could get information about the happenings and we even went to a couple of family friendly type public school activities (outdoor movies on the playground for example.) I wish all towns could be welcoming and open with homeschoolers instead of defensive. The earlier poster who mentioned the ones you meet and they are immediately telling you that they aren't going to homeschool. .... Just saying that I wouldn't mind a bigger city sometimes--our big city (2 hrs away) has homeschool basketball and baseball leagues...

I agree! I really enjoy having the activity guide to go with book. We generally always do the maps and some of the coloring pages and a few of the activities. I didn't notice that vol. 2 was any harder to get through then the others. We liked it a lot!!:) Terrill

Hey. I am surprised that there isn't anyone from Enid on here. :) We are a military family living in Enid---originally from WA. Just wanted to say Hello to all of the other OK homeschoolers. ---Terrill

In most groups one of two things happen--either there is childcare as an option or you keep your little ones with you while you sit in the class with your other children. For 6th grade and under the mom stays with their dc. If you have multiple dc in different rooms you can stay with the one who needs your attention the most or move around a little. The idea is mentoring for the moms as well as the tutoring for the dc. HTH! Terrill