I don't worry so much about our homeschool budget. 1.) Never in our wildest imagination did we ever think we would be homeschooling. We were firmly set on a private school. But after visiting a dozen private schools in our area, DH and I looked at each other and said, "Hm. What could we personally do for DS's education if we spent that $800 a month (cost of tuition) directly on him?" Now, we never do spend that amount, obviously, but - we do look at homeschooling as a bargain over the cost of private schools. 2.) DS wants to be a musician or scientist when he grows up. Music lessons are expensive, no matter how you do it. Science curriculum, kits, microscopes, etc. are expensive. But we get a lot of family enjoyment out of music and studying science. That is more important, in my opinion, than the cost.

I don't file or do workboxes. Workboxes just seem like a lot of extra work. Maybe more practical for larger families? I don't know. Filing? No way. We are extremely flexible. I like being able to set aside my plans for the day if something 'more interesting' (and educational) comes along. Ex: The other day DS drew a map of the world from memory, then we ended up spending more than an hour looking at landmarks (Eiffel Tower, Panama Canal, etc.) and he added those items to his map. We never did get back to our regularly planned school after that... But I was fine with that. I am in a homeschool support group that has a number of public school teachers in it. I have quit going to the last two meetings of the year, because all of these ladies are rushing around asking, "Are you going to get your school work finished this year? Did you finish??" They just stress me out way too much. "Finishing" isn't a goal that we have. Encouraging a life-long love of learning is. I am sure they can go together - you can plan an entire school year and still have children that love learning. But it would just stress me out way too much!! I need to look and see what we DID get accomplished in our school year, so I journal as we go. Looking at a crate of unfinished plans would send me over the deep end. :tongue_smilie: I am actually a reformed OCD planner. I spent my first two years homeschooling planning every...thing... out. The last two years, I just keep a general schedule in my head and go with that. If I can't get a library book when I want it - Oh, well. We will read it when we get to it. Along that line... I don't view education as a linear process. I know I have read several articles addressing that idea, but don't have any at hand to quote. But I don't like the idea of having everything lined up in advance. That is not how adults study when they self-educate. We go in spurts and go off on rabbit trails, we set things aside to return to them when we are ready to digest the material. If I am trying to teach myself how to crochet and I get frustrated, I may set it aside for a few days or a week. But what about a child that isn't ready to learn the next math concept? He should be able to let the lesson percolate in his mind before he is expected to grasp it.

My cell phone. :glare: When DS was younger, he always filled his pockets full of rocks when he was outside. I can't even begin to imagine how many rocks I washed! We finally gave him a jar and put it next to his bathroom sink - then he could unload his pockets and wash his hands.

I have been gluten-free for over a year now. I am a former vegetarian, though I still limit the amount of meat that I consume. DH decided to go on a (mostly) raw food diet earlier this year. I was apprehensive - thinking how hard it would be to be gluten-free and mostly vegetarian w/mostly raw foods. :glare: I will say -- we eat an amazing amount of raw salads! :lol: But I have a lovely grocery store with a wide variety of produce, so I do have fun shopping for new veggies to add to our diets. We also round out almost every meal with a fruit salad. I do add cooked beans to many salads. And lots of avocados! Typical breakfast for me is either Greek yogurt w/ground flaxseed and almond slices or banana w/almond butter. When I went gluten-free, I didn't think I would ever be able to give up toast and bagels at breakfast. I eat a large salad for one meal a day. I am still amazed that my DH wanted to go on a raw diet. He has always been a good veggie eater, but also liked his fried foods and meat. But he was starting to have health problems and wanted to get control of his diet. With him totally on board, it has been easier for me to think of veggies as a complete meal. Sometimes we will have a raw veggie tray w/homemade guacamole for supper. If you eat cooked beans, cheese and eggs, it would probably be easier to adjust. Bread was a major problem for me. It nearly killed me to give it up. But - my joint pain went away w/in a week. The difference was so amazing that I decided I could live w/o bread. You can buy gluten-free pizza dough, spaghetti, etc. Some are better than others. :tongue_smilie:

Oh, good! Cuz school stunk today. It was our last day for a while and DS made sure it went out on a low note. :glare: DH was asking DS over supper how school was... I said right away, "Momma needed an adult beverage after..."

My DS will be 9 late December. He is 4'4" and around 54 pounds. Some days I am amazed at how thin he is. Like yesterday... I went in to wake him up and his pajama top had ridden up and his hip bones were sticking way out. :001_huh: But his doctor has always said he is a healthy weight. He eats like a horse and goes non-stop. Literally - non-stop. He is even active in his sleep. Right now, he is fluttering around the house playing with little Lego pieces. Even as a baby, he never sat in one spot and played. He would drag a toy over to the couch or coffee table and stand to play! The past year, his lower body has become muscular from biking, but he still hasn't put on any weight. Oh, to have that problem...

We bought our son Magna-tiles when he was four. http://www.magnatiles.com/ Okay. They are insanely expensive, but I was told they would be worth the cost. Nearly five years later, I so agree. This is one 'toy' that my son has used day in and day out, year after year. I am always amazed what he builds with them or what he uses them for. DS has always loved Legos, but he has only recently started playing creatively with them. He also loves K'nex. If your child doesn't 'mouth' items, you might consider a marble run. (DS never mouthed objects until later, when his last molars were coming in. :glare:) Have you ever looked at the MindWare catalog? They have lots of great building sets!

We are field trip junkies, going on 30-40 a year. :D I have a very active child that learns best 'on the go.' I discovered early on that he learns so much by reading a book, going on a related field trip, then reading a follow-up book. Even though I count that many days for field trips, we still have plenty of time at home for the basics like math, grammar, Latin and Greek. My husband and I have been discussing our educational views lately and I ran across an article on-line that really summed up our beliefs. A quote that really hit home for us: We feel this is just as true for homeschooling as it is for private and public schools. (Highlighted part relates to our belief in numerous field trips.) We do live in a large city and we plan vacations around educational opportunities. Some of our favorite field trips: Zoos, nature centers, botanical gardens and aquariums Science/nature museums Pony Express National Museum (St. Joseph) Art museums Demonstration at glass blower NASA Cave tours Oil rig Factory tours Historical sites/museums DH and I decided early on that we would rather support local theater than Hollywood, so we go to a lot of theater productions which do tend to be cheaper than a movie. We always read the original book (like "The Voyages of Dr. Doolittle") or study the time period (like when DS won tickets to see "Annie") before we see the play. I do count this as a school field trip, as we always end up in a lengthy discussion about the book vs. the play.

Same here. :lol:DS has taken an outsourced class using Apologia 'Flying Creatures' and we have used their 'Astronomy' book at home. We have also used Evan-Moor workbooks. I have made up our own unit studies on insects and volcanoes. We have used "Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding" by Nebel. Currently we are doing chemistry with Elemental Science and I plan on using her physics program next year. Botany - we cover constantly in the garden, though I really want to spend a semester on it later. I have Beautiful Feet guide for 'History of Science,' plus --- um, well, too many science books to count. :tongue_smilie: DS says he wants to be a scientist when he grows up, so I want to make sure he is well prepared. :lol: That's my excuse anyway. Really - I was a journalism major with an earth science minor... I regret not majoring in a science so I am reliving my education through my son.

We love Modern Curriculum Press "Maps, Charts and Graphs" series. Something we did yesterday... I have two sets of "flashcards" of various sites around the world - Suez Canal, pyramids, Victoria Falls, Mount Rushmore, etc. I bought one set at GeoMatters - beautiful, high quality cards. The other set is from Target $ area several years ago - nice, but certainly lower quality. We read the book "Blast Off To Earth" by Loreen Leedy. Then made a map from memory of the continents and oceans, based off the idea in "The Core" by Bortins. After we had those drawn and labeled, we went through the "Blast off" book and drew/labeled different things - such as #1 largest continent through smallest continent, Nile River is longest river, where the Sahara desert is, etc. Then we went through our flashcards and added some of those items to our map. (Just the major ones that we have studied so far.) I want my son to have a good "mental map" of the world, where he can automatically picture where the Panama canal is vs. the Suez canal, etc. It was a fun activity, though we ended up spending our entire school time on it! It was actually a good way to "test" DS on his geography knowledge w/o it seeming like a test.

:iagree:I remember one of the questions (several years ago) was along the lines of, "Which of the following jobs would your parents hired done for them?" Options where something like: changing oil in car, painting outside of house, mowing lawn or building a fence. When I asked my urban neighbor, she answered, "All of the above!" When I asked my brother (a farmer), he said, "None of the above!" Which confirmed my belief that it was very much a regional and economic issue, not something that a 2nd grader could really get "right" or "wrong." I will also say -- if you are homeschooling using a classical method and not a standard scope and sequence, your child probably hasn't been exposed to many of the topics included in lower elementary standardized tests. Your child will come out ahead in the long-term, but in the short-term may not test well.

I posted a few weeks ago about what makes a "good school." I have really decided that there is no such thing. You see - we live in a district that has some of the highest ranking schools in the state. But - after a 19-year-old boy died last month of a heroin overdose just 15 feet from our house - we found out that our school happens to have a major heroin problem. The high school just one mile from my house has had drug busts where 80+ students have been arrested in one day! The kids were told by the school not to tell their parents! I have since talked to several neighbors with high school age children and they knew there was a drug problem, but had no idea the magnitude - until we had this kid die in our quiet little neighborhood. Guess I just think that looks can be deceiving. Just because a school looks good on the surface - well, you can't tell what is going on inside. And - you can't trust that your children will keep you updated, either. Now that said - I also don't buy into the "good school" ideas because I have looked at our state's standardized tests. They are released by the state's education agency the year after used. I have administered the tests to my son and I have sat down and compared the tests to our curriculum. I can honestly say that the 2a Singapore math book is harder than the 3rd grade public school state standardized test. (One of the questions was, "Which picture shows that 5 out of 7, or 5/7, of the beans are black?" Really! That wording '5 out of 7' is kindergarten level!) And the 5th grade science test? It is a total sham. My son scored an 85% in 1st grade and a 95% in 2nd grade. He is science-minded, but we certainly don't do anything special for science. One of the questions asked, "What does a bike need to coast down a hill? A handlebar basket? A pedal? Handlebar streamers? A front wheel?" Again. That is K-level stuff, in my opinion, especially considering there was a nice picture with arrows pointing at the bike parts. :001_huh: I don't know if you can get your hands on your state's standardized tests, but you can check with your state's education agency. Do a side-by-side comparison. See how your curriculum stacks up against your public school. I have personally decided we could unschool better than our ps teach. We are on year 4, so guess I should really just have said, "Ask me in a year!" :001_huh: Best wishes on your decision. Feel free to ignore my venting re: our public school. :D

Thank you all so much for the replies and suggestions. After much thought... We decided on San Diego. Until we couldn't find any plane tickets. :glare: So then we decide on Seattle. Again. No plane tickets. DS decided at this time that we needed to do "Blind Travel," like in the book "The Voyages of Dr. Doolittle." So we blindfolded DS, randomly opened the atlas and had him stab at the atlas with a pencil. Cheyenne. Awesome. We had actually tossed around that idea. Alas. No plane tickets there, either!!! Guess a last minute vacation out of the local airport is not a brilliant idea... My turn at "Blind Travel." Wisconsin Dells. Hm. DS and I were interested, but DH wasn't thrilled. :glare: The next couple attempts at "Blind Travel" were Omaha area. :lol: So not going there. At this point we decided St. Louis sounded like a mighty fine location! I now have my heart set on visiting Seattle and San Diego, after looking at their websites. :001_huh: Maybe next year, if all goes well with the new job. Thanks again. DH sprang the last minute vacation on me after an awful summer - just one thing after another... and I was so brain-dead that deciding on a vacation destination was impossible. It was so much fun looking up the cities suggested!

DH starts a new job mid-August and wants to go on a vacation prior to his start date. We only have three full days and two partial days. Need to stay within the US, but are open to fly anywhere. Where should we go? And -- why? (Ie: What should we see/do to make the most of three days!) Must be child-friendly -- DS is 8 -- loves zoos, aquariums, science stuff. He would love the beach, but then we would never get him away from the beach to go anywhere. :tongue_smilie: Much as I want to visit DC area, I want to wait until DS is older and we have more time. Otherwise, no real limits. (Oh, and not Omaha. Nothing personal. Just been there twice for family issues already this summer!) Anyone want to play travel agent for me?! Thanks in advance!

I am absolutely no help, but I just wanted to say that you made my day!!! :D My DS is 8.5 years old and the only leftie in the house. He cannot cut, either! We don't know what to do for him - just figure that he will eventually figure it out or some wonderful new invention will come along that will save the day...

What quizzes? We are using Elemental Science - Chemistry - and I haven't come across any quizzes. My 3rd grader is 8.5 years old. He is very science minded and, at one time, wanted to be a chemist when he grew up. It hasn't been over his head, but I do have to help with the writing. He narrates everything to me, though he draws his own pictures for definitions and the lab sheets. I would say - if you feel like she is looking at you like you have 3 heads and she isn't getting it, it is best to wait on it. Use the (free) library for science for a few months, then revisit chemistry. Or spend a few months doing (free) nature studies. If you feel you must push through with chemistry, use the library to find books regarding the different elements, so you can read more about them - that might help her comprehension.

You should be able to find out the bank info by looking at your county tax appraisal information on-line. That said, our county is way behind on updating that information. But you could at least start there. The bank may or may not file eviction papers against you. (That stuff goes through the county sheriff office.) We just went through a bad situation with the house next door to us. One of the owners walked on the mortgage over a year ago. Her estranged husband moved back in and was 'squatting,' living free because their bank was back-logged and hadn't filed formal eviction papers. We were able to contact the bank and inform them of the situation, which prompted them to move quickly on evicting. Totally not relevant to your situation -- but our recent experience w/foreclosures. We were told that in this area (N Texas) that the banks are 2 years (!) behind on evicting and selling at auction.

When I saw the title of your post, I immediately thought, "Oh, yes. Charlotte's Web in the fall!" And you have it listed for spring! Our state fair is in late September/early October so CW just seems like a fall book to me. I get the whole "spring pig" deal, but - fairs and fall go together in my world. :lol: Ambleside Online has a list of holiday books: http://amblesideonline.org/HolidayStoriesPoems.shtml

I have to say - I honestly don't get all the lesson planning and filing and such. 1.) What happens when a math lesson takes a week or so to work through? Or for it to 'gel' with a child? There have been several times that I just set aside a math lesson until my child was developmentally ready for it. Like counting coins. My son memorized The Gettysburg Address in three days but could. not. remember coin value for anything! I just skipped over those lessons for several months, then went back to them and - it just clicked for him then. In this case, I just think it is easier to work with a child, where they are, then to push through an assignment. 2.) I view learning as an on-going adventure, not as something to 'finish' or work our way through. 3.) I like to take advantage of educational opportunities when they pop up. Like an unexpected trip out of town and a chance to see a mammoth museum... I like the flexibility of going off-course and exploring things as they come up. Likewise, if we then get to a lesson in, say, science that we have already covered I don't hesitate to skip over it. 4.) DS goes off on tangents - like last year he kept checking videos out from the library on geometry. :tongue_smilie: So we set aside our regular math books for a while so he could study geometry. Earlier this year he got interested in bridge construction, so we spent one day a week studying bridge types and their history. I tell my son all the time - this is YOUR education, you are free to study what you want - I am here as a guide and to make sure the basics are covered. That's just me, though. That is the awesome thing about homeschooling -- everyone finds their own way to make their children's education successful. For some that is lesson planning and filing. But for me - I just keep a loose schedule penciled in and will happily erase and change course at a moment's notice.

We bought a reel mower when we bought our house 15 years ago. We have over 1/2 acre, sloping from front of the lot to back. The first few years, it was a workout to mow the entire yard! But now it is mainly gardens w/little grass. :D We have always loved the reel mower and never regretted not having anything other. It is quiet, so you can mow any time of the day. It is non-polluting - and actually relaxing to hear the rhythmic sound of the blades. Very little maintenance. We take the mower in and get the blades sharpened generally every three years. We could do this ourselves, but prefer to have it done for us. Oh, and a few years ago, the handlebar padding came off. I bought bicycle tape and recovered the handlebars. Downside: If you have a wind storm and end up with lots of twigs down. Twigs can stop the mower dead in its tracks. If the lawn gets out of hand with taller weeds, you may need to take a couple passes from different directions to get them cut down. Do you know anyone with a reel mower that would let you borrow it for a few days? We have had people ask to borrow ours and we gladly let them. We love our mower and love to spread the word about reel mowers!

I bought DH 40 gifts. Some of them were very small, while a few were nicer/larger. It took him all day to open them all. :D When I turned 40, he gave me four nice gift cards to my favorite stores so I could spend a day out shopping w/o worrying about $$. I'm normally not a shopper, but it was really fun to go into the bookstore and know that I could buy whatever struck my fancy and not think twice about it.

DS has taken at three locations, plus semi-private lessons at the neighbor's pool. None of the instructors would offer a 50 minute class for that age. Last year, DS was 7 and could swim the length of the pool, the instructor wanted more time to work on diving so she increased the class time to 45 minutes. This spring, we paid $75 for four private 30 minute lessons through the city's community center. Semi-private (2 children of equal skill level) lessons this summer at instructor's home works out to $12 for a 30 minute class.

The KC zoo is very nice! We have only been 'through' KC so I don't know what else there is to see and do. An hour north is Saint Joseph. We were through that city briefly earlier this month and I was impressed with the number of museums they had. We enjoyed the Pony Express museum very much. Sad to miss the Harley factory. :glare:

I love it! My DS? Not as much. He tolerates it. ;) He likes his music a bit more upbeat. There were 2 songs that he enjoyed very much, the others were "too sllloooow!"The booklet that comes with it has lyrics in Latin and English, so we used that quite a bit for vocabulary. DS is still young so I was just excited that he could pick out words he knew in the songs.

That was my point exactly. What research are they using to justify? It is private insurance, they set their own standards, period, is what I was told. But if that is the case, how does anyone qualify for private insurance? Using whatever standards they have, I would speculate that the majority of the population is too obese for insurance. And to be honest and open - my husband was also denied. Because he is on acne medicine. :confused: Ironically, our old insurance didn't even cover acne at his age (45+) so we were paying out of pocket for the meds. So I feel terrible that we were denied because I am morbidly obese, but at least I have lovely complexion. :lol: