:iagree: I was told by a dentist that I was a bad parent because my 3yo son had a couple cavities. He told me I was not brushing his teeth like I should (which I was). For 1 1/2 years I felt AWFUL! When we moved I took him to a different dentist because he complained of a tooth hurting. I was told that he had a genetic disorder and there was nothing I could have done to change it. This dentist said even if we had never brushed his teeth, there should not be the decay that he had. We had his teeth capped, and he has been fine since. He is now 9, and his adult teeth that have come in show no signs of this problem. It sounds to me like this might be a genetic thing.

We spend $120-$150 per week for our family of 7. I shop the weekly sales and buy most of our groceries at Aldi (much cheaper than other grocery stores!). It's getting harder and harder to get what we need for the week. We have had to cut back to primarily chicken and pork (when it's on sale). I have also learned how to cook beans and rice from scratch and use them more often. Less meat, more vegies and grains. We also eat a lot of leftovers for lunches. Hopefully this will work for a while longer, cause when the budget is spent, there is no more until next week.

That is NOT OK! Does she not realize that she is exposing others to whatever virus she has? That is just down right RUDE and dangerous considering the bug we are facing right now.

Lavender tea works great for gas! And for teething, we used Highlands natropathic teething tablets. You can probably find them at a local heath store. Hope that helps

This is awful! It sounds like their are trying to introduce the children to the bar scene. I'm am totally shoked that this would be allowed! I thought you had to be 21 to get into a bar? I guess not anymore. What are they going to subject our children to next? How awful!:mad:

We are going to use Apologia General Science with my older dd's, and Apologia Zoology 2 with my ds9 & dd6 this summer. But after hearing some of the comments about getting bored with the same topic all year, I am curious to see what else is out there if we run into the same problem. I would love to hear what science program you use, and why you like it. Thanks so much,

I have been making my own laundry soap for almost 2 years. I use 1 bar fels naptha soap, 1c. Borax, & 1 c. Arm & Hammar Washing Soda. If you cant find these locally, you can order them online at www.soapsgonebuy.com . I use 1/2 -1 TBSP per load and have never had any problems. Our clothes come out nice and clean, and the Fels Naptha Soap washes poison ivy oils out of the clothes that my family may come in contact with. This is a big thing for us since My dh and dd are highly alergic to pioson ivy and we have it growing throughout our back field. We have not had a pioson ivy break out since we started using this soap! Totally awesome!

I would look at www.homeschoolclassifieds.com or www.vegsource.com/homeschool . Those are 2 of my favorite 2nd hand book sites.

WOW!!! You are so blessed to have such a supportive, sensitive husband! Just remember, God has everything in control, so you don't have to worry!

It sounds like normal silly 2 yo behavior to me. My 2yo dd uses everybody's 1st name correctly, but if she cannot get your attention, a middle name gets added to the 1st name. The funny thing is, she uses my 6yo dd's middle name for everyone! For example, if she cannot get daddy's attention, his name becomes "Daddy Mae!" We have corrected her many times, but she still does it. She know's how to say the other middle names, but I think she is just playing with us. She really likes the reaction she gets from her brother when she attaches a "girls" name to his. Ha!Ha!

Rod & Staff does have a lot of review each year, but it also builds on what was taught the previous year. Having jumped in "in the middle" with my dd, I would suggest starting with level 3 and moving through it at a quicker pace if your dc need to. Then you wont miss anything. Especially if there hasn't been much formal grammar. My dd got frustrated when the book would refer to something learned in a previous book, and since we didn't do that book, she had not learned that, so we went back a couple levels, and are doing 2-3 lessons per day so she will be back up to where she feels she should be (she has issues with the number on the book). R&S only goes through 10th grade anyway, and is a quite advanced program. So there's plenty of time to complete the whole program if you want. My now 7th grade dd was "correcting" the incorrect grammar in the posts from my dh's online college classmates. She was really encouraged by the fact that she could keep up with, or was more advanced than some college students.

I'm trying to figure out the best, most respectful way to say this, so here goes. Having had my kids on both sides (for lack of a better way to explain. My oldest girls were in public scool for several years, and now homeschooled for 4 years), I have to severely disagree with your mothers statement that your kids need to go to school to learn how NOT to act! IMHO that is the biggest crock I have ever heard. Kids learn from those they are around. They mimik the behaviors that they see, not learn how NOT to do them. It sounds to me like your mother is not being very supportive of your choices. I can understand if she disagrees with you, but when it comes down to it, they are YOUR children, and YOU are the one who makes the choices for them and answers to God for those choices, not your mother. I hope and pray that you have others that do support you. My advice would be to sit down woth your mother and thank her for her suggestions, but explain to her that you are the "mom" and you have made the choice to homeschool. I would hope she would be supportive of you even if she doesnt agree with your decision. Your kids are so young! Some kids don't even start school, public or homeschool, until they are 6 years old. You have nothing to worry about, academically. It sounds like your daughter is off to a wonderful start. When it comes to homeschooling with a new baby, don't sweat it! 2 years agow, I had 3 school aged children, a 3 yo and a new baby. Yes, things were different, we had our good days and our bad days, but that's one great thing about homeschooling. If you get up, and things just are not going well, it's not that big of a deal to just not have school for one day. You get to set the schedule. We are getting ready to have another new baby join us in November. So my plans this time around are to school through the summer, and take a couple months off when the baby gets here. Then everyone gets to adjust to the baby, and mom gets to rest w/o feeling like I'm neglecting school. Just figure out what will work best for you, take a deep breath, and it will all be ok! You are doing a great job!!! Don't let the devil sneak in and take it away from you! In my opinion, homeschooling is the best choice you can make for your children!

Welcome to the group, Ann. We have homeschooled for 4 1/2 years now, and unless God says otherwise, we are in it for the long haul! Glad you're here.:seeya:

She is going to be on one of the morning news shows this morning, CBS, I think? I was totally amazed!

I am so sorry. Praying that you will be comforted in your time of loss.:grouphug:

I wanted to attend one, but there wasnt one that I was aware of close enough to my house. :glare: Oh well, I was there in spirit! Hope they will all make a difference.

Our picnics usually consist of cold foods. Sandwiches, cheese, crackers, fruits, veggies, and of course, cookies fro dessert. Unless we are going to grill burgers at the lake, then we will take a grill, and have burgers, hot dogs, chips, fruit, veggies, and smores! Yum! I'm getting hungry for summer!

:iagree: I totally agree with this statement. It's as if the words came out of my mouth. My dh & I teach our children about the birth, death and resurection of Christ and how this is the only way to God. Part of living like a christian is also respecting others, regardless of how or what they believe. We teach our children that not all people have the same beliefs, and thats ok. That's where witnessing comes in. Not "shoving our beliefs down your throat," but true witnessing. Telling everyone we can about Jesus and what He has done for us. Then the rest is up to Him!

Thank you for the info. Still trying to decide what to do. Why does curriculum choosing have to be so hard? Ha!Ha!

All of my dh's paychecks are eaten up by bills/living expenses. So we do not really have a budget for school. The way I get money for new books is to sell the ones we do not need anymore. So as I sell books throughout the year, a little comes in here and there and I am able to buy piece by piece for next year, or save it until there is enough for a larger purchase. If this does not bring in enough $$, then we try to take a portion out of out tax return. So far this has worked, but the tax return is gone this year and I am only 1/2 way to reaching my goal. So we will see what happens.

I am thinking about using LLATL with my soon to be 4th, 7th & 8th graders next year. With a new baby on the way, I want to have everything planned out, bought and ready to go as early as possible. I am also trying to manage this with a VERY TIGHT budget, but I don't want to leave out anything great if I don't have to. So, I guess this is my question. Is the student book necessary to use this curriculum? Thanks for your help,

I would recommend getting the TM. Beginning in 3rd grade there are review/quiz questions and answers that are not in the student book. These question have really been good for my kids, and me. They are quizzed daily on the various things they have learned, and I get excited to see how much they are learning and remembering.

We watched these electronic field trips on PBS last year. I would suggest checking out their schedule before buying them. I think they were on every other week at 10am or something. Anyway, here is the link to their schedule. You might want to check it out. http://www.history.org/trips/

I know it costs libraries something for inter-library loan books. Someone has to pay the postage costs for the books to be shipped to and from. Some libraries have large enough budgets to cover these costs, and other, usually smaller libraries, have to charge their partons. I don't think it's right for the library ladies to try to make someone feel guilty for ordering books that they need to educate their children. Even if there are quite a few on a regular basis. This system was set up to be used, so use it!

That is pretty much how we do it. I find my kids learn more if we spend a larger "chunk" of time, a couple times a week on history and science rather than trying to do a little bit of everything every day.