Same here.

Our eat-in kitchen table is also our school table. One wall has windows. The other wall is a cabinet/hutch full of school supplies. That's all.

We've used both Mosdos and CLE. I really like CLE for 5th-8th because there are only 5 light units per year. Then I add novels in between. CLE covers things so well, with built in review. Mosdos covers things well, also, but requires a little more effort with regard to planning.

It's appalling to hear how some children are "taught" to read. I taught 1st grade for 5 years (13 years ago) and every 1st grade teacher at my school (there were 6 of us) used a phonics-based approach. I remember we had a basal reader program, but each unit introduced a new sound. My students built words with tiles, played blending games, had small group reading instruction, and regular one-one-one reading assessments. This was expected in the school I was in, as well as the elem. ed. program I graduated from. (And my school was low-income, majority ESL, and mostly minority students -- not a "great," top school.)

I keep quizzes and tests.

I'd totally whip out my phone and snap some photos. (Then you'd have make & model.) I also wouldn't hesitate to call the police non-emergency line.

A lot of the wallpaper I'm seeing on the hgtv shows -- they often make the comment that it's easy to remove if they change their mind.

For those ages, I like this book: https://www.spanishplayground.net/spanish-for-children-52-weeks-of-family-spanish-by-eileen-mcaree/ I'd add some flash cards or games and call it good. Maybe some videos/cartoons.

--

Nope. I'm 39 and it isn't something that's really brought up. For one, I know all my friends' husbands, and I for sure don't need any details about their TeA habits. Yikes. Now, 1-on-1 with my closest friend, I have had brief conversations about birth control or things like that, not-super-personal.

For me, it just felt disjointed/poor flow from lesson to lesson. Maybe it's because they're trying to maintain the pattern in each unit: a history lesson /landmark lesson /biography lesson/etc. Sometimes it felt like a stretch or the parts were unrelated...

Bradford pears are jerks. We had a large one split in half on Monday. Blocked out driveway but didn't hit anything. (We have 3 in our front yard - this is our 2nd split.) OP - I agree that you're under no obligation, but (if you have the money) it would be neighborly. We are fearful about a very large tree in our neighbor's yard. It's on the side of the house where my kids' rooms are, but we can't afford to have it removed.

HITS: CLE Reading (love this for 4th-8th grades) AGS United States History - simple and to the point TT7 - just what oldest needed this year MISSES: Apologia General - so. many. words. Notgrass AtB - we bailed on this verrrry early on

Belle. https://m.imdb.com/title/tt2404181/

Toe by Toe is often used for the type of teaching you describe. https://www.toe-by-toe.co.uk/toe-by-toe-in-prisons/