Well, I don't have it, but adding it to my Christmas List now. :D I find that I'm very successful with dinner when I use her methods and recipes. I do have Robin to the Rescue and Quick Fix Meals. I really like her cooking style for a busy household. I use those two books a few times a week. Her meals are simple, tasty, and pretty healthy. The simplicity of them makes it easy for me to substitute/modify when I need to make them even healthier depending on how dh and I are eating at the time. My dc rarely balk at her meals. In Quick Fix, she has a section that takes a main meal and turns it into 3 leftover meals. She is pretty varied in the leftovers including pasta, salads, soups, sandwiches, and wraps.

I couldn't give an expired seat to a friend in good conscience. I also cut the straps and destroy the seat when putting an expired one in the trash. I'd much rather donate money for someone to get a new seat. There are some good, inexpensive ones out there.

I just want to say that I'm loving Kay Arthur's studies for kids. They are VERY meaty and written in a way to appeal to kids. Since my ds8 is on the young side for them, we are taking a lot longer than 6-8 weeks for each book. I figure we'll get through 2-3 this year.

I like it too! Like most lesson planning/record keeping products, it does way too much for me. However, it is so cheap that I don't mind all of the extras and might look at incorporating them someday. They've already updated it twice since I bought adding some nice features. The biggest thing is having it on my iPad. My iPad is my school buddy and I'd been looking for an app for awhile.

When I was a kid, there was no cutoff for our district. My little sis (32 now) entered 1st grade at 5yrs 9 mths. We also didn't have public K back then. My July birthday didn't seem late at all since many of my friends had fall birthdays. None of them were born after Nov. I think that it has changed quite a bit and we see more red-shirting because Kindy is very different from when we were little. Many of my friends didn't even attend one. I will say that I remember being VERY bored in 1st grade because I could already read and a lot of time was devoted to learning how to read. First graders here are expected to be reading.

March 2004 (8.5yo)-3rd grade. Graduate at 18yrs 2mths April 2006-1st grade (6.5yo). Graduate at 18yrs 1mth Aug 2008-will start K next fall (4yo). Graduate at 17yrs 10mths Most parents here would have redshirted my 4yo, but he will be more than ready for K next year. I would have been wary of putting him in the classroom where he is youngest boy by several months, and I am glad that won't be an issue for us. ETA: By "here" I mean those in my community sending their dc to B&M schools.

This is true of my boys. There are few other adjectives I'd use to describe them, but this is truer in general. Boy #4 should be interesting. He is spoiled rotten by his brothers and I'm wondering how that is going to affect his personality.

Different publishers, but the same author. I've found the US Ed. HIGs to be very useful.

:iagree: I'm a huge fan of supplementing complete curricula :D, but there's just no need for two grammar programs.

I also have a travel potty for that age, but we've never used it anywhere but the back of the car or sheilded close to it. It comes pretty handy when you have 4 young dc and are at the park or running errands. It uses easily disposed of bags. BUT...using potties at the dinner table and/or in public?!? Really?

My oldest three are all in Nautiluses. Love them! Oldest just grew out of it by height, but he is tall for his age (75%ile). I have no problem with him in it as a booster now maturity-wise. Ds6 will likely be in it for quite awhile.

6 mile run yesterday was great! It was still humid, but we slowed the pace to compensate. I am SUPER sore from Crossfit on Tuesday because of all the front squats we did and nervous to go back tomorrow. I need to do a quick 2-miler tonight so I'll do that after dh gets home from work.

I wait until they outgrow the Nautilus. Ds8 is a tall kid (75%ile) and just grew out of it as I mentioned before, but I can see ds6 lasting awhile. He...um...isn't tall :D. He does have a longer torso, though. Ds4 is taller than his oldest brother at that age (FWIW), but ds1 seems to be following in ds6's footsteps height wise. Time will tell. None of my dc are in danger of exceeding the weight since the Nautilus harnesses until 65lbs and my oldest is only 48lbs.

Doesn't seem late to me. A lot of parents work and can't make it to earlier practices. We've been doing YMCA soccer for 5 yrs and it has been rare to have a 5:15 practice. Most of ours go from 6:15-7:15. Ds8 has had 7:30-8:30 practice for the last 2 years. This fall it will be from 6:15-8. My dc go to bed at 7:30, but we have to make changes on soccer days.

I did see that, but he didn't seem sure either. I'll be interested to hear how your ds does. The last thread convinced me more to stick with 6A&6B. Before AOPS PreAlgebra came out, I was planning on doing Russian Math 6 in between SM 6 and AOPS Algebra. I think it would be different if my ds were older. He'll still be 8 when we finish SM5B. I know your are in the same boat.

Did you read this on the AOPS website? I've seen some threads on the AL board, but nothing definitive. Thank you! I'm especially interested in the last thread, but all three look informative.

For those of you who answered AOPS, why are you skipping SM 6A&6B? Ds8 is about to start 5A and I have been planning on starting AOPS after Singapore.

I read the aloud to all my children so only need 1 book. Since it is only for my ds6 technically, he just answers the questions outloud and I shush the older one. You could have your dc write their answers on paper after the read aloud. They do all need to be able to see the book while you're reading, but we manage that with 3-4 sitting on the couch.

I've used SWR for 3.5 years now. It has become completely open and go for me. It is hard to get a handle on in the beginning, but doesn't take long to figure out. I did make schedules for the first couple of years (like those in the back of the red book) which helped, but I don't need to do that any more. I rarely even look at the red book these days. I just open the WISE guide and take it from there each week. The thing that helped me the most in the beginning was making my own logbook. It helped me get a handle on the markings and the flow of the reference pages.

I've been using SM from the beginning with both of my dc. With my oldest who is very mathy, I let him do the textbook on his own while I'm there and we discuss anything he doesn't understand. I only use the HIG when he needs help on something and my explanation doesn't seem to help. That doesn't happen very often with him. Then, he tackles the workbook himself and I correct it right away. After that he does a column of mental math. Once he is finished with both the A and B workbooks, we do CWP. I tried to use IP with him this year, but he hated the format and asked to go back to Horizons as his supplemental math. I'm dropping IP for him this year since we already do CWP and PCM plus he doesn't need the practice. With ds6 who needs more direct instruction, I go over the lesson with him and we do the textbook together. He is a manipulatives kid, so the CRods come out several times a week. I still don't use the HIG unless it is a big concept...in fact, I don't even own them for 1A and 1B. He does the workbook independently and also does 2 pages of the IP. He finished 1A about a month ago, but we're waiting until he finishes IP1A to move onto 1B. He does need the practice and the IP has been perfect for him. Once he finishes 1B, we'll do CWP1. I'll add in the mental math worksheets when we get to 2A.

I do extend rear-facing and turned my now 4yo around at 34 months. I do believe that it is safer. I also extend harness FWIW. Ds8 just outgrew his harness by height a couple of months ago.

So good to hear a nice report! I'm especially glad to hear this as we have used Noeo for the last 2 years and plan to continue using their products.

I just buy the workbooks so it isn't expensive. I don't need the instruction, just the problems.

:iagree: I wouldn't use the LOE cards for this reason. You might want to check which phonograms HTTS uses because there are slight differences with each of the programs.

:iagree: I did EB with ds8 at 3yo and it was too easy plus we didn't like the format. I used EM with ds6 and liked it much better. I started EM with him at 4.5 and he isn't mathy like my oldest.