How was your weekend? It was good, but so busy! From Friday-Sunday, we had 5 baseball games, 3 hockey practices and 3 dance classes. We had a really nice quiet dinner with my parents tonight, which was very needed and appreciated. What are your favorite outdoor games to play? We're all about sports here. Basketball is my favorite, because it's the only sport where none of my kids can beat me. :D I haven't played croquet in years! Any plans for the upcoming week? Our 3rd official week of the school year, 6 dance classes, 3 hockey practices, 2 baseball practices, 4 piano lessons and one cello lesson. I'm looking forward to trying out a new schedule and my new rule for the afternoon: until 3:30, you have to be learning, reading or practicing something. I'm curious to see what they'll choose to do!

We adapt the games to make them fair for everyone. Even games like chess, Dh only allows himself 5-10 seconds to make a move, while the boys have as much time as they want. It keeps the game moving. The boys do this with each other too.

I wear the original, but I'll admit that I don't run if it's absolutely freezing out. There are warmer versions available here.

I wear one of these as a headband in cold weather.

:iagree:My 6th grader is successfully using and loving AoPS Pre-algebra after coming out of public school, where they used Everyday Math. My 3rd and 4th graders are using Math Mammoth and Singapore CWP, which I think should prepare them for AoPS, but it's to early to tell whether it'll be a good choice for them.

If the bed and the sleeping bag can both be completely protected, I'd treat it the same as if there were two 12 year old boys, with no bedwetting issue and one bed. Rock, paper, scissors for the first night. Alternate after that.

Quickstudy guides?

Depends on the kid. I started leaving my two oldest home alone or together when they were 9 and 11. They've always been about equal in maturity, even though they're more than two years apart.

So far, just Life of Fred. I'm waiting to see what the intermediate series is like before I order the elementary books.

:iagree: We've only tried biology, but it's definitely more appropriate for my 3rd and 4th grader than my 6th grader.

We do have dental insurance, and I have my teeth cleaned four times per year. Dh and the kids have theirs done twice a year.

Durmstrang.

We just started our first year with everyone at home, so I'm going to answer these now and bookmark this for future reference. How do you feel about your choice to homeschool? Right now, I feel great about it. I truly think it's right for our family. :001_smile: Are you happy you started homeschooling? Yes. Are your children happy to be homeschooled? Yes, for very different reasons. What do you feel is your favorite part of the school day? least favorite? So far, my favorite part is the middle of the afternoon, when the older boys are finishing up some independent work and music practice and I read with the younger ones. It's sort of the calm before the storm of neighborhood kids and evening activities. What is your favorite part of the school year? least favorite? I'm not sure yet! Last year, we began homeschooling my oldest abruptly (pulled him out on a Thursday and started homeschooling on Monday), so I haven't had a full year to go by. What is your favorite subject to teach? Your children's favorites? I like history. Ds8 says math and Ds9 says math and history. If I had to guess for the other two, I'd say French for Ds13 and math and history for Ds11. How do you feel inside when you tell people you homeschool? Depending on the situation, either a little nervous or a little excited that they might ask questions or want to talk about it. This exact moment in time....what are you feeling when you look back on your day (or yesterday if your day hasn't started yet)? Today was pretty special. Ds9 had a little epiphany about why he has to do schoolwork. I think we're going to have a good year. :)

Three of the boys and I are at the dance studio for the evening, so it's probably going to be Subway for dinner. Again. I left some chicken, potatoes and peppers out for Ds11 to barbecue for himself, Dh and Ds4.

Ds is only on Chapter 3, but so far he's been doing about a section per day. Looking back through his notebook, there were two days where he finished two sections in a day (1.2/1.3 and 2.2/2.3), while section 2.4 took two days. He's been spending between an hour and two per day, but he practices his slapshot in between problems. :D

My son started all-star cheer last year, at 8, so we missed out on the "tiny" and "mini" levels. There are lots of videos on Youtube that you could check out to see what those levels look like when they get to competition time.

My son is a year older than your daughter, and we're at the beginning of this journey as well. We started with Barton in July and it was slow going at first, but my son is able to put longer sessions in now and we're moving a little more quickly. You're doing great. :grouphug:

I sometimes call my kids up from the basement, just like I call them in from outside, but I wouldn't do the same to another adult.

My 4th grader is spending about one hour per day on math, 5 days a week. I have him doing 3-5 pages per day of Math Mammoth, with some Singapore Challenging Word Problems on any days that he finishes Math Mammoth in less than 40 or 45 minutes.

My oldest used 8/7 last year and spent at least an hour on math every day, but I don't think it was ever even close to two hours. I'd schedule 75-90 minutes and assign anything else for "homework".

For history, I have a three-year plan. We just started, but it looks like it's going to work well. Unless we have a major problem, we'll stick to the plan. For math, I'm hoping to stick with what we're using for several years. If something's not working, we'll change it, but for now I'm not looking at anything else (except maybe Life of Fred ;)). Everything else will be year-by-year, so I'm already looking ahead to next year. I have some possibilities in mind, but I won't make any decisions until the spring.

I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to make the right choices for this year, and it has mostly paid off. :) I have switched my oldest son's math, from Lial to Jacobs, but he's happy with the change. The only bust so far is science for my three middle boys. I still haven't figured out what we're going to do.

We've just started, and I'm using it with all four of my older boys. So far, so good! I'm still feeling my way a bit, but for now we're using it twice a week, then doing an activity or watching a movie or documentary on Friday. I'm just reading and discussing it with my 3rd grader. My 4th, 6th and 8th graders are reading, outlining and keeping notebooks. As the year goes on, I'll hopefully figure out some more interesting assignments. :)

My boys help out around the house because they live here. We don't do chore charts, but they know that they have to pick up after themselves, keep their rooms clean, sort their laundry and help out in the kitchen, along with anything else we ask them to do. For things that we'd pay someone else to do (washing the car, mowing the lawn, babysitting, painting the fence, etc.) we pay them about minimum wage. We don't give allowance, because Dh is a pushover and hands them money when they ask. If I could put an end to that, I'd do a monthly allowance.

I did once, a singleton.