South Carolina. I am so glad we moved here. Have never regretted it for a second. Amazing homeschool community, great weather etc. and like PP said, Greenville is pretty awesome.

We are. Sorta. Everyone was sick the last two weeks so plans did not get finished, library books did not get picked up and we are out of food. So we will do co-op, ballet class, visit the library, run some errands and do math for our first day back. I am hoping we will be back to our "normal" schedule by midweek.

Here at our house Santa wraps, and sets up a nice little arrangement of gift, stocking and books for each child. The books come from Dewey the Book Elf and are left unwrapped. Behind the books the stocking is laid, propped up against 1 wrapped present from Santa. We also have a Santa sack. So, the kids wake up, usually about the same time as a normal day, and if we are not already awake they come and wake us up. They are not allowed down stairs until we all go down together. I am not missing out on the fun and excitement and I don't drink coffee in the morning so don't need time to get my cup in before starting the day. When we get downstairs they look at the Dewey books first and after each child has shared/shown off the books they received we move onto stockings. Everyone tears into stockings at the same time, all contents unwrapped. After stockings everyone opens their Santa gift, usually at the same time. Santa also leaves a Santa sack which contains unwrapped gifts that are meant to be shared gifts. So each child takes a turn reaching in the sack and pulling out a gift. These are usually DVDs and games. The we move to the gifts under the tree, which are all wrapped and from family not Santa. At that point everyone takes turns looking for a gift with their name and opening it. There is always the same number of gifts for each child. Usually 2 or 3 from mommy and daddy, 1 from grandma, and 1 sibling gift.

In addition to many of the great ones already listed I would add The Richard Jury books by Martha Grimes and the Dandy Gilver series by Catriona McPherson.

Leaf snap is an app we use to ID leaves and trees. We also use several of the Audobon apps. They are pricey but we got them when there was a special price. If you are patient they will probably have another deal at some point.

Considering our current life situation, almost two week old baby and we moved to new house in new state a month ago, we actually accomplished more than I would have thought. We did math and independent reading or phonics lessons with the two oldest, ages 9 and 7, every day. Those two also made it to all their outside the house activities, including two cello lessons, ballet lesson, and Nutcracker audition and we celebrated child #3's birthday. I also started doing some preschool activities with child #3. Of course, I was only able to accomplish that much because my mom was in town and my husband was only working half days. Mom has gone home and DH starts back at the office full time on Tuesday. So, my expectations for the coming week are low but we will try our best. It is going to be a busy week too. Co-op class starts, ballet and cello lessons, cub scouts, dr. appointment for baby etc. My goals for the week are: -get the kids to all the above activities/appointments -do math every day -reading time for 9 year old, phonics lessons for 7 year old daily -start back up our "morning gathering" time -spend a few minutes working with my preschooler daily -unpack as many boxes as possible. I am so tired of all the boxes that are still unpacked in practically every room of our house. My ultimate goal is to slowly begin to re-introduce all the subjects and components of our day as the weeks progress until we are back up to speed. How quickly that happens will depend completely on the baby and how much sleep I can manage.

We school year round and don't really have a first day so don't do any first day type rituals. We do, however, have a not back to school day. Usually we are at the beach when the local schools start up. If, for some reason, we don't go to the beach we have a nice breakfast and go for a hike or something. Last year we took a cross country trip to California and Arizona around the time schools started back up. We do replenish crayons, pencils, notebooks etc during back to school time. My kids love shopping the supplies aisle at the local stores. We often do special activities on or around holidays. I do like the idea of inviting other HS friends over for special days/activities. That could be pretty fun. That is really all I can think of. I've thought about the whole making lunches ahead of time but have never actually done it. My kids would love a lunch box but I've never bought them any. Mostly because I hated lunch boxes growing up. They always smelled weird and I never thought my lunch tasted all that great after sitting in my lunch box for hours. That's just my weird problem...

We were using our dining room as a school room but when it was time to sel the house we turned the room back into a dining room. I packed up everything but the essentials and movedwhat we kept into some shelves in our family room and we started doing most of our school work in the kitchen and family room. Turns out I loved it that way. There was much less clutter/junk etc for one thing. I thought I was going to insist on having a school room in our new house but decided I did not need one after all. I again set up a few bookcases and we just do school work wherever. Often on the couch or kitchen table. Our new house is much bigger than the old one and even has a loft that would make a great school room but that is not how we are using the space. I doubt I will ever go back to a designated school space and frankly, if it weren't for all the homeschool blogs displaying their fancy rooms I probably never would have felt the need for one in the first place. But what do you know? You can successfully teach your children at home without a school room. :-p

I read this book a few years ago, when it was first published, so my memory is a little fuzzy. I don't see how the book is an insult to Soviet people or propaganda. I remember a story that was not sugar coated and gut wrenching to read at times. A look, melding history and fiction, at just what life might have been like at that time and in that place. I can understand not wanting a very young child to read it but I remember being pleased there was a historical story from that time period and place that I could have my kids read when we study that time period.

We are moving to Columbia this summer and I have questions regarding Kindergarten. I understand that kindergarten is compulsory and the deadline to "enroll" is age 5 on September 1. My youngest son will miss that deadline by a few days. His birthday is September 13. Do I have to either record keep for him or sign the waiver for him this year or do I get to wait one more year since he will not be 5 by the deadline?

I don't actually have specific limits in place. We are a low media use family but taking the time to set limits, keep track of how much they have watched or played etc is just not something I am going to do. It just depends what is going on in our life. If we are busy then naturally there is less media use. If we have more down time, then I am more likely to let them watch something.

I had low hcg levels with one of mine. So much so that they questioned the dates I gave them for my last period etc. in the end, all turned out fine. I hope your numbers go up. Try not to stress. I know that is easier said then done.

Apologia science Classical Conversations MFW, HOD, SL, Winter Promise, etc. Don't do boxed curricula and avoid products that use religion as a marketing tool. The exception to that rule being that I do use some products from CAP and Memoria Press.

Park Academy. Because we live next to a park. I am so stinking creative. I know. We don't have a mascot because I am not sure why we would need one. But if we did have one it would be, without question, a bearcat.

I read the book awhile back. Did not care for the stereotypes about how people in North America eat and because of that questioned how accurate her portrayal was of the way French people eat. My kids eat at set meal times and they eat the food I prepare, whatever it might be. They are welcome to refuse to eat it, but if they do they do not get an alternative. This was already an established rule before I read the book. I am busy enough and have no desire to be a short order cook in my home. I also do not buy a lot of snack foods or junk food. We consume very little sugar and processed foods in my home. Every now and then for a treat but that is all. We have fruits and vegetables readily available that are welcome to eat whenever they want, without asking. If they want to eat something else like some cheese or yogurt I prefer they ask first. Mostly to ensure we are not burning through the supply to fast and to ensure they are not filling up right before a meal. So, overall. I did not find the book all that inspirational because I was already doing much of what she was suggesting. And I am from North America and have never even traveled to France. So, please don't paint all North Americans with a such a wide paintbrush.