Hmm, I've been thinking about this question and stalking the other thread on OneNote that has also been helpful as well. So what I'm really looking for is: - How to work planning into Evernote, especially planning that will need altered or changed as some things slow down or other things accelerate. .... Would I make a note with master plans for each subject (ex. 'Reading: Kindergarten 2013' or even just 'First Language Lessons: Level 1') and timing doesn't matter and then a new note for weekly plans? Perhaps the weekly plans would be drawn up more as we go or just simple schedule outline to start. We're at the very basic stage so I 'm hoping to learn now and be more prepared when things get more complicated. .... How to integrate ideas from other notes? Perhaps I'll just link to other notes, for example a Note copy on making relief maps. I just learned that linking to notes is possible, happy news. .... How to integrate PDFs? Link to the file on the computer (surely this is possible) or go ahead and pull those files into Evernote -- have not worked with PDFs in everenote at all, so this is new for me. - I would like to maintain a daily/weekly profile/portfolio of our work. If I was blogging, this would be done by posting new things during the week but maybe I could just stick to Evernote instead. So that's just a new Note each day/week I suppose. I struggle a bit with feeling like everything is so disorganized in Evernote and since it feels like a brain dump, it feels messy to use - though yes I realize it's just all digital and my perception doesn't make much sense. I started sorting by notebooks because it's the only thing that felt like it would bring some order but I often get stuck on something that feels like it doesn't fit in any notebook or could go into two. I tag things as well but I don't always have consistent tags either, sometimes I change wording or forget that I wanted something to be under 'phonics' and 'reading instruction' or whatever. Mostly, I often feel lost in Evernote still. I store everything there only to never look at it again. Thanks, that ended up longer than expected, but I did try to think about it a while.

Little Passports? Kiwi Crate? GiftLit? http://www.giftlit.com/ Babba Box? http://www.babbaco.com/ Green Kid Crafts - website appears to be down, facebook implies temporarily.

For my family, no. My gut response when it was suggested for my older daughter (around age 12 I think) was such shock considering I was still seeing the medical research study ads for it all over campus (I was finishing my BA degree). I couldn't correlate how something was still in the medical study/testing stage could possibly be deemed safe enough to give my child. That led to future research and this is not one that my children will ever get.

I am a (previously) professional seamstress and child and grandchild of professional seamstresses too and none of us ever took our machines to be serviced annually (or ever, I think). I've only learned of this behavior when getting on online forums that discuss sewing and it seems mentioned often there. I clean my machine well and keep it well oiled. This includes small cleanings done monthly and more thorough ones done yearly. When I've had problems with the machine, I've been able to solve them myself or with dh's help - if that didn't work, then I would take a machine in. But I've found that just taking it apart and cleaning it really well keeps things running fine. Oh but my 6-needle embroidery machine, it used to go to the shop all the time when my mom had it under warranty. But she really just wanted to be sure it was in constant good shape before the warranty ran out. I've had it for 2 years now and never taken it in either, though it doesn't get much use either.

You're making me wonder if I should give up on HWOT before we start - I think it is so ugly but I have several of the books already (thank you goodwill). I only have 1 D'Nealian resource. I was really tempted by ZB until I saw the price tag for the workbooks and decided that HWOT was already on my shelf.

What we are using are IKEA step stools with two steps and I love theym. They're comfortable for the kids and the second step makes a good foot rest. I think this will actually work for a while as they grow. Downside, there is not back to the 'chair' but if we were using the dinging room chairs, they wouldn't use the back either. Major plus size, the push all the way under and take up less room that way. My girls can spend an hour or more sitting in these if there is a project that holds their interest but rarely do we sit that long. :) I originally bought them for the kitchen (they were great for little cooking helpers) and stole them when we set up a table for activities and art. I now need to buy 2 more to replace the kitchen ones again. this step stool: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60178887/ This is my 4yo at the table: Oh and I just asked my 17yo to sit down for me to see if she fits, kinda dark photo though... she is 5'4 or so I believe. She thinks it's comfortable, especially with the foot rest. Adding some padding to the seat would help some too, I think.

Thank you for sharing this. I've been working out how to go about doing more planning in Evernote and this layout looks like something that I could easily do as well. Evernote doesn't have the fancy tabs, but it has many similar features too. This tread has really got me looking deeper into how people use it for planning and I'm really impressed with what I'm finding. Think I need to just jump in and get going with it and see what I can do. Your example is extra motivation to do so.

I don't prefer them but I like having one in certain situations - like working out at the gym, love being able to prop something up that doesn't fall and more importantly being able to increase the font size so I can actually read it. I used to get out large print books and they never fit well. Also like when I'm traveling because I like reading many different books and a nook fits in my handbag easily and I can change what I'm reading easily. Also love how easy it is to get another book, like when reading a series and I only borrowed the first book and finished it at 1am and want to keep reading - downloaded and can read into the dawn hours (okay, that isn't actually smart but still a nice option). But I do 90% of my reading in books.

I totally understand the frustration with an A student losing points like this -- I soooooo understand. My A student child has a D in two classes for just not turning in the work -- after maintaining As the rest of the year. And her consolation response 'it'll average out into a C' -- oh yeah dear, that makes it all better, sigh. Again, I so realize the frustration.

My opinion - I think the requirement is too broad and far reaching for a 12 year old. I think for my junior it would be a challenge too. I think I wouldn't make the trip contingent on something like that can almost be guaranteed to fail (especially if this is typical behavior for your child, it is for mine). Instead I would address all this late work and chores in a more immediate way (ie. right now my teen lost social time because she had stopped turning in her school work). ETA: I would tell my child that I realize in hindsight that my expectations and connections with the trip were unreasonable. That I think it is a valuable trip to attend and am still interested in her going. However, there would be x expectations/consequences for not turning in school work and for chores. I'm assuming there are other things she'd be more pressured to loose/miss out on right now instead of having to give up some future event. I feel I failed at something at a similar age with oldest when I told dd that she had to earn some really large amount to attend a summer program the following year. I knew she was not good at following through on earning money and lacked motivation and I thought offering this large incentive, a program that she *loved* greatly, would be the magic ticket to help her over that hump. I was wrong, she missed out on the trip that I realized in hindsight it was an experience I wish she hadn't missed and that I had funded it anyways because of the many benefits it offered. In the end, I feel like I'm the only one that learned anything from that experience: a giant carrot is not a magic solution to an ongoing concern with my child.

How crazy and now paranoid because I think dd's photo has some torso - they didn't mention it in May but pretty sure there is another test in her future. And her photo and her ID don't really match each other, much less how she looks at the time, because she keeps her hair a few inches long and gets it shaved down short and various styles and changes colors often.

Consider how this is going to be managed - manually or automatic? We've been locking our chickens up at 8:45 since that is when they've finally all gone in. The other night we were out a little late and got home about 30 minutes after the usual lock up time and in that time something got in and got a chicken and 3 other chickens were out of the chicken yard too, they must have been quite panicked to manage that. We have a run that keeps chickens in and hawks out, but it's not really secure for anything else - logic was closed up at night for nighttime safety. I'm starting to wish I'd made a more secure coop because I really hate knowing that my lack of diligence cause my chicken to die. I really need to add some of the salad boxes, love that idea. :)

What would the concern be? I'm not up on modern house lingo but I have several friends that have gone with 'custom' houses but it may be the same thing were it is mostly constructed before it arrives - so strange. But they've been very happy with their houses. I am just curious what the negatives would be for a home like that since, again, I know nothing about modern house options.

I have used it during times of high stress and it has been helpful. I tried it after doing a Hypnobabies birth prep program and they use it. I didn't find their's too useful since it addressed concerns I didn't have so I made up my own to use and then branched out to using it in other areas of my life like "I respond kindly and lovingly to my children. I have patience for my children." etc. Helpful during stressful moments in my life and gets forgotten when things are going well.

Storey's has a good book on chickens. I would get that and call it good. Over thinking chickens is easy to do. Also realize that more space in the coop is better than less. I see coops sold as for 10 chicken and I can only imagine 5 being happy in the space. Raise from chicks becaus it is fun and they're so cute at first too. Think about how many eggs you eat a day or week and use that to judge what you need. If you only use 1-2 dozen eggs a month DONT get 10 chickens. Almost a dozen eggs a day gets a little crazy fast if you make my mistake. I have since learned to like eggs and now have 4 chickens/eggs a day and that is about a normal breakfast for us and we don't eat eggs every morning so it works out well now.

This was brought up in another thread and I'd love to hear more elaborations on ways to cultivate loving sibling relationships. Especially in the younger years and with closely spaced children as well.

I saw in another thread another Evernote user with a nice description of how they use Evernote with their school day/planning/scheduling. To not derail that thread, I'd love to hear how others use Evernote with their schooling and planning or whatever. I've been using Evernote for a few years to save information (love it!), but I don't really use it in a more organized or regular manner. I was thinking that it would be a great way to develop weekly plans and save summaries of what we've been doing as we begin our schooling adventure, instead of starting a blog which I've also considered doing. But since it's still mostly a information-holding tool for me, I'm still unsure how to get started. How do you use it in your life and your schooling life? Also in making notebooks, how specific are your notebooks? Right now, I just have a broad set for homeschooling and then subject notebooks but I'm starting to think that as I collect more information for older learners, this method might not work as well. Organizing digital information is not my strongest skill. Bonus, if you have screenshots, this visual learner will heap lots of joy on you too. :)

How frustrating, I know that feeling. DD did that to our cake last year (our being my bday and her 4th too). It just looked strange when we served it and everyone else thought it was cute. The perfectionist in me did not agree but now looking back a year later, yeah, small beans and not important.

You and me both. We have 1,500 sq feet and 2 - one in the dining room and one at the top of the stairs. We do have 2 fire extinguishers. Adding smoke detectors to the shopping list and feeling lame that I didn't even know that more is more. Here I was excited to find out just this week that the 2 we have are connected. Been here for 6 years and just discovered that when one goes off, so does the other.

Please don't be hard on yourself. Food issues are a challenge and it's a challenge to change things too. I feel I'm very aware and informed about food and recently suspected that one child may have a dairy issue. I am still working towards being able to challenge it by elimination but it has been a bigger challenge than I expected. I beat myself up too, but have instead just said that it will do us more good to start at a place where we're all feeling capable versus trying under high stress moments instead. I'm curious on the full elimination diets as mentioned above versus just removing one item for a few weeks and then bringing it back in later to test. We were planning to start testing just dairy at first but have been slow to start because it is a big part of our diet and I haven't ironed out the menu plan and snacks and such to have on hand instead. I am a bit curious if it might be easier to do a larger elimination diet because that could test more things at once instead of us just doing dairy and then doing gluten, etc. But maybe that feels too challenging too. We would be doing it as a family as well, it simplifies my thinking and I believe we all have food issues that are subtle and undetected.

@shahrazad - I'm not curious about your commentary regarding the negative reactions you've had and do you feel that the covering of choice impacts those reactions. Perhaps this is a silly question just because my assumption would be that some Americans would find one style of veil more acceptable than others - hijab versus niqab. I'm not sure if that is also the case culturally in other areas as well. On the topic of hijab, but not related to you specifically, I'm curious about how common it is for a woman to vary her amount of covering. Would it be odd for a woman to wear hijab when out of the house but not when out in her own yard. And also, to often wear a scarf fully around her face majority of the time but then sometimes to have it worn just over the hair (neck showing). And, would it seem terribly odd for a woman wearing hijab with other clothing that isn't more traditional modest like short sleeves or more fitted clothing -- or to simply be a case of a non-Muslim woman wearing it. Thank you to each of you willing to answer questions.

This was the first carrot to dangle and I did sign her up right as preschool was ending. She was very excited about it, until finding out her sister was going to the class too. There are just 2 short session where they'll be in the same age group. But she has been very excited about dance and I'm debating gymnastics. Unfortunately, the cost of these classes usually means that is the only extra we can add in. I don't think the intention was to ignore the child's feelings but instead having empathy without amplifying their emotional response. We parent with lots of care to their feelings but I do think there are ways we can recognize and support their feelings without encouraging them. And while I do feel giving children some say in their schooling is fair, I don't think at age 4 and 5 or when the big yellow bus is a primary factor is the time to do so, that just isn't a decision I can give to such a young child. I did give the decision to my teen who entered high school and often wish that I hadn't, but at this point I would probably still do the same for the younger children when they get older. Bingo (!) on the wanting to be away from her sister --- this really is a big factor. But we can't really wave a magic wand and make her disappear but do work to give her a bit more one-on-one time she seems to need. But funny on an introvert that likes people, I remember having that conversation with my midwife. She is a major introvert but works with sooooo many people and she said she loved that it pushed her outside of herself all the time. For me, I like small concentrated doses of people and then a whole lot of alone time. :) We are actually starting in June. We all thrive on routines and she really loves the 'school' we did before she went to preschool. So it'll help ease us through our days too - full days of nothing but open play are a struggle for her. But I hope that there will be stronger sibling bonds at some point - while they play together constantly, there is a lot of animosity toward her younger sister as well that we're constantly working on helping her love cup get filled and helping them work together too. Yes, this is really what it'll boil down to. I may even need to look into hosting something with the other homeschool families too. While being in large groups with kids is really overwhelming for me, I don't find that to be the case with our primary group of friends, their kids are far more chill than when we do things at the library and such.

My daughter attended a simple preschool program run by our local highschool and just recently finished the program. There was a lot of talk about starting K next year and going to school, etc. She has also often seen the school bus going by and started getting so excited about going to school. When I broke the news about us doing school at home she cried and cried and cried. Even after explaining all the fun things we'll be able to do too. Now, what I find interesting is that this child is very socially reluctant but still socially eager. She wants to be with other kids and at places with other people, but often won't interact with anyone. In fact, it took 3/4s of the preschool year for her to consistently participate in their planned activities, yet she still was always excited and happy to go. It just confuses me how a child that appears to not enjoy social interactions can want them so much too. I'm trying to figure out how to get her the social elements she so strongly desires and not having to leave the house every day. She really hates when we stay home all day. I think there are some broader elements of boredom going on, though she doesn't ever say she is bored, that I'm working on addressing but still also trying to think of ways to get more deeper-level connections too. I feel like we have lots of generic friends but attempts at fostering deeper friendships hasn't gone over as well. We're not planning to do the local coop because while I know she'd love going, the cost is more than I want to manage. We have other homeschooling families as friends but they're a bit more a once-a-month hanging out variety and I'm thinking more like weekly would be nice. And if we do classes like dance or gymnastics, classes are still very short at this age group and not really much interactions beyond the class either (I really prefer hanging out with the families in our social circle/natural parenting group more than random folk we meet). I need to work on being at home being less miserable for her, I think, while also trying to find a little more social interaction as well. I also hate that every time someone brings up Kindergarten or school, she gets all upset about the topic too, regardless of how fun I try to make it all sound.

We have the Dell 1320c Laser Printer -- we got it because it is what DH's office has and it seemed to work well. It also was for a really good price that I've not seen again online, though would have to ask DH how low the price went for sure. One big complaint is that it is not a wifi enabled printer and it's a pain for me (mac user) to print to it without running a print server on the network - so I just plug in to print. I'd really like to not have to.

We found a good price on a color laser around xmas one year - I love having it. The ink isn't that much either -- well at least, I haven't complained about buying it so far - it lasts a long time. I personally really like having color print outs, black and white is just so -- dull. :) But I could live without it if I wanted to, I suppose. Just very glad we didn't. However, I wish we'd spent more on a duplexing model, that I really wish I had.