My family loves mine. A pount of hamburger, mixed with a small can of tomato sauce, diced onion, a bit of milk, 2 eggs, and oatmeal.

We have a leather set about 8yrs old that is torn up, also. Makes me sick, the amount of money we paid for it. It started getting weak spots whereever there was a scratch (or not) then it'd split open and spread. I'm planning to get some discounted upholstery on ebay and doing a DIY reupholstery job. I figure I can't make it worse.

I seem to remember hearing good things about that. Do you know how to get one locally? That's $100 shipping.

Our washer died. A Kenmore HE2Plus that was about 6-7 years old. I'm done with it. That thing was such a hassle. I want a boring top loader. So, do you have any recommendations? And how do you all feel about your HE top-loaders? Are they worth it? I want your opinions!

I'm starting to feel like I have it together. :huh: maybe. ;) So, you gotta have a plan. The babies will change the plan every day, so it'll be flexible. But, you have to at least start with one. ;) Also, think about your curriculum choices and what your kids can do independently. So, we start the day with a Bible reading all together. Then, ds gets on the computer for math (EPGY) and writing (WWS2). The older girls and I do grammar (MCT) together and then they work on math and reading. The babies are with us for most of this. I'm working on them sitting quietly (lol) for Bible and then playing quietly at the table with us during grammar. For math and reading, the babies play in their room. I explain a portion of work to the big girls and give them a 15 minute goal, then watch the babies. We keep at that until lunch. After lunch and a break, including nap and quiet time for mom, we come back together for science and history.

The big kids and I just laughed over the Chester preview pages. Definitely getting that one.

Many here that I hadn't heard of before. Thanks! Keep 'em coming!

I need some gift ideas for my little ones. What are your favorite picture books?

Hide in the padded room yourself? We had a similar situation yesterday (and most days). One dd was stuck in the bathroom without tp. The other two argued about who should help her. One's justification was that the other was being lazy and asked him to do it instead of doing it himself. Really? That makes it ok to leave your sister yelling in the bathroom with poop on her butt? Sometimes I am astounded by the selfishness and pride. But I try to remember that at some point, hopefully, they'll grow out of it and begin to treat people with kindness just because. In the mean time, mine are doing their sister's chores for the week. Seems a fit way to help her, since they refused before.

I agree with finding a curriculum that has a bit more review. My dd also struggles with math. She got bogged down with MM and MUS, but is now doing well with R&S. I've considered testing with her, too.

Oh, I was just looking at that last week when reconsidering grammar. :) Thanks.

Thanks for all this! Keep the thoughts coming. :) What's LoE?

Ok, I'm rethinking our hs day and tweaking our choices and whatnot. Spelling. How necessary is it to do this? We've used Spelling Power the last two years. I say "used" rather loosely. We get through 1/3-1/2 of the list and fizzle out. I probably need something else, or I'm strongly considering just dropping it altogether. Even not doing it regularly, my kids are progressing in their spelling. Each year, when we do the placement test, they place higher than before. I'm sure that they just pick it up through reading. I like that Spelling Power has lists to go through, but I'm not fond of the words they choose for the lists. They seem to be really crazy in ability level, with words that are super easy and words that might actually need to be learned. Anyway, I'm considering just picking out words to spell from their writing and vocabulary, ect. Words that they actually don't know. Would that be fine? Do other people do something like this, or do you all use a curriculum? I'm a little nervous that they'll miss learnign some rule that would help them or have gaps. Mostly, though, I'm thinking it probably wouldn't make a difference at all.

Oh, wow. I just reread my post and can't believe the spelling mistakes. Ack! And I can't edit on the phone! I do know the difference between know and no and write and right. Goodness! Anyway, thank you! He'll be glad to know you all are on his side. ;) and it's reassuring to know I didn't mess him up!

Help me think this through. I just found out (how did I not no this sooner?!) my son is doing subtraction left to right. He starts with the left place and writes the answers, going back to change the previous answer down one if he has to borrow. So, if he's doing 403,712- 215,213, He will start with 4-2, write 2, move to 0-1, change the 2 to a 1 and then solve 9-1, write 8, move to 3-5, change his 8 to a 7 and then solve 13-5, etc. I need to fix this, right? He gets the write answer, but it's kinda crazy how he gets there. Is there a reason it would be ok to let him continue doing it this way? Will this screw him up in higher maths? (I went through Calc 2, but that was a long time ago!) He needs to learn to go rt to left, right?

Nice! I have that, but haven't read it yet.

Thanks for the discussion. BA and CE are what I was looking at. I've heard such great things about them, to then see they were CC-aligned made me scratch my head- since what I've heard of CC has been quite mixed!

You hear a lot out there about CC and how it's good or bad for the country for various political reasons. But what about the standards themselves? When looking at curriculum, some advertise as being aligned with CC standards. Is this a positive or negative thing to you? What makes a CC aligned curriculum different than a non-CC aligned curriculum? Thoughts?

My second uses R&S and it's perfect for her. We were using MM, which I love, but she was forgetting stuff and getting bogged down. R&S is just the right amount of review for her. We also use it as a workbook. (Though I'm not against copying problems- that's how i did it in school!)

Thanks! I think we'll do that. I've got two that will be doing it, so that'll save me a bit.

Ok, I know I've heard it said on here that we don't need to get everything. Funds are tight, what's the bare minimum that I need to buy? We're going with Town, which we already have some of. Bought Caesar's English I at the Convention and picked up Building Poems TM somewhere. Just found Grammar Town TM on the classifieds. What else do I need? I assume that I need Paragraph Town and Practice Town St & TM, yes? Can I get away with only TMs for everything else? It looks like the Basic pkg includes the student book for Grammar Town, can I skip that?

Ok, thanks.

So, should I separate them, instead? Would Town be too easy for the 6th? R&S is pretty advanced, from what I've heard, and she did really well with WWS1 last year. ETA- I should add, that the 4th grader has been a year ahead in grammar. (Probably could do more, if I let her) She taught herself to read as an older yo and has been my little linguist. I don't know if that makes a difference.

What level would you all suggest I look at? I have a 6th grader who has completed R&S English through 5th grade and WWS 5. And a 4th grader who has completed R&S English 4 and WWE 3. I'd like to combine them, if possible.

NM, I just saw on the FB page that it's not working.