My parents really sacrificed so my mom could stay home. We ate lots of pasta, frequented yard sales, never went out to eat, used the library a ton, any trips we took were to relatives or in a tent, we grew and canned our own veggies and fruit, mended clothes, and generally as kids we just knew that we didn't buy things. And I have to say, from a kids' perspective, it was a great way to grow up. I learned great lessons about needs vs. wants and how to get creative with what we had. So I just want to say, even if you cut things out like karate, which I'm sure isn't fun to think about, I really believe that kids learn good lessons from cost-cutting too. Hugs to you...I'm sure it is a hard decision to make.

Hi, my name is Corie, and I'm a newbie to these boards and excited to be here! I've been married to my best friend for 22 years and we have three children. DS (13) and DD (11) attend PS. Our youngest DS (5) has Sensory Processing Disorder and has a very tough time in group situations. (He was starting to have headaches and stomach aches just anticipating the days he was to go to preschool...group settings are both emotionally and physically painful to him.) So we decided to homeschool him, and now that I know so much more about it and how many benefits there can be I can't tell you how excited I am about it! I'm a research junkie, so this forum is right up my alley and I have already learned so much! :-)

Prayers here!

My son purchased a $50 (!!!) bonus of some sort on a free app by opening a treasure box in the game...he was 4 and couldn't read, and since the game seemed aimed at preschoolers it seemed as though it was designed for this to happen. URGH! Anyway, we contacted the maker of the game and they refused to refund us. We then contacted itunes and they were willing to give us a one-time refund. They said that once you make a purchase in the app store (even a free one) that requires your password to be used, that password is "live" for 15 minutes, so they suggested we not let our son use the ipad for 15 minutes after we made a purchase of any kind. Kind of a pain, but it has prevented us from having the same problem again.

Just went again today, and now our Target had the dry-erase pockets. They also had...Spanish Bingo (as well as Math and Alphabet bingo), Crayola Draw and Write workbooks (each page has space above for a picture and space below to write), a bunch of classic books, a space-view of earth puzzle and a USA map puzzle, 5-minute quick quiz books, learning clocks, teacher lesson-plan books, and pocket charts. All in the $1 bin! Plus the school section had 1 subject college-ruled notebooks for $.17 and pocket folders for $.15. What a fun trip to Target!!

I just found blank dry-erase boards, and Sesame Street paper pads with lines for handwriting practice. :-)

Well, I don't live there now and never homeschooled there, but I grew up close to Northampton. There is SO MUCH to do in the area. My parents have lived there for 40+ years and are still constantly discovering new places. The area is rich in history and with the many colleges/museums in the area I would think it would be a fantastic place to homeschool!

Thank you for including these websites. These are both great!

Thank you! I'm amazed we could see so much of it on the NASA videos. I love what I learn while homeschooling! :-)

Beautiful!! I just showed them to my kindergartener and he was captivated! I do wish I knew more about what I was seeing...does anyone know what the green lights and stripes in the atmosphere are?