We're currently in the 5 Cities/San Luis Obispo area, actively seeking out other homeschooling families!

Check to see if you'll be in the area during one of SeaWorld's Homeschool days: http://seaworldparks.com/en/seaworld-sandiego/Educational-Programs/Home-School It was $6/person when we went. You'll need a group to join, which is pretty easy if you go to the San Diego Homeschooler's Yahoo group and ask, or if there's not enough time, just show up and ask to join one of the smaller groups just to get through the gate (there's no requirement to stay together as a group).

There's one on Mothering: http://www.mothering.com/community/f/365/traditional-foods

We've "full-timed" it 8-10 months of the year for the past three years. DH travels for work and we go with him. It's not a lifestyle for hoarders. The more material you can cram into electronic format, the better. Library cards are easily obtained (photo I.D. and a piece of mail with your current address, even if it is one of those yellow forwarding labels put on by the postal service). Our kids love it. New places, new sights to see and cultures to experience, new people to meet. It's an education all in itself at times! Certainly a life lesson in learning to not yell at each other (RV walls are thin, you should automatically assume that anyone nearby can and will hear you), to being patient and resourceful; and propane seems to consistently run out in the middle of the night when the arctic wind is blowing. :) Thankfully, we are more snowbirds than snowmen lately. Woohoo!

I haven't looked for it on the iPad yet, but my son enjoys BioDigital Human. Proper names, different systems you can stack, etc. Free. https://www.biodigitalhuman.com/home/

Our experience is a little different. We wanted to sell our house outright, but ended up wanting to provide it to a military veteran and his wife via rent-to-own instead. Evidently, veterans are told that they will get an incredible rate for homeownership, but they must hold a civilian job for 6 months before it comes available. They are very good stewards of their money and have no debt (not even a car payment!). We set up a lease agreement and a separate rent-to-own contract detailing who was responsible for what, where the downpayment went (their choice, they wanted to make a lump sum payment to drop the monthly lease amount), how much of the monthly lease payment went to their downpayment, what monies they would receive back should they decide to change their minds about owning it, etc. We worked together on it until both parties were satisfied that all of the bases were/are covered. Long story short, not everyone looking for a rent-to-own home is financially wayward, some are just stuck until circumstances open themselves up otherwise.

JennyCook, you can find the list here.

Not sure about your stance on Christianity, but Drive Thru History (available on Netflix) has at least one good episode on the Roman Empire (there are two available on Netflix for Ancient Rome, but we have only seen the first one).

7yo ds and 9 yo dd: Reading: McGuffey 2nd Reader: 7yo reads 2 stories per school day to me. 9 yo reads 2 stories to me every other school day to me. Due to our "roadschool" lifestyle, they use a Kindle, which makes it incredibly easy to check words that they do not understand (one simply clicks the word and the dictionary definition pops up). Comprehension: Discussion of one McGuffey story after reading. 9yo is independently working through Veritas Press's Comprehension Guide to Little House in the Big Woods. Spelling: Every other day, 20 word spelling practice/test (one day = practice, next time Spelling comes around = test) from McGuffey Eclectic Speller. Grammar: Shurley English Homeschool 1. I had to revamp the jingles as my kids learn better from songs than chants...other than that, I really like the format! We do this every other day, alternating with Spelling. Handwriting: Bible verse of the week. I have a Cursive Guided font and a Block Letter Guided font with the upper, lower, and center lines that I use to make our own handwriting worksheets.

Walking with the Dinosaurs! There's some with Nigel Marvin that my kids prefer even over the others.

The Best: Jamaican Beans & Rice (although I use 2 jalapenos and add garlic and meat), and crispy nuts. The Worst: Ginger Carrots. I found out that they messed up the amount of salt in the recipe only after trying it. Blech!

Spoiler alert: Love love love that the awesome tough-as-nails-redneck was the first one to jump at keeping the baby alive and came in, cradled her and gave her the first bottle. Watching Rick mourn Lori...that guy is an incredible actor. His anguish was intense. Does Carl start having mental problems at some point? A prepubescent kid shoots his mother. Yes, so she won't turn, but still...there have to be ramifications.

I am confused. Why is it complicated to be ahead in Math during the high school years? I am asking in sincerity, as I have not managed to plan out further than the elementary years at this point.

No drawback here. The stories are engaging, they learn it and then quickly progress to remembering the story tagline (the multiplication fact). Even my 4 year old knows several of the multiplication facts thanks to the stories. Granted, she doesn't understand the concept, but we'll work on that when the time comes.

If you think it's behind, why not have them finish multiple lessons a day? My 2nd grade son is almost halfway through TT3. He enjoys it so much, and each lesson is just a small step from the one before...he would happily sit and work on Math half the day if I let him. As it stands, he usually finishes his maximum of three lessons (although there have been tired days where he only wants to finish one or two lessons). Also, anything less than an 85% means redo with Mommy. We've only had to use the rule twice though.

We moved 7 years ago to a small town and were welcomed with open arms. We moved here to start a business and made sure to get involved in the community in positive ways (frequent the library, shop locally as much as possible, volunteered to help with 4th of July activities, etc.). DH closed the business after 2 years, as he could make more working as a Boilermaker, but we're still involved with the town while we're here. We're the only homeschooling family I know of in town (of about 2,000 people) and we go to a Bible group 1.5 hours away.

Maybe. I bought "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" and learned pretty quickly how to figure out my ovulation pattern, even without taking my temp every day.

It sounds like you're looking for something higher up, but because of your children's ages, I can't help but suggest some of The Magic Schoolbus books about space that we've enjoyed: The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System The Magic School Bus Out of this World The Magic School Bus Sees Stars

Look at the contract you signed. Landlord might be responsible for fixing the vent, but if animal control is not written into the contract, it's in the gray area; it might also be considered "act of God" though, so see what is written in your contract about that.

Raised our own. 56 pound bird (dressed out). Cookie sheet under a giant aluminum roasting pan (I think DH got it at a restaurant supply store?). Make sure to cover the tops of the drumsticks with foil to keep it from burning against the elements!

DH works through the Boilermakers union and has done so for the past 12 years. If your son wanted to, he can go to one of the unions (I'd suggest Boilermakers, Pipefitters or Ironworkers, as talking with other wives of tradesmen, they have some of the best training programs). If he can get into their apprenticeship program, they will pay for his education and certification (they provide the training and get you lined up for testing) and then he would get paid at 80% (I think that was the level for Boilermakers) when sent out on jobs while receiving on the job training. This goes on until a certain amount of hours are accrued, at which time the apprenticeship program is complete and he would become a full union member and receive 100% pay (which varies according to hall/state). Health benefits are usually included during the apprenticeship. It works out very well for the younger guys who don't mind travelling for the better-paying jobs, gets them paid experience and certifications, and during the off-season (usually the summer), he could run his own welding business.

Salvational? No. Interesting to speculate about? Yes! We are of a different stance, I suppose. Looking at the original Hebrew, not every "created" actually means "immediately came into being"...in several instances, it means "to put in order"...the earth was there (without form and void), the sun and moon were there, the water that had not yet been separated was there, plants/animals/humanity was not there. So while we believe in an Old Earth, we also believe in a New Creation that took place over 7 days. That God would have put so much planning and design together in order to increase His family...it is truly a glorious creation! It is good for you & yours to be questioning!

We just bought a LeapPad2 for the 4 year old. She LOVES it and uses it as much as allowed. There are several preprogrammed learning games on it and you get to choose another one when you register. There are a lot of educational games & videos that you can download right to the LeapPad without dealing with the cartridges (again, love it!). My older DD summed it up well when she said "Look! It's like an iPad for kids!" Also, I put on a screen protector...just a few dollars more but worth it, according to reviews.

I have it, but have not implemented it yet. It starts with easy double-letter sounds, builds to three-letter sounds, and starts building into easy words. It is downloadable from Gutenberg if you want to see an e-version. McGuffey Eclectic Spelling Gutenberg Page McGuffey Eclectic Spelling HTML Page

One of my techie friends shot me a link about Windows-based tablets. Found one that fits the bill! Now, just need to save up for it! Acer Iconia Tablet