We just had an offer accepted on a house and we are so excited to move in on January 15th! One problem, the previous owner was a smoker. What are the best ways to get the smoke smell out of the house. It will be cold outside and the majority of the smell is in the basement so it won't be easy to air it out. Any tips?

My son gets distracted easily. So I thought if I gave him a time frame and made it a bit of a big deal, he might concentrate on it better. I tried it yesterday and gave him 20 minutes. He finished in 12 minutes with 100%. So I guess I'll keep doing it that way. Thanks for all of the input.

How do you do these? Do you give a specific amount of time like in a school setting or just let them work at until they are done?

My husband and I are doing some planning this weekend and we want to start having the kids do some chores. I'm not sure what they would be capable of? What types of things do you require from your kids? Do you let them do things like clean the bathrooms or just stick to emptying the dishwasher? Do you reward them for doing the chores? Advise please!!!!

Yes...it is a ladies bible study with a preschool program. I was told that there was another homeschool family that would be there. And they were but the leaders were not prepared for having older children and some roudy play ended up happening and my son got hurt. We were asked at the end if we were going to continue to come and that they would arrange for care for the older ones. I know they are trying to accomodate us but it almost seemed like an inconvenience.

Have any of you ever had an experience where you were told that you were welcome at an event with your kids and then when you got there they weren't prepared for having school aged kids and seemed like you really weren't welcome afterall? How do you deal with it? Do you continue to go and let them adjust or stop going?

Do you still try and teach the kids or do you take a day off?

I am really struggling with getting the afternoon schoolwork done and supper on the table in a reasonable time frame? Any tips on how to do it?

I saw this saying on pinterest yesterday: The grass isn't greener on the other side.

He started to learn to write in public pre-K last year. We are homeschooling this year and I have the Spalding book. I have been slowly reading through it and we have just started with it. Hoping it helps.

Nope, right handed

My 5 year old son consistently writes his letters and numbers backwards. Is this normal? How do I correct it? It frustrates him that he is constantly doing it wrong.

NO! It's always dead because he forgets to charge it.:smash:

Our homeschool room is in our garage. It is our first year homeschooling so it is fairly basic for now. I'm hoping to add things as time and money allows :) The unfinished walls are perfect for tacking things into.

I'm trying to budget for all of the essentials we will need for homeschooling. We've just started up and have our curriculum so what I'm talking about are things like white boards and manipulatives and supplies? What have you found to be invaluable?