I used avent when I had to - not too often. Good luck!!

I misread this - I thought you posted "quitters" not "quilters" No advise for you except that my mom just gave her five grandchildren beautiful, meaningul quilts for Christmas and made us all cry. Good Luck.

You are a heroine! Way to go. Sometimes I have the nerve to do what you did and othertimes I regret that I didn't speak up.

It happens naturally. But I LOVE hearing them reading aloud to dolls and stuffed animals.

I agree

We love Story of the World. We love the CDs and the map pages and the coloring pages. We have completed many of the fun activites and read along in a lot of the supplements and I have just started giving my first grader the tests. In fact, she got the Roman playmobil set for Christmas to "play" along with the history. We have added a lot of pictures to her journaling and about every three weeks we review the entries in her journal.

I didn't get out today, but I did the elliptical three times this week! About 30 - 40 minutes each go. I have not been able to workout because I had ankle surgery (tendon transfer) and am thrilled to get back to the gym. I do miss walking so much! I did walk around today shopping for the inlaws that we see Sunday and my foot hurts. I wish I had worked out before I went shopping.

I would write down a schedule. Several people have posted on here. I would also be very strict about what time to get up in the morning and getting started. It sounds like you want to switch your philosophy - that will be hard - give yourself three weeks to stick by your new schedule (to a "t") and then you can evaluate it. Good Luck in the New Year. by the way - I would go ahead and plan meals for that time, so that you feel super organized and don't have to run to the store instead of teaching.

It looks great! I love the organization. Enjoy it.

If you have a Pottery Barn outlet near you - go! The have the best quality and neat stuff I would second IKEA as well. have fun!!!!!!

my neighbors don't have gameboys, ipods, nor a game system. Let me tell you, they are monsters when they visit or ride in the car with us. I have overheard them say - we should not have to take turns playing with your (device) because we don't have one at home and it isn't fair that we don't get to play.... etc. If you chose not to give your kids these items (and I applaud you for this), be aware if they are now hanging out at a neighbor's house wanting to play for hours. By the way, I don't let the kids play with the electronic items, I totally back the mom up on her choice, but I was quite angry when the 12 year old daughter "forced" my 8 year old daughter to loan her the ipod for a weekend and her mother didn't make her return it.

Perfect for the kids and it was a perfect day - warm and they could play outside with thier cousins. Perfect that I got all the food ready early, perfect that I got great pictures, perfect that my family is safe and healthy. My dh is a horrible gift giver and I am actually mad at him for not putting any effort into it. I asked that he supervise the kids to write a story or poem for me (he would never take them shopping and I would treasure these far more than any store bought gift), well the older kids spent no more than two minutes on it, on a sheet of notebook paper torn out of a notebook in sloppy handwriting and pretty pathetic. My son has written better poems about a leaf. I am disappointed that my husband didn't push them to do better, but hey when you ask them to do it at 4:00 on Christmas Eve - thirty minutes before church, what do you expect. My littlest daughter took a lot of time to write a lovely story that reflects what I have taught her this year, something I will cherish. Merry Christmas to everyone! Thanks for giving me the proper place to vent. I feel so horrible to even think the thoughts I just did.

I would also like to thank you to all the military families who make such a huge sacrifice for all of us. THANK YOU AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I honestly believe that God puts things/wishes/desires in your heart. If you follow, it may not be easy, but it will be right. Many blessings on your path. Merry Christmas

I am able to tutor in the home - other homeschoolers. It works great! My kids (12, 9, 7) have to be patient as I am helping others, too. I was even able to continue working after ankle surgery (if I worked outside the house, I would have missed two months). I have hired a cleaning lady (again because of the surgery) and we will keep her. The kids have daily chores and weekly chores as well. I would certainly inquire on a local homeschool site about you accepting students. Good Luck and Merry Christmas!

Whatever works for your family. Personally, I can't sleep late so let their natural clocks work for them.

Thanks! We LOVE the library!

I agree - creepy

The pictures capture your family. They are beautiful, young and seem to have a great sense of humor. My son had his eyes closed in no less 6 out of the 8 I took!

Keep a positive attitude yourself. Make hot chocolate in the middle of the day, go out for a simple lunch, if you have a pet - take it to the park during the "school day", read aloud humorous books, build a fire and work next to it. These are the little things I do to make homeschooling more "home-y" and less "school-y". Good luck and give it time and build in something fun to help the two of you bond.

I am sorry, it is hard not to have a friend nearby. Time changes everything; I hope the New Year brings new friends.

huge Seinfeld fan! Thanks for making me laugh!

Elf White Christmas It's A Wonderful Life The Christmas Story The Polar Express Barbie the Nutcracker (I probably won't actually watch this) Homemade videos of past Christmas church concerts Merry Christmas

My almost 12 year old is getting a net for his Christmas birthday, a guide book for the creek, and an assortment of jars for cages. I will go and get his magnifying glass out for him and put that along with his nature sketch pad in an old backpack. He Loves being outside and could spend all day at the lake/creek. Hope you have some good ideas.

No one uses this: Excel Math. The teacher guide stinks, you have to know how to teach math. What I LOVE is that there are little check answers so that the kids have to add their answers together in a box and check the sum with the little anwer in the corner. It is a spiral math and I love that. It teaches probability and stastics early. Like all math curriculum there is not enough fact practice, but that is so easy to supplement (do a drill every day, every single day) and I used the "keys to" series for my daughter who struggled with fractions. Excel is cheap enough that you can afford to supplement. I would not use it for first grade as using manipulatives is way too important, unless you have taught first grade before and realize the importance of just letting them "play" with math manipulatives. I also think that Excel math really works great with self starters and natural math people. An added benefit I saw when I taught school, is that kids learn quickly to write neatly, or they can't even read thier own handwriting.