Looks like they will be doing the same set of Christmas songs while standing on bleachers that they've done as long as my kids have attended. I really think it's time for this music teacher to retire! My band students will play the same songs at the same concert in the background.

I know it's hard, but please don't let it get to you. We've been like that for years, and really, it's only recently that we've had more than something like $50/kid for the holidays. And really it's only because we opened this Christmas account at our credit union. We set it up and forget about it. Two years ago, we ended up having to raid it for two back tires sometime in June and ended up on the short end. Between handmaking things, picking up things on supersales, and very good secondhand, we end up doing pretty good. Would it help if you tried something similar? I keep spot where I just store things I find or pick up when it's a great price. When the holidays (or a birthday ) come around, I can shop from what I have stored. If my kids outgrow it or aren't interested in something anylonger, it makes a good donation for toys for tots or whatever. You wouldn't believe what I picked up after Easter! Tons of things were discounted like crazy that would be high right now since toys get pushed at Easter too. Just to throw out some ideas that have worked for us. We also don't wrap things under the tree for the kids and that saves money, but that can be extreme for people.

We don't really do per child. We shove money into a Christmas account and whatever is in there by November becomes the budget. Usually more for the older kids and less for the younger. We do a group gift too. I try to get at least one thing that is actually on their lists and then one outfit. And everybody gets socks and underwear in their stocking; it's become a family gag now. I honestly think they'd be disappointed to not get their undies.

Ugh I hate grandma extortion. I hope I never become like that. I bought a cousin a bear that glowed like that a few years ago. She still keeps hers in the box too but she's in her 40s. It was from Walmart, but they change merchandise regularly.

Old Navy. I just bought a bunch for my daughter for $10 a pair a few weeks ago. I bought them mail order too because there wasn't an easily accessible store.

I just joined too and find it confusing. I think once I see what everyone else does with theirs, I will love it. I want to look for cute craft ideas, recipes, and decorating. And pictures of cute animals. Very important!

I love that you are posting boldly! I can actually read it on my cruddy screen rather than squinting. I just joined, but I changed my previous internet name I used because I wanted it to be the same or close to the same everywhere I went on the internet. My original handle I used to use was related to a TV show and I would have to add numbers or extra stuff whenever I joined a new place. I looked around the house and I collect lighthouse and windmill decor, so I went with that. I also live near several windfarms and see them daily. They aren't as cute as the old style of windmill though!

I don't know, but my girls certainly prefer to have their things bundled all together in one spot, I've noticed. My boys prefer using Singapore math workbooks though over Saxon though. I afterschool with both and my daughters love Saxon (They are still in the 3rd grade and under area and might change their minds!)

wow, this is the coolest thread! I am now going to have to look for your threads from previous weeks to get ideas. Will you continue on next year and start a new book-a-week tradition? I would love to join!

Sometimes you can't really get the teacher on board with what you are doing after school, and that is okay. Think of it this way- school is a place where the kids go temporarily and hopefully learn some things or have opportunities you cannot provide on your own. However, kids are part of your family and life all the time. If you want to spend some time evaluating what you need to reinforce and then try different programs to do that, the school cannot tell you to stop. That teacher might not like it, but teaching is just her/his job. It's a career and can be consuming, but it's a job where you deal with hundreds of kids over the years. They go home and have an entire life to live, they don't get to dictate what you do with learning 24/7. And I say this married to a high school teacher and am not trying to slam teachers here. Since it's LA you are mostly worried about, maybe take a look at what complete LA programs are available out there? You can back up to one a few years earlier and work through it on evenings and weekends. Some LA programs are bundled with history but might still be good. A good LA program will cover all the skills needed without you having to find something for grammar, something for parts of speech, etc.

Hi! I am new here too! I have been playing around with different things for years before I knew it was called afterschooling. I do both things that are covered in the classroom (sometimes a teacher will work with me and give me an idea with a newsletter or something and sometimes it's stealth) and things that I want them to learn. I wanted to homeschool for a longtime and did a lot of talking to homeschoolers and reading on my own. I found the book Well Trained Mind in my searches and that lead me to look at SOTW. I have used that for about three years on our own pace because I liked the idea of that sort of history. I also use extra math depending on which child needs it. Since part of the reason I want to homeschool is to see and be part of what my kids learn, I also do a different unit study every month. It's very casual and includes lots of hands on things that they couldn't do in their school. Science is good for this, learning other cultures, letting them pick something they want to learn. hope that helps!

I've been telling the kids for a long time that learning happens everywhere. Sometimes it means it's in a traditional school setting, sometimes it's at an outside activity or sport, sometimes it's in the living room, sometimes it's at the museum. It is a bit of a balancing act since I don't want to overload them. I make use of days off and weekends and summer as well as some evenings. It does help the argument to have a parent doing this too. Before, it was the kids watching my husband take his classes and do his homework for a masters degree. For me, they saw me boning up on math - I am not ashamed to say that I use Saxon for myself too- and learning things. I have not afterschooled any sort of writing outside of some narrations at all, but I think it might help if the kids saw you write a letter to the editor or heck, even handwriting out a response to a post here that you could type out later. Don't make a big production out of it, but make it visible and accessible so they can come up and ask what you are doing. Let them see you read a DK or Eyewitness book on a subject you aren't familiar with. They have big pictures that might draw their eye but more advanced text than they'd think. If they see their parents 'learning' outside the traditional school box, they will think it's normal even if it's annoying sometimes.

This drives me crazy. There are those of us trying to convince loved ones that homeschooling is the proper choice for educating our kids. If all the media talks about are the loonies or just focuses on extremists, how does that help my case? I would love a healthy, non-extreme homeschooling family to be presented sometimes. I suppose they don't make good ratings though. But really, please give me a non-overtly religious 3-4 kid family that's in 4H or scouts or baseball or whatever and does everyday mainstream things that also happens to homeschool I could point my husband toward!

Love this idea. One of the reasons I lurked for so long is that I kept seeing posts featuring questions I might ask that would go unanswered. I knew my own personal self-esteem would take a tiny hit if I posted and it got ignored so I kept lurking. This might give a chance for threads newbies might start.

I am going to send you a big hug because I am dealing with a similar toddler issue, but my oldest children are in a public school. One of DH's arguements against me bringing the kids home is that he is worried this toddler will be regulated to being penned in by me while I teach my older kids. Some of the questions going though my head after reading this thread are: Do you have the extra-income to hire outside help or pay for an outside day? If you do so, rather than a daycare MDO situation, are there options for things like tumbling classes or active classes that don't require the parent there? Sometimes the problem with my little one is that he has to burn a TON of energy for about two hours before he will settle to play. It took a lot of trial and error to figure that out. Is corralling him in a room a feasible option, and would that calm him down or make him feel ignored and therefore act out more? Would you consider enrolling the older kids in school for the Spring semester so you could focus on 1 on 1 time with this child? Maybe you could get him into a routine where he 'does school' with mommy (just one on one time) and then you could pull the olders back out next summer and sort of roll them into your new routine with the young one and a new recharged you. I am sending a hug because it is so hard when you have this active type of child. Having mom at her wits end and stressed and upset and unhappy is not healthy for your family. Is it worse than sending them to a school? I honestly don't know. The school my children currently attend is fairly mild and has it's annoyances, but we don't have gangs or big trouble makers. I still do afterschool activities with my older kids. I didn't call it afterschooling before I found TWTM, I called it around-the-clock learning and lifelong learning. During the day, I do fun craft activities with my little ones and take toddlerzilla to the park or now that it's colder, to a tumbling class. I wish you peace in your choice. I know that being a primarily homeschooling site, suggesting a temporary enrollment in school might be a faux-pas, but there are many of us that supplement and use homeschooling materials while kids are in school temporarily or as a choice. 6 months of school might be a life saver for your sanity and thought of as an outside temp class, it might be the solution to your problems and give you time to focus on your youngest and for supplementing your olders, or it might be a confirmation that you are truly a homeschooling family and you just need a bit of time to refigure your approach.

thankyou!

uh, wow. I'm so excited I wanted to tell you three times!

:rolleyes: double

We do this every year, but we put in $20 per payperiod. It's the only way I would have money for the holidays, hand's down. AI am very aware of it though! It's part of our budget.

We were raised to always ask if we could help, and then either pitch in if requested or join the others if not needed.

Do you have a Target or Dollar Tree near you? We found quite a few surprisingly nice things for the kids in the dollar bins at Target and at the Dollar Tree.

Bumping this because I'd like to know if anything else has come out since the date of this thread? I am not really crazy about the Journeys either, but it seems like the only alternative around here is American Heritage and is a bit too religious for me. I am debating on becoming a girl scout leader myself so I can cover the extras I want (more outdoor etc.) and do activities within the journey boundaries I like-- or if I should learn more about Frontier Girls and start the first area group. It's hard because I am more of a helper than a leader due to shyness! We do 4H as well, but it's more one-meeting-a-month and then on your own for projects.