We are a family of six with one bath. Soap and toothpaste are the only items on the sink. We have an over the door towel rack for a handtowel below the sink. Menstrual supplies and extra tp in that cupboard. Soap and shampoo, etc are in a caddy in the shower/tub. One shampoo for kids, one for adults. Wet towels go on a wooden drying rack in a room outside the bathroom. Combs, brushes, hair stuff all in their bedrooms. Medications and first aid, all in the moms' bedroom. HTH.

Wow! Thanks flmom!

Had a great time at the Environmental Learning Center! Guide at the touch tank was fabulous! Saw a family of ospry. The kids all enjoyed the scavenger hunt we were given to complete on the trails! So fun!

Dbmamaz, are there little house books with no hunting or orphans?

We are on vacation right now and just did this. We will be doing it on the way back next week. This is our third year with four littles. We checked them (for free) curbside. At luggage pick up we put them on top of the suitcases on the handcart. A bungee or luggage strap might be nice, but not necessary. We put extra bags in the stroller. Carry or swaddle wrap babies. I wouldn't take the seats through the airport.

We did try Beatrix Potter. My 4 yo is terrified of Mr. mcGregor and the wolf. Didn't work for us. Magic Tree House worked except the ninja one and the snowstorm where Jack and Annie get separated. Magic SchoolBus has been good. Yes, Winnie the Pooh has worked well. Thanks for the great suggestions!

Thanks for the info on Moongobble. We just finished the first one. Do you know which is the one with the reunification?

Nancy Larsen Science

Thanks for the suggestions! My librarian is generally awesome, but when I asked this question she said they just need to experience life. You can't shelter them. All books have conflict; it's what makes a strong story. At some level I agree with her, however, we need to take it one step at a time. She isn't there for the night terrors, screaming, hiding, etc. Further, they hate scary stuff. I don't want them to start hating read alouds. Right now, that's just not the place for desensitization.

There are two issues with curric. One is price, the other is thinking I can do all the programs out there at the same time. Mr Q science is free, but I just started looking at it so I don't know if it is good quality or a good fit. I had thought we would start Nancy Larson next year, but of course, as always, I'm again rethinking that choice.

Was looking at the writing road to reading, Mr. Q Science, and some chapter books. Lost the battle with a couple workbooks. We already have plenty....but it's too hard to resist!

We have a similar set up to Lauracolumbus. I have bins for long term future in a spare room, an old tv armoire for items someone will most likely use this year then another armoire right next to our table where we do most of our work. We don't, however, use a workbox system. I have one milk crate and one shelf per kid in the "daily use" armoire. Then on the right inside the armoire are the shared materials (e.g., counters, art supplies).

Isn't it so amazing how differenly children develop! So glad this is going well! I would check the toc to see if there are any areas she would be missing, brush up on those, then move ahead to D.

Quiet time is directly after lunch. 12-2. We get most academics done in AM. After rest time we have snack, read aloud, any catch up work from AM and then either time outside or semi-structured play time (play dough, art, lego, etc.) while I make dinner.

We do this using Apple TV. It was $99 at Best Buy.

Miquon, Math Mammoth, Excel Math

BabyBug or LadyBug from Cricket. Click StoryBox

Okay, I guess I must be pushing too hard on this. My 6 yo does about 1 hr per day of language arts four days per week. She writes 2-3 sentences in her journal and draws a picture. We read a story from AAR three times (she reads it, I read it, she reads it). She does Spellwell, Natural Speller, Delightful Dictation with Spelling, and How to Spell. This is for phonics rules, dictation, spelling, and handwriting. She does 3-4 pages of MCP plaid. We read 6-8 pictures books or chapters from a book throughout the day. At bedtime she reads one story to us and we read one to her. As a group we do one lesson from Draw, Write, Now. She often chooses to read during her quiet play time after lunch, but I'm not sur how much. She reads at an early second grade level. We started most of this routine Sept 2011, although she went through 100 Easy Lessons first. My five year old is on lesson 77 of 100 Easy Lessons. We do 1/2 of a lesson from there, and she reads a story three times from a Go Phonics reader ( same pattern as listed for older sister). She does about 4 pages in MCP plaid. This takes about 45 minutes. She listens to the same 6-8 books/chapters, Draw, Write, Now, and same bedtime routine.

Caroline, We went to the story hour with Miss Julie at the bookstore today. We had a great time! They are having an author reading Pansy at the Palace and we are going to that as well! A family we met at the beach mentioned The Environmental Learning Center in Wabasso, anyone ever been? Mumto2? Caroline? Thanks for the great recs!

I Love My White Shoes, Magic Tree House series, They didn't like the individual If you Give a Mouse a Cookie, Pig a Pancake, etc. but there is one that is all the stories together and it has some fun songs in between.

Ours are all still young and all have enough other issues that soda would just compound so many things. Neither of us drink it so there's none in the house. They mostly drink water. Milk once daily and 50/50 water juice once a day. We do eat out way too much, but only water when we do go out.

My kids have a lot of fears. They were all adopted from foster care and are still working through many issues. Finding good books that don't become terrifying is difficult. Unfortunately, we have ended up with a lot of crap books. Now don't get me wrong, we have read some that are fabulous, but as they get older, it is hard to find complex stories that are in their comfort zone. Some books we have read that were comfortable for them, but I don't rec. include Magic Tree House series and Rainbow Fairies series. We are reading the Moongobble and Me series right now. Things we need to avoid right now include: violence, religion, weapons, harmed animals, hunting, orphans, evil family members, kidnapping, family members leaving. As I said, it makes it complicated. Any books with complex, rich language and plot sans issues listed above are greatly appreciated!

O h my! KungfuPanda!!! You have made my day! Possibly even my month! Please tell me the specs about the knock off bags!!! Mine takes ng or gn....we're on vacation so I can't access the vac. I know it is those two letters, not sure the order. Hooray hooray! Okay, being calm now. I only wish I was less of a dork and would not be so inappropriately happy about this news. THANK YOU KungFuPanda!!!

Spinach or spring green mix Blueberries Walnuts or pecans Gorgonzola cheese Sunflower seeds Croutons For dressing you can go heavy with blue cheese or ranch or light with raspberry vinagrette

2 hrs 4 days per week. This does not include read alouds or sports.