We are using MUS all the way through high school. I have a tutor that my daughter started meeting with over FaceTime when she began Geometry. She is now a fourth of the way through Pre-Calculus, and she hasn't even started her sophomore year yet. She is not a math wizz, but the combo of the tutor and working year around has made it so that she will complete Calculus by the end of her sophomore year. Before she takes the SAT or ACT I will make sure she has plenty of practice with the different terms (if any) used on those tests. Math is one of those subjects that I have refused to change. I supplement more for my son because he is very math minded. Consistency in math, however, is something I feel very strongly about. As a child math became very confusing to me because of the lack of consistency in the methods and types of teaching I received. I really like the way MUS teaches. The way Mr. Demme explains concepts makes the most sense to me. I can teach it confidently. Yes, the sequence is different and if you are going to use MUS (imo) you should commit through Zeta. Then if you want to switch Pre-Algebra/Algebra is a a good place to do it. If you go with it for high school stick with it through Pre-Calculus. It covers what other programs do, just not in the same sequence. There are reasons for that. Decide if you agree with the reasoning behind it, and ignore all the noise. I am very happy with our decision. I wish I could feel as confident in all our other curriculum choices ;).

When I first started homeschooling I was absolutely horrible at math. I had my husband who is very "mathy" help me pick out our math curriculum. Math-U-See fit the bill for both of us. The way it explained things was exactly the way my dh thinks. Plus, on the videos Mr. Demme explains things so well that it made it very easy for me to understand and reteach, if necessary. I am a visual learner and having someone actually show me what to do has been priceless through the years. Now, on my third time through, I can say I am confident with my math skills.

Definitely go with a darker shade of the same green if you have to have an accent wall.

History- Notgrass Exploring World History Literature- from Notgrass and extras English- IEW Windows to the World/ Essay Intensive Science- Discovering God’s Design for Chemistry Online Honors Class Math- MUS Pre-Calculus Foreign Language- Easy Peasy Spanish 2 Bible/Christian Worldview- Still not sure about this ? Electives-Filmmaking & Photography PE- Pilates class

I tell my daughters that every decision has consequences. If a man doesn't come their way early, it is meant to be, and there can be contentment in any life situation. Everyones life is different and you can't plan everything out. I do encourage them that if the right one does come along early, there is no reason to delay marriage. If marriage is something they want they should not close themselves off to it. By early I mean early 20's (not 18 like jerky uncle. He handled that conversation very poorly). Here is an article that talks about the benefits of early marriage. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3437253/ I personally wanted to marry/have children young for many reasons ( I was 20, dh was 22. I had first baby at 22). I knew once my kids were grown I would still be young and have plenty of years to do whatever else I wanted. I did not want to limit the amount of children I could have (My body did that for me. See you can't plan everything. However, I was still able to have more children than if I had waited till I was a lot older). My choices were more flexible. I was able to wait 7 years before deciding to have our last baby. I wanted our parents to be able to be active grandparents. I want to be a young grandma, or at least get to know my grandchildren. I have friends that have already lost their moms, and their moms barely or never got to know their grandchildren. I wanted to have enough energy to to keep up with little ones. I wanted my husband and I to have many years to do what we want to do together after the kids were grown. I realized that the choice to have children early was not just about me. I live by the philosophy that it is the relationships we have in life that will count on our death bed, not the career we had. I think this is true for both men and women. So I encourage my children to alway put people first, career second. However, I think it is dangerous to say that you won't be happy in life if you have children late. Happiness is a choice, an outlook on life, a gratitude for every blessing that comes your way. It is not based on when you have children :glare:.

:grouphug: Praying for you right now. That is hard.

I would not say anything about the taste. I simply say, "No, thank you. I don't drink." In a way that does not invite discussion.

I want to also say that, if you homeschool all your kids they will still grow up together. If my older three were in school, it would be more of an only child situation. With all of us home my youngest gets lots of time with each of his siblings. They play with him all the time. When the youngest of the three will be 18, the baby will be 10. He will be very sad to not have his siblings around all the time. However, all of them will probably have him over for sleepovers and such. They will miss him too much to stay away too long. I also plan on doing tons of things with him. With only him at home we will be able to get involved in more activities. I am an only child and I loved my growing up years. My parents were the parents to volunteer to drive, host, etc... It all depend on the family. ETA: I was homeschooled as an only child too.

When my fourth was born my first three were 12, 10, & 8. An eight year gap seemed giant to me! I was a little worried too. Now, I say to people that I highly recommend having kids close together and far apart. Yes, it is a different relationship, but, oh my, he is soooo doted on, so adored. My oldest asks my all the time, "Aren't you glad you had him? Now our family feels complete." I am glad. I thought I was nuts when we started trying for him, but all my worries have vanished. Having him was actually a huge benefit to my older three. They have gotten to see and experience what it is like to have a newborn, a baby, a toddler.... Go for it! Every child is a huge blessing.

I am good with this. I don't remember the last time I used a recipe. If the flavors are in my wheel house (Mexican, Italian, and some Asian and American) I can adjust and change things up to make all kinds of dishes. I will ever-so-often look up how to do a certain technique, but almost alway stray from exact ingredients.

I will warn you that your child will probably not remember any of the history, science, or geography you will do with him till about 8 yrs. old. I have learned the hard way. I now make those very relaxed subjects until 8 or 9 yrs. old. If I were you I would drop "curriculum" for those and just pick out books at the library, here and there, or ones on the shelf at home, that he shows interest in or has questions about. In my experience I made it more work than it should have been, with my first two. The one I was more relaxed with happens to be the one that now LOVES these subjects, has lots of questions and wants to follow rabbit trails. If you choose to do something like Spanish, at this age, make sure you stay constant with it throughout the years, or he will forget this also. Ask me how I know ;). My advice is to make your focus actually narrower. Zero in on reading and math skills. If these are solid the rest easily follows. Believe me you won't regret it.

If you are not apposed to Christian curriculum, Notgrass History has many essay writing prompts to pick from per week. It doesn't give instructions on how to write them, but if you are willing to come up with your own thing at least this would take some of the work out of it. These are the two writing prompts from lesson one (you can see more in the online sample): What is your connection to the world? Maybe one of your parents was born in another country, you know a missionary, or you have traveled internationally. What everyday things do you use that come from other countries? You might think of other connections to the world that you would like to discuss. Write an essay about your connection to the world. See Lesson 3. Write an essay about how one of the following events might have been seen differently in another country from the way it was seen in the United States: (1) the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, (2) a U.S. presidential campaign and election, (3) a Super Bowl football game. See Lesson 2.

If she is not acting like she expects you to reciprocate. I say let her have the enjoyment. I used to be like your friend, until people made me self-conscious about it. I once purchased a couch set for a very close friend because I knew it was exactly what she wanted and needed. I LOVED doing it! It made her feel bad that they couldn't give us something in return. She kept trying to do things to "pay" for it. I was naive and shocked. I never expected or thought of receiving something in return. I don't ever give expecting something in return. I teach my children that we give out of the love we have in our hearts for others, period. I am sure your friend feels that you give her so much just by being there for her. I say be grateful that you have a friend that is not comparing/keeping score and loves you to the fullest without reserve. I believe more people need to be like her. If you want to give her something give her the little acts of kindness that you can and tell her how blessed you are to have her as a friend.

I don't tweeze or wax. I use one of these https://www.amazon.com/Wahl-Nose-Brow-Trimmer-5545-400/dp/B002FS4VJQ/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_194_lp_t_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=K8ABBZN253GH9Y5D4T4C once or twice a week. Easy peasy, it is very fast and there is no pain.

I get it about different book choices for teens. However, when it comes to Jane Eyre I think it depends on the teen. My dd and I just read it together, but separately. She thought the relationship was odd also. She was very insightful about the whole book really. We both loved reading and discussing it.

Are you using a certain program, like Barton or Logic of English? If you aren't using a program, I suggest you get one. For her age I would use one that has games and makes it fun. We really liked Logic of English Foundations. How do you know she is dyslexic? She is only 6.I wouldn't be too worried right now. I would stop and camp on where she is at (with or without a program), and slowly in short sessions (20 min. at the longest) once a day work on cvc words. Have her sound out the first two sounds together (p-o, po), then add the last sound (po-t, pot). I would drop the flash cards. I don't think they will do much good. They might get her to read a few more words than she currently is, but in the long run it won't help her in figuring out more difficult words.

The size is probably more like 12 X 40 not 28 X 40. It might go in some parts to 20 w/ the slides out, but the max square footage, by law, for an rv/fifth wheel is 430. ETA: I was mistaken. Pawz4me was correct. I don't know why I thought 12 ft, but 8 ft. (not including slides) is the legal limit.

Well, we have done it for 2yrs. now. We happen to be in your situation almost exactly. Our fifth wheel is about 430 sq. ft. it is a 2015 Open Range Roamer 384bhs, and we are a family of 6 (kids are 15, 13, 10, & 2). For a while we traveled around for contract jobs for dh. He now has a permanent position that was way too good to pass up. So, this week we are closing on a 3 acre plot of land with a house that is not in good shape. We will continue living in out fifth wheel while we remodel the house. People think we're nut, but I actually like it. We own a home in another state that we will be selling now. The kids and I could have stayed there, while dh traveled, but being together is top priority for us. If you have any questions about how to make it work, I am an open book.

Maybe try stepping outside the name box? All of my children have either names of elements or thing that come from elements.

We currently live in our rv. I have not had a dishwasher for about 2 years now. The keys for me are paper plates and bowls and only one cup per kid. If their cup is dirty they wash it. I used to say that they had to use the same cup all day, but had others available in the cabinet. With all the cups the same, nobody would own up to dirtying more than one. I now have a specific cup for each of them. I let them each pick out their own individual cup, that looks different from everyone else's, and only have a couple extra in the cabinet. It works great. We are remodeling a home right now also. I will most likely put in a dishwasher, not because of the work for me, but for resale value. However, I have learned how to live with very little cabinet space also, so I don't mind a little less space.

Well, I will answer your questions. Yes, I believe you could lower the level of SWI-B for your 8 yr. old, especially if you get the TWSS. He gives examples of how many units a child that age should complete. Now it will take some planning on your part, but I don't think it woulds be to hard. Depending on his reading level you might want to use different source texts for him. You can just take them from anything you have at home that is at or bellow his reading level, or you might want to get this http://iew.com/shop/products/writing-source-packet. Also limit the amount of dress-ups, decorations, and openers (you'll learn what all these are) you expect from him. If your oldest is doing well with his current grammar don't switch him to Fix it. I would start your 8yr. old on it instead. I love IEW. It works well for my oldest who is a very proficient writer, and my not so confident writers. With my 10 yr. old dyslexic son I can now take what I have learned from the TWSS and the SWI/SICC, and go at a much slower pace for him. It has given me the confidence I needed to teach writing.

I love Zevia https://zevia.com/. They have caffeinated and non in almost every flavor of regular soda. I love the taste, no after taste like most diet sodas. Plus, it could actually be called good for you.

Ok, I have not read all the responses, but I agree with you, and I disagree with you. Parts I agree with- What the stranger said was rude. I would not go back to work if my dh was out of a job. It would not be worth it for us, so I understand where you are coming from. I truly commend you for how wise you have been with finances. Parts I disagree with- You shared too much. How a stranger knows that your dh is out of a job, and you don't work, I do not understand. Since you were so open the stranger probably felt they could be just as open (it still was rude of them). You were rude to the stranger, too. You said she assumed things about you having your house payed off. Well, you did a lot of assuming about her as well. You don't know if someone gave her that nice phone, or got it refurbished, etc...You don't know if she shops second hand stores, great sales, or Walmart, but just happens to know how to put it all together to look more expensive than it is. She might do her own nails and hair or have a friend that does them. People think I look "put together". I do many of the above things. Little do people know that the amazing ombre effect I have in my hair ;) cost me only $6 to do myself. I understand your frustration, and right now things are very stressful, I'm sure. You should maybe just refrain from money conversations, especially right now.

No, I believe the change was a hormonal thing. It started when I went through puberty at 12, and got worse around my period each month. After the birth of my second child it went away. After the birth of my third I had other hormonal issues with yeast & UTIs, in which sugar levels played a part. After the birth of my fourth things have seemed to level out. I still stay away from sugar though. My body just doesn't seem to like it, so I would rather be safe than sorry. The same thing has happened to one of my daughters right around starting her period, she had a few pretty bad hypoglycemic episodes. She now stay off of sugar too. Sorry, if that is TMI. ETA: Yes, I have had glucose tests.

I use to be hypoglycemic (from 12-24 yrs old). I gave up all refined sugars, white flour, white rice, even honey. But I never gave up fruit or milk. It worked for me. The key for me was to always balance the carbs with protein. I still stay away from most of those sugars because my body doesn't handle them well in other ways now. However, I will never give up fruit or milk. You might just want to lessen your intake of milk, not too much at one time.