Not a lot of insight to offer, but I knew a woman who developed hygiene issues as she gained huge amounts of weight. She could no longer clean herself as thoroughly as she normally would have because she couldn't reach everwhere anymore. Her house stayed clean because her dd, who lived there did that for her. So, all this to say are any of these people grossly obese? That can be a contributing factor. There may also be health issues like trimethylaminurea (sp?). Some folks with TMAU don't bother trying to be clean because they get rejected either way. Others are clean, but people don't believe it because of the malodor. I also know a man who hoards, though his house is clean, he just uses storage spaces. He grew up during the depression when everything seemed valuable and usable. He's financially comfortable but hates to get rid of things because it may come in handy someday - maybe fear of another time of economic depression, idk. But your family would be too young for that, unless they grew up hearing stories and warnings about it.

Our cottage is like this. When I think *musty*, I think dampness and maybe mold. Are you near the ocean or other large body of water, with high humidity? Do you have a good air exchanger system? If you do, are your sure it's the right size for your square footage? Dampness makes everything smell musty. When I bring linens home from the cottage, it's really noticeable in them the way your clothes are when you travel. Have you tried running dehumidifies?

He will likely be eating his words before too long, if he has kids of his own. ;) that's usually the way thins go, I've observed. Hopefully you'll get to be a witness.

I went to ps (French gr.1-3, some English gr.4-7 and mostly English after that - 2 subjects still in French up until grad) all the way through. There was no public k here at the time. But my parents didn't exactly buy into the ps system and their ways, so I was allowed to take lots of time off for other pursuits. (travel, mental and physical health, Volunteering, free time) and I sort of unschooled myself on my off days. And homework was mostly optional as well as long as I could get away with it with my teachers - i was bright so unless they checked, they usually didnt know. If i had a report due, i did produce it by deadline though. I made it an art form only doing the required (as in checked) minimum for every class that bored me to tears and still pulled off pretty good grades so no red flags. I did a lot of extra curriculars over the years that took up a lot of my time. Today I'd be called truant and my parents neglectful, but it wasn't like that, I enjoyed lots of schooly stuff outside of school. I detested being at school and never got used to it, but did enjoy some classes some of the time. Especially French. So this was my way of unschooling while spending just enough time and energy on school to fly under the radar.

(hug)

Our EB is not lazy, just cheap and cranky. I had to explain the definition of gift to my kids last night, and that it's a blessing even if it isn't something of the child's choosing. And that gift implies the giver choosing it. Sigh EB set up a fun and silly scavenger hunt with rhyming couplet clues :) leading to an arsenal of Nerf guns and ammo and some candy. Fun was had and kids are content. All is right with the world. The moral of the story. Christ brought salvation, now go and shoot each other!

I think there are some LDs that can be confused with immaturity so they don't show up until gr3+. That's what I've been told anyway, I have little experience with this though.

:) Well, I guess I should have qualified complete with something like in a grade level appropriate sort of way. I get that homeschoolers generally aren't married to the idea of grade levels either, so maybe I should qualify that too. Lol! Maybe I shouldn't try typing out stuff on Sunday morning. I'm hoping someone can decifer what I'm trying to get at.

I keep reading on the forums that one or another math program isn't complete. Is there a consensus on which program(s) do cover all of the important stuff? I have no trouble teaching math concepts, but I'm not sure I'd spot concepts missing from a program on my own. I wouldn't necessarily recognize that a program is incomplete. So I need help with this. We have been using JUMP but I find it doesn't offer enough practice of each concept. However, the full Jump program might be fine (we've been using JUMP at Home supplement). We've been supplementing with Khan. I wish I could buy one program that we could stick with year after year that gives the kids lots of practice and ensures mastery of concepts including lots of word problems. I also prefer a program that goes by grade rather than topic. Where I live we don't do a seperate course called algebra or geometry etc. we just do grade level math, including those topics and other math mixed in, if that makes sense. My kids are going into grades 3-8 in the fall, if that helps.

Not brave at all. I was paralyzed with fear and kept repeating,"oh, bleep! what do I do? "

A moose between me and the beach, blocking my way and walking toward me. I thought I was going to be trampled, but thankfully, it turned off the path into the ditch a few feet in front of me. Scared me witless. Those suckers are tall! But there's nothing exotic about a moose, so maybe it shouldn't have been such a surprise. I think it was because it was at the beach instead of in the woods.

I find SL and the SOTW activity guide would take too much time if you did both. I do one or the other. We are on our second cycle of the SOTW books, and using the activity guide, which I love, but we're taking a break from SL to do it. Last time we did SL along with SOTW, but left out the activity guide. I'm fitting in a few SL RAs here and there, but not following the IG. We have the books and the audio only because I found the audios on sale a few years ago. I like having both because repetition is good for remembering, but we don't use them at the same time. We will probably listen to the audio version while driving this summer. It should be like an old friend to my kids by then. You don't need both. I'd buy one or the other, whichever you would most prefer and then see how much your family likes it. If they love it you may want to buy the other another time.

This could work. I do like the idea of a glass door.

I've considered using it for homeschool group stuff, but then I'd have to keep two floors of the house company ready. I can hardly keep on top of one. :( I have a cozy little office that is all mine and dh has his man cave too, so I think I'll keep this one the kid zone.

I don't know if you want to spend money or not, but some furniture can serve dual purposes. Things like coffee tables with storage inside, benches with baskets under, drawers in sofas...that kind of thing can be really helpful for keeping things you need close by. How is the storage around the children's desks? Are you taking full advantage and keeping each kids materials near their desk? Or even one big bookshelf or cubby shelf can help if you have the space and money to invest. Can you put a basket near or under the desks or shelving above the desks? Or do you have any extra cabinets in your kitchen you can store stuff at?

Dominion is our hands down favourite. I heard about it on the Sonlight forums, many posters raved about it. Everyone here loves it and we play it almost daily - a game takes about a half hour. ETA I should mention its labeled for ages 13+ but my 7y/o enjoys it with us and can compete.

Is he into Minecraft? There are lots of ideas if you do a search for Minecraft crafts. My ds made Minecraft tools and weapons by printing them out and glueing them to boxes and cutting them out the shape. Creepers are easy to paint on a square canvas by making 1" squares (pixels) and painting them various shades of green, black and brown. Home depot has some neat craft ideas - you can take your kid in one Saturday a month and they help them make some neat stuff out of wood.

Congratulations to your dd! I love hearing stuff like this! :) thanks for sharing!

Will keep the media corner and probably make office space. Dh wants a ping ping table, but I doubt it will get used much, so I'm not convinced. We have air hockey, but the kids never play it. They play pool at my sisters, but idk if the novelty would wear off or if I want their friends hanging out upstairs when they're teens.

Lots to think about there. We've done most of these but somehow the areas always get blended together into a big mess. (I don't go in there often enough to keep on the kids to maintain tidiness.) One kid is more into gaming but the room doesn't have Internet access without moving the router which I don't want to do. The other two watch tv, do crafts, play with Lego, and ride their plasma cars there in the winter. They tend to read in other rooms, even though we once had a reading nook set up there. The media center will stay, I'm thinking one long counter as three desks.

Oh, I really like the long counter with cupboard underneath, I could make three desks/art stations - we have two long walls like this that aren't functional for much else because of a slanting ceiling. :)

I've heard people argue that preschool prepares kids for K and if they don't go, they'll be behind the other kids and will have confidence issues and will never catch up. I think it's a common fear. I remember feeling that pressure when my older kids were little. It's like if they start off on the wrong course, there is no fixing it and their entire life will be ruined. Lol! I do see how ridiculous it is now and I'm glad we've stepped off that treadmill. But the anxiety is very real for a lot of parents and the lengths people go to to prevent this is astounding. I wish there was more common sense in the media, which is, I think a big part of where these ideas originate.

My kids have outgrown toys for the most part and I'd like to change their playroom space to something more useful. We don't need a school room, I prefer using main floor space for that. The playroom is over the garage and is huge at around 25'x30'.(750'sq.)The three kids are between 8-13y/o. What would you do with the space if you were making it for kids these ages? I've talked to the kids, but two of them have no idea the third only asked for a snack area. Currently there is a tv and sofa set, lots of shelving. We're getting rid of most toys, toy boxes etc. One of my girls suggested using a corner of it for her bedroom so she doesn't have to share with her sister. I'm not sure I want to renovate and add walls, but maybe a privacy screen? Idk. Edited to correct the dimensions - I just measured and was way off. The thought has crossed my mind to downsize to a new house because this room doesn't get used much and I don't know if it ever will.

Nice to meet a couple of other INFJs. :)

Me too and apparently we are less than 1% of the population. The only exclusive club I've ver been in! Lol!