3 is the new 2 here, but that's really the limit of what I consider a normal size family in Southern California. Anything 4+ seems large to me. I have one friend who is pregnant with her 9th. We are not super close, but I've invited them over to swim and to bdays (she's never taken me up on the offers). I cannot imagine what their days are like. It honestly blows my mind. I do default to assuming that large families are likely religious and better parents than me at childrearing/handling chaos. I never thought that my hero worship of moms of many could be offensive. My apologies. The large families common on this board are just such an anomaly for me, and I really do marvel at what you all are capable of handling.

My older will be in 1st this year. My younger will be in preschool T/TH (my husband watches him M/Sun mornings while we school). This is our rough schedule: Monday and Sunday: 8-9: Wakeup, get dressed, eat (we are not early risers) 9-945: Math and logic 945-1015: Workout on the elliptical while my son and I listen to audiobooks 1015-11: My son reads to me from Mosdos, Jr. Great Books, or MCT 11-1130: MCT Grammar and Cursive 1130-12: Foreign language 12: Lunch while we watch a science documentary Tuesday and Thursday: 8-9: Wakeup, get dressed, eat 9-945: Math and logic 945-1015: Workout on the elliptical while my son and I listen to audiobooks 1015-11: My son reads to me from Mosdos, Jr. Great Books, or MCT 11-1130: WWE and RS Spelling 1130-12: Foreign language 12: Lunch on the go while we carschool with SOTW or History of US audiobooks Wednesday, my son goes to his charter school classes from 9-3:30. He is taking Exploring Lit, Kindermusik, Art, First Lego League, and another elective that is still TBD. Friday is field trip day. No school. Saturday is the Jewish sabbath. No school. Extracurriculars: M, W: Soccer practice when in season, or Kung Fu T: Parkour TH: Homeschool PE F: Guitar S: Soccer game, Kung Fu, or tennis

I worked and lived downtown when I was in banking. I adore NYC, but there is no way that I would want to live in Manhattan with 4 young kids. Too much to schlep all over the place in weather that is all over the map. If I had a dog walker and a nanny, I could make it work. Otherwise, no. I would keep the big ole house in the burbs -- especially since you are in DC/VA. The DC metro is a lovely place as well. It's not NYC, but it still has incredible opportunities for schooling, culture, etc. If you are set on the move, then I agree with the others about looking in some of the other boroughs with a reasonable commute. Personally, I prefer CT or Westchester County, but that will likely be longer than 30 minutes to midtown.

What about this game? http://gotgeniusgames.com/iongame/ ETA: they also make some other games: http://www.amazon.com/Linkage-A-DNA-Card-Game/dp/B00NAEO482/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1439576852&sr=1-1&keywords=linkage http://www.amazon.com/Peptide-A-Protein-Building-Game/dp/B010MVHJ6Y/ref=sr_1_2?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1439576903&sr=1-2&keywords=peptide

This makes me so sad. Growing up in Southern California, there are very few days when I don't eat strawberries. Are they really that hard/expensive to export? They don't grow in Oz?

We live in an apartment complex with no backyard. We have a large grassy "quad" area with a pool and some picnic tables. My son (age 6) is allowed to play in the quad with friends. He cannot leave the complex. I cannot see the kids in the quad, but I trust him not to leave. He can go in friends' homes with permission. I generally do not allow him to be in homes when there are no women around -- meaning, Dad/boyfriend only at home. I don't allow him in the homes of smokers, even if they smoke outside, due to third-hand smoke.

Had a great time at theatre camp, a so-so time at sports camp, and is currently enjoying fencing camp. Surf camp next week will be a big challenge for him. We never did the Minecraft class. He has been spending a lot of time after camp playing his Wii U games (currently Skylanders) and watching Stampy videos. I didn't plan for us to do school, and we haven't. But, we are almost finished with the third Harry Potter book. I told him that if he wanted to continue that he would have to read them himself. We'll see what he does. We don't start school until after Labor Day. My biggest challenge will be getting Ronen adjusted to preschool and potty trained. Not really looking forward to that drama. We're going to Florida for 10 days at the end of the month -- our last hurrah before the end of summer.

Mine says validation complete. Submitted on 7/17.

Thanks, Quark. This is very helpful. We do have a local math circle that I had hoped to join with Sacha (run by a fellow boardie), but they raised the age minimum to 7 (S won't be 7 until January) and it requires parental involvement (which is problematic with a crazy toddler in tow). The other math circle in SD is for older kids to prepare for math competitions. It's so hard to know at that age. He knows that math is the language of science, so I feel like his interest isn't necessarily math for math's sake at this point, if that makes sense. I know that he likes math, feels that he is good at math, likes strategy and puzzley games, and has a very long attention span for math (science even more so), but he likes to talk about inventing things like teleportation devices or cities in the clouds/civilizations on other planets. He's very verbal and extroverted, so I don't worry about that aspect. I just think about some of the other kids on this board that are super mathy at an older age and I wonder what that looked like in the younger years. I think that this year, focusing more on BA than SM, will likely be very telling.

Since we added Beast to our lineup, Sacha now says that math is his favorite subject (previously, it was science). He's always been math-intuitive, but I am not sure that I would call him mathy. We started talking about what we want to do next summer, and I thought about mentioning Delta Camp to him, but, I am not sure that it would be a fit. He does talk about mathematical stuff randomly, and plays the Prodigy math game for fun, but I think of it more in the context of his overall giftedness (and his love of wizards/fantasy) vs. being especially mathy. I would hate to suggest a camp like that if it wasn't a good fit, especially since he's had such a great time at the Jewish Community Center camp the past two summers. If you had a kid attend a Delta or Epsilon-type camp, or if you would characterize your DC as mathy from a young age, what was he/she like around Kindy/1st age?

You look fabulous! So happy for you! :)

http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/08/07/can-an-immersive-video-game-teach-the-nuances-of-american-history/

Sacha and I went to Aquatica the other day (a Sea World water park), and I cajoled him to race me down a scary big slide. When he looked down the slide, once it was our turn, he yelled over to me (through tears), "You are sending me to my death!"

Swimming begins when they are a few months old Soccer skills class, tumbling, age 2-3 Soccer team, age 4+ Parkour, surfing, tennis, martial arts, ice skating, age 5-6+ Sailing, water polo, age 7+ This has been our progression so far...

It was enough for us. We ditched OPGTR and ETC workbooks, and started buddy reading with PP. My son loved it! After we finished PP, we read Nora Gaydos books and then picked up the AAR readers. We started in level 2 and finished through level 4. My son finished reading at an early 5th grade level by the end of K. I credit PP with our great start.

My oldest DS went to immerson preschool and summer camp in French and Spanish. I'm teaching my son to read in French this year and letting Papa and Grandma (native speakers) run with it. When his Hebrew improves enough, I plan to put him Israeli scouts, which is conducted entirely in Hebrew.

What about Galore Park or Breaking the Barrier?

I'd probably do GSWS then Galore Park.

We are with a homeschooling charter in Southern California. I don't care about the semantics or legalisms; I homeschool my child. Having said that, I love our charter for elementary age. Yours sounds more restrictive in that you need to follow their scope and sequence (which I don't), and you also need to submit far more work samples (every two weeks vs. every two months). Our samples can also be anything -- from videos of me teaching, to photos of work, to worksheets of our choosing, etc. I can also use any secular curriculum that I want -- if it is nonconsumable, my facilitator orders it for me (gratis) and I return it when I am done. If it is consumable, I can purchase it myself or use my educational funds for purchase. My extremely extroverted child loves his charter school classes. The reason I like them so much is because they do all the afterschool enrichment stuff (art, music, robotics, performing arts, etc.) that costs $$$ around here for public school kids. They also contract with an extremely affordable PE provider -- my son adores those sports classes as well. I wouldn't like it if they were teaching my son core academic classes. So, I would want to know what classes were offered, and whether you get charged against your educational funds for using them. I would also want to know if you get any funds to use towards vendors and/or field trips. Most people around here jump through the charter hoops because many offer over $2000/year for elementary age. More for high school and up. I would want to know if there is a community feel -- do they have clubs and social activities (school picnics, prom, poetry night, science fairs, etc.) As others have mentioned, I would find out if you can opt out of testing. Some places withhold funds if you do. Testing is not a hill I am willing to die on, as I think it is a valuable skill to learn (and I would rather my DC have familiarity with it before it becomes high stakes). But, I would want to make sure that I was not having to teach to the test in my homeschool. I would also try to meet with your potential facilitator to make sure there is a fit. Ours is great. She is super hands off, and gets me whatever I need re curriculum, classes, etc. Make sure that you get someone who meshes with you. Feel free to ask any questions. There are lots of us here who homeschool through charters. The additional funds and charter community has been a great fit for us. Hope that is helpful.

This kind of a lame article, but I had never heard of AdmitSee before. Not sure if anyone is interested in their data, but I thought that I would pass it along. http://www.fastcompany.com/3049289/most-creative-people/use-these-two-words-on-your-college-essay-to-get-into-harvard ETA: Link to AdmitSee: https://www.admitsee.com/

I am overwhelmed by the site, and would love if people shared some of their favorite resources.

Thanks for the head up. I picked up Flash Point, Star Fluxx, King of Tokyo, and Five Tribes.

Jackie, I am not sure where you live, but I just thought that I'd mention that this is exactly what the homeschool charter school my son attends offers. We live in California, and these types of charters are pretty popular. I believe some other states have similar schools. Anyway, just thought I would mention it. Kerileanne, my son started homeschooling Kindy this past year. Like you, we had been afterschooling his private preschool education, but I still had a panic attack before our "official" homeschooling began. I had never imagined that I would homeschool my children (my husband was always the greater proponent); I envisioned them going off to a lovely private school, leaving me with ample time to pursue my own endeavors. While I still relish the thought of having more free time, homeschooling has been great for us. We settled into a routine pretty quickly -- likely, in large part because we really had already been learning at home for so long -- and the freedom and slower pace of life has suited us very well. Even now, with my son going to summer camp every morning at 9 am, I hate the frantic rush out the door. You already know what homeschooling is like, and you know that you nourish your daughter's extraordinary gifts better than anyone else. I agree with the others about spending some of the money saved on giving you the mental break that you will need, and do try to let go of the picture of schooling that you envisioned. If I were a betting woman (aww, who am I kidding, I love to gamble!) I would wager that this year will go more smoothly than you are imagining. :)

If you don't want to deal with ocean waves, I would recommend going to Fanuel Park in Pacific Beach. It is in the Sail Bay part of Mission Bay, which is lovely, and has a playground, bathrooms, etc. in the park, plus a lovely beach. You can also rent bikes and catamarans nearby, and enjoy all that Mission Bay offers. Coronado, Mission Beach, Law Street, or La Jolla Shores are all fun, but again, very touristy in the summer. I would avoid going to Imperial Beach, but do have to give a shoutout for Sea World's Aquatica in Chula Vista. It's a super fun water park. Definitely go early, though.