We use Miquon Math, which I’ve purchased in all levels in advance for ds5. I LOVE Miquon. Miquon plus a set of c-rods plus educationunboxed.com are the best. I also, simultaneously, use MIF (Math in Focus), which is a Singapore program, mastery style (not spiral), and designed for American classrooms. It coordinates well with the method of Miquon, but if you haven’t done Singapore approaches, I’d NOT buy it all in advance. I really love the approach, and MIF is a very good, relatively user-friendly way to do it, but some aspects of it annoy me, and you’d want to know you like Singapore before committing. This is the one I bought in advance for Ds5 to make sure I’d match the answer keys I already own. For spelling I love Apples and Pears (Sound Foundations publishers). It’s a U.K. program, so yay! You could probably buy it just as easily/inexpensively after you move. It’s designed for dyslexia but all my kids use it. It’s scripted, so you’ll have to be involved to guide them along, but there’s no prep. There are U.K./American vocabulary differences (my kids find them comical) but I haven’t really noticed much in the way of spelling differences. HTH!

Hmmm. Maybe? I've actually done this, but only with two subjects. In the case of spelling, discounts meant that the workbooks for youngest were all free (and I'd been successfully using the program for over a year with my three older children). In the case of math, I'd already succeeded using the program with the older 4 and wanted to grab workbooks for the youngest in case any future new editions required new TMs and/or answer keys (which would be brutally $$$). Both spelling and math are areas where I can tweak curriculum as needed, so the risk of a truly bad fit after three children have used it (including the one with LDs) seems pretty low . I don't use workbooks for anything else; very little of what we use is consumable. I do slip our geography pages into plastic sleeves so we can reuse them, and the same is true of any printing I do. Living books are big for us, so I'd also buy our favorites of those (in science and history) if needed, assuming library access would be limited and purchasing abroad would be pricier than purchasing in advance. ETA: Personality here could be a factor: I'm a minimalist, and I also don't mind "ruts." But if you suspect you'd be bored and want to try something new anyway, I'd wait.

Ahhh....the island. I'll bring those avocado egg roll appetizers from Cheesecake Factory! Dd9 keeps running in to show me how she can catch a 10-penny stack off of her elbow. I now have approximately 78 cents on the floor under my bed.

Which reminds me... did I tell you all what DS12 made for me for Christmas? A book entitled, "If You Give a Cat Some Coffee." The cat is me. It begins with "If you give a cat some coffee....she'll want some chocolate chippers." It's hilarious.

My coffee!!! I sat down to relax and forgot my coffee!!!

Just spent 45 minutes filling out the US Census form. "In the last 12 months have you worked a full time job?" No. "In the last 12 months have you worked a part time job?" No. "In the last 12 months have you worked any job?" Ummmm....Nope? "In the last 12 months have you worked even one hour? Please record if you have worked even one hour." It's a good thing they didn't provide a comments box or I'd have given them a piece of my Cooking-Cleaning-Nursing-Home-Renovating-Butt-Wiping-And-Homeschooling-Five-Kids-While-Paying-Outrageous-School-Taxes mind. ETA: Oh, and Spending-Forty-Five-Minutes-Filling-Out-Government-Paperwork-Times-Seven-Individuals-Who-Live-In-This-Residence. But I do that in my free time so I guess it doesn't really count as work.

I wish I had taught cursive sooner. My oldest four (12, 10, 9, 7) have all learned it over the last year or two together, and their cursive is far neater and easier to read than their print. This is especially true of DS12, who is dyslexic and has really atrocious printing. Which leads me to the key reason I'm posting: cursive drastically reduces directional problems that children with learning disabilities like dyslexia face. If I'd known this years ago, I would have taught it from the get-go. I am gradually increasing the amount of cursive I require for schoolwork. Ultimately, I'd like all my children to use it by default. If practiced, it becomes a faster and less tiring method than print (and in the case of my kids, at least, it is already significantly neater).

One of my all-time favorite hymns. I've been to his grave in Jerusalem, actually. (By accident. I didn't know much about him until I stumbled across that.)

(((sick ITT kidlets))). Ducklings have passed around a nagging cough, too. A few have had super brief, super low fevers, too. Church this morning, and now chicken chili for lunch. I'm not sure if we will watch the Super Bowl or not. DH might take the kids out instead, in which case I'd try to get some prep done for the upcoming week.

We had errands to run this afternoon, which meant the school day was divided and stretched into late afternoon. So glad it's Friday!

Time to send in the ENB!

4 hours! No one is taking this thread seriously.

The piano bench. The donation pile. The tiny sliver of space between the seat and the wall in third row of the van.

We joke about wimpy snowbirds in our family/church, but it's all in good fun. I can't imagine why someone would truly be offended. There's a reason we all vacation in Florida. Aha!

Exactly! The only good cockroach is a dead cockroach. And the only good beach is a cold one. We do have green heads in August. They are like a bloodthirsty horsefly with PMS, and they travel in packs of about a billion. But they are limited to a few marshy beaches, and only active in August when the beach is too hot for my taste anyway. Our best beach day ever was in February last year. Took our shoes off and had "standing in snow pile" contests.

Massachusetts. No oil. (Or rather, if there was oil, no one could ever drill for it.) But we have leaves in the fall! And gorgeous beaches! And oceans without sharks! And cobblestone and history and Mrs. Mallard and all her ducklings! (Not mine, but the ones all in a row in Boston Garden. Mine are not all in a row, ever.) 9 months of snow may have been a January-induced exaggeration.

Snow 9 months of the year. But no poisonous snakes. No biting ants. No cockroaches. No major floods. No major hurricanes. No cyclones. And tornadoes are rare.

LOL. Now that I think of it..... Of course! Can you tell my experience with cockroaches is limited? Ugh.....I think I'll stay safely here in the north.

Ugh. Grossness. I have no idea, as I really didn't worry about it when the allergist told me (no roaches here). But I DO react to any clean-up of mouse poo (respiratory, eyes, nose reactions) so I've assumed that I'm breathing in particles. A mask does seem to reduce the reaction. Couldn't that happy with roach poo, too? Eating it seems to be an unlikely scenario for most people. Though I suppose if they are undetected in your food supply, that could be a problem. Oy. Time for a new topic!

It's Taco Tuesday! Which means Dh cooks!

I'm allergic to roach poo. Which typically doesn't show up on the skin prick for northerners, except that I was exposed to them once in Florida on a family trip when I was 8. I have a theory that I'm allergic to other rodent poos as well (like mice).

Good Morning! I was out of k-cups, then found some ground coffee in the freezer. Phew! (((Krissi))). Hoping you can kick the sinus thing without a trip to the doctor. I'm investigating why it takes DS12 soooooo much longer than the girls to get his independent work done. Turns out it's because he's responsible and actually doing the work until he masters it. Off to rescue the meatballs from the freezer. Thanks for the reminders!

I cooked and prepped all the things today. Quiche. Homemade tomato soup. Chili. Taco meat. Three trays of mini-meatballs for 6 batches of future Italian wedding soup. A whole jar of homemade taco seasoning. Six bags of shredded cheese (which used to be blocks, but I shred them myself). Ironically, knowing that Dh was bringing home take-out pizza inspired me to cook up a storm. Oh, and I laundered sheets and towels! I'd forgotten that. My feet hurt. Someone remind me tomorrow to bag up the frozen meatballs before they get frostbite. 'Nighty-night, everyone! Tomorrow I get up early, because I'm way behind on Bible study homework for the week.

Happy Monday! I have not had coffee yet. Which explains why I was wondering what online school Thomas Edison could possibly have attended.