We have one cat who *will not* use any of the multiple cat scratching posts we have scattered throughout the house, and is destroying the carpet, so we do use the soft paws for her. It's quick and easy, and she really doesn't mind them at all, once they're on. I prefer the colored ones, so I can see at a glance if she's missing any. We wrap her back paws and the paw we're not working on up burrito-style in a bath towel, and once you get the hang of it, it goes fast- maybe 5 minutes at the tops. I absolutely do no believe in declawing cats, so this is a great option for this particular cat instead.

Yes! When I was a kid I was never indoors, except to sleep. Now, I don't want to even leave my house much. I do try and combat it as much as I can, but it's a tough thing for me.

Yes. I'm an introvert who craves alone time ferociously. When Darth was in his private school, I had plenty of time to myself. Now that he's at home...well, not so much, but still better than most, because he prefers to work alone and play in his room at solitary activities, usually minecraft.

I guess it depends on your idea of "inexpensive." I paid $30 for ds's planner, and it was comparable in price to some of the planners I saw yesterday in Staples. This is the one we got him: http://www.urthemom.com/Student_Planners__K-8_.html Now, parent planners, that's a different ballgame all together! I'm still struggling to find a good one!

I use them as supplements to the regular curriculum that I use, when ds needs extra practice or something, but I could never see using them as a complete curriculum in and of themselves. There's just *so much* that's not in those books!

I love the illustrations- that's the big draw for me. We have the Greek and Norse myths, the Book of Trolls, and Leif Erikson, but I couldn't get into the American history ones.

I'm the main homeschool parent, he's the finances and the logistical support. He spends a lot of time on weekends at museums and such with ds, but he works long hours, and during the week, he's almost always too tired to do much. He trusts me to do the bulk of the hs'ing, and fills in where he is able to.

Lyra all the way for us. I bought two packages last year to get us through the school year, but we still have a ways to go in the first package! I can't see us getting to the second any time in the near future.

My son is a swimmer, and a vegetarian, so I hear you on this issue! He's in the 1% for weight, and it's all metabolism in his case; he's just naturally thin and tall. I also suggest a nutritionist- we're having to see one here soon for the same issues.

Johnny Tremaine is an excellent grammar stage film. It was made by Disney, so nothing terribly graphic or inappropriate.

I'm seriously considering a unit study on the Olympics to break up the monotony of February. I dread this month all year long, because it's so dreary and difficult to deal with.

The only regret I have is that I didn't start hs'ing sooner.

We've been using Song School Latin 1 and 2 for this year, and Darth loves it. I do know Latin well, and I think it's a gentle and fun intro to the language for kids. I'm about to kick it up to Latin for Children A in April though.

I love my audible subscription! Wouldn't live without it, frankly. Darth Kid, like most kids, has a way higher comprehension rate than reading rate, and audible is our chance to introduce him to some classics that he can't yet read on his own- the original Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Time Machine, and so on. We're listening to a history of Rome and Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief right now, and have a book of Norse myths and Loki's Wolves ready to go next. Honestly, we love it and can't imagine hs'ing without it at the moment. Darth and I both have Samsung Galaxy Tabs, and Dh and I have Samsung Galaxy 3 phones and audible plays on all of them, so yeah, it does work on Android devices.

We're doing the Core Knowledge 3 History and Geography this year, and it's working really really well so far. I like to supplement the textbook stuff with audiobooks and other readings, but I'm having a hard time finding stuff on the Early Native Americans (pre-contact) and early exploration. I have Pedro's Journal for exploration, but I'd love to have suggestions of stuff, especially stuff I can get on Audible, for these particular units.

Time Warp Trio is our new book series, and Darth Kid loves it so far.

The Arrow Over the Door is on our list for this year.

Seconding the REAL Science Odyssey. We're using it and Darth loves it so far.

The ones that left Darth Kid in stitches were Super Diaper Baby and Captain Underpants. He also howled over the Dragonbreath books.

D'Aulaires, for the art if nothing else, but the whole book is amazing. This was my fave as a child, and it's still on our bookshelves.

In our case, "heck" would mean favorite toys taken away and earned back, no movies, no Wii games, no playdates, and lots of extra chores to earn them all back. And when I say chores I mean things like cleaning the baseboards, sweeping up under the cat boxes, cleaning the garage, and any other chore I can come up with. Fortunately, Darth Kid is really good about behavior, so just the threat is enough. Keep in mind though, I'd first have to see why he was acting out. Melting down because he was tired or frustrated would be dealt with by letting him calm down and working with him on a solution to the problem. If he was just being a pill, then I'd rain heck down on him, but almost every single time there's a problem, there's a good reason for it.

What a jerk. He's acting like a spoiled child by doing this. Everybody benefits with an educated populace, and although some of us have opted out of the system, we're still going to benefit later on down the road.

I bought a new bookcase for Darth Kid's room yesterday. Yay organized me! . . . . Today we discovered that the truck that I was borrowing to bring it home is too small. So all the money I saved buying the bookcase scratch and dent/clearance is now going towards renting a truck that I can get it home in... :thumbdown: Sometimes, I wonder how I remember to breathe.

I used the Hooked on Phonics for my son and it really worked for him. He was a struggling reader and HoP got him from being barely able to read three letter words to the Magic Treehouse books in about 6 months. He would have been about 2nd grade, but his reading level was much lower than that.

We used the DaVinci and the Walt Disney ones, and ds loved the DaVinci one. They're a reasonable price and they seemed to hold his interest, as long as I broke them up into short chunks for him.