Can you pull up the math standards for PS and see how that compares to what your DC are doing in SM? I consider SM on grade level to maybe half a grade ahead, as marked, but I haven't seen the upper levels. ETA: Here's the SM scope and sequence page: http://www.singaporemath.com/Scope_and_Sequence_s/120.htm This says it's an Australian math scope and sequence: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/mathematics/curriculum/f-10?layout=1

By the start of 4th grade, so 9.5, should work out for DS.

To me, homeschooling is a means to an end: a great basic education. If it is not working, then finding a better means to that end is a win.

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What if you tried the thought process backward? First make your list of things to do/give each day. Then ask yourself whether this one $75 item is all that will make you happy to use for this, or whether something else could be nice and festive for this year while you wait to buy the expensive one when it's on sale. We are very merry paper-chainers, and you likewise might like some simple solution that the kids can help with. But if the one you're looking at really is the thing that will make you merry, skimp somewhere else to pay for it and don't feel guilty.

People tried to steer me toward something that would pay better, but I did what I wanted anyway. I see DS maybe in some kind of engineering work--if you want his attention, start talking about rockets or jets--but it's early yet. I think virtually any field can have a crisis in the time it takes a student to get through high school and college. I'll steer him away from things that are physically risky, but otherwise, there's a little room at the top of any field. If you like it, you're great at it, and you can afford your own apartment doing it, go for it.

Wouldn't heating it mess up the texture? It's traditionally made with raw eggs.

To me, the essence of the frugal mindset is this: The default is to refrain from spending. The next best thing is to spend as little as will be satisfactory to meet the need. So a growing 13YO needs winter clothes. Presumably this needs to be taken care of in the next few weeks. All right, what exactly, and how many of each thing? Since your 13YO may be nearing adult size, these may be pieces that will need to last several years. How much space and what kind of care will these things need? (I don't picture a teen loving the idea of having to hand-wash a heavy sweater in cold water, for example. New clothes are no good at the bottom of the hamper.) And then, how to get the items. Are any nice hand-me-downs available in the home already? If not, what about a secondhand shop like Goodwill or Plato's Closet? If it's necessary to buy new, what store(s) will have items that are a great value? (For example, Kohl's with a sale/coupon may get you a better deal than Target without.) We're fortunate here that I can get a lot of DS's clothes, at least for a few more sizes, at a consignment sale that takes place twice a year. To be frugal, I have to buy enough clothes to last at least until the next sale, and I have to go in knowing what he already has in each size so I don't buy too much. Right now I'm wearing a blazer from Goodwill myself; I paid around $3 for it about ten years ago--saving myself $50 by not going to the mall first. It still looks new.

Spoons are not so useful for ice cream, but if you don't have an ice cream scoop, a melon-baller or butter knife works fine. I use a measuring cup for batter and a spoon for the rare occasion that I make drop cookies. (I like bar cookies better.)

Can you and/or other friends go into the courtroom with her? A group of, say, ten supporters who are ready to come forward and verify that Jane's taking good care of her kids would make her feel better, at the least.

FastPass means you go in the short line. You can pick up to 3 rides a day. If you wait until you are in the park for the day, they will give you junk like 9 o'clock at night for the ride you wanted and 6 o'clock for two rides you don't even really want. If you can get internet access and do it even early the morning of, it's worth it. If you are at the park on a low-crowd day/time, you don't really even need them. (We rode Everest 3 times because we got there first thing in the morning and there was only a 5-minute line.) Our trip last month was great. We tended to pick our park the night before, and pick a starting point in the morning and go from there. Since we like big rides, that was Frontierland and Tomorrowland in MK; Everest in AK; and the Mars Mission thingy in Epcot. It was fine. There's a nice indoor burger place in Tomorrowland, and generally plenty of places to eat and shop all over. We got ambushed by two parades in MK, much to DS's delight. Do keep in mind that it's a bit of a drive from the entrance to Disney property to the gates of the park you're going to. We stayed 5 minutes off property, but I think it was half an hour to get into a park.

Yes, he says he's happy to help people with questions like that.

I don't know, but if no one here has an answer for you offhand, ask Jim Weiss. He specifically mentioned Dumas when I heard him speak.

We are using RSO Earth & Space. It has lots of hands-on activities... but really I feel like it's as much work as BFSU. (To me, it's easier to remember to request a library book a week before than to hunt down the duct tape, paper cups, a spool, etc., the night before.) I find myself skipping some labs that I don't think DS will learn much from for the trouble.

During quiet time, after he's in bed, or on the weekend when Daddy's home. DS often wakes up earlier in the morning than I want to try to beat, and will wake up even earlier if the shower's running, etc. Starting quiet time when DS turned 4 was perhaps the best parenting choice I've ever made. For those who want to start, I recommend 30 minutes' duration, newly rotated toys/books, and a reward at the end. Gradually extend the time and withdraw the reward over several months. Eventually you can have an hour and a half or even two hours of built-in down time for everyone.

Yeah, I have LOE Foundations B and C, Phonics Pathways and Reading Pathways, Miss Rhonda's Readers, McGuffey's Eclectic Primer, another set of little CVC readers... I'd bought 100 Easy Lessons first, but neither of us liked that one... I looked at OPGtR but opted not to buy it. I will be buying LOE Essentials for next fall. And I only have one kid.

We're in level C, and DS has made really good progress. He enjoys it. We typically do two lessons a week, spread out over four or five days. I don't think the readers with it are enough, so we're also reading the Amish Pathways first-grade books (and he likes them as well). I chose HWOT for printing instead of the LOE handwriting. I don't plan to buy level D. We'll finish C around mid-March and go back to Phonics Pathways (my notes say pgs. 131-204 by the beginning of July, and then finish the book by Labor Day). I plan to buy Essentials for second grade.

As long as it's okay with your state law, why not?

I schedule what I already have, and then when shiny new things come to my attention, I see that I don't have time for them. :) Congrats on being ready!

Singapore Essentials is cute and fun (count the fruit, etc.). We started with B just after he turned 5, and it was very kid-friendly. You can do the writing for him in any curriculum; you'll have to be talking with him about what is happening on the page anyway. We also used MUS Primer and unit blocks, mostly playing Decimal Street. I wrote on a little whiteboard and did not use paper at all for that.

The trick for me, when I make good use of my time, is having a written list. Maybe you should make yourself a little menu each week? Some good ways to use my time are checking/folding the laundry, crocheting (I can only do single crochet, but that's enough to make washcloths, hats, and scarves), paying a bill, unloading the dishwasher or washing something by hand, reserving library books online, dusting one room, planning the menu for a week, scheduling things for school, making holiday-related plans. I only get real reading done when DS is asleep at night or in quiet time. Same for studying Spanish. On the other hand, sometimes I waste my time on Facebook, Twitter, Kenken (a math game) etc., especially if my netbook is already on. If you have a separate home phone or it's a time when you wouldn't answer your cell phone anyway, could you put it away in its charger or your purse instead of having it at hand?

Likewise, I already decided to do my shopping in February. Not now. But there might be some deals I can't pass up....

DS eats breakfast and plays while I shower, start the laundry, unload the dishwasher, etc. He often practices piano then as well. Then he brushes his teeth, dresses, and makes his bed and I get out anything we need for school. We have school, lunch, errands/piano lesson/park day/field trip. Then it's quiet time (90 minutes, usually ~2-3:30, in his room and unplugged except for the occasional audiobook). After quiet time, he practices piano if he didn't already. We may do some more housework or spend time with friends. Then he usually watches a show and I make dinner. After dinner, he plays with DH and then goes upstairs for shower and bed.

I've used them, and they were good, but make sure the person you're picking up from is very clear on what you had done so you don't get overcharged. (If they are binding something that's already printed, make sure you don't get charged for printing it.) I had better success when I stayed and waited for it to be done. The price was similar to or better than OfficeMax, etc., around here.

I use this one: http://www.handwritingworksheets.com/flash/printdots/index.htm