Not sure if you're "normal," but you're exactly like me! :) I've got 4 kids also & easily spend 3.5-4 hours (longer sometimes, it just depends) on weekends, going over my plans for the upcoming week, tweaking them, copying everything, etc. I, too, feel like I'm pretty slow at this, but at the same time, am not sure how to do it more quickly! I also spend an hour or so each morning going over the day's schedule & doing any last minute things not covered on the weekend...Mainly I'm trying to wake up & get motivated though, I'm so not a morning person. I agree that our week goes much smoother when everything is clearly laid out in my lesson book so I know exactly what we're doing! I hate it when I skip a weekend planning session & leave it all to plan day-by-day.

Thanks Christine, I'll check that out too!

Actually, there's more to it than just "re-stocking beer." That makes him sound like a Route Sales Rep & even at that, the six figure salary would be a bit of a stretch unless he's a district manager (in which case he wouldn't be on routes all the time & he would have to have experience and/or a degree). I have an ex who's a RSR & it's not nearly as easy it sounds! It's very physically demanding & the hours are long & hard - plus you have to make sales, build displays, manage all your customers, essentially be "on call" to re-stock stores when supplies run low, etc. There's actually quite a bit to it & everyone is not cut out for the job! I used to go with my ex on routes when he worked for Sara Lee & actually fell asleep on the floor of Wal-Mart once (ew!) because I was so worn out from the work, yikes. Anyway, if I had to start over I'd think about what I really wanted to do & then learn whatever was required. I've done this very successfully twice. At present, healthcare is a pretty safe bet...though it's not a field I enjoy!

Thanks guys, I will check these out!

You might also check out The Crafty Crow - it's a blog with tons of great projects (they post sort of the "best of the best" from numerous other blogs)!

We've got 2 weeks before we're going on a mini-vacation to explore many stops along the Santa Fe Trail, so I am looking for some ideas on how to give my kids an overview of the trail (or life on the trails - we'll hit a couple of Oregon Trail stops as well), Westward expansion & anything else that should be covered. We've been studying ancient civilizations this year, so this is a departure from our normal schedule & I really have no idea how to approach this. My boys have had some US History in public school, but my daughter really hasn't & I'd like them to have some understanding of what they're seeing on the trip. Is 2 weeks too much to spend on this topic? Are there other things I should cover? I've thought about also including something about the railroads because we'll be visiting many "ghost towns" along the way - many of these towns were created by the railroads but already nearly abandoned by the 1910s when the railroads ceased to be as important. Any book/movie/audio recommendations would be appreciated - I'm kind of clueless as to how I should approach this & keep it simple enough for two weeks! Thanks!

We used a large white ceramic serving platter at our wedding (with Pebeo Porcelaine Fine Point Markers) & it turned out great! After the guests sign the platter (any type of ceramic dish would work for this), you bake it for about 30 minutes at 300 degrees & the signatures become permanent and food-safe, so you could use it if you choose.

My husband sprouts all kinds of things regularly and just uses a bowl with water. No lid or covering & there's never been a problem. When the water evaporates he'll mist them or add a bit more water (to keep them from drying out), but that's it. I asked him if milling them would defeat the nutritional value & he said no, though he wasn't sure why you'd want to do this. He & the kids snack on sprouts constantly, that's all we've really used them for.

I just wanted to say thank you for this post! :-) I ordered the deluxe kit + a few extras from Baba's & had my supplies just a few days later. We're really excited to try these!

Oh my, I'm in the same situation here - most of the local homeschoolers we've met are unschoolers (and very, very relaxed unschoolers at that) & are quite vocal & almost pushy about the "superiority" of their method. Any new homeschoolers that join the group are set upon immediately as potential converts. In fact, we've only been on one outing with them because of this (when they found out that we actually use curriculum, they just clucked about how "new" I was at this, LOL). Three of my kids were completely freaked out by the idea that these kids don't "do" school in any traditional sense and have openly wondered what kind of future they'll have. While I would love to be able to socialize with the group (for the sake of socialization), quite honestly I'm not sure that I'm comfortable with it - and I'm really afraid my kids will innocently say something that they might find offensive (my kids are big on what curriculum they're using because it's such a novelty to be able to choose after so many years of public school). Also, my eldest would love to play video games all day, so to meet another boy his age who actually does play video games all day (because, as his mother says, he's reading & learning critical thinking from them) isn't exactly helpful. I'm just not sure the socialization is worth [what I perceive to be] the negative influence.

I don't have a whiteboard, but I do have a large-ish chalkboard on an easel that I use daily (and the kids each have a smaller individual chalkboard). I use it for our word of the day, copywork, vocabulary, assignments, drawing, diagramming & anything else that needs illustrating or writing out. And often, for the Oral Review section in Rod & Staff Grammar, I'll write a sentence out on the board & then have them diagram it or whatever on their individual boards. This works for math too. Prior to re-doing our walls last summer, we had an entire chalkboard wall & that was fantastic! That was before I started homeschooling, but I'm seriously thinking of painting a new one because the kids loved it & it would be very helpful now!

I would not be grossed out - especially since we're talking about an outdoor play area that wild birds are just as likely (more likely, actually) to poop on. I'd clean it & forget about it. Then again, I'm not phased by much these days...we live in the country & have had a variety of animals in and out of the house, so I've learned not to be grossed out easily. Also, we have pet birds now and in the past have started our baby chicks 'n ducks indoors (now they are messy!). I do make my kids wash their hands after handling the birds, but that's about it.

Here's the criteria on a "Monitoring & Assessment Matrix" that I got from a similar history curriculum. This particular curriculum was designed to be used by public middle schools, so you'll find the matrix a bit unneccessarily complicated! I use a combo of WinterPromise & Sonlight and loosely use this to assign grades for my kids - picking & choosing what I deem most important from the list. While it doesn't translate exactly, it's a somewhat helpful guide. For section 1 (below) the Teacher's Guide gives very pointed discussion questions for each category. For example, one part under Geographic Literacy says, "Discuss the interaction of people and environment in modifying and changing the Sumerian landscape. Also discuss the flooding of the rivers and its effects. This should include some of the ways in which the people responded to the flooding, such as using the water for irrigation." Under Economic Literacy, "Help students, when discussing the story, to gain insight into the basic economy of the Sumerian society and recognize the connection between the economics of the society and its geographical factors." Etc. So whichever category your discussion question falls under, you'd assign a grade for it & then move on to the next question. 1. Development of knowledge and cultural understanding. 1a. Historical Literacy 1b. Ethical Literacy 1c. Cultural Literacy 1d. Geographic Literacy 1e. Economic Literacy 1f. Sociopolitical Literacy 2. Skills of Social Participation 2a. Personal Skills 2b. Group Interaction Skills 3. Analytic & Critical Thinking Skills 3a. Analyze given information 3b. Define and clarify problems 3c. Judging information 3d. Solve problems & draw conclusions 4. Basic study skills 5. Linguistic skills Reading 5a. Literal comprehension 5b. Critical comprehension 5c. Creative comprehension Writing 5d. Functional 5e. Creative 5f. Interpretive 5g. Speaking 5h. Listening For comprehension, it says "When discussing the story, ensure that the students are able to: 1) Select the main concepts. 2) Generalize from given story content." Ack, okay, I probably just made that way too complicated & I'm not explaining it well! I personally look for how much they seem to have paid attention to the story as evidenced by how they answer my questions about it. I don't always bother to categorize the questions - too much work! And sometimes, to make it easier - I simply type up a worksheet for them, asking my own questions - then when everyone's done with it, we discuss it (but then I have four kids, for one or two that wouldn't be easier). Here's a good basic rubric I just found for reading comprehension that would work well if you do narration. Lastly, here's another basic set of criteria I just found: - Actively participates in the discussion - Exhibits good discussion skills - Ideas are clearly expressed with textual references - Stays on task throughout the discussion BTW, I do something completely different for language arts - grading it like I would any other subject (points off for mistakes, though I usually allow them 1 chance to make corrections). For geography, I fill in Sonlight's map & they do individual mapwork & again, it's points off for mistakes.

Is he happy at school? If so, I wouldn't worry too much & would give him more time to adjust. On the other hand, if he's miserable, is bringing him home to homeschool again an option? I was a lot like him in high school, though never homeschooled, I went from a tiny Christian school to a large public school. And as an only child, I was around adults most of my life & thus much more mature than many of my peers, plus I was shy (and found the public school overwhelming!). High School was miserable for me until I switched to an independent study program where I was essentially homeschooling myself.

You might take a look at Eugene Schwartz's website (scroll down to rotation & subject descriptions per grade) for an example of how the blocks are done. That was immensely helpful to me when I'd planned on doing blocks.

If you want some serious inspiration, check out this school room from Wildflowers and Marbles -- I love this room! I need to do some cleaning and then will post pics of ours! Nicole M. - I *love* your school area, the pictures & especially the color on your walls!

I've done this too, not with curriculum (yet), but with other books so you have my complete sympathy. Now I try to hold onto everything because I'm never sure if I'll change my mind again & come back to it. That said, I did just give away all my "curricula mistakes" to a new homeschooling mom on Freecycle (many brand new books!). While I'm kind of kicking myself (I'd been holding onto those books to sell at some point & with DH about to lose his job, money is sure to be tight!), I'm also trying to tell myself that it was a 'good deed,' so I need to just relax. :(

I don't think it's necessarily rude, though it is unusual. I agree with the previous poster's that it's A) normally the other way around (you invite a lot of people to the wedding, but have a smaller reception because receptions are expensive!) and B) It's typically only done that way when the couple has had a destination wedding...then they would hold a reception (usually a second reception) for friends/family that were unable to attend. Most people understand not being invited to a reception, but for the wedding itself there's really no rational reason not to invite people unless it is being held someplace very small or is a destination wedding. When I got remarried last year, my small historic venue could only hold up to 75 guests, so that's all I invited to the wedding and reception.

I finally finished this week's book (which was quite a chore because I did not like it!) - I Am of Irelaunde: A Novel of Patrick and Osian by Julienne Osborne-McKnight. I'm disappointed because it had such positive reviews on Amazon, but the author's writing just wasn't my style and I didn't really care for the way she portrayed St. Patrick. The concept was an interesting one, I just felt it could've been done much better!

Ours is up as well, we only had a partial week because of Spring Break, but there was still plenty going on!

Thank you, I will be checking those books out!

I'm already going through this and dd's birthday is still two weeks away. She'll be 9 also...Paula what books did you get for her to read? I've been thinking about this & have no idea what's any good so I could use some recommendations! Thanks!

I've used MagazineLine for years & have been very happy with them. I started with them when I was a college student & now have myself signed up as an educator. The prices are good & you can split subscriptions into 3 payments (which is helpful if you have a lot of expensive subscriptions like we do!).

I'm WAY behind y'all, but just finished Week 2 - I, Mona Lisa by Jeanne Kalogridis and oh my goodness was it excellent! I could NOT put the book down & have already ordered more by this author. I highly recommend it, especially if you're teaching the Renaissance this year, because she really brings the time period and the characters (in Florence anyway) to life. It prompted me to do some additional research and reading immediately & I look forward to doing much more.

Christie, I received an e-mail from you containing only what appears to be a second or additional page with 7 addresses, including my own. I'm assuming there's more to the list than that? I e-mailed you about this, but haven't received a response, so I'm guessing your e-mail is still acting up. If someone could get me the rest of the addresses, I'd so appreciate it - I'll get right on it once I have a list! Thanks!