I'm seriously boot-obsessed too. I've already got the basics covered, so I'll be buying these next. You might check out 6pm.com. They are my favorite source for shoes of any kind...the inventory changes almost daily and you can get some seriously amazing deals.

There are also the NCERT textbooks from India. You can download individual chapters here, or the entire books here. We have a set sent by my SIL's in India, but I haven't used them much since we've been very happy with Singapore. Nevertheless, the books are free to download, so they might be worth checking out.

I am VERY much a night owl too, but this year I was forced to change my ways (after trying unsucessfully all of last year). I've got 2 in PS this year & they have to be on the bus at 6:30 AM, yuck. Also, my DH is working out-of-state right now, so he's not here to help, therefore I must get up early. I started practicing in late July, gradually going to bed a little earlier each night (it helped to do a lot of yard work or other physical activity to wear myself out!) & setting my alarm a bit earlier each morning. I'm now getting up between 4-4:30 pretty effortlessly (and going to bed between 9-9:30), though I do often take a 20-minute "power nap" at lunch time. It's actually interesting, I used to get a major burst of energy at around 11 PM - now I find the same thing happening at around 5:30 in the morning. I never, ever thought I'd see that happen!

Ours is finally up!

Ours is up ~ I can't wait to check out everyone else's this evening!

Off the top of my head, I know you can find some Labor Day stories in Good Stories for Great Holidays. I have a list of seasonal story collections here, some of the other books will have Labor Day stories also.

Ours is finally up.

Here's ours this week.

My blog is really just a way for me to organize my thoughts. I write our homeschool weekly reports (though I'm not always consistent with that, I try to be because this keeps me accountable). I write about things that I'm learning about (my ever-changing "rabbit trails"). I also share some of my homeschool planning notes (books/resources/etc. that I've found). I have NO homeschooling friends IRL, so the blog is often my way of sorting through things. I have no idea how many people read my blog (certainly my family doesn't) & frankly don't want to know - I'm very introverted & comments have been known to freak me out because I forget that people can read it.

I, for one, am thoroughly jealous! I've read so much about democratic/free schools & would send my kids (2 of them anyway) in a heartbeat if we had one near here. I think, for the right type of student, it would be an utterly amazing opportunity. I wish your family all the best with this!

Today I was browsing Ebay to find a couple of new posters for our school room & found a seller with the most *gorgeous* antique reproduction posters. They're 13" x 9" and $12.98 (including shipping) and come in a huge variety of categories. Most pertain to American history, though he has some beautiful religious posters (and many others!) as well. You can find his store here.

Since it's the start of a new school year, I thought I'd post again about a discovery I made last year that has quickly become my favorite homeschooling resource! The Espresso Book Machine at Harvard's Book Store will print on demand a library-quality, perfect bound, acid-free book from Google digital files and public domain databases. (They are the only store I've found that will *ship* the books.) So any out-of-print books that are online can be reprinted for around $8./book. This is such an affordable, easy way to get durable copies of old readers, nature study guides, novels, and whatever else you might find on Google Books or elsewhere. I posted a picture of a few of the books here - the covers are boring, but inside they're exactly like the original book.

Below I've listed resources that we've used and/or will be using: Our Holy Faith Series Angel Food for Boys & Girls by Father Brennan (this spreadsheet matches up the stories w/the Baltimore Catechism) Schuster's Bible History Memory Work: Baltimore Catechism II Saints Saints for Young Readers, Vol. 1 (January-June) Saints for Young Readers, Vol. 2 (July-December) Mary Fabyan Windeatt biographies & coloring books Vision Book series (Biographies) We read from 'Saints for Young Readers' daily, but here is a chronological listing of saints, along with where they can be found in the books. Liturgical Year Catholic Mosaic Mondays with Mary by Meredith Henning A Book of Feasts and Seasons by Joanna Bogle You might also browse at 4Real to get some great ideas.

Same here! I spend FAR more time researching than I do actually teaching. And sadly, most of what I purchase never even gets used. I seem to lose track of reality when I got caught up in my planning/research. It's the most enjoyable part of homeschooling for me, but at the same time, the most overwhelming.

Ours is up, featuring our new baby lambs!

This is us too. We do school at the dining room table & our dining room has been *completely* taken over. I have three bookshelves along the dining room wall, and my (big) wine rack has become a makeshift storage cabinet. I also have an office with my desk & floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, plus floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in the family room & living room, and more bookshelves in our bedroom, the kids' rooms, etc. The bookshelves contain mostly books, though also some of those clear plastic shoe boxes from the Container Store, which I use for practically everything (math manipulatives, colored pencils, chalk, etc.). I also have a large LL Bean Boat & Tote Bag that I keep my teaching notes in, as well as any books that I am currently using - this is helpful because it's portable & can go anywhere.

These were my reasons as well!

Ours is up finally - the link is below...

We've been using Earthschooling too ~ off & on for the past year. I usually combine elements of the Earthschooling curriculum with our other work, but I do love it! Edited to Add: No, I have not used the new website - it's been a month or two since I've used the curriculum & foolishly hadn't paid any attention to the e-mails, I'm off to investigate now! :)

We have limited wall space also, so I often have room for only 1 or maybe 2 carefully chosen posters, which I change periodically. What I've been doing recently is using more small framed prints (Ikea frames are inexpensive & perfect for this) & 8" x 10" mini posters from Pomegranate.com. Many months ago, I read something lovely about the importance of using art to decorate school room walls in an old public domain text on Google books, but couldn't find it just now to post here. It does add a lot of cheeriness though. :)

Yep, I've been to a couple of concerts in the SF Bay Area, years ago & am still a huge fan. Who are you? Kristine Where are you? KS (formerly of No CA) How are you? Stressed, but glad it's almost the weekend!

Real Learning, Education in the Heart of the Home by Elizabeth Foss is *very* inspiring.

19.95 is the basic monthly fee for U.S. records & 29.95/month for International records. I spent a few obsessed days getting started on the site & was able to turn up quite a bit. I've found that it helps to have a second window w/Google open to research & verify info because it's fairly easy to get led astray by some of the "hints."

Congratulations! How was the class, did you enjoy it? I've been thinking about going through the program when it starts back up in the fall. This, unfortunately, has been my week as well. I've still been having a beastly migraine (despite surgery to prevent them 3 weeks ago) & then somehow injured a tendon in my shoulder while gardening on Monday, so have been too well-medicated & oh-so-sleepy all week. Naps have become a daily occurrence, which I hate because I have too much to do!

We have the same problem - I could easily dust every other day (and really, I ought to, our house gets SO dusty SO fast). We keep our windows shut, vaccum daily & change our air filters regularly, but still the dust is horrible. I used to think it was because we live out in the country, but we're off of a paved road - not even a dirt road. I don't really have any suggestions, but just wanted to empathize!