My husband gets head hunters contacting him almost daily because of his LinkedIn profile. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

THANK YOU for sharing this!!!!

We have Costco and it's worth it just for the gas prices. We also buy staples like milk, orange juice, flour and sugar there and they are well-priced. My husband is extremely frugal and Costco passes his frugality test, at least for the things we buy ;) I can see how it could get to be very expensive if you buy a lot of processed foods.

I bought Spanish for grades 1, 4 and 6 for this coming year. My first grader has gotten about 1/4 through the course and LOVES it, but I have not yet seen the more advanced courses. I do know Spanish, so I have been reinforcing what she learns in her lessons at other times during the day.

I agree that Shakeology is WAY overpriced. I do like BB workouts, though. I've used Vega One powder from Target and another from Walmart that I think has been discontinued ....

There are flash cards and games you can use with Quizlet. We used it with Prima Latina and it really helped.

My daughter did three years of a play-based preschool. She LOVED it. When the time came for kindergarten, we decided to homeschool. Halfway through the year, she decided she wanted to try the school down the street because she wanted to play with friends and ride the bus. That lasted two weeks. We lived too close for the bus and she hardly had any time to play with friends because the class was so highly structured. She's very happy homeschooling now. I consider her foray into public school a good experience because it showed her that homeschooling has many more benefits than she thought.

I am using Middlebury Online's Spanish for grades 1, 4 and 6 this year. They also have French, Chinese and German. I got a discount through Homeschool Buyer's Co-op.

My 4 yo just had a tonsillectomy and recovery was AWFUL. He has had much more complex surgeries and this one was the worst by far. The second week was worse than the first; it wasn't until after two weeks that he finally started sleeping more than an hour at a time and acting semi-normal. YMMV, but I wouldn't do it.

My boys started in ps, so keeping them in part-time was sort of a compromise on a number of fronts. For three years, we had them attend music, art and PE classes at their former elementary school. It was a good diversion for them and ensured they had exposure to those particular subjects that are more difficult for me to teach at home. It also gave them a chance to see friends. Over time, however, it became a scheduling nightmare because the class rotation was based on a four day schedule and whenever there would be a day off, the days of the week they would attend would change. So some weeks, it'd be MWF, other weeks, TTH. They were also only there for an hour each and sometimes one kid would go for an hour in the morning and another kid for an hour in the afternoon. We only live about 10 minutes from the school, but that ended up being more driving than I wanted to do 4x a day. The school was very agreeable to it and worked hard to accommodate us. When my oldest wanted to go to recess with his buddies while his brother was in class, it wasn't a problem at all. It's just the schedule thing that made it no longer feasible for us. My boys have also lost interest over time as they realize what a good thing they have going with homeschooling. They got tired of having to sit in the hall for other kids' bad behavior and missing 1/2 of PE. We won't be doing it this year. They both play sports all year-round and are busy with neighborhood kids and church activities, so we don't really need it socially -- it was just something fun to do.

You can now buy a schedule and lesson plans for Mystery Science if you use Homeschool Planet. http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/homeschool-planet-marketplace/mystery-science-lesson-plans.html

There are some Math Mammoth books available ...

I'm looking at it now; planning to grab a few lit guides to guide book discussions, rather than having my kids fill them out.

Not enough. I have a special needs kiddo who is having major sleep issues, so I haven't slept through a night in ... I can't remember how long. I probably get 6 hours of sleep, but it's broken up.

Did you do the placement test? That's usually the best way to know where to start.

Homeschool Planet syncs with Google. It's pricey, but it's awesome. I went for a free option last year and am thinking I'm going back to Homeschool Planet again this year. I need to make my life a little easier, and Homeschool Planet will help.

How old is your son? Prima Latina is very, very basic and is mostly vocab and not as much grammar. LFC is grammar-based.

As a parent of a child with a compromised immune system, please keep her home on the off-chance she is contagious. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This same thing has been happening to my husband and we are just as mystified! Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

We love Dreambox. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Dreambox subscription Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

We are joining a charter in MN this year that will give us $800 per child for curriculum and supplies, as well as extra-curricular activities. It's not as much as other states, but it's more than we've ever had and the financial help (x3 kids) will be nice. We have to turn in worksheets every 2 weeks that cover the state standards in math, LA, science and history. I've been told that they're not too onerous, so hopefully it'll be worth the money to us.

I am not familiar with the one you mention above, but I do want to recommend Christian Light Education math. It's very incremental and gentle. It also focuses on memorizing basic math facts and is inexpensive; you can purchase just one or two workbooks at a time to make sure that it works for you.

Public charters might be a solution for some. I know some states don't have them, but we have one in our state that I know of and it offers $800 per year per child in curriculum assistance. Yes, they require that the material they purchase be secular, but they don't prohibit you from religious materials obtained elsewhere.

The Hundred Dresses with my 6 yo daughter