I will look more closely into teaching classes/tutoring from home. It wouldn't be enough to replace my income by any means but it is a logical first step. I will also give some consideration about offering camps. If I had a bigger home and yard it would be more feasible so maybe down the road. Thank you for so many ideas and just general care to even respond! As to my son not wanting to go out at recess... nothing happened. I work literally right next door to his classroom and I know all the teachers and staff very well. There are supervisors on the playground. He just would rather come in and sit with me or follow me around instead of going out with his friends. His only complaint is that he doesn't like what everyone plays out there. Whatever that means. I make him go out at lunch recess at least. It is hard for him because he sees me all day long but has very little actual access to me so that is like a small kind of torture for him. I am very thankful that my kids talk to me and don't shut me out. We've had many long talks and they have confided in me things they've done that they know we wouldn't be proud of too, as well as struggles they are having in school. Communication is strong so for that I am very grateful. My husband and I talked for a long time Thursday night. We are praying and looking at options but we also do not want to go back to scraping by and wondering if we had enough for that month....let alone ever go out for anything fun or buy what we need when we need it. Those were some very lean years...but good years too. Thanks all for the input.

I use it in my first grade classroom some, though not as much as I'd like. The few lessons we've done in math have been a big hit. Wish I could be more helpful.

That is a possibility. We live four blocks south of the elementary school and could even walk to get them. I couldn't make that much around here for an "off track" week. I'd be lucky to make $100 per kid. But I am not actually sure what "off track" means as that is a new term to me but I assume you mean vacation days, yes?

My husband works in a manufacturing facility. His schedule isn't flexible. Although there is rumor that some jobs within company will be open soon that they hope to fill in house and my husband is thinking of applying so that he could get a raise but it would require him to go on a permanent 2nd shift which makes me want the kids home even more because otherwise he'll only see them on the weekends.... He's also a fitness coach and had hoped that his income would offset what I make but after nearly 9 months it is still a very fledgling venture and not reliable. I've considered the homebound instruction/tutoring aspect. We live in a small district so not sure how busy I'd be but I need to figure out how to tactfully look into this because my school district doesn't know I am pursuing this avenue and they've hinted at wanting to keep me around. It really isn't the school staff that is the issue at hand and I don't want any hard or hurt feelings. They know we homeschooled before and have been very welcoming to me and my family and said really positive things about homeschooling because of how successful my kids are in PS.

I'll try to keep this short. We homeschooled from the beginning until last year when we put both kids in PS (daughter went into 3rd grade and son went into Kindergarten-though he had already had a year of K at home.) I subbed in the school district and for the most part the year went well. Fast forward to this year. I was called by the district to do a long term sub for a sick teacher at the beginning of the year and looks like I'll be finishing the year out for her. My kids are now fourth and first. My son is in the classroom right next to me. For some reason, that I can't put my finger on.. this year has been SO much harder for them. They are both begging to come home, though my son is more vocal about it on a consistent basis. My daughter is dealing with some mild drama and has been the recipient of bullying though that did subside after the first few months. My son does not want to go out on the playground and does not seem to like school all that much anymore. Now my kids are not socially backward in anyway and very outgoing so their reaction to school this year is baffling to me. I'd pull them out in a heartbeat but... We need the money. Not a matter of want but actually need...as in we can't pay all the bills if I don't work. When I homeschooled before I did day care but I was about to lose my mind trying to watch little ones and homeschool and I knew it would only get harder. I am making REALLY good money right now and it is hard to think of losing that income. But we don't want our kids in PS long term anyway. Don't even get me started on Common Core. I am looking up every option I can think of and praying for options to appear that I haven't thought of to allow me to work and homeschool them again. We went around the table on New Year's Eve and each answered the question "What do you hope for 2014?" and both kids immediately said "We hope we can be homeschooled in the fall." :( I am not really asking for ideas so much as prayer for those so inclined that we could bring them back home sooner rather than later because this is breaking my heart a thousand times over. (If you do have any ideas though I wouldn't turn them down. Haha!)

beaners I am not offended. I live in a very small town with only three fast food places. Also, my husband works an off shift so I have to be around for the kids in the morning and to get them to bed at a decent time. All factors that make it difficult but not impossible. I have considered pretty much anything but I really wanted flexibility if possible. Sittercity.com.... thanks! I will check it out!

So about tutoring on my own...how does one go about starting that? How do you advertise?

Thanks. Yeah I wondered if the pay would even be worth the commute. I do have a teaching degree...taught in an elementary school and currently substitute teach from K-12th grade. I have the credentials.... just wasn't sure it would be worth my time to look into it, esp with the cost of gas.

Currently our kids are in PS. I'd like to bring them back home but I must work. I used to run a day care and homeschool but I no longer want to do that as I always felt pulled in too many directions during school time...hence why the kids are in PS this year. I am trying to come up with job options that are legitimate to help me bring in an income but flexible to work with homeschooling. Do any of you tutor through Sylvan and homeschool? Is it hard to balance? The closest center is about 40 minutes from me, so I'd be commuting which might negate the income I'd bring in anyway. What is the pay like? Any info at all would be appreciated.

No one within two generations on either side of my family or my husband's family are left handed....yet both of our kids are dominant left handed since birth. As in, from the time they could begin to grab for things as a baby, they reached with their left hands. My husband's family really pressured us to make our eldest a right hander and we fought them on it. They would force her to use her right hand for things when we weren't around. Needless to say we nipped that in the bud quickly. Neither had a traumatic birth, both are quite intelligent, and are perfectly normal children. I know this is a right handed world but my kids know nothing else so they are adapting just fine thus far. I have never understood forcing hand dominance in a child. My dad was right handed but broke his right hand in Kindergarten and learned how to write with his left during the critical "how to write your letters stage" and to this day he prefers writing left handed but he does everything else right handed. So he truly isn't a left hander.

Having homeschooled every year prior to this year and this year having my kids in public school, let me offer you some encouragement and advice. First if your husband is completely opposed to PS then it isn't an option so dwelling on it only breeds seeds of doubt or discontent. That is unhealthy, though completely normal sometimes.... just ask me. I am great at fixating on the "what ifs." Best advice I can give is to keep lines of communication open with your son. Find out what he likes and wants and if there are areas he needs more then you, your husband, and your son can sit down to realistically decide what to do about that. Also, I sub in the public schools currently from K through high school. I used to teach in public schools about a decade ago.... there are good and bad to both homeschooling and public school. I have literally seen it all. Try to focus on the good you are offering your son in homeschooling and not any perceived drawbacks. My kids thrived at home and are thriving at school...just for different reasons. There is plenty of bad about public school but there is good too. I choose to focus on that for this season of our lives knowing they are learning some valuable life lessons and that hopefully we'll be able to return to homeschooling some day.

If you had only $2-3,000 to plan a romantic getaway for an entire week for you and your spouse...what would you do? Where would you go if the criteria was to be somewhere close to the ocean, warm, lots of activities to choose from, privacy... etc. Trying to plan a getaway and I need inspiration! We are on a budget but determined to do something...just us...this next year. Thanks!!

I know this topic has been covered by others ad nauseum... but please bear with me. This year financially we had to put our kids in PS for the first time. I had to work. Up until that point I had done day care and homeschooled and for me I had reached a point I just could not do both effectively. So instead I am now subbing in the district my kids are in school in plus another school district nearby. I am subbing just about every day. The thing is that I want to pull my kids out. We've agreed to have them finish the school year but I need other options for next year. There are several reasons but after only two months of subbing.... well I have grown increasingly uncomfortable with what they are teaching the kids, not to mention the complete lack of respect from kids as they age. So many influences I knew existed but the longer they are exposed the more I don't like it. My daughter is already caught up with writing notes with a boy and flirting back and forth and she is in third grade and that is NOT how we've raised her. And my son has turned into this mean-spirited boy who picks on everyone and whines about everything. There are aspects of PS that I like. I love their teachers and I know they work harder for someone else than they do for me. I like the access to extra-curriculars and to the arts (something I was not very consistent at) and learning in a co-operative environment.... so ideally I'd love a private school but the closest one if 45 minutes away and ridiculously expensive. Help me think about how/if it is possible to bring them home next year knowing that I must work. It is not a matter of wanting to... if I don't, we literally do not eat for the month. That is not an exaggeration. I cannot and will not go back to day care. Those were some of my most depressing years and I feel so free away from it and my home feels like home now and not a job. So what other options would there be? Missing homeschooling so much right now.

"Grief is not a disorder, a disease or a sign of weakness. It is an emotional, physical and spiritual necessity, the price you pay for love. The only cure for grief is to grieve." - Earl Grollman Grieve the loss of your little one....surrounded by those who love you and the little one you lost. :grouphug:

I am also curious about this aspect of it. Usually a lanyard has a student's ID card right? Does this creep now have personal info about your daughter??