I'm not the one whose blog you're looking for--I only have one child. But I do regularly read a blog, To Sow A Seed, that is written by a mom with eight kids (7 of whom live with her; the other is in Nepal awaiting the family's arrival) ranging in age from 18 months to 17 years. On her old blog, she talked a good bit about homeschooling, but since she switched blogs, she doesn't talk about the nitty gritty of schooling so much anymore. She blogs at http://www.tosowaseed.net/

Any evidence he's changed? If so, I'd agree to meet in a very public place (busy park, coffee shop, something like that), and bring my husband. If no evidence of change, well ... we could meet in the lobby of the police station ... But if you are uncomfortable with it and don't want to meet him again (I can see where that could be traumatic), I don't see any reason why you couldn't say that you're uncomfortable coming face to face with him again right now and would prefer that communication be over email or through letters. If I wasn't comfortable meeting him, I wouldn't want him having any access to my Facebook information. I'd lock it all down so he couldn't see so much as a picture, other than the profile and cover pics, which are public. I'm curious, is there a reason you broached the subject of an apology? I would assume that it wouldn't happen unless there already was evidence of change, and even then,I doubt I would bring it up unless he'd already indicated he was looking for a chance to apologize.

Ten days? You're very nice. I would have allowed at most a 24-hour hold, if not said, "First person to offer payment gets the goods." The next in line may have already purchased from someone else by now! (Disclaimer: I haven't sold curriculum; I'm just getting started with this. But I do regularly sell/give away large amounts of stuff, every 2-3 years before a move. They go to the first person who tells me a day and time when they'll be by to pick them up.)

We're told to wash the walls before we vacate housing at each post ... I don't do it. I've tried washing off small spots here and there, but the paint always goes with it, even if I just use water, so washing the walls would make it look a LOT worse than just leaving it alone. I do like the Swiffer idea, though--I'll try that before we leave this house next year.

Bolded part--totally true! Even though I am most decidedly left handed, what limited athletic ability I have is all right handed, because my PE teachers were all right handed and taught me to do things that way. I actually can't use left handed scissors, because I can't cut with my left hand, only with my right, again because that's the way my teachers taught me. I use a right handed can opener. It also has never occurred to me to use a left handed configuration for the computer--I assume you just mean putting the mouse on the left side of the keyboard? They were always set up for righties, so that's how I learned to do it. Though when I was required to get used to those touch mouse pads on some laptops, I naturally used my left hand. I also wear my watch on my left wrist, despite being told as an adult that as a lefty, I'm "supposed" to wear it on my right. It just feels wrong over there. Many lefties are (or were, back in my day, anyway) forced into being semi-ambidextrous, just because of the way we're taught to do things. I actually encourage you to deliberately teach your son to be ambidextrous in some ways--right handed scissors are ubiquitous, but left handed ones may not always be available, for example. And of course in a computer lab or with other public computers, the mouse always will be on the right side of the computer. So teach him to do things well with his left hand, but don't adapt your home environment so much that he doesn't learn how to manage when he has to use a pair of right handed scissors or a mouse with his right hand.

I could have sworn the website I looked at said it was only the voter rolls ... but it was for federal courts, not state. Maybe it's different in SC with federal v. state court. I don't think I've ever been called for jury duty on a state court.

Maybe it's different in different states? South Carolina, the state that keeps calling me, uses the voter rolls. Is your husband even eligible to serve on a jury? I thought you had to be a citizen ... :confused1:

They use the voter registration lists. I've been told to report for jury duty once, but it turns out that my previous state still had me registered to vote. I was not required or even permitted to serve on a jury in that state, since I no longer live there. A few years later, I'm STILL trying to get myself off their voter registration rolls ... just a few days ago, I received a questionnaire I was required to fill out and send back, for jury duty, in a state where I haven't lived since 2006 ... I still can't figure out how to get off their voter rolls, even though I'm registered in a different state and actually living in a different country!

Interesting! I was never taught any of that, at least not explicitly that I recall, but it is the way I write now. And come to think of it, I rarely find ink smears on my hand now like I *always* did as a teenager ... apparently I adapted on my own without realizing what I was doing.

I am a lefty. I can't be certain, but I believe that I write with the same strokes as a right-handed person. Just keep in mind that small things that you'll do automaticallly--like tilting the paper a certain direction when you start teaching cursive--will need to be reversed. And if you ever figure out how to teach him to write in pen without smudging the ink and getting it all over the side of his hand, please let me know ...

I'm so sorry. I have a friend who has gone, and is going, through a similar experience. I have no words of advice other than to pray, then pray some more, for wisdom and peace. I will be praying for you, your husband, and your children.

My daughter will turn 4 next month. I taught her correct crayon group four weeks ago when we started the Handwriting Without Tears PreK workbook. She picked up the grip pretty easily, even though she's a righty being taught by a lefty. Now when we do school,I require her to hold her crayon correctly. When she's coloring just for fun, I will occasionally say, "can you hold your crayon correctly, please?", but I don't force the issue. I also remind her to be careful to stay in the lines, with much more emphasis on that when doing school work than when playing. I have not yet applied that to silverware ... I guess I probably should, but honestly I'm inclined to let it go for a few more months. One thing at a time.

chicken + barbecue sauce + 4-5 hours on high OR 6-7 hours on low. For it to really feel authentic, shred the chicken with a couple of forks after it cooks, then stir it all up to get a nice saucy chicken bbq. Easy peasy and delicious! I haven't tried freezing it, but I bet it would do just fine. And it can be as healthy or not as you like, depending on what sauce you use--for convenience, any store bought one will work (I love Sweet Baby Ray's or Sticky Fingers Carolina Sweet), or you can make your own sauce to put over it, using your favorite healthy recipe found via the wonders of Google :) Funny, that's exactly what's cooking away in my slow cooker right now, as I realized that I'd forgotten to thaw any meat for dinner and had no energy to do anything requiring anything that resembled real work ... ;)

snack size boxes of raisins?

Every family has has the right to choose how to feed their babies--mom and dad should agree, but no one else's opinion matters. You have nothing to feel guilty about. Your older daughters were formula-fed, so you have evidence right in front of you that formula does not automatically result in unhealthy or unhappy children. However, since you are so conflicted, you may want to consider a compromise solution: pump twice a day, or three times, or however many times you decide is best. Feed your daughter breastmilk when you have it pumped already and formula when the milk isn't available. Your daughter will get most of the benefits of nursing, any negativity that is caused for you will be directed at the pump, and whenever you decide you're done (or your body decides you are done, as your supply most likely will decrease and eventually end) you can simply put the pump away. I did something similar to that, though not by choice--my daughter never latched properly, and I never had much supply. I ended up pumping for six months and bottle feeding her a combination of milk and formula. It was difficult for me to pump so long because I was pumping after every feeding, trying to increase my supply, but if you just set times and pump then and only then, it should be less disruptive to your routine, though I would assume it may be emotionally difficult. Only you and your husband can decide if it's worth it. In any case, you should not in any way feel ashamed or guilty for choosing to formula feed.

Does anyone have any experience learning modern Greek with any of these do-it-yourself programs? We'll be moving to Greece next year, and I'd like to go in knowing at least conversational Greek. I'm hoping for lessons from a native speaker once we arrive, but I can't count on that. My learning style: I pick up on pronunciation easily, but only if it's VERY clearly pronounced--I have a hard time sometimes understanding people over the phone, for example; if it's clearly pronounced, I can replicate it, though, especially if I also can see it written to catch those subtle differences (like "p" and "b"). I need to drill vocabulary or I won't remember it (though I'll still be able to pronounce it perfectly when I see or hear it again). If the program I use doesn't drill vocabulary, that's ok, but at the least I need to be able to see the written words (and be taught the Greek alphabet) so that I can make flash cards and drill myself. I do want to learn grammar, though I'll be happy enough if I can just make myself understood at first. I would appreciate any recommendations you can give me!

I would have a hard time letting it go without any consequences *to him* for blowing off the test. But that's because I feel very strongly that, even if I disagree with having to give him _this_ test at _this_ time, the concept of "testing as important" is something he needs to understand. If he does something like this when it counts--on the SAT when trying to get into colleges, for example--it will have serious real world consequences for him. So I tend to be of the opinion that he needs to learn to take it seriously from the start. So I would make sure there are consequences to your son, whatever you decide to do about the results you send in. You said he's always done fine on these tests before, so I'm assuming that he is capable of doing what was asked of him but decided he was bored and he wasn't going to do it. If that isn't the case, and you believe that the structure of the test is the problem, then I'd look into giving him another or similar test with whatever accommodations he is entitled to under the rules of the test. If he has the capacity to do what was asked of him but chose not to, I would have a serious chat with him about the importance of always doing his best work, whether he's bored or not. Then I'd make him redo it and explain that if he'd done his best work the first time, he would not have had to be bored through it twice. I'd have to look into the rules of that specific test, and the consequences to our homeschool if he flunks it, to determine which set of scores to send in, but he would do the test again as the natural consequence of blowing it off the first time.

I would look at each book individually and ask myself a question or two. Why do I love this book? Is it the story? The illustrations? The memory of sitting with this book in my hand and enjoying it so much? For me, personally, most of the time, it's the words. I don't care if it's the same physical book I read as a child, or if it has the same illustrations, or even if it's in a completely different format--it's the story itself that matters to me. So I see if it's available on Kindle, and if it is, I buy the digital copy and sell/donate the hard copy. If I did love that copy for some reason, I'd keep it. But I'd have a specific area designated for those "nostalgia books," and if it got full, I'd have to pare down more. We move too often and tend to have too small a house to keep around a bunch of nostalgia items that don't currently serve a useful purpose. (If I read it regularly now, it wouldn't have to go in the nostalgia section; it could go with my other books--but there's a limit on those as well; space is limited and books are heavy ... when we move, we have weight limits on what we can ship, so the weight matters as much to me as the space it takes up.) I'd also consider exactly what I intend to do with this book--am I saving it for someone who I know will love it and just isn't old enough yet? I'll make an effort to keep it until that person can appreciate it. Am I saving it for a hypothetical someone who doesn't exist yet and who may not ever exist and who if he or she does come to exist may or may not love it? In that case, I need to recognize that I'm really saving it for myself, not for this hypothetical someone, even if I would love to pass it down one day, and make my judgment based on my needs and desires, not on the potential desires of some person who doesn't exist yet. If I was stable and stationary, in a large house with little likelihood of moving again soon, I'd love to have a room that was a dedicated library, populated with books I loved and wanted to pass down or loan out. (I do my own reading on the Kindle; the light weight and not having to damage the spine of a book to keep it open enough to read it easily, for me, outweigh the tactile pleasure of paper in my hands.) But most of us don't have that luxury, and I've learned to be pretty brutal about what I get rid of ... at least of my own stuff. I'm having a much harder time deciding which of my daughter's former favorite toys to get rid of ...

I have no local support group--I know exactly 2 other homeschooling families in my city, and they use very different matierals: one exclusively Sonlight, the other exclusively PACE workbooks. I'm the only one of us who is actively searching out information about different methodologies, philosophies, and curricula. My support comes mostly from two forums: WTM and Sonlight.

1) Answered 2) I chose Charlotte Mason, but that's because the boxed curriculum I've used for preschool and PreK seem to fit best in that philosophy, so it's what I've used so far. It is not necessarily what I intend to do going forward, as I plan to change curriculums for K. I'm not sure yet what I'm switching to or what philosophy(ies) will most influence me. I wouldn't be surprised if I turn out eclectic, as I'm definitely drawn toward classical a la TWTM but also kind of like CM, from what I've seen of it. And I agree with others who stated that a couple of what you listed are philosophies, but the others are methods that can fit with various philosophies. 3) I chose Other as a substitute for "all or most of the above." Real books, workbooks, videos, games for now, probably with the addition of textbooks in a year or so.

http://smile.amazon.com/AT-A-GLANCE-2014-2015-Appointment-Wirebound-70-957-05/dp/B00HN7RH0O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1402414462&sr=8-2&keywords=week+at+a+glance+daily+planner I'm pretty sure this is the one I used to use when my days were full of appointments ranging from 20 minutes to 2 hours, with transit time in between ... at that time, at least, it was available in a full size (easier to see, more space for writing) and in a smaller size that fit easily into the outside pocket of my work bag or a backpack. I loved it so much I continued to buy it and pay for it myself even after my employer started giving us free ones that did not work as well for me ... and after seeing mine, several of my colleagues bought their own as well.

If I'm having guests whom I know enjoy something that is not morally objectionable, and it would be reasonable for me to have it available (not too expensive, easy to find, etc), I try to have it on hand for them. So I would go out before they arrived and by a small box of coffee--if they drank it all,I would not feel obliged to buy more, but I would have a reasonable amount on hand to get them through their visit. But, then ... my mil always buys regular coffee when we visit her, even though she drinks decaf, and my mom buys creamer before I come, even though she doesn't use it. And I make sure to have some wine available when my mil visits, even though I don't drink it often and usually don't keep it on hand, because I know she enjoys a glass each evening. Now if you didn't have it because you couldn't afford it, or because you objected to it morally (like LDS families), then I wouldn't buy it just for them ... though I do know one LDS woman who borrowed a coffee pot, bought coffee, and learned how to make it in anticipation of holding a social event at her house. I viewed her efforts as above and beyond. I view it as part of being a good hostess, though I wouldn't go overboard with it. And if you choose not to have it available,I would mention it to them ahead of time so they can bring their own if needed (I get headaches if I don't have the caffeine every morning), and in that case I would not drink theirs.

We still have some time to work on this, but our top choices (from all the groups) are Dhahran, Cairo, Istanbul, Tel Aviv, Rome, Taipei, and Tokyo. I don't know anything about Dhahran. You know my thoughts on Cairo--I'd love to go back, but I wouldn't do it at this time, and not just for the security reasons (though I guess my reasons are due to effects of the security concerns, so I guess it is because of that). I would LOVE to go to Istanbul, Tel Aviv, or Rome, though I'd probably do some research on security issues in Tel Aviv before committing to that--but I'm sure I'd decide it was cool enough to go anyway :) . Taipei and Tokyo wold be very interesting, but ... after one tour in that part of the world, all I can think of is the flights to and from the US ... maybe Tokyo would be enough to make me consider it, but honestly, I want a few more years off from those flights!

If the situation is such that there could be some independence/freedom for your older boys without causing too much concern for you, I'd be more likely to consider those locations--especially since you obviously have a love of the language and the people who speak it, and you seem pretty eager to go to that area. But, really, group 2 options sound great too. I'd probably look at them on a location-by-location basis and consider the specific tradeoffs of each city ... which I assume you're doing but grouping them for public consumption at this point :)

You mean how long were we in the museum? ... I have no idea. It was so long ago. I don't recall how long the mission lasted either, probably no more than an hour and possibly as short as half an hour. Or, you mean how long were we in DC? ... We lived just outside DC for 2 years. I worked downtown and so was there almost every workday, but we only did tourist stuff with family when they visited right before we moved overseas.