Awesome! Thanks so much!

I think my dd is probably a little young for this yet, but I'd like to watch to get a feel for it. Is it only on CNN or is there a version on YouTube or something to watch it through the Chromecast? This might be a really dumb question, I'm not very tech-savvy.

Good morning everyone! Never made it here to post yesterday but we got a big math block done, some reading and lots of outdoor play since the rest of the week is supposed to be rainy. Today: -start pork roast in crock pot (done) -2 loads laundry (in progress) -school lessons focusing on a LA block today plus a regular math lesson -post office -drop off recycling -library trip for desk pick up only -evening activities

I was so glad to wake up this morning and see some suggestions! I am forwarding these to her. Thanks one-step and Elizabeth B! Arcadia, good to hear from someone with firsthand experience, thanks. :)

Yes! My kids have been super hyper today. Dd was cackling at the top of her lungs over everything. Really, everything was hilarious for some reason. After dinner, ds took to running at top speed through the house. Living room, dining room, kitchen, back through the living room, down the hall, in and out of all bedrooms and bathrooms over and over and over and over. They asked for root beer floats for a bedtime treat and dh and I both said no way!

Asking for a friend... 8th grade, always homeschooled, dd has trouble with reading comprehension. She reads fluently but can't explain what she's just read. Mom has waited it out but now with high school looming, she's looking for something to help. Looking for something inexpensive if possible. Format doesn't matter. Lots of both real books and tech in this family. Open and go, easy to implement for a working mom of many. Any suggestions? Thanks, hive!

Pretty good day so far. I am almost always rocking the baby to sleep when I post so today is running a little late. He just wasn't ready for a nap earlier. Kinda stinks because my stomach is growling for lunch and I know the big kids will be tapping on the door to the baby's room soon, asking for lunch. Oh, well. We got a nice big math block done and a good chunck of Language Arts, too. Still need to do spelling but it shouldn't take long after lunch. Dd has done her independent reading and some piano exercises. No science today. Saving it for tomorrow and this weekend when the weather is nice. I'd like to do some history reading. I feel like we are behind but I am trying to let go of the schedule and just go with an exposure mindset but, man, its hard!!

Thanks! I'll check it out.

Stefanie- glad you are OK, what a close call! Mama25- sorry to hear about your friend. If I buy impulsively or to comfort myself, it's usually one of 3 categories: chocolate, office supplies, or cookbooks. Soror- my dd is loving TumTum and Nutmeg! I watched Maze Runner with dh Monday night instead of planning and we are out all night on Tuesdays so I still haven't adjusted dd's math or planned our container garden science. I might just wing it. Baby is teething again so all we did was reading, math and science yesterday. Cards may or may not get done today. I'm in the mood to bake cookies this afternoon and I'm sure dd could be swayed to move card making back another day for cookies. ;) Slow going so far today only reading and science are done. I'm rocking baby for his morning nap now while the big kids play. Then we'll tackle spelling, grammar, math, and history reading. Piano after baby wakes up. A preK activity for ds usually gets done while dd is working through her math pages after instruction. As usual, I'll let him choose whatever he wants. Lately it's been the opposites game. I do hope he picks something different today. It's cold and windy here through tomorrow but Friday should be nice so I think we'll shop for gardening supplies then.

My dd will be in 3rd grade this fall. My plans are still pretty loose. Reading- lots of good books. I have How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare in my Amazon cart, so we'll see if anything comes of that. Language Arts- dd's least favorite subject. Lots of push-back and whining on this so this current school year, I have slowly started rotating in a bunch of different things to check off the boxes and alleviate the boredom without doubling up on anything. We will keep doing this for 3rd grade, as long as its working with a hodge podge of Language Lessons for Today Grade 3, Spelling Workout C (extremely tailored), some Bravewriter elements and EIW Level 3 for when we are totally butting heads and I really need to take myself out of the language arts battle for a while. Math- Math Mammoth Grade 3 plus mom-made personal finance, math games and real world math activities at least once per week. Social Studies- American History year 2. Going rogue and not using a curriculum this year!!! Should be interesting... Science- Earth and Space using... I really want to go without a curriculum here too but I also would like to try RSO. I might wait a year or 2 on that. Can't decide. Plus, dd keeps a nature journal, we are doing some container gardening this year, we visit nature centers, state and national parks regularly, and dd wants to do a butterfly kit. So maybe this isn't a good year for curriculum, sounds like we are going interest-led! The above is what my state requires and what I must document through the year. So for my own sanity, that is all I plan in advance. Art, bible, character development, foreign language, and other electives are folded into our days more organically. DD does take piano lessons and will continue to do so. We stay pretty active as a family and dh loves to teach her the rules of organized/ team sports. I'm pretty pleased with all of the extras. The only thing I am missing (I think) is cursive. I want secular cursive instruction that teaches connections right away and not just in alphabet order. I need to go back in this thread and check out some of the suggestions.

Today has been decent. Laundry is still moving along, table and counters have stayed tidy, dishes going into dishwasher as we use them. Dd did good with all our reading. Math was not so good but we got through it. I need to come up with a plan tonight to help her improve in that department. History done and science, which I wasn't going to require since we had to double up on math. She wanted to do it though, so who am I to stand in the way? Tonight, other than math planning, I think I'll plan a little something for gardening. Where we live, we really should start seeds mid-February so we are already a little behind. I'd like to take them to the store Wednesday or Thursday to grab our garden puurchases and get the seeds started the next day. Tomorrow: Reading LLT and SW lessons Math History reading Science- eh, maybe, maybe not Piano practice Make homemade cards (dd's request)

Good morning all! I love reading everyone's garden plans. Means spring is on the way! We do not have a big enough yard here for a garden. That is one thing I miss about our old house- the huge yard. Still, I want to do some container gardening with the kids so we can count it as science. We had a great weekend. The weather was beautiful so the kids were outside all weekend, leaving me be to get lots of cleaning and organizing done. Dh took care of the baby unless I had to nurse him, which was a huge help. I wouldn't have gotten done half of what I did otherwise. The living room, kitchen, dining, my bath, my bedroom, and baby's room are all ship shape now. I am hoping I can keep the momentum going the week and tackle the school room, kids' room, kids' bath, and the garage. Today, my morning chores are done, laundry is rolling and the kids are wrapping up their morning chores. So we should be starting lessons on time today! On the list for today: lots of reading aloud by both me and DD. Tumtum and Nutmeg, The Little Princess, Dear America Diary, and I forget which Ronald Dahl book she wanted to start this week. Also doubling up on math. We'll do a lesson this morning and one right after lunch because Friday got derailed a little bit and we have to stay on track if she wants a summer break. Have a great day!

Congratulations to you and yay for all of us!

Sounds like everyone is having a pretty good week! Mama25- congratulations on 95 days and counting. I need to count up our days. A little 100th day celebration would be fun for the kids. With dd's surgery last fall, we may not hit 100 days til April! Ha! I didn't post yesterday. We got through all our school lessons and I was in the mood for planning! (finally) So I got a solid start by mapping out my goals for the year and what I want our days to look like. Then individual subject goals. Now the nitty gritty of what to actually DO for each subject. I started with reading last night but didn't get very far. Still, I'm happy with what I got done and still feel motivated to keep making progress.

Dh has been stopped at 2 checkpoints in the 12 years I've known him. The night I finally drove into a checkpoint was the day we closed on our house and dd had an accident requiring surgery. I was dropping ds off at Grandma's for the night and I was stressed to the max. I had to get out and get my license out of the cargo area because I tossed my purse in there with ds's bag. I was so flustered and embarrassed at all the random junk in the car from moving. Uggh. Not good. All the officers were super nice though. I think they could tell I was on the brink of a Mommy meltdown. :D

Well, my day was derailed by dh having some crazy eye issue. He couldn't open his eye at all, the pain was so bad, it was making him nauseous. We were up most of the night. I had to haul the kids with us and drive him to the doctor this morning. He immediately sent us to a specialist. Drops every hour today, every 2 hours for 2 days. No work. Bummer! Poor dh! We just wrapped up a late lunch and dd is starting math. So we should have some productivity this afternoon. I did read aloud some history while we were waiting for dh at his appointments.

I'm in a dinner rut, myself. I am also trying to stretch the pantry and not shop til Friday. So we're having... drumroll... something with eggs!!!! I'll decide what later. These posts are giving me ideas for next week, though. :)

My 2nd k student starts this fall! Reading- will start with 100 Easy Lessons since I have it. I'm willing to try something new if this doesn't work for him. Handwriting- StartWrite and lots of building fine motor skills/ dexterity through activities. Math- Saxon 1 because I already have it but, again, I'm willing to switch to something else if he doesn't do well with that style. Social Studies- library books and free activities to teach about community, basic geography, major figures in American history, the President, etc. Science- similar method to social studies but I may get something from Guesthollow. Undecided on that. Everything else (Bible, character development, art, music, physical activity, healthy choices, personal finance, etc.) is just part of our lifestyle with or without homeschool.

Yes, I submitted a question on the contact page. I get all my updates and information emails from Kristina Britt. I believe she is also the person I spoke with last year when there was a glitch with my purchase on my end. She was super helpful and went above and beyond to help fix the situation. Not directly related to the questions here but I plug great customer service every chance I get, since its rarely seen these days. :)

Critter- you sound like my dh! He tells clients that ask for the moon that they can have 2 out of 3. Fast and cheap but it won't look good. Good and cheap but it won't be done fast or fast and good but it won't be cheap! Ha! Sahamamama- your post was so sweet! You're right. I am going to miss this stage when its over so I need to soak it up now. I like your layout for the day. Kind of flipping things around. I might try that. Here's my new thing I'm trying to figure out. A fellow hs friend of mine told me about an awesome new exhibit at the discovery center an hour from here that relates to dd's science. It's $$. I said I'll have to stash my cash for a while before we can go. She said "we went for free on [mutual hs friend's] season pass. She's eager to take friends along to justify her purchase." This would be so great!!! How in the world do I get us an invitation without coming off like I'm looking for a handout or some equally obnoxious thing this mutual friend might think? Well time for lunch here. Have a great day, everyone!

I got 2 levels on Black Friday for half price. They were scratch and dent and they are stamped "final sale." Sign up for their emails and they will send you links to those deals when they happen. I've never seen sales like that advertised on their website.

Soror- I am sure I will still have to remind. Maybe just a little less. ;) I'll have to see if our library has that book. Critter- I like your long quarter in the summer to allow for a shorter week. I know for sure our summer schedule will be different from the rest of the year. We love to swim and hike and take weekend trips during the summer. Thanks for sharing your schedule. Today, not looking at the clock proved helpful. We did breakfast and morning chores. I got the laundry going and folded a basket full while dd did math right next to me on the school room floor. The baby was fussy so we brought him upstairs to crawl around in his room and play with his toys. I folded 2 loads of his clean laundry and put everything away right there in his room while dd and I did grammar, dictation and spelling. Ds brought a counting game for us to play for pre-k then I made a nice lunch and we did another quick clean-up. I wrote a checklist on a dry erase board in the school room for dd to do her science and history reading independently, 30 minutes on an educational app, put away the laundry I folded earlier during the math lesson and tidy their bathroom. She did all of that while I put the baby down for a nap and did some bill paying and email catch up. Ds tagged along with her and played with his toys some too. We discussed what she read for science and history while I got some kitchen cleaning done and now she is practicing piano. I still haven't conquered the dinner front. I was so busy party planning on Friday, that I didn't do my regular grocery shopping. We've been eating out of the fridge quite well but I am running low on provisions now. I could concoct something but it won't be that great. Trying to decide if I should go for the concoction or run to the store. All in all, a good day. I felt much more balanced and felt like I was getting the priorities done both with schoolwork and housework. I guess it really does boil down to if you really want to make something happen, you just do it! I guess I finally got to that point.

From the last thread: Sahmama and soror- you are both right. The boys are still so little, it affects what I can get done in a day. The kids do pretty good with their chores, but I have to remind a lot. I'd like to do a checklist where they can check off their chores as they complete them. I did that with just a scrap of paper a few weeks ago when we were prepping for company and they loved it. I also need to use the slow cooker more, I am so tired when its time to start dinner, that its hard to be motivated to get it done. As for school work, I think I am going to switch to the popular year round schedule that gives us periodic week-long breaks. How long is a typical school stretch? 6 weeks? 8 weeks? Btw, dh doesn't mind at all. He was the one persuading me to homeschool in the first place. I just feel guilty because his job is very physical and I know he comes home hungry. Ok, now I am up-to-speed. Jean- your dd's project looks great! This week, I am shooting for routine. I'm going to do my best to not focus on the clock. Just do the next thing. And not plan too many things. We'll see how it goes.

I am realizing that the same thing always happens at the end of our best school days: dh comes home and we are sitting on the floor or on the couch surrounded by library books, notebooks and maps. The kitchen table is covered by projects or games, dinner isn't started and I didn't do any laundry or housework. It seems I can do one or the other (homeschool well or manage home well) but not both. I think the giant 10 month old that eats 3 squares a day plus still nurses around the clock has something to do with my time management issue. Still, I'd like to do a better job of getting the basics done each day rather than these wild swings from "all the housework!" to "all the schoolwork!" That said, today is "all the party planning!" I am co-hosting a party tomorrow and need to make pom-poms, a banner, wrap door prizes, and make food. Dd is doing math now, reading is done, and I am sure she'll read in her Dear America diary, practice piano and watch a science show without me even asking. She loves shows like Ocean Mysteries and Nature's Weirdest Events. I need to find more things like that for her. Wish me luck! Hosting makes me nervous!

That's it!!!! We are for sure taking a week off next February! With random days off here and there, we might as well have taken a week off and enjoyed a bigger chunk of time off without the guilt! Why didn't you guys tell me this is why you are all taking off? :D Slow moving this morning. Its freezing cold and I just want to huddle under a blanket and read. I sent the kids to their room and told them to set the timer on the tablet for 15 minutes and clean. Then 15 minutes to play, and so on. They did a good job and I got to drag my feet for the moning which of course, I am now regretting. Dd is doing science now. I am off to start some laundry, fix lunch and tackle the rest of our school work. So cute, I have to share: dd wrote a story yesterday complete with illustrations that included what happened "latr" and "latr r" and ended with her coming to tell me some shocking news while I was doing dishes. (I am always doing dishes in her stories... hmmm...) In the story I was so shocked, I broke all the dishes AND the sink, causing a huge flood in our house. :) Probably only funny to me since she's mine but nonetheless, there you go!