Glad to here he has been released. Please take care of yourself - it will be awhile before he is 100 percent again. For my DH, it was four weeks after he was released before he was back to his full strength. Again, let me know if I can help at all. My prayers are with you and your family.

Last July, my DH was hospitalized with the exact same thing. He ended up being in the hospital for 5 days. The antibiotics ended up helping, but only after they could deliver them via PICC line. Please take care of yourself - let me know if I can help at all. (((Hugs and Prayers)))

Honestly I am not sure. My dream was having curriculum for the year, LOL. I am also piecing together things for our older ones: 7th, 9th, and 10th grades. The youngest was the one I had the least for. I am still lacking in higher math, science, and literature/English. I was hoping to get more from the library on these topics. My dream would be to have these in an organized program rather than having a different library book for each skill that needs addressing. Honestly, beyond that I haven't researched a whole lot of programs to know what to ask for. Most cost too much to consider especially when multiplied by four. I would love anything that we could get that could be used multiple times. My children all love to read and would thrive with any program like that. Books in our house are read until they fall apart.

My Dearest Hive, I woke up to find the kindest, most amazing responses and notes today from the hive. I am literally in tears because I am so overwhelmed with the amount of kindness that has been shown to me and my family. Thank you all for all of your advice, well wishes, and offers of items. My biggest fear was having to send him to PS only because I couldn't come up with the resources to give him the education he deserves at home. This fear has been completely smothered by the love and kindness I have experienced through each of you. Taking time to help and offer advice has meant the world to me, and I know how precious time can be. I can say that we are going to be alright and with the resources and ideas, we are going to have a great year. I promise to pay it forward in anyway that I can. Sincerely yours, Angela

Oh, thank you so much for your wonderful ideas!! I know you don't know our family, but this feels like so much support that I need right now. I will look into all of the suggestions posted. Thank you SO much, truly, from the bottom of my heart.

I can print some things, especially a one time workbook for the year or more (DH has a computer that he uses for our business). I just wouldn't be able to acess or print something every day or week.

....how would you begin to plan for a fifth grade year? Let's assume you have $50-$75 to do this with. The library nearby is mediocre, but has some better books. What are some tried and true low cost (offline) ideas you've used?

We've used CLE since K through today (9th grade for DS15). I have tried other programs including R&S, but we have always returned to CLE. For us, it is because my kids want to get the work done without having to wait for me. Between working and running our cafe, I can frequently get interrupted. With R&S, there was too much writing (IMO) if we didn't do some of it orally. Since CLE is consumable workbooks, there is less writing overall vs. having to copy from the R&S books. At times CLE has felt overkill, but it is solid and my kids have never complained about it being "overkill". It was just me reviewing what they were going to do for the day and feeling that way. But they haven't said this. R&S is a great program too, but CLE made more sense for our family in application and day to day progress. Hope that made sense. :001_smile:

There is a separate book. I have found it to be a wonderful, helpful book. It outlines the writing process and you guide your child through a project using it. We've been very happy with CLE LA and writing.

WOW! Thanks so much for all of the suggestions and ideas. It is so appreciated! I will look into all of these. Thanks again everyone!

I would love your help and feedback for my wonderfully clever, but ever-so-seven son. I am open to any and all suggestions. I would like to not spend too much (like over $200 for everything). We home school year round so we just got the next grade underway about four weeks ago. I can't describe how much my choices haven't worked so far this year. So I need major help. Math: He finished R&S 3rd grade. We've started the 4th grade book, but it is boring for him. I think it is because a lot of it is review right now. He says he "hates math", but loves algebra. He loves reading life of fred, but it is more recreational rather than learning. He is fluent in all basic facts and is eager to "do more". I hesitate to just skip the review, since math can build slowly. I just wish he didn't hate something he is so good at. English: We used R&S 3rd grade last year. It was fine, he learned to diagram some things. We started R&S 4th grade. It is just a lot of writing and redundancy. Also, some of the problems require us to know much more about Bible stories than we do. We try to skip those. ;) Spelling: He whizzed through R&S 3rd grade S&S last year. We started on 4th grade. He knows how to spell everything in this book. He is a very natural speller, so it makes me wonder if he should have a spelling book at all. Science: I'm lost. He likes to read the DK encyclopedias recommended in the WTM, but I feel like we should be doing more than this. He is really interested in the moon and stars, but I don't know what resources to use for this. If we get a book from the library about something he likes, he doesn't pick it up on his own. History: Last year, SOTW 1 was a big hit. He loved the review cards the most :001_huh: We did the AG maps and narrations. But he really wasn't retaining a whole lot. Or maybe I wasn't doing it right. I don't know if we should do SOTW2 now or something else. He reads recreationally, but if it is for "schoolwork" he just doesn't read as carefully or with as much interest. Bless you if you have read this far. What materials would you choose for this little guy? What else am I missing? I feel very lost. I thought that I would just go to the next levels in many things, but I don't think that is working.

Thanks everyone! It was a busy day but we're all finally at home. We went out to eat tonight to celebrate. The kids are so excited. They have been working hard alongside us for this day as well. I can't believe it's finally here.:auto: :party:

It's my last day of having a corporate job. DH and I have been working to have me be at our cafe full time so I can homeschool during the day instead of at night. So now instead of having a corporate job, managing the cafe, and homeschooling, I can just manage the cafe and homeschool. So for us it has been eight years of working hard for this day to come. I still don't feel like it's real yet.

Attention World: It's my last day. That is all. !!!!!!!!!!!

:iagree:

One trick that works with our DS is if is he getting spacey, I'll have him "be the teacher" for a problem. He loves this. I write the problem and act like I don't know what to do first. He'll patiently guide me, then I'll toss my pencil on the ground (he always laughs because he recognizes why I am doing this). Then he'll guide me through the rest since I "don't know how to do it". Then I am the teacher again and he is the student. We'll take turns being the student and the teacher - on bad days it may be every other problem. But on other days, it may be once on the page or one for each section. Just when he needs a change and a laugh to refocus. It helps me for the same reasons.

:iagree:

That's not very nice to say about someone. I find your question a tad suspect. There was a time I wore skirts only (not dresses, because I thought those looked dumpy on me). I know I stood out. I didn't care. I was doing it as a social experiment to see what it was like and if I liked to dress that way for a sustained amount of time. I wore long skirts every day for three years (this was only myself personally, I didn't dictate what our children wore). A teen is trying to "figure out" who they are. They are also busy in their activity enjoying a fair. My children can look "dumpy" at times, even without a long skirt. :001_smile: It's just part of growing up, seeing what they like, seeing what they don't like, and wearing something comfortable while doing something they enjoy. I just don't think this is a nice line of thinking and it is very unkind. JMO.

My thought is that the wife also wanted the additional wife to be a part of their relationship. In which case, it was her choice too. So it wouldn't be unfair.

What would you do if your DH wanted to continue having babies? Isn't the purpose of having babies to see how they turn out? I'm not saying that you won't be able to if you are working (DH and I both work full time), but what you are suggesting is so far beyond this. I wouldn't recommend it for you or for your family. You do sound lost and dissatisfied, but that could be because 1) you still have a whole lot of tiny kids or 2) this is newer news that DH is done having kids and you may just be accepting this. :grouphug: I'm sure this is hard right now for you. But if you were widowed, you would cross that bridge when you came to it. It doesn't make sense to cause a huge family upheaval for something that is not likely to happen. If you really want a degree to fall back on, I'd recommend some skill related work like doing taxes or becoming an accountant. It's not sexy, but it is marketable. Just my thoughts...

We are on the very, very low end with our income. We are not "comfortable", but we are content. I know others who make more who are less content. That's a harder position to be in, I think. Just because we make so much less doesn't mean that I want your income. I don't think that's how most people feel.

I know that, otherwise no one would ever marry. I am simply presenting the other side of things, which is just as valid. The same descriptions I would use on my relationship with DH. The only difference is that I'm not putting down your choice of choosing to marry, even if I don't understand it. This is not what the OP and PP are doing.

DH and I married 3 years ago. We have been together for 11 years before that, living in "sin" to use your terms. Both he and I had childhoods deeply entrenched in broken homes. His parents divorced in a very traumatic way and my mother married and divorced four more times by the time I was 17. The last divorce she had, I filled out the papers myself. Marriage can be good (so I've heard). It can also be terrible and wicked. Most times, in my experience, religion and wicked marriages go hand in hand. They are a way to control, subdue, and isolate. Did it take over a decade of living with my dear friend to get to the point I/we could swallow the idea? Absolutely, and I still have a hard time. DH and I were life partners / domestic partners / etc. through our entire relationship. We have four children who are wonderful. There has never been a question of our family from them. Our reason for getting married was health insurance. That's it. Had my employer allowed my partner to be covered or if he did not need surgery, we never would have. It twists my heart to hear about how small you (universal you) believe these couples to be. They may have reasons, very good, very valid reasons beyond your life experience. I did. I still do. I hope my children see that more than anything. DH has always been my best friend and a stupid paper that ceases to have any meaning to my life experience doesn't change that.

Pawn your electronics (camera, laptop, movies, etc.)?

What does screen time look like at your house? **assume internet, television, computer games, smart phones, ipods, and video games are all included** 1. Do you have restrictions on these? 2. Is it related to amount of time / time of day / a task / an age? 3. How do you enforce it? 4. How do you feel it is working for you? Thanks in advance!!