I got the information off of the NCHE site. As for the notification, we are sent a card in the summer that must be postmarked by September 30, to show that we are homeschooling for another year. Another card is received that requests we must pull our records together to "Show". I have heard from some parents who do not comply and do not show their records. I suppose NC might be easier than FL, but I have never lived there. Best of luck to you.

Places I have lived and homeschooled: ND - heavy, heavy, oversight TX - No reporting - EASY SC - I paid the $235 to be part of an umbrella school (my husband called it "bribe" money), EASY after the payment Germany - we are military - no reporting - EASY NJ - No reporting - EASY NC - Reporting, maintain attendance records, maintain yearly test scores, yearly notification of homeschooling, immunization records (or religious exemption) paperwork on file, possibility of annual "Show your records" meeting. I have spent more time keeping up with NC's requirements than any other state. Most people who live in NC, declare that it is the easiest place to homeschool. Guess it depends if you have lived outside the state or not.

My children do a lesson each day and sometimes a supplementary drill. They do all the problems. It takes them between 20 and 40 minutes to do all the problems. Another 5-10 minutes if they do an additional drill. I spend approximately 15-20 minutes covering each lesson on a daily basis. There is plenty of mental math to stimulate their thinking, then they learn new applications and processes. I have the children do their speed drills on their own. The first 40 lessons of each new book are review from the last book. For example, when we started book 6, we skipped the first 40 lessons since it was a review of book 5. The last 10 lessons of each book are review of everything new they have learned. I also skip that and move on to the next level. So, out of a 170 lesson book, my children do 120 lessons. On the review lessons, we do most of it orally in preparation for the test. The remaining review problems we do on a white board. This allows for me to gauge if they are ready for the test.

American Heritage Girls is our favorite. It may not be in your area, but you could check.

Our family has read the first two books. We just LOVE them! Thanks for the heads up on a third book coming out.

I sew a lot of patches on uniforms. I use a size 80 needle, monofilament thread on top and a matching thread (to the shirt) in the bobbin. The monofilament thread is the invisible nylon thread that is sold at the fabric stores. When you stitch the patch on, the stitches automatically match the patch. Happy sewing!

Tired here! If homeschooling was all I had to do, then I could manage. It is everything else that I'm responsible for that is doing me in.

My meal plans come from a book called, "30 Day Gourmet", Freezer Cooking Manual - A month of meals made easy. In NO way is this gourmet food. I'm not really sure why they put Gourmet in the title. It is basic everyday meals that you and your kids will eat. I usually pick 4 dinner meals. For the next 4 days, I make 1 recipe but triple or quadruple the recipe (instructions on the recipe), and then follow the directions on food prep and freezing the meal. I repeat this 3 more times. At the end of the week, I have 12 meals in the freezer. The next week, I pick 4 more meals and do the same thing. This way I am not in the kitchen a whole day making 30 individual recipes. Our family usually rotates about 10-15 dinner meals at a time. Check out their website, there are plenty of free downloads so that you can try before you buy. http://www.30DayGourmet.com The best part of the book after the recipes, are the sections detailing how to stock your freezer with meals that your family will eat. There are nutrition facts after each recipe. There are also planning charts to use for shopping and cooking day. It tells what type of containers that you can safely freeze receipes in, and tips for shopping. Here are some of our favorite recipes that are either on their website or in the book: Taco Rice Sweet and Sour Meatballs (our favorite) Lazy Day Lasagna Baked Chicken Fingers and Nuggets Cheese filled shells Baked Ziti Egg N Tater Casserole (breakfast) Tara's Favorite Muffins Super Easy Freezer Crescent Rolls Breakfast McBiscuits Chicken Fried Rice Beefy Vegetable Soup Sugar Cookies (this recipe can make from 60 - 360 cookies) Oatmeal Cookie Mix Teddy Bear Snack Mix These are the recipes that we have used again and again. There are so many more that would appeal to most families. Good luck on gathering more organizational information. When my husband is going TDY, he will ask if I have some back up meals in the freezer. He knows that when things go bonkers around here that it is always nice to have a meal defrosting for dinner. It seems to end the day on a less frazzled note.

Dentist chair in North Dakota, watching it on the television that was provided to promote a stress free dental experience

They are hard to find, but you can buy composition books with graph paper. Another idea is to purchase large grid graph paper to assist your young student with properly lining up their addition and subtraction problems. You could run 10 sheets of the paper through the sewing machine, using your longest stitch, stitching right down the middle. Use a heavy thread, like topstitching thread and tie off each end. They may only need this help for a few weeks and they may be able to transition to the composition books quite easily. Joyfully, Mary

Our children have only used Rod and Staff Math and have done well with Standardized Testing. We use a composition book for their daily lesson assignments. These are the Mead, sewn down the middle, with the heavy cardboard cover composition notebooks. There are other brands available, just look for the heavier paper, otherwise some companies use paper that is too thin and with one eraser use, the child now has a hole in the paper. Anyway, the children just list the date and the current lesson number on the top of the sheet. At the end of the day, I pull the composition books out of their bins, flip to the current lesson they completed and can quickly check their work. I mark the incorrect problems and put the composition book back into their bin. The next day they are able to turn to the next clean page do the next lesson, and so on. The reason we do this, is to keep the Student Math Book clean for the next sibling to use, teaches them that typically students do not write in a textbook, and allows our family to keep track of their math work. There are no single pieces of paper flying around. When we need to take school on the road, a math textbook and their composition notebook and they are ready. Again, we have only used Rod and Staff for the children. One of our children is entering 7th grade and is finishing up her R&S days in order to get ready for Algebra. She is well prepared and knows her math facts. Joyfully, Mary

Have you looked at Rainbow Science from Beginnings Publishing?

I have been holding out for a year to buy these cookbooks from Sue Gregg, hoping to find used copies. But, alas, after searching at used book stores, book sales, llibrary sales, etc., I have not been able to locate them. Where is the best place (cheapest) to purchase the books? Do I really need the whole set? Which ones are your favorite? Has anyone seen the newest one that is for homeschool high school students - it talks about whole grains? Thanks so much!!

I was just looking on PatternReview.com (my favorite sewing site) and looked through the classifieds. I found a Pfaff serger and it is listed for $400!!!! I paid way more than this for my new one. She states in her ad that she moved to a retirement village, and no longer has room for it. Pfaff makes a great serger. Here is the link: http://sewing.patternreview.com/classified/7861 PatternReview.com also has many other classified listings. Keep checking it out if this is not the serger for you. It also has a forum for you to ask sewing questions and review patterns that you have made. There is another section with a gallery of photos. These are patterns that others have made and they post the results of the garment along with photos. A great resource for sewists.

I have a Pfaff serger and it was a bit pricey. But, I have never regretted the money. Each time I am ready to sew, it easily threads and operates. Lately, on my local Craig's List there have been high end sewing machines, sergers, etc., for around $300 - $500. They are used, but if you stick with something that is easy to thread and use, you will get your money's worth. If you buy something cheap, you will end up wasting your money and never using it. Try Craig's List for a couple of weeks or put up a wanted ad, ask around at your local sewing machine shops for used machines and check out the newspaper. Last week I noticed someone selling a very nice older sewing machine with all the attachments for $10. Keep looking and I wish you the best!

I have not read the other replies, but here is my advice: We always go with my husband as he PCS's (permanent change of station), because the military has plenty of times when your husband will be away from you. Everybody in the Army wants to go to Hawaii, it is expensive, but you can live on post. Shop at the commissary, enjoy your tour of duty!

It was brief. My husband is now back, so he is dealing with the issue. We have a military doctor who attends our worship service and he is well versed with military regulations that deal with health and safety. The dogs should have never been permitted into the public access building (military chapel). Problem is currently being solved! Thanks for your concern!!

When we lived in a very prestigious, historical town, the following sign was outside an upscale antique store: No Children Aloud!

I have lived in Germany - twice. 5 years total

I have taken the vitamins since 2007 (2 a day) and really do like them. I have not had any problems taking them (digesting) but have had times where I almost gagged, due to their unique shape and size. I may try the gel ones next time. On the other hand, my husband took the SuperDad vitamins for around 8 months. The last time he had a complete military physical, his liver enzymes were off. In fact, the military sent him off to a civilian doctor who ran multiple tests and could not find the culprit. Eventually, the doctor asked about non-FDA approved herbal/vitamin supplements. When my husband stopped taking them for 2 weeks, his liver readings were back in the normal range. The doctor did not have many good things to say about the vitamins after he read the listing on the SuperDad bottle. I wanted to hear word for word what the doctor said about the vitamins, but my husband just gave me a summary (brief) and stopped taking them.

Nice to see you! I pray that I have a gentle spirit when I speak with him tomorrow. Evidently, I need to speak with him first and then move up the system (it will be a short ride!).

My husband is also a chaplain who leads services at the "dog" church, but is presently "otherwise occupied" for a couple more weeks. When he is available, I know he will step in and speak on our (moms) behalf and figure something out. However, this new guy is of a religious background that is very hard to get in the military. Most people are bending over backwards to keep this guy happy. I have placed a call to request a meeting with him.

A new chaplain is at our chapel and brings his dogs to work. They roam around and do their thing. I lead a bible study at this chapel where moms bring their children. We let the little ones crawl around while we read scripture and pray. Today, we picked them up and dog hair was all over their clothing and hands. Needless to say, it did not go well. I have heard through the grapevine that I should not ruffle feathers on this situation. This new guy has some serious rank and he has been given permission to allow the dogs in the chapel and buildings. Am I missing something? ETA: They are not service dogs.

Bottom line: how much time do you spend on the computer each day? This includes emails, blogs, forums, chat groups, facebook, myspace, etc. This does not count the "work at home from your computer" computer time. Just the everyday visiting, catching up with people, posting about your life on your blog, etc. For those who have found a way to "tame the beast" and control your computer time to under 30 minutes a day, please list your suggestions! A bit of background: In the past, I have spent approximately 30 mintues or less per day on the computer. I keep a kitchen timer on the computer desk and disconnect from the internet when the timer goes off. Over the past months I have felt that I did not have enough time on the computer to keep up-to-date on the forums of my interest, chat groups, and blogs. I always wished that I had more time. Recently, I had two weeks that afforded me unlimited time to read and write some blogs (sewing ones are my favorite!), catch up on emails, join in on chat groups, read homeschool/sewing forums and make posts to said forums. After a few days I realized that I had spent untold hours on the computer. Sitting down to "just" check email turned into three hours of looking around on the computer at various other interests. Without the demands of caring for children, mountains of laundry, etc., it was easy to "waste away" hours of computer time. I realize for some women this provides the needed socialization they require due to having small children at home, living in a remote area, etc. Some moms may feel that this is their "me" time. Others need to whine about their particular life circumstances in a "safe and anonymous" fashion provided by forums and chat groups. And yet for others, a way to get quick and easy answers about childcare, homemaking, pet care, etc. However, after spending untold hours at the computer over the past couple weeks, I realized that I was not missing anything after all. Cast your vote on the poll, I'll go first.