From one military spouse to another, "Take one day at a time." I remember the first few days after my husband left. I was trying to get a handle on the whole deployment at once. It was overwhelming. My heart ached, I cried, I couldn't eat. Then, I began dividing the day into thirds. 1. Get through breakfast and the rest of the morning. 2. Get through lunch, naps for kids, walking dog. 3. Almost made it, dinner time. Baths, pj's, prayers, bedtime. After a few months, I was able to get through the day. Most of the women on my block had husband's who had deployed. We pitched in and helped each other out. It really helps that you live in military housing. Dear military sister, it is hard, no way about it. I will keep your family in our prayers, and we will add your husband to our prayer list at chapel. Mary

Baseball Mom, I see that you quote from Martin Luther. By any chance are you Lutheran? His quotes are great. Have you seen the ones he writes about education?

Calamari

I recently finished "Escape" and "Stolen Innocence", now I reading John Grisham's "The Appeal", and Stephen Carter's "The Emperor of Ocean Park." I hope to finish these up before I start school back up in a couple of weeks. Nothing like recreational reading to relax and refresh a tired homeschool mom. Mary

Would you add me to the list? We have a house in Missouri that we desperately need to sell. Currently, we have a family member living there, sometimes they pay rent, other times they have a myriad of excuses why they can't come up with it. They keep the house in exceptional condition and it has good curb appeal. That is about the only thing going for us - and we expect to take a large loss just to get out from under this mortgage. The house will go on the market in the next week or two. Thanks, Mary

Same here. Recently, I was at a used book fair and a lady was selling her 6th grade Rod and Staff Math for $35. I thought that it was a $10 savings rather than purchasing new, but when I began to thumb through the book, I saw that the student book had been completely filled in. Her son did not like writing the problems out, so she let him write in the book. She explained that I could erase the pages in no time at all. I said, "No, thank you." The books were still there at the end of the sale, and she had reduced them to an all time low of $27. I buy new as often as possible.

Welcome! I think you will feel right at home here! Everyone is so very helpful and use a lot of different curricula, not just SL. You know, I never visit the SL forum, and I still have another year that is paid for. It came with the SL 6 package. Thanks for reminding me to visit there more often!

This is the reason that we could do 2-3 lessons each time we sat down. I did not drag out each lesson, I just went on to the next one. I still only spent 30 min. doing 2 and 3 each time.

Thanks again everyone! The mixed reviews are great. I always like to know the good, the bad and the ugly of a program before I purchase it. I appreciate those of you who gave a very candid opinion. Thanks!

There is an extensive list on 1000greatbooks. You will be able to find some tried and true books over there. Of course, you have probably already used the reading list that is in The Well Trained Mind. I used those titles first before moving onto another list. Hope this helps, Mary

Thanks everyone! I think I have a better idea on what to order. I will get the teacher/student bundle, A. I could always use it with the 10 yo twins if my 12 yo needs something a bit more challenging.

ABQ Mom, You are very lucky! I wish I knew of someone who had the DVD's for me to borrow. It would give me a better idea if I wanted to purchase the program!

Michele, My kids are 12, 10 and 10. I was really thinking about it for my 12 yo. Do you think I should get B or C level?

I have looked at it sooo many times. It is pricey, but promises good results. If you have purchased the DVD's, Workbooks, etc, would you let me know what you think of the product? Thanks,

Rainbow Resource pg.65. The spiral round plastic fasteners are great, and page 67, the colored book rings (metal). I have ordered both of these and they hold up to my kids using their homemade flash cards from index cards. I just punch a hole in the corner, insert one of these rings/fasteners. I heard about them on this board about 3-4 years ago. They work great, and I still use them. I just remove them from one set of cards and re-use them in a new set. Hope this helps.

I agree with waiting. We move sooo many times and if you only knew what happens to your furniture, you would wait! The packers do not have any emotional or financial investment of your items. Imagine having a sofa that is only 3 months old packed onto a moving truck and delivered 6 weeks later (a whole 'nother story). When they unwrapped the sofa (they put it in plastic to protect it), the guy used a box cutter to start a small slit so that he could unwrap the plastic. Well, 6 years later, I am still looking at a large rip in the sofa arm. I have repaired it (insurance paid a small token amount for the damage) but everytime I look at that tear, I just get MAD. Dave Ramsey also talks about walking in with cash to a store. He tells a story about his wife wanting a washer. He looks at the price and decides he will pay X amount of dollars for the washer. He then begins talking to the salesmen about taking $150 off the price. Long story short, after a manager becomes involved and Dave is slapping around his $100 dollar bills in a stack, the final comment was, "Look, you are in the business to sell appliances, and I am here with cash. You can either keep this washer on your stock list unsold, or you can sell it to me now, because I have cash (at this point in the story, he is using the stack of $100 like a fan!) He got the washer. When we moved to NJ we wanted a nice headboard. We found what we wanted at Pier I. The price was right, it was marked down 50%. We had kids with us and decided to come back the next day. My husband walked in with cash to buy the headboard. Well, surprise, surprise, the sale had gone off on Tuesday. There had not been anything listing the sale dates on this headboard, in fact, the headboard was not even in the published sales flyer. It was an in-store reduction. My husband used his knowledge from Dave and did the same thing. We have the headboard. The manager told my husband afterwards that most people are intimidated by the sales staff and will not ask for the sales price that had been posted. He thanked him for the business, my husband thanked him for honoring the sale. Long winded, but hope it helps. Mary

I have not read the other posts, but wanted to add my 2 cents. I cut the ducks out of yellow felt, the pond out of blue felt and the grass out of green felt. I then used a large piece of gray felt and glued it onto the back of a write on wipe off board. I used a table top easel and placed the board on top. I put the pond, grass on the felt board. Then we would put 2 ducks in the pond and 2 ducks in the grass equals 4 ducks, etc. Then I could turn the board over and do some of the chalkboard work with the write on wipe off board. Hope this helps. Mary

I lived in Germany. Typically, these are given to the children who are just entering school. Children who have been in school already do not receive one. But hey, we are homeschoolers and can give one every year if we want to. They are cute and can be so much fun to fill up. For anyone who has not seen one, think of a cone that is large, it is filled up with erasers, pencils, crayons, snacks, etc. They are so cute! Have fun making one ! Joyfully, Mary

Heather, My husband and our oldest son were deployed at the same time. My husband to Iraq and my son to Afghanistan. Anyway, I am here to help. You can PM me. Mary

My 10 yo twin boys do the same. But I think it goes beyond mispronouncing words. While I was picking up a few school supplies at the store, I mentioned that we needed to pick up some good pencils. I then said, "Ticonderoga pencils." My oldest twin said, "Will that name even fit on a pencil? That is a long name. Who names their kids Ticonderoga? I just prefer the pencils that say _______ (his first name) those pencils always work for me." Too, too funny. Gotta love these 10 yos!!

We recently bought a new set - the color is diamond dust. I was not happy with the "sleek" look of the set. But now, I like it. Has the stainless steel look, but the powdered spray, so NOOOOO fingerprints on these babies! By the way it is a HE top loader. I love it. Joyfully, Mary

We are a military family that has been around for awhile. It is so refreshing to see the young recruits in and around post. They are snapping to attention when we see them. I like to break the ice and ask them where "home" is, how are their families, and where are they heading next. At chapel services, the AIT soldiers are allowed to attend worship on Sundays. The last few pews are filled to the brim with these soldiers in training. After service, there is fellowship. We all know that fellowship means - cookies, juice, tea, coffe, sweet rolls, donuts, etc. We talk to them for awhile and catch up on where they are in their training cycles. Then, it is time for them to go back to their regularly scheduled training day. We just love those new soldiers. If we were in Fort Sill, we would definately be on the look out and give him a warm welcome. Thank you for being so supportive of the military. Joyfully, Mary

Holly, I have not read the other replys prior to posting my message. I'm sure you will get some great advice from the Military Homeschool families here! This is our experience. We have been around the military since 1986 and have moved soooo many times. The last 12 moves have been in 12 years. We move on the average of once a year. My husband's military job keeps us on the go. We have learned long ago, that it is not a done deal with military orders until we are actually moving INTO the new house. And then, they can cut new orders and you are on your way again! It is hard to get excited about a "good" military assignment, because we know that it could go to someone else. But, we have only had a couple of assignments that we were not thrilled with. For the most part, a military assignment is what you make of it. You may be somewhere that has had horrible things said about the location, but you may find the location to be superb. It truly is all what you make of it. Homeschooling has helped with a lot of the stresses of moving. Our children have the same teacher, same books, they pick up where they left off. We always look ahead to our new duty station and find activities that our children like. We sign them up right away for dance, fencing, scouts, swimming, music lessons, etc. This helps with the continuity in their lives. They learn to roll with the punches. The children count how many good moves we have had, and feel blessed that there have been so few "bad" moves (broken furniture, run down base housing, etc.) As far as choosing states that are homeschool friendly, we usually roll with the punches on this one. We have ALWAYS belonged to HSLDA. Whether we are schooling in Texas which is very hands off, or in a highly regulated state. We DO NOT let our membership lapse. We always meet the local states requirements, and join a group that has a large number of military homeschoolers. The military can be a good life. When we look back over the years, we realize how many different learning opportunities our children have had due to our military assignment. They learned to ski in the Alps, have seen the sites where the reformation took place in Germany, seen the re-creation of "Washington's Crossing" across the Delaware River, seen the tulips bloom in Holland, Anne Frank's house, etc. Many benefits to being a military homeschool family. The downside is deployments. My husband has been deployed for a long, long time. Yes, it was hard, nothing easy about it. I got through it one day at a time. Most of the women on my street (on a military base) had husbands deployed. We banded together and helped each other out. There were only two of us who homeschooled and we pitched in and gave each other a hand. My husband was great about encouraging letters and emails. We both felt that homeschooling helped our kids get through the deployment so well. When he came home for the 2 week R&R (military talk for rest and relaxation) the kids did not have school. When he returned in early spring, the kids were done with school until their dad had used up his leave. Our school years are planned around moves. This is a lot of rambling thoughts. But from one military wife to another, I'm here to help you, answer questions or give advice. I don't know it all, but I'm sure some of the other military wives have been able to give their insights. Hang it there - I'm here for you. You never know, I may need an encouraging word, and I'll come looking for you!:001_smile: Joyfully, Mary

:rofl: Mary

I have another story. I posted it about this time last year on the old boards, but thought it worth repeating. Due to an emergency, we needed to get back to the states quickly, we were currently living near Frankfurt, Germany. The military handled all the flight arrangements. Upon picking up our tickets, the clerk apologized for not getting 5 seats that were all together. Instead, she took the last five seats that were on that particular flight. They were all over the plane. She said that when we checked in at Frankfurt that we would be able to change the seating arrangements. Well, the lady who checked us in, just said, "This is a sold out flight, I can't change your seating. You may want to work it out when you get on board." So, we boarded the flight and no passenger wanted to give up their aisle, window or emergency seat row. The stewardess told me to take a seat, that they needed to prepare for take off. I gave it my last ditch effort and went to each of our three children (scattered from rows 4 - 37) and with a smile on my face and my most friendly voice, handed vomit bags to the passengers who sat next to them and said, "You are going to need these. There is also a backpack with a clean change of clothes in the overhead bin. Feel free to grab it and help my child clean up. Thanks so much!" Well, no lie, within two minutes flat, we were all sitting together. Just in time for child #1 to heave then vomit on take off. Child #2 unloaded right around landing. Mary