Thanks for letting me know about the book list on TOG Loose Threads. That's the type of thing I was looking for. I noticed there isn't a list yet for Year Plan 4. I'm excited because I can finally see a way to make this work. Now just to find a way to get my hands on all the IG's, Year Plans and books! Blessings, Cathy

For a variety of compelling reasons, I think the best path for us is to combine SL and TOG. Before I spend a lot of time on planning, I'm wondering if someone has already done this and graciously shared their plans on the web somewhere. I've found a lot of blogs about comparing the two, and one about informally combining. If I could find something similar to the schdedules combining things like SL and SOTW or SL and MOH, I would be truly blessed! In my preliminary planning, I envision using TOG as our base, and scheduling SL as it fits. It's not my plan to cover both completely. My oldest two are 10 and 8, so for now, I can slow the pace down as needed. The next group of kids are 5, 4 and 3. We plan to adopt more younger kids, so we will be adding more in on a continual basis. :) If you have experience combining, or that thought of it, I would appreciate your comments! Blessings, Cathy

Hi Sue, May the Lord lead and bless you in your foster care journey! We have adhered to the advice to only accept kids that are younger than your youngest. Our youngest is now 8, and we now have a sibling group, ages 5,4 and 3. Even though these kids are pretty easy compared to most foster kids I hear about, they have experiences, behaviors and language that my 8 and 10 year olds had never been exposed to. As our girls get older, we may cap the upper age to 5 and younger. In fact, if we do adopt this sibling group, we've discussed only taking in babies from now on so we don't futher disrupt the birth order. As you research foster care and ask for advice, keep in mind that every family has a different experience, and every case is different as well. We had the same sibling set two different times, and each of those times was different, even though it was the same case worker, and same kids. As they say, your mileage may vary. It is true that the system is riddled with flaws and frustration. One thing that can add to the frustration is that you are not the parent and don't have the power to make many decisions that are in the best interest of the child. You are "only" the caregiver and must submit to the state and their decisions. Instead of getting jaded and angry at all the negatives that come with the CPS system, we have very intentionally decided to let all that go, and concentrate our focus and energy on meeting the needs of the kids and loving them. I think this has made a huge impact on how we perceive our foster care experience and keeps us encouraged. We often hear comments like "I could never foster because I would get too attached and it would hurt too much when the kids leave". Don't let that scare you. A major goal is to get bonded and attached...it's fundamentally crucial to the growth and development of the child. It is painful when they leave. But, I would rather have had the opportunity to know them and love them and experience this pain than to have never known them at all. The Lord has placed these kids in our care to be temporary stewards. They are His, not ours. If He so wills, we get to add them to our family forever. We submit to His plan. You can expect the kids to have a wide variety of challenges, from behaviors, to learning delays and medical needs. They have irrational (to us) fears and insecurities. Every child we've fostered except one has needed significant dental work due to bottle rot. Most have come sick and neglected. They aren't accustomed to routine, discipline or boundaries. But once they have transitioned to our family dynamic, most have beautifully thrived. From day one, they are 100% incorporated into our family and are treated just like everyone else. For about a week after first being placed with us, we usually take about a week of "snow days" from school and other demands on our time to just get to know the kids, take care of any urgent matters and let the kids settle in. Bedtimes are generally one of our biggest challenges and they often wake up several times a night at first, so I plan to not get much sleep for the first few days. Our current foster kids have been in our home for 11 months. As they become more comfortable here, and more secure and trusting, they reveal new experiences and have exhibited new behaviors. It's been a process for sure. Our 5 year old has just recently turned a corner and has become almost a dream. Our 4 year old, who was almost perfectly compliant for 9 months has had about 4 weeks of horrible behavior. So far, the three year old has had mostly age appropriate behaviors, but who knows what might be in the future. We chose a Christian agency for our licensing. We live in a city where there are literally dozens of agencies. The Christian agency does have a tougher standard. They dig deeper during the homestudy, sometimes asking very personal and intimate questions. They ask about your walk with the Lord and your testimony. We know we are covered in prayer. The agency will advocate and set limits to preserve the success of our family. For example, we are on track to adopt the sibling group we currently have. Their policy is that after adoption, we can't accept another placement for 3-6 months to allow for us all to adjust. We want to have more kids as soon as we can, but for now we are on hold. Many foster parents that we have met are vehementally opposed to using a Christian agency due to the extra limits. We have had no complaints and have had a good experience. Blessings, Cathy

Lol, I don't know if I should feel good or bad that other people are in the same situation as me! Good: I'm not the only one! Bad: I know how it feels. I found a web site http://www.best-child-toys.com/toy-storage.html that has a lot of information on creative ways to store different types of toys. There is also a lot of discussion here on the best toys and why they are beneficial. Very helpful. We have almost gathered all the toys in the house into one room so we can conduct a massive sort to get all the pieces together, and then decide that to keep!

Mama, That's the kind of thinking I'm looking for....how to determine which zones should go in which rooms.

Thank you Stacia! I will check out those websites right now!

We have a total of 5 bedrooms, one is a huge second master, and being used as a recreation room. Right now we are using 3 bedrooms for sleeping, and 1 bedroom for storage. We are cleaning out the storage room so it can be usable space. It is the smallest room, about 10 by 10.

Let's say you owned almost every toy ever made (really not so, but feels that way), and you needed toys for boys and girls, multiple ages (pretend that kids keep growing older, but no one ever outgrows any toys) when determining what to keep, what would you focus on? How many would you keep? For multiple sets that have similar purposes, for example, Barbies, Polly Pockets, Loving Family, Little People, would you keep a little from each set, or eliminate complete sets, and keep a couple whole sets? Would resale value play any part in what you decide to keep or get rid of? For toy rotation, how many toys would you keep out at one time, how many would you put away for rotating, and how often would you rotate? Thanks very much for your help! Cathy

Hi! I endeavor to "redesign" our entire house. Basically, I wish to take what we already own, and rearrange, repurpose, and organize it to create functional rooms. This will also include a major purge. (My plan is to find any money I need to spend by selling stuff we no longer need or use.) I am trying to find some resources, either web sites, books, or people to help me get started and to stay on track. I have trouble determining the different zones we need, and in which rooms those zones should be. Then I get stumped on organizational perfectionism...not want to start anything until I know absolutely what I want to do. I need a creative kick in the pants! Our two-story house is pretty big, about 3500 square feet. We are foster parents, and currently have a total of 5 children, ages 3-10 years. We plan to add more children in the future. We occasionally receive calls for short term respite, care, and would like to room ready for these requests. This is a list of our designated rooms: Downstairs: Kitchen with eating area (we currently do most of our school at the kitchen table or on the couch in adjoining family room, current supplies stored here, makes it cluttered and messy) Family room Laundry room Two-story entranceway (about 100 sqft. currently has two fish tanks and a large china cabinet with stuff we never use in it) Living Room (LR and DR are one big open room, currently huge toy room, overrun by toys. was at one time also school room) Dining Room Recreation Room (husband's man cave, with pool table, tv, stereo and his music room; he is a worship leader) Upstairs: Master Bedroom and Bath 3 Kid's Bedrooms (one currently used as storage) Den (currently a library, filled with bookcases) Zone Wish list: toy room school room (for schooling and storage) craft area (for me and kids) music area (for piano and clarinets) man cave/rec room (pool table, guitars, electric keyboards) family room (for tv, playing games, reading) Bible study area Kid and toy free zone Place for computers (needs adult supervision) book storage Our style is very casual. We rarely entertain, and when we do, it always involves families with kids. I'd like for our style to reflect our love of children, educational lifestyle. It needs to be safe, functional, and fun! Have I completely gone off the deep end thinking that these plans are even possible? Blessings, Cathy

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I just picked up brand new copies of the student Math text published by Harcourt, now part of Houghton Mifflin. I'm wondering if anyone has used these or has any comment about them. I had the chance to also buy the teacher's guides, 3 volumes for each year, but I didn't. I'm wondering if I should go back tomorrow and get those. Are they worth having if only for the answer key? Blessings, Cathy

anyone?

Hello! As I am looking into sbuscribing to one or two, I'm wondering what magazines are your favorites. Let me limit the content to homeschooling and Christian living (marriage, parenting, family, etc.). I already subscribe to The Old Schoolhouse, which I love love love. However, I get dry in between their quarterly distribution. I've borrowed a couple issues of Homeschooling Today from our library that I am just reviewing. The leader of my church homeschool group often uses articles from another magazine, I think it's called Homeschool Enrichment. Haven't looked much at Practical Homeschooling, what do you think of that one? Are there others? Blessings, Cathy

what were the ages of the kids, and what curriculum did you use? What kind of oversight did you have from the state? Were there choices that weren't approved? I am in Arizona, and may be homeschooling a 5 year old boy, and then hopefully the two younger siblings. Thanks, Cathy

Is there anything that is similar to Sing Spell Read and Write that doesn't cost as much? I have an active 5 year old boy that loves to sing. This seems like a very good match, but I really can't spend that much money at this time. Blessings, Cathy

Since posting my question, the counselor has called me to discuss the report from having our foster son observed in class. Based on the report and what has been discussed in our sessions, she is calling a CFT (a meeting of everyone on the team). It is her recommendation that we pull him out of the classroom setting and homeschool him. She asked me to come prepared to discuss homeschooling and to present our curriculum choices. The meeting is scheduled for June 15th. In the meantime, I will be researching curriculum that I think will be a good match. I'm excited and anxious at the same time. I'm excited because I know in my heart of hearts that this is best for our foster son, and I know the Lord has been working. I'm anxious because I need to find curriculum that will be successful for him, knowing that we are going to be watched. For my girls, I used Sonlight PreK, K, 1, and 2. We are now in our first unit of Tapestry of Grace, which is above K level. I've already read the entire PreK core to our foster children at bedtime. I think that Sing, Spell, Read and Write would be a good choice, but it's a lot of money. The upside is I will be able to use it with at least 3 children. If I could create my own curriculum using things like Enchanted Learning and Letter of the Week, I would do that. I'm looking for something that incorporates lots of modalities, including read alouds, singing, hands on, and movement. Blessings, Cathy

It is helpful to read your replies with different perspectives. A couple things: 1. Here, we are able to homeschool foster children on a case by case basis. The case manager, GAL and counselor all have said it is an option because of the struggles we are having. 2. There is little chance this sibling group will be going home. It is our plan to adopt them if the become legally free. 3. We think that homeschooling is the best choice for all children, especially those that are delayed. (These kids are very intelligent, but have significant academic delays. The younger two are catching up quickly.) The 5 year old does not act out at home. Never. He did have a very bad day at church once about a month ago. It all seems to occur at school, which is why the counselor is questioning if the school environment will work for him. Rather than ADHD type stuff, or pure defiance, she is thinking sensory issues, but it's too early to diagnose. 4. If these were our kids, we would not have them in daycare, and they would be homeschooled, no question. If Mom's rights are terminiated, they day we adopt them, they are all coming home. Thanks for your comments! Blessings, Cathy

We are currently foster parents to a sibling group of 3. At the state's request, they started preschool/daycare in November, about a month after being placed with us. This was to address co-dependency and parentification issues that the kids had. The oldest turned 5 in December and will start K in Aug. From the beginning, he was challenging in class, very wiggly, easily distracted, not wanting to listen. For about the past 2 months, he has been sent to the office almost every day, after having a meltdown/tantrum sometimes violent episode. Most days, he calms down in the office, and goes back to class, having a perfect rest of the day. This occurs almost always around 10am. About once a week, he won't calm down, or is more violent than usual, and they send him home. There is no fun for the rest of the day when he gets sent home for misbehaving, so that there is no reward. At home, we don't ever see this type of behavior. We just had a fantastic 3 day weekend, with zero time-outs. All three kids were almost perfectly behaved, and this is typical. We are in the beginning stages of counseling with him, and the counselor is leaning more towards sensory issues than something like ADHD. Because we are a homeschooling family, the case manager and counselor have discussed homeschooling him as an option, and we are willing to do so. (We actually prefer to.) But we hesitate to pull him out of preschool, and then not enroll him in Kindergarten because we wonder if we're preventing him from learning how to listen in class and respect his teacher. The counselor talks about "setting him up for success", and that he might not be able to function in the classroom environment. How should we proceed? Should we continue to send him to preschool, then public school trying to discipline him to make better choices in school? Or should we change our strategy and bring him home so that we can concentrate on academics and not behavior? Blessings, Cathy

I am hoping for some input on how to work out our schedule. Here are some details: My husband works close by 4 days a week. For almost a year, he has been on 20% furlough, so he has every Wednesday off. Additonally, two of the days that he does work, he goes in between 12:30 and 1pm, getting home between 8 and 9. The other two days, he leaves around 10 and is home by 7. Due to the nature of his job, he is also on the phone all hours and all days, including the middle of the night and on weekends and his furlough day. On top of all of that, we also have 3 foster children that attend day care full time at the state's request. I drop them off by 9am and pick them up between 4 and 5. We've had these siblings since October, and it looks like we may be able to adopt them. We live in AZ, where the winters are nice, but the summers are brutal. So, we keep a light school schedule during the cooler months and buckle down during the hot months. This works out well too because most of our weekly commitments also shut down for the summer, like AWANA, Bible Study, park day, etc. The only field trip opportunities are things that can be done inside. I am really feeling the pinch with my husband being home until after noon, and then picking up our "littles" by 5. Once they are home, it's pretty busy and I'm trying to get dinner ready. No school can get done once they are home. It's also very difficult to get much done while my husband is home. I have suggested that he take on some of the teaching responsibilites, and I've tried asking him to get specific things done, like chores or repairs. Neither of those requests have made any difference. The mornings are like his evening, and he likes to watch tv, play his guitar, be on the computer. Plus, his phone rings constantly with work calls. Can you help me see a solution to this? Our girls are 10 and 8. There are some things that they can do independently, but most of their lessons require my full attention as well. Would it be disrespectful to my husband if we left during the morning and went to the library maybe? Am I being unfair to think that he could help accomodate our schedule when he is home? Thanks! Cathy

Hmm, my perception is all wrong! I had this impression that TT was harder than MUS. We added in Singapore as review a few years ago because my girls were complaining their Math was too boring and they wanted something harder. As we look to the middle grades, I wanted to get us on track for high school so we weren't jumping around then. I have a strong math background and I like teaching math. I like it to be challenging, but fun. I took two years of Calculus in high school, and I would like the same for my girls. I'll have to keep my eyes open.... Blessings, Cathy

So, if I wanted to switch to TT, I would need to adjust the levels? And would there be a big transition to spiral from mastery? If you had said that MUS is spiral, I wouldn't be able to tell you is isn't, lol.

We've been using MUS for 5 years. It has been good, but boring, so we supplement with Singapore Math. I hear so many good reviews about Teaching Textbooks, but it seems very similar to Math U See. How are they the same, and how are they different? As we get into the higher levels, is there a great advantage of one over the other? Blessings, Cathy

It does seem like I am asking for the impossible, doesn't it? :) I'm trying to see if there is anything out there that has everything on my wish list and I've just missed it. I like HOD DITHOR because it allows us to dissect whatever book we chose, making it easy to do with books we are already reading. I'm also able to tailor the same book for different levels of study. (Right now I have a 4th grader, 2nd grader, and in the fall I may have a Ker if I am allowed to homeschool our foster son.) We could read something like Charlotte's Web or Boxcar Children together, and have individual assignments at the same time. I checked out Total Language Plus, and it looks like a great fit too! I can't see from the samples how I could adjust it for different levels, but maybe that is just intuitive as you go. I think there is another company with similar materials...can't remember their name. I just remembered Beyond Five in a Row. How does this fit into an integrated LA approach? Thanks for helping me think this through! Cathy

Hi, I've been trying to find an integrated Language Arts program for my 10 and 8 year old girls, and I'm looking for the experience of others to help me decide. 1. I know of Sonlight's LA, First Language Lessons, Heart of Dakota's Drawn Into the Heart Of Reading and Learning Language Arts Through Literature. Are there other integrated programs? 2. How do these programs (and the ones I dont' know about yet) compare and contrast? 3. I am looking for a program that can be used with several levels at once, and can be used with any book. I'd like to take a book that we're reading and really pick it apart and do an in-depth study with all the facets of LA integrated. HOD seems to offer that, but I don't see the things like grammar, spelling and vocabulary. It seems to be in depth study of the book. SL LA and LLATL are more what I am looking for, but assign specific reading, which would add to what we are already reading. I don't think we would like the repitition and scripted nature of FLL. 4. If you've pieced together your own integrated LA to meet your own needs, how did you do it? What did you choose for spelling, grammar, vocabulary, literature analysis, etc? Many blessings, Cathy

There is some really good help on the TOG website for exploring and learning the system. There are short videos that explain each part of the teacher's manual and one specifically for DE. The community section has a forum for posting messages. You'll probably find some great help there too. I'm still in my first unit of TOG too, and refer often to the start up guides and online samples for help. Blessings, Cathy