We're continuing with Oak Meadow 5 for all subjects except math, and we're continuing with Teaching Textbooks 5 for math... It's very rare that I get tempted by any of the threads on this board (fortunately lol) to the point where I actually buy something new to add/supplement with, but once in a while it does happen. For instance, a while back I did buy Times Tales to try out for extra help with memorizing the multiplication tables (it didn't end up really being for us). And just this morning after Aubrey's post about Killgallon I ended up buying: "Sentence Composing for Elementary School" and plan to add that in in January. I've also been very tempted by Life of Fred math and do plan to buy the first book, fractions, at some point but probably not for this year- I'll probably begin that next year in conjunction with TT6. Soooo, so far you guys have only made me actually spend money on "extras" twice- soon to be three times- hehe. Hopefully I can keep it to that :P

Our geography is incorporated in our social studies for the most part. We did also learn (and now review, most often with online games) the state capitals. And now I'm trying out "Little Passports" for fun, which introduces a new country each month.

I have a decent amount of books. I don't regret them at all. Then again, I don't tend to buy them new. I tend to look for good books at thrift stores, yard sales, used book sales and so on. Sometimes I will buy on Amazon if there are ones I really want for our collection. I don't think you can ever go wrong with books :)

I agree that all sports have some danger. But so far nothing's come up that's really worried me. Oldest dd has only done Special Olympics softball, basketball and volleyball. Younger dd has done gymnastics, bowling, soccer and Judo. ds has done gymnastics, bowling and soccer. He'll be starting Tee ball in the spring... I guess downhill mountain biking would worry me more than that stuff but if you wanted to look up sports accidents I'm sure you could find them with gymnastics or football or whatever, too...

True, too! I don't think I'd have denied my 15 y/o the opportunity- but I'd have been there with him at those gigs!

And they could have told him no, they weren't going to approve that lifestyle, and he could have been crushed and furious that they were getting in the way of his dream, and he could have totally rebelled, and started hanging out with the wrong people and doing the wrong things anyway... I agree that one mistake in your teens should not be the end of one's whole life. And at some point regardless of what happened or didn't happen in your teens, you just man or woman up and be a grown up. For whatever reason, your brother isn't doing that. But I really doubt it's all because he was in a band or a bar or whatever in his teens and that if your parents had only done that one thing differently he'd have this amazing life now... With that said- I do know what you mean. I have a brother who has battled drug abuse, too. And it's natural for parents to question and worry whether they are making the right decisions for their kids. But we can only do our best- and at some point they have to take the reins and make their own choices, regardless of which ones we made or didn't make or let them make or didn't let them make when they were young. P.S. At his age I was drinking too...and sneaking into bars not long after...and a few other things, too. But I'm currently not a drug abuser or an alcoholic or an adulterer or an ex convict or any of those things. I just don't think it can be chalked up to something so simple. But who knows!

I haven't used OM2 (yet)- I used OM4 last year with my daughter, and we're almost halfway done with OM5 this year. I started OMK with my son but then subsequently decided (8 weeks into it) that it would go better for us if I held off until next fall. I own OMK-OM8 in their entirety- I lucked out and found them being sold used in one lot. I have older versions, from like 1998, but I'm very happy with them. So you could try to look for your version used, and even if you find an older version- it'll still be great! OM isn't really about textbooks or workbooks. I don't feel like we need tons of busywork and so I've always been happy with the amount of math, grammar, vocab, spelling and so on activities listed for us. I like their literature and writing assignments (often giving several interesting choices for what a kid can write about). For things like science and social studies, the syllabus will write a short lesson to the kid and then will give you activities to do, titles for supplemental reading which you can get at your library, and so on. It's very engaging and hands on and has led to interesting reading, activities, discussion, writing assignments and so on for us. I really do love Oak Meadow. For more info on it, you can click on my blog (see sig) and then explore the sidebar on the left for an OM review, detailed sample schedules (how I broke the weekly schedules down into daily ones), reading logs, interesting activities, and so on.

I continue to do WW using materials I already own from when I was a meeting member. But instead of going to WW meetings for my weigh ins/accountability/support, I go to TOPS meetings instead- WAY cheaper!

Same as you! He calls me "Babe," "Baby," "Hon," or "Honey," the vast majority of the time. He rarely uses my actual name. I, on the other hand, never use pet names for him (I never used pet names for any boyfriend, it just never felt 'right' to me) so I just use his first name.

Please check this out, I recently managed to get my daughter's eczema almost entirely under control (and you don't even know how amazing that still is to me)!!! http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/160161.html

I have folders for a given year. Then within that folder, I have lots of other folders. So, for example, for my 2010 folder, I'll have other folders labeled with field trips we went on, vacations we took, classes/activities the kids were involved in, visits to family's houses, specific holidays, and so on. There are "misc" folders for each kid, a folder labeled "house and yard", etc. I also have a "5th grade work" folder for my daughter and that is broken down into still more folders per subject, so social studies project pictures will go into the social studies folder within the "Alexa 5th grade" folder... like that. It's pretty organized and makes it easy for me to find specific pictures. P.S. I do sometimes print pictures I really like on photo paper to frame, and I always print out pics of various field trips and activities for the kids schoolyear portfolios.

I just want to say that I think this is a really awesome idea :) Too bad you can't go borrow board games from the library or something huh?

Regardless of how well behaved or ill behaved the children are, there's nothing wrong with saying you want to have an ADULT New Year's Eve celebration and are they all able to get babysitters and come hang out?

She's beautiful, and I love the cake and all the pink! :) Happy 1st birthday to her!

We like making tacos, stuffed peppers, meatloaf, spaghetti with meatballs (or just meat sauce) and/or hamburgers. But here's a recipe I tore out of a Family Fun Magazine in May, 2009 and made a couple of times- my whole family really loved it! Stacked Burrito Pie Ingredients: 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 medium onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 3/4 lb lean ground beef 2 teaspoons chili powder 1 teaspoon cumin 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup water 1 (15 1/2 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed 1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels 4 (10 inch) flour tortillas 1/2 cup sour cream 1 cup salsa 8 ounces cheddar or monterey jack, grated Step 1: In large skillet over medium-low heat, warm the oil. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and saute another minute. Step 2: Increase the heat to medium, then add the ground beef, chili powder, and cumin. Cook the mixture until the beef is browned and no longer pink, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Add the salt, water, black beans, and corn, and bring the mixture to a boil. Allow it to continue boiling, stirring occasionally, until the liquid evaporates, about 20 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat and let it cool for 10 minutes. Step 3: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Using a 9 inch round cake pan, trim 3 of your tortillas to the size of the pan. Leave the fourth tortilla untrimmed. Step 4: Butter the bottom and the sides of the pan. Press the untrimmed tortilla evenly into the pan's bottom. Spread 2 tablespoons of the sour cream over the tortilla, followed by 1/4 cup of the salsa. Spoon and spread a quarter of the beef mixture over the salsa, then sprinkle a quarter of the grated cheese evenly over the top. Step 5: Place one of the trimmed tortillas on top of the cheese, then repeat the layering of the sour cream, salsa, beef, and cheese. Continue this way until the ingredients and tortillas are used up. You should end up with four layers, topped with the final sprinkling of cheese. Step 6: Bake the pie until heated through, about 30 minutes. Allow it to cool 10 minutes, then slice the pie into wedges (or serve like you would a lasagna). Serves 10. Enjoy, it is REALLY delicious! :) P.S. We were in a Friendly's restaurant the other day and I tried their "bacon cheeseburger soup" and it was yummy, maybe you can look up a recipe for that :D

Another no.

I'm sorry. That's a shame! I think what I would do is this: I would send out an email to everyone in the family. It would say something like: Hello Family, I know that some of you have some concerns over our decision to homeschool our children. Because I know that you have their best interests at heart, I wanted to take a few minutes to try to alleviate those concerns. One of the issues that tends to come up in regard to homeschooling is qualification. Sometimes non-homeschoolers cannot understand what "qualifies" a parent to teach their child at home. The fact is, we have been teaching our children since the day they were born. It is only natural to us to want to continue doing so. With younger children, it is easiest- we don't need to be able to remember every single thing WE learned in elementary school- all we really need to do is stay a step ahead of them as we go about teaching them what they need to know. We are capable of teaching them, staying a step ahead of them, and in some cases, learning with them. We are capable of helping them follow their interests, of following legal requirements for homeschooling in our state, of selecting a curriculum that will suit their learning style, etc (and you would probably be surprised by the many, many choices out there). We feel that by teaching them at home, they will receive one on one instruction, which is impossible at school, lesson plans suited to the way they learn best as individuals, which is impossible at school, and they will be taught by people who have their very best interests at heart and who see them as more than just a standardized test score. As they get older, we will continue teaching them and learning with them. Our goal is not just to teach them what to learn, but to teach them HOW to learn. And if it gets too tough and we feel we need outside help, there are instructional DVD's, tutors, classes, co-ops and so on. We have no doubt that one way or another, our children will learn what they need to learn in order to get them through life and in order to achieve their personal goals, whatever those end up being. I understand that some of you are also worried about "socialization." The truth is, there is not much "socialization" going on in elementary school. Kids are shut away all day long with twenty-something other kids their exact age and one adult, their teacher. They aren't out in the real world meeting a bigger variety of people, they are in a much more artificial environment than that. And while they are in that environment, there isn't much socializing going on. There are "silent lunches" in school these days. Very short recesses. Kids get in trouble for talking in the classroom. And in the later years- middle school and so on- well the "socialization" there is downright scary and not what we want for our children. As homeschoolers, we will have more time to take our children on various errands and outings, field trips, to extra-curricular activities, etc. There are homeschool groups, co-op classes, and all sorts of things our children can be involved in. They will also continue to see family and friends outside of school hours. They will not be recluses inside the house never seeing another human face. They will be fine! If you have other specific concerns or questions you would like answered, please feel free to let us know what those are and we will do our best to address them in order to help you understand our decision and/or to feel better about our decision, as we have tried to do here. You might also want to check out these reading materials, for more information. (INSERT BOOKS OR ARTICLES YOU MIGHT WANT TO DIRECT THEIR ATTENTION TO HERE) With all of that said, we need you all to know that our decision IS made, and even if you still do not agree with it, we are asking you all to respect it. This means we do not want repeated negative comments or judgments made to us or to or in front of our children. This means we do not want you to continue throwing negative, anti-homeschooling stereotypes at us- we've already heard them all, we've already researched them all, and we have already made our choice- a choice we are very happy and comfortable with. If you don't have anything nice to say, we would prefer that you not say anything at all. You will not change our minds, and we have no interest in having repeated arguments about our lifestyle. In the interests of maintaining a good relationship with all of you, again, we ask you to show respect for our decision even if it is not one you would make yourself. signed, so and so.

Personally, I do not feel that there is anything wrong with your husband seeing your daughter in the bath if your daughter is still at an age that she's comfortable with that. (Heck, my daughter just turned 10 and she still has no qualms whatsoever about her father seeing her naked, although that is just naturally becoming much more rare these days). I don't feel there's anything wrong with you dressing/undressing in front of your daughter and vice versa if you are both comfortable with that. I don't think there's anything wrong with sharing your bed if that works for your family. The ONE place where I do personally draw the line, though--- I wouldn't personally find it appropriate for my husband to be undressing in front of my daughter if she were older than like age 6 or so. ETA: As for the article...I find a lot of it ridiculous. (P.S. I kiss my 5 y/o son's neck all.the.time! I guess I'm abusing him :P)

I put 'less than one year'- It's like 11 1/2 months! With him being the slightly younger one. A fact he never lets me forget. My birthday card one year: "Something to remember as you have another birthday: You're still young!" On the inside? "But I'm still younger!" :P

So do you mean that he'll choose to go spend the day with her family instead of yours? Can he maybe do some of both? Can you just shrug it off as 'young love' (surely we've all been there) and not LET it ruin things for you, and just celebrate with him separately on another day even if it's not right ON Christmas? I don't know what the situation is but try (really, TRY- it might take effort to have a positive attitude but I think it's important) to not let it ruin things for you or the rest of the family. :grouphug:

I do take a pretty relaxed approach. My 5 y/o goes up around 8:30 but will usually play a game or something for an hour in bed. I do make him put it down and go to sleep at a certain point, which can vary. My 10 y/o goes up around 8:30/9:00 most nights (sometimes she's down later watching TV with us) but she can read in bed or play a game or watch a video or something. Sometimes she ends up coming down and hanging out with her dad after I go to bed. I just sort of play it by ear...if she's had too many late nights in a row or is seeming tired or out of sorts, I'll make it earlier on a given night. Sometimes I'll have to say "okay it's getting too late/you've been up late too many times in a row, I want lights out now." Other times I just let her fall asleep when she falls asleep (which does sometimes have her up til almost midnight like yours!) I usually wake her up around 9-9:30 and by the time she's had breakfast and we did our read aloud, which is how we start our day, she's ready for doing whatever it is I want her to do- she usually has a very good attitude... ...her dad's always been a night owl and she just kind of is, too!

:iagree: It will take time!

No, and I wouldn't either (I don't celebrate xmas but it could be Hanukkah or a bday or an anniversary or whatever). I'd either just take it unwrapped since I knew what it was anyway, or I'd tell him "uh if you want it wrapped you should really make the time" or like someone else said, I'd let the kids do it- it wouldn't have to be perfect, just let them have fun with it1

That's so awesome! You did great! It looks adorable AND delicious! :)

We started on Labor Day. We've just about finished our 16th week/lesson of our Oak Meadow curriculum. 20 weeks/lessons to go!