This is one of those areas where you just have to use trial and error. Energy needs vary so greatly. We found exercise first thing in the morning (yoga, bike rides, running, switch workout games, treadmill) help followed by 45 minutes to an hour of free play time help greatly. Afterwards we are able to get about two hours of work done. I allow DS to move as he needs. We use chores as a short break to get energy out as well. And after lunch we try to get outside before finishing up school work. There have been seasons where he needed a lot more movement so we did sit ups and push ups while working on math facts, or jumping jacks while doing flash cards.

Yes, we've done it before. You can drop off. We have also flown with our nieces before and no id is asked even though our last names are different. Flying isn't all that safe! Only the international flights asked for id of minors in our experience.

Yes ex husband lives 2 hours from the airport. My sil doesn't do much talking to her ex (although they have kids together and should be talking more).

Dh can do the driving part alone. He does most of the driving in our family anyways. But we only are renting one car right now. And renting another car for a day is expensive! We are not in a neighborhood where I feel comfortable without a car all day.

That's the problem dh wants to say yes and I don't want to leave at 4:30 and spend 13 hours driving in one day! He sees it as an ok request where I see it as a situation where she needs to find solution that doesn't involve us.

Don't quote I am going to delete as is too revealing of my identity. Thanks for the responses. I think I will calculate out what it will cost us and show dh and have him ask if his sister is willing to pay for that.

Do you need the teacher's manual for reading in 5-8th?

The audio of D'Aulaire's for about two months before was enough for my DS to get a perfect for two years in a row.

Yes, I think one of the reasons many people say it is weak in writing instruction is that other programs that focus specifically on writing have assignments that last all year or an assignment each week. Rod and Staff does the teaching not the assigning. And I think most people miss that important little part.

With my DS we have used 3-5. I tutored one student through 7th about 12 years ago. I own 3-8 and have looked through them all.

Rod and Staff is very thorough with grammar. And the writing instruction builds well each year. That would be a solid plan to use. We use it and love it. Many people use English and another writing because they haven't looked at all the levels. It does a great job of building each year. Just keep in mind that it doesn't assign writing over and over in just the English. So you will learn how to write a report, oral reports, letters, etc. But then you will need to assign more outside of English to keep practicing as only one was assigned in English.

Loose tea leaves, but that is because I am picky on taste. I use tea bags when company is over and they want variety. But I have also found if I make a big pot guests will drink what I have prepared.

Monthly unless it is dirty from something

For one or two cups an areopress can't be beat. It is easy to use (although it takes a few tries to learn it), easy to clean up, and makes great coffee. If you plan on having several cups at a time though a pour over is what I like best.

Yes, when we lived in Central Asia we lived three years without indoor plumbing, toliets, running water,etc. It was very difficult. An outhouse wasn't the end of the world, but very uncomfortable during winter. But disease was so hard to keep away. Because getting water from the well was a lot of work people didn't always wash hands. Laundry was too difficult. We had to do it in the city which was a several hour drive away. I enjoyed our time living there, it taught me a lot. I have respect for the peoples who have lived this way for millennia. But honestly I wouldn't choose to do that again.

I think the best path is to relearn (or focus on areas you are weak in). Any textbook or program will only get you so far with a teacher who doesn't understand. But with a teacher who has understanding and can explain any textbook can become conceptual and great. The teacher's understanding and knowledge is what is important. I would suggest reading through Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics. It isn't a how to teach book, but it will give you areas where you need to improve yourself. Then figure out if you need visual and hands on learning or if you need to hear explanations, etc. For us the best hands on method has been c-rods and Miquon followed by Gattegno books. This has given the visual and hands on experience that my son and myself need.

My family wouldn't survive on your schedule. We have had seasons where most nights we had activities going on. But school is always our priority. So school gets done first thing in the day. I need (and my dh and ds) one day a week where we have no commitments. That day gives us the rest we need.

Hands on Equations has a fractions set. It does a good job of visually giving the representation a lot of kids needs.

So sad to hear the news. My condolences to her family. My prayers are with them.

Between A Beka and Phonics Pathways you have a really strong phonics program and resources. 5 is young! And it just takes a lot of repetition to learn. Just keep going over the short sounds and going at his speed.

There are kits with all the tools at Home Science Tools

Moving overseas with kids is HARD. Give your whole family lots and lots of grace. Find other TCKs for your kids to talk with so they don't feel alone in all the stress and challenge. Raising Healthy TCKs is a great book. Lots of good ideas packed inside. Your kids will struggle. It is normal. There is no way to know if you are protecting too much or too little. Keep in mind happiness with moving comes and goes. Obviously if a child becomes very unhappy or depressed change things up, but keep in mind there are cycles. When the newness of everything wears off unhappiness can come for a short time. Also, I have found with each move my son takes a good two months or so before he really can start learning new things again. Time change, changes to digestion from new foods, insecurity with figuring out the city, etc all take up his brain power.

I've taught in several international schools around the world. It is a hard job as there are many cultures and many third culture kid experiences all coming into play in classroom environments. And when teachers all have different cultural background informing the methods, reasoning, and goals of education it gets even more complicated! I would talk with the director and get a feel for what the overall vision of the school is to see if it is compatible to your family's goals. For whatever it's worth I have decided to homeschool my son even though we still live overseas because of my experiences teaching.

Interesting I would have never thought you could plagiarize yourself. Good to know (although I have no plans for furthering my education at this moment).

This morning I was thinking about this a little more. You could spend some time figuring out if she has weak visualization skills. Drop spelling altogether for a short time so the stress isn't there. Make 2inch square boxes and draw inside them easy shapes. A circle dead center, next one have a line diagonal in the upper left corner, next one two small circles on opposite corners, etc. Have her look at one square at a time and then give her a blank square to copy it in. Also, have her do dictation of the square a few times. That will help you see if she can verbalize what she sees. If this is difficult then it might be she needs visual therapy, glasses, or just needs to work on holding images in her head of what she sees. I'm sure you already know, but I will add just in case. Spelling is holding images in our head of the correct spelling as there are many possible ways to spell words in English. So if she can't hold an image in her head it won't matter how much she has read previously.