My plan is also to start both Lively Latin and FLL3 in January with my two sons. Both are recommended in the WTM so hopefully they will go together nicely. I will definitely be listening in on this thread to hear what those who may have already used this combination think though:).

My two almost-eight-YO sons both say they hate school at times and they have since day 1, although one more than the other. The funny thing is that at other times he will say he really loves school, so I'm not sure what to believe. I know he loves history and we do a lot of that and he also loves to read which we also do a lot of. Just a couple of days ago I told them I was starting to plan for 3rd grade, which they will start in January (for everything but Math) and I wanted to hear what they like and dislike about what we are doing now. We talked through each of the things we are using and discussed pros and cons and they both ended up saying they like what we are doing and wanted to stick with it. One of them said he didn't like how we do so much of FLL out loud. After I explained that the alternative is to do more of it in writing, he wanted to stick with FLL. I was really surprised that, after hearing how much they hate school for a couple of years now, they really don't hate what we are doing so much after all. I think when they say they hate school, what they are really saying is that we hate that we can not play all day and do whatever we want, play with friends, play with Legos, watch movies, play video games, etc. If they have to do anything that takes them away from these things they love to do, then they hate it. I think you should talk to her about each subject and ask her what she likes and doesn't like, discuss the pros and cons of doing it that way or using an alternative. You both might find out she doesn't hate it as much as she thinks she does.

Thanks! I will add these to my list!

These are all great ideas. I'm excited! We are going to play around and try planting a bunch of different things. Thanks for your help!

I am being lazy now but earlier I mowed the lawn and even did the trimming because dh was working on the boys' treehouse (big lesson learned: be very careful what you ask for!). I am enjoying my much-earned laziness now though.

Thanks for these suggestions. I would especially like to grow potatoes and broccoli. Would we grow these inside now or is there still time to grow them outside?

Well, I guess I am not really sure yet what I will be trying to show. I just got the book recommended in WTM (Green Thumb, or something like that) so I need to take a look at it. I guess I was thinking that we would definitely want to grow some things, and definitely some from seeds but I was not really sure how much we could do inside and I think we are nearing the end of the growing season in OK. Thanks for the suggestions. We have never done the bean sprouting thing so that will definitely be a good one to try. Where does one get seeds at this time of year? (sorry if that is a stupid question but I don't have experience in this).

I wanted to cover some Botany to my two almost 8 YO sons over the next 6 or 8 weeks an am wondering what would be good for us to try to grow during this time, inside or outside? Do any of you gardeners have some suggestions?

We are using Math in Focus and CLE. CLE has speed drills and we don't use them. I have two almost eight year old sons. The one that needs the practice more feels too pressured, cannot not write as fast as he thinks and ends up feeling like he is no good at math because he can not get them all done in one minute. My other soon beats the one minute timer every time which makes him feel great but makes the other son feel even worse. I would recommend that you use games and definitely use the website mentioned above to help you explain it to them in other ways. I was exactly where you were about a year and a half ago and I am so glad that I took the extra time to let my sons work lots of problems with lots of manipulatives and we have used a many different approaches. They have really gotten it down now and are faster each day with math facts like seven plus eight is fifteen. I am amazed at how far they have come and am glad that I slowed down and took the time for them to really get it before starting them on multiplying, which we will be starting soon. It has taken me a while to find what works for use but it was worth my time and effort of trying different approaches. They are really starting to feel good at math now and it is so rewarding. Good luck in finding what works for you and your kids.

I reread also. When we first started WWE1 I would also sometimes remind my sons to try to picture the story in their mind as I read it.

We celebrate when the PS schools start back up. On their first day of school, we made brownies and had hot brownies with ice cream and whipped cream on top. We started school about a month before they did, or something like that.

glad to know it's not my laptop. hopefully it will improve soon.

Is anyone else having trouble with slow response time?

From all of your responses, it sounds pretty clear that you don't really think you can take on this job and give your kids the education you had planned to. Everyone has recommended pretty much the same thing in their replies and you keep providing reasons for why this won't work. It sounds like you want people to say you are right, this won't work, you better look for something else. It is a tough situation to be in but it sounds like you have already made up your mind.

I think you should take that job too but I think it will require a different mindset from you. It would require that you rethink your homeschooling plans to allow your mom and husband to take over a couple of things (even if they are not done to your standard for one year). It would require that you think about the other things on your plate and how you might be able to delegate some of them or share those tasks with your husband. You can't take on this new job and still expect to do everything like you have been doing it before the job. And you can't take on this new job and still expect to be able to homeschool your kids the way you had planned to before the job. Something has to give. I think you should re-plan things for the year, delegate to your mom and dh and share some of the household responsibilities with your dh. You will have to give up the ideal homeschool plans you had made and accept that for the next year things won't be the ideal. Your son's first grade year will still be just fine, just not your ideal. One year of this is not going to ruin him. I agree with previous posters that you should plan to do phonics, math and writing with your son after you come home from work. Have your dh and mom read tons of great books to your kids while the baby is napping. That is pretty much all you need for 1st grade.

I just started using it last week with my two 2nd graders. One of them loves it and the other prefers our 'old' math CLE. We are actually going to be using both. I find we need CLE's approach of continuous review but I also want MIF's challenge and mental math. It is also nice for them to see something explained in multiple ways. I think this is going to work out nicely for us. So far, I am loving MIF but we have only finished one chapter and it was pretty much review for us. I hope it goes well for you guys.

dh (who is a dr.) cut his knee and ended up getting MRSA in it. After trying several strong antibiotics, he ended up having to spend three days in the hospital for iv antibiotics. He had to follow that up with daily iv antibiotics at home for one month. After that, he was fine. I hope your dad recovers quickly.

When we moved into our first house that had granite counters, dh bought some kind of radon detector/test kit. I think we had to let it sit out in the house for a period of time and then send it off, or something like that. I wasn't too concerned about it so didn't pay too much attention to it. It was very small and we just had it sitting on a shelf not far from our kitchen island. I don't know the exact results but I know it was of no concern after that and when we built our new house we put in granite counters without a second thought.

I think we are finishing up our first month this week. The first couple of weeks were pretty rough because one of my sons can be quite difficult at times. This past week has been our very best week of homeschooling since we began K (we are half way through 2nd grade now). What a difference! Homeschooling is so much more enjoyable when the children are participating nicely:). I hope we can keep it up. In case you are wondering what made the difference, I think it was a couple of things. First, I made up a daily checklist of things we have to get done each day. I divided the subjects into the following categories: * Prepare for the day - includes making bed, tidying room, getting dressed, eating, brushing teeth and hair, * Start our day with a prayer (I'm ashamed to admit that if it is not on my list, I frequently forget about it), * Subjects we all do together - includes Grammar, Spelling, History/Science(2 days each) and Memory Work, * Subjects they do individually with Mom - includes Math, Writing and Read-aloud to Mom, * Subjects they do independently - includes cursive practice, typing, piano, fun 30 minute read-to-self. This list has made a huge difference in our day. They understand what has to get done before we are finished for the day and they have some control over the order in which they do things. I try to get the things that we all do together done first and then they can pretty much arrange their day as they see fit. This has been an amazing home run here, for all of us. The other thing that has made a huge difference is that I am getting up just a little earlier so I can be done eating before they are ready to eat. They will normally play for a little while but I manage things such that, when they are ready to eat, I am ready to start school. I am usually able to read our grammar lesson to them while they eat and they repeat back the memory portions of the lesson between bites. They are finished eating by the time we are ready to start the written part of the lesson. As soon as we finish grammar, we move on to spelling, which is also normally pretty fast. So we have been able to get grammar and spelling finished sometimes before 9:00, which is amazing for us. We had been starting our school day at 9:00 in the past. After grammar and spelling we move right into history/science and memory work. By the time we are finished with all of the subjects we do together, it is snack time and they may be ready for a short break. But much of the time they are just ready to jump into math, writing or something they can do independently. I think they really like the sense of freedom they have with ordering their subjects after we finish our lessons we all do together. The last thing that I changed that has made a big difference is we are now doing our Bible/character study before bedtime. This is when I am also reading aloud our fun classics (fictional literature), although I still read aloud during our school day for history and science. I can't tell you what a difference these seemingly small changes has made to our day. I have one child who has always had a big temper problem and it has been so disruptive. These changes (and lots of prayer) seem to have really made a difference to him. He actually told me today that he is starting to like school now. That is nice to hear. I wanted to share this in hopes that it might help someone else out there who struggles with melt-downs and getting done at a decent time. I think getting two quick subjects (grammar and spelling) out of the way right off the bat in the morning has made a big difference because it makes us all feel that we are 'ahead' or moving along very quickly in our day and gives us all hope that we will finish at a decent time. Now I just have to figure out how to fit Latin in our schedule in January!

After I posted this I did some searching online. I read that most women will have them for 2 or 3 years and then they stop on their own, but some women can have them for 10 years! Oh my. What to do. Anyway, I have to go out and run some errands so ( will look back at this thread later and see if anyone had anything to add.

I have terrible hot flashes. In the past, I have taken HRT medications and they do get rid of the hot flashes. I had to get off of it recently (long story) but could get back on now. The script is waiting for me at the pharmacy. If I knew that they would eventually go away if I toughed it out, I might be able to do so. It is pretty miserable though and has a big impact on my quality of life, primarily because it sometimes wakes me up to 5 or 6 times in one night. That is definitely the biggest impact. They are annoying during the day but I can deal with it. My mom had to quit HRT in her late 60's - early 70's because of breast cancer. She started having hot flashes again and had them until she passed away last year at 76 years old. Does anyone know if hot flashes will DEFINITELY go away eventually if one does not use HRT? (I have tried other supplemental type products and none of them stopped the hot flashes, so I am not really asking for suggestions for other things to try.)

No, dropped it off in one of those bins outside of a Walmart around 5 years after we were married. Still have my dh and still love him dearly but we have two sons and I am one of those people who throw things out if it hasn't been used in a year or two or, in this case, likely will never be used again. I was hoping someone else might get some use out of it. I have the pictures of me in it which I will always keep and enjoy.

If I didn't want to hurt my dad, I would send him an email (knowing she would see it), thanking him for the gift. I might make it a little newsy (if you communicate with your dad through email sometimes). At the end, I might tell him to thank her for us. And then I would leave it at that. If you can catch your dad by phone, that would be the best way. You could thank him and tell him to say thanks to her.

That's great! Thanks so much.

Very helpful, thanks so much!