I "homeschooled" DS in preschool and then promptly sent him to school for Kindergarten. It was about money for me. We pulled him out to homeschool after 2nd grade and he just completed 5th. We're now in it for the long haul. I'm probably an anomaly though!

I wonder if this is regional. I just got back from Walmart and they didn't have any school supplies out. We DO live at the beach in Florida so that will probably have something to do with it. Beach things everywhere. ETA: To whomever linked the Tokyo Shop website: I went down the rabbit hole and now have convinced myself I need a Midori Planner PLUS one of everything from that shop... I had planned to be done with school supplies!

I put toiletries in separate ziploc bags. That seems to take care of things. I also put a washcloth in with the soap so that if it DOES spill then it spills on the wash cloth (which he can then use as is! LOL!)

It's already worth it. We pulled DS out of school after 2nd grade when he was talking about how the world would be better without him here (in a scary way), how stupid he is, and how he's not good at school (plus lots of anxiety, toilet issues, and repetitive mannerisms). He just completed 5th grade and the difference we've seen in his confidence is staggering (no more issues at all). We moved right after pulling him and our friends here can't imagine that our happy-go-lucky child ever had those thoughts. We went from almost losing him to him finding his true confident self. I'm not sure that would have ever happened if we hadn't hs'ed. I'm so very grateful that we've had the opportunity to do so. Even if academically he'll be behind (doubtful!) when he graduates the leaps and bounds that he's come emotionally have made the whole thing worth it.

When my son was in PS I would always ask him what they did that day. His response EVERY TIME was "nothing". I assume that they actually did work so I took it with a grain of salt. I'd try to take your DD's answer the same way.

It is ABSOLUTELY doable at home. My kids did CC for 2 years. The second year I was a tutor. This year I'm doing it at home with them as I figured out that I'm just not a CO-OP hs'ing Mom. I can teach my kiddos the CC memory work in 15 minutes a day. I need that extra day at home to keep on track with my kids. Having tutored for a year I can see how easy it is to hs the CC work AND I get to teach it to my own children who memorize easily (and not 4 and 5 year olds who I have to come up with fun ways to remember things). We will miss the community, but it's expensive to pay that much for less time out of the house and they don't get a huge amount of time to play with their friends. It was a God send when we first moved to a new area, but now we have lots of friends and play dates outside of CC. I will also miss the presentations. My DS, through having to get up and present at CC, has shown a talent for public speaking. I'm looking into other ways to fill that void. I never would have known that this was a talent of his if we hadn't done CC, so I'm thankful for that! If you don't have a community nearby just get the CD's and the Foundations Guide. Do your own science and art. You'll have a great time.

14% of our gross income goes to Food (eating out AND groceries - we have a budget so I know exacts). ETA: 20% of net income.

I think it's acceptable to ask, though she should have asked right away and not right before the event. I do, also, think it's acceptable for you to respond that you've already bought the ingredients for the dish that you were bringing and you'll make sure to bring the requested dish next time. If you haven't already bought the ingredients then I'd make the requested dish.

I will keep the LEGO, Calico Critters, and the one stuffed animal that they've had since birth that they've slept with every night. I MAY keep some cars/trucks/army guys in a tin for grandkids/guests. Everything else will be purged. We don't have MUCH more than that now, but I'm not big about keeping things.

Oh I thought it was just me. I actually bought a pair for my trip to London last September. Ever since Pinterest has been rife with ads! I've worn those babies almost every day since buying them. Well worth the money spent. They're super comfortable. It's the most that I've ever spent on an item of clothing ever, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

There are just some people that really CAN do everything. I always say good for them (with no malice!) I am happy to be ordinary.

My DH is very supportive of our schooling but it overwhelms him very easily. He will happily teach the kids for a day or two (and even did it for 10 days while I was out of the country last year!) but it's not his preference. Usually, I give the kids a break when they're with Daddy and let him teach them things he's interested in. I came in from a day out one time to a diagram of an airplane with the words: lift, drag, thrust, and weight on the board around it. DH is a pilot and was teaching them things that are not my forte. I'm happy with our balance.

I have a struggling 11 year old writer and this far surpasses anything that he'd put on paper. I'd say that you shouldn't be worried.

That is what I usually do. One year, early on, I left it up to DH and he bought me a very small wall hanging that talked about a mother's love. It was nice but totally wasn't my style. I was honestly disappointed. I then felt dreadful and realized that it was something that my DH had spent time picking out and he'd made a thoughtful choice. I've had it hanging over my stove in the past 4 houses. It's probably one of the few things that I'd grab if there were a fire. It not only reminds me that I'm loved, it also makes me think to appreciate the thought that others put into gifts (even if they're not what I'd have picked). Happy Mother's day to everyone! For those that are struggling today for whatever reason - hugs.

I have a kajillion (may be a slight exaggeration, but only slight) half finished notebooks laying around the house. I also have adult ADD. I have to get the thought down right away or I forget about it. :lol:

We inherited some of DH's grandmother's bible commentaries and it's fun to go in and read some of the things that she wrote in the margins. I was just re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird yesterday and felt the need to highlight a sentence. Unfortunately, I'd borrowed it from the library so I couldn't. I'm going to buy the book, however, so that I can go back and highlight all through it. :laugh:

If you live in the South and have a Publix nearby they have great premade pizza crust. Get yourself some Semolina flour and sprinkle it on the counter while you roll out the dough. Before you bake, preheat the oven to 550*F for an hour (if you have a pizza stone). When it's preheated pull it out and quickly put the rolled out dough on top and then the toppings. Bake immediately for 5 minutes (exactly). Tastes just like takeout/restaurant. It's amazing!

There is no window. My DD is 7 and we're signing her up to start gymnastics NOW since she started to show interest. We couldn't afford it last year when she was newly 6 and so we had to wait until we could. Now she's very excited about it. Very few children become olympic athletes or excel to the point of becoming elite in sports/passions. That's, of course, not to say that you shouldn't try if they like something but definitely don't worry about a window being lost.

Is neither an option? :laugh: We are using AAR (All About Reading) with DD and she has come on in leaps and bounds with her reading (ie: from non reading at the beginning of the year to sounding out ever word that she sees and surprising us with what she CAN read). I have stopped using the letter tiles and just write down the letters for her and it's become even easier. So... that would be my vote.

That's one thing that I love about England, good transportation. Everything is quite compact and easier to get to (at least where my family is). Here in FL you need a car to get most places and sprawling suburbia makes it hard (but not impossible) to get to the "countryside" (our version, anyway). Thanks for the link, OP. I can't wait to read her books to my DD!

Good luck!!! I'm not there yet, my kiddos aren't in high school, but I still want to wish you good luck!

Dress for Rules at Dinner (when we went) from what I can remember is moderately dressy. I wore a dress and flats with a scarf. My Mum (the other member of my party) wore a dress with heels. Cicchetti's we went into after walking around all day. I was actually in a dress (I find them comfy to travel in), scarf, and cardigan and my Mum was in a t-shirt/scarf and trousers. There were people wearing jeans while we were there. They're open for breakfast through dinner. We took a lunch cruise down the Thames with Bateaux Cruises: http://www.bateauxlondon.com/ It was nice to eat lunch and see all of the sights from the river. The lunch cruise takes you past the Houses of Parliament, The London Eye, Cleopatra's needle, The Globe Theater, The Tower of London, under the Tower Bridge (a really good view of it). Where you get on the cruise is a short walk from the Houses of Parliament so you could definitely do Westminster Abbey and have a quick peek at Big Ben and Downing Street on the same day. We also walked a big circle through Trafalgar Square and down the Mall. Like I said, I did 2 1/2 whirlwind days in London with my Mum when I last visited. Here is what we did: Day 1: Took the train from my parent's city to London St. Pancras. Took a black cab to our hotel. Our hotel was right next to Buckingham Palace and we walked almost everywhere. We started out at the hotel (The Rubens at the Palace) and walked down birdcage walk through to Westminster Abbey/Houses of Parliament. From there we walked down to our lunch cruise, did the cruise, walked back past Parliament and took a right down the street that has the Cenataph on it (which also has No. 10 Downing Street off it). That took us directly into Trafalgar Square from which we took another Left and headed down the mall (hitting the outside of St. James' Palace) back to B'ham palace and back to our hotel. It was quite a fun day and I felt like I saw a lot. We then took a black cab from our hotel to Rules for dinner. Day 2: Buckingham Palace inside the state rooms tour. We then walked up to Oxford Street to see Selfridges, did lots of shopping (not in Selfridges! LOL!), down New Bond Street and through to Piccadilly Circus, ate at Cicchetti's, walked back to the hotel. 1/2 day: Walked to Liberty (very old shop), went to Cicchetti's for an early lunch, hit Fortnum and Mason, took a cab back to the hotel to pick up our stored bags and onto St. Pancras for the train back up North. I feel like I saw a LOT of London by walking, and that I started to feel like I knew my way around. I wasn't so harried that I didn't enjoy myself and I can't wait to go back with DH and the kiddos. I will DEFINITELY do the walk from B'ham Palace to Parliament to Trafalgar again and will probably take them on the lunch cruise. One thing to check before you go is to see if Buckingham Palace is open to tours. From what I understood last time we were there they only open it for a short time in the fall and the rest of the year it's closed. Also, you need jet fighter awake and jet fighter asleep : http://www.amazon.com/JetFighter-Awake-Supplement-Sleepiness-Circadian/dp/B00JS80JO2/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1459884283&sr=8-1&keywords=jet+fighter+awake http://www.amazon.com/JetFighter-Sleep-Supplement-Sleeplessness-Circadian/dp/B00JRMNVRG/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1459884304&sr=8-1&keywords=jet+fighter+asleep I don't usually like to take ANY medication at any time but these were recommended to me. I've done the US to England flight very, very often and this is the first time that I didn't feel ANY jet lag. I was very skeptical but very surprised at how well it worked.

Having never gone to University myself, I will encourage my children to do so. I do feel as though I missed out on a lot more than just academics by not attending. I will not, however, push them towards it if they feel that it's not for them.

Yeah, I witnessed another MLM pitch the other day when a friend mentioned having to possibly have gall bladder surgery. One of the ladies standing around sells Young Living essential oils and she talked ad nauseum about how those could possibly heal her. Sigh. You look awesome! Congrats on your progress. Good for you for taking the high road!

I am about to finish CLE 1 with my 1st grader and I absolutely love it. It's amazing the growth that I've seen in math this year, so I would choose that one! No experience with MUS.