I've posted this before, but you can get the monthly subscription (for 10 bucks a month) and that was a milliongazillion times more helpful for me than his book was. It has a huge baby step tracking program that walks you through his baby steps. You have to track your savings, debt, etc. You go in and record every single bill you have in a month and it tells you what percentages you should have in each category. So, if you are using too much spending money or spending too much on living expenses, it will come up and red and tell you to lower your expenses somehow. It also tells you when you will be out of baby step 2 (the debt repayment step) and gives you encouraging dates for each debt. Then, you can change your snowball and see how it affects your pay-off date.

I'd like to hear more reviews also (not to hijack the thread or anything). I like using WTM for my older kids, but Kid Number Three is V E R Y unusual. Would the 1st grade set from OM work with a 5/6 year-old? :bigear:

I pulled my kids (now 2nd and 1st grader) out of public school in June. We spent from July 1st to September rigorously trying to get them both to grade level. My 2nd grader had never seen math and the 1st grader was completely unable to read (and had never seen any math). We spent all summer catching up and the 2nd grader is finally in a 2nd grade math curriculum. The 1st grader is reading at a solid 1st grade/2nd grade reading level. You might need to do some schoolwork over the summer ? That's how we caught up. :D

Have you looked at Cathy Duffy's book on 100 top curricula? There is a whole section on Wiggly Willy and the different approaches that work with them. There is also a column of curricula on the market which work best with that type of learning personality. I have a Wiggly Willy also...:glare: Yes, it is a battle. But, my Wiggly Willy was in public school remedial kindergarten - REMEDIAL KINDERGARTEN - Who ever heard of that??? But, then he beat his sister on the Naglieri... :confused:

I have a subscription to his My TMMO offered through his website. It's like 10 bucks a month. It's pretty much saved my life.

My kids attend the Number Two school district in our state - excellent facilities. However, something's wrong when 6 yro can't read three letter words and 7 yro can't add. :glare: Some of the teachers were just downright mean. After talking to parents with middle schoolers, I found out that THEIR kids can't do simple math, either. For 2 parents with 12 years of college between the two of us, we were concerned that our kids would not reach their potential, academically. Oh yeah, and the other kids - like the boy on the school bus who was trying to get my daughter to touch his you know what concerned me a little too. :glare:

We've had that happen before. Maybe you'll end up having to let them out another time around 8pm... Is there something unusual going on - like are you guys gone most of the day when usually you're at home? We had a dog trainer say family being out of the house spurs on some strange behavoirs in dogs because they are worried about where the "rest of the pack" is.

My response to your questions are: 1. yes 2. yes 3. yes In school, they also have free reading time and it sure as &^%$ counts as school. I also think we will be logging more than the required hours this year. I don't really like the hour-logging that we have to do. It's a little odd and feels like a double-standard (I've been up at the school during the school day). :confused: Oh well, as long as they leave me alone, I guess.

We're only doing Core 1, but it was really overwhelming for the first 2 months. After that, we got into a groove with Sonlight and I think we've speeded up a lot. I wouldn't read any read-aloud or reader that I think the kids will absolutely not sit still for...(there was one or two on our list)

Well...the BJU Spelling is similar to what we did for spelling when I was in school. Every week, there's a new list of spelling words. You complete the lesson in the workbook using the spelling words (fill in the blank, puzzles, etc). On Friday, I give them a spelling test on the words for the week. The words are very similar and kinda follow a pattern... I like it. However, when the spelling books come out, they both start groaning. They just don't like it and I have no idea why. I have a Perfect Paula and a Wiggly Willy and the Wiggly Willy obviously would not like a workbook approach to anything, but I would think the Paula would be OK with it. :glare: Maybe a spelling workbook would be kinda dry to a 6/7 year-old... But, they have to learn to spell correctly somehow and the BJU Spellers are cheap (well, sorta cheap). :001_huh:

:iagree: with all the posters. Good LUCK!! :party:

I'm using CLE LA 1 and 2 and we are supplementing spelling with BJU Spellers. Ironically, the kids hate the BJU Spellers. :glare: I like CLE a lot.

I started a huge family fight when I pulled my kids out of school also. My family thought I had fallen completely off my rocker. I have a 7 yro (2nd grader), 6 yro (1st grader), 4 yro and 2 yro. My 6 yro could not read, was placed in remedial kindergarten and the 7 yro could not add or subtract. On our first day of homeschooling, I asked the 6 yro to write a sentence and he threw himself on the floor, screamed, kicked the wall and ran to his room. Apparently, he wasn't really performing much in public school and when he was finally in the spotlight, it was overwhelming to him. Three months later, he's writing paragraphs and simple short stories. In the past 3 months, I have taken the 6 yro from completely not reading to a solid 1st grade/beginning 2nd grade reading level and the 7 yro is doing addition/subtraction in the hundreds with renaming (singapore 2a). NO ONE in my family is saying anything now. :bigear: Turns out what the two kids really needed was some academic one-on-one. :001_smile: My husband constantly expresses his surprise at our 6 yro's new reading abilities and how suddenly he's excited to do schoolwork. You never know, you might surprise yourself. BTW, we're doing Sonlight Core 1, BJU Spelling (1st and 2nd gr), Horizons Math 1, Singapore 2a and 2b, Sonlight Readers 2, 2int and 2adv - and we're also doing Apologia's Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day, CLE LA 1st and 2nd gr, CLE Reading 1st gr, some BOB books, some Kumon books and Handwriting without Tears. I'm kind of a drill sergeant, though, you wouldn't have to use so many different curricula. I really do have a curricula buffet going in my house, but that's more from my inexperience than anything else.

I'm missing something here...your homeschool has a uniform policy? :smilielol5: Would you like 4 more students? :willy_nilly: I'm on my way to your house. :driving: Get the coffee started. :auto:

7 yro has taken violin for 2 years. We rent from the music store because she constantly changes size. We also do Suzuki method. There's not much to know - other than the lessons are expensive! LOL! :tongue_smilie:

OK, this sounds strange, but I was going to apply for that job through the State of Missouri about 6 years ago...(?) Anyhoo, they wanted a Bachelor's degree, but it could be in anything (I have a Bachelor of Science in biological sciences). I think the reason I didn't finish the application process was that they said once you were sworn in, you could be assigned ANYWHERE in the state. Also, I think it only started off in the upper $30,000/yr salary range. I ended up turning it down, I think mainly because that wasn't enough money for me to just up and move anywhere in the gigantic state of missouri (with a husband who had a job and kids). Look at your state - there's probably state-specific conditions for that job.

I used HOP for the first two kids with a lot of success. I'm using 100EZ with a 4.5 yro right now and she is OK with it, but we're only on Lesson 5. She also looks at me funny when I open it up. I do like the length of the lessons, though. The length is perfect. I think my 4 yro is trying to figure out why the heck I'm making her sound out these funny letters.

I'm wondering that also... My daughter scores in the 99th Percentile on standardized testing. I think I'll stay away from that. She would sit and memorize Edgar Allen Poe if I told her to. I'm trying to encourage her to do a lot of creative writing from the CLE LA teacher's manual. I've come up with my own topics, but she seems to be really responding well to it.

When I took my 6 year-old out of school (he's almost 7), he could barely read. He was reading "the, a, and" and that was pretty much it. He was sounding out really simple 3-letter words. Until he can read, I would just concentrate on reading and maybe a little math. Over the last 3 months, we've spent pretty much an hour a day just on reading (and writing some sentences). He went from "the, a, an" to reading the first couple of Sonlight Readers 2. I keep trying to hold him back and he's like, "I really wanna try to read Amelia Bedelia!!" :D OK, Buddy. I think what I'm trying to say is...I would just focus on reading and not worry about anything else until he really has a grip on reading. That other stuff can come later. :tongue_smilie: Good Luck!

We're in St. Louis... :glare: Being from Chicago, I would say there isn't much shopping here - unless you're a big wal-mart fan... HOWEVER!! I have never lived somewhere where there is sooooo much to see historically. There is some fascinating stuff you could tour in st louis itself - like the Lemp Mansion (supposed to be haunted and you can eat there), Grant's Farm is pretty cool (and there's a museum of General Grant near the farm), the old German wineries in Hermann (AWESOME!), Fort du Chartres (on the Illinois side), Fort Kaskaskia (and there's an historic home down there, but can't remember the name), up north in Hannibal there are some really neat museums on Mark Twain and the whole riverboat thing, Alton (Illinois) has the Piasa Bird - Finn Inn (the aquarium restaurant) - the Locks and Dams (you can go see them and a museum) - the tallest man in the world statue - the old Confederate prison (which is supposed to be haunted also) - and during Nov-Feb you can see eagles everywhere on the river. If you're going to stay in the city, Laclede's Landing and the Arch (the museum under the arch, specifically) are cheap, easy tourist attractions. Oh, yeah, and the historic courthouse is incredible inside. There's also the cathedral on the river (can't think of its name) you can tour. I know I'm only touching the tip of the iceberg here...if you go further west, there is some incredible stuff too - like the interactive museum at the civil war battlefield in Battlefield, MO. Let's not mention all the stuff in Branson - LOL! Go, Land of Mo!!! :D

My husband is from Korea and he has a Korean name (his real name) and an English name. He said when he was in 8th grade, he and his brother had to pick English names. They do this because a lot of Asian immigrants want to avoid a foreign stigma with a foreign name - also, my husband said his dad told him they were trying to "assimilate" as much as possible. I actually call him by his English name (which, now that I think about it - is REALLY weird). :D

I've had plantar fasciitis since I was 17. I'm 33 now and after I sit down for a while and try to stand up and walk, I can barely walk on my feet. :crying: I've seen about 5 doctors and there's really nothing they'll do, other than the orthotics-ice-tennis ball-routine. I did find a way to tape my feet (from a book about running) that actually does really help. You get first aid tape and start from the outside of the foot going from the big toe all the way around to almost the little toe. Then, you put strips of tape across the bottom of your feet (boy, is this hard to explain in a message forum). I bet you could google this and find a picture... I also was a big jogger. I ran two marathons and ruined my body during 7 years in the army. If you find the secret to curing plantar fasciitis, lemme know!

LL Bean with removable fleece inserts. We're in Missouri (Misery), but we have some disgusting winters.

We use Sonlight on a strict budget also... We are doing Core 1 with a 7 and 6 year-old. I get every one of the Read-Alouds from the library. The Readers 2 Intermediate are allll at the library too. I bought most of the Readers 2 (but they were like 3 bucks a piece). The History books are mostly at the library, but I did have to buy the Usborne ones. We do CLE LA, Horizons and Singapore math, Apologia science ($25), HWOT and BJU Spellers (which were 15 bucks maybe?). There it is - Sonlight on a budget. Everything is sold individually on the website, so if you can't find something, you can always buy it. We do think their Read-alouds and Readers are incredible!! Unfortunately, I'm getting ready to buy "another round" of stuff from sonlight next week. :D

Oh, no. I am going through this exact same thing. In tears, I finally set up the playpen in her bedroom and made her sleep in it one night. She screamed herself to sleep and it was horrible, but she's slept through the night every night since then. Sleep deprivation is awful - I drew the line last week when I was standing in the hallway and vividly heard a man's voice behind me say something to me. It scared the *&% outta me. Make sure he's not taking a really late afternoon nap - you said he's falling asleep around 9. Could you keep him up until 12? I'm trying this also...sleep at noon...go to bed at 7:30 pm...playpen is still in room as a threat of what could happen to you if you get out and start wandering the house at 2am... You can't sit in there with him from 4am on... I am happy to report that the last 3 days on this schedule have been awesome. She hasn't woken up once in the middle of the night. Good luck to both of us!