Thank-you, all so much for the information!! :grouphug: She's there right now lookin' around.

Oh...thanks for the link! I'm definitely going to pass it on. I know people in Texas are a lot friendlier about homeschooling than where we live. We tend to be a lot more cautious. We get the "are you crazy" line all the time. One of my friends was interrogated at the grocery store by the cashier the other day. :glare: She said it kinda ruined her day. :angry: Thanks again for the link to their awesome homeschool group!! :auto:

Yeah, you're probably right. I think I've heard too many scary stories. I've had too much coffee and the paranoia's settin' in. :willy_nilly:

Boy, is this REALLY specific. I have a friend who is looking at buying a house in Eagle Mtn/Saginaw in Texas. After some googling, I have found that this school district is on the HSLDA website as not being so friendly to homeschooling families. If there is a bad atmosphere in that town, my friend would probably not want to buy a house there. So, my question is.... Does anyone have any experience with this area of Texas? I know this is extremely specific, but I'm taking the chance that someone can pass on some info...and tell me we're being paranoid...

Yeah, it's ahead. Like I said, my kids did ps last year and I bought the 1st grade readers - well, 1st grader couldn't even begin to read it. I think a couple more weeks and he'll be at that point (and I've been grilling him since July). So, yes, I know for sure that the 1st grade reader is very ahead of ps.

We use CLE LA 1 and 2. I like it a lot. It is very thorough. And cheap...and thorough...and cheap... :D The 1st grade lightunits are a lot shorter than the 2nd grade ones. The 2nd grade lessons seem to go on and on sometimes. We have to get up and take a break every once in a while. There also is a lot of writing - which I think is awesome. We did public school last year and I've noticed that the CLE LA covers more material than the kids were learning in school.

No, but Boy, did I come CLOSE!!! Our realtor that we're working with now was encouraging us to do it. He said EVERY client he has right now is in a short sale. Very scary what's going on with the economy right now... Good luck!

Thanks! When I looked at their website, it seemed like you meet twice a week and they had to memorize a big list of stuff. One of my kids is incapable of memorizing anything and I could see him just crying at the suggestion. Maybe I just need to talk to someone who does it.

I know ours said we will do mostly field trips/activities. Last saturday, we went to the Boy Scout Reservation and they ran the obstacle course, played on the playground, went through the maze, had a bonfire, etc. This Saturday, they are doin' a car wash. Next Saturday is Taste of Scouting, where they go and shoot BB guns, run around in the woods, etc. Most of these are pack activities, but our den leader said they would count as den meetings too - LOL! Good luck! Boy Scouts is like having a part-time job. We do Girl Scouts and it's nothing like the Boy Scouts.

In our school district, we had a teacher who called the police on a 5 year-old autistic girl and they handcuffed her. Needless to say, our school got sued. They obviously weren't trained very well if they're calling the cops...:glare:

I looked at Classical Conversations and WHEW!!! It looks difficult - for everybody. I think I would have a mutiny in my ranks. Is it as intense as the website makes it seem? :confused:

:lurk5:

I've gotten this too... :confused: I also had my family tell me that it was such a shame that I was going to have kids because I was so intelligent and had so much potential. What the &^%* does that mean? I'm the only person in my family NOT on some kind of anti-depressant. And I'm the weirdo??

Thanks again for all the suggestions! :)

I use the core, read-alouds and readers from Sonlight Core 1 with our 7 and 6 year-old. It's very "booky", though.

We're going on the market on the 1st. Good luck, Everybody!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Most of our furniture is already gone and I'm not going to worry about it. Also, we started looking for a house to buy and sometimes I prefer the ones that are already empty. Then, I can visualize my own furniture in there.

Thank you so much... I was really having trouble finding something. Thanks again!

Has anyone taught map reading to a 1st grader? If so, did you use a book (like an Usborne geography book, for example) or did you come up with your own material? I'm stumped on this one. It's one of the public school standards for 1st grade and I didn't want to miss anything.

I know that we have our stuff in storage and I am waiting for the house to sell. We can't afford two houses at once and someone needs to stick around to mow, clean, etc... Our storage fees are $250 a month, BTW - we don't have much, I guess...

I've played since I was 6 and I'm giving lessons now to my 7 year-old... So, it sounds to me like the teacher is using the Suzuki Piano Method. My daughter is taking Suzuki Violin and it is VERY different from the way I learned how to play also. She also has trouble reading notes and from what I gathered, the Suzuki teachers use numbers initially and then later begin to teach the notes. Once again, this is sooo different from the way I was taught - constant drilling from my piano teachers... Also, a year and a half on an instrument and kids sound awful - I know that's a horrible thing to say, but it's true. I think I played for about 3 years before I really started sounding decent (and I came from a very musical household). My sister and I also played clarinet for about 10 years and we still reminisce about how horrible and squeaky we sounded until about the 3rd year. I also feel that musical learning is exponential - whereas the more they learn, the better they play, their musical ability grows by leaps... Musicians get to a point where with practice, they can play almost anything. In other words, I wouldn't worry about the quality of music your kid is producing, but if you would like to address the note issue (as in now's the time for her to learn to read music correctly), then I'm sure the teacher has an explanation (and I'm guessing it's a Suzuki one). The most important thing is - don't give up. Once a musician reaches a certain point, their musical abilities are going to follow them for the rest of their lives. I haven't taken a piano lesson for 15 years and I can still sit down and play some Chopin.

We're in the middle of a relocation also - 800 miles away. Unfortunately, I'm stuck here putting the house on the market, waiting until it sells and then we're going to stay with relatives for a couple of weeks so we can get another mortgage. Is there anything moving-specific that you have questions about? It sounds like you already have a plan.

As an explanation...husband made a huge amount of money when we were very young (late 20's). Obviously, we've become a lot wiser... :tongue_smilie:

Yes, a $700 a month car payment. It was a $45,000 car.

I'm very sorry. I have family members who have NPD and Borderline Personality Disorder. I feel your pain... :grouphug: I just stay away from them when they start acting up - although it's hard to explain when you have kids... :confused:

We never got a second job for our snowball, but Dave says that the more debt you start off with, the faster your snowball can roll. So, like the other poster was saying...we had a $700 a month car payment and a $290 car payment (before Dave - of course). Once those were gone, it seemed like there was money everywhere. We completely stopped everything - dish network, eating take-out, preschool, etc - and that freed up some massive income also. Although, if you are already to that point anyway, then your snowball is just going to take longer (like my sister's situation). At that point, Dave says you have a couple of choices, either get a bigger shovel (add some income in from somewhere) or just be patient with your snowball. You can only cut out so much stuff. You still have to eat and have running water (or do you? :tongue_smilie:- if I could cut running water out of my budget, I could save an extra 30 bucks a month...hmmmm...). :D