Great Deal on Noah's Ark Flannel Board Set!

My mother-in-law found this awesome deal.  I would like to build a collection of flannel board play sets, so this is perfect for me.

Go to http://www.dailylds.com/deals/up-to-67-off-small-un-cut-noahs-ark-bible-activity-set-lds-kids/
You may have to register your email address to view the deal.

Right now you get the full Noah's Ark felt set for $8.  That's a savings of 67% (I think you still have to pay shipping, though.)

And the more people that buy the deal, the cheaper it will be!  If 50 people buy the set, then the price for everyone will be only $4!

The deal will only last for today.

Choosing Curriculum

One of the hardest parts of homeschooling is choosing curriculum!

 Doing the actual teaching is fun. But I can't help but second guess myself as I try to decide our science topics for next fall. Gotta balance what would be fun and interesting with making sure we hit all the state standards (and also thinking ahead to future grades).

 One hard part is that we already covered all the standards for 1st grade (with a few exceptions) last year. So I don't want to just do all review cause that would be boring. I've heard of families doing a 3 or 4 year rotation with their topics, meaning since we learned about animals in K, we wouldn't come back to it again until 3rd of 4th. I really like that idea. But can't completely commit myself to that because I still have to fulfill the standards set by the state. Arrgh!

 

It is fun to shop with other people's money, though :)

Field Trip Ideas Needed

Thankfully, Primus has never resisted our homeschool plans.  But she does know what "regular school" is.  And sometimes (like when we walk past the backpack aisle at Walmart) she will say things like, "When I go to regular school..."

Whenever I can, I point out all the benefits of doing school at home.  One of those benefits is the freedom to do field trips whenever we want. 

Last night Primus brought it up and said she wanted to do a family field trip before school started.  But every suggestion she came up with (zoo, science museum, river, etc) all cost money.  And there is precisely zero extra money floating around our house these days.  It just breaks my heart every time I have to explain that to my kids. 

So my point here is, please help me think of free field trip ideas.  They need to 100% free, as in, I can't even pay for parking.  And I can't travel too far because gas is expensive. 

At the moment, I'm drawing a total blank.  Thanks in advance!

Another Bad Dream

Here's an even worse dream I had on June 14th:

Had a nightmare last night that our supervising teacher was concerned that our house was too messy and that Primus played too many video games.

Hubby commented: we've been lax on video game & Movie time restrictions with the move and all their toys packed away.
I then added: The funny part was when one of Hubby's friends defended all the video game time to the teacher-it was a perfectly coherent, logical argument and it took the teacher a day to come back and argue against it.

Weird School Shopping Dream

I'm looking at my old facebook posts and came across this interesting one from May 20th:

 

Weird dream last night. My supervising teacher told me that we had to go to the homeschool store *right now.* I had no idea what I needed to buy so she suggested I get test tubes. I shopped for a long time (Everyone else was ready to check out and were waiting on me) and couldn't find what I needed (the shelves were practically bare!) Finally found a few, go to the checkout line, and find out t...hose items are not approved for purchase by the school. So all I got was a partially-used roll of clear contact paper.
Weird. one of those vivid "pregnancy dreams." Don't know why I would have a stressful dream about school though; we're out for the summer! (I did go to the homeschool store yesterday, though, and it was an awful experience.)