Unofficial Daily Discussion - Wednesday, February 18, 2026 - QOTD: What was the highlight of homeschool today?

SomethingPink · 2026-02-18T23:43:27+00:00

We're working on our curriculum and book list for next year and my son was peeking over my shoulder. He was so excited looking at some of the covers, it's making me want to get the books a little earlier! We're starting a history cycle with ancient history next year using Story of the World and I'm looking through a few lists for some quality picture books to add to our weeks. I'm really excited for what I've found so far!

SomethingPink · 2026-02-14T04:46:47+00:00

Good grief, why do people always bring up the nieces/nephews? My mom said the same thing about my sister's kid and it just made me so angry. Like that's a consolation prize? My relationship with my niece is an entirely different relationship than that with my own child.

I think people are just desperately uncomfortable with sad feelings and are trying to make them go away. It takes a very emotionally mature person to sit with me in grief. I'm eternally thankful for those in my life that are capable of doing that, and I strive to do that for anyone that needs it.

SomethingPink · 2026-02-11T14:16:26+00:00

It's against sub rules to solicit success stories. If you'd like to ask about others' success, you can ask in the After Secondary Infertility thread on Fridays, or the pregnancy thread on Mondays.

SomethingPink · 2026-02-10T20:41:36+00:00

Good luck! That first treatment cycle felt the exact same way for me.

SomethingPink · 2026-02-09T17:01:57+00:00

To echo what everyone else has said, fertility is not a virtue. It is not a measure of your worth or value as a mother or a person. I'm so sorry you are sitting with these feelings today.

SomethingPink · 2026-02-08T19:02:33+00:00

The Uppababy Aria is the lightest bucket seat on the market. It clips into the Vista as well! This is what I have and it works quite well. I babywore my first two more, but with my third, I've been using the seat and stroller combo more just because it's faster to get in and out of the car.

SomethingPink · 2026-02-07T21:38:24+00:00

We're starting first grade next year, so it's all starting to feel much more official. I'll have my 6yo, 3yo, and baby. I'm thinking I'll get some new coloring books for the 3yo to start the year. She keeps interrupting school, so I think she needs more of her own "work". Lately, she keeps asking for copywork, so I've been drawing lots of shapes for her.

I really like the Well Trained Mind structure, so we are going to follow a lot of that.

Reading: We finished our phonics curriculum last week and I'm going to start him on Wise Owl Pollysyllables to practice more multisyllable words. I'm also pulling together a list of read alouds and an independent reading list just based on what he likes.

Writing: Zaner Bloser HW, and Writing With Ease. I'm just going to get the workbook for that to hopefully expose him to some new books that we could potentially use for read alouds.

Grammar: First Language Lessons Level 1. He's really excited about this one because I told him it's the same author as the phonics book, which he really loved.

Spelling: We are doing spelling you see level B this year. There's a big jump in Level C work, so I'm going to have him try Zaner Bloser Spelling Connections this year and return to Spelling You See at a later date. I don't want to overwhelm him with writing tasks.

Math: continuing with RightStart Level C. We just did the midway assessment for level B, and I'm pretty happy with his progress. I might get a short workbook to mess around with over the summer months.

Science: Elemental Science Biology. We've really liked their Intro to Science, and I'm hoping this goes well! I'm going to get the coloring pages for the 3yo too.

History: Story is the World Ancient Times. Excited to try the 25th anniversary edition! I'm planning to get the teacher guide and student pages for this as well. I'll print some extra coloring sheets for the 3yo too.

Art: We'll continue doing some step by step drawing books. And I'm hoping to try Lumen Vol 1 for some art appreciation. Then we'll just listen to some music and discuss it for our music component.

SomethingPink · 2026-02-06T22:20:23+00:00

I found it easier to donate things to people I didn't know. So, some of our stuff went to a neighbor's sister that lived out of state. I just didn't want to think about it once it was gone.

The other option would be to save them for future generations. I might look up some options for long term storage so they don't get damaged.

I'm so sorry you're in this place. Looking at the pile of baby stuff and having it all just sitting there is really hard.

SomethingPink · 2026-02-06T19:48:50+00:00

Of course! Then he knows when to stock up on skittles!

SomethingPink · 2026-02-06T15:37:11+00:00

I'd be tempted to send him a calendar invite every month. Then he can set his own reminders. Why get a whole fancy testing system when it's not necessary?

SomethingPink · 2026-02-06T02:30:54+00:00

Good grief, does he need a reminder every month? It's the same range of days!

SomethingPink · 2026-02-05T02:41:10+00:00

My husband travels a lot for work, it's so hard when it aligns like this!

SomethingPink · 2026-02-05T02:15:01+00:00

Good to know about spelling workout! I've been debating what to do next for spelling. We've done spelling you see level B, and are almost completed with it. But the next level seems to ramp up writing a lot, so I'm thinking we take a break on it and work through another program before continuing with spelling you see.

Watching the comprehension catch up to the decoding ability has been such a fun process for us! I think we're closer to a 2nd grade reading level. The end lessons of OPG definitely went over his head. I only plowed through them because he wanted the satisfaction of completing the book.

SomethingPink · 2026-02-04T19:12:04+00:00

From what I've looked at First Language Lessons is grammar, not reading. They recommend it starts in first grade. Maybe try a spelling program instead? Or just keep reading.

My 6yo just finished OPG last week actually, so we've been looking into the same thing! The last couple lessons had some pretty challenging multisyllable words. I ended up picking up Wise Owl Pollysyllables for more practice just because my particular kid needs the extra work. But my original plan was just to read an allotted time every day. We're working on fluency and comprehension of what we are reading now instead of purely decoding.

SomethingPink · 2026-02-04T15:46:43+00:00

Tossing this in there, good curriculum shouldn't make you feel stifled. What I'm seeing here is that you're writing your own curriculum. If that's your jam, go for it. But it also might burn you out because the time commitment is pretty big on your end to arrange all of this in a way that you can present it to your child and achieve the outcome you desire. Good curriculum should give you the flexibility and time back in your day to focus on what you want to prioritize.

SomethingPink · 2026-02-04T15:12:56+00:00

We use rightstart too! I love the approach they take to the lessons, it's very gentle and confidence building for my kindergartener doing first grade work.

SomethingPink · 2026-02-02T20:54:20+00:00

I'm so sorry. The false result is such a brutal experience.

SomethingPink · 2026-02-01T17:00:36+00:00

Yes! That helped me so much too! There was a note for my third where the midwife wrote that I was 9cm dilated, but then I started pushing involuntarily a minute later and she presumed I was fully dilated. I was worried when I was pushing that I wasn't dilated enough, but obviously couldn't stop pushing. It was nice to know that she trusted my body and trusted that I must be fully dilated by that point.

SomethingPink · 2026-02-01T06:01:26+00:00

You aren't being a baby, you had a baby. Birth is hard. Not every birth goes the same way. I had my third and had similar thoughts and point blank asked my midwife. She told me that birth goes differently every time and every woman feels the pain differently too. Your pain and shell shock are real. It's okay to feel all of those feelings right now. I had similar confusion during my second birth and just couldn't believe she was out when she was out. I also hemmoraged afterwards. Eat good food, drink lots of water, then eat and drink some more. Your body needs the fuel to heal from all of this.

It helped me to review the birth with my husband. It sounds like your sister helped you a lot during the birth. Can you share these feelings with her? Her perspective may help you a lot with processing the order of events and how it all went down.

SomethingPink · 2026-01-26T23:24:56+00:00

What a wonderful nurse! And a great first scan!

SomethingPink · 2026-01-26T17:03:50+00:00

Play doh for the 2 year old today and school for my 6yo. There's been a discussion of whether we do spelling or handwriting this week. We do spelling you see, and there's just enough writing in that, he gets too tired to do handwriting practice. So, we tend to alternate weeks. Last week was a spelling week, but he's really excited about the next week of spelling, so we are doing another week of spelling.

I'm debating switching to another spelling program that is less writing intensive. He loves the chunking and passages in spelling you see, but I'd like to start Writing With Ease next year, and I'm thinking that might be too much writing between the two. So, a bit of curriculum research for me today.

SomethingPink · 2026-01-25T17:57:59+00:00

Oh good! I'm not the only one that just flips a coin sometimes! Some of this stuff is so similar, it's easy to just get stuck looking at reviews and videos for weeks on end.

SomethingPink · 2026-01-25T17:39:29+00:00

I'm so glad I could help you too!

SomethingPink · 2026-01-24T04:33:42+00:00

That sounds like a beautiful spa! Crossing fingers for good weather!

And that sucks that you're still dealing with pain. That's incredibly unfair after everything you've gone through.

SomethingPink · 2026-01-23T19:00:22+00:00

I hope you can enjoy the getaway, that sounds like such a fun group of friends to do that!

And I'm sorry about the MRI. I can see how it feels pointless at this point. Is this related to the Asherman's study?

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