Kathleen, What about going with more of a Charlotte Mason approach? Could she read good books for science instead of using a textbook? I would definitely encourage her to at least finish a basic high school education and even go on to take some community college classes. It sounds like she's well-educated now and that you are doing a great job! I think someone recommended a GED. That would be nice for her. That might free her up to take some college classes that interest her. melissa

Jean, I will pray for your family! You are in our thoughts! Melissa:grouphug:

Is there a grammar program that is: 1. simple to use 2. does a complete review without spending a huge amount of time on nouns and verbs 3. includes diagramming ( but not Rod & Staff) 4. not too time intensive Thanks, Melissa

Does anyone have any recommendations for Chemistry and Physics? I need some help with these! Would Bob Jones be a good place to start? Ideally, I would like someone to teach these since I never understood them in high school ( especially Chemistry!) Are there any other programs like that? We've tried Scholar's online Natural Science and I would use them again for science. We're doing Potter's School Biology this year and my daughter can't stand the teacher. I don't mind using Potter's School again if someone can highly recommend a teacher ( someone like Mrs. Richman from Pa Homeschoolers!) Help! We don't like science ( well, one does, one doesn't!) and we need someone to inject some life into our studies in this area! Thanks, Melissa:D

We had the same problem except it was her middle two fingers. I think she was about 7. There is an appliance that the dentist can put in the roof of their mouth. It has some prong things that makes it uncomfortable if they try to suck their fingers. I don't remember it being terribly expensive. I don't remember if insurance covered it though. She wore this appliance for about 3 months and never sucked her fingers again. You can't see it unless they lift their head. Hope this helps! Melissa

We haven't lived in our house very long but our gas bill for last month was 92.00 and the electric was 160. Our house is 4300 sq ft. I keep the thermostat at 68-69 during the day upstairs and down and turn both down to 62 at night. We did just put a radiant barrier in our attic and I think it's making a ton of difference! Oh...our house is 4 years old and we just have a gas water heater and gas heat. Everything else is electric. This doesn't include water/sewer. melissa

Fabric! I love to buy fabric. We have a great quilt store quite close to the house and I love to take an hour (alone!) and go and touch and maybe come home with something! Magazines and books.....I love quilting and cross stitching magazines! I can always justify books! Bath & Body lotions! Smelling goods makes me feel good! Melissa

Anything by Bertrice Small! Beware ! pretty explicit love scenes but the books are great! melissa

How about card games? You could get several packs of cards and a book with different games. Canasta is fun and doesn't take too much brain power. Spades, Hearts, etc. melissa

Thanks for those uplifitng replies! It helps to know that other people have concerns and that I'm not CRAZY!!!!! melissa:lol:

What do you do with a child who has no knowledge of things that seem to be very common? This child, until recently, couldn't get himself from our house to Walmart ( it's only 2 miles and we go there all the time!). He also didn't know that Chicago was in Illinois. This child is 14 years old! He breezes through math - he's in 8th grade and we're doing Geometry with no problem! I'm just very concerned over his lack of knowledge of very basic things! The things that everyone seems to know with having been taught. I've always wondered if there was some type of learning issue but I'm not sure how to find out. We had him tested for dyslexia and he doesn't have it. He can't spell and he still has problems reading. He has a very hard time with writing.....putting thoughts into words. He's the sweetest thing but I'm very worried. How on earth is he going to get into college? He tests at a 4th grade level on spelling. I know he wants to be successful in life. He likes working with his hands and he really likes science but Biology is definitely kicking his rear end this year! It's the vocabulary! In some aspects, he's got the brain power to go far but on the other hand, he's very behind. What do I do and where do we go from here? thanks, Melissa

What book would you start a 3rd grader? So far this year, I've had him write 4-5 sentences about one of the books he's reading. He's doing ok with that ( except for spelling!) but I'm thinking he's going to get bored with this and lose interest! Is WWE something we could use easily? Thanks, Melissa

Ours is right about 10%. This includes mortgage, taxes and insurance. We got a great deal on our house! melissa

We love Alabaster's Song! I cry every time I read this. melissa

St. Bernards! Drooly and huggable! melissa

Here are some of favorites: Piggies - Audrey Wood Jamberry The Quiltmaker's Gift and the Quiltmaker's Journey The Country Bunny and the Golden Shoes The Philharmonic Gets Dressed Rumplestiltskin - Paul Zelinsky ( the illustrations are amazing!) Mrs. Rumphius - Barbara Clooney The Big Red Barn - Margaret Brown ( she also wrote Goodnight Moon) Barn Dance Melissa

Here's what we do for cornbread dressing: make cornbread ( I do this ahead and freeze for convenience) - leave out any sugar in recipe and add chopped onions and celery. Thanksgiving Day: get juice from turkey and heat on stove. Crumble cornbread, add a couple of boiled eggs, a couple of raw eggs, and a lot of poultry seasoning. Pour turkey broth into dressing until it looks moist, not runny but moist. Place in a pan and bake at 350 for about 40-45 minutes. EASY!!!!!DELICIOUS!!!!! melissa

I'm working on a project and was wondering if someone could help me find a Bible verse. I'm trying to find verses based on the meanings of my kid's names. I've found great ones for 2 of them but the third one is giving me trouble. His name is Christopher which means bearer of Christ. I've searched and searched and come up with NOTHING!!! Even switching words around doesn't help! Thanks! Melissa

This would be for my math whiz and my "I hate math with a passion" child. None of us understand it! Would Teaching Textbooks be thorough enough? Melissa

Help! We are using Jacob's Geometry and completely not getting it! Is there another ( EASIER) program out there we could use? At this point, I don't mind buying something else. We just started it in October and for some reason.....IT DOESN"T MAKE SENSE!!! We even have the "Ask Dr. Callahan dvd's. Please help this struggling mom who is starting to feel like a failure. I didn't get Geometry in high school and it still doesn't make sense! Algebra, yes...Geometry...no! HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Melissa

We will be pretty low key this year. Usually my whole family gets together at my moms for Thanksgiving. Since she died in April, my immediate family will do Thanksgiving at home. We could go to my husband's grandmother's but I won't get into that! We have to go there for Christmas Eve!:eek: This year I may pull out the china and possibly silver...we'll see. For dinner we'll have: turkey cornbread dressing mashed potatoes/gravy homemade rolls something green ( maybe green beans)( fruit salad ( my daughter makes a great one!) For dessert: pumpkin pie pecan pie another pie ( possibly chocolate or apple) Hopefully no tv during dinner! We eat about noon and then football comes on. In the evening, everyone just snacks on leftovers! melissa

Ria, try this website. They have all kinds of butters and it looks reasonably priced! www.mountainroseherbs.com/butter/butter.html melissa

Every year we make these: iced sugar cookies mocha nut balls ( one of my favorites!) peanut butter blossoms peanut brittle fudge peanut butter cookies turtles ( pecans, caramel & chocolate) I think we need to do a WTM cookie recipe blog thing! Melissa

Here's a beginner's view: I just started doing yoga with an instructor about 2 months ago. We do one on one lesson twice a week. I was in no shape to go into a class so I'll do this for probably 6 months or so. Never having seen a yoga class before, I just assumed it was relaxing and something I could continue doing as I get older. Yoga is not EASY!!!!!It's very hard! The movements are so simple but they really work your body. The longer I go, the easier it gets ( remember I was in horrible shape). Those simple movements make me more sore than any step class or weight machine! I have noticed some inch loss in only 2 months though! We also do a little Pilates - talk about working those abs! I noticed my instructor has a bunch of videos from Gaiam and there's a Namaste Yoga class on Direct Tv ( maybe the Fit channel). Let me know if you have any specific questions and if I can't help, I'll ask my instructor. Melissa

How about building them a medieval castle out of boxes. Here's a website that has great directions! http://www.squidoo.com/cardboard_castle You could then maybe make them a couple of costume, get them some paint and let them decorate it! You could also get a few craft supplies and let them make banners, cool hats, etc. You could maybe find some used books on tape for that time period. Melissa