Daily A.M. Laundry Put away dishes Wipe down bathroom (toilet, sink, & surrounding walls) One weekly task change sheets clean bathroom tub, walls, floor, & door Dust and Windex all rooms Sweep & swiffer bedrooms, living room, & dining room One monthly task if needed (ceiling fans, mattress pads, fridge, lemon oil wood, high walls & ceilings, etc) Daily P.M. Clear table Wipe stove and counters Wash dishes & clean sink area Sweep & swiffer kitchen I live in a cozy NYC apartment, so not that much to clean. Dh cooks and the kids pretty much keep their rooms tidy. I also maintain the clean throughout the day. Doing it this way is so quick and takes no time at all. I don't clean on the weekends (except dishes), although I may wash my windows, the car, or organize the basement if I feel like it. I refuse to spend a whole day cleaning and I hate any kind of "big" seasonal clean, so I try and keep things manageable with regular daily stuff.

NY. I'm part of 5 active secular groups in my area (and there are about a dozen more that I'm not part of). I know of one Protestant group and one Catholic group in my area.

My kids can take a zillion classes at and volunteer at about 100 museums and a bunch of zoos, gardens, science centers, art galleries, and environmental centers all within 7 miles of my house. They can be on the beach in 45 minutes one direction, skiing or hiking on a mountain in 45 minutes the other direction, and at a farm 45 minutes in a third direction. They have the best homeschool group field trips (Ellis Island, NBS Studios, Met Museum, Federal Reserve, Ground Zero 911 Memorial, Christmas windows and Rockefeller Plaza tree, the U.N., etc) Dd's high school English class trip was to a Broadway show - and they walked there. My kids also have their choice of over 400 public high schools to attend (if that's what they want to do), each with a different focus. (But I'm ecstatic ds will be spending his high school years outside of a school building). They can walk or take (very fast and efficient) public transportation any and everywhere (and the city gives them 3 free rides a day).

Here's what we have on the roster for 8th grade: Ambleside Online Pre-Year 7 for literature, history, some language arts, and nature, artist, & composer study Various on-hand writing, vocabulary, & spelling workbooks (Jump In, Wordsmith, Daily Spark, the Painless series, etc) Saxon Algebra 1 Apologia General Science into Physical Science (experiments only + some text) Getting Started with Spanish (love this so much, ds will continue with it) Weekly CCD religion class (Confirmation) Health and technology will be informal Updated on 8/30/14.

Dd 42 weeks: 8lb 12oz Dd 39 weeks: 7lb 1oz Ds 39 weeks: 8lb 12oz My boy was the biggest based on gestational age.

Beginning defensive rant: I just wanted to throw out there that New York (City) has over 400 public high schools that all NYC children to choose from. About 250 are good, about 100 of those are really good, and about 50 of those are outstanding. So, when people say NY (I'll assume they mean NYC because they usually do), "where the public schools are lousy", then they haven't really done their homework. Rant over. Ok, carry on.

My girls both went to high school after homeschooling. Dd(20) only homeschooled for 8th grade and had every intention of going to high school. Middle school was a disaster and she looked forward to a new school and new friends. Also, the school she chose focused on journalism, which was what she wanted to do. Dd(17) homeschooled from 3rd to 8th grade. She chose to go to high school - but only a performing arts high school. Dancing is her passion and she applied and auditioned for 3 p.a. schools. She made it into the top p.a. school in the country and is now a senior. Her day includes 4 periods of academics (3 this year), lunch, and 4 periods of dance. This school has already opened many doors for her. For my girls, high school was what they wanted and they enjoyed it. Now ds, on the other hand, has homeschooled since Kindergarten and is on the fence about high school. I still leave the choice up to him, but he sees how much better he has it (socially, academically, even emotionally). There are no schools that focus enough on his passion (computer science) to be worth it. There are more opportunities here in NYC to volunteer, apprentice, and work at what he loves doing. So, for us it depends on the kid, if it seems they will fit nicely into a school culture, and also benefit from what the schools have to offer. For other parents it could be fear, impatience, needing to return to work, school reputation, pressure from family and friends, not believing they could teach upper grades, etc. I've heard it all.

I wasn't sure about it either until I started researching. I found that there are different "types" of dyslexia - auditory dyslexia (dysphonemic) and visual dyslexia (dyseidetic). Ds falls into the latter, less common category - which is why he doesn't fit the standard dyslexia model. Most of the books and websites I read deal with phonemic issues mainly. Have any of you heard of this? Does it seems so? If what he has is considered "Visual Processing Disorder" then I've read that it's a cause of dyslexia. I think I gotta stop reading so much. http://dyslexia.learninginfo.org/dyseidetic.htm http://www.understanding-learning-disabilities.com/types-of-dyslexia.html http://ccpsatot.wikispaces.com/Dyslexia+and+Visual+Processing http://www.epinions.com/kifm-review-115C-10057382-3A022CBD-prod2?sb=1 As far as handwriting, his is ok. He can write in cursive and in print pretty well. I just wanted to review it since he doesn't really write much at all. I probably don't need any other handwriting programs. I wanted to toss the review workbook because I feel he does know enough and it's just tedious busywork for him. This year I plan on getting him writing more. He expressed an interest in doing research papers (go figure), so I would like to find a way to ease into that slowly. Also letter writing and journaling. I'm hoping by the time he's in 9th grade (whether at home or in school) that his writing ability (composition-wise) will be somewhat up to par.

That is really interesting. I'm going to try it with the magazines and see if I notice an issue with rapid naming. On his report, under "Speech/Language Functioning", there are 3 tests. On the PPVT he scored in the 68th percentile. On the WCJ-III Picture Vocabulary he scored in the 79th percentile. And on the CELF Rapid Automatic Naming Color-Shape Naming his time was "non-normal" and his errors were "normal". The report states that his ability to translate sound to the visual symbol is within normal limits. Auditory analysis is high average and auditory closure is in the average range. Can you make anything of this?

He did not qualify for further research. I believe it was because his phonemic awareness and all auditory aspects were higher than they needed. I don't know. Hiring a neurologist to explain his scores and maybe give me a more specific diagnosis is a fantastic idea.

Thank you so much for all of these suggestions! I emailed back and forth with Susan Barton when I first suspected dyslexia several years ago. She was very nice. I've heard of Scottish Rite. I have to look into that again. Ds prefers typing over hand-writing and I don't understand how he types so fast when his spelling isn't great. I think he's mastered the backspace, lol. We are going over cursive writing again and I do have him hand write some of his schoolwork. Should I just toss that?

Oh, sorry. It was advertised (on a few dyslexia forums) that the college was doing a research study on dyslexic children between the ages of 8 & 12. They would do testing and give an evaluation with a report and a consultation and if the child "qualified", then he partook in their research study at a subsequent visit. Ds spend about 4-5 hours doing a bunch of tests: Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition (BASC-2) Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, Fourth Edition (CELF-4)(Select Subtests) Conners' Continuous Performance Test II (CPT-II) Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Fourth Edition (PPVT-4) The Beery VMI Developmental Test of Motor Coordination, Sixth Edition The Beery VMI Developmental Test of Visual Perception, Sixth Edition Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence - Second Edition (WASI-II) Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement - Third Edition (WCJ-III)(Select Subtests) Woodcock Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities - Third Edition (WCJ-III)(Select Subtests) Then came back the next week and did an EEG and visual tracking exercises and a few other things. For this research part of it, he is only a number and not evaluated. They bought us each a nice lunch both days and ds left there with over $150. It took almost a month for the report (he did parts of the research study before they knew the results and if he ended up not qualifying then they would disregard his input). It gave me some good info - much of which I was unaware. The report is broken into the following sections: Tests Administered Relevant Background History Behavioral Observations Assessment Results (Intellectual Abilities, Language Functioning, Memory and Learning, Attention Functioning, Visual Spatial Integration/Motor Functioning, Acade,ic Functioning, Psychological/Emotional Functioning) Diagnostic Formulation Recommendations Neurological Test Summary (Scores and Percentiles) Ds hasn't had any other assessments, ever. I jumped on this because I was so relieved that I could finally get him tested and evaluated without spending a couple of thousand dollars. That's all it was. Here's where I found the info: http://blog.dyslexia.com/dyslexia-study-seeks-participants/#.UtRhJdJDvDU , which led me here: http://www.einstein.yu.edu/cogneurolab/page.aspx?ID=35975&lid=26268

Wapiti: I just took ds for new glasses and contact lenses and asked the optometrist for advice on his issues (btw, she found nothing wrong with his vision or convergence or anything else). She told me to call the SUNY College of Optometry's University Eye Center. I left them a message inquiring about testing for learning disabilities and about vision therapy. I haven't receive a call back yet, but here is their web page. Is this the right place to go? I noticed that one of the doctors on the COVD site is here. http://www.sunyopt.edu/uec/eyecare_for_children/learning_disabilities . I hope I can do this for only the $300 since I already had him tested by a neurologist - which was actually free since ds agreed to be part of their research :) Other info: Ds is also very good at math and anything to do with computers His handwriting sucks unless he's specifically told to "make it neat", then it's beautiful. He absolutely HATES hand writing anything, though. The neuro report mentioned that his visual-spatial skills are in the "low average" range. Those books you mentioned probably wouldn't help that much, would they? OhElizabeth: I really hope this vision place will be the answer. The neurologist didn't put in any DSM codes. What's with that? It's so interesting about the auditory processing kicking in to compensate. Speaking of compensation, I do read most of his texts and other books to him. I'm slowly getting him to read more of it on his own and I'm attempting to have him do some composition writing (right now it's just writing one good sentence from one news topic of the day). He's pretty good with taking handwritten notes as I read aloud, though. I'm hoping to have him learn how to transfer that into a typed essay soon. I have tailored a curriculum to fit his needs since I suspected dyslexia 4 years ago. I do what works and then change it when it stops working. I constantly second guess myself. Having a definite diagnosis and a real "label" will help so much - even if it's not from the DSM, lol. I won't let it define who he is. I know he's smart and determined and has a pretty clear idea of what he wants to do in the future. He's thinking about attending public high school. Lord help me, lol. OneStepAtATime: Going for that vision screening as soon as I can. I'm just afraid that vision therapy will be too expensive and I can't shake the feeling that I'd be paying for something I could possibly do at home. Please convince me there's more to it. I want to believe in it so badly. I don't think ds needs anything phonics-based, so Barton may not be a good fit. He is definitely a whole-word reader (as a first method of attack) but will sound words out with no problem. We've done so much phonics over the years. But if the VT doesn't pan out, I'll look at Barton again. It seems a bunch of COVD docs are in my area, many from the school I linked above. My regular optometrist said that because it's a college, it wouldn't cost as much as other types of practices. An initial consult (which, in fact, could be all he needs for an accurate assessment, according to the website) costs $300, which is the best price I've seen. A main thing on ds's neuro report is that he cannot take in too much info at once. It's hard for him to process it immediately but he can take it in and condense it to be recalled later. Any advice on that?

Wow, You're the first person to describe my son (12 y/o) to a tee. He seems to have very good silent reading comprehension, but stumbles incessantly while reading aloud (losing his place, skipping the small words, saying a wrong word that has similar letters, e.g. "carpet" for "crept", guessing other words). The neurologist report (from a 1/2 day long evaluation from the Einstein College of Medicine's neurology department) showed "severely impaired" in most visual things like decoding and translating sound to the visual symbol) and "high average" with auditory things (phonological awareness, ability to synthesize language sounds, and auditory analysis). He also was shown to have "slow processing speed", but I'm not sure how that presents itself apart from reading aloud (he types very fast with minimal spelling issues - he moderates a large Minecraft server, has a popular YouTube channel, and does a lot of internet research on topics of interest, but he's a very reluctant writer in all other areas). He's good at those paragraph editing workbooks - finding all the incorrect grammar and uncapitalized and misspelled words - but not always re-spelling them correctly). His memorization skills are fine (he was even in a teen drama group last year having to do cold readings :ohmy: , memorize lines, and perform). Does this sound like dyslexia? Maybe just a general visual or information processing disorder? His neuro report included a list of accommodations (like extended time on tests, giving him step-by-step instructions, more repetition of material, and not presenting too much information too quickly), so I know something is there - I just want a more specific label for it, I guess, so I can do more to help him. Does something like Barton sound like it would be beneficial for us as well? Any advice from any and everyone would be great. And I don't mean to hijack this thread, so pm'ing me about this would be fine.

We love Channel One News. Ds prefers it over CNN Student News. He watches the daily show (~10 minutes) and we discuss it for 5 minutes or so. This was shown to my oldest daughter almost every morning in her public high school. There are also articles to read, weekly news quizzes, and other links. If you subscribe to the teacher newsletter, you get daily discussion prompts, assessment questions and a complete show transcript.

My ds is using Saxon Algebra 1/2 after doing 7/6 last year. We were going to use 8/7, but ds really wanted the hard-cover book. He loves it and is really good at math since we started with Saxon last year. He's not one for video academics (at all), so TT wasn't a good fit for him. He ended up just using the book. Since the book wasn't sold without the CD Rom, I switched programs. I like the way Saxon explains how to do things - it really resonates with ds. We do 30 minutes of math every weekday. My dd, on the other hand, is more of a visual learner and did well with TT and Math U See.

My ds (12, 7th grade) gets a 5-minute break every 45 minutes. We do three 45-minute chunks (covering 3 subjects in each).

Ds(12) currently does Muay Thai kickboxing (and soon Brazilian Ju Jitsu). For about 5-8 hours a week of training we pay $157/month (he's in the adult class for ages 15+). This includes a T-shirt & shorts (no gi), level tests, and "open mat" days where he can spend hours using the gym just for practice. We buy the MMA boxing gloves, hand wraps, compression shirts & pants, ankle supports, mouth guard, & gym bag separately. The gym is about a 15-minute drive from my house.

Are these reliable sources? I didn't read through nor am I able to validate everything. There are sooo many articles to google on this. http://bound4life.com/history-of-contraception-in-the-protestant-church/ http://www.reformedpresbytery.org/books/birthcon/birthcontrol.pdf http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2531431/posts

I'm just jumping in here with a few clarifications. I know this is difficult and I am not judging, condemning, or agreeing, just clarifying. And this is not for Moxie - whom I understand and totally feel for, just for those who are questioning Catholic beliefs. The bible verse referred to is Genesis 38:8-10 - which says (I'm paraphrasing) spilling semen on the ground to prevent offspring is wicked in the Lord's sight. But, I am aware that there are many laws and rules in the Old Testament that Christians don't follow since Christ came to be (some eating and cleanliness laws come to mind). The Catholic Church holds sexual relations sacred and it is for the sole purposes of love AND creating offspring. All the Christian religions followed that as well - until about 1930 - but Catholicism was unwavering. (As an aside, other reasons for why the Catholic Church oppose contraception are: "Rates of marital infidelity would increase because spouses could be unfaithful without fear of pregnancy. Since contraception offers an easy way to elude the natural consequences of the moral law, there would be a general lowering of morality. The Church also “feared that the man, growing used to the employment of anti-contraceptive practices, may finally lose respect for the woman, and no longer caring for her physical and psychological equilibrium, may come to the point of considering her a mere instrument of selfish enjoyment, and no longer as his respected and beloved companion. Furthermore, if people could separate making love from making life, then why would those acts that are unable to make life (homosexual sex or masturbation) be forbidden? With the increase in contraceptive use, it would become increasingly difficult to view sexuality as a sign of God’s love. [chastity.com]) - Again, I am expressing no opinion here. I just wanted to help with some understanding. :) HERE is some more reading and related bible verses.

I don't understand the appeal of owning a dog or a cat. People need to stop blaming their crappy childhoods for the way they think and act as adults. Grow up and move on. Fish tastes disgusting in every way, shape, and form (but shrimp, crab, lobster, clams, and scallops are wonderful) There are so many reasons city-life is best for kids Barry Manilow is awesome New shoes and handbags (and clothing and most items) should be for function and practicality only. People who commit violent crimes should have a hand cut off Summer is a vile season

OMG I have a picture of me wearing my Donny Osmond shirt holding my new Andy Gibb album.

We lived with my grandparents from when I was 5 to about 12. We grew up pretty poor in a small NYC apartment, but my family always made Christmas a special time. It wasn't until my sister and I were asleep (early) on Christmas Eve that my grandfather would go out and buy a real tree. Then he, my grandmother, my mom, and my uncle would decorate the tree and the entire house - red lit bells around doorways, brick patterned corrugated crepe paper on one whole wall (to kinda look like a fireplace wall), filled-to-the-brim stockings (oranges and apples in the toe), and the huge nativity scene under the tree. I would always have new Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve (my mom still buys us all new pajamas for Christmas Eve) and wake up and see new slippers next to my bed. Christmas morning we'd open our presents and have a wonderful pancake and bacon breakfast. In the late afternoon, we always went to my Aunt Pat's (my grandmother's sister) and stayed there till really late. Aunt Pat had a big family and I loved seeing them every year. Her gift to us every single year was a yarn Lifesaver doll and a box of Lifesaver packs (shaped like a book) - with $10 tucked inside. Anyone remember those?

I hate the deja vu Reese's peanut butter cup commercial with its creepy music...played twice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGaV7Hg1CUs And the commercial that makes me want to throw my shoe at the TV every time it's on is the one with the woman who seems to be (so unsuccessfully) trying to do a NYC accent as she pushes Greek yogurt onto people. I mean, I heard she's Australian. Aren't there enough NY'ers who could have done this?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ArcuCLQ1CY :toetap05: :cursing: :blink: :banghead: :angry:

There's a ton of diners in my neighborhood and I love them. The menus have everything - lots of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, desserts, appetizers, drinks, you name it. And you can have anything any time of day. Most are open 24 hours. I prefer diner food over some good restaurants many times. Here's one of my favorite diners in Queens. Click on the "MENU" tab to see how much food these places actually serve!