:bigear: I'd also like to hear about Thinking in Threes.

Here's the link to the convention. We weren't able to get all of the speakers (and vendors) we were hoping to, but Andrew Pudewa, Andrew Kern, Sandi Queen and Dr. Cotter will all be speaking. http://www.midlandshomeschoolconvention.com/

THanks for your help. I considered bringing something for him.

SIL is planning a b day party and planning to serve pizza. She know that ds has a severe allergy to MSG so she's trying to find somewhere to order from that she can afford, but won't have ds sick. My family and I pretty much avoid pizza from all but family owned restaurants that we know do NOT use MSG in their pizzas, so I need some help with options. She's thinking Little Caesars, but I thought they used MSG in their sauce. Thanks for the help!!! Debbie

Passing this info on to Ellen McHenry in case she'd like to make mention of it on her website. Thanks for the heads up!

I'll check and make sure that we've contacted all of these vendors.

I'm helping to plan a convention in Columbia, SC from July 24th through the 26th and would love to hear which vendors you would like to see there.

How did this end up working out for you?

I have a friend that told me that when her oldest son was about to eat her out of house and home she bought him a ten pound bag of potatoes and told him those (with cheese and whatever other toppings) were for him to snack on during the week. Anyone else have ideas for filling snacks for growing teens that won't break the bank? Thanks!

Me too. ;)

I am SOOOOOO loving this thread! I have just recently seen how a non traditional transcript might be the very thing that gets a child into the school of choice, I have one question though, for those who have BTDT...how does this affect being eligible for scholarships/financial aid and the like? Thanks!

An honest question as far as placebos are concerned- I've tried giving the baby teething tablets that were homeopathic and they did squat, after awhile I decided to try the cold tablets because sometimes teething can cause sinus pressure, runny nose and other "cold symptoms", those tablets worked. Now, the little pills look exactly the same and the bottles look so much alike I have a hard time finding the right ones. BUT the teething pills NEVER help (I've tried a few more times to see if it was a fluke, I mean, I already spent money on the pills, I should get something out of it) and the cold tablets always help. I really am looking for an honest explanation of the placebo effect.

Yep, I'm sure I'm talking about homeopathy. I used arnica sublinguals for dd who hurt her wrist---(I mean jammed it hard enough that she set it afterward because there was a bone clearly our of place and the pain was going to make her puke) and tiny cold tablets for the baby when she's teething to help relieve sinus pressure and help her not be overrun with snot. What exactly is the placebo effect? I mean, I've taken advil and not had it touch pain when I had every confidence it would work and then dh tried arnica for pain once only because I forced him to and was planning to go to the store and buy some "real medicine", but it worked and he didn't need to. So how does this fit it to the definitions??? :bigear:

I personally have helped my husband fight off a pretty bad infection with oil of oregano, so I don't doubt that it works. I also use homeopathic medicine with my children and have seen it work. And while you could tell me that maybe my daughter who dislodged the bones in her wrist badly enough that we thought she had fractured it and was in so much pain she couldn't sleep was taken in by the placebo effect, I know that my bitty who had pain and a fever subside within an hour of using homeopathic medicine knows nothing of the placebo effect. Not trying to be snarky, but some of this stuff really does help and I'm just trying to find someone whose done their homework and might be able to explain it to me. I may not be explaining it well enough here on the board. I'm new at all of this.

I'm researching essential oils and from what I've been told, the longer you use them the less you need because the EOs work on a cellular level and actually help the body to heal. However, with homeopathic medicine I know you're only supposed to use whatever it is you're using for 7 to 10 days max and then give it a break for at least an equal amount of time. Anyone with a biochem backround that can help me out.

The kids and I have been sick for the past two weeks (well at least one or the other of us have) and they would like to know what the difference is between a bacteria and a virus. Any recommendations? Kids in school are from 2nd to 9th grades. Thanks!

So does the book mention any way of translating the journal notes to credits for high school students (esp. a college bound student)?

Has anyone attempted this with 4 kids? How did that go? Thanks ; )

Thank you all for this. It's helping me to see how others approach this idea. I want to unschool, but with 5 kids from 15 to under 2 I think it might be too much to switch my mindset right now. They all have such different interests and I think that I'd make myself batty trying to go in that many different directions. Especially since the funds to do outsourcing are just not there. Anyone with a houseful that unschools without massive outsourcing? Thanks :)

Did you ever end up getting Read With the Best? If so, what did you think?

I think there must be some technical issues going on.

Dd had the hardest time with this until we used play money to illustrate what was going on. Having to trade larger bills for smaller ones and one dollar bills for coins. This was the ONLY thing that made it click for her. HTH

Just found two more to add to the list Chemistry Top Trumps and AtomMate Card Game I haven't played either of these. Comments from the Hive?

Dd10 is working on learning chinese. Thus far we have bought a DK book, Tuttle flashcards, have a language partner that we see once a week, and use chinsepod recordings to learn simple sentences in chinese. Our studies haven't been terribly structured, but I can tell that we're both learning. I would like a bit more structure, but I do not want learning chinese to become something that is stressful. I ran across these games kingka and was wondering if there is anything similar that anyone would recommend. Thanks! Debbie PS I've found a couple of chinese scrabble type games, but they use traditional characters.

Thanks for this. I was thinking about Elementeo because dd is all about anything artsy. She's okay with having to learn chemistry, but is less than enthusiastic. My reason for shying away from Periodic Quest is a review I read about the rules being crazy hard to understand. What's the deal with the rules? Would you be willing to do a post on "rules for Periodic Quest for laypeople"? These are the two I was leaning towards, but wanted some reassurance before spending any money.