Kirsten, which camp is he attending? My dd applied and hasn't heard yet. She applied to the camp for rising 8th and 8th graders.

Praying for peace and patience. DO what you have to do and realize we have seasons in our life. Hold on to the thought of July.

I am interested in what this means too. Does she mean eating some dishes from Africa and South America and Asia? We have done that and do that but I don't blog and we do it because we like to eat good food from anywhere.

Definitely they can be B students. Both of my older kids had subjects that they were not as good in. I don't give out A's just because they are my kids. In fact, I have to remember to tell my middle that she ought to consider the grading schemes at the colleges she is looking at because she is pretty consistently a low A student and that is reflected on her yearly tests too. Now that doesn't matter for my school since I grade without pluses or minuses. SHe might look for that as one of her considerations. Anyway, my high schoolers do get Bs if they deserve them. I probably would give a C but neither of the older two did work that deserved it and neither has the youngest yet who is only doing one class right now for high school.

I talk to them. They know that mom and dad grew up differently. They know who had depression, bi-polar, alcoholism and generally addictive, etc. The only one they are in contact with is my brother who is OCDish and they know that too. I think it is really important for your children to know medical histories since so many are inherited or co-related. FOr example, now there is increasing evidence that migraines and depression are linked. Not that the same people get them usually but that one family member gets migraines and another gets depression. I don't think it is linked in all cases but do know it is getting serious attention. THe knowledge of the alcoholism is weighing on one of ours who has that sort of personality. At least at this point, the idea is for that one not to drink alcohol. (She will have company from me since I can't drink any because of the medications I take).

Another one here who wears New Balance with shoe inserts.

I didn't mark the poll because I avoid some of the things in the category but not necessarily all. I hardly ever buy anything with artificial sweeteners except the sweetener if I am having guests who will want it. I avoid trans fats very well. I am also mostly avoiding HFCS. I try to buy non hormone milk. I try to use most things close to the natural state but I do buy breads, cookies, soups, and a few other things.

I think that there are different meanings for different people. I see two main groups- colleges that are tied to denominations- UMC, Presbyterian, Baptist, RC, etc and then non denominational colleges that proclaim they are Christian. In either group, you can find conservative colleges and ones which are much more liberal. My dd doesn't feel the need to go to a college with a denominational tie but does believe she should go to a college with a good acceptance of Christians which denominational ties do help with. OUt of the colleges she is most interested in right now, all but one are denominationally tied and the last one used to be but separated and still has plenty of Christian students attending. She is an old earth creationist and is not going into either Biology or Geology so there are no concerns there one way or another.

I would find out what your state does with children who have similar problems in high school. Not so that you can enroll him, but just as a way for you to gauge what high school graduation means to special needs children. I believe many states have these children attend educational programs until age 21 to help them get to the best outcome possible instead of stopping at age 18. If he will not be able to get normal types of employment, you might want to start checking out what kinds of employment opportunities are available in your area. I know that in this large metropolitan area, there are several programs which accept disabled youth or young adults into training and then employment programs. Whether he is eligible for such programs based on his disabilities, I can't tell you. I just know about them from newspaper articles and radio commercials.

We do school most of the year and most days are full day for the children once they are in jr. high. My kids didn't mind or don't mind and in fact, for some, it is very reassuring.

I am glad it all worked out Suzanne. I completely agree with the others about how gardening clubs are more like astronomy clubs, bird watching groups, etc, where the topic is the subject and are completely appropriate for kids who are interested in the subject. These clubs are different than scrabbooking or bookclubs where conversations are geared towards adults. I am a garden club member and my group meets in the evenings. I can't do much with them but do go to about half the meetings. My kids don't have to go and don't want to go but did go with me to a volunteer garden clean-up. I have also been a book club member and consider that kind of club very different. IN the past, we have gone to some astronomy meetings and bird watching meetings and they have always welcomed well behaved children. It all depends on the purposes of the group.

I know that I went to church as a child and accepted the beliefs. When I was five, I thought about what I was believing for a long time and decided that I did believe in God. Oh and I certainly knew that I was a sinner and that God didn't like that. SInce I knew I did wrong, obviously God who is all-knowing did too. THis is not age 3 but I am sure that others may believe that a five year old can't reason but I remember where I was and what my thinking was about.

WE do How the Earth Works and each 30 minute lecture actually takes us about 45 minutes since we discuss things, pull out globes or atlases, etc. There are 48 lectures and that will be 48 school hours. Then we have field trips,which in our case will include most of their two plus weeks of summer vacation in the Northern Rockies plus trips to local geological sites. That is a good amount of work for a half credit in Earth Science which is what I am aiming for. The level of teaching is above that which occurs in high school classes too. I am completely comfortable to have all this equal the 60-90 hours of class time a normal half credit class takes.

Here is my dd's report. In reading, the teacher made a very bad error. While my daughter was about to start the last section of reading, she announced 5 minutes left. SO she quickly read the questions and tried to answer and did. She then looked at her own watch and saw the teacher was off on the time by about 10 minutes. SO she went back and read the selectiuon and redid her answers. Now, she knew exactly where she was and could do this. I think it was very unfair to the kids. My dd thinks she started timing on one watch and changed to looking at the clock in the room or something. The total time called was right but the five minute warning happened with about 13 minutes left. DD also didn't get what one guy was doing. This was during the science portion. He had been tapping his pencil and he stopped early in the test. SHe looked around and he had his head down on the desk and wasn't doing the test. It was about five minutes in so he couldn't have answered the questions right. She had no problems with the science portion and thinks she did better this time. (SHe got 24 last time on science, I think). She always has enough time to finish the tests. THe one thing I was happy about was that on her writing test, she had enough time to write the essay and go back and check over it. SHe had been having trouble on the practice tests but she was doing those in the afternoon probably when her medication was running down). You can start checking on the scores about two weeks after the test.

My parents weren't hovering or cajoling. It worked very well for my older brother and for myself but not for my younger sister. My parents read a lot and what really amazes me is how my mom would translate books to me but not haltingly but in flowing language. She also made up stories for me as bedtime stories that were really wonderful. We also went to lots of family educational trips and our vacations were often at state parks where my dad made sure we attended evening programs and nature walks so that we could learn about our surroundings. We were given music lessons, dance lessons for the girls, Scouts for whoever wanted it, etc. My dh had a very different childhood but the one thing we both had in common was that we got books on our interests when we were in mid elementary school. I got a big book about birds and he got a big astronomy book. My father died when I was just 13 but my mom fully supported my going away to school and was really happy that I went to the University of Chicago. I think my parents did things right, at least with my brother and me. My sister, who was 10 when my father died, didn't have the same personality. SHe was an extrovert and wasn't motivated to do well in school internally. I think my mom didn;t know what to do with her since two kids had come out well. I have a youngest similar to her and I am trying things differently, including homeschooling which is keeping her from bad influences. The motivation of her is hard and I am still working on that.

I have a 16.66 dd who has severe adhd and took a cc class at 15. SHe also took 2 classes at a homeschool academy at 14. She did not need reminding to do the work. SHe did need me to check her on whether she was bringing the work to the classroom but she always got the work done. I think the difference was motivation. My dd definitely has executive function difficulties like keeping track of laundry, remembering to take pills (currently she is only responsible for the Fish oil and she forgets that most days), and other things she doesn't care much about. She is always very careful to get her work done for classes, have her equipment for soccer or for choir, be prepared for debate tournaments, and other things she cares about. SHe was this way at 14 too so I don't think it is the age, per se, but rather that she doesn't feel invested in the process. My dd is super disorganized but she manages to get things she cares about done as do I (a mild ADHDer who has gotten more moderately ADHD as perimenopause continues).

I am using LOF with my youngest. SHe likes it better than other things and she is learning it well and quickly. I am using ChaldDUst ALgebra 2 for my older dd who is not math gifted and this is not going as well but not that badly either. Haven't decided what I am doing with the older next year. The younger is half done with Algebra and will move onto Algebra 2 this summer.

SOme I am using as mostly a stand alone class and some I am using as part of a more total curriculum. I don't use the high school level so I don't have any knowledge of those lectures. Here is what we did with some: The Introduction to Music lecture series along with listening to longer pieces and attending concerts. Class called Intro to Music History. Right now, my daughters are viewing the How the Earth Works lectures. I will add field trips and make a review sheet and then a test. Done. On the other hand, my dd watched the History of the United States and also used a text and is doing AP test practice along with the AP test.

20 to 25 labs is much more than I did in high school biology and is about the number I had my two oldest do. Bring her home.

I am a Christian and if she is advanced, I think the Case for Christ may be a good resource. Let me just say that if she is a analytical child, you may want to reconsider the Answers in Genesis material since it may introduce more confusion. If your goal is to have child who is a Christian believer, you need to concentrate on the core CHristian beliefs and not get bogged down in arguments over how many animals could fit into Noah's Ark or whether the dinosaurs were in there.

Praying.

I don't think it was okay regardless of the law. I certainly did not have any of my riders have passengers at only one month with a learner's permit. After about that, they may have had a sibling but not others.

I will pray for him.

My kids don't like to call adults by their first name without a Mr. or Miss or Ms. in front except if they are in a co-equal position (like volunteers together in a kitchen preparing Sunday morning coffee). The homeschool co=ops I have been in lately want adults addressed as MRS. Lastname. The problem is I am not Mrs. Lastname. I am Ms. LastName or preferably Ms. Firstname. (I didn't take my dh's last name so it is incorrect to call me Mrs. Last Name).

My dd did British Lit this year. Her novels or parts of novels were Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green knight (p), Canterbury Tales (p), Three Shakespeare Plays (one was Othello, need to look up others, and she had done a number previously), DOctor Faustus, Pilgrim's Progress, Paradise Lost (p), Gulliver's Travels, Silas Marner, Heart of Darkness, The Dubliners, and 1984.