I am using THe Idiot's Guide to US Government in the GOvt/Econ class I am teaching. It is very readable, to the point, and goes into what the different plans were for the constitution and how it was finally put together. Then there are more sections on the amendments, and each of the parts of the government, and then some about state and local governments, It isn;t all that long and the chapters are kept short.

My oldest started reading right around his 5th birthday. He is the only one identified as gifted by experts. My next one started reading around 4 but have vision problems and didn;t progress very well until those were fixed around 8. She was reading before but couldn't progress beyond larger type books because of her vision difficulties. My last one started again around five but didn't become an avid reader until she was 9. She could read but didn't really like to do it much until then. She is more a math/science/engineering child.

I have been in co-ops where parents were required to be there. In all of them, we had exceptions for very special circumstances. These were things like parent undergoing cancer treatments, but I would think that allowing other children to participate but have that child not and the mom stay home with that child may be a better option.

I have two ADHD children. My oldest refuses to take medicine and claims he doesn't have it and never did. None of the rest of us believe him and all liked him a lot better when he was on medication. He was more thoughtful, kind, generous, and organized on medication. He also was happier when he was medicated properly. He is 20 1/2 so he decides now but I really hope that someday he will realize how much they helped him. My dd16 is more severely ADHD. I haven't had any problems with medicating her for a few years now since she realizes how much the medication helps her. Is she flat on it? I wouldn't call it that. She is more serious and more focused so thereby she isn't silly. WHen the medication wears off, she reverts more to silliness and what I call "verbal diarrhea". Saying phrases she likes over and over-- lines from movies or tv or songs or commercials. They are not the same lines all the time but annoying none the less. She would definitely be far behind in school if she wasn't medicated. She can barely pay any attention if for some reason she missed medication. She eats a lot and is low weight but my youngest was even lower weight much of her life and she never had any ADHD medication since she is not ADHD.

Please PM me and I will try to help you. I have some experience with undiagnosed ailments and also maybe some recommendations for you based on where you live and your dd's exact problems (is there anything other than insomnia and lose of weight). Actually even if those two things are the sole problems, have you talked with a psychiatrist? Those two things can by a symptom of major depression, which is a disease of chemical inbalance and can cause dramatic changes in sleep and weight. In my family, my sister when she was depressed slept for 18 hours a day and gained a lot of weight but many others get severe insomnia and lose weight. Look it up on the internet.

My youngest is osteoporotic. She also has low vitamin d. She was breaking bones in non traumatic ways when we lived in Florida, we had a pool, and she is almost the lightest skin anybody can be (red hair, blue eyes). Sometimes our bodies just don't convert the vit d effectively. It isn't just linked with thyroid. Most autoimmune arthritics have deficiencies too. So do people with many other diseases. If you aren't having any problems, I don't think your doctor will necessarily test you. But my other daughter was tested since both her sister and I were low. She is low normal and takes just regular amounts of vit d and calcium supplements. Both my other dd and I take extra amounts. DD12 takes 1200 IU once a day, plus drinks 3-4 cups of milk, and takes 400mg. Calcium. I take a megapill once a month.

She is very thin. Along with all her other issues, you really want to try to prevent her from getting either of the flus. With her low weight, her insomnia, etc, I think you really could get a very sick child. My dd had a seven month long headache in 9th grade and had bouts of very bad insomnia based on some medicines they tried for the headache. I have since thought that it was such a blessing that we were homeschoolers because she would have missed the year if she was in school. Your daughter seems to be on that track right now. Get her back home, healthy, and then see where you are. It may be January when she is fine but it could be next year. Many problems are not so easily solved by medicine and it takes time. (By the way, my dd is 102 and 5'4.5" and I was 106 and 5'6.5" in college, lost weight, fell to 98 lbs, and kept getting sick because I was too thin so its my opinion about her weight but something I do have experience with).

I have had many adopted dogs, most of whom I was able to keep till their deaths and one is still with us. None of them were aloof from the family and I think that is a danger sign with a breed or half breed known for unprovoked attacks. Many of our dogs weren't as playful as my kids wanted mainly because they were older or didn't know how to play well. THey would go after a ball and run around with it. Or some weren't interested at all. My current one likes to play a bit and does co-operate but he is suffering from congestive heart failure so we don't want him playing too much. For people who want family friendly dogs, sticking with good breed rescues is a much safer proposition. Both times we got a dog from breed rescue, it was a success. One we had to re-home when we were moving overseas since she had come a long way in her separation anxiety and we felt the long move, the kenneling when we arrived, and the trauma of the flight would erase all the improvement she had made. The other is the dog I have now. We had him for two years before he developed the CHF so it was nothing the breed rescue people could have predicted. He is exactly what we wanted- barks at doorbells but hardly at all otherwise ( I have slight hearing deficit and need the bark at the doorbell), gets along with my cat and my kids, friendly, doesn't need much activity, and small enough for me to handle.

I am so sorry. I am local to you so PM me if I can help somehow.

We stayed at a hotel recently that claimed it was trying to save the environment, etc, etc. So we were there three nights and after night one, we had opened the hand soap and had used it but there was still plenty of the bar left, same with the shampoo container (since only my dh with very short hair used it) and we had hung up the hand towel to keep using. Well the maid threw away the soap, shampoo and needlessly replaced the towel. We tried to be responsible but were stymied.

Well I had thought yes and it was yes for child one and will be for child two. Now for child three, most likely but time will tell. I was already faced with a choice about moving to an area where there was a good private school but little chance for any outside activities if she didn't go there (foreign country). Since this is my only extrovert and it would be a place she would already be having problems with depression (northern area where it is dark a long time in winter), I think she would have to go to school. As it is, my dh didn't volunteer for the job for other reasons and if he isn't forced to go to that place or some other similar circumstances, we will probably homeschool through high school.

We have had our oldest in regional science fair and my husband has been a judge at quite a number including both regional and school science fairs. His biggest complaint in both kinds of contests is kids not doing scientific research but rather some type of demonstration or half hearted attempt. Others had projects that were obviously done by someone else since they hadn't a clue what there own projects were about. The standout projects were when students chose something they were interested in if not passionate about, found out lots about the problem, had a true experiment, and could it explain it to the judges.

I was considering a high school for my youngest if by some odd chance we were still living here in two years and she got into it (It is a science and technology school and highly selective). Then I saw the discussion on my local gifted list. Apparantly our wonderful, super high achieving school district, has messed up ideas about grading and credits. They have classes at this school that aren't offered elsewhere in the county. They are more advanced than AP classes like math classes above the Calculus level and higher level science classes. Well on the transcripts, these classes don't get college or AP 1 point boost or even a honor class .5 point boost. No, they count the same as PE or remedial math at some other school. This made me think that her dad, my dh, is a PhD physicist and can teach her all the math she wants or needs before college and the same for sciences. And I can award quality points for those classes. Furthermore, I have decided that she doesn't need a very competitive environment to further her perfectionistic tendencies.

I got it in less than a week and I am across the country. I even had relatively short time when we lived overseas.

My 12 yo dd wants to play this game but she asked that I check with other mothers (or fathers:001_smile:) so she doesn't accidently do anything bad to our computer or get herself in a bad place.

I gave money to that guy's campaign! How dumb do I feel? :glare: __________________ Susan The Homeschool Librarian I believe there is a federal election campaign investigation ongoing about misppropriation of funds. We may yet see a trial.

My 100 lb. 12 yo dd who has osteoporosis just had hers upped to 1200 IU since even with 800 IU, plenty of sunshine (she was swimming and diving most of the summer, not usually putting on sunscreen and she is very fair) plus getting plenty of it in her diet, she had a deficit.

I do have to add that I am against the CFC lightbulbs and also don't like the mileage laws. We don't buy cars for idiot reasons but I want safe cars ( so not very lightweight vehicles) and my dh needs a truck for his hobby (woodworking). Others use large cars for various reasons- lots of kids, pets, camping, whatever. Our air is cleaner than it was when I was a child growing up. It is also cleaner than many parts of Europe. (I have asthma and have read studies on these things).

Karen in CO asked "Do conservatives recycle? And is recycling a political choice? I know many liberals self-identify as being environmentally active and aware, but does this exclude conservatives? Are there proud conservative environmentalists?" Well we do recycle and do consider ourselves sort of conservative environmentalists. Why I say "sort of" is because while I want clean air and water, I realize that we need to balance environment desires with economic desires. We donate to several groups that buy up or restore environments.

:iagree:with Christy B and Paula, the Elegant Lion. A) I only have dinner to cook and not even that always. My children are teens or older and they need minimal help. I certainly don't teach them all day. I help when necessary and in certain subjects. Except for two days a week where I am in co-op teaching and coaching an Odyssey of the Mind group and another day when I am babysitting youngsters while my kids play soccer, I only spend at most two hours a day on their schooling. I don't need to watch them read. I don't need to stare at them while they practice Spanish on the computer. Like Paula, I have insomnia at times,too and also I am up for a few hours often, unfortunately, before they get up. My dh travels frequently and attends meetings at very early hours at other times and if he is up, that usually means I won't sleep anymore that morning. However, I am not waking them up at 5:30 am. Like many others stated, I check back a number of times and not necessarily for all that long. Often I will check back while I am waiting for pages I need for the classes I teach to load or while I wait for a response back from someone that I need to proceed with some project. Then finally, I am like another poster whose name escapes me right now but she is married to Wolf. I have chronic medical conditions that often preclude me from more active pursuits when I am not feeling well. I can read, type, listen and watch. Scrub floors is a very different matter and needs a lot more energy. I save my energy for essentials like laundry,

Yes, those who have celiac problems which is an auto-immune disease that also has arthritic components sometimes. For me with a Sjogrens/Lupus/Rheumatoid mixed type arthritis, special diets have not worked.

I will start this off. I have been a long, long time conservative. I remember being 13 and trying to convince my mother and older brother to vote for Gerald Ford rather than Jimmy Carter. The first president I actually got to vote for was Ronald Reagan in his second term. I am not at all happy with the current health care bills, the bail-outs, the stimulus bill, etc, etc. I am also a fairly straightforward social conservative too. However, I am not personally as conservative as many homeschoolers I meet- my kids have read Harry Potter, we listen to some pop music (mostly older since we don't like too much of what is new nowadays), and we watch movies and shows that I am sure some would have problems with. I am in a co-op this year with very sensible dress rules and I am really happy about that since I am not a strict dress code fan.

Yes, many types of arthritis are autoimmune and there is no warning. You just get it some day. Unfortunately, I got it for then 17 yo,

I put in a choice I listen to sometimes, but I do listen to Randy and Andy (an local show), Fred Thompson, and Dennis Miller. That is if I am in the car.

I think these people who are hitting stranger children all have mental health issues. (I am including alcoholism in that category). This particular woman has a history of the kind of crimes that mentally ill are often charged with- disorderly conduct, petty theft, fighting, etc. One pervasive health problem in our country is that they closed the asylems but pout nothing into place to deal with chronically mentally ill who cannot live peaceably in our communities. Many of the mentally ill refuse medication and there are also those for whom medication and treatments are currently not possible. In my opinion, having humane and pleasant long term facilities for such people is a much better option than having them run around, grabbing and hitting our kids, us, and others.