I am definitely past my 30 days as I bought it the first week. It is definitely not beta...they should still be in-house testing. I am willing to bet that the August release will be shy of a lot of updates. There is constant talk of how it will be continually evolving even after the August release. I am going to be honest right now with anyone that is considering still purchasing it. Save your money. You won't be able to plan this year properly. They haven't met a lot of their dates for updates already and then the bugs and kinks to the updates are massive. Go to the facebook page and just read through the comments and you will see how much difficulty every one is having using it and how many people are requesting refunds. Even in the webinars when it is moving horribly slow for them, they will talk about their internet is acting up or the weather and not own up to the fact that there are issues. They were eager to get it going and left out a lot of steps that will drive paying customers away. From the massive interface changes and total reworking of the homeschool planning side of the planner, it really appears that they had no clue what was already available to the homeschool community in terms of digital planners and that their competition's planning capabilities far outstripped their original interface. I could have lit my money on fire and felt better about it than I do right now with a login to a useless planner that I can't even print anything from. I would say come back in a year and check it out. It may be pretty good this time next year. They should have spent this year in-house testing, then doing a small outside group testing, then releasing a bigger group beta (free) before releasing a fully functional product. I would not recommend it to anyone at this point.

My girls got really into the Hunger Games series as well as The Warrior Cat series. You could also try Percy Jackson. Mine have read the Harry Potter series as well.

It has been worth it for us. I did get in on the really cheap homeschool buyers co-op deal last year. My ds5 will probably have completed it from start to finish by the time our subscription runs out at the end of August. We did print out all the activity sheets though and I had him mute the books at the end of the levels to read through together aloud. This helped him to really learn to read the story and work on fluency. It has really helped him though and he likes it. The only thing we use alongside it is The Reading Lesson.

I did not have cycles while nursing and it took a few months for my cycles to come back to normal. However, when I was first pregnant...I would have a mucous discharge. Have you taken a pregnancy test? or you preventing pregnancy?

I am annoyed that I was lured by the pretty factor. I have barely logged on and quit getting excited after the 2nd Q&A which was pretty much the same as the 1st where they kept talking so much about what the planner is "eventually" going to be capable of doing. I have actually gotten to the point that I forget to check and see if any of the "fabulous" capabilities are there yet. I am lucky that I have hst+ already and bought a print planner for this year...but WPD digital was a huge waste of $$$ if you wanted to plan this summer.

I purchased it probably the week the beta was offered. I can count on one hand the times I have logged in to see if all the great things they say are coming in the Q&A's have arrived. So far....everything is supposed to be here with the August release.... So...for me...it has been a waste of money so far...and I kind of forget that I need to keep checking back to see if they have actually updated it... For me...it has definitely been a planner without planning capabilities...I already have hst+ and WPD digital doesn't hold a candle to it's planning abilities at the moment...

If your state doesn't grant rights to anything for homeschoolers at public school, then she could get in big trouble for letting non-students on campus. If she agreed to this and something happened on campus to a child or parent that does not attend the school, insurance will not cover anything and she can get fired and sued. Does she know this meeting is to ask for things for homeschoolers? or does she think it is a social call? I would not bring up homeschooling at all to be honest.

My parents were on board from the start. We live in a much larger place than I grew up and I went to private school as a child to avoid public school back then. So they were really worried about public school when my kids attended. They were ecstatic when we started homeschooling. My MIL and step FIL were supportive. They are go with the flow people. MIL works in admissions at the community college and has seen what the public school churns out. My 2nd set of in-laws on the other hand work in the public school system. My step MIL works in the school that my nieces and nephews have attended. I honestly kept it a secret and it surprised them around Christmas time when we told them we had been homeschooling that year. FIL approached dh several times. Step=MIL expressed concern to a friend of mine that had a kid in the school where she works. DH told his Dad that he supported me 100% and FIL admitted that he thought it was all me pushing for homeschooling. They haven't said any bad things since that year. My dd won outstanding 6th grade member of our 4H club for the whole parish (public school club-so it was out of a lot of kids). She won 1st place in an internet poster contest for 4H as well. She represented 4H at the state capital as a delegate this year. The affirmation in a public school club that she excelled was a big deal for FIL and Step-MIL (Step-MIL works in this parish). DD is gifted. She tests really well every year. Now FIL goes around telling everyone she is a genius. Step-MIL can't believe how polite and well mannered ds9 is around teenagers and adults. When he was introduced to his Aunt's (dh's 17 year old sister) boyfriend this summer at a pool party...he told him his full name, apologized for not getting out of the pool to shake hands, and told him it was nice to meet him. The 18 year old boy was blown away and step-MIL commented on ds9's manners and behavior. I was astonished that she was surprised at his behavior. I thought all boys by 9 were taught how to shake hands and look a man in the eye when introduced. She told me I would be surprised how 9 and 10 year old boys behave where she works. It is nice that they don't think I am crazy anymore and that they realize the kids are thriving. MIL recently told me that FIL used to believe homeschooling was like a cult. Oh my!:tongue_smilie:

Well, I started around 7th grade when I started changing in the locker room. I actually had to shave my underarms starting in 5th grade, but I also had a period and bra in 5th grade. My dd12 has not yet, but does not have hairy anything. We are all blondes at our house. DH and I are dirty blondes now, but all the kiddos are really blonde still. I recently helped dd10 shave her legs for the first time. She seemed to have a lot of hair though. It was long too. It was actually dh's suggestion. We go swimming a lot and it became noticeable that dd10 needed to start. dh didn't want her made fun of b/c she had hairy legs. She will be 11 soon and he said that by 5th/6th grade boys realized that girls are supposed to have smooth legs. dd12 seemed jealous that dd10 got to shave so I am sure she will want to soon even though I told her it was a pain in the butt once you start. I would probably encourage it by 13 b/c of how often we are at the pools and such. It does seem to be one of those things that kids make fun of easily and are on the lookout to pick on others about. So I would say when it became noticeable or around 13 at the latest for us.

Originally, we were in a pack that was popcorn oriented. They would require you to sign up to sell in front of stores for 2 hour time slots and you had to sign up for 3 times to sell at stores. They also pushed individual sales. I can't remember the individual goals as we never made them. This pack did have a lot of families that really could not afford scouting. We joined it b/c there were a lot of homeschooling families in it. However, it serves 3 public schools and is in a Methodist Church in a declining part of town. So the push for popcorn was so all the boys could participate. However, the money my son raised for popcorn did not go into an account for him. It went into the pack fund. A lot of the boys whose families could not afford to buy things did not sell popcorn or show up at the show and sells at stores. They would join and by Christmas would be gone. The boys that were active and stayed in the pack were the ones whose parents could afford it. The scouts though have requirements for growth and such and every year our pack was supposed to increase in size. It always did at round up time but the kids never last. So they were basing all the pack decisions on boys that wouldn't last and not trying to make the pack work for the boys who do stay and make rank. I decided to find a new pack this last year. We started going to a pack at a Catholic school. I was nervous it would be the same, but the info meeting alone was so different. There wasn't this big thing about parents paying for stuff and there wasn't a push for fundraisers. They did a great speech about scouts. Then they told the yearly cost for the pack, the scout magazine, and a set fee for the year to sustain the pack at campouts and such. I was sold right then and there. Just to know I wouldn't have to listen to how we couldn't have this or that at blue and gold b/c of cost or how we couldn't do different outings b/c of cost. This new pack had a treasurer's report every month that referenced last year's cost as well. They planned there year in advance in August and the calendar was set. Every thing such as blue and gold and pinewood car derby was at the school. Yes, we spent more money from our pocket last year; but it was the best scout year. I would start researching packs and find one that fits your needs.

I would say send her and see how it goes. I sent my youngest to day school and he learned quickly that his misbehavior (fighting, whining, being bossy) got him in trouble and did not get him friends. My son didn't go to public school though. This was a private day school at a Methodist Church. The teacher called me and told me his behavior the first week of school and I told her it did not surprise me he was strong willed. We discussed appropriate punishments and discipline and by the end of the year he was a changed child. It would have been difficult for me to implement the punishments and discipline that he received while also focusing on my other children and their schooling needs at home. It was what we needed at the time. I had to pull him a couple of months before school ended b/c of needing to go to my home state b/c my Mom was diagnosed with cancer. Mom is fine now. We spent 3 months there. My ds never regressed to the prior behavior before day school and home schooled with us this year. So I would say do what your heart tells you will be best for your dd and your family. There is a time for everything. Just because you put her in this year does not mean there will not be a time for home school in your future.

I think it is a comfort zone. I had 2 kids born in the summer and they went out all the time. I had 2 kids born in the dead of winter and it was depressing to be trapped in the house for me. I had much better post partum experiences when I could get out and get relief and help with the babies and visit family and friends. With my December babies, I was downright depressed and losing my cool with my older kids so easily. I remember spring coming and us being able to get out more and suddenly feeling like someone had let the sunshine in and taken a weight off of my shoulders. If someone would have said something to me about taking the babies out, I probably would have listened to them and become paranoid about it and wound up depressed and angry in the house all the time. You just never know what a person's reasoning is for getting out of the house. I have never been told by any dr. or nurse to not go out with my babies.

At 18, I would give a lecture on common sense and such, but actually talking to parents or the other teenager involved would be out of the question. This is especially true since he is a man.

I really hope that it works and that the parents can afford to buy it. I have a friend who does in home child care and I can't imagine how attached you get and how much you want to help those children. I don't see how if the problem continues that you can put all of your time and energy into trying to help this baby over your homeschooling. I hope it does work out for everyone though.

I'm going to make a suggestion...try them out if they have samples or demos or good return policies. I have discovered since beginning homeschooling 3 years ago that I can ask for recommendations and other people's experiences with a curriculum...but that may not be what works for us. I think researching is a really good idea, but don't put too much stock in other people's experiences or preferences. Try the math out and see for yourself. You can narrow it down and your children can tell you what they like or understand well.

I went back and read through it some and saw the cost of nutrimagen is a problem. In some states, you can get WIC no matter the income for dietary needs. All of our nutrimagen came from a script and WIC covered it. My one son was on the soy and once he was over a year they wrote a script for the prosobee next step so that he would get the nutrition he needed until he was almost 3. You could mention to the Mom to check into WIC to try and get the cost of special formula covered.

Milk allergy. All 3 of my older children had milk allergy. My middle dd had these symptoms and we had to use formula called nutrimagen and she had colic. We did use the gas drops. She was also on Zantac and Levison (? on spelling). The best thing though for her was to only feed 2-3 oz. of formula at a time and to make sure and burp after every oz. fed. I would honestly try soy formula for a bit and see if it helps or lactose free formula. I had one that switched to lactose free and did well, one with the prescription and nutrimagen, and one that switched to soy after breastfeeding. My last one I breastfed until he went to solid food but I had to watch my dairy intake. I don't think a ton of gas drops are really good or will really help that much. I mean isn't that like someone just keeping popping tums and ignoring the bigger problem. I would buy lactose free first and some gripe water. I would also feed smaller amounts of formula more frequently (almost like a newborn would eat). You will know in a day or so whether it makes a difference.

I buy new unless it is local. I have bought used before off of Ebay and such, but not from the boards. I never lost money buying used, but I did discover that my definition of good condition and like new condition was not the same as some of the sellers. I absolutely can not stand to erase pages either. So if it says mild pencil marks and I get a math book that I have to spend 2 hours of my life erasing (happened our first year), then I would rather have bought new. I have not came across things used priced where it is worth the risk if it isn't as described.

KOL isn't just for kids. It has a preteen setting and a teen setting. My kids have had email since they were toddlers. We live states away from my family and they could get instant birthday wishes and such. I switched the girls accounts to teen or tween settings (it may only be teen) last year and kept the boys with the kid accounts that limit emails from anyone not in their contact list. The girls accounts can receive from those not in their contact list but filters for spam and email from known bad emails. It isn't kiddie and I get a report of all the websites that they have visited. By requiring the kids to use the AOL browser, I don't have to worry about sites they go to on the web or email they receive. With the teen setting, their news page is always something trendy with singers and stuff and has homework helps. I can also put time limits on when they can log in and how long they can be logged in during a day (very useful during school hours) It sends me a parent report detailing their usage. So I would recommend AOL (within the AOL browser).

Reading the article, it seemed as if an advocacy group (Commercial-Free Childhood) is behind the initial complaint. I do believe that it is highly unlikely that giving children screen time and media younger and younger will elicit children who are smarter and advanced. I was so grumpy when the original vsmile handheld and the leapster were changed to downloadable games and in the vsmile case to something with a touch screen and qwerty keyboard. I just thought...huh? Yes, it looks like Mom's smart phone or tablet, but Mom can read and write and download from the computer. I was so glad that I had saved my older children's version of these items with the cartridges. My kids didn't get them at 2 and 3 though. My 5 year old really loves his vsmile and leapster (hand-me-downs) and now at his age he is learning from it b/c he has already been exposed to reading and writing in some form. It is also a reward. I don't believe the Leapster Spiderman and the sinister speller will make him a genius. I am one that believes too much electronics and media young can lead to a shorter attention span and less imaginative play. I think this group is trying to keep companies from foisting on naive parents products that claim instant success with items that use screen time in a child so young. Do I think you should sue for your money back over false claims? I don't think so unless it was detrimental to your child (and you can prove it harmed them). I for one thought the whole idea was ludicrous from the start. My husband's younger sister (dh is the oldest and still has a sibling in high school) made a big production of having bought this for her dd for her 1st birthday. She is a year younger than my youngest who is 5 so this was a few years ago. I just thought, huh? This poor kid's big gift at her 1st birthday party was a Teach Your Baby to Read set??? Having taught 3 kids to read, I knew that putting your kid in front of a tv with a video was not going to cut it unless your child was just naturally gifted. I, too, like the pp had one child who just taught themselves to read as a toddler. No instruction whatsoever. She was reading 3rd grade chapter books by the time she went to kindergarten. It was a blessing and a curse. A child who can read what time a movie starts or where and when the parade starts is a lot harder to reason with when you are not planning to attend a movie or go to a parade. Whereas, a toddler that you can "fudge" the truth with is a lot easier to manage and control sometimes. The school can't really teach them anything and they can't send them on to 4th grade at 5. I don't understand the rush to push our children faster and harder. Why not enjoy childhood? The toys that taught us fine motor control and dexterity are now labelled occupational therapy and only sold for expensive prices as early education and therapy products. What is with that? We are in such a rush (as a society) to have our children using electronics and media younger and younger that we are forgoing toys that generations of toddlers/preschoolers were brought up playing with and learning so much without realizing they were even learning.

I put off trying TT for a long time, but I can't speak highly enough of it. It really freed up my teaching time and helped my children to learn math. My 2 dd's had been in public school through 2nd and 3rd grade respectively. We pulled when they were 8 and 9 years old. I wish that from the start we would have done TT and just practiced our math facts with flash cards. It is so much easier and they seem to thrive on watching the lectures. I would try the demo and see how they like it.

Here are my thoughts with math. You need to write on paper. I think scratch paper is fine for a test or for standardized testing, but when you are doing math having the workbook to write in and follow the lessons can be essential to learning from your mistakes. Even a 3 subject composition book clearly labeled with chapter and lessons and problems written and solved would help a child to study for a test or learn from their mistakes. I think it is great that TT is self-grading and that you can put your answers into the computer, but when you get to higher math...you need to know where you are messing up in a problem to correct yourself. If my child writes all of their steps out and answers in their TT workbook and gets it wrong in the computer 2x and then goes and watches the solution step by step, then they can go step by step through how they worked the problem and figure out where they are going wrong and in most cases they correct their mathematical reasoning and computational skills easily. I prefer to think ahead to how they will learn to organize their college math class notes, problems, and such in the future. If I don't teach them now how to learn from their math mistakes, they will be clueless when they leave our home school. If you don't have your higher math problems worked out on paper step by step, you can't go back from an answer and see what you don't understand or where you made a computational error. Most college professor's go through each problem step by step and give partial credits for understanding the concepts even if you get the answer wrong. At least that was how it was when I went through College Trig and Calculus. Children in schools are taught to write their math problems out step by step as well as to keep an organized notebook with notes from the lectures and work related to that lesson in a manner that would be easy to study and review. It is a valuable skill to learn in math (especially higher math). One can save a failing calculus paper by showing knowledge even if they don't achieve the right answer to every problem. So, yes, I believe the workbook is a necessary component to TT (especially higher maths). If you can't afford the workbook, a 3 or 5 subject composition book is needed for higher math. If I used a composition book, I would go through with my child on how to organize their work with study notes from the lectures (the TT workbook includes lecture notes from the cd) as well as how to label their math papers in order for them to be able to study from the problems and learn from their mistakes.

My 5th grade dd used TT6 this year. Her standardized math score went from grade equivalent 4.1 and 27% to grade equivalent 7.1 and 73% in one year with TT. I put off trying TT b/c of all the reviews that it was behind, but it worked wonders for my kids this year.

Here it is 4th grade and 9 years old. Cloverbuds are for 1st-3rd.

They aren't actually ebooks. They are internet texts. They can't be downloaded and you can only print pages that are chapter reviews and such. You would not be able to print out the actual text book at all. You would just be able to view it. You have to view it from inside a web browser.