I did the bolded when my oldest kids were in middle school and started whining that it was boring and that they knew this stuff already. If they could pass the end of chapter test with a score of 90 or better, they could skip the chapter and go on to the next. If they didn't score 90 or better, they had to do the entire chapter as scheduled. It was actually quite motivating to them for the most part to prove that they already knew the material and get to skip ahead. It was really the only thing I ever used tests for.

I cannot use crinkly, plastic-y pads like Always. The feel of it sets off texture issues for me. I use bladder control pads for the most part because I have to use them even when I'm not on my period (TMI sorry) Poise is my favorite brand but the generic ones that say compare to Poise work in a pinch. I know they say you shouldn't use bladder pads for periods or period pads for bladder issues but I find it to be a sales gimmick. Period pads don't always work for leaky bladders, that is true. But I've had zero issue with my heavier than most people flow (I can't use regular tampons at any point in my period, I have to change them every 15 minutes) using bladder control pads. I have them and would be wearing them anyways, leaky bladders don't stop just because you are having your period. I think Poise might have blue ink on them, but they aren't plastic-y feeling at all. They feel very similar to my cloth pads. But don't rule out bladder control pads when you are looking for an alternative for your current pads. They will work just fine for periods.

Something I don't think I saw mentioned (sorry if I missed it somewhere) is using touch points. It is a similar strategy to what TouchMath uses but you don't need to use that curriculum to use the idea of touch points. Basically, you learn where on the numbers to touch and in what order. You do it until it becomes automatic. Some numbers like six and nine have double touch points where you touch twice to get enough points to make the correct quantity. One of my kids despised using manipulatives but still needed something concrete. This was a great way to give him something concrete to work with but not manipulatives or fingers. Since each number has exactly the number of touch points it needs, you never "run out" of manipulatives or fingers to count. ;-) Here is a link with lots of different takes on touch points.

I don't remember what they were called but when my oldest dd started(she was 11 going on 12 if I remember right), there were tampons that were specifically marketed to teens. They were the perfect size for her at the time and the instructions were teen friendly (i.e. didn't look like a medical device instruction sheet). I want to say they were made by Always or maybe Tampax.

Ds has taken to repeating word chunks, and occasionally whole words, when he gets ahead of himself or is trying to remember a thought or a word that he wants to use. It is usually just the last syllable of the last word he said. He sounds like a broken record or a skipping CD. For example, he will be telling me a story he wants me to scribe for him and he will get lost in thought for a second and just repeat the last syllable of the last word he said until he remembers what he wanted to say or until I stop him and coach him on remembering where he was in his story. But he might also do it when he is asking me a question, "Can I go outside...side...side...side...side...side... and play with the dog?" I wouldn't call it stuttering and I wouldn't call it echolalia either (I do that sometimes and I am very likely on the spectrum, on the high functioning end, but not diagnosed). Nor does it fit the typical definition of echopraxia either. It is almost like he is repeating syllables where another child might say "um" or "uh" repeatedly trying to get their thoughts together. I want to see if I can find some information on how to help him at home or if it is something he will just out grow. Further testing and such is not something we can pursue right now but I'm fine with researching and doing what I can at home until we can get him tested. The problem is, I'm not coming up with much that really matches what he is doing. Is this just a kid thing that somehow none of my other kids did? At least not to the degree that he does it. They may have done it here and there, especially when they were tired and just trying to keep themselves awake. But this kid, he is my youngest of 6 kids, he does it literally during almost every conversation we have with him. Anyone know what this is called? Short history if it matters: - turns 7 at the beginning of January - has a history of childhood apraxia but isn't in speech at this time, we do work with him at home though and expect him to start speech again in a year or two (he gets some speech in the summer) - a history of dysphagia with silent aspiration (resolved for a couple of years now) - lots of texture issues, both food and things that touch him - No other dx's but I strongly suspect he may also be somewhere on the spectrum, we just don't have enough proof yet to force insurance to pay for the testing and don't have any affordable options near us to private pay. He is quirky enough to make people notice but not quite quirky enough to be for sure ASD. GP agrees and is helping us document. - He is struggling more than I would like to see at learning to read. He actually has fantastic phonemic awareness, can and does encode words constantly of his own volition to type or write them but he would rather walk on Legos barefoot than read something himself or try to decode a word. We use a lot of O-G influenced materials and lessons with him.

Being a former military wife, I've had lots of washing machines. Some that we bought, some that came with the house we were renting, some that we bought or were given second hand just to get by for a while... My top three brands that I've had over the years, in no particular order, are Whirlpool, Kenmore (older Kenmores mostly) and Speed Queen. Currently, I have a matched set of Whirlpools with a top loading agitator-less washing machine. I have absolutely zero complaints about either machine even though I had my reservations when we got the agitator-less washer. But in the year, year and a half maybe, that we have had this set, it has worked like a dream.

I think it was Haneda that we went through when my Benedryl was confiscated. We went through both Narita and Haneda on different trips. Or maybe it was when we went through Japanese customs when we landed in Okinawa because we flew in from South Korea. Anyways, I don't even remember why it was confiscated. I just remember I was ready to get home and didn't really care that they wanted to confiscate it so I didn't fight it. I was just pointing it out because Benedryl is something people commonly bring on flights to help them sleep. A lot of times, if you haven't traveled internationally a lot, it can be surprising what seemingly innocuous things they can decide to confiscate in customs. Unless it is something like illegal drugs or something like that, you aren't usually in any legal trouble when you have an item confiscated in customs, it's just a hassle that can be easily avoided with a little bit of extra planning, like getting a prescription for something you need for a medical condition that you usually buy over the counter, like Benedryl.

It looks like Air New Zealand does have snacks in flight but you have to buy them. I would honestly just budget for that because I hate being overburdened with stuff to carry in the airport and on the plane. The fewer things I have to juggle and carry through immigration and customs, the happier I am. I'm a very light traveler, even when I was toting toddlers and kids through international flights. YMMV. I couldn't find anything immediately about the steamed towels on Air New Zealand flights but I find it odd that some airlines don't offer them. We've flown on American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, military Space-A, ANA, and China Eastern. All offered steamed towels on landing on overnight international flights and a few snacks when asked for, free of charge. I would be careful with the fiber supplements on a long flight if you don't already take them. My husband would probably be happier later if he took them on or before a flight but I would end up with the runs if I took it! Not the way I would want to start a trip or vacation! The difference between us is that dh has anxiety about using public restrooms and already has bowel issues even at home. I don't have any issue using public restrooms and don't need any kind of supplement to help me be regular. I actually have to watch my fiber intake lest I end up in the bathroom more often than I would like! Fiber supplements aren't a bad suggestion at all, I would just use caution and possibly test it out before using it on the trip so you know how your body reacts to it. The tylenol is a great idea too. I forgot about the time we landed in South Korea with an hour layover before the last leg of our flight before going home to Japan and my then 3yo son got the only ear infection he ever had as a kid! Luckily, another traveler took pity on us and gave us a dose of children's motrin to give him but that layover and last leg of our trip were flat miserable for all of us. I had my ear drum rupture on take off on one of our trips to Japan as well. I had just gotten over a cold and my ear didn't hurt when we boarded the plane but it was excruciating when it ruptured under the pressure of taking off! So definitely bring some kind of pain reliever with you. Lastly find out what is forbidden or heavily monitored when brought into New Zealand. Some countries can have strange little things that can get confiscated in customs or will be carefully examined causing you to have to wait in customs until you are cleared. I had Benedryl capsules confiscated in customs when we landed in Tokyo once. One couple we met on the plane had to wait two hours in customs while the customs agents watched a dvd they had in their carry on to check it for porn. That actually happened to quite a few people we knew while we were in Japan. When we landed in London, we got through customs no problem but immigration took forever because we had unusual paperwork that took a while to get everyone's ok on. My point is take the time to research the New Zealand immigration and customs process so there is less of a chance of an unpleasant surprise or delay when you land.

We made several long flights back and forth to Japan when we lived there and then a long trip from Japan to England and back. Based on those experiences, here is what I would bring... Socks - I always brought a pair of slipper socks on long flights because my feet are always cold on long flights. Lip balm To freshen up before landing, they always gave us a steamed towel to wipe your face with. If you don't want to use their steamed towels, you might consider bringing some kind of facial wipe. On the same note, I'd recommend no makeup on long overnight flights. Also to freshen up with.... breath mints or those listerine strips travel size deodorant small brush and ponytail ties if you have long hair any medications that you take in the morning or at bedtime some kind of pouch or bag that you can access easily for your passports and any other documentation you need to carry with you. Waterproof is a plus in case it's not all sunny skies when you are dragging your luggage around. More than one kind of in flight entertainment, you are going to be sitting there for a long time, possibly too excited/anxious to sleep. Bring a couple of different things to keep yourself entertained like puzzle books, something to read, perhaps a movie of your choice downloaded to your phone in case you don't like the in flight movie. Some flights had the individual tv screens in the back of the seat in front of you. Those were awesome because you had lots of different "channels" to choose from with different movies, cartoons, documentaries, travel shows about your destination, a games channel and a GPS channel so you could "see" where the plane was in close to real time. I never had any problem on international flights asking the attendant for a snack between meals. They always had cookies, pretzels, trail mix, jello, fruit cups and drinks that they would give you free of charge. All you had to do was ask and they were more than happy to oblige on international flights. I've never seen a domestic flight with quite the same amount of snack food available but the international flights I went on definitely did. Unless you have allergies to be concerned about or a picky eater, I wouldn't bring much in the way of snacks. It's just more stuff to carry.

I only laugh because I can commiserate lol! I like flowcharts in general as a way to present information but that flowchart in BFSU is a bear! lol

^^^This!!! It never hurts to ask! The worst they could say is no! Especially since the grade was so close, I would definitely ask if academic probation is an option. Most scholarship/financial aid programs I've been a part of always gave a semester of academic probation before pulling funding from a student because life happens sometimes!

Doesn't have to be a dangerous worksite for accidents to happen. Paint cans, extension cords for lights, fans or paint sprayers, and floor tarps can be tripped over, ladders can fall over injuring the person on the ladder and anyone around the ladder when it falls, tools can slip out of someone's hand and cause injury to themselves or others... Just not something I would want to risk if it were me.

Yes I would be angry with all parties involved. Are you paying these worker/friends? Are they licensed, bonded and insured as a business or are they just friends who are doing you a favor for a very low price or possibly free? I can't imagine a liability insurer being happy that they are letting random people, friends or not, on to a work site where they can possibly hurt themselves and make a claim. Or what if something went missing from the house? I know you aren't moved in yet but it is not uncommon around here at all for copper pipes or high end faucet and light fixtures to go missing when a house is vacant for any amount of time. If the contractor is letting people into the worksite and something goes missing or gets broken while they are working... It just isn't a good practice. I would be livid even if it was their own mother they let in the house. If she wasn't one of the workers working on the house, she has no business being there. And the friends... I know this is passive aggressive and I shouldn't do it but I would be tempted to not send them an invite to my housewarming party and when they asked why they didn't get an invite I would say something along the lines of I didn't want them to waste their time seeing a house they had already been through and toured. Lol

I think the target audience for the any type of crate are not the type of people who actually would go to Walmart for 5 dollars worth of supplies for experiments and craft projects. The target audience are the type of people who would rather have everything they need shipped to their door and are willing and able to pay for someone to curate all the needed items and tell them exactly what to do with those items to make it work. I personally don't like crates for that reason. I would rather gather the items myself and figure out which experiments or crafts I want to do for a topic on my own. Crates in themselves are not bad, imo, I am just not a member of their target demographic. If some parents need that amount of hand holding and prep done for them to do fun projects with their kids, then I think it is great that crates exist for them. But crates don't work for me, and that's ok too. Now, that said, a box full of supplies and no instructions unless you "upgrade" your subscription? If that wasn't immediately apparent when you ordered,that some boxes would be just supplies and no instructions unless you bought the top tier subscription, that is extremely lame. I would be mad too if anything I bought required me to "upgrade" just to get the instructions on how to use it. Even if that was blatant when I was shopping their site, I would probably go else where because that is just asinine that you would have to pay extra for the instructions.

Also ceramic or stoneware baking pans need extra time, 10 to 15 minutes more usually. My cupcake/muffin pan is stoneware, hence the reason for longer bake times than most people are accustomed to using. Another possible reason for quick breads being dry is overmixing. You should really mix quick breads by hand instead of a mixer or bread machine. A mixer will over mix in the blink of an eye if you are not careful. Quick breads should be mixed just until combined and not a single stir more. It should be lumpy and not smooth. A few small pockets of flour here and there are fine. Think pancake batter, not cake batter. If you mix them smooth like a cake batter, your muffins will come out dry every time.

See, I was going to suggest 325-350 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes because with my oven and my muffin pan and my recipes, this is about how hot the oven needs to be and how long it takes for them to be done to my liking. It really does vary greatly.

I don't think there is a standard temperature for anything really. It all depends on the recipe, your elevation and climate, the calibration of your oven and how well it distributes heat, even the type of pan you use (glass, metal, ceramic, lining with parchment, lining with foil etc) can all effect the ideal temperature and bake time for any recipe. If the outside of the bread is getting overdone before the middle is getting done, I would try lowering the temperature by 25 degrees or so and see if that helps. Your oven might run hotter than the indicated temperature. You can use an oven thermometer to check if you want or just try lowering your temperature until it comes out right. If the recipe has a lot of sugar in it, you may need to cover it once it is just starting to turn brown. A recipe with a lot of sugar, like a cake, can tend to brown too quickly on the outside. Tenting a piece of foil over it can help keep it from over browning and help it retain moisture so it doesn't dry out. You can just put it in covered with foil and remove it for the last 25% of the bake time so it will brown on top or cover it for the remaining bake time once it is brown enough for your liking but still under cooked in the middle.

I had a programming class in college where you had to turn both an electronic version and a paper version of your code that was assigned for homework. The number of people who waited until they got to classroom to print out their code was almost funny. The panic that ensued when the printer ran out of toner or paper or the power went out or the printer just refused to work for one reason or another... you'd think the room was on fire or something lol. I will admit I did wait until class to print a few times but most of the time I was quite glad I had a printer at home to print my paper copy on if for nothing else to avoid the extremely long printer queue from everyone else doing the same thing lol.

Updated here

So an update for anyone who is curious.... I decided to really focus on one or two reversals at a time and he has made HUGE progress. I started with b/d. I had always taught my kids "b starts with the baseball bat. d starts with the donut" to be able to tell them apart. I thought to myself, "This approach obviously isn't working for this kid" so I searched for other approaches. He has always had a nearly perfect sense of right and left, even when he was a non-verbal toddler. So we spent an entire day learning about our "built-in b and d detectors" also known as your hands lol. We held up our hands, palms facing away from us and thumbs extended toward the opposite hand. Then we looked to see which hand the straight line part of the letter lined up with. I even drew his hands with washable marker (which he loved) to help him remember. We played a Simon says like game with holding up his "b hand" and his "d hand'. He loved all of it! For a few days after, we did an activity everyday about b/d and practiced using his "b/d detectors" He got to the point that he could tell the difference really quickly and didn't even need to put his hand up to the letter to figure it out. Apparently I was just using the wrong trick with this particular kid to learn b/d. The next letter I've tackled with him is u/n. He loves stories and he loves animals. Iif you can tell an animal story, you are his new best friend lol. So I made up a story about an umbrellabird who lives in the Alphabet Forest where all the trees are shaped like letters of the alphabet. We looked at the shapes of all the letters and discussed whether or not the letter was too tall and skinny or too round on top so the nest would fall off or if the top of the letter came together too steep and the bird would get its foot stuck in the branches. As it turns out, the only letter tree suitable for an umbrellabird nest is the letter U tree, lol. ;-) The umbrellabird cannot make a nest on the top of the n, it is too round and the nest would roll off. He will quite proudly now point out the letter u now wherever he sees it and the letter n that the umbrellabird's nest will roll off of, lol. I also changed direction with his language arts curriculum, partly because of circumstance and partly because of the issues he has been having. Knock on wood, he is doing really well with this new curriculum. I don't follow it to a t and I do make changes to make it more O-G and better suited for our family beliefs overall but we are all breathing easier now. He still doesn't love reading but there is a lot less fighting him to get it done. Today we played a game with a letter dice (I grabbed the one from Scattergories lol) creating word family words (a reading approach I've never been a fan of) but he was effortlessly reading all the word family words and nonsense words he made (with more than 90% accuracy and almost no help) and ASKING to keep playing! After 4 rounds, I told him we needed to move on but he requested that we play that game every day now as part of school!?!? He has never asked to play more reading games much less ask to do one everyday! So I'm going to keep tackling the letter reversals one by one and practicing them in ways that I know will stick with him. It's alot of work but it's a good thing he is my youngest and for right now only hs'ed kid, so I have more time to do it than when I was homeschooling a houseful of kids still. And we will stick with this new curriculum despite the fact that I didn't like it when I first looked at it because it wasn't O-G or Spalding based and used methods I didn't care for and didn't align with our family values but I'm finding out that this curriculum seems to be a great fit for this season in life despite all that and I am able to adapt it easily when necessary. Thanks everyone for all the input. It really did help me think very critically about what we were doing and why and make some needed changes I'm not ready to say if he is or isn't dyslexic yet, I think he could still swing either way but he is making positive progress for now.

I think you were asking me? He is homeschooled. He received speech services through the schools from the time he was 3 years old until he was 5 almost 6yo. He went to the school's public pre-k the year he was 3 and turned 4 and it was horrible so we pulled him out during the spring semester and didn't send him back but he still had speech services through the school until he "graduated" from speech. His case was not completely closed though. Everyone in the IEP meeting, including me, suspects that he will need speech services again around the end of second grade most likely. It's been more like put on "pause" sort of because while he was age appropriate when he "graduated" he is not expected to remain that way. I have an update I am working on for these threads. ;-)

My ex-husband was up to his eyeballs in young airmen and women who couldn't function independently either and wanted him, as their superior, to be their mommy when their mommy couldn't be there. He also had to deal with mommies calling to check on their darling child and make sure they were "insert any number of odd and strange things to ask someone's boss if they could check to make sure their baby/boss's subordinate was doing". For me, it is all about context and not just dropping the reins in their lap and walking away. Of course I would not let a child who seemed to enjoy the rush a little too much continue to cram at the last minute, even if they could get good grades that way. There is likely a mental health issue that needs to be addressed there, or at least ruled out, if they thrill seek that much. I also would not let a child slide down into the deep pit of despair over a bad grade or other consequence for their poor choices. Kids, in general, are resilient by nature and if my child is becoming emotionally troubled by the choices they make, then again, ime it is time to consult a doctor and find out why they are lacking natural child-like resilience. OP, I totally get why it was hard to watch her make things difficult on herself. And to be honest, if she gets a good grade on this project, any advice for doing things differently next time still might fall on deaf ears. But I have no doubt that if she continues to wait until the last minute to do things, it will result in unexpected consequences for her eventually. And I also have no doubt you will be there to lovingly help her dust her self off after the fall and help her learn from her mistake to avoid future consequences. Sixth grade is such a hard age to parent. They act and talk like big kids/almost teens and want to be handed more responsibility in most cases, like your dd not wanting your help, but they don't have everything as figured out as they think they do. And as hard as it is to give them more freedom to make their own mistakes, I really do believe that most kids, even kids with mental and emotional issues that are being treated, can learn from their mistakes when you are still there to be their safety net. It might not work for all kids, but you are the expert on your kid and it sounds like you've handled your kid's potential mistake beautifully so far. Even if you want to scream on the inside lol.

I very likely have Asperger's but was never diagnosed as a kid in the 80's and early 90's because "there is nothing wrong with you that discipline won't cure" :-/ I have EF issues associated with the likely-Asperger's diagnosis. I still struggle with it in my 40s. Anyways, school was never hard for me and I could usually wait until the last minute to do a project and still pull an A, all the way through college. When school is that easy, you get bored and a bored teen/young adult who is not challenged can be a dangerous thing, especially when your parents have always been there to "fix the problem" when you failed in the past. I made quite a few less than brilliant choices during that time in my life. Nothing criminal but definitely things that affected my future. My dad asked me when I was in my early twenties, "We warned you and told you and tried to help you not make mistakes, why do you seem intent on making every mistake in the book?" My answer? "Sometimes reading "the book" or being told isn't enough, I have to make my own mistakes before I can learn from them." Of course, he blew me off saying that I was intentionally making my life more difficult than it had to be and I should just learn how to learn from the mistakes of others. We just have to agree to disagree. A lot. I raised my kids completely the opposite way. I let them fail from the time they were young children, preschool and elementary school age. Of course, I didn't let them make life changing mistakes at that age but I let them choose to procrastinate and then let them feel the consequences of that choice. Since they were homeschooled, the consequence wasn't a bad grade, it was having to stay home with me on the weekend to redo the work until it was acceptable while everyone else got to go play with friends or go fishing with their dad. They eventually went to brick and mortar school in late middle school and high school. Having been allowed to fail before they got there served them well, it didn't take much time at all for them to adjust to not procrastinating to make the best grades they could. It is hard to watch them fail but I would rather they fail when they are young and the mistakes are not life changing than to walk the path that I did. I would rather help them up and show them how to dust themselves off and try again when they are children and preteens in the safety net of my home than help them navigate the consequences of choices that have life altering consequences when they are teens and young adults. YMMV.

If you aren't worried about it being at all healthy, use a yellow cake mix and make cupcakes with blueberries added. If you can't get yellow cake mix in your part of the world, there are tons of recipes for from-scratch yellow cake online. Cake flour makes from scratch cakes moist and fluffy but if you can't get it, put two tablespoons of corn starch in for every cup of flour and sift it before putting it in the batter. Sift it like your life depends on it. I usually sift it 5 or 6 times before I'm happy enough with the consistency to put it in the batter.

A .jpg file will add a white background when you save as a .jpg file even if the background is transparent in the program you are making the image file in. For an image to retain its transparent background, it would need to be saved as a .png file. .GIF, .TIF and .BMP also support transparency in the original image. If the image you are working with is already a .jpg file, you can remove the white background and resave the image in a file type that supports transparency but I don't know if Paint will do that to be honest. Photoshop and GIMP I know for a fact will allow you to do that though.