I think our 11th grader MIGHT be ready but she's not even taken her first ACT yet, plus she still has to complete another year of English and history...now I suppose she could just 'dual enroll' those at our community college but I don't know...also, hubby I think might want to let the oldest have this moment as HER moment to be the FIRST to start college, vs having to share it with little sis 🙂 We do have them self grade/check certain things but they cant self check quizzes/test that I give them 1/2 credit back for on wrong answer as they will be seeing the answers 🙂 Also, self checking/grading doesnt help the issue of me not understanding or struggling to teach content (when they self check and dont understand something and come to me with it, I'm lost!) Thanks for you ideas 🙂

I'm really not doubting myself here, I just know my limits! 🙂 I'm graduating my first this spring (YAY!!) and we have used My Father's World the whole time (with Math U See and Apologia for 2 sciences and Friendly Chemistry for our last) and WOW, so much I do not and DID not know how to teach or couldn't explain! History was tough, government was tough (I sheepishly admit I know NOTHING about government, politics etc), Grammar was TOUGH (it was very hard for me to grade stuff when I'm not sure what what is 'right' and 'good' as far as their work)...I would really like to find something for English, History and Government that is super easy to teach and easy to do (BJU for history has been tough-I've let my older 2 girls do almost all the tests open book). Something very straight forward. Both my older girls (12 and 11 th grades) are moving on to our community college (oldest has already been accepted due to her ACT score). My first puts in the least amount of work and does fine, my 2nd does as MUCH work as she can and stresses herself out, checking and double checking her work. I think she'd be alot more peaceful with a different curriculum but I have NO IDEA WHERE TO START and dont want to spend a pretty penny buying different curriculum 🙂 It may be too late to switch for my 2nd but I have 5 more kiddos after her (next in line is finishing up 9th grade) and I would like to start on a new path if we can....any help???

She's not sure if she's going to go into an Equine related field or not =) She just loves horses and doesn't like Science so she thought Equine Science would make that last year of science a bit more bareable =)

We are mapping out Science for high school with my 15 yr old. She is doing Apologia Biology this year and will do Chemistry next year (I think.... maybe 'Friendly Chemistry'? Probably not going to stick with Apologia for this) but wants to do Equine Science as her last year of Science (we are doing 3 years of Science in high school) but I'm not sure where to start!! Thanks for any help!

My girls want to do this this year but I'm not sure HOW you do it? Do you go to a house, ring/knock and then wait for someone to answer and then you start sinigng? Not even where we would STAND! Some people have SUCH a tiny porch or only a small little sidewalk leading up to the door... So.does anyone carol anymore OUTSIDE (not in a nursing home, mall etc) and if so, what are the 'rules' or etiquette? Thanks!

I've looked up low muscle tone and it talks alot about babies beling 'floppy' and she never was floppy as a little baby (or now). She sits with a straight back (and my hubs and kids were quick to remind me that she really doesn't fall over backwards anymore unless she is pulling on a box of toys in front of her and it falls with her and she falls backwards =) She can push up with her arms, she can sit with her legs 'normal' (though she does SOMETIMES sit with them straight out if she gets excited) Anyway, after reading here:http://www.skillsforaction.com/infant-joint-hypermobility I will say I feel like she does a couple of these things but did/had none of the newborn symptoms/signs. We've been working with her a lot this weekend and i'm already seeing an improvement. She's been able to fall backwards and 'sit' more instead of go straight back like a tree, and she is cruising better, just after a few days of 'work'. I'm seeing more that although this MAY be low muscle tone, it is also likely a product of her environment. We've spoilded her too much (held her all the time, given her toys so she doesn't have to work to get them, if she is going to lose her balance we always catch her, always 'make' her stand vs letting her use her muscles to get herself up there) so now that my eyes have been opened to how much we've enabled her to be this way I'm making sure to 'work her out' everyday to undo what we've done) =) so anyway, we'll keep on working on it until I can see my pediatrician (she's just getting back from Disney World today) =)

Ellie, I am the OP, and I feel like you thought that the post you quoted was from me. It wasn't =)

^ Oh she enjoys eating, but we've still not gotten past stage 1 foods (And a few stage 2) as she seems to get backed up after only a couple days on solids! She's not doing any 'cereals' (as we thought that would worsen it) and no apples/bananas/squash. Its just prunes, pears, peaches, green beans and water (she will take about 3oz a day, she still nurses a few times at night and every 2-3 hours during the day) So I dont think I want to offer finger foods yet as I'm afraid she would choke on them as she's not dealt with any texture yet!

We'll try to limit walker time, but that's the only way she can be in the kitchen with me (she doesn't like sitting in her booster seat for very long, she's not eating much in the way of solids, we keep having to stop as she keeps getting backed up!!)

Thank you ladies, I'll text my pediatrician and see what she says. I think the reason she falls from standing like she does is she thinks its a game. She usually has a big smile on her face when she does it (stinker). She actually can keep herself in sitting pretty well but if she leans too far to get a toy she falls or if she's trying to see behind her, somtimes she'll fall backwards (most times she just spins around). She's pretty strong actually (don't know if that has anything to do with muscle tone). My 4th and 5th kiddos also used walkers and had no problem learning to walk/crawl. She is carried an awful lot and has been all of her life (her older 4 sisters could hardly put her down the first 6-8mo of her life til I was like 'um, we need to put her down so she'll learn to roll and crawl!) =) I've been working with her today and when she's standing against something, I forcefully SIT her down if she tries to fall backwards. Not sure if that will help or not =) I'm trying to figure out how to show her HOW to get into sitting from laying down and how to crawl on her hands and knees (how do you TEACH a baby to do that?!) =) Thanks for all your tips and words of encouragement, hopefully she's just lazy (and spoiled) =)

Just looking for some reassurance =) This is baby #6 =) She turned 1 on Oct 4, but is STILL only army crawling, hasn't gotten up on hands and knees at ALL (we have wood floors EVERYWHERE could that have something to do with it? Too slippery?), she also cant really pull up (if I sit her RIGHT in front of something that is low enough, she will grab the 'lip' of it and push against it with her feet and pull up, but she is VERY lible to fall over so I don't leave her alone) She cant get to sitting from laying down (she can go from sitting to laying down though)...she cant 'cruise' on furniture. If I stand her up against the couch and she tries to go to the side, 95% of the time she falls like a tree so I ahve to be there to catch her =) She sits up pretty good on her own but still has a tendency to fall over if she's concentrating to hard on a toy. If she is standing and playing with a toy (leaning against the couch with her tummy) and she starts to lose her balance, she falls STRAIGHT back, doesn't try to sit down or anything) She LOVES to zoom around in her walker, can 'clap' if I ask her to, will look us in the eyes, she smiles, laughs etc... Anyone else have a baby who was SUPER late in all this?? My 2nd daughter didnt walk til 17 mo but she did pretty much everything else by this age... Thanks!

We are wanting to get a Samsung Pro Tablet for my 14 year old. Right now she is using a Nexxus and has something on it called 'Famigo'. Hubby cant get Famigo to work with the new Samsung Tablet and we are wondering if anyone else has been able to do it, or has been able to install something similar onto the Samsung Pro Tablet. Thanks!!

Hubby had a complete rupture June of 2013 and opted not to have surgery as well. He did the cast for a few weeks and a boot for awhile. He is fine now and can walk fine and even jog a bit =) It will get better!!

We did try Writing Strands level 2 and 3 and nobody cared for them, so that's why I was looking for something a little different. HOWEVER, my friend IS going to loan me WS level 4 just so I can look at it =)

We tried Writing Strands and didn't like it (we are doing My Father's World)...I have Wordsmith Apprentice that I got free so I'm going to try that next. My girls I'm using this for are almost 14 and 12. Telling me what you like and why you like it OR what you DIDNT like =) I'm on a very tight budget-keep that in mind! =)