I am envious of all those books. Well, not envious, but I wouldn't mind having hundreds of books. We had quite a few, but having moved recently, we had to purge a lot of our collection, which was very difficult. So, I can relate a little.

We love EB White. I've never heard of Holling C Holling. We'll have to check out this series.

This is very good advice. Thank you :) I was a bookworm when I was a child (I still am), but for some reason, the books I liked back then do not interest my oldest DD. My younger ones pretty much love anything I suggest.

We have plenty of picture books as well as encyclopedias of (insert topic here). We do not have much fiction, so I was wondering which 3-5 works of fiction you would consider a must-have for the elementary and middle school ages. Up until now, we've used the library, but now I have a little extra money to spend towards our library, so please help me set up a proper library for my kids. Cindy

My 17 month old started resisting diaper changes a few months ago. He is much less cooperative than my older daughters were. The only thing I have been able to figure is that he has gotten pretty independent lately and doesn't like being restrained. This is also the time when he started resisting the car seat and stroller. I try to give him a toy he hasn't seen in a while to occupy him, and that usually works . Cindy

Thanks for the quick responses. I'll wait until they are tired of writing. That'll give me time to make the Science lesson more fun. Cindy

My kids (7 & 9) have been busy working on their own project, while I've been cleaning up after lunch, mopping and vacumming. They are writing and illustrating their own stories. They have a dictionary and their handwriting books as references for spelling and proper handwriting. To think that they did this all on their own. I am very proud. So, should I let them continue, or call them over for Science? The only reason I'd consider it is because we are so behind in Science. It's been one thing after another this school year, with the most recent event being our move into a new house. What would you do? Cindy

Freerealms.com My kids saw this commercial and asked me if they could join. I told them I'd have to research to make sure it was an acceptable site first. Upon reading the FAQ's for parents, I am hesitant to allow them to join. My kids are 11 and 9, and the site is geared toward ten years and up. I'm hoping to find someone who has experience with this site. Thanks, Cindy

I need to look into going gluten free for our family. I've heard from countless people how they were unaware of their own gluten intolerance until they eliminated it.

I chose other. My husband loves being with our kids. When they are enrolled in school, my children are stressed, irritable, and not fun to be around. There is a lot more fighting that goes on between the children as well as more name-calling and talking back. So I would say that their behavior is the number one reason for my husband. The second reason is preventing the spread of illness, the germophobe that he is. Finally, he likes the idea that we can teach our kids the material that we choose, not what is on the state exam. Edited to add that DH works from home, so he gets to actually enjoy them during the day. Cindy

When my second daughter was two, I had her evaluated by ECI. She has a mild sensory disorder in which her sense of touch is not as developed. As I learned more about it, I realized that my oldest DD probably has the same thing, though it's never been diagnosed officially. They are both different in their preferences, which is why I never picked up on both DDs. One DD has always had to have her shoes tied very tightly. It was very frustrating when she would break down crying because her velcro straps wouldn't stay down in the tightest position. Now she can tie her own shoes, but the laces are so tight and long that she has to triple knot them so she doesn't trip on them. She pulls the elastic on her pants all the way to the last button to get them as tight as possible. As a toddler, she refused to go barefoot on any surface like grass. Certain textures make her mouth dry or make her gag. It is very odd to me. DH is most like this child. He has the same reactions to textures, and he wears his belts as tight as he can get it. He has germophobic tendencies which drive me nuts sometimes. Now my other DD is like her dad in this regard. One of the reasons she didn't do well in school is because she refused to participate. The supplies, like pencils, glue, scissors were set in the middle of the table as community property. Well, she would refuse to do her work because she would see kids put their hands in their mouths and then use the glue or scissors. She had a substitute teacher for the majority of the year, and the teacher refused to let her have her own supplies. Back to the topic at hand. The other thing about this DD is that she needs to be intense in almost everything she does. Her hugs need to be tight, she is very rough in her play, she is constantly moving, you get the picture.

Thank you so much. My kids have been wanting some, but I couldn't justify the $30 price tag at the mall. My girls are very excited that I ordered them. Cindy

The top two broke through a few weeks ago and have been making their way down. Do you think this could be the culprit? I've been blaming his night waking and frequent nursing to the teething process.

Something your post made me realize is that he hasn't had a problem with cheese. He LOVES cheese and has been eating it for months with no bowel irritation. I don't drink milk, but I eat plenty of cheese as well.

I'm going to start with milk, since it's the most recent addition to DS's diet. Hopefully that's the culprit. If not, I'm going to enlist a professional to help us figure it out. How long did it take for you to realize your son was gluten intolerant?

Thank you so much for taking the time to go over the possibilities with me. Hopefully I'll have it figured out soon.

TMI warning: He is breastfed, and until about a week ago, his BMs were more liquid than solid, although more viscous than when he was strictly breastfed. This past week they have been more solid, but still normal, which is what I would expect from a baby of his age eating more and more solids every day. Over the past three days, he's been screaming in agony when passing a BM. His skin is irritated where the poop touched his skin, and he screams in pain when I wipe. Any thoughts? I'm 3 months pregnant, so maybe I am not producing as much breastmilk. He has had about 6 ounces of cow's milk everyday too, so I was expecting him to be constipated, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Cindy

I tried to work by subject, staggering the instruction, but I got too confused by the constant interruptions and bouncing around between levels :confused:. I'll describe what I've found works best for my family. I have 3 DDs in 1st, 3rd, and 5th. The curriculum I've chosen is very teacher intensive, but I wouldn't trade it for a student-led curriculum because I like teaching, and in some cases, learning along with my children. We have "school" six days a week, but I give each child two days off of those six, which makes it to where I can teach two children at a time each day. For the third block, we all work together. Our days usually take about five hours, not including lunch. Sometimes it takes longer if the kids decide they want more depth of a certain subject, or if they are being lazy :glare:. HTH Block 1 3R's with DD1 Block 2 3R's with DD2 Lunch Block 3 Hist/Sci Spanish/Latin Art/Music Cindy

I schedule two blocks each day, four days a week. We get through the first block about 95% of the time. About once a week, something comes up where we miss a day of Block 2, but as long as we get the 3R's, I don't feel guilty. Also, with the exception of handwriting, Block 2 is done with older siblings, and I don't require much more than her presence during those subjects. Usually DD wishes to participate as much as her sisters, unless she finds the subject boring. Block 1 OPGTR Spelling WWE/FLL (we alternate daily) Math Read Aloud Block 2 Handwriting Spanish Science/History (alternate daily) Music/Art (Alternate weekly) Cindy

I had this from IKEA, but ended up selling it in a garage sale because the openings are in different places on each level. It was frustrating for me and my kids to find the opening whenever we needed to take something out (or put away, in my case :glare:) I would take that into consideration. Cindy

Excessive tiredness and boredom when I was a child led my mom to take me to the Dr. where I was found to have hypoglycemia. The change in my diet made me feel so much better almost immediately. Even now if don't take care of myself, the symptoms return. Perhaps your son needs to see a Dr. I'm not saying that he has hypoglycemia, but that it could be something having to do with his health. Cindy

I'm not sure if this is what you're talking about, but I just took my kids to the zoo last week. I asked them to pay attention to how the different animals' zoo homes were different from each other. For example, the bats were in a dark room, while the monkeys were outdoors with trees. Over the next few weeks, each child is researching an animal of her choice that was not in the zoo, paying special attention to their habitats. My plan is to ask the DC to plan a zoo habitat for their animal trying to make it as close to it's natural habitat as possible. Then they will either draw or make a model of their habitat, depending on the ability of each child. Cindy

theretohere, I am thinking of combining these as well. I have HoP 1st grade. Do you think this would work? How did you combine them? Cindy

How big would you say is too big?

Sherwin Williams' Napery. It's a yellowish tone that receives many compliments from visitors to my home. Cindy