Our old inkjet doesn't work more than it does work these days. It's time to replace it. The ink cartridges for it were expensive ($40 each), and we do a lot of printing. I've heard that the cost-per-copy for laser printers is less because the ink is less expensive. Is this true? If you have a laser printer-copier-scanner that you love, please tell me about it! Thank you! ETA: Most of our printables are black-and-white, though it would be nice to have affordable color printing too. Is laser what I'm looking for? Or should I be looking at other inkjet printers?

I don't recall abortion being mentioned in FD, but I'm not 100% sure. There are a lot of political topics brought up including a few things (non-graphic) about WWII and Adolf Hitler. Maybe someone else can speak to this better than I can. Overall, I think the authors try to present arguments on both sides of most issues and remain neutral. For example, there are arguments in favor of evolution and arguments in favor of Creation. The chapters are very short, so you could pre-read for content or read aloud and edit as you go. But the exercises do circle back around the previous chapters, so skipping an entire chapter would probably cause confusion.

You could do the Fallacy Detective and Thinking Toolbox in the same year if you do two lessons per week. (Actually, you could take some weeks off if you do this, but it's nice to have that cushion.) The lessons take us about 15 minutes, maybe 20 if there is more discussion. We read the chapter aloud, so it may be a little quicker if read silently. The website has some fun videos that are related to the material also.

We did Fallacy Detective last year and are now using Thinking Toolbox. The format and feel of the books is similar, but the content is different. Actually, I wish I had done Thinking Toolbox first because the information is more general than what is in Fallacy Detective. They complement each other well in any order though.

World Science U? It's video-based. http://www.worldscienceu.com/

I would ask about the ability to individualize education. We recently toured a gifted school that is extremely flexible and individualizes education for each child beautifully. Previously, we had looked into another school which was reported to meet the needs of high ability students. After talking with parents who had children there, it became obvious that there were politics involved that presented stumbling blocks to doing something different for a particular child. I'd be curious about the process for getting a child's education differentiated. If it's too stringent, it can be difficult to jump through all the hoops. If it's too loose, the administration can get pressure from other parents for similar accommodations even when they aren't necessary, getting caught up in comparisons and what everyone else is doing, and stretching the resources of the school to the limit. There needs to be a balance.

Madeleine L'Engle might be a nice option.

We finished FLL3 3 years ago, and I felt that the amount of review in FLL4 would not be helpful. We spent a year trying 4 different grammar programs, then took a year off, and now we're back to FLL 4. There is a lot of overlap. If FLL is a good fit but you're concerned about too much review, you could take a year off from grammar and then start FLL 4.

So many children who are academically advanced are also perfectionists. Scientists need to be able to handle a lot of experiments that show what doesn't work. Being able to handle something not working the way you want/expect is so important if going into research. I also think making connections, even unusual ones, is an excellent skill to have.

AE = Age equivalent in years-months. W must stand for broad written language, which is one of the subtests. Under broad written language, there should be scores for spelling, writing fluency, and writing samples. Each subtest should have the following scores: age equivalent, grade equivalent, percentile, and standard score. The subtests are Broad reading skills (letter-word identification, reading fluency, passage comprehension), Broad math (calculation, math fluency, applied problems), and broad written language (spelling, writing fluency, writing samples). My son took it at age 6, so the categories may be a little different for older kids. HTH!

We plan to start using Alcumus to complement ds's math curriculum. Does your child just register for an account, or do you set up a teacher account? Does the teacher account make sense for homeschoolers with one child using the program? TIA!

Just the Student Pages (except the Primary Level which also requires the Teacher Pages). I have a lot of the other materials, but we just use the Student Pages and the Bible (any translation seems to work with this program).

It probably takes us about 20 minutes to do a lesson, with me pausing at times and going between the kids to assist them. We do either character training activities, hymn study, OR BSGFAA Mon-Fri. My kids beg for BSGFAA though, so we've recently set aside the other things. It's something that is easy to do every day, but it doesn't have to be done every day. You can easily set it aside and then pick up again right where you left off.

We are enjoying Derek Owens' Physical Science. There is quite a savings by purchasing the course materials instead of enrolling in an online class. (I think we saved around 80%!)

There are so many good Bible resources. I'm a little obsessive about collecting them. :) We discovered Bible Study Guide for All Ages this year and *adore* it. Both my kids LOVE to do Bible. I read straight from the Bible as they complete their student pages. I've been very surprised how much my youngest has retained because he has some learning issues. Different things work for different people, but it might be worth taking a look at this program.

Thanks for your quick response. It's helpful to know that there's some flexibility. We've been doing the chapter tests as closed book, but I'm not sure about the semester exams. I'm leaning toward doing a study session with him to try to teach him how to study for exams and then trying it as a closed book test. It would be interesting to learn how close/far we are from being able to study effectively for a comprehensive test.

We purchased the course materials for Derek Owens' Physical Science but aren't enrolled in the online class. Are the semester exams designed to open book or closed book? I can't find that tidbit anywhere, and this is my first experience with his classes. TIA!

I would recommend an endoscopy. In our city, all minors are put under general anesthesia for the procedure, so it is often more involved for children than it is for adults. It could be reflux, but I'm thinking along the lines of datgh that it could also be EoE. Nonresponsiveness to meds or only temporary responsiveness are stronger indications of EoE. Difficulty swallowing is also a cardinal symptom. Without an endoscopy, it's impossible to diagnose, and it can be difficult to differentiate between GERD and EoE, even among specialists in the field. A biopsy is the only way to know whether there are eosinophils in the esophagus.

If you want to reduce beef consumption and increase beans, you can mix some beef with canned black beans for any recipe that calls for ground beef. Black Bean Salsa Soup is a favorite here. Super quick and easy with a surprisingly sophisticated flavor.

what did you teach? I'm probably going to be volunteering to teach at a large co-op next year. The field is wide open--just about any topic in any of these age categories--1st-2nd, 3rd-5th, 6th-8th. I tweak and combine resources a lot, but I don't have the time/energy to come up with something from scratch. I have a few ideas, but I'd love to hear about things that have worked really well for others. Please share your successes! :)

Hang in there. You're on the right track to finding some answers. What you describe isn't the typical "picky eater," and a lot of parents can't relate to having a child with real feeding issues because they just haven't experienced it before. Food issues are emotionally exhausting because it's an every day (several times a day/all day) thing. Hoping you get some clear answers very soon!

I recommend ruling out medical issues before going the therapy route. Ds1 went through 16 months of therapy with 4 different therapist (including the top-rated multi-disciplinary feeding team in the US). LOTS of time and energy, lots of hopes soaring and crashing down, lots of frustration, lots of $$, and no improvement. Meanwhile, he dropped 80 percentile points in weight because they restricted his diet so much. It turns out that it was a medical issue. :( Based upon our experiences, I think the refusal to eat when hungry is a big red flag that a child is not just being picky. It signals that there is something else going on. In your situation, I would seek an allergist's help. The tests are quick and may give you clues as to what is going on. They aren't foolproof, and there are other food intolerance issues that aren't measured by the testing. But ruling out IgE-mediated allergies would be a starting point. Eating issues come in so many varieties from sensory problems to medical problems. I have 2 children with food issues but both are medical. Between the two of them, we have severe food allergies, food intolerances, and autoimmune reaction (eosinophilic) in response to different foods. It can take a lot of detective work to figure out what's happening, particularly if the same child has multiple issues/food triggers that are problematic. Ruling out IgE allergies is a very simple place to start and may end your search right there.

Has anyone used BFSU and added a lapbooking component? What resource did you use for the lapbooking? (I'm not expecting to find anything that matches up super well, but I also don't want to be scouring the internet after every lesson.) I've been looking at A Journey Through Learning's lapbooks and Lapbooking Through . . . (by Elemental Science). Would one work better than another? Or have you found anything else that's been helpful as you work your way through BFSU?

Yogurt? Hard boiled eggs? Lots of fruit.

This is where you can purchase the course materials. It includes video lectures, student workbook, homework, labs (assemble your own materials at home), tests, and answer keys for everything. He does not state any math requirements for the class, but I think a child who hasn't had prealgebra would be challenged by it. I recommend watching the sample video to see what you think. There are a lot of the videos available on Youtube if you need to watch more videos to see whether it would work for your child. The entire course is not available on Youtube though. I'm not sure about Christian/secular perspective. My impression is that it's neutral, but my child does it independently and then I check the work using the answer keys. I haven't seen anything of a religious nature. ETA: I meant to link the sample video. If you click on "Preview the Course" here, you can see the topics that will be covered.