I was told by my endo that pregnancy and menopause will mix things up and that dosage will need to be adjusted. It's good that you're on it.

Dr. Who is popular here.

Mine aren't neat, and nor am I. While I'm not good at cleaning, I am good at delegating jobs to kids. They are a bit neater now that they have responsibility for the clean up.

Apples and pears has helped my 10yr old where nothing else seemed to.

How about Galore Park? https://www.galorepark.co.uk/Product?Product=9781905735518

We liked Zaccaro's "Become a Problem Solving Genius" and "Real World Algebra". There are lots of word problems, solving by algebra, but not requiring much prior knowledge.

My daughter has quite flexible joints - especially knees, elbows and back. Ballet has been great for her since it's desirable to have hyper-extended joints but it's also necessary to develop strength (which doesn't come naturally to her) to control the extension. When your child gets to be 6 or 7 or so, I'd look into serious, good quality ballet instruction if she shows interest in dance.

I've found that it's not a big deal to plan something out yourself and then you'll have a course perfect for your student. I just made a table on word and divided it by historical period in the rows and by type of resources in the columns. I lined up a high school american lit book (Glencoe was at my local thrift store) with a us history book (we are using Hakim which would probably be too young for your purposes I imagine), combined with a book on US history DBQs and Reading Like a Historian and videos (Crash Course US History, American Experience, Freedom: A History of US etc...) and movies. I'm happy to email it if anyone wants, but it really isn't that hard to align your own choices for literature and history and writing together.

We used Galore Park SYRWL Maths -- much less scary looking than a thick textbook.

That seems pretty unlikely considering the rate of fractures is much higher in older than younger populations. http://i.imgur.com/NesBqA6.png I understand the older you get, the less flexible your bones are. Brittle bones break more readily and older people take longer to heal than younger. As for the original question, I'm not sure about boosters, but I would assume every person of any age would indeed be safer in appropriate sized rear-facing car seats with five-point harnesses.. Just as we would probably be safer wearing helmets and bullet-proof vests and face masks and carrying defibrillators in our daily lives. I assume that we don't do these things because we've considered the risk and the likelihood and the safety gear available to reduce the risk and weighed the inconvenience and comfort and cost and social acceptability and made the decision that it would be pretty weird to, for instance, ride in rear-facing car seats as an adult.

Whenever I read to my kids for pleasure, I stop periodically and ask questions about what they think will happen next or what they think that character is feeling or which is their favorite character. I make a point of reminding myself of something by going back and rereading a sentence or two. I stop for a moment here and there to think about a word or sentence and wonder why the author chose those words or whether some event or character may symbolize something else or is a reference to some other book I've read. In other words, I try to model what a good reader does so that they can do it too.

If you want repetition, I'd give Saxon a try... Probably 7/6, but do the placement test anyway.

I just *started* reading aloud to my 10 yr old. She never had the interest or attention span to understand chapter books and is now finally able to! I found her listening in with my 6yr old and she tentatively asked if I would read to her... After 10 years of trying I'd given up. I'm kind of excited. We've been reading The Graveyard book.

I know many people on this board have strong feelings on the topic of car seats, but I would bet there are more than a few of us who find it easier to just skip this thread than trying to justify why our elementary and middle school aged kids aren't in booster seats. You might watch this one: https://www.ted.com/talks/steven_levitt_on_child_carseats

Honestly, I wouldn't bother. People like giving gifts... And at 13, many kids are spending their own money and doing the shopping themselves. If it's anything like my daughter's 12th birthday, the gifts were things like a bottle of nail polish, a paperback, a cool pen... Your daughter could always donate them if she doesn't want them. I've twice gotten a no-gift invitation and brought no gift and felt badly when I was the only one who didn't.

We sort of have done this last year with world history. We read a chapter of a textbook or watched a documentary and then had them do a response or summary or drawing or something. I used a blank history portfolio and had my girls write biographies and timelines and paragraphs about various events. We had a few textbooks and the internet. I didn't bother with pre-screened sites.

Sure - I mean, if I'm buying clothes, I'll buy items that fit my ideas of what looks good and that I think my kids will like (sporty, classic, outdoorsy, cute, girly...). And while I don't choose their clothes to wear on a daily basis, before they leave the house, I might ask one to change a shirt for one that fits better or matches a bit better or is more appropriate for the weather or something. If one of them is given clothes that don't fit or don't look good or represent them in a way that's not okay in my mind, then I'll let them wear it for a day or so around the house and then slip it into basement. Most of my foster kids have been 3-6 years old and my girls are 10 and 12, so I haven't dealt with teenagers yet. My 12 year old has definite opinions, but she's a girl happiest in a ballet bun and skirt and leotard and tights daily. I have a hard time convincing her to even wear jeans and a t-shirt. I suppose with teenagers, we'll come to a compromise especially if they're buying their own clothes. I kind of assume most parents have similar approaches... or are there some who buy and allow their kids to wear anything they feel like?

In your shoes, I'd consider math as being two courses. Think - tortoise and hare. In one course, you use a standard textbook like SM or Saxon. Use the grade level where he struggles (sounds like grade 1) and work through it skipping nothing. Don't change series, but commit to one. If he struggles on a topic, work on it longer and move on when he understands. If he clearly knows how to do something, encourage speed, but don't skip. He may not love it, but remind yourself that fixing gaps is more important and review is okay. In your second math course, at a different time in the day, choose a textbook that tickles his fancy or challenges him to think or is fun for both of you. There are lots of supplementary math books out there - sir cumference, LOF, Zaccaro, HOE... With this class, it's okay to skip around or to miss a day or double up. This is the have-fun math. BA is awesome, but I can imagine how much frustration is there if he hasn't gotten the basics of adding and subtracting. I'd definitely step back and take it slowly and consecutively. When he reaches that 3rd grade level in all of his skills, he'll have a much better experience with BA.

We had coed bathrooms when I was in college. It really wasn't a big deal... And certainly not worth turning down a college because of it! It's not like coed bathrooms lead to some depraved bathroom orgy. We just used the toilet, washed hands and left, or took a shower, put on our bathrobes and went back to our rooms. It was very much a non-issue.

Crash course psychology on YouTube looks fun!

Writing Skills by Diana King EPS

It sounds like your daughter's at a perfect place to start Algebra 1. She had a great preview of some topics in algebra and geometry and she's totally ready to tackle them with greater depth and understanding and maturity. My daughter sounds really similar -- a bright 12 year old who dislikes math. I didn't want to stress her, so I had her do a few years of pre-algebra and problem solving and easy algebra. I've been really happy with her progress. Each topic has been covered several times in different materials. Now that we're starting Algebra 1 officially, I'm finding it's almost entirely review. Which is great! I'd rather she had a rock solid knowledge of algebra and have done extra review, than to have missed or not been ready to understand something in a race to accelerate to higher math.

Although I always thought of myself as fairly laid back about what people wear... it turns out I'm actually incredibly picky about kids clothes. For my own kids, I've always liked classic looking kids clothes with stripes and solids and cute flower prints and polka dots and animals... but then with foster kids, I've gotten especially picky since they seem to arrive with trash-bags full of clothes that just make me cringe. How can I keep the violent/gun/hunting oriented clothes (rifle targets, camo, "I heart guns", skulls, NRA, duck dynasty) for a little boy who struggles with aggression and has an obsession with violence? Or how can I dress a little girl who has been sexually abused in an off-the-shoulder, midriff t-shirt that says "hot stuff" or in a mini skirt or a bikini? Or how can I dress any kid in something stained or poorly made or ill-fitting or something that just looks kind of trashy or like we don't care? And so I pack those things up in boxes in the basement and supply the kids with cute kid-friendly clothes instead.

With Roald Dahl, the violent bits are so unrealistic and fantastical that I wouldn't worry about them frightening most kids. James's parents die in one sentence that involves a rampaging rhino in London. Miss Trunchbull throws the children by their braids or makes them eat cake until they burst. Mr Wonka lets children's own bad qualities lead them to possible danger so they end up being sucked up a tube in a chocolate river or whatever... My kids have found them fun books and have read them (or been read to) from kindergarten age. I always thought they were kind of refreshing for the way they portray kids in underdog roles but using their cleverness or goodness or magical powers to succeed in the end. But they're not sappy insipid books... They have fun plots and great vocabulary and the language doesn't talk down to kids. He's probably my favorite kids author.

Of course! Spelling really isn't necessary until they are fluent readers. ETC also doubles as handwriting practice too.