* Warriner's English Grammar and Composition, Second Course or Third Course (1977 edition, if available) *KISS Grammar (free---can be read online, and sentences copied and analyzed)

I like to eat spaghetti sauce over zucchini, that I've sauteed with some onion and garlic. It's wonderful with some grated cheese on top. Do you mind sharing your bean and turkey chili recipe? I have been wanting to try it with turkey meat.

:iagree: This is the kind of skill we were working on yesterday, though we are not using AOPS. (I'm glad to know that I'm on the right track with some of the bits and pieces I've put together.) What I'm trying to instill at this point is the building of skills, much like what regentrude has described. To me, this is where logical thinking comes in, and I try to stress that daily. I don't allow calculators here, at least until much later. (I'm not even sure if anyone is aware that there is one in the house. ;))

This is how we approach language arts CM style here, although we are adding in more of Maxwell's composition lessons this year.

We use a variety of word problems from vintage sources that I find at Google. I have no idea if they are of the same caliber as SM CWP, but they are free, and seem to do the job. We work around three or four every day.

Thank you so very much! I wish that the vet would have taken the time to point me in that direction, but unfortunately, he did not. I'm thankful for all of the help and support all of you have given me here. :)

She did present with several of those symptoms initially, and was losing weight in spite of eating and wanting to eat. I was feeding Fancy Feast and sometimes Walmart brand canned food that is similar to the FF. (Yes, I know it's not great, but I don't live near a big pet store.) Since bringing her home from the vet, I've changed her to the homemade diet, and she seems to be doing much better. Her strength has improved somewhat, and she seems more alert and moves around a bit more--well, moves from the kitchen to the dining room and back. Her coat looks much better, but she still drinks a lot and urinates a lot. I think she's gaining weight, as it appears as though she is filling out a bit. I'm hesitant to take her back to the vet for anything. The bill was almost $200 for the bit of labwork he did and her visit. He did not come out to talk to me, but called me on the phone while I was out running an errand. When I picked her up that day, an assistant brought her out to me and that was that. I guess I could have thrown a fit in his office, but around here, I don't think that would have done much. I'm trying to do the best I can do on my own at this point.

It is upsetting, as this is what I specifically requested when I took her to see him. When he talked to me on the phone, he said that she didn't have it, so he didn't check for it. :001_huh:

No, I'm not giving fluids at home. The vet more or less sent her home to die. :( He told me to buy the meat flavor of baby food and give that to her, and to call him when we are ready to put her down. I'm trying to do my best by researching things I can do for her on my own. When I looked at the ingredient list on the baby food, I thought that I could do much better than that. I have not fed any kind of homemade food before, so this is my first go-around with it. I very much appreciate your help. I am giving her the B vitamins in liquid mixed into the chicken and chicken/liver mixture. One more question..... Is salmon okay?

Thank you for the book recommendation. I'll see if the library has a copy. I probably need to start my own notebook of recipes that seem to be liked by her.

Okay, so if I'm baking two chicken thighs, how much of the egg shell should I add?

Thanks for the responses. I forgot to post that I am adding in taurine, wild salmon oil, and B vitamins. I read about adding in kelp, so I need to research that further. Today I'm baking chicken thighs again, and plan to add some mushy rice in when I whiz it all up in the food processor. Should I add in some dry egg shells, too?

:iagree: This is what we do.

What about anything by Faulkner? Welty?

I should have explained in my post that this is for an older, indoor cat. The vet told me that she was in kidney failure, and wanted to know when I wanted to put her down. :glare: He also told me to give her the meat baby food. That was all he said. I don't think he wants to be bothered with an older cat. She is eating all of what I have prepared for her so far, and seems to be gaining weight. She is constantly wanting more food. I originally took her to the vet to see if she had hyperthyroidism, but he felt she didn't, so he didn't check her for that.

Padfield Bible study for homeschool/Sunday school is wonderful, and free.

If so, do you mind sharing some of your favorite recipes? I'm not feeding raw, but at the moment I am baking chicken thighs and liver and whizzing them in the food processor.

My reply in blue above

There was a great documentary about the Amish on PBS in February, called American Experience--The Amish. It was very interesting, and I thought that it covered much of what meatisgood's post discussed earlier in this thread. At the end of the show, there was a segment about some of the Amish families desiring to move to Colorado (I think), as the land (in their part of PA) is almost consumed by the population, and there is not enough farm land to go around to the next generation.

I can't really suggest one program above others. We use and enjoy a variety of things----KISS, Warriner's Second Course, Sheldon and Maxwell, and maybe some others. This is JMHO, but I think the greatest grammar program is not a *program*, but instead using your own knowledge to teach the child the basics and on from there. If you don't have a good understanding of grammar, then it doesn't matter which program you choose. The best tool you might own in your toolbox is an old edition of a Warriner's text. You can work through anything from there, and should not need to spend much on *programs*. Make sure your child knows the parts of speech and how they work. Analyze all sorts of sentences, giving her some that stretch her brain a bit. You can pick sentences from any book---even the read-aloud you're using. To me, that's the only way that *grammar* makes any kind of sense. For more help, read anything 8FilltheHeart has written on the boards about teaching grammar or writing.

I love both of these resources. Thanks for posting!

Great ideas from everyone! You can cover first grade well, yet spend very little cash. Here's a post of mine from a while back for some more ideas. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showpost.php?p=2407815&postcount=17

Three things which are cheap----- 1) an older edition of The Writing Road to Reading (to learn the phonograms) 2) a copy of Webster's Speller, which can be found free online (to use for syllabication exercises) 3) a copy of Megawords Book 1 The best and cheapest thing of all is the constant reinforcement through daily work with new words a la Marva Collins.

Thank you for the link! I've been working on getting more modest skirts/dresses into my wardrobe.

I'm still missing the part where the OP was given the details of the party. Did she know anything other than the date and time? Since this was an overnight party, and looked to be an expenditure of $$$ by the hostess, it would seem as though the hostess would want a definite final count for this type of party. It's not really a simple one at which ice cream and cake would be served and a few games would be played. This party sounds expensive to me. When it was all said and done, I'm wondering if the OP was left off the list due to cost cutting measures. :grouphug: to you, OP, as this is a very hurtful situation for a child. I don't think it is a very good idea to be looking at Facebook pictures of the party or showing them to your dd. That just increases and reinforces the hurt. About the gift card---we've been in the same situation before, and decided to give the gift to the party person. We were never thanked, and it was never acknowledged in any way. That was an uncomfortable situation as well. I wouldn't give a large value gift card to the party girl. Maybe send a card with several dollars in the mail, along with a note saying that you're sorry you missed the birthday, and hope that it was a happy day for her. Surely the mom of the party girl knows what is going on.