Every device we use has codes on them that he doesn’t know. Good codes. He is fine with the limits we have given him and doesn’t complain when time is done. The problem is that he is finding old devices or is now sneaking into his brother’s room to get his old devices that don’t have passcodes on them. We can’t monitor what we don’t know about. He keeps finding new ways to sneak this...it’s annoying. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, they are helping him navigate the world a bit. He is reaching out to friends on email trying to get them to play with him which is huge. We have given him 1 1/2 hours to play Minecraft which he could choose to spend all or some of it watching videos if he chose. The only rule was that he had to be on the same floor as someone else so we could monitor his internet activity. He violated that rule when he snuck the internet stick for his non-wifi connected tower. This is a true addiction and I feel like we have to start tapering it a bit but only if he has some outside interests/activities. This sneaking thing has been ongoing since last school year. We've tried quite a bit to remedy this.

I think we may give him a choice of physical activities. We have some good ones around here. So far, I have martial arts and bouldering. In the meantime, we may have to taper off the addiction rather than going cold turkey and locking stuff up (if I can find everything... he's sneaky - always has been). The problem is in that he sneaks whatever technology we have in the house and does it at night. The device he stole from his brother had a cracked screen and his brother only used it for music when he was skateboarding. I have found everything else and we'll have to get rid of the old devices.

He doesn't want to learn computer programming. I would have to force him. We tried martial arts, but a child who isn't interested in it makes for a frustrated instructor. we may have to revisit that plan.

We may have to. The rest of the school year is going to be dictated by what my oldest has to have happen right now. I HATE it. We gave ds an iPod because we wanted to help him learn how to manage technology as he got older. So, we've discovered he can't manage it right now.

Yup. Added to this is the near appointment that my oldest has coming up to the orthopedic surgeon to look at every aspect below his waist. I am truly fearful we have a major major surgery coming up. And then add to the plate my dd who is showing physical signs of stress in her public school and we're trying to figure out how to support her....I am about ready to cry like a baby. We take away Minecraft and his world crashes. Like severe depression crashes. We have no good ideas of what to replace it with. We need a plan.

I think the main addiction part is the guy who posts video about how he plays minecraft and builds/creates worlds. That is what he will stay up all night watching. The game itself is starting to bore him a little. He loves building structures and creating. It's hard to get that in the real world when we would love him to build things live, but have looked and looked for outlets for that to no avail. Every public school has more than enough kids in the school in robotics clubs or any other club that could prove interesting. They simply don't have room for homeschooled students. He's 13.

We may have to medicate him for depression if we take away all internet activity. It has happened in the past. It would take a trip to a psychologist which will take a while since they are hard to get appointments for. We live in the suburbs. Think very small yard. Granparent's houses are 1000 miles away. It is not acceptable for him to sneak and lie - hence it being an addiction. We don't like it, but it's in a way medicating depression. There are some cautions with medication due to family history so we really don't want to go that direction unless we have to.

We tried the musical instrument thing. He played guitar for three years. He lost interest and didn't want to do it anymore. We had told him that he had to do it for three years and then he could stop if he wished. He wanted to stop even when we told him he wouldn't have to do recitals. He does need other mental stimulation. He's bucked us on everything. He's 13 so it's hard to bring a sullen teen to activities he doesn't want to do.

Our ds has been working with a therapist for depression and will be tested for possible ASD (autism spectrum). He is addicted to minecraft. We have allowed him 1 1/2 hours per the therapist recommendations but it's getting beyond that. We have changed the router login and have not told him the code. We thought we had hidden every device in the house - old and new. He snuck into our room and found a router plug for his non-wifi enabled computer in our basement. We found that and hid it again. He recently went into his older brother's room and took a device that he was using for music. Ds then went on wifi through a neighbor's open guest wifi. We don't know who the neighbor is. We have a couple of streets that back up to ours - lots of house - think 30 houses or so. It's gotten to the point we are going to buy a safe to keep every device not being used and every device we currently use locked inside. He will stay up watching minecraft until he basically falls asleep who knows how early in the morning. It's affecting and controlling his life. The youtube guy is probably in his mind his best friend. What do we do?!?!? Minecraft is his only outlet due to social anxiety that goes with his ASD possibility. He doesn't engage in every activity we've tried with him. DH is spending huge amounts of time with him doing physical exercise outside and playing games with him. He's addicted. What do we do?!?!? Our feeling is to just start to restrict his internet activity but the therapist feels that adds to depression which only shows up when we take that activity away. We haven't medicated him because when he sleeps, he is a happy kid from what we can see. We need need need to stop this.

If you’re thinking that you have until they’re 18 before they leave the house and you don’t see them as much, it’s more like 15/16. Ds is gone a lot now doing various activities and spending time with different friends. Some weeks, we barely see him. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have some nice alternatives in two different two day co-ops/part time classical schools, but they’re not available until the next school year at this point. This is why I feel like I have a little better handle on how I can homeschool her next year. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ve heard to let bone broth simmer for 24 hours. If the meat is left with the bones, it gets a little more greasy but it makes no difference either way. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

She's compliant to finish homework, but sometimes, she's just had enough. It's a meltdown.

I just can't give her more school work. She's already had a 7 1/2 hour day at school and 30-40 minutes of homework where she's starting to melt down about having so much to do. I just can't do more with her. It's not fair that she should have to homeschool AND do public school.

She wants to stay because she’s very social and likes that aspect. She gets two recesses so all the chaos is worth it to her. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

People think the school is great on reviews but when I started asking questions on the Facebook page about general procedure or expectations, there’s a whole lot of irritation out there to the point I don’t ask questions from parents. Further checking shows 36% grade proficiency in math and 54% grade proficiency in reading which is IMO really bad, but no one seems the blink about that. There is some general feelings that the school has been going downhill for years due to bad administrators. I have no idea. I guess I just expected more than my minimal hopes. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The math is horrible. It has the potential to be good, but they skip 80% of the workbook (we get the unfinished portion back). She has always struggled with math anyway. Now she just hates it and doesn’t feel like she can do it. I would be ok with the education because I’ve mostly come to conclusion if she learns anything of value this year, great! I do expect that she’ll have to repeat the stuff that matters to me. I given up on the educational aspect. I was of the mindset that she was learning some social nuances and gaining friendships but now that is being compromised also because her class is hearing her “woo†tic mostly likely 30-40 times during the day and are looking at her funny. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

All I know is that my dd’s teacher just told her she was the best behaved in class. She still many times a week loses things for class discipline. I’m going to try to talk to the teacher. He’s a first year teacher and I know that could be part of the issue, but I also know my seasoned bil has a very chatty class that’s he’s having trouble with also. Sometimes a class is just noisy. I’m trying to meet with the teacher and the counselor. If that doesn’t change anything, then I’m at a loss. My oldest may have to have a major surgery with a three month recovery time. I’ve always felt that if I couldn’t homeschool for some reason, public school would be an option. But what do you do when homeschooling is hard, but the public school isn’t really educating either? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

She has mild hearing loss in one ear along with some ADD most likely. So, extra noise and chaos in a classroom - even a bit will cause her to not be able to learn as well and miss instruction which I think is also happening. The thing is, even if we solve this issue this year, we could be facing the same exact thing next year. I'm pretty much done with this experiment.

My dd isn't anxious, she's on the edge of furious. I always have taken what my dd says happens in the classroom with some skepticism only due to the fact that she's watching things happen with limited perspective. I've emailed the teacher to clarify some things she said happened or wasn't taught just to make sure she was accurate in what she thought (there have been times when she hasn't). We've worked through bully situations, why some adult workers have yelled at her (she wasn't following the rules), and why some adults seem mean to her. All good. Here's what has gotten her to the stressed point. Her class is noisy. There are some in the classroom that just won't behave. I'm not sure how much of the problem is my daughter, but she has told me when she gets in trouble (it's been a handful of times - usually she's trying to get someone to be quiet because the teacher is talking --We've worked through how to stop that). For example, The teacher will write FUN FRIDAY on the board telling the class what will happen on Friday if they listen. My dd looks very much forward to these rewards. The class (or maybe a handful of kids) create enough chaos that they lose FUN FRIDAY usually by Monday afternoon (the class has earned it once in four months). Then the teacher has no reward power. Then, they have personal points they can earn for helping to control class chaos or just doing something well. If the class in general is behaving badly, the whole class can lose points off their personal reward. My dd who is very justice orientated gets mad about losing everything she's worked for and everything that could be fun. Now again, she may be part of the problem and just doesn't see it that way. She stuffs her anger because she knows it's not appropriate to rant and rave in school. This is what is causing her to blow up at home and get the verbal tics going. No, I am not invested in this school. I really really wanted it to work and my standards are so very minimal. I have let go of most everything I think a good education is and have kept it to if she learns math and how to write, I'll be good. These are both subjects I am reteaching her at home because either she didn't grasp the instruction or didn't hear it properly. Sometimes, it's just bad bad bad curriculum. We are not returning next year for sure. My dh feels like she should stay for the rest of the year. I have emailed the teacher to start problem solving and have put a call into the school counselor.

Has anyone else noticed that the flood gates seemed to have opened with all of this only after Hughe Hefner died? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Anyone ever had a child in which the classroom made the child so stressed that they were developing physical symptoms? My dd has developed a verbal tic due to stress. It was to the point last night that she had trouble getting to sleep. She’s had it before after major surgeries. All the classrooms are packed to the max so I’m not sure a classroom change can happen. I am going to see about if it can though. She is begging me to change classrooms. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

All Clad Essential pan for me this Christmas. Again - practical, which I like. I have one All Clad pot which I love. My current set of pots and pans is going downhill and are getting annoying so anything to make my life less annoying wins.

Puzzles Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk