I usually make the problem a lot easier such as N-5=8 or something like that. I teach them how to solve the easy problem and then go onto the harder one.

I agree about the iron. I'm not pregnant and haven't been since my mid 30s but I am now 44 and am noticing that in general, I need supplemental iron otherwise I feel sick, I'm exhausted - just going up the stairs puts a strain on my muscles to the point of exhaustion, and I want to lay down all the time. I never noticed my need for iron until this year. Maybe the age we're at just needs more iron to keep going? So much more when your pregnant.

With subtraction and addition mixed in, I will have my child either circle all the addition problems or just do all of the same type of problem all at once. Honestly, the speed at which Singapore went coupled with the fact that my 3rd child really needed more practice with things to cement them better in his brain is what made us ditch Singapore. My 2nd child did well with it until fractions (addition/subtraction) and didn't get the practice he needed regularly, so he would forget whole concepts he had previously mastered. It got to be too much to try to add spiral review into Singapore. If someone wants to create a spiral method Singapore math book, I will be your first customer.

I was like you - a box checker in desire of children to have this love of learning and have fun, etc. I tried to incorporate more spontaneity into my homeschool and started with science. You know what? Science didn't happen. For me, if I don't have something laid out, it doesn't get done. It may also be personality. My ds#2 does what he's asked, doesn't seem to have a lot of academic interests, and just pretty much cruised through school without much enthusiasm. I thought it was me. Along comes ds#3. He is way more interested in learning and will check out tons of non-fiction books on multiple subjects for fun reading. He loves the Dover coloring books and is interested in school. It's a personality thing when all along I though it was me. So, you may desire to be an un-schooler and explore learning because of interest, but your personality might not work with it nor your childs. Try unschooling for history or science and see how it goes. Otherwise, just be content in your box checking ways.

My friend's daughter has had severe reflux for all of her 4 years. She recently started adding enzymes to her dd's diet and she has been weeks without reflux. Her daughter wasn't able to produce the enzymes she needed in order to break food down so she could digest it. This could be in the form of a green drink or just adding a powdered enzyme. I'm not sure how you would feed that to a baby. I would agree with trying to find out if what he is eating is causing his tummy to be upset. You also said he was delayed? Is there more going on there? Sometimes muscle delay can also cause slack muscles inside which would make the muscles surrounding the esophagus not work properly. My ds had this issue and needed surgery it was so bad. You might want to ask questions about the threat of aspirating. I would get a medical grade sling like those suggested above and not worry about squishing anything. I'd rather squish a baby than have them aspirate.

I have short moments of stress about homeschooling. Mostly as ds is getting to the high school years, I'm seeing the limitations of homeschooling. No, I am not an expert in all subjects and cannot specialize to the point where my children get the best of instructors in their field. But, they are having to learn subjects on their own and there are enough places now to outsource. College has me a little concerned especially with all the government seems to be trying to do by squashing anyone who does not subscribe to common core. I can only do what I can do. I don't stress too much about what I can't do and have enough seasoned homeschoolers around me to keep me grounded. I know she has a money back guarantee on her site. I'll have to think about it.

Has anyone read this book or listened to the audio? I'm curious about it. I also know that I am not good at all about loosey goosey schedules. It makes me nervous and uptight. I don't want to buy the book and find a "just let life happen and read good books and be happy!" That doesn't work with me, but all I know is that right now when I don't have to do homeschool, I'm way more relaxed, I am enjoying being with my children more, and my house is cleaner (which is the first thing to go, so I'm not too concerned about cleanliness levels).

Here's what I do with the programs. I skip the extra writing assignments in the Language arts section and have him do the narrations (when asked) for HOD. I also skip the sections in Rod and Staff that are related to writing because we do IEW - I'm familiar with it and I didn't want to learn a new way of teaching writing. He does daily dictation which is located in the back of the book. In his science notebook, I require him to write down the definitions and the end of chapter questions along with whatever lap book element they have for the section. It's been doable. He does have a longer day than his brother seemed to at his age, but he does all right with it. He bucks me a little when I require cursive, but otherwise, he does just fine. I'm not sure what CTC will throw at him, but I can easily tweak it if I want to. Most likely, I will skip the writing they suggest in favor of IEW and will still have him do whatever narrations they require. I did notice that CTC has the Apologia animals book. I may even go that direction. Be sure to get on the Facebook page for HOD CTC. They have a lot of great resources there. Someone even created notebook pages to go along with the science which is what may push me over to their science selection.

I'm not sure that the experiments are necessarily more engaging/difficult - they are pretty simple, but do explain the concepts. The content is definitely more difficult. The extra notebook they sell does have some more involved experiments that go beyond what is in the text.

For those who say Minnesota - we don't have four seasons. We have getting ready for winter, winter, getting over winter, and then BAM! summer. This year has been thankfully mild which has made up for last winter when sub zero temperatures and hazardous to life road conditions were the norm. As far as freedom of thought and being able to say it--be careful where you land if Minnesota is the place for you. There are places where liberalism abounds and even the liberals admit Christians are the only ones who they can insult on a regular basis without anyone calling them on it. It gets draining to be honest. I'm tired of peace protests where they yell at you and the local community theater often putting on plays that involve R rating material because theater is meant to expand people's minds. I can live in peace with my neighbors and those who disagree with me, but sometimes, you just need a break. We are trying to move from this eternal winter where it's "never Christmas" because Christmas is exclusionary to those of different faiths. Holidays people - never Christmas . Stay away, stay far away.

I am doing HOD preparing with IEW writing, Saxon Math, and an Apologia book only because he had an opportunity to do a co-op class with that book. I skip all the writing activities in the language arts section of HOD, but do require the narrations for history. I also skip the writing lessons in the Rod and Staff English book.

I've checked. They are not too generous with the under 18 crowd, but a lot opens up when you turn 18 and even more when you turn 21. We're very close to those markers so it's not as big of a deal. If we had a little guy, they told me they would recommend not moving there.

Our problem right now is that dh is being offered some jobs, but they don't even get above 200% above poverty for our family size. Put two kids with medical needs into the mix and it becomes undo able. It's beyond living paycheck to paycheck. Texas has been on the radar because of much cheaper housing than we have here and if dh is going to be offered lower paying jobs, we have to cut somewhere and housing is the only thing we can get lower on right now.

I lived in Lindale for 5 years (near Tyler). I did like it in some respects. It's just not a big enough city area for us. We need access within an hours drive of a children's hospital or specialty clinic. I have two kids with medical issues - not every month issues, but enough to make me shy away from this area.

Fire ants...when I first moved there no one warned me. I walked across grass in bare feet. Not only did it have fire ants, but it had nasty thistles. Those fire ants were itchy! Way worse than a mosquito bite.

Also, I'm a little afraid of being too hot...Right now we live in Minnesota. I DO NOT like winter. Right now it's snow/icing our driveway to a nice slick sheen. I don't mind snow, I just wish it was a bit warmer. A few days ago, it was 42 degrees. I went on a walk, my son biked a mile to our downtown area with no coat because it was warm! I have lived in Texas before. I don't remember the heat bothering me as much as the dry droughty conditions. Everything the summer before we moved was drying to a crisp and there was no let up in the heat.

I wouldn't disagree about San Antonio- when I lived in East Texas, we went there once on a mini-vacation. Went to schlitterbaun (sp?). You've got Sea World, River Walk, the Alamo...but once you've done all that stuff what else is there?

In my husband's quest for a job, Texas has come up in conversation. Where are some great places to live? We would like to be within spitting distance of a city so no small towns (of which I know there are a LOT). Also a why it's a great place would also be helpful. Beth

Our group operates on a $15 per person membership fee that pays for those little incidentals that come up. There are at least 3-4 leaders that decide what they want to focus on each year. Last year, the leaders planned field trips, this year - not so much. To keep leadership fresh, each year 1-2 leaders switch out. That means that there are two new people learning the ropes from the experienced leaders. You cannot run it on your own each and every year. That will burn you out and it doesn't give long term stability to the group.

We had to go on Obamacare after my husband lost his job. The choices are either you take subsidies based on income or you don't. There is no in between. So, we all got put on Medicade. In the brochure, it says something like "Don't worry, you have dental insurance too!" The problem is, medicade doesn't pay dentists or doctors enough to cover their costs, so you have to have a large dentist/doctor or deal with limits. For example, the dentist we have gone to for 16 years is maxed out on their patients they can accept with this program so it doesn't matter how long you have gone there, they won't accept your insurance. Thankfully, we are able to still access a dental plan through COBRA for my husband's workplace. When my son was on this state healthcare program and needed oral surgery, I couldn't find an oral surgeon who would take this insurance and wound up paying out of pocket. Also, my oldest gets incontinence products through Medicade (state program). It took me calling every provider of these products to find the one who would do it. Most of them lose money. So, state programs may be great for some, but just know there are doctors who have limits. This is why a national health care will not work. The rich will continue to get great health care because they will be able to pay out of pocket, the rest of us, not so much.

She has older children. Her youngest is 11? That right there is a big deal. My 11 year old sets up our tree and then corrals his sister into putting up all the ornaments. I put on the lights. Not having little kids around can make a big difference.

Saxon is easier than Singapore for my 10 year old. I don't have to teach much to my 14 year old. My 7 year old is the issue, but I don't do quite a bit of the daily lessons. She would have issues with anything I try with her. It's the one that makes her feel the most successful. R&S is easy for me. I taught it once with ds, it's a rutted road for me. IEW is taught by others and I know the program well - rutted road. HOD is just do the box and I don't even have ds complete all of them - same with dd.

I did change curriculums this year to one that required less planning for me. My dd is very minimal. She mostly gets the basics. That's really all she can handle for the most part. The rest is just gravy and I can drop it. My ds 10 takes the most time, but part of that time is teaching him to be independent so taking that time now pays off later. I don't feel like homeschooling is the main problem. If I just had that, I could handle it. It's the lack of a job for dh, feeling like I should be able to go get a job but knowing that I really couldn't because it would set me over the edge, my oldest, homeschooling, not being near family support, the weather, everything...I feel like I should be able to handle this - people do far more than me and seem to do fine. Why can't I handle this? We live far away from both sets of grandparents. Both live in very high COL areas and one state has such poor/non-existant services for my oldest ds that it would seriously compromise our financial future. We tried living closer to my extended family- just across the border, but there are no jobs there for dh as it is mainly a manufacturing town. We moved my electric piano into our walk-in closet to give me alone time with my piano. That has helped in the past. Sigh...

My oldest has a special ed program at the high school. I really consider it day care since he's not learning anything, but he likes it, he gets one on one attention and they seem to enjoy him. It gives me until 3 pm. The only thing with that one is that I have been waking at 5:45 for five years now to get him on the bus by 7:30. Thankfully, my husband has taken some of that routine when he can. We do get support through the state for him and that's been the only thing floating us as my husband's pretty lousy pay was cut by 20% before he lost the job altogether. No - I haven't taken care of myself for years. I have no interests, no "fun" friends, and most interaction that I need with other people is often initiate by me - although lately, people have been saying "let's get together for coffee" and I've kept them to their word. There are not a lot of options around here (small town). I'm not even sure what I would want to do if the opportunity came up. I take care of myself and exercise and eat well. I like to hike and be outside. Unfortunately, we live in a place where winter lasts 5-6 months a year. I shiver for 1/2 of the year and do not like going outside when it's so cold. We do want to move to give us access to options. I'm not sure that will solve my problems either. It will give us more educational choice and options for activities for the kids. There's not a lot of real sports options here unless you do the public school sports (which my 14 year old has done in the fall). We all need a change but finding a new job anywhere is proving elusive at this point. I have given up trying to stay positive and faith filled about my future. I am just trying to be thankful for today . We can't downsize because downsizing means not accessible to wheelchairs usually. Right now, I know I can't change anything about the school situation for my youngest so I'm trying to see if I can get the grandparents to gift her gymnastics lessons along with trying to get scholarship money to pay for the rest of it. Maybe getting her doing something active will help. She's an outside girl too and it's hard when the weather is so cold. I send her out most days, but there's a lot of days I call "bad cold" where exposed skin can freeze in 10 minutes. I feel like a big complainer right now. I can cry at the drop of a hat and wake up crying if I don't get out of bed right away because despair hits me. As a Christian, I'm not supposed to be like this. I am and I own it. So, I'm thankful for today and I still get up every morning and do what I have done for years. That's all I can do.

I have been fairly stressed for quite some time. I have a 15 year old with severe special needs, 2 other boys, and a very spirited daughter. My husband has been underemployed for 2 years and has recently lost his job with 3 months severance pay left. He's been looking for a job and actively applying for jobs for over 2 years. The division of work around here has always been my dh works and I take care of everything else just because his commute has gotten worse and worse as housing developments have gone up between home and work. He does help with bedtimes and weekends- especially for my oldest disabled child, but that has been about the extent of his help. Unfortunately for the past 2 years, his weekends have been taken up with job searches. My close - non-homeschooling friends tell me to that I need to put at least my spirited child into school. The school I think she would do best in has a lottery to get on a waiting list. If she got into the school, there are several fundraisers expected of the family and parental volunteer expectations weekly(it's a charter school). I do not think she would do well in the local over-crowded classroom/high testing school down the road. I would still homeschool my two middle boys - the 14 year old is mostly independent with online classes and the 10 year old is moving toward independence. Right now, the 10 year old attends a co-op that does the science experiments and teaches writing. The women running it knew I was in over my head so they don't expect anything of me other than dropping him off. Basically, my friends are telling me to "sacrifice" my child in order to save myself. I feel stuck. To me, having her attend school would be yet another direction I'm pulled and while it would be easier most days, there are still greater expectations on me that I don't have now. I feel like I would only add to my list of things expected of me and not lessen this stress that rides me day after day. There are no co-ops around here. The class my 10 year old takes is mainly 4 friends who have gotten together over the years who had similarly aged kids. The options are public school and the very hard to get into charter school. I'm burnt out. My friends can see it and are suggesting wine or antidepressants to get me through. There seems to be no good answers nor any good solutions.