I took ambien cr (?) for a while. This particular one had a time release feature on it. My insurance two years ago refused to pay for it and it was $10 a pill or something like that, so that ended the love affair I had with ambien. Benadryl works good enough for those moments I have trouble sleeping. Beth

If you like Saxon, you could test him through Saxon 6/5 until he starts to get less than 80% on a test. Then you go back 8 lessons and start there. Also, assuming he does well in 8/7, you can skip Algebra 1/2 entirely and go straight to algebra. Beth

I saw the conceptual chemistry by pearson(?) online helps called chemistry alive and was intrigued. The only thing is- its considered a college course and I would have a young 13 year old (7th-8th grade). He has the math skills and will have completed algebra 2. Should we just go for it or stick to the Dive ICP plan? Beth

No- according to my doctor, you can't grow dependent on reading glasses. My doctor told me to just give in and buy some when I was having similar issues. You're just getting older. Older squinty eyed women unite! Beth

This has been going on for at least 8-10 years. This is a big deal. I'm going to the chiropractor tomorrow and I'll see what he says. I've had it where an adjustment has made it much worse so I tend to avoid that process unless my husband strongly exhorts me to (basically he nags me until I go). Beth

Physical therapy...works while I'm doing it, but ends when I end. I can't go to physical therapy every week for the rest of my life.

I've been dealing off and on with a spastic muscle that originates by my spine and leads into my hip while aggravating my sciatic nerve. I've been keeping it under control with an elliptical machine that seems to work that muscle. Lately, it hasn't been working. I've been to physical therapy twice with this problem over the years, but it only puts a bandaid on the problem never solving it. I apparently have tilted/ misaligned hips that I suspect may be due to never treated scoliosis that was never dealt with as a child. The back problem is exasperated with taking care of my special needs child who needs help transferring. All that being said, how can I deal with this? Where can I start? I'm in pain walking right now. I can deal with it now, but there have been times when I had to scoot on my butt on the floor to get around because walking and crawling were too painful. Beth

I do copywork/narration when they can read well. When they can read to learn, I just start with IEW. My 2nd grader is doing it currently. We take it slllooooowww. He is only working on two dress ups and two IEW units - Key Word Outlines (unit 1) and stories (unit 3). It works just fine. Beth

My 12 year old ds has been doing Apologia General Science with boredom. He knows what's going to happen in the labs so it's a "why bother" type of attitude (I agree - why bother). I'm using the labs to teach him how to write up a lab report which has saved my "why bother" attitude. This is a kid who is not that excited about much. He does well, but there's not really a "love" for anything he does (except his businesses he has on the side). This is just a personality thing - not an attitude thing. I want to see if I can spark a love of science. I think he could do very well with a science related field - he's got the brain for it. I can see him inventing something and I want to give him the skills he would need. What can I use to spark a science interest? It needs to be laid out well because otherwise it won't get done. I have been thinking of Dive Physical Science with the BJU text, but I'm concerned that it would be too overwhelming and that even if I buy the full lab equipment set, he'll still yawn. Anything else? I've heard a lot of talk about conceptual physics or chemistry, but there doesn't seem to be an easy way to do either of those - I need this to be mostly independent. Beth

Would using Dive Physical science and not having ds do the labs but just having him watch them and write up a lab report be a cop out? Should I just bite the bullet and buy the lab kit? He would be 8th grade so this is not to fulfill a high school lab requirement. Beth

I have an 8 year old who will most likely have 2 phases. His palate needed to be expanded on top which needs to happen before age 9 or 10 when it becomes more rigid. If he keeps the overbite but has no other issues, we may just ignore the need for perfection. My 12 year old has an overbite much like my husband's overbite. We didn't care too much about it until he started grinding his teeth because they were misaligned. Now he's getting braces not because of the overbite, but because he's destroying his teeth. He already needs them repaired because they're all chipped. I'm really bummed that I may have 3 kids in braces at the same time because my 5 year old has a cleft palate and she is gearing up to repair that whole mess also. Aaaaarrrrg! I personally would get a second opinion. Beth

I had my 4 year old in CC with a very good tutor who knew how to work with that age. She didn't make them sit for long periods of time and got them up and moving. My daughter is of the very wiggly version. Her class got used to her being under the table, sitting in the window frame or just not paying attention (quietly- she was never totally disruptful). It sounds like your son may be ok, but not every 4 year old should be in these classes regardless of what CC says. Some really are just not ready. Beth

Lego has some very cool educational kits for that age and a little bit older. Go to legoeducation.com. Also Nancy Larson science has some nice "open and go" science programs that come with all the bells and whistles. Sing, spell, read and write? What about a subscription to discovery education? Beth

I am using it with my 6th grade dialectic student. I like that he is making some neat connections with the material and is learning through his class. I feel like the work load is not heavy at all for him, but I appreciate the discussions they have and hearing his well thought out answers that he gives during class. We'll be doing another class in the fall. Beth

Just thinking ahead and trying to plan out a path to high school...Can anyone recommend or not recommend either of these Potter's School classes? Beth

I think if it works, don't change it. I've tossed around changing from Saxon also, but it's just been working for my ds so well. If you want to check their ability to use another math program, have her try alcumus problems on the art of problem solving site. Ds does them every day and has been doing just fine with Saxon and alcumus. Beth

Thanks for the post. I've decided to keep with Saxon despite the bad reviews because its working well for ds. Algebra 2 here we come! Beth

I'm liking the looks of classical composition. Now off to find reviews. Beth

Yes- it was too disjointed for us. I need something less wordy. Beth

My ds -12- will have completed 4 years of IEW and I really think it's time to move beyond IEW and start writing without the formula. Honestly, he's in an IEW rut. It has worked well for us but we need to branch out. I am open to online classes or something that will start to progress him and prepare him for high school level writing. If there's a teacher manual, I need clear instructions, not theory and nice suggestions. Suggestions? Beth Married to DH for 1

My ds will have completed 4 years of IEW and I really think it's time to move beyond IEW and start writing without the formula. Honestly, he's in an IEW rut. It has worked well for us but we need to branch out. I am open to online classes or something that will start to progress him and prepare him for high school level writing. If there's a teacher manual, I need clear instructions, not theory and nice suggestions. Suggestions? Beth

While I don't post to this blog anymore, I outlined the steps to make whole wheat bread that is soft and squishy. I used to sell it to my dh's co-workers years ago and they still ask when I'm going to start doing that again. You can do this recipe with a kitchenaid, but you need to cut the recipe in 1/2 because a kitchenaid can't handle kneeding 5 loaves of whole wheat bread (my mom's professional kitchenaid couldn't handle it). I make this recipe every week and freeze the bread. Works great. http://myobviousfamily.blogspot.com/search/label/Bread%20directions Beth

Anybody thinking about this: http://www.inquiryinaction.org/classroomactivities/ ? Or Real Science Odyssey Chemistry? Beth

With my first two homeschoolers I did that and am now doing it with my 3rd. They still need a lot of play time at that age. K takes about 30 minutes. If she gets anything out of her brothers history or science lessons, that's great but not expected. The first two are doing just fine with the full schedule now. I wouldn't ever think of changing it. It worked really well for us. Beth

This is free:http://www.knowledgequestmaps.com/Globalmania.html. Also, my 2nd grader is learning the countries of the world with Seterra : http://www.seterra.net/ Beth