I am looking for a summer writing program for my 12yo son. Writing is his most challenging subject. It needs to be something online or at least where he can type his writings on the computer. I am hoping for something along the lines of that Zombie-Based Learning geography program, only for writing. What boy could resist something so cool... Any ideas? It has to be something awesome enough to hold his attention as he will do it on his own then "turn it in" later that day in exchange for some privileges over the summer.

Anybody have suggestions for handling arrogance in children? My 12yo daughter can be very thoughtful and caring. She has a great sense of humor and can be very mature. The problem that is growing is her lack of empathy, lack of a conscience over wrong behavior (lying, being mean to her siblings, etc.), being corrected doesn't reach her heart, focuses on her own desires, is critical of others, etc. All that's missing is anger issues like is often seen in teens, but I fear that will come all too soon. How can I reach her? I know prayer is #1, but what else can I do besides more talking?

Wow! What an overwhelming response from y'all! Thanks. Sometimes you just need a safe place to ask stuff like this. :o For the record, I don't bikini, though I do wear a tankini with board shorts, but they inch up high enough that I'm embarrassed. Hopefully no one has notice but me. I decided THIS summer I will take control of that situation, LOL! Thanks Ladies! -Melissa

This is so embarrassing but I don't know where else to ask this. With summer fast approaching, or already here in California, how in the world do you gals keep your bikini area shaved and rash free? See totally not a home school topic but I need help. Plus my dd is old enough she'll be asking ME this question soon. I've tried some different things but it always rashes up and looks horrible, and I'm already shy in a suit. Help?

Just finished chatting and praying with dh over this. He suggested some of my frustration could be that I've taken too much on. That I'm worrying over so much over their character in so many areas that I'm overwhelmed. DH may have a point but I'll need to think on this a bit more.

I am so frustrated and lost. I don't know what to do. I mean most of us who choose homeschool desire at least in part for our kids to grow closer to each other and build life long friendships with each other right? My dd11 is my biggest struggle right now. I know pre-puberty hormones are playing a part, but I've seen this since age 4. She can be sweet, thoughtful, caring, generous, wise and insightful. Basically a wonderful older sister. However, (HOWEVER), she has always been arrogant, demanded to be treated as a mature older person, fought for her independence, has no grace for others, is a huge hypocrate with her siblings, is rude, and critical about everything. She's very observant and many things she catches in her siblings aren't wrong, but she is so critical toward them. Plus she's small, but strong and will sneak in a hard poke or shove "on accident" as she walks past them. Even at four years old she purposefully pushed her brother off the couch just so she could "comfort" him. Sheesh. I've talked myself blue to her about how she will have more of an impact on ds9 and dd4 than Daddy and I will. How her critical treatment of them will scar them (I know from similar treatment by an older sibling). How her treatment of them is very much like a bully. She rides them so hard, especially brother. I don't know what to do anymore with her. The softer side is there, but it doesn't come out as often anymore. Sadly, I begin to feel like protecting her siblings by separating them. But I don't want to isolate her. I find myself wanting to send her to Grandma's house to live for a while without any siblings or parents to "bother her". I feel like I've lost her and she's only eleven. I know this is big pouty session, and I'm supposed to be adult. But I'm wracked with fear, frustration, confusion, hopelessness, ... I have no idea what to do. It doesn't help that this is the child who can push Mom's buttons like no one else, and that we have some similarities. I was never cold hearted like she can be and I don't know what to do. My husband either. We've both tried talking to her. Should I take her to counseling? Is there a book or movie you know of that portrays how a sibling can affect the entire family by her attitude like this? Something that might bring home the consequences of what she is doing?

Oh, dang... I looked in the back of the book, but it wasn't where I thought it should be so I didn't look back far enough. Found it. :o

Can anyone point me to a handy glossary of terms for FLL4? My ds and I both are getting overwhelmed by the number of terms to remember in FLL4. I want to have a printed out glossary list as a reference for both of us during lessons. Help? Melissa

Thank you for chatting with me about this. Ds and I have mapped out pros and cons for both. I am burnt out though. Not on teaching, but with the battles to keep everyone on task and motivated. I just wasn't good at working with my two, while #3 played around our ankles. Our home wasn't a good atmosphere for learning. Too many distractions that I wasn't good at fighting. And now I'm exhausted internally. No longer the "fun" mom I used to be. And something had to change.

@just a mouse: thanks for pointing me there. I started the post in a hurry this morning. @MeghanL: I'm listening to ds, which is why the post. But as his mom I know him, and he makes decisions not out of logic, but comfort and what sounds fun. So I CAN'T base the decision entirely on how he feels.

Looking for pros and cons on sending 9yo back to ps for 5th grade next fall. Next year his older sis will go to Jr high, at her request. And little sis is doing ps kindergarten because it's so much fun! As such I was putting ds back so he wouldn't be alone here at home. But he's pushing back. He doesn't want to go. I think there's some fear of change, hs is easier and low stress, he's comfortable with his friends... But are there good reasons to send him anyway? Only good, sound answers please, pro or con. PS is not the pit of he√√,though it's got its share of negatives. Thanks!

Can you recommend a great crockpot cookbook that has PICTURES? I need photos or I can't pick recipes. Most crockpot cookbooks I've found don't have any, or only a few, or just some in B&W. I need full color photos of yummy creations to get inspired for new recipes. Help? Thanks! Melissa

This is the best picture I could figure out how to attach here of our dog Bindi. She's a sweet thing, lots of fun and a great temperment. This picture was right after her first grooming. We don't do bows in our family, LOL! She's going to be about 30lbs at full growth. @Brenda, If you are checking with puppies for possible allergies, heads up! We learned early on that puppies don't usually bother allergies. That comes after they blow their puppy coats and get their adult fur. So be sure to meet one or both of the parents if you can. Your reaction to their coats will tell you better. @CleoQc, Is it possible the labradoodle you met was half and half? If so, that's too much lab for allergy people. Our is a multi-gen, meaning the parents and grandparents are all labradoodles. In the lineage, I only saw full poodle back a few generations and full lab was so far back it was no longer listed in the 5 generations on the lineage. Multi-gen labradoodles are said to be better at being allergy friendly, but only to people who are allergic to dander. If you are allergic to dog saliva, there's not really a dog for you. But thank you, btw, for the affirmation on trying to find allergy friendly dogs. We searched our humane society for years, with no luck. Good luck, Brenda!

Trish, I'd agree. The basic root of it is that we do need to obey authority simply because it is the authority. Yet we can earn their respect in the process by treating them with respect even as we demand obedience. It's all in the manner in which you lead. Lead with arrogrance and pridefulness, they may obey but they'll hate you. Lead with humility in your firmness and they'll respect the man (or woman) behind the title of parent.

Now this is what I was talking about :iagree: I didn't literally mean telling my son "because I said so". That was just a summation of, "obey because that is what is required." Believe me, we have discussed with him for years the "why" of things: why he has to do chores, why he has to share, etc. But like others have posted, it has given him a sense of power over the situation, a way to "fight" the law in our home, so to speak. Both DH and I desire to treat our kids with respect, and to respect their intelligence and independence. Yet in allowing so MUCh discussion we have, in a sense, shown weakness as leaders and thus have not earned our son's respect for our authority. I really like what some of you have mentioned. Be firm. State the rule or the instruction or the discipline. Expect obedience. Not allow discussion until obedience has happened. Then allow for discussion later. Partly my fear here, is that my ds is so much like my older brother, who also has a problem with authority. It has lead to a level of pridefulness in him that has caused him problems in life, in work, and in relationships. I need to do things differently than my parents did, and it starts by knowing that, and by marrying a wonderful man who parents so differently from my dad, and who also is very purposeful as a dad (love that guy!). Thanks all! =) PS>> @hana - thank you ;)

Does anyone have advice for me? My ds9 has a problem with authority. He is not an angry little guy, but he does resist doing what he's told and has a bad attitude when he can't get out of stuff. We were thinking about my DH taking some time off work and just working with him exclusively. Kinda like Daddy Boot Camp... Also, we realized that as he's grown we've babied him a little as we tried to help deal with is powerful emotions. We're getting to the place with him where we're finally saying, "do it because I am your parent" and not explaining everything to him anymore. Thoughts? THanks, Melissa

We will get our puppy in 13 days. We went with the closer breeder who has a MUCH smaller program. Maybe 3 active breeding females. She swapped breeding dogs with another breeder to bring in new bloodlines. That's where our pup is coming from. She is staying an extra 3 weeks for in-home puppy training, paid for by our breeder, before she comes to us. Our breeder also is paying for a puppy training class for us with the pup when she has all her shots. We feel really good about the place where she's coming from. We see lots of pictures, posed and candids. Videos of the litter on adventures, and of trainings, in confined rooms and outside in the open. You get a good sense for the location, how clean and well kept it is, how clean inside their house is, you get to see that the pups are happy, healthy, bold, no fear or neglected low confidence at all! We saw their health check at 8wks with their local vet, too. The lady doing the puppy training is amazing! I wish she could train me how to do so well... :-). FYI, we really did research the dogs at our local shelters and for years. There was almost never an allergy friendly dog and when there was the dog could not be with small children or cats. We even met purebreds from allergy friendly breeds and didn't care for them. Basically we're lab and retriever people. But too many allergies in our family. So this is the route we chose, doing our best to avoid unsavory characters and huge operations. And we continue to support our local shelter, including raising money for their walk-a-thon in September as a family. We got our guinea pigs from there, too. :-)

Based on someone's suggestion I purchased a mechanical pencil with a nice cushy grip on it. His problem may be inability to sense how hard he pushes. If you push too hard with this the lead snaps so there is an instant "consequence " . It was also suggested that before giving the new mechanical pencil that I have him do this exercise. Get out a big sheet of paper, poster paint and a raw egg. Have him use the egg dipped in paint to write with just for fun. He'll quickly learn the importance of not gripping hard as a concept. THEN hand him the mechanical pencil.

I didn't know spelling city added a writing piece. I'll have to check it out. As for what writing he'll be doing, I don't really know. My hs strategy is, um, to do my best but I don't really know what I'm doing, :-). Yes he needs paragraph work. But I really wanted something that does everything. In WWE4 they have copywork, dictation, narration, etc. Can I just do that on the computer rather than in our workbook? FYI I did buy a mechanical pencil with a cushy grip to try. :-)

Thanks for the tips about eggs and mechanical pencils. I haven't given him one yet, and I don't know why... I will try that this week! Maybe starting out with the egg idea, to show him what I mean by sensitivity. Then hand over the mech pencil. On a side note, what is SPD? Sorry, I'm not great with acronyms... Thanks all for your thoughts...

Ladies, I know this post was from years ago, but which grips specifically from RR do you recommend? They have a bunch! Thanks, Melissa

Anybody have tips on how to get a kid not to strangle the pencil when he writes? My ds9 has the habit of squeezing the pencil very hard, which fatigues his hand and makes the physical act of writing arduous. What tools, etc. can I use to help him? I've heard that the thicker pencils (like used for pre-k/K can help). Anything else, or anyone solved this with their own kids? Melissa

I need to find software curriculum for Language Arts, or at least for Writing. We've been working with my ds9 for years on his pencil holding, but he's still having trouble. The biggest thing he grips it HARD which fatigues his hand and makes the physical act of writing tough on him. I held him back with writing the last year or so while we tried to correct the holding, but I can wait no longer. He is mentally ready to be writing and I want to look at an online/software writing curriculum, where the lessons are all at the computer. He could then type out of his writing assignments and potentially jet forward with that skill. (*I will post separately about the pencil holding...) In the meantime, we will continue to have him handwrite out in his various workbooks, etc. I also realize that when he has to do the writing exam our state requires this spring he will have to write, but I'm hoping that by zooming forward with his skill level by that time, that he will still do well. OK, long story short. Anybody know of LA/Writing software curriculum? Melissa

Just thinking about how great a resource this forum is. How did any homeschool parent survive homeschooling before this? I mean where else could you go to find someone who is using the same curriculum as you or experiences which can help you and complete understanding of whatever hs situation you face? Everyone is so different and at different levels and paces, yet with so many on here, you can find at least a few folks who are in the same place as you. Among the hs group here locally, hardly any of us have any curriculum in common. So if I need help, I can only find that HERE. Thank you, WTM folks, for setting this up. LOVE IT! :grouphug: -Melissa

Thanks, all! I've been doing it wrong. With the crazy summer schedule I just did it when I could. We've only gotten through 8 lessons, LOL! She seems to keep up just fine even with big breaks between lessons. So maybe I won't start over, but be more consistent moving forward from here on out. Whew. What would a homeschool parent do without this forum! :grouphug: Melissa