I usually take a book I'm supposed to be reading or one of dc's papers I have to read.

Two of our dd's were like this, so I began looking for opportunities for them to learn to "speak up", as I call it. A great place for us was a cafeteria-style restaurant we used to go to. Picadilly down South; K&W where we are now. These restaurant lines are crowded and noisy, with workers yelling and moving constantly, and dishes rattling, and doors opening and closing, etc. I would position myself beside the most quiet dc and gently remind her to "speak up", even if it feels like you're yelling, so the server can hear you. If she told them what she wanted, and I could see the server didn't hear her, I would quietly tell dd that and to say it louder. Because the line moves quickly, there was no time for them to 'think'. They just had to speak - right then. Until they got the hang of it, I let them try 2 times before I would tell the server what they had said. Mostly out of consideration for the other customers - didn't want to hold up the line too long. This has worked well. Now when I tell them to speak up, they know exactly what I mean, no matter where we are. I even have to do this, sometimes, at home. Dd's will say something to dh and he won't hear them. I tell them 'I don't think he heard you' and they repeat it with more umph. It just takes a little coaching. Your boys are so young though. They seem too young to be worried about something like that to the point that he's ready to put them in a brick-and-mortar school. They've just begun to be aware of things like this, haven't they? :confused:

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Yes, but do you have your wings (under the upper arms) and your wattles (under the chin) yet?? You'll get those around 50. :lol:

Had Chi's all my life. They're not usually good with kids. Plus, they're small and often fragile. They DO shed - mine's shedding now. They can live to be 20 yo. My old one just died at 19yo, and she was blind and deaf. But still playful as ever. The one I have is my last one. I'll be 54yo this spring, and I don't want to outlive any of my dogs. I've seen that happen to an animal. Very upsetting. Kids are better off with a dog they can hold and play with. Chi's often attach themselves to one person and 'protect' that person via snarling, snapping, etc. My 12yo Chi often snaps at dh unexpectedly when he comes towards me if he surprises her. I've always had Chi's for ME. Not for dc. These dogs are my own personal comfort systems. They follow me around everywhere I go - house, yard, walking, etc. They even sleep with me and dh. Dh jokes (I think??) that he wishes I treated him like I do the dog. :D I just tell him that I wish he loved me like my dog loves me. :lol: Also, some vets are lousy with Chi's. These dogs can be jumpers. Think Mexican jumping beans. They can leap straight up into the air, and surprise a vet and almost fall off the table at the vet's office if the vet isn't holding on to her. :glare: And, because they're so tiny, a vet can make deadly anesthesia errors on them. I just took my 6-lb. Chi in to have her teeth cleaned last fall. She came home with clean teeth - and DEAF!! :glare::glare: She has regained about 40% of her hearing; but I doubt I'll ever take her to a vet again. Oh, and if you have young kids, breeders of Teacup Chi's often won't even talk to you. Guess I can understand that.

I grew up in SC just across the border from Augusta, GA. Lived in Decatur, GA for a year in my teens. It's hot. And humid. And that's coming from someone who used to spend a month of every year in Baton Rouge, LA with all our relatives, and also lived a year there. The heat is a still, heavy, humid heat in that part of the country (inland GA & SC). In Baton Rouge, there always seemed to be some kind of a breeze, and you could count on a quick thunderstorm every day about 3:30 to bring in some clouds and rain to cool things off. I know that because that was about the time I got off work and I had to walk through the rain to get to my car. But in Atlanta & Augusta, you don't usually get that. It's a more oppressive heat, IMO. No breeze, hazy, humid. Surprisingly fewer t-storms as compared to Baton Rouge. And I remember plenty of Halloweens where we wore shorts under our costumes. If I remember correctly, you don't get a consistent break from the heat until around Thanksgiving. As my cousin from Baton Rouge used to say about Baton Rouge after they moved to NC, 'I just got tired of those 6-month summers in Baton Rouge'. Dh just came in. He says, " Atlanta was just rated one of the gayest cities in the US. San Francisco has been displaced". Says he heard it on the radio news. :001_huh:Not sure what that has to do with the weather. He just blurted that out when I asked him about Atlanta. They used to say that about Chapel Hill when we lived there, too. Wonder how they determine those things ... Anyway, dh also says the heat starts in April/May, but the heavy humidity rolls in about June and lasts until September. (He went to GA Tech.) I remember lying in the sun working on my tan and sweating in April in SC, to give you an idea of the heat. We also lived in NH for 4 years. It gets hot and humid there, too. We had window AC units. But we could usually count on the nights to be cool. And it only lasted a couple of months. They did, however, have a mosquito season like I've never seen before. Yuk. The good news is that you do adjust to the weather after a month or so. (Less for him since he's young and healthy, I assume.) You learn how to work around it. A lot of Southerners stay indoors in the hottest part of the day. We do our shopping early in the morning or in the evening when it's not as oppressively hot. I, personally, avoid driving in the heat if I can help it. It takes a broiling hot car a LONG time to cool off. And your car can get so hot that you can't touch the steering wheel with bare hands in that part of the South. Not so much here in VA though.

Yeah. I used to be a lot prettier than I am now, for sure. Stupider; but prettier. :) You'll get there, Jean. How can you NOT, what with some of us here praying for you?? ;)

If she's only in 7th grade, I think I'd have her read the Logic or Grammar stage version of the Odyssey (don't remember the names) before digging into the Rhetoric version. That would help her grasp the overall scheme of the book. An outline, so to speak.

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We had our dc go all the way through the ABeka grammar/writing books. They also did the WS books, and other odds and ends writing things. We looked at R&S, but decided against it. After they had done most of the above, I later asked them which writing program was most helpful to them. (average kids, no learning problems, love to read, etc.) I was surprised to hear all 5 of them say that they preferred ABeka's grammar and writing. One dd said she liked it because it was more structured and something else I can't remember. She's asleep right now (like I should be :)), but I can ask her tomorrow if you'd like. Anyway, I do remember tweaking WS quite a bit. The older books were quite 'chatty' in a very annoying way, to me. (Haven't seen recent editions.) Our dc were often confused by all the chit-chat and unecessary talk; so I would skim the lesson, take a pen, and cross out anything that wasn't absoutely essential to the assignment. And I often had to 'translate' the assignment itself (ie. state it in a few very simple, short sentences). For ABeka, I would view the grammar sections as one curriculum, independent of the writing sections, allowing dc to go at a rate most comfortable to them in each subject. The combination seemed to be a good balance because the WS seemed to be as UNstructured as the ABeka was STRUCtured. But if I had to chose one, I'd go with ABeka. One of our ds's used to read the dictionary, too. Kinda wierd. :) HTH

Sometimes I just wander through the library in the section of whatever type book I feel like reading, and look for books with those old, old covers. And the more ragged, the better. I flip through them to see if I want to read them, before checking them out, however. And if your library system has many branches like ours does, it pays to visit all of them at one time or another. They can carry quite different selections. Kathy

No. And yes ... sort of. Ours are reading through the GB's (WTM). They each do outside reading related to the GB they're on. I never read any of those. I do try to read some of the GB's though; but it's hit and miss. I've gotten about halfway through Goethe's "Faust", currently, but ds has already finished the stupid book (I really don't get this book :confused:) and handed me his paper on it. He wrote a scathing review of it, so now I'm thinking 'Why finish it. I hate it. He hated it. Why not chuck it.'. It's tempting.... I'm also creeping through Herodotus, because I never read the Ancients list when ds's were reading them. I was teaching their 3 younger sisters how to read, write, etc., and still trying to figure out the whole WTM method. But I love this book, "Herodotus". I can see some of the peoples referred to in the Bible, like the Persians, Scythians, and Babylonians. It's fascinating. btw, I would never have wanted to live in ancient Babylonia. Ugly women apparently didn't fare too well there. ;) We're also creeping through "The Iliad" - again - only as a group this time. It's an experiment. We assign a set amount to be read individually and discussed at set times as a group. I already read it a several years ago, but I'm amazed at how much I missed. This seems to be going fairly well so far. And I'd have to read a couple other GB's to keep up with all my (older) dc. They told me not to worry about it; it would make more sense to me to read chronologically, from the beginning. So I'm all the way up to "Herodotus", fast reader that I am. :lol: As far as comprehension, I just assume they pay attention to what they read. And they write papers for me to read on most of the GB's they read. At first, their papers were short and shallow. I just told them to keep on writing; no big deal. As they have matured, so have their papers. I never worried about it and it all just seemed to take care of itself, naturally. They did, however, do a couple of writing programs to help with the mechanics of the writing itself. Kathy

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When our dd's began raising chickens, dh just grabbed some old equipment crate from work and brought it home for them to use as a coop. They set it on top of 4 cement blocks, cut a door, and tossed some hay into it. I think they had a ramp, too. Since we didn't know any better, it worked great until it rotted. It was worth the price. ;) Remember that EVERYthing loves to eat chickens. Dogs (usually kill, not eat), raccoons, foxes, weasels, possums, skunks, hawks, coyotes, and even bears will slash out at a chicken if they're bored or hungry and the chicken presents itself. Snakes will go after the eggs and baby chicks. Crows will eat eggs if given a chance. As far as pets, our dd's current favorite is a Bantam Antwerp Belgium rooster. He comes to the door every day and we open it and let him walk inside. Dd's give him a snack, hold him, and put him down and he walks out again. He's adorable. But you might have to schedule time to spend taming a chicken. They're not like dogs. Think more cats. I think dd's went out a few times a day with food and even trained most of the Bantams to hop up on their legs, arms, shoulders, heads, etc. Just put the food where you want them to perch. That way they get used to you. Also, if you let them roam (we only lock ours up at night), they're more likely to be eaten. They're also more likely to pop up one day with a batch of newly hatched chicks. The down side of that is that you have more roosters than you ever wanted, and every day is an Easter egg hunt. The up side is that those 2nd generation and later chickens are healthier. But you have to catch them to tame them. Chickens are great for girls. Our boys were never very interested in them, for some reason. Our dd's have always been the ones who did everything for the chickens. Dh nor I have ever done any chicken related stuff. Dd's are scouring the catalogs to order some new ones even now. But I do love to look out my window and see and hear them out in the yard. :) Have fun with your chickens. Kathy Forgot to add: If your dc are small and plan to be around the rooster, be careful. We once had a Barred Rock rooster which spurred youngest dd in the face. The regular size roosters are big and fast. The Bantam rootsers will also jump at dc (not me bc of my dog, a Chihuahua); but they're so small it's more comical when they do. And our youngest is now 16yo. And dc are laughing at me, since I just realized you're in the UK and I'm talking about bears..... Sorry. :blush:

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Here is a link to many that kept our squirmy ds's attention. They actually looked forward to evenings when dh would read these aloud. (I hate to read aloud. :tongue_smilie:) http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=jim+corbett+books&tag=googhydr-20&index=stripbooks&hvadid=3587270355&ref=pd_sl_8msur9l01c_e We've also enjoyed reading books written by (or about, sometimes) missionaries in foreign countries. Mostly, older books. Dd and I are reading one now about Henry Martyn. Here's a link to some. Usually, older books are more interesting, IMO. http://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/bio.html We never read too much fiction aloud, for some reason. But we did listen to a lot of it via audio books. My favorite one there was "The Hobbit", read by some British actor (??). Forgot: Little Britches series by Ralph Moody and Cheaper By the Dozen Kathy

We also use Zip Loc bags and freeze them. I also squeeze the air out and then flatten the bag as thin as I can get it. (I don't cram the bag full to begin with.) This way I can whack the bag against the counter to break up the chunck of frozen onions so that I can get a small chunk of them out. If the bag gets any holes in it, I put them in a new bag to prevent freezer burn. Kathy

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Here's a link to get you started. Hopefully, others will chime in. http://localhs.com/ Also, you can probably google for any conventions in your state and adjacent states. They usually have big curriculum fairs which you can attend even if you don't go to the rest of it. Best to check, though. I'm not as up-to-date as others here. Using the library like JudoMom said is another option. I used to get things Interlibrary Loan so I could look at them before ordering them. Our local hs group has it's own library of curr and books which can be checked out. Maybe yours does too?? btw, you can join hs groups now and meet other hs'ers at places like Park Days (or whatever they offer) to ask about things. You could even ask them to bring curr so you can look at it and ask them questions at the same time. And our local group has their own book sale once a year, too. Don't worry. You'll quickly be overwhelmed with resources ... :) ;)

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When our dc were younger, it always seemed that most HS-group field trips were geared for smaller families. With 5 dc, I often didn't meet the criteria and some groups even said things like 'If you have preschoolers, leave them at home' for this trip. We were reduced to Park Days and things like that. I eventually gave up on them because of this and also because it was exhausting and it seemed we lost at least a day of school trying to recover from the trip. The best setup for field trips I ever saw was in ID. The HS group used to list places to go on our OWN time, along with hours, costs, etc. This was wonderful. Dh and I would scour these lists and make plans for the weekends when he could do the driving. And dh got to share these things with all of us. We went to so many interesting places when we lived there. Here, about all we did was iceskating. That was fun and cheap, until the rink went bankrupt and they closed it. Anyone could skate - moms, dads, ALL your dc, etc.

For me, it's taken 3-4 years. Just about the time dh comes home and says we're moving again. That's also about as long as it (usually) takes me and the kids to clean up the house and property (we usually go for location and figure we'll end up with fixer-uppers for the money we have to spend. This house, however, is STILL a dump on the inside ... structural stuff, etc.) You probably will have to put some effort into it, though. If for no other reason, than for your family's sake. No matter how much I hate the place when we first get there, I try to find SOMEthing I like about it. No matter how tiny. The rest of it, I take the attitude that I'd rather laugh than cry. If it's not funny, dc and I MAKE it funny ... in various ways. For example, there is a family who's property is adjacent to ours. They have been there for almost 100 years, and, apparently, rarely haul their trash to the dump. They have their own private dump on our border, and it's slowly sliding down the hill, getting dangerously close to sloshing over onto our property. One day ds came home and was telling me about how the dump seemed to be "moving". Well, this just cracked me up, for some reason. I pictured, in my mind, this dump as some living, oozing thing with eyes .... anyway, we all started talking about it, and at some point I referred to it as "Mount Dumpit" (think Dr. Seuss ... Mount Crumpit), and the kids all cracked up. We went on for about 10-15 minutes like that. It works for us. We STILL laugh about some of the people we came across in NH. Maybe you and your family can think up some coping mechanisms of your own. You're probably more in the middle of a true grieving process, though. 20 years is a loooong time to live one place and then just up and move. How do you usually grieve over something? Maybe come at it from that angle. Also, 6 months is nothing. You haven't even been through all the seasons yet. I always have to go through all the seasons in a new place, for some reason. And moving with teens is hard, too. But aren't some of your dc in school systems? THEY can probaby bring home loads of things you can chose to laugh about (vs crying). Another thing that helps us is to make an effort to see the sights. Ask around for places beyond the usual touristy things. That also helps us learn our way around beyond our own little neighborhood. Dh used to ask around at work. And when we lived in ID, the local HS group newsletter would include places to take field trips with your family - complete with directions, hours, costs, etc. This was wonderful. We NEVER would have found some of those places on our own. Maybe your kids could help you with ideas. Brainstorm together, maybe?? Kathy