Hi Boardies, Do you know how copyright works when a someone like DIVE or Math Without Borders makes videos to go with a curriculum? Do they get permission from the curriculum author? Are they a separate entity? Thanks for the help! Emily

I'm a fan of Nerds. I eat PB cups other times of the years, but Halloween is the only time I eat Nerds.

One year we did a "favorites only" Thanksgiving and found it really satisfying. Instead of doing a lighter meal on TG, could you do something like that? We found it was a lot less work but still felt special because everyone had their favorite. We had enough favorites overlapping that we could really cut down on the cooking. ETA: I'd want to do something to accommodate the DIL but also do something special for the Navy son. One doesn't preclude the other. Emily

Many recipes call for "10-12 minutes of kneading by stand mixer."

I burned out a Kitchen Aid in 2008 by following a bread recipe that called for 10 minutes of kneading. When I called Kitchen Aid, this is exactly what they told me. Emily

I don't think that's the case because he did learn how to read alright, and he spells fine on spelling tests. He also went to a gifted kindergarten with an amazing teacher and I think she would have flagged him if he was outside the norm. (I recognize not all teachers would do that, but this teacher was exceptional.) Could you be more specific as to why this would indicate ADHD? I'll look into that. I hear you about the easy-for-him books. That's a great reminder. Thanks! Emily

Hi all, I'm moderately nervous about my 6th grade son's reading level. I'm mostly nervous because he doesn't read for fun that much AND he reads pretty poorly aloud. Unlike older siblings, he's never taken to reading as a past-time, though if I find the perfect book he'll read it for fun. (He's currently into Blackthorn Key, Lexile level 630, so they are large books but pretty easy.) When reading aloud, he'll scramble words and skip words. I'm going to start noting specifics in the future. He spells well on spelling tests but that doesn't really transfer to his writing. This seems fairly typical to me, though. Suggestions on what to look into? Or is this within normal? Thanks, Emily

Researchers show that people retain more information from paper books than from ebooks. I find that is my experience, too. I first looked into this research when I realized how differently I talked about books I read on a tablet versus on paper. If I couldn't see the paper books, it wouldn't matter; I'd retain a lot more by reading the ebook than by not reading the paper book. Emily

I really enjoyed seeing these titles and have looked them up!

I just wanted to pull this out because, in my household, things went crazy after mil died rather suddenly and in a traumatic way a number of years ago. I feel like we got busy and distracted in part because DH was traumatized and grieving and then he pushed that under for a while by being busy and stressed. He's lately been doing things to deal with it (rather dramatic things, including a full-family cross-country move) and things are getting better. Emily

It's the eyes getting bad. I prefer real books, but older adults in my life tell me that they can change the font on an ebook to one they can actually see.

I've had this and moved to the every-3-months cleaning schedule. I haven't had any cavities in the 7 or 8 years since I started doing this. I really upped my flossing quality and haven't had anymore scaling, just more frequent cleanings since then. Apparently my insurance covers at least part of the cost of more cleanings per year if you've had scaling done before. (Just moved and need to find a new dentist as I've hit the 3 month mark.)

Gerbils!!! My daughters had gerbils for two years and they are great starter pets. They don't stink (unlike hamsters). They can be confined to a cage or played with, depending on the person's desires. You can literally care for them every three days if needed, giving the animals a scoop of food and clean water every three days. The cage only starts needing to be cleaned after two weeks. They did sift the sand more frequently. I think the food came to $0.25/day or less for the two gerbils and we bought a new supply of sand and bedding every 4-6 months. We never took them to the vet. The highest start up costs were for the glass tank (so the bedding doesn't spill out) and the tank topper so they had more room to climb. We enjoyed giving them chew treats every once in a while, but usually they just got cardboard tubes to chew on. It was fun to watch them build their tunnels. Emily

We just did a day hike, but if we went back to Italy, we would definitely go again and try to stay overnight. But even a day hike is totally worth it! We only got to three (I think) of the villages.

We rented a car (which I do not suggest). A friend went recently and said she took public transport to CT. DH had a conference in Turin, which is why we went there!

We went to Cinque Terre and Turin one year. I loved loved loved Cinque Terre. I didn't especially love Turin. My dad recently went backpacking in the Dolomites and said it was amazing. We also went to Florence, but I think I loved it because I had a bit of a Michelangelo and Duomo obsession.

Deleted to remove personal information. Thanks!

I find a workout leader's patter makes or breaks it for me. I used to do Beachbody TurboFire way back in the day, but I really disliked (and disagreed!) with her patter. At least I don't mind having Lindsey Bomgren's patter going through my head.

I really love Lindsey Bomgren of Nourish Move Love. If you don’t exercise regularly, I would start with her 4 week beginner workout one. Otherwise, I would use the most recent weekly workout. https://www.nourishmovelove.com I love how encouraging her patter is. She focuses on weight training but also has barre and other workouts scheduled about once a week. She aims for about 30 minutes per daily workout. She has tips for goal setting, too, for things like push ups or increasing weight you can lift.

They also have a lot of food! I think older people might make a Factor meal last 1.5-2 meals. Emily

So Yiddish is almost but not quite German written in Hebrew characters. I speak German and was learning Hebrew, so I was watching a Hebrew language Tv show (Shtisel) about a Haredi family when all of a sudden I could understand everything. Then I realized they had switched over to Yiddish. That said, I think Yiddish is as much like English as German except with a different alphabet. If she wants something not like English there are much better choices.

Career aptitude tests have pegged her as a teacher, but most teachers I know do not recommend teaching as a career currently. But that's the level of human interaction she craves: many people, all day, no break.

So, my experience is that I was sort of herded into engineering because it was the "right" choice for women who were great at math and, well, I hated it and felt totally lonely. If I hadn't had kids and become a SAHM, I would definitely have gone to grad school after a few years and pivoted. So I bring some baggage when it comes to suggesting engineering. Also, engineering isn't a flexible field that lets you work part time unless you've done many years' work already, IME. She wants flexibility.

Hi all, DD16 is a well-rounded, very bright, science-loving kid. She's also extremely extroverted. She doesn't want many years of education, so Physician's Assistant might be OK but med school definitely is out, at least at this point. She adored Chemistry AP this year and spent most evenings talking about it. However, she also adored her Chemistry AP lab partners and that may have been what led to loving the class. Ideas of things to look into? Emily

If this isn't allowed, let me know and I'll delete it. I used Sonlight Core B for a lot of my graduating senior's 2nd grade and now I'm letting it go. 🙂 If you pay shipping, I'll send it to you. See the post here: Emily