That was my first thought. Well, it could be worse. Thanks, Dr. Hive. :D

So, I woke up yesterday aching all over like I had worked out the day before. But, I hadn't done anything all day on Sunday! My arms, my legs, my back, my ribs...everywhere! Today, it is worse! I can hardly life my toddler b/c it hurts sooo much. My throat is killing me and feels swollen. It is painful to swallow anything except liquid. However, it isn't "scratchy" like laryngitus or anything. It is "achy". What could this be? I'm fatigued as well...but that's pretty normal. I'm fatigued all the time. I had blood work done last week and everything was normal (they didn't do a Vit. D or iron, though). Blood count was normal so it doesn't seem like a virus or infection. My kids have also been complaining of achiness. Just not as bad as mine. No fever that I can tell.

I just purchased Gail Graham's How to Teach Any Child To Spell at the recommendation of ElizabethB to help my ds8 who is a terrible speller (by my standards). He is in ps. He spells phonetically...by sound. Graham says that natural spellers have good visual memories...they can just see and remember how words are supposed to be spelled or how they are supposed to "look". If they see a misspelling...the work looks "funny" to them and they correct it until it looks right. A non-visual person might have difficulty with this. She also says that memorizing lists of words is of no benefit for non-natural spellers. I see this in my ds8 who can ACE a spelling test, but misspell those SAME words in his writing assignments. Graham says the best way to learn to spell is to use the words the child misspells in his daily writing and teach to the specific errors he/she is making. She encourages free writing, where you do NOT correct spelling right away. You let them write. Then, you have THEM proof their own work, use their own misspellings to make a personal "spelling notebook". I'm simplifying here, but it is quite interesting to me. As for your ds6..I wouldn't worry! He has a good grasp of his phonics! Oh, one other problem for some kids is the way the "hear" words. If they are not pronouncing or hearing prounounced all the separate syllables, they will often leave certain sounds out of their spelling of the word. Teaching them to pronounce each syllable and each sounds will help. I'm just reading this book right now, so please take all this with a grain of salt. I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination! I just found this book very interesting.

Welcome! Love your Screen name...my children always ask for rainbow sprinkles on their ice cream. :D I have 7 dc (dd12, ds11, ds9, ds8, ds6, dd4 and ds1). The 3 oldest returned to ps this year and I homeschool the 3 younger and chase the toddler. :D As for dr. appts....I try to schedule them around my dh's schedule or my neighbor's schedule (so she can babysit). I'm also fortunate that dd12 (almost 13) can babysit if I will not be too long. It's tough sometimes...esp. when EVERYONE needs to be seen or is sick or when I'm having my own health issues. Dh simply cannot take off that much time, neighbor works, etc. So...we do what we can do. I agree with Kristi that you can't do it all...at least not well. Something has got to give. Either you sacrifice the clean house, the elaborate dinners, the time spent with the kids, the education, time for you, etc. It is tough sometimes and I often feel overwhelmed. I won't lie to you! As for going to school yourself....never btdt YET. But, I am planning to go back for my Masters degree in the Spring or Fall of next year and wonder how I'll manage. My advice would be to see how demanding your own schedule is before you attempt to hs. Don't attempt both at the same time...that is a surefire recipe for an overwhelmed and distressed mommy! Welcome aboard, again...hope you get many more answers to your questions! Oh, forgot to add that the ages you have aren't very time-intensive as far as schooling so it could be doable to hs AND take classes yourself IF your dh is supportive.

That's what you get for asking a curriculum-related question here! ;) Seriously...I hope you find one that works for you...sometimes it just takes some trial and error...and luckily the resale value on most programs suggested on here are pretty high! Ask me how I know THAT? :lol:

Elizabeth does have a ton of great resources for free or cheap on her site! I got Grahams's books for my ds9 who is not a great speller and in ps so won't get great instruction there either. AAS is another great program that uses tiles instead of a ton of writing. It isn't overly expensive and you can often find it used here on the sale/swap board. It's not very teacher intensive (imho) and it's sort of "fun" for the kids. AND it is rules based so provides a very good foundation.

You are describing my ds8. He learned to read all by himself. Just picked up a bood and started reading it to me one day. He internalizes the phonics rules and can also sound out unfamiliar words w/out problem. However, his spelling is not so good! So...we are using AAS, as Crystal already suggested to you. IF, you want just a rules-based spelling/phonices program. I would also recommend The Phonics Road To Reading and Spelling...just moving quickly through level 1 as your son is able. IF, however, you like MFW 1st for all that it has besides phonics...I'd use it! You could still use something like AAS or Phonics Road alongside or instead of the phonics in MFW 1st b/c it seems like your ds5 would be a bit bored...as mine is. We also tried ETC but he found it painfully boring. There is so much more to MFW 1st than just phonics that he would probably enjoy!

:grouphug: and prayers. I know what you are feeling. Sinkable about sums it up. Or, in my case, SUNK. Praying you find comfort and peace and get through this soon.

A friend just turned us on to the Red Rock Mysteries by Jerry Jenkins. Totally NOT girly but my dd12 loves them! Even my 11yo boy was getting hooked! They both love mysteries! Our local library has them so that is a plus, too!

I can't answer your specific questions, but I can tell you our experience. I purchased the online subscription from the buyers co-op thinking it would be a great deal and my ds6 would like having a "break" from "normal" schoolwork...not to mention he wouldn't have to write anything! It was great for about a week...until he realized what all the little "rewards" meant. :glare: So, if he didn't get a butterfly and instead got a bee (needs improvement basically) he would throw a fit. The lessons seem to be timed b/c he hasn't moved from the first lesson in 2 weeks...not b/c he doesn't know it but b/c he is slow with the mouse. I had to actually do the lesson for him in order to get the "paper airplane" reward to move on. He kept complaining that he already KNEW the lesson and was bored. He was...he just wasn't fast enough on the computer to move on! I would love to figure out how to fix that other than watching his progress myself and doing the lesson for him so he can move on!

I'm not good with consequences period. You know my track record...it's not stellar. So, take this for what it is worth...less than 2 cents :tongue_smilie: Could you have ds7 write a letter of apology to the classroom teacher apologizing for ripping the frog? Does he get allowance? If he does, you could take away the allowance until a replacement frog has been paid for. As for hurting 4yo feelings and ruining the experience...7yo should be required to make it up to 4yo somehow. Giving 4yo a favorite toy, "serving" 4yo for a day, etc. I don't know. Seems to me that taking away c0-op or church class isn't really related. Again, just my less than 2 cents. Sorry you are dealing with this. :grouphug:

Just have to put in another plug for AAS. My ds6 is much like yours...not quite there with the handwriting. We've been using The Phonics Road...which I love for him...but using the AAS tiles. He also loves the AAS lessons b/c they are "easy" for him. Combining both is working for us...but I think just AAS would be great for your ds6. Also, try some alternatives to pencil writing like using his finger to write in sand, using large side walk chalk and write on the driveway (we like to do spelling like that on nice days) or using a white board.

Okay Dr. Hive...here is a question for you. For the past few weeks, I've notice several bruises on my legs (mostly upper thighs) that I cannot explain. One appeared on my left, front thigh out of nowhere. I gradually got larger until it was probably about 2in. wide x 4 in. long! It went away after about a week or so. Well, yesterday, I found another bruise on my right inner thigh (no jokes!) in the shape of an oval and about 2 in. long/wide. It doesn't hurt to touch it. Both were reddish brown in color and gradually got larger as the days went on. What is this? As a side note, my mother AND my grandfather (maternal) both bruise/bruised easily. I would remember my grandfather looking like he was all beat up but he couldn't ever remember hitting into anything or getting hurt at all. I'm a bit worried, b/c I've never bruised easily before.

Since you want Christian, I would check out HOD (as others have mentioned) and also MFW. Given the ages of your dc...MFW would work wonderfully in the years to come. You could do Adventures and then go all the way through, just adding in each dc as they reach 2nd gr. Make sense? MFW suggest using a separate K and 1st gr. program and then adding the dc to the History cycle wherever the oldest is.

Which MFW are you considering? That would make a big difference. And, what would you want to supplement? I am using MFW K and have 1st (to use in a few months). I do not have to supplement K at all...it is pretty full as is. However, since my dd4 LOVES schoolwork, she has some ETC Primers and other "workbooks" to use when I am busy with another sib. MFW 1st looks pretty full as well. As for the higher levels...I found that they were also very full except for math and la, of course. I did supplement the science b/c my kids were "sciency" and the science wasn't meaty enough (We did ECC last year) for them. K doesn't take long at all...so to supplement wouldn't be so bad if you needed to. HTH.

Great idea to make Monday fun (instead of Friday!). We always tried to have a Friday Fun Day, unless we had work to catch up on. Mondays are always tough around here. Attitudes, low energy, lack of attention, dawdling, staring into space, lack of focus, etc. Today, I tried to do some more "fun" stuff just to try to get some focus back. Worked, a little. I think instead of doing Friday Fun Days we will start doing some Monday Fun Days to "ease" into the week. Hmmm...great idea!

Oh no. I am so sorry. My prayers that God will comfort her through this. Miscarriage is hard to deal with period...but esp. for a teen I imagine. I've been through several myself. :grouphug: for all of you.

Unfortunately, where there is 8...there is 100. Catch and release traps probably will not do the trick. I recommend some good quality glue traps and some Dcon.

Oh, I had forgotten that it was a SWB recommendation! A plus! Thank you everyone for the great reviews. While it would be nice to have something to just hand over to her :D I realize that Latin isn't one of those things. So, I would like to learn it myself along with her and even though it will take some time out of each day. It's something we can do together! Yeah! Now...to find the finances to purchase it. :001_huh:

:001_unsure: Hmmm...I read that it is not a program you can just hand to your student and have them learn it on their own. The website said it took about 50-60 min. each day. I want to learn Latin as well, so I was thinking of actually doing it along with my dd. I'm crazy...I know. :D So...when you say teacher intensive...how much time are we really talking here?

Anyone using or used this? We are doing the Phonics Road now and I will likely continue. At the rate we are going...ds8 will be finished with PR in 2 years. So, he'll be in 5th grade. We are just blowing through Level 1. I hope my finances can keep up! So, what do you think of The Latin Road as opposed to all the other programs out there? I have Latina Christiana sitting unused on my shelf b/c my kids all roll their little eyes when I even mention Latin. I want dd12 to learn Latin and I want to learn it as well. I was thinking of doing this with her at home after school (or if I bring her home). Seems like I wouldn't really need any other grammar program b/c it incorporates much English Grammar...is this right? To use something like LLATL would be redundant, then? Thanks for any thoughts you might have. Just trying to get my ducks in a row!

So far, I must second The Phonics Road to Reading and Spelling. Tina sold me on it and now that I've been using it...I love it! I also love AAS, but I know that is pretty popular here anyway. For 1st grade math...I always like the Sadlier-Oxford Progress in Mathematics workbook. K12 uses it and I just loved it. Colorful, thorough, short lessons, manipulative-driven, etc. I picked up a copy at our local hs consignment shop for ds6 and he really likes it. We'll move to Singapore next year and he should be very well prepared to start in 1B or 2A. Diana Waring's History program is another that doesn't get too much press around here and I think it is an awesome middle-high school Bible-based History program. She teaches to all learning styles; spending 4 weeks in each "Unit" and appealing to different learning styles each week (auditory, visual, hands-on, etc.). I guess that's about it. I'm off to check out the Sentence Family book for ds8!

No help, must sympathy. I despised LA from 2 on in K12. Disorganized is the only word that comes to mind. Oh, and frustrating. It is one of the reasons we jumped ship from the K12 boat in our cyber. I never felt it was enough, either, but way too intensive to supplement. That doesn't make sense, I know. But, it was TIME intensive, not content intensive.

I honestly don't know what his rationale was/is. Perhaps he thought it wasn't a "right" to sleep on a comfortable mattress and that if she couldn't treat him with respect she didn't deserve it? I don't know. Yes, lots of stress in her life. Yes, all my fault. Yes, obviously more than an issue about the playground. Yes, all of the above. I'm tired. I shouldn't have posted this. No more advice, please. Thanks for listening and I apologize for taking up board space with this.

I'm having the same issue with ds6. He is finally ready to read but his writing isn't quite up to speed. We use Phonics Road and the writing about kills him (and it's not that much...just a few letters each day). He doesn't "get" the 3 lines. So, we are trying using his finger to write in sand or flour, chalk outside on the driveway, the AAS tiles for spelling words, etc. His fine motor skills just haven't developed well enough yet. Don't hold him back...just adjust the writing.