:iagree: Yes, this too. Yes, it is mostly magnesium. More info on that, and the right type of magnesium below. Also read this: May be caused by: • eating too much protein • having a potassium deficiency • taking a diuretic • too much demand being placed on one muscle group in the foot. Wearing any heel height (even flats) for too long can cause problems. Vary your heel heights, daily, if possible. • Dehydration – more fluids – drink at least 6 glasses of water a day (probably more) • More potassium – bananas, most fruit, legumes, avocados • Stretch legs for a few minutes before bedtime For most people on a healthy diet, 400 mg of Magnesium daily should be sufficient. But for those who have symptoms of deficiency (and many of us do), I would recommend more, but probably no more than 1200 mg. Add in more magnesium gradually. Your body knows how much it can handle according to how much your bowels can tolerate. The stools should feel soft, but not excessively loose. Take in divided doses and with meals to ensure optimal absorption – preferably more at night I have read that it’s preferable to not take magnesium at the same time as calcium. Others say that it’s fine. This is where I am confused. I think the former makes more sense. The most absorbable forms are: Magnesium Citrate Magnesium Glycinate Magnesium Taurate Magnesium Aspartate Magnesium Malate Magnesium Succinate Magnesium Fumirate Avoid: Magnesium Oxide Magnesium Carbonate Magnesium Gluconate Magnesium Sulfate These are not absorbed well and are the cheapest forms Side effects from too much magnesium include diarrhea, which can be avoided if you switch to Magnesium Glycinate. People with kidney disease or severe heart disease should take magnesium only under a doctor's supervision. NATURAL SOURCES Almonds Avocado Barley Beans Brazil nuts Brown rice Buckwheat Dark Chocolate Dates Figs Garlic Greens (including Collard Greens and Dandelion Greens) Kelp Molasses Millet Parsley Pecans Rye Sea vegetables (seaweed and kelp – but make sure they come from non-polluted waters and are high-quality) Shrimp Walnuts Whole Grains Wheat bran Wheat germ Potassium - Potassium is required for water balance in the body and the correct function of cells, and is used in cancer therapy. Sometimes muscles hurt because they don’t contain enough potassium. One of magnesium’s many important functions is to maintain a sodium and potassium balance. If your muscles lack potassium, taking more magnesium can raise your level better than taking more potassium. If you need both, try a potassium-magnesium aspartate combination. Aspartic acid carries both potassium and magnesium into the cells more quickly and efficiently. Potassium tends to balance your blood pressure Potassium will also establish a natural diuretic effect to help clear salt out of your body. In an 8-week study, 70 per cent got a reduction from potassium. Overall, however, it is usually advised to only take supplemental potassium if your health care practitioner advises it. It’s far better to take a dietary approach. CAUTION: If you have kidney problems, check w/your doctor before significantly increasing your potassium or before taking potassium supplements.

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

:D :grouphug: :D

Nakia, your comment yesterday (or at least I read it yesterday) about what you'd like to do to the Wesboro Baptist Church had me cracking up. :lol: :D :grouphug:

:hurray: :D :grouphug: I can relate to much of this thread. When my dc were younger, the way I dressed, really wasn't uppermost in my list of priorities. I now love to dress as nicely as I can (while being practical, however), even for heading out to the grocery store. I refuse to buy non-flattering, baggy, ill-fitting clothes anymore. If anyone wants a really nice style book, this one is my favorite. Dd and I have such fun shopping together. She's quite the young designer and recently had some of her designs presented at a local fashion show. :) She's always sewing. We often enjoy watching What Not to Wear. I just need to watch that show more. Been a bit neglectful lately. BTW, for dry and cracked heels ... wear socks as often as possible in the home. Even sleeping with them helps. Not the most romantic, however. :lol: Before putting on socks, coat heels them with a thick layer of cream, Vaseline, whatever. Works like a charm. :D

Well, maybe I shouldn't be posting here, since we only used JAG. To this day, I have no idea why we stuck with it for as long as we did. My poor dd. We both hated it. It was, without a doubt, most probably the worst homeschooling purchase we have made in a long, long time. Boring, dull, and way too difficult ... the diagramming which would never end, was driving us out. of. our. minds. :banghead: Mind you, this is coming from me, who is not a fan of grammar overkill, unlike most here on these boards. :tongue_smilie: A good friend on these boards once told me that JAG didn't work for them either. She herself could never understand diagramming, nor the purpose of it, and she was an English major in college! :D When it comes to grammar, I have a very Ruth Beechick way of thinking. This is what Ruth Beechick says. She says a whole lot more and her approach is a wonderful one: “If you tested any group of children to find who knows a lot of grammar and who knows only a little grammar, you would find that the grammar scores do not correlate with quality of writing. Children who know the most grammar are not necessarily better writers. The parts do no add up to the desired whole. But moving in the opposite direction does work. That is, students who are good writers can learn grammar better than students who are poor writers. Grammar is not a way to good writing; it is a tool that good writers use to analyze writing, to justify doing something this way instead of that way, and so forth. You can teach the parts of capitalization, punctuation, spelling, sometimes grammar, and numerous other matters day by day in the dictation and copying lessons. Some of them you will consciously teach. Many others your child will learn without conscious effort. He will learn from the good language models he studies, in the same natural way he learned to speak. Teach your children first to write well (dictation and copywork from MEANINGFUL selections) and then teach them some grammar (around 6th or 7th grade). They will understand it at that time, and may even enjoy it, not having been burned out previously with years of useless grammar study." Ruth Beechick, A Strong Start in Language With good literature and as time goes on, a child is going to learn grammar and sentence structure. I think that if children are readers, they usually have less difficulty with spelling and grammar. Most of my schooling was in the U.K., and it's often surprising to me how much the U.S. focuses on grammar. I remember only being taught the essential basics - nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc. I just cannot for the life of me understand the reason for diagramming. Sometimes I think that programs such as this one may just be yet another "thing" for us homeschoolers to purchase. That's what happened to me anyway. JAG, for us, was a complete waste of $. I remember asking about JAG on various boards. Someone said how diagramming has helped her through grad school and all throughout life. I cannot for the life of me understand how. I attended a top-notch grad school and not knowing how to diagram never hindered my studies. Before purchasing JAG, I was mistakenly led to believe that it was the best program out there since sliced bread ... Well, I'm off because I know I must have upset some people here :leaving:.

Thanks so much. :D

Did you two meet IRL? I'm jealous. :)

Thank you so much. This is very helpful. :)

Not Rosetta Stone. Ds needs something that a friend/tutor will use in order to teach him. Preferably user-friendly, engaging, not too dry, effective. Workbook-style or whatever works best would be ideal. Any recommendations? Thank you. :)

Thank you all so much. :) You are amazing and so very, very helpful. Thank you :grouphug:. I love EPS. Quite frankly, I'm tired of some of the programs developed by and for homeschoolers. Just some of them. JAG, for example, was the worst purchase I ever made. Writing Strands, etc. - no good. I never, ever thought I'd say this, but programs developed by the bigger publishers - EPS, etc. - seem to work better for us. The Tara McCarthy book looks great. Our kids love workbooks as do I. Can't wait to look more at the Walch site. :D Thanks. :) Thank you also. Never heard of Bright Apple. Off to google. :)

:iagree: You're right. :)

Do you have any favorites by this company? My ds is challenged in many areas - mostly spelling and he was a late reader, although he now reads much better. I'm looking for any of your favorites by Remedia, mainly in LA, but pretty much in anything. We've loved the Outlining books for both kids. I'd love to have more workbooks like these. :D

Thanks so much. :)

Thank you so very, very much. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

First, stop blaming yourself. :grouphug: That's quite normal. I have no experience with MUS. For some reason, and I can't remember why, it never appealed to me. The Key To series are fabulous for giving confidence in doing independent work. They really and truly are my favorite math program. I got the entire series for both my dc. And we're going through them slowly. The Kumon Books (although no algebra, sadly) are also great. You can get these on amazon, at B&N, etc. They give lots and lots of drill in all the essential areas - decimals, fractions, etc. Do not look at the grade levels for these books. Sometimes they're quite advanced. Don't think that they're necessarily simplistic. My dc are doing the Geometry books in these at levels that are below their grade level. Those are my first choices to get him up to speed. We use both these programs. We also use Calvert Math and a bit of Singapore. But again, Key To and Kumon would be my top choices in your situation.

To say that I despise cooking would be an understatement. I used to like it. Love it, actually. Now, I cannot stand it.

Thanks. Cant' wait to read them later. :) I had this book somewhere. And I never got around to reading it :tongue_smilie:. I hope I can find it again.

Me too. Makes me want to weep. I never had problem teeth myself, but to be so desperate, makes me so very, very sad.

:iagree:

Has anyone tried these? Liked them or not? Thank you. :)

Has anyone tried these? Liked them or not? Thank you. :)

Loved reading this. Loved the part where he held you in his arms. So very, very sweet. These things get me all teary-eyed. :) :D :grouphug:

Thank you all, again. :) No. He LOVES the outdoors. He's outdoors and running around almost all the time. It's indoors that he cannot stand. Comforting to know that it's not just our son. ;) Thanks for the book recommendation. No decent library here. I do have to be quite selective as to what I buy. No, not unless Hermione, Harry, or Ron played an instrument in the Harry Potter stories. ;) :lol: He worships them. At. the. moment ;). He does read in school. He reads online - things that interest him - again, Harry Potter, etc. But he's not the type to naturally lounge around like dd and I - to read for hours on end. But then again, most males that I know in both dh and my families don't either. Not saying it's good. Just pointing out that in our case, most males tend to read less than females. At least, for pleasure anyway. Thanks so much again, everyone.

I just miss hearing the word "petrol" - reminds me of when I used to live in Britain. Over here, they say "gas". I prefer petrol. The prices here keep rising also. All. the. time. :glare: