Thank you :)

I would tend to put it at a 2nd grade level when comparing to other homeschool math curriculums. Not sure how it stacks up to public school math though.. Ds just finished 4th grade and used TT 7 this year with no problems so I would think that a 2nd grader using the 3rd grade would be fine as well :) .

Feet pictures are second in weirdness only to giant, close up pictures of just your eye :001_huh: . Pics of food crack me up because NOBODY ever posts dinner on the night they were low on groceries and fed their kids waffles, olives and dried apricots, lol. I also greatly dislike when folks feel the need to inform me that they've just jogged 84.2 miles....or that they just kicked butt during an INSANITY work out. A.Nnoy.Ing.

Hello all :) My older ds, recently turned 10 and a rising 5th grader, will be starting at a local Classical Study Center come this fall. He'll attend 2 days a week where he'll study history, literature, writing, grammar, Latin and science. His class will consist of other 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. He'll have assignments on his days off and we'll also cover math, bible, art, music, misc. language arts, etc.. at home :). We're both excited about this new chapter. With him being a the older end of the age range, I have complete confidence that he'll adjust just fine with jumping into d

We know a local homeschool girl who makes and sells wands :). You can check them out here! http://www.facebook.com/pages/All-R-Wanders/169160653121036

I don't think you can really compare free/creative writing abilities with directed, expository writing as they really are two separate things. The former is more of an inborn ability while the latter is a learned skill. Ds (9 - 4th grade) will write pages and pages of beautifully written stories complete with correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, paragraphs, character and plot development, etc... but ask him to write a narrative paragraph about what we read in history that day and he panics and freezes up. With that said, your 2nd grade dd's writing sample seems very age appropriate

..but even after folks have posted in them and I haven't read the responses yet, they still don't show up. I'm pretty sure when I've posted threads in the past I could see them in the "New Posts" thread....but I could be mistaken....

They show up in the forum I posted them in...but when I hit "New Posts" they never show up there... Thanks in advance! Jenn

Thanks again for the responses :001_smile: . Five posters have responded "Yes" so that makes me feel much more at ease! Jenn

P.S. - Here's a photo of the little bug...everytime he's nice and sleepy I try and get some sweet, sleepy newborn photos...but every time he wakes up and argues with me, lol.

Thanks for the responses :). And no, I'm not insulted at all, lol. My other son is almost 10 years old and I had forgotten how much anxiety having a new baby can bring!

Hi everyone, I gave birth to our second son on the 7th of this month. Everything went beautifully and we're all smitten with our newest arrival :). Yesterday, a family member mentioned that the baby has a "Simian Line" or "Simian Crease" on his left hand. Basically instead of having three distinct lines on his palm the two upper lines are merged into one line that goes all the way across his palm like this...... http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/08/01/health/adam/17226Simiancrease.html Of course I went and googled it and found that a Simian Crease can be associated wi

Ds's (9) favorite gift was a SpyNet watch. It takes video and audio recordings and does all kinds of other neat spy-ish things. He hasn't turned it off for the past 4 days. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004USRAWO/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B003AUDFHW&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0QJA00EC3T3ADB0YZ71C

Ds is 4th grade so this most likely won't be of any help, lol, but here we spend.. Independent reading - 1 hr. daily Spelling - 15 minutes, 3x per week (Sequential Spelling) Grammar - 20 min. - 30 min. daily (Rod and Staff English) Writing - 1 hour - 1 1/2 hours daily (mix of written narrations and dictation from across the curriculum, Winning With Writing and assigned writing)

As a landlord, please, please, PLEASE inform the landlord about the dog. Wait until it actually shows up for confirmation, but please tell him. Just be upfront about it. Telling your landlord that you're thinking of getting a dog because the policy has changed might backfire on you. He might be worried about losing not one, but two tenants to the issue and just give you the go ahead to get your own dog. Animals, dogs in particular, ruin rental units. Not only that, but if someone heaven forbid gets hurt by the dog, he could be in a world of trouble. I think you're 100% validate

Did you never see any 80's kid's movies such as "The Goonies"....they were PG and loaded with swear words.

We're going to go see it next week in IMAX 3D....I'm less excited about the movie itself and more excited to see the trailer for "The Hobbit" in IMAX 3D!!!!!

Maybe TRISMS? http://www.trisms.com/

If dh pestered me even one ounce I'd tell him his real gift in a heartbeat and let him be disappointed on Christmas :)...but I also have very little, if any patience for anyone (let alone a 37 year old adult) pestering me as to what I've bought them for a gift :tongue_smilie:.

MIL wanted to buy ds (9) a Nook for Christmas and I thought it was a wonderful idea! I was able to find a friend who was selling her never-used Nook (one of the orginal, black and white versions) for a really reasonable price and MIL bought it for ds. Ds is a voracious reader and does much of his reading in the car, many times at night. He'll usually flip on the back seat light in the car, but my mom keeps reminding me that it's illegal to drive with the light on in the car ;). The Nook came with a nice case and book like so he can read in the car at night without issue. I'm thin

It's very simple. Ask for a full thyroid panel (TSH, T3, Free T3, T4 and Free T4) as well as a thyroid antibodies test. This will determine the nature of your/your child's thyroid issues (or non-issues). If the antibody test comes back positive you/your child most likely have autoimmune thyroid disease in which case, yes, you need to be on thyroid medication. You can't naturopath your way out of an autoimmune disease. It will get progressively worse and continue to attack your thyroid until it's utterly useless. If it comes back no, then your thyroid may be just fine. Many things

Awwww...don't 9 year old girl play with toys anymore? I played with my Barbies until I was 11..at 9 my Christmas lists were most definitely filled with Barbie, baby doll stuff or Calico Critters (they were called something else way back then though...I can't remember what). Ds9 has almost all toys on his Christmas list....Legos, Playmobil, Spy Stuff, etc.. Maybe boys just play with toys longer nowadays, lol.

Have you considered going more high protein and less carbohydates? I'd also recommend trying to do smaller meals every 3 hours or so to keep the metabolism up. I know, that for myself, even if I'm limiting calories, I won't lose, and will even gain if I'm not limiting my carbs. I tend to be glucose intolerant with my big triggers being refined sugar and white, starchy carbs (white bread, white pasta, white rice, potatoes, etc...). Eating smaller meals not only keeps my metabolism moving, it also helps to keep my blood sugar regulated. Here's what I eat on an average day...please kee

Meh. Our local district does have a "gifted program". Admittance is based purely on teacher/parent recommendation. No testing other than looking at the child's math and ELA scores from the previous year. Criteria seems to be that the child be well behaved, mild mannered, people pleasing, sitting the front of the class, always raising their hand and having their work organized and completed on time. The program mostly consists of weekly pullout for special field trips (museums, plays, etc..). I have one niece and one nephew (both 4th grade) in our local school district. They bot

We use TWTM method to write across the curriculum (written narratives, dictation, book reports, etc..) and this year I've also added in Winning With Writing to fill in some of the gaps you've mentioned :). I wrote a brief outline of what our schedule looks like recently in this thread.. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=330277