this is my daughter as well - same age size etc - we buy a lot of her clothes at aeropostale b/c they have petite sizes and awesome CLEARANCE! plus the junior stuff is cute without being overly trashy. their summer dresses, skirts were adorable :) also old navy, target and occassionally jc penney has some good stuff.

Migraines -they are usually hormonal at this point and I just suffer through the day and take a vicodin at night to sleep it off sometimes if i'm lucky that works and it will only last a day. But usually it's a two-day process. Hypothyroidism - I take levoxyl - Bipolar 2 - I take topomax, which helps with the migraines as well b/c I'd get them much more frequently without it. I still have mood swings - highs, lows but I'm more tolerable. I'm more manageable. For some reason over the last two years, when my hypothyroidism came back, my body also hurts off and on - like a general aching in bones, i have this weird tingling in my hands when I'm overly stressed. Stress affects my entire body in a very physical way. Me and valium are bff's. Insomnia is a problem for me on occasion so I occasionally take a sleeping pill.

I just asked about readers and someone recommended pathway readers. It's so funny b/c I've been wishing I had gone with their grammar program. (any feedback on climbing to good english) we use growing with grammar right now but maybe next year, i'll use the whole package. I just put the readers for grades 3, 5 and 6 (with workbooks) and the vocabulary program into my wishlist on rainbow - looks like another order is in my future :) I was looking for something with a g_dly background but not a christian background per se and I'm thinking this is exactly what I was looking for. It had been right under my nose!

a reading program something like R&S reading but a little more secular? I don't mind "old testament" stories/scripture intertwined into my curriculum, welcome it even but past that, i'd prefer to stay away from in all of my other curriculums. But the R&S reader set is what I'm looking to supplement my children's extra reading. Any suggestions?

What she said - we just did the tablets last week - not the heiroglyphs - ours have been attempting to attract some sunlight to dry - but no luck since it's been raining for 5 days!!! UGH but it's there in the back on page 10

I have a 10 yo daughter as well! We would love a pen pal. I would love one for all three of my hs'ers :) (8 yo girl, 12 yo boy) as a side note ;)

I'm kinda late coming into this post (8 pages later) and I am a fan of Eminem, and my kids (older ones) do listen to censored versions of his some of his music.... I don't think he attempts to glorify DV - he says in the song, he feels ashamed, that he laid hands on her and he'll never stoop so low again, he talks about another chance but falling into the same habits, same routines... to me it's about toxicity. that neither can see how toxic they are to each other, hence the drug references. i think a lot of people can relate to relationships such as these. Whether they escalate to the point of domestic violence or not, most at some point or another are in a relationship that somehow gets beyond their control. For me, this song opened the door (again) to discuss healthy relationships with my kids. My kids have friends who have parents who are like these people in the video - it's not like this isn't a reality. Sometimes it's these types of outlets that open the door to conversations.

I had just been thinking about something like this - mind readers on this board I tell ya!!!

We occassionally do the puzzles. My dd who loves math does them b/c she views them as "fun" but my other two dc who LOATHE math hate the "extra" work of them. And since I'm not really into torturing my children, I let them skip it.

Congratulations!! Six is a GREAT number!!!

I boiled a corned beef brisket, mac/cheese and mandarin oranges.... last night we had the corned beef brisket with rice and baked beans (i made two at once).

I had all my math mammoth worktexts made into work books and my kids write in those. This makes my life so much easier! It cost me like $20 something (color and b/w) at office depot but we also have Growing w Grammar work books. Originally my thoughts were to have them do all their work on loose leaf but now two weeks into school, I am SO OVER THAT!!! It's like more work for me to grade three kids work on loose leaf instead of just flipping through the workbooks. My original thought was I could pass these books down but now I'm thinking really - it's only not THAT much for the workbooks!! I'm just beginning to wonder, how much money am I really going to save copying everything out of the spelling workbooks (I just switched to Spelling Workout). I'm copying (printing in Draft but for three kids - ink is going to cost me a fortune. What's y'alls opinion? I have a 12 yo, 10 yo, 8 yo and 4 yo - I'm just not sure the added benefit of passing down and "reselling" will outweigh the added expense of the copying and extra time in grading and added to their work time.

so I can't really afford to ditch another but maybe a supplement?? I've heard caught ya grammar is awesome from some wonderful momma's here on the HIVE? so maybe that will help with retention? my husband suggested I supplement instead of ditching.... three weeks into homeschooling and maybe my nerves are rattled and my doubts about my abilities are overwhelming me?

Grammar Town, Grammar Island and the corresponding Teacher Manuals and Student Workbooks and Teacher Manuals. Is all of it necessary? I read that Teacher Manuals actually come with the student book included? I'm currently using Growing with Grammar and honestly it's drudgery for my son. My girls couldn't care less. One of my daughters likes it well enough. My other daughter seems to be going through the motions but when we review, I see that she's doing just that. There's no real retention going on there. There are so many wonderful posts and comments made about this program and I really love that it seems to be carry on through the older years. I also like that I could use one book for two of my kids - in essence, teaching them together. The day is so hectic as it is. I'm still trying to work out a decent schedule for us all. Anyway, the point of this ramble is - is purchasing all of this necessary? It's about $150.00 worth of stuff, which I'll buy if it's all necessary but if it's not, that would be awesome! I seem to be dropping curriculum and purchasing new since we started. Nothing I thought was going to work is!! Everyday I end the day feeling unsure about what we accomplished:confused: Thanks in advance for any advice.

what a great schedule. after our first work - i was thinking i need to readjust and your schedule gave me such a great starting point. thanks so much for sharing!!

We started Growing with Grammar, I'm trying to piece together a literature/reading program, we were doing Soaring with Spelling, which is supposed to go with Growing with Grammar but my kids hated it. So I found some used Spelling Workouts and bought those, especially since my daughter (8 yo) needs a lot of remedial phonics work. The kids drudge through Growing with Grammar but all three of them said it was boring. :( The last thing I want is three bored children. So I was looking at the wonderful book that is the Rainbow Resource Catalog. Man where was this catalog a few months back when I was sorting through and buying curriculum!!! While reviewing all the language arts programs in the catalog, I liked Climbing to Good English. It's both affordable and contains reading, and a comprehensive language arts program. http://www.climbingtogoodenglish.com/cge1.htm Has anyone used it? Any opinions? My husband is being uber supportive about dropping curriculums and getting new ones, as long as I'm sure about it. It's just being in my first year - I never feel sure about ANYTHING:crying:

i have the whole program too but I'm not sure about this either. One of my dd's is working through level 3 this year, my son thru level 4 and another dd thru level 2. I think since maybe they are meant to be done on a year by year basis, it begins with a review in the first book and then moves into new concepts? But we are still in A books. So I'm no help. Maria is AMAZINGLY helpful. I would just email her and ask her what she thinks.

I was so glad to read this post! I was wondering this question myself! There are like 130 lessons with many pages to each lesson in Math Mammoth. I was thinking that scheduling a set time for math was better than saying let's get X amount of pages done today. I think they would speed through the pages to be "done" and then we'd not really get anything learned. Since of my three homeschoolers, I only have one math lover. Yesterday, I had one child get 4 pages complete; one get 2 complete and one get 6 complete in the hour we worked on math. We have a lot of remedial work going on. After we completed the placement tests, I realized that my 6, 5 and 3 grader need A LOT of remediation. It made me cry for them. But that's why we are homeschooling :) As a newbie - a little affirmation makes me feel good. Thanks Hive!!!

Thanks for the suggestion! We are hitting the bookstore/library tomorrow!

sent my ps 8th grade daughter (13 yo) a have great first day back to school card and not any of my other children. I'm SO peeved by this. My family is (shockingly enough) very pro-homeschooling. They have complete faith in me. More than I do actually. My mother in law made some weird comments to my daughter (13yo) when we ran into her at the store few weeks ago re: school. I really didn't think much of it. But I don't see her a lot. We don't have this awesome relationship anyway. I don't care what she thinks of me and I'm sure she feels the same about me. But to dis my kids so blatantly is so rude. It's not like they are babies and didn't notice they didn't get a card as well. Some people are so obnoxious. I just needed to vent. Thanks :mad:

I'm so sorry - this economy is just so horrible :grouphug:

a list of recommendations would be appreciated. I've actually looked at the sonlight list of readers for each of my kids levels - and was thinking of going with that? ETA: I'm completely flexible - i know my kids pretty well and i'm completely ready to ditch something it it's not working!

I'm a new homeschooler. These are my plans. We started school today. I feel mildly competent. I've read THE book. I have a 12 yo, 10 yo, and 8 yo. 12 yo - MM, GWG, Soaring w Spelling, SOTW1, RS4K (plus extra science stuff), Writing Strands3, Lots of Reading 10 yo - MM, GWG, Soaring w Spelling, SOTW1, RS4K (plus extra), Writing Strands3, Lots of Reading 8 yo - Extra phonics practice, McGuffy Readers, MM, GWG, Soaring w Spelling, SOTW1, RS4K (plus extra), Writing Strands 2, copywork I'm a little stressed really about the reading - I don't have a set literature program. Not that I need anything set or necessarily want anything set but I want them to be reading good books and I want to be sure they are comprehending. Any suggestions on lists and questions would be great. I found an Abeka book at goodwill and I thought now that's a good reader! It's very low level, maybe for my 8 yo... Any way, I'm definitely rambling now. Suggestions helpful!

Office Depot told me today that I could not get a teacher's card. That we had to be a "real school". So I turned to my son and said oh look at that kid - you don't go to a real school. Guess you don't get a real education. So does that mean I'm not copy real textbooks? And I didn't register a "real" school with the state? :glare: she didn't look or speak to me again... I'm copying and binding 9 books (Math Mammoth - 3 kids for the entire school year) and she quoted me $180.00 for a mix of black and white and in color!!!

yes - i love shopping. My name is Michelle. And I have a problem.:001_huh: