Another bag of books leaving the house today! Yippee! Not purging, but I did some major school prep yesterday - just rearranging our work area. Today I clean out the contents of my desk. Fun, fun. This thread is such an inspiration. :)

We've been using a forehead thermometer - it's digital, and it took a bit to get the hang of it, but it's consistent with our other thermometers (we checked) and so much easier. We have to add a degree to it as well, but it's a keeper. Our ear thermometer experiences were never consistent, for some reason.

This is how we use TT, too. I have never left DS to do his TT on his own, I've always been with him while he's doing it. We stop and discuss or re-do questions. It would be easy for a child to click through without re-doing problems and fly through the program. We also use other products for facts. We used Times Tales for multiplication facts (fun!), and we are big fans of LOF here. LOF is just an extra though, we use it because DS loves it. We play games to practice math facts, and discuss math in daily life, too.

Yes, please be careful. I know you said it's OAS, but do you have an epipen just in case? My mother has had OAS all of her life. She has had several life threatening reactions, as well. Total avoidance helped her the most. DS has multiple LTFAs, plus OAS. I tend to take the OAS fairly loosely, because, well, it's not as scary as anaphylaxis, and it subsides with Benadryl. But his allergist tells us to avoid all foods to which he's had OAS reactions. That leaves us with almost no raw foods. :( And frankly, it's hard to tell the difference - is the itchy throat due to OAS? Is it the start of ana? It's nerve-wracking. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably ask for skin tests for the nuts at least. Have you gone that route? Recently? You may want to re-check if it wasn't recent. I think I'd want more specific guidance re: nuts. Can you make an appt to talk about this with your allergist? If you are very concerned, you can do in-office challenges for some foods. It can be a long appt - up to 4 hours, if there's no reaction - but well worth it for the peace of mind. It's scary to think of experimenting on one's child.

We love the AG. I think you could do without, but it adds a lot to the experience. We don't do every activity, but I use the questions on each section as spin off points for discussion and we do our narrations, etc immediately following. We don't always do the map work in the AG, but most of the time we do. So many of the activities don't involve cutting or pasting that I think you could have fun with it. Building a model of the Nile, etc. Lots of fun stuff. But you could skip all of it, too, and you'd still get a lot out of just reading and using your globe.

I'm so sorry. :grouphug: This might seem personal, so hopefully it's okay if I share this... Talk to her. Call her. Text. Email. Don't disappear. When I lost my best friend years ago, the disappearances were the most painful to her. The people who just didn't know what to say, or thought they'd be disturbing her, just disappeared. She missed them. She felt their loss. So if I could say one thing only... It would be, "Don't disappear." I love the idea of taking one day a week to be with her. For my friend, I was one of the primary caregivers, but we did have a standing weekly date. I'd take her to an appt every Friday, and it would give her a bit of a boost, so we'd go out to lunch. I didn't even realize it was a standing date until she made a point of letting me know she'd declined other invites on that date because it was "our" time. It was very meaningful for her, and for me. If you can't do it weekly, maybe you can do it biweekly. Oh, goodness, there's a lot more I could write here, but it might be too much here. Pm if you'd like to talk more, okay? Take deep breaths, and hug your kiddos tight.

:crying:

That's a good question. Thank you for asking it. :) Being atheist does not equal being mocking, intolerant of others' religious beliefs, or even that one is a person who needs to discuss religion, or one's lack of it, constantly. A person who is an atheist might do all of those things at times, just as a person of any religion might do those things, too. ETA: Wow, you all are too fast for me. I got called away, came back, posted and realized too late that this thread is light years past the point where I meant to insert this. Oops. Sorry. :blushing:

Pantry's done! Yay!

:grouphug: You handled the call well. Hoping that tomorrow brings better news.

Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. :) When/if you need to spice it up - write the sentences out on the window or sliding glass door (use window markers) and have him read them. Write them on a white board. Write them on slips of paper and have him read them one at a time. Write them on index cards you hide around the room. I probably wouldn't shell out much more money for different programs at this point, honestly. OPGTR is one book, so not a huge investment. He should finish up reading about 4th grade level.

Wow!!!!!

Next in line here. :lol:

Just opened a drawer that hasn't been opened in years! Found a stash of 1st grade educational games that we never used. Yikes! DS is in 4th now! They are being given to local homeschoolers. I'm not going to save them for DD - she's only 2. :) I've tried to make flylady work here. I like the system, and it works fairly well. But the emails drive me bonkers. Too cheerleaderish for me. ("C'mon, girls!" type stuff drives me batty.)

The day I realized that school took priority over housework was a good one for our family. We do school if there are dishes in the sink, if the floor needs to be swept or vacuumed, or if I could be doing those things while teaching. School is my job. I don't do it well when doing housework. Realizing that was liberating, and good for school in our home. I have health issues, too, and because of those we've hired weekly help. DH wants my limited energy to go to school, and some days I don't have enough energy for both. I know not everyone can hire help. But one thing that I've learned is that when we have our cleaning help coming - we prepare. We get "maid ready." The whole family pitches in, and it's done quickly (because we've worked hard on reducing clutter and making sure everything has a home). We do basic maintenance all week, then a big "maid ready" on Thurs before the cleaners come on Fri. Maybe a schedule something like that would help you release the housework till the designated day? Totally agree with you about multi-tasking.

Yikes. Be careful!

:) Voted.

Once in a while, if we're on a long drive and I forget to pack food, we'll share fries from Wendy's. Other than that, no drive throughs. For fast food, we like Chipotle or Elevation Burger - neither have a drive through.

I think she's beautiful. If I must ponder the reason why she shaved her head (I usually don't), I generally think it's a choice on her part (for the reasons above - convenience, she likes the look), medical condition. I never considered supporting someone with cancer till reading this board, but now I'd consider that, too.

Mommymonster, if you have an ikea nearby, the monstrosity fits in a big trofast bin. You still have to store the tray though. ;)

We did this. I have mixed feelings about it. Even buying the kit, it was a ton of work to set it up. A Ton. I plugged through it, and DS enjoyed it immensely. We did it in K and part of 1st. It was definitely enjoyed, DS managed to keep the lentils contained, and it was good. Still, I'm not sure it was worth all the work that went into prepping it. I gave it away a few years ago, and breathed a deep breath as it left the house. I won't be doing it again with DD. We'll do other kits, but not that one.

Progress on toys and games here. :)

Thanks! Good to hear someone else is using it. :) Bet we do have the same VT!

Ok, so I'm trying to cut this further. Karen, can you help me out here? How about: Reading - various books, and software recommended by eye doc Math - TT4 and Life of Fred (he loves LOF, but could drop it) BW style poetry and tea, etc (he enjoys this, wouldn't want to drop it - it could be easily dropped if necessary) Continue cursive practice through copywork SOTW Light - listen only? As he does other activities? But no narrations etc? Science - using books and hands on activities as he asks/seems ready for them? Art - similar to science? As requested? Would that be more do-able? I can drop Science, History, and Art off of our list of must-dos, and just leave them for days when it's clear he's up to them, so we move slowly through the subjects. I think he'd miss them if we stopped altogether (though I could be wrong!). He does have outdoor activities planned, though I may sign him up for an indoor exercise activity to keep the momentum going. What do you think? It helps to bounce this off of someone who's been there and done it. Thanks!

Yes, I think you're on to something here. I think our daily list will be too much, and I need to cut back further. It helps to hear from other parents who've gone the vision therapy route!