We received these as a gift - from my mom, who falls for almost anything sold at a particular outdoorsy store she passes on the way to our house. They were packaged with a snow igloo "brick" maker. I think they are silly, but our boys love them. They're rarely used to make snowballs - the boys use hands for those - but they are often used to make interesting snow sculpture, then spritzed with food coloring ... our yard was a wonderland last year.

Oh my. MamaSheep... I'm new here. I don't know your story. But your post is scaring me. We are just finishing up our home study to be foster parents! Eek.

Our 19 year old has always been a "minimum amount of work necessary" type of guy. He didn't have the benefit of homeschooling, though. He was privately then publicly schooled through high school. We hoped for more in college, that his sense of competitiveness would kick in... but nope. Not this kid. But he has other issues, which are fairly intense at the moment, so there is still hope that once he finds his stride again, things will improve. This seems to be a personality thing for our older son, honestly, but I sure would like to learn to foster a longing to strive for excellence in our younger kiddo. At this point, our younger one has a radically different personality from his big brother, and any tips for keeping the fire for over-achieving alive would be helpful.

We're doing it for first as well. I don't think that's too young. We listen to the audio while DS colors the coloring page and/or illustrates what he hears (he loves to draw). We do the review questions, and if he doesn't know the answers we don't sweat it - I supply them for him. Sometimes we listen to the audio again. Then we do the map work, with me guiding him. For the narration - he dictates, and I write it down. If he has trouble formulating his answers in complete sentences, I help him. Then I read it back to him, and usually he draws a picture at the top of the page. The best part, of course, is doing all the projects. We take pics of the completed projects, and put them into his history notebook along with everything else. He loves showing off his history notebook to the grandparents, by the way... He is a little history buff. :)

When I was ill, and many people were bringing meals... we did end up with a lot of pasta meals. It was a bit much, in the long run, though we deeply appreciated every meal. We were lacking in veggies and fruits at times. I loved soups - any kind of soup. And salads already prepared. Good bread was a bonus. Bean dishes were great, veggie sides that could be re-heated were a hit. One neighbor would come get the insert for our crockpot every Fri night, fill it, and bring it back to us with directions for how long to soak (if necessary) then cook. That was wonderful. My mom would come and make us a roast, or a ham, with several sides that could be re-heated. That was a treat, because it was a nice change from casserole or crockpot type meals. Oh! And one of my favorite items was cut up watermelon in a giant container - so refreshing. Fruit salad was a biggie. Also, raw broccoli with a good dressing for dipping - I liked Annie's. Paper plates and bowls - that is a stroke of genius. We reluctantly switched to paper plates at some point, because it made sense to put our energy into other areas (when your energy is so low, even doing the dishes can be draining). Delivering paper plates, bowls, napkins ... what a thoughtful idea.

We started both in August, so I'm still tweaking our schedule. We were doing each Monday - Thursday, one lesson per day. Now I find that my kiddo prefers to do 2 lessons on a day, twice a week. If it begins to really pick up speed, I will probably back it down again, but for now this is working well.

jplain, thanks for the book suggestion (I'm not the OP, but have in-laws who are struggling with diabetes). I am sending it to my in-laws today.

I'm married to my first love. 11 years of bliss and counting. He asked me to marry him the night we met. :) But it took us 11 years to actually jump into marriage. We were way too young to get married - I was 16 when we met. After dating for about a year, we made a date to get together in NYC in 10 years and go ice-skating... No matter what we were doing at the time. I moved cross-country for college, he didn't. For the next 10 years we were on again off again long-distance. We both needed to finish school, start careers, grow up, date other people. But he was my gold standard, always. Then, as our "date" drew closer, he called - out of the blue, after a 3 year absence. We dated long-distance for a year. 2 weeks before our "date" we were deciding if we should meet in NYC to go skating as planned... and somehow decided that instead we'd get married. :) Life is good!

Yes - this is so true, even for people who are very out of shape. My mom was diagnosed, and it scared her to pieces. She is single, and the thought of being alone and sick was daunting. Her diagnosis was a blessing. Prior to diagnosis, she would joke that she had perfected the Dorito-Caffeine diet, and her night-time ritual included a tub of ice cream in her lap. Yuck. Obviously, she was overweight. Her doctor did an excellent job explaining what/how to change. She made it simple for my mother to understand and implement. The basic version (for her): eat nothing that's white. No sugar, no white bread, white potatoes, nothing containing white flour, etc. My mom was scared enough to follow it to the letter. It's been 2 years. She has lost 50+ lbs, very slowly, and it has stayed off. She is no longer considered diabetic, but she's changed her way of eating forever. It was the best thing that could have happened for her! (Now the other end of the spectrum... my MIL and FIL are both diabetic and continue to eat sugar. So frustrating! They hide it in the house, and sneak it. MIL was just hospitalized for a blood sugar level of 534! Yikes.)

A ha! There it is! Just what I needed. Thanks. Sounds do-able for me, and more importantly, for my little guy. Keeping the lentils in the job box will be a big help as well. Easier than funneling them back into 2 liter bottles each time we get them out. Would the IKEA Trofast shallow drawers be big enough to be a job box? http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60094072 (Silly me, I can check the Lentil Science book myself.) I love Lentil Science, and now I'm dying to know about Lentil Science Intermediate. I'll have to check out the package next time. This time around, I had a package, but it required a ton of copying and a surprising amount of set up, even with the supplies that came in the package. Happy Lentiling everyone! :)

That helps a lot - thanks so much!

Anyone else use this? How do you keep it accessible for the kiddos? Any tips on organizing it to make it more user-friendly? I ordered it last year, then realized that the set up required enormous amounts of work. Plugged through it slowly, and at last - we have it all set up. My kiddo (6) loves it. It's a nice supplement. I'm finding that since we have it as a supplement - I often forget to pull it out. I would like to find a way to keep it more accessible for the kiddo. At the moment, I have all of the pieces stored in an Ikea Trofast drawer. The "job box" is in a different location, and I think that's one stumbling block. Having all the pieces jumbled together in a drawer might be another. If you've used this, would you share some organization tips? Thanks!

We liked Headsprout. There are a few sample episodes on the website - you might try it out. It's a bit pricey, but it was worth it for us. There were a few games that DS didn't like, but for the most part, once he was playing - it was a hit.

My DH is one of those guys who has it all, or buys it for himself, so shopping for him is hard too. But he's big on experiences so this year he's getting excellent seats to a show. It's one our entire family can attend, so technically we're all getting tickets. :) I'm stumped as to what else he might like... His stocking will be filled with espresso and dark chocolate... But other than that, I'm on the hunt for ideas. There are some good ones in this thread - thank you! DS (6) is getting the Playmobil Roman arena and some extra Roman soldiers. That's a no-brainer since he's already hoping Santa will bring those. Our 19 year old DS is the tough one. Any ideas on what to get a 19 year old? He's desperate for an iPhone, but that's not on the agenda - we provide the basic cell phone while he's in school, but if he wants something fancy, it's on him.

3 years ago we started staying home for Christmas also. Love it, love it, love it. We have a standing invitation for any/all relatives to come here - but we are not piling in the car and driving hours to visit relatives on Christmas any more. If we had relatives who lived in the same town, it would be different. Maybe. For us - this works out perfectly. DS has life-threatening allergies and, frankly, navigating someone else's home and kitchen is harrowing. Add to that any pot-luck element and it is impossible. We used to cook an entire holiday dinner for DS, to eat at the relatives' houses, but that is simply too much work. Of all days, on Christmas, DS deserves to feel safe. And DH and I deserve a little break from being constantly on high alert.

DS and I had stuffed 200+ little goodie bags... those were gone within the first hour. Yikes. Then we handed out lollipops, one at at time - and when they were gone, we turned off the lights. We had hordes of kids this year, it was unbelievable. Lots of teens too.

Thank you!

I'm still new here... but have been reading and reading, and am so happy to have found this group! You have all been a huge help in our homeschool journey - thank you. We are plugging through first grade, and loving every minute of it, in part thanks to all of you. :) Posting this question has been a big decision for me, it's a sensitive topic and I'm honestly fearful about putting it out there, but after months of reading here... I can't think of a better group to ask for help and advice. Maybe one or two of you will have some ideas, some experience with this... And if this is inappropriate to this forum, please tell me and let me know how to delete it. We have 2 kiddos, and are a waiting family for our 3rd. Our oldest, 19, is my step-son. We've always shared custody with his bio-mom, and get along well. She and DH were never married, and there isn't that ugly divorce dynamic - which is nice. DSS lived in both of our houses equally (time-wise) and then left for college last year. So that's the background. DSS finished up his first year of college with a bang last year - and not in a good way. It all culminated in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, after a long hospitalization and a longer out-patient program. I can't begin to share the heartache we've all experienced... We are now at a tough point. He is passively non-compliant with his medication and with getting help in general. He does not out-right refuse to take his meds, or to contact his psychiatrist or therapist when needed, but generally he does not do these things. He is not in a downward plunge at the moment, but we can see a definite, slow slide happening, and it is frightening. In our family therapy meetings, his therapist tells us that they do not touch on anything of substance, there is no depth, they are not making progress in their one on one sessions. But there is no out-right rebellion. Just a passive sort of avoidance that leaves us all feeling very helpless. I am torn about the best way to help him. And about the best way to help his bio-mom, too. I want to support them both in every way I can... but am finding it very difficult to think of ways to do so. She is bi-polar as well, also unmedicated - but has been in a steady "normal mode" for a number of years. I worry about this pushing her into an unstable place as well, as this is her only child and the focus of her entire life. Do any of you have experience with bi-polar young adults? Can you share any resources or advice? Thanks for any help you can offer, Spryte

I think your husband's drawing student may be my (former) hairstylist. At my last appt, I sat through the same comments. Lacking the wine haze though, I wasn't brave enough to challenge the woman with the scissors. (Snip, snip - oops!) Evidently she is thrilled that her son is being bullied in school this year. It's apparently an essential component of his freshman year and necessary for his growth?? Ugh. My kiddo is going to have plenty of opportunities for growth without having his clothes stolen while he's in the shower at school.

Imitrex gave me a lot of weird side effects also. If you're looking for an alternative, and haven't called yet - Axert has worked well for me, and with almost no side effects. Once in a while I feel sleepy and need a nap - but not sure if that is due to the med or just to dealing with a migraine.

No pictures or links here, but I will take a stab at explaining what we've been doing to keep our RS materials organized. I keep most of our RS manips and extras in a (large) drawer. Everything is in a ziplock with a label. We also do a very modified version of the workbox system - I have separate boxes for each subject and switch out the contents weekly. So in our current math box, I keep the manips that seem to be in use that week, along with the manual and abacus. This week we have tally sticks, basic number cards, base 10 cards, and a few other goodies. When I notice that we're no longer using a manip steadily, I put it back in the drawer.

I love all these suggestions! There is a great website out there somewhere... "buynothingchristmas" or something along those lines. We love that one, and have gotten tons of great ideas there. Our teenagers have loved record bowls - both giving and receiving. If you are a real vinyl collector, please don't be offended. Basically, they are melted vinyl records that are formed into the shape of a bowl. Google for directions, and for a pattern to make the sleeve into a gift box. Those were a big hit one year. My teen boy also loves Altoids - he uses the tins for many, many projects. Oh! And that reminds me - one of his favorite gifts has been Make Magazine, where he finds the project ideas. Editing to add this great list: http://www.buynothingchristmas.org/alternatives/

Thanks to you both! I will check out both of those. :)

We like them, and use them along with SOTW 1. We're using the grades 1 - 3, because that's what I had on hand (and my kiddo's in first, anyway). We put the pages, and the flat projects, right into DS's history notebook.

My kiddo (6) loved, loved, loved Headsprout. Is there anything like it to use for math? We are struggling with math at the moment... He gets it all very easily, but is not enjoying the Right Start experience. I thought he would love the hands on aspect and the games, but it just doesn't sit well for some reason. We are going to keep plugging through (for now), but I would love to supplement with something like Headsprout that might give him a smile or two while we work through the Right Start blues. Thanks for any advice.