DD1: Her school taught reading with "balanced literature". She had terrible problems learning to read. I did my research, intervened with intensive phonics instruction, and within weeks she had made dramatic improvement. She has read above grade level since. DD2. Learned my lesson after dd1. I started teaching her to read at age 3 with pure phonics, and it was very easy for her. She entered kdg reading at about 4th-5th grade reading level, and has read above grade level since. DS. I was determined to teach him to read before he entered school, to avoid issues we had with dd1. He had great difficulty learning to read with phonics. When he entered kdg, he could still not identify letters or their sounds. He made no progress in kdg, but his teacher was not the least bit concerned. We switched to a private school for grades 1 and 2, where they used an Orton Gillingham (phonics) approach. He made slow but steady progress. Decoding improved, fluency was terrible. Back to ps for 3rd and 4th grade, where they gave up on phonics and concentrated on fluency. He made very little progress. I pulled him and homeschooled him for 5th grade. We had to go back and redo phonics, because he was guessing at everything. He made MAJOR progress in decoding and he can now decode most words. Fluency is still terrible, despite heavy concentration on fluency building. He is back in ps this year. He has been tested and has rapid automatic naming deficit. If he had not had intensive phonics instruction I really don't think he'd be able to read at all.

We have a dog, cats, guinea pigs, and a bearded dragon, and the BD is by far the lowest maintenance pet. There's quite an investment up front, as the tank and lights are expensive, but once it's all set up, there's not much cost involved. Make sure you learn about the kind of lights and heat they need before you purchase, or you might end up with a set-up you don't like. Feeding is easy. We give crickets every other day and salads/fruits/veggies opposite days. He doesn't eat all that much, so on salad days it might just be a few tablespoons of chopped up cabbage and carrots, or a handful of peas and corn. I buy cheap bags of frozen veggies, thaw a few tablespoons at a time, then chop it up small. Once you get a system going, it's very easy. My kids don't have any problems feeding him crickets. It's sort of fascinating to watch him eat, but it doesn't bother anyone. They aren't exactly the sensitive warm fuzzy type though. I do have to go to the Petco for crickets every couple weeks. We keep them in a cricket cage, and you have to provide food and water to the crickets or they won't live long. And they need to be well nourished or they aren't providing much nutrition to your lizard. It's not too much of a hassle to throw some cricket food and water cubes in there every now and then though. Some people raise and breed their own crickets, but I think it sounds like too much hassle. Plus, crickets stink. He also sleeps a good part of the winter, and doesn't eat much then. He has gone for weeks without eating. When he comes out of his hidey log and starts walking around, I know he wants to eat, but after a meal he often goes back and sleeps for weeks again. I don't know how he survives on so little food during the winter months, but he sure seems healthy. Good luck. They make great pets, if you like reptiles.

We started out in ps and I hated the curriculum: Investigations and Everyday Math, terrible reading instruction, lots of creative writing but no actual writing instruction, social studies (not history), and on and on. The sign on the first grade teacher's door proclaiming "Mrs. H's students are proud to be drug free!" didn't help. We hs'd for 5 years, and my kids are now back in ps. My 9th grader is bored, but loves the social life and wants to continue. My 7th grader is getting seriously fed up with the lack of content and is thinking about coming back home. :thumbup:

Yes, but I'd tell him that this is his last DS, and if he loses it, then he's not really ready for the responsibility and he'll have to wait another year or two.

:thumbup1: Let us know what he/she says.

If there is a regular ophthalmologist closer, I'd do that. If there isn't, I'd go to the ped ophtho. I would definitely go to one of those two though. If you get the same story, you can have confidence in your optometrist.

None of the current H1N1 vaccines use fetal cell lines or human embryonic tissue. They are grown in the fluid of chick embryos (eggs). From CSL Limited package insert:

Are you seeing an optometrist or an ophthalmologist?

She *is* the doctor. ;)

I always use cooked leftover rice for those kinds of dishes. Regular rice absorbs quite a bit of liquid (1 1/4 cup water for 1 cup rice) and I doubt if that's enough liquid to correctly cook the rice.

I want to try this, but I'm finding a bunch of different products. What exactly do you use? Thanks.

The virus is weakened, and although it can be shed, it's shed in low amounts and the rate of transmitting it to others seems to be very low. Also, while there is a theoretical risk of reverting to a more virulent (disease causing) strain, that hasn't been observed to happen. Flumist does seem to be somewhat more effective than the shot. From CDC So the likelihood of transmitting it to a household member is low (<2%). There is a risk, but it's small. OTOH, if you have to wait for 2 months for the shot, there is a much higher risk of being exposed to influenza. It's a trade-off. My dh already had the mist (and he's fine). I'm too old and they won't give it to me. If it were available to the kids now, I'd give it to them, but it isn't and will probably be available (to us) at the same time as the shot, so time isn't a factor. The only reason I'd choose the shot over the mist is that my son had a lot of wheezing when he was younger. He doesn't have asthma, but I'm a little reluctant to take the chance that it's going to cause problems for him. Maybe I'll have my girls get the mist and ds the shot. I haven't decided yet, but I don't really have strong feelings one way or the other. We'll probably get whatever is available and most convenient.

Wiping down counters and handles is reasonable, but it really is unrealistic to clean every surface in a preschool. You just can't sterilize everything. Even if they could, it probably wouldn't make all that much difference if the kids are coughing and sneezing on each other. Kids touch their faces, noses and mouths constantly, and have their hands all over each other. And they share toys and books constantly. You can't sterilize the toys each time a kid touches it, so cleaning it at the end of the day is moot. I'd just keep my kid home.

I think she meant West Virginia. I did some genealogical research in West Virginia a few years ago. I was asking for some information at a county courthouse, and the clerk, pointing across the room, said "You'll find that with the wheels." I looked around, confused, and she repeated "The wheels!" I told her I was sorry, but I didn't see any wheels. She said, "Wheels. Last wheels and testaments." Oh. Wills. :lol:

I've done it in a crock pot and it's fine, but I always start it off on the stove. After the meat is browned (I brown the bacon at the same time) and add the tomatoes, broth, tomato paste, and sugar, I stir it up and dump it in the crock pot. I've never done it in the crockpot from the beginning, but it would probably be fine.

I like the Hell's Kitchen Chili recipe from The New Basics Cookbook. I use bacon instead of Canadian bacon, and sirloin for the meat.

From the Flumist website: I believe there is a vaccine in the works that isn't grown in eggs, but I don't think it will be available anytime soon. I haven't heard anything about it for awhile. Here is an article about flu vaccine and egg allergy. I'd discuss it with your doctor. Honestly, I'd be a little nervous.

First, the vaccine is not 100% effective, so even if he is vaccinated he could still catch the flu. If he does NOT have flu, it's very, very unlikely he would bring it home. It's transmitted mostly through coughing and sneezing, so if he isn't sick he won't be aerosolizing virus. The virus can remain viable (it isn't exactly *alive*) outside the body for awhile, but it likes hard surfaces like metal and countertops better than porous surfaces like fabric. It's estimated that it only lives on skin and fabric for minutes, rather than the hours it can survive on non-porous surfaces. I'd suggest that he wash his hands before leaving work and again when he gets home, and that would minimize whatever small chance there is that he brought something home.

I think Lands' End runs big in everything. I just bought some size 8 jeans for me. I am NOT an 8.

The only place I can find jeans to fit my skinny guy is Kohl's. Gap was good, but our Gap is gone now.

I've always been a little skeptical of this though. If someone has a fever, they should stay home because they feel like crap. But I am not convinced that someone infected with flu who has a fever is any more contagious than someone infected with the flu who doesn't have a fever. If they're coughing and sneezing, they're spreading the virus and fever doesn't have anything to do with it. And nothing really magical happens after 24 hours. If they're hacking, they're contagious. And even if they're not, they can still shed virus for weeks, although it's less as time goes on. I'm wondering if the recommendation came about because if you have a respiratory illness with a fever it's more likely to be influenza ( or something else more serious than a cold) than if you have a respiratory illness without a fever. Coughing and sneezing without fever is more likely to be a regular old cold, and most of us aren't going to miss school or work because of a mild URI. I suspect this recommendation has a lot more to do with tradition than evidence.

I haven't looked at the original research on this so I can tell you what I've been taught, but I don't know how reliable it is. How long the virus lives on inanimate surfaces depends on how it got there. It will survive longer if a person sneezes or coughs directly onto something, rather than touching it with a contaminated hand. If aerosolized (through sneezing), it can last for anywhere up to 24 hours or longer, but a few hours is probably more accurate. If she simply touches the handle, it will only survive for minutes, rather than hours. The virus likes hard surfaces better than porous (fabric, etc.). It's believed that influenza is transmitted by droplets (virus clinging to droplets created by sneezing, etc.) rather than airborne (suspended in the air). So anything she sneezed or coughed into the air should long ago have settled to the ground. I don't think this has been adequately studied though, and it wouldn't surprise me if we eventually find out that there is airborne as well as droplet transmission. I would have done the same thing you did.

I don't use their makeup but I love the gray root touch up. I bought some last month and got two for the price of one. I don't know if that offer's still on.

:iagree:We've done this before. Natural News

Yes. Mass genocide. If *they* (whoever they is) want to commit mass genocide there are way better ways of doing it than in a flu shot.