I have had that! I actually injured my gland when thrown off a horse. Mine actually started developing stones. I ended up having to get mine removed. Best of luck. Usually if its just an infection and no stones, it clears up quickly.

:lurk5: :lol: Get better RC!

I continue to pray that your sister finds peace and acceptance when it is time to accept hes had enough. My heart goes out to her as I know how hard this is. However, this is a very painful disease and often times the most loving thing she can do for him is to let him go and take the pain away. Letting him go peacefully is not giving up on him, its ending the pain and in my beliefs allowing him to go run free in heaven with the Lord. Im sorry if I am coming across insensitive, I promise that is not my intentions, I just dont know how else to say it. :grouphug:

Thanks everyone! Last night I was reading the "must read before you start" section. Which in turn is literally half the book. I just kept trucking through it until I read that it takes the average adult "12 uninterrupted hours" of reading time to get thorough the instruction section. WHAT? 12 hours of reading time to know how to use a spelling program..surely that cant be right. Well, Im sure its right as I spent like 3 hours last night and picked it back up this morning to realize that I didnt retain anything that I read last night...LOL. So, I just re-read the quick start guide which was like 25 pages and took notes. I did the first lesson this morning and it went well, he likes it ALOT better than the sequential spelling and actually enjoyed spelling today. Probably because he got to write words in shaving cream on the floor. :) The placement put him in section B so I just did group 1 in that section. He got 3 wrong. I am a little confused on what I am supposed to do from here. I know I retest him tomorrow on those misspelled words but do I add the next group of words to that or do I wait until we are totally done with the 3 misspelled words before I move on to the next group? :001_huh:

I am right there with you! I havent ordered all of our new curriculum yet and probably wont be able to for another couple weeks. LOL. Im determined to make this time "fun" and just trying to get a structured routine down pat and then gradually add the new curriculum in. LOL

I was just given this book and tried to read thru it super fast to get an idea of the program. I cant possibly read anymore as have stopped retaining info at this point...LOL. Is anyone using this and do you like it? Thanks, Colleen

Cattle prod time...zzzzpt. Starting tomorrow...zzzzpt zzzzpt. LOL :grouphug:

Isnt it awesome! It even provides links to what ever your topic is so you can dig deeper if you want with out spending hours trying to find resources. They used to charge for it but now its free. We make all kinds of things as we go...we did spider webs when reading charlottes web and made boxcars when reading the boxcar children. I really love that site.

Praying :grouphug:

Im in the same boat right there with you! I currently use a mixture of things but I am thinking about switching to AAS or possibly Phonics Road. Leaning more toward AAS though. Check out http://www.lessonpathways.com , its free and I love using it. You can use it with a variety of ages as well. I use it mostly for a guide for which books to read and the cool activities that go along with it. Really, really neat. Good luck. Just remember to breathe...:D

I am trying to pinpoint my sons learning style, after doing so much research on different curriculums I have managed to throughly confuse myself. Anyone know a good, free, online evaluation to help me determine this? Thanks so much! Colleen

:grouphug: Praying. All my animals are like family to me from my dogs to my little cute furry sugar gliders. I would be devastated if something happens to them. I often find myself praying for animals just as much as people. :grouphug:

:cursing: :banghead: :willy_nilly: I couldnt determine which smiley was best representing my feelings so....I used them all. Thank you for all the info everyone. It is truly helping me out. I think I am going to have to keep researching this even though I wanted to start by Jan 5th. Tina and Elizabeth, you two have so much knowledge and experience with this that I cant thank you enough for staying in contact with me and helping me work through this. I wasnt prepared for me to be so overwhelmed over this especially after homeschooling already for 2 years! Thank you again...:grouphug: and please dont get mad at me if I ask you more questions...LOL

Do you notice the most push back with her when you are doing worksheets? Perhaps you may want to stop doing worksheets for a few weeks...do the problems that are on the worksheet ONE AT A TIME on a white board together. That way she will be less likely to be overwhelmed. Start at the beginning of Alpha and take your time. More than likely after a few days of this, she is going to take off and fly through Alpha. Then gradually add in the worksheets. Do the front page of one sheet a day and then work up to the entire sheet, once she gets the concept mastered, no need to continue the same lesson worksheets, move on to the next lesson. This should do wonders for her self confidence and she will start to believe that she "can" do this. Stick to MUS. Now, you said your son is catching up with her? Great! Start him at Alpha too, do it together they can feed off of each other if you think that will work. Just make sure that she has enough one on one if she needs it...or do it seperately, whatever works. If she feels like she is behind because little brother is doing the same thing then that may be a good time to explain the different learning styles briefly and that everyone learns at their own pace. God has given EVERYONE their own set of strengths and weaknesses and point out to her what her strengths are. The hope here is to get her to accept that its okay to be where she is in math and she will be able to move forward from here. :grouphug:

How is she doing? Hope all is okay... Praying again...:grouphug::grouphug: