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:

Those books opened my son up to the world of reading! I let him read them as much as he wanted...I was so excited that he was reading. With that said, I also do alot of chapter book reading outloud. Like boxcar children, Charlotte's web, etc... So, I have no problem with them at all.

I am all for it and totally encourage you. If you feel you can do it...do it. I am currently in college full time and I dont ever open my books until after my son is asleep or when homeschooling is over. Provided I only have one child but that in itself has its own set of challenges, like lack of entertainment from siblings...LOL. I totally think you can provide your children the undivided attention they require with homeschooling and take atleast the majority of your pre-req courses and general Ed courses yourself. It may take awhile to get your "rhythm" down but you can do it. I feel that furthering your education to prepare yourself to contribute to your household income is an awesome way to ensure your financial ability to continue homeschooling. It is one of the least selfish things you can do for your kids! :grouphug:

I eat Tofu...mostly the Non-GMO kind and I feed it to my family. I dont think it is any worse than feeding meat.

Praying....:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

Retention has been really good. I started my 10 yr old on grade 3. It has worked out perfectly. I do the lessons with him. The book also has a clear overhead projector type sheet that can be used as well. I tape this to the white board as needed. For example, lets say the unit is about the continents. It has a brief overview of how to explain what they are and some vocab words to go with it. Then on the student pages, it has 2-3 questions for each day, Monday, Tues, etc. then there is a challenge question if the student is interested. That simple.

Dont worry, you will. We still have a LONG way to go, as he is just now writing complete sentences and getting his main idea down, but I am very proud of him and I know where we were this time last year. My ds is not one that will remember things. He has to experience it in order for it to stick. So, if he wants to write to a friend, he is figuring out that in order for his friend to have any earthly idea what he is talking about, he needs to spell. He learns through discovery and I am sooo happy I figured that out early enough.

We use Daily Geography Practice grade 3. My ds loves it. Short and sweet. Its by Evan-moor and we ordered it thru timberdoodle.com

I dont know if you saw my other post, I think we posted at the same time...I do put kibble in there but just in case they need something to hold them over until dinner, its hardly ever touched though...LOL. I forgot to tell you...they are escape artists...the cage spaces CANNOT be over 3/4 of an inch or they WILL squeeze through. Im not sure if the ferret cage will work. There are all kinds of bugs they will eat. I sometimes feed them crickets but the mealworms have just been easier. There is a few other worms...cant think of them off the top of my head. Some however, are deadly to them. There are some good threads on glidercentral.com and glidergossip.com

Oh and I also do keep a dry kibble in their cage in case they need a nibble before dinner. Its made just for gliders and you get it at the website I had posted...http://www.sugar-gliders.com

A really really good source of info that I frequent often is www.sugar-gliders.com I cannot say enough about Lisa and her site. Please please please, if you get one, please atleast get two at minimum. They really need to be with their own kind. It will NOT affect their ability to bond with you. Okay, now that I got that out of the way...lets talk diet. There are several different diet plans out there but the one that I like the best is called Bourbons modified Leadbeaters diet or BML for short. You basically put your protein sources in(chicken baby food and hard boiled eggs), some juices, honey, yougurt and a few other things into a blender and blend then pour that into ice cube trays and freeze it. When it is time to feed at night, thaw one ice cube per 2 gliders and two tablespoons of fruits and two tablespoons of veggies place it in a bowl and viola...dinner. Oh, you also have to add a vitamin and special calcium supplement in there as well. Easy to get online and at most pet stores. Keep the food in over night and take the bowls out in the a.m. and your done. As far as the insects...I use mealworms and they each get about 10 a night. I order them from a company and I get like 600 for about $13.00. They ship them to your house. Im in the process of starting our own mealie farm so hopefully, I wont be ordering them very often. What ever you do, do not buy from a company or breeder that insists they dont need protein and that it will make them stink! There is a company out there that literally travels the country and sells them and they are usually ill and under-weight and die with in weeks. Oh and they DO NOT need a heat rock, that company will try to sell you that too! They really dont stink as long as you are cleaning the cage out about 1x a week. Once a month I do a spray down where I take the cage outside and spray it off and wash the pouches and toys in the washer. They are very clean critters and like a clean cage. They do require a large cage. I did not want to spend an arm and a leg on a big fancy metal bird cage...so...I made my own. NEVER USE CHICKEN WIRE OR UNCOATED WIRE. Its toxic and can cause urinary track infections. I got my blue prints from www.justforfuzzies.com and its step by step on how to build a huge cage yourself and it only costs around $110.00 for a very large cage. Wow, sorry, I gave you a lot of info...hope it helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. :D