I'm here. Usually feel dumber than a box of rocks when talking w/ other moms who are self educating. Coursera has been super fun for me. I learn stuff and absorb information w/o having to actually speak w/ anyone and letting on how dumb I really am.

Ok, I don't know that I have any helpful advice for the OP, but *hugs* Digby has always been a handful. Thoughts of him sitting in a high chair, stringing pasta or coloring at 18 months is just not how he was. He was an escape artist, pure and simple. There was no baby proofing that he couldn't handle. I will admit that when he was a toddler, I gave up. Just let him do whatever. There was no "training" or "discipline" Honestly, he was such a crazy kid that I don't think it would have done any good. All I could do was follow after him and clean up after him and keep him safe. Only when he was three did he mellow out a tiny bit. Since then I've been able to discipline him a little at a time. Now he can sit in a chair for a few minutes. Now he can play with Legos (supervised) without throwing them. Now he will color. Now he knows to not destroy books, movies, pencils, furniture, etc. I know it sounds like I was just lazy, but I swear, my first kid was easy at 18 months. Digby was not. I am with the recommendation to either put the toddler with a babysitter for a few hours a day or put the olders in school until the youngest has calmed down and is trainable.

Plain Jane, it says you can't receive any PMs. But I do have something to discuss privately, so could you please PM me? (It's nothing weird) Thank you

I think it would probably depend on why the children's education was being neglected. Was it because the parents are too lazy to get around to actually schooling them? Is it because the parents are in some way unfit (substance abuse or something)? Is it because they believe they are unschooling, but in fact nonschooling? I think in some cases, more oversight could help. In some cases, it probably wouldn't matter. How's that for helpful? :tongue_smilie:

double post

Thanksgiving was nice. We went to Cracker Barrel on Wednesday night for our Thanksgiving dinner. Then on Friday, I made two roast chickens instead of a turkey. I think I want to do this every year School is on schedule for today, but I'm not sure how well it will go. We went a long time just doing math and reading and now I'm trying to add more back in, but it's slow going. Trying not to worry about it too much as he's only first grade. Today we are hoping to make it to the free day at the aquarium. Dh requested the day off and was denied, but they owe him comp time for working Thanksgiving so we're hoping he can at least get off five hours early. *fingers crossed*. If not, he did take Wednesday off, which is free day at the zoo, so we'll go to that. Also hoping to go to see the lights at Temple Square on one of the trips. DH has many more vacation days to use up before the end of the year, so we'll see what happens. Pigby also has dance this week. We need to practice a lot at home, but he's doing a lot better than I thought he would. His Christmas recital is in a few weeks, so we're getting down to the wire. It's very exciting!

I agree with the tomato staking. Digby has always been really, really difficult. People recommended tomato staking, so I thought I would give it a try. He doesn't do it all day right next to my side, but I found that even a little bit is enough to keep him better in control. We got IKEA children dishes, so now when I wash the dishes, he has something to dry and put away. When I'm making breakfast, lunch, or dinner, he is next to me "helping". When it's time to set the table, he gets the plastic dishes and sets it for everyone. He's much more agreeable if his energy is directed into productive things. I will say though that the times I am most frustrated are the times when I've been distracted, either by the computer, TV, other children, etc. He has no impulse control, he needs to be corrected immediately. I don't think I'm very punitive in my discipline, but when they do something wrong, they must apologize for what they've done, say they won't do it again and ask nicely. Timeouts are occasionally used as well. Anyways, if I'm not there to direct his energy into something acceptable, he puts it into something he considers fun (playing in water and flooding the sink, pulling out every stinking toy on the shelf, etc.)

Well, I'm a crocheter, not a knitter, but I've decided to expand my horizons and trying knitting some dishcloths for my MIL. After about 10 start overs, I texted my mom to see if I should knot after the first row. That helped a lot and since then I only had to do one start over before I figured it out. Now I'll have to wait until I get to the decreases and then will go back to watching tutorial videos.

This is the post I was responding to, but rereading it now, maybe she isn't talking about Utah? Utah does have some oversight, but it is minimal. Sorry if my post was off topic.

Regarding the educational neglect, Utah does have laws on what parents are supposed to teach. Parents are supposed to teach 180 days or 810 hours for first grade and 990 hours for second grade and up. There is a list of subjects that need to be taught, English, Science, History, PE, and the other basic ones are among them. Every year, homeschoolers need to send in an affadavit saying they will comply with these laws. If there is suspicion of educational neglect, it can be reported and parents could be charged if there is proof of neglect. I haven't seen the show in question, but I suspect all this wouldn't be of any use since it seems like this is a private school, not an actual homeschool.

We use the Learning Wrap Ups, Xtramath.org and MUS's drill page

I keep thinking they look like ghosts. So you must be the ghost of Catwoman until you get a new avatar.

Today Digby decided he wanted to go pee pee in the potty. He could be trained w/ #1, but because he's always refused to go #2, I gave up on potty training for a long time. Let him run around nekkie and he did it in the toilet!!! I think he could be potty trained now. DH got the Star Wars movie that he had loaned to a friend. So they cleaned the living room while I made dinner, then we had a mini picnic in the living room. It's their first time seeing Star Wars and Pigby's eyes were so glued to the screen, he didn't eat any of his dinner. Pigby did do math today and read Ramona the Pest. That's about all I can think of.

Solidarity, sistah!

That poor girl. You seem to be doing a great job in this difficult situation. Praying for all of you.

I've been cracking my thumbs since fifth or sixth grade and my toes, ankles and knees for almost as long. It's a terrible habit that I've tried to break many times, but the pressure builds in the joints and I just can't break the habit. Heck, sometimes I'll just be walking and my toes crack with every step. Mostly, it's not painful. There have been several times when I could crack my neck just by turning it to the side. Doesn't hurt. However, even though I didn't do anything different, I can no longer crack it. The pressure to do so just isn't there. Same with my lower back. If I were to force it, it probably would hurt.

A ninja smiley!?!?!?! Well that alone is worth it!

A ninja smiley!?!?!?! Well that alone is worth it!

I feel so popular :thumbup1:

I imagine you're a bit stressed right now, but thank you for your hard work. Things I like about the new board: The "Like" button (note: it does NOT connect to FB. They just listened when a million of us used to say, "Where's the 'Like' button for this post?") The notifications when people "Like" your post or when they quote you. The scores. I haven't investigated all the new features yet, but I do like these ones.

What I like: The "Like" button. (Note: this "Like" button does NOT connect to FB in any way) The notifications you get when someone "Likes" one of your posts or when someone quotes you. Fabulous!!!! The 20 posts on each page. I know that on the old version we could get this somehow, but I never did it. I like that each page is longer. I think that's all I can think of. I'm extremely computer illiterate, so I'm sure this barely scratches the surface of all the features. Will have to play with it more.

Like this?! That's really exciting!!! I asked for this feature, great to see they have it now.

So happy he's doing so well!

:lol: