My kids have done the Woodcock Johnson III. You start answering questions at a basic level and work your way up until you get a certain number wrong and then the tester figures out your level. We have access to someone who is certified to give these tests. I'm sure if you google the test you could find someone to help you.

Mr. Gum Series Roald Dahl Alex Rider Bone Graphic Novels (although there is a dragon, but not at the center of the story) Ginger Pye/Pinky Pye Cat Wings (maybe not, since the cats do have wings) Gordon Korman books Judy Blume's Fudge Series Andrew Clement's books (Frindle is the easiest, I think) Gary Paulsen's books

Most importantly, fill in the board randomly - do not make paths. However the squares go in, let them stay that way. It ensures more blocked routes which makes the game more fun and lasts longer. Secondly, when you deal the cards, make sure you don't look at them. Only look at one card at a time (and we don't show each other either!) You look at the next card only when you've reached the first treasure. We turn them right-side up when we reach them. Finally, you can only change the board once/turn and you cannot undo the last move. The first one to reach all their treasures and make it back to their starting corner wins. And, yes, you move as far as you can along the path each move - sometimes you can move far, sometimes not. You are trying to move the board to your advantage each time, but working against the other players at the same time. You can even play this game alone! Hope that helps!

My 13.5 year old ds goes through stages of such behaviour and I would end up yelling. I always tried not to engage with him, but I was never successful until I started humming and singing. When I see that he's in one of his 'moods' I pick a song and start humming. I ask him to do something, he starts arguing and I keep humming. If his arguing continues, I start singing. It's very hard to yell when you're singing, plus it keeps me focussed on something other than his nastiness. It has worked wonders and he is even arguing less.

My 11 year old dd started school this morning - I don't know how I feel :001_unsure:. Part of me is excited for her, part of me misses her terribly (and she's only been gone 90 minutes!). She hasn't been to school since she was 6 and was always adamant about not going and never leaving home. Things change over the span of a few months! My 9 year old ds is missing her too, but we will try to keep busy. We're going to do some letter-boxing after his drum lesson today and tomorrow we'll be making cookies. We've also decided to do some biking when the weather warms up a bit more. They have always played together so well and I really do not enjoy playing with Lego and Crazy Bones. Sigh!

I went back to the house I grew up in during its remodeling and the owners were putting a urinal in the master bathroom. I thought it to be a bit strange and I wondered who was going to clean it! :tongue_smilie:

All 3 of my kids love it! I have no idea when the real version is coming out, but they spend hours on it. There are ways to set it to peaceful or war-like (I don't know the wording they use), but I've not seen anything objectionable in the peaceful setting. I think there are monsters in the other settings.

I ordered Town for my dd (11) who had no previous grammar. It went ok, but she wasn't too interested. Ds (9) was really enjoying it but then I looked at the samples and read a bit on their yahoo group and decided to get Island too. We have all learned so much from it. We finished it a few weeks ago (and have a couple more lessons in Building Language and Hemispheres books) and have started Town. It is basically all review, but that is good! It presents it all a little differently. I usually read it as a "fill in the blank" style which they both love. I don't think you'll go wrong starting with Island and then moving into Town.

I switched my 10 year old to TT7 about a year ago. She loved it so much more than Singapore. She got stuck near the end on percents but I know the next levels will give her more practice. She finished TT7 before Christmas and decided to do Life of Fred, not because TT7 was missing anything, but for a change of pace. Plus, she loves the story! She has decided to try school, so for now I have put off buying the next level, but if she decides to stay home next year I have no worry about getting it. I would love for my youngest to use TT as well. He's a bit of a tough fit, since his math ability is wide-ranging. I tried TT4, but it was too easy so I may try TT5 or 6 with him at some point. Basically, if it is working for your daughter, stick with it. I think if you switch programs then that's when you end up missing concepts because every program does things a bit differently.

I took a Teacher's Manual to Kinko's copy center to have that done and the lady looked at me like I was crazy. She asked if she was allowed to do it!! I told her that it was my book and I wanted it done. The guy beside her told her it was fine, use ... machine and then bind it. It was her first time doing it and it took her nearly 20 minutes. But it was awesome - no more losing my page or trying to hold the book open with a cup of coffee and bowl of cereal! :tongue_smilie:

Den - each group of boys (Tigers, Wolves, Bears, Webelos 1 and Webelos 2) Pack - all the Dens When my younger ds joined Cub Scouts a few years ago, there were only 4 boys in his Den. He was the 5th. Since then, one boy has left and two more have joined so now there are 6. It's a great size. As far as the Pack, it was well-established, so I can't attest to that. I think it depends on how much you want to put into it. A new Pack is going to be looking for help and there will be growing pains. However, you have the chance to make it what you want it to be. Good luck with your decision. We love Scouts in this house (Boys and Girls).

There is a lot of mixed information about the care of leopard geckos. My son got his at a reptile show so we figured we were getting the best info, but according to our exotic animal vet, we were given some really bad info. Our gecko was raised on meal worms and refused to hunt or eat crickets. We were told by the sellers that this was enough. According to the vet, mealworms aren't enough. Dusting calcium - you never know if they are getting too much or not enough. Vitamins and minerals should be given according to the pet's weight. Heating pad - seller told us no, vet said yes. Sand - both said no We used paper towel and it was very easy to clean. Humidity - because geckos shed, it is important that the humidity be kept at the correct level. Without it, the gecko cannot shed properly, especially their toes and eyelids. Having said all this, and despite all the things our vet said we had done wrong, my son's leopard gecko lived 4 years and was awesome. Loved to be held, my son read to him, easy to clean the cage. However, improper humidity probably caused her death due to the fact she didn't shed properly and ended up with her eyes sealed shut and likely an infection. Our vet highly recommended a bearded dragon as an easy to care for reptile. My niece had one and it was awesome!

We didn't do TT6, but dd did TT7. And, I'm in the same boat - should we skip pre-algebra? I would recommend doing the placement test and see what he needs to learn. If whatever he misses wasn't covered in TT6, you can be pretty confident that it will be taught again in Pre-Algebra. Also to consider - does he retain the info or need to see it regularly to remember it? My dd learns the concepts quickly, but needs to see them daily until they've been cemented in her mind. TT is great for her.

Have you given him the placement test? I found them to be accurate. That said, my younger ds missed passing the TT4 placement test by a hair. I started him on TT4 but it was way too easy (due to all the review) and he hated it. I switched him to a different program and he's enjoying it.

The Inkheart movie wasn't nearly as good as the book (imo, most movies aren't). In contrast, my sister and my hubby, who hadn't read the book, thought it was good and were annoyed by the 4 of us yelling, "That's not how it happened. That was never in the book." Honestly though, we hated it! The books were great. The movie was a huge disappointment. How about The Princess Bride? It's a family favourite here.

I'm used Chem primarily for my 5th grader last year (and little brother - 3rd grade) tagged along. We love it. Lots of fun experiments, easy to do, lots to learn.

My two kids are running around playing the "In the Hall of the Mountain King" game. One (the giant) pretends to sleep on the couch with the 'treasure', the other one turns on the music from Grieg's Peir Gynt and tip-toes around trying to steal the 'treasure'. Once the treasure is stolen, the giant awakens and chases the thief... Dd (11) is yelling, "Thieves! Thieves!' Ds (9) yells, "I'm not from Thebes. I'm from Ithaca!" I love my kids.

My ds (13.5) does this all the time with scout trips. It drives me nuts. When he was newly into Boy Scouts (at age 11), I let him stay home after most trips, but he's in 8th grade now. They usually get home from their trips by noon (mid-afternoon at the latest) and he should eat, clean up his stuff and go to bed early, but he usually chooses not to. As a result he gets more and more surly and wound up. Eventually he gets to sleep - usually by 9pm, which is his regular bedtime but he really should have been there by 7! He has had 3 years to realize what he needs to do to get himself ready for school after a camping trip. If they were getting home at 8pm, that would be different.

Older ds is a Star Scout and is close to finishing his Life. He needs to finish his Citizenship in the Nation badge (so close!!!) and do a Service Project. He is currently the Den Chief for the Webelos 1 patrol. His troop does a trip each month, but he had to miss a couple due to wrestling, but he's currently in WV on his troop's annual ski trip. His troop doesn't compete in a Klondike, but it does look like a lot of fun. He will also be attending the National Youth Leadership Training course in April and May. He's currently not much of a leader, but I think this will help him. Younger ds is a Webelos 1 and has almost earned his Webelos badge. They are getting ready for the Blue and Gold and their patrol is in charge of entertainment - what hoot that will be. He just had his Pinewood Derby last week too. Both boys participated in Bags In and Bags Out - collecting food for the local food bank. I love Boy Scouts.

I do exactly what you do - twice/week unless sweaty, obviously dirty or that time of the month! I usually shower more often in the summer because it is so humid here and I always feel sweaty.

I really appreciate your replies. It has got me thinking about how to deal with these 'moods' in a more positive manner. I'm pretty optimistic and see the good in everyone and everything. Some might say I'm naive, but I just don't see the world as a bad place full of bad people. I will definitely try the suggestions. He has a great, dry sense of humour so I can see him getting a kick out of the 'communist plot' comment and enjoy coming up with different reasons why things happen. He is also at the stage in his life where he has very strong opinions so the prosecutor/defender strategy may be useful as well. He loves to give his opinion but cannot always give reasons so this will be very helpful. I do try to remember to validate his feelings. When I do that, he really turns a corner and seems to swing back onto the reasonable side of things again. I think he often feels that he is not listened to enough so he says these outlandish statements in order to be heard. I keep reminding my husband that the boy is nearly 14, has opinions (however misguided) and he needs to be heard, not shot down, brushed off or ignored. However, the know-it-all, unreasonable attitude makes that difficult. He is changing so much as a teen - physically, mentally and emotionally. It is really amazing and a joy (and sometimes painful) to see and experience as a parent. Thanks again everyone.

My older ds is 13 and is often a 'glass half empty' kind of kid. If things don't go his way, someone was intentionally out to get him. If someone hurts him accidentally, he thinks it was on purpose and holds a grudge for a loooong time. Today we saw a girl walking along the sidewalk with a candycane outdoor decoration and his first comment was, "I bet she stole it." :001_huh: Neither his dad or I are like that - I can't think of anyone in our family who is (well, maybe my brother, a bit) but it is driving me nuts. We've talked about how one feels better when they have a positive attitude. I tell him you get farther when you are kind and positive but it pretty much falls on deaf ears. Now, he's not always like this, but I would say it is more often than not. And, it is definitely worse when he is overtired or overwhelmed but it takes him so long to get out of his funk. Ugh, it is exhausting. Any suggestions on how to get him to look at things with a positive light, rather than dark and gloomy? Thanks,

All About Spelling www.allaboutspelling.com

Take a look at Moving Beyond the Page. It depends more on ability than age though. I did Sonlight Core 1 with my 6 and 8 years and then Core 2 when they were 7 and 9. It was easy to adjust the requirements for each of them.

My son is now 9 and will still revert to making his letters from the bottom up, or start in some strange place. He was very hard to switch, his printing was awful and he looked so uncomfortable. He's not a kid to be forced, so I had to take it slowly with him - a few letters at a time (Actually I think we fixed numbers first!). I showed him how to do the letters properly and when he realized it was much easier it was he was happy to continue. He sometimes starts in the wrong spot, but he usually recognizes it and will either erase or 'remember for next time". Now, if I can just get him to angle his book a bit.....