Ellen McHenry's The Cell is great. She also currently has a free virus unit on her website. Her materials are aimed at upper elementary, but may be accessible to an 8 year old with lots of parent help. .

Lower elementary science = Magic Schoolbus videos (old and new series), Let's Read and Find Out books, and The Body Book by Scholastic.

My 13yo ds enjoys: - Models of all kinds. He likes airplane model kits (the plastic one) and has just completed a much more complicated RC airplane. Inaugural flight tomorrow! He's also done a Spanish galley ship cross-section model (wood). His younger sister is doing a miniature kit as well and ds would have also happily done it. - Reading. He's 10 books into the Wheel of Time series, which I let him start reading at 13. YMMV in terms of acceptable content- there is some implied sex, but nothing explicit at all. - Dance moves. Learning electric swing from youtube tutorials. - Running. 5-10km with me or a friend or alone. - Scratch Programming, Python programming - Writing. Working on a fantasy novel - Planning and cooking a meal every couple weeks -

Adding my voice to those that say choose geography, maps, and cultures over history for 1st grade if your child is not ready for history. I can't imagine doing history without the violence, it would not serve much purpose. One of our favorite projects as a family when my oldest was about that age was a family timeline. We went back as far as their oldest living relative's birth. Then we drew out the timeline and included births, marriages, moves, historic-ish things they might know (first time mom got a home computer, smartphones invented, man on the moon, presidents elected, ...). We used a lot of family photos to fill it out, along with historic pictures found online. The passage of time, especially thousands of years, is so incredibly abstract that starting with a more concrete timeline can be a helpful introduction to history. Then exercises like (at the same scale) how long would the timeline need to be to get back to George Washington, Jesus Christ, the Great Pyramid ... can give a feel for just how long we've been around.

I just wish his website wasn't so... bright.

This is for my ds13. We've already done The Elements by Ellen McHenry, as well as her Carbon Chemistry. I would not mind having some pop science chemistry books to read along with as well. I've heard mixed reviews of The Disappearing Spoon, but any reviews or other books along those lines would be appreciated.

Exactly what I would say. PP is really good at helping struggling blenders, so it spends a lot of time working on that blending technique. Your dd doesn't need that, so just skip ahead. I love PP exactly because you can speed it up or slow it down so easily.

I can't imagine this being risky. The air compressor is to fill the castle, which leaks constantly. The leaks would produce less air movement than just a bit of a breeze. The actual jumping and shaking of the physical structure would produce more air movement, and that air movement would be chaotic, not "aimed" in any particular direction. And additionally, those castles are super staticky. Static electricity will probably keep many potential contaminants stuck to the canvas... not great fort the next renter, but one can hope the company decontaminates the castles. Statistic here (Switzerland) are indicating that the biggest risk is being in an enclosed room with sick people, especially for multiple hours. This happens in workplaces, family homes, churches, and employees working in enclosed places like grocery stores. I would not wear a mask in your situation. The mask's primary purpose is to protect others from you, not the other way around. But I understand you are higher risk and so maybe the small protection masks provide is worth the inconvenience.

I don't own any makeup and I don't like the way it feels on my face. I do not care even a bit whether other women wear makeup. I do not associate makeup with being casual vs done up. I see it more as any other choice. Makeup or no makeup is like parting the hair on the left or in the center.

I'd be nervous about doing sit-ups for all the reasons mentioned above- stress and strain on back and pelvic floor, possible undiagnosed diastasis rectii, etc. But I will also answer your question directly: One way to work towards being able to perform a rep of any exercise is to do a negative of that exercise. This applies to all sorts of things, like pull-ups, pushups, sit-ups, squats, etc. You start in the "Up" position, then lower yourself as slowly as possible to the "down" position. At first, slow will be very fast, but as your strength improves, you will be able to lower yourself more and more slowly. Do these in sets, just like real sit-ups in reverse. Lower yourself, then use an elbow or whatever to get yourself back to the up position and lower yourself again. Do whatever progression you are capable of, maybe a set of 5, then 3, then 1 for a week or two, then gradually build up to 10, 10, 10. At that point, I'd be surprised if you couldn't do a sit-up.

I wouldn't worry too much about how long pre-algebra takes. It's ok if he gets it done in one year, but also ok if it takes 1.5 or 2 years. You can't really "force" how quickly someone learns a concept, so I'd suggest not trying to plan too far ahead. After that, I'm sure either program would be fine. As a teacher, you need to choose the one you can teach best.

For myself, I do not check the news when I'm feeling overwhelmed. Our country does keep an updated list of recommendations are requirements on our public health website, and I'm sure there is something similar on the American CDC and probably on your particular state's public health website as well. I'd suggest reading though the updates there once or twice a week. When someone asks you to make decisions about things like choir, it is simple. You say, "I am following the guidelines provided on State X Public Health Website. I am unable to deviate from our state's guidelines. I hope you can be patient, this too shall pass." Frankly, it would be personally irresponsible and put you in a potentially dangerous legal situation if you were to ignore official guidelines in any sort of leadership capacity. Imagine if people DID get sick and sued.

I am so sorry, what a rollercoaster. Hang in there, we are praying for the whole family.

I would get off FB, because my experience of it and everything I hear others experience with it sounds a lot like wading through the sewage pipes of hell. I'm joking, slightly, but that is still my advice.

We've got a tick twister, but actually just use it to leverage out the tick. DH also got free at the pharmacy a little credit card size piece of plastic with notches cut out in two of the corners to make two different sized tick removers, similar to the right side of the tool in @Matryoshka's photo. He swears by it.