Thanks everyone for all the replies! I am definitely going to get his bed and pillow allergy proofed. I bought him some relaxation music and switched him to a different room. So we will see if this helps him. A couple months ago he enjoyed staying up reading with a flashlight, he stopped doing it for some reason. I am going to let him do that for a little while before I turn on his music.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I think I will start to talk to him from now on before he goes to bed. Last night when he came to my room I was half asleep and not in the talking mood. My son slept in our bed for about 5 years, but hasn't done this in about 3-4 years, I'm glad those days are over! All my kids would love to sleep on the couch in the family room. I'm afraid if I let him do it then they all would be begging to sleep on the couch. We prefer to have them in their beds. If he was an only child or the other kids didn't care then I would let him sleep there. Oh, good idea, I wash his sheets but I don't have his mattress or pillow in allergy proof barriers. That could be it, I have never had him allergy tested so maybe that could be his issue... Thanks! I am going to purchase one of the CD's that were mentioned as well, that might help him relax his mind and get to sleep easier. I did talk to him a little bit this morning and he and his younger sister want to switch beds. She is going to sleep on the top bunk bed and he in her room with the baby. Between the new bed, CD, and washing the sheets/blankets, I hope he will sleep tonight!

My son is 8 almost 9 has started having what I think is anxiety at night. It started in the beginning of June. He kept getting out of bed saying he felt like he couldn't breath. I took him to the Dr and they did some testing and found nothing medically wrong. She said it could be seasonal allergies or anxiety. It went mostly away for a little while but it is coming back again. He gets up out of bed almost every night the last week with some excuse. One night he was itchy, or feels like he can't breathe again. Last night he said he felt like he was going to cry. He has always been sensitive. I usually let him sleep on the couch when he starts having this issue and that usually helps. I don't want him thinking that he can sleep on the couch every night though. He did say last night that he doesn't like being alone in the dark. He shares a room with his little brother and they have a night light in the room. I have not really sat down and talked with him about it because I've just tried to make it seem like no big deal, thinking it would pass. After last night I think it is time for a talk with him. Had anyone else had this problem with their kid? I am just looking for advice on how to handle it and what dh and I should say? Btw, he is a happy go lucky kind of kid during the day. He jokes around a lot, plays well with friends and siblings. He does get easily aggravated with his younger bro and sis, but I think that is kinda normal. I just feel bad for him. Thanks for listening!

Thank you so much! :)

I bought a MM cd from HSBC 2 years ago. I was getting ready to start printing (1a and 3b) for the new year and remembered that she has revised it. Do I have to buy the new edition or can I email her to download it for free? Thanks!

Thanks for your advice! I was mainly wondering if we should start with OTAE because I'm not really certain how much they have retained from SOTW. That is why I want to move away from SOTW, and try to find something that is a little more fun and I like the idea of memorizing the timeline. I think that would help them retain more information. If we are going to do memorizing then it just seems like we should start at the begining. I'm sure this is probably a personal choice as to where I should start them, I just like to over think things!

I may do VP self paced history next year with my 3rd grader and let my 1st grader tag a long and watch. We did SOTW 1 this year, I am wondering if I should start my kids with OTAE in VP or go to the second year? What else do I need to go along with the self paced history? Any other spines or is it all on the computer? Does it come with recommendations for readers and read alouds? Any help will be appreciated, I am trying to decide between VP and BiblioPlan.

I am trying to figure out which science to go with next year. My kids will be 9 and 6. This is will be our 4th year HSing and science has been a major flop every year... My 9 year old is begging for science this year that we will actually do! I bought Apologia last year and it was a total flop for us. Still have a box of experiments in my closet. We want something that is hands on, exciting for them, and that they will be engaged in. I'm not to concerned with their prices, just want something that will get used! Any advice on Nancy Larson 1, Elemental or Noeo (haven't decided which topic to use on those). I was leaning towards NL1 but then read on another post how easy it was and I don't know if my 9 year old will enjoy it. I don't really want to go with NL2 since my daughter is only 6. I would like to keep them together. I was thinking NL1 and then add Exploration Education for my 9 year old? Thanks for listening to my rambling and any advice :)

Thanks for everyone's opinions! I think I should stick with FLL since he is enjoying it. I would hate to switch to R&S and him dread the lessons and make it harder on both of us. And I will make sure I have my white board ready for diagrams! :)

This year we have used FLL 2 and WWE 1 and part of 2. Next year we are going to use HOD Bigger for our main curriculum and it schedules in R&S for grammar. I am trying to decide if we should stick with FLL 3 since my son has enjoyed FLL 2 or try out R&S? I will continue WWE 2 since we have not completed the whole book yet. Any opinions on FLL3 vs. R&S 3? Thanks!

My daughter, who will be 6 tomorrow, is struggling with phonics. We started last summer with Hooked on Phonics and Explode the Code, since that is what I owned and worked for my oldest. After a couple months I realized it was not working. We took a couple months break at the end of my pregnancy and after our new little one was born. In January, we started LOE foundations. Now 2 months later, she still cannot blend CVC words. She knows all her phonogram sounds, but blending them just doesn't click for her. I show her the word dig and she reads dip. I show her pat and she says pad. She can usually blend 2 sounds together, but not all 3. I have been going so slow and it is just not working. We have also been using Click N Kids for extra re-inforcement and that isn't helping either. I am wondering if this is a development delay or maybe or a learning disability (dyslexia) or she is just not ready to read. She loves LOE Foundations, does great with math (but does sometimes get mixed up on her numbers), she is great at listening and narrating back stories, just phonics is where she is struggling badly. I am just looking for some advice or suggestions, anything really :) Thanks, Holly

My almost 8 year old son was asked how to spell his last name at VBS a couple of weeks ago. He looked at the lady like she had 2 heads and he just repeated our name, she looked at him crazy and asked him to spell it. He turned around and looked at me like he had no idea what she was talking about. I realized that I taught it to him 2 years ago but since he never has to spell it or write it, he was totally confused. I was pretty embarrassed. Needless to say, that was at the top of our to learn this year along with how to spell our horribly long address. Most adults can't even pronounce our street or city name, but the kids are trying to learn how to spell it. My kids also don't know anything patriotic either, the pledge or National Anthem. I'm not concerned about the pledge but do think we should learn the anthem. We also need to continue working with analog clocks also.

We started our new school year 2 weeks ago. My kids are K and 2 grade, I had planned on doing American History this year with them. I bought 2 Christian Liberty Press American History Books. We got them with our other curriculum and I have not had any desire to start reading to them. I figured we could read about the famous people in the books and do some notebooking on them. I don't know if its me being pregnant or the fact that I have to do more planning for history than with any other subjects. But I just cannot bring myself to do any history with my kids. So, is it horrible if I skipped history this year? We don't really have the money to buy new history books right now and our library stinks here. Or maybe someone can point me in the right direction to find an inexpensive, yet fun way to do history with younger kids. We are loving the rest of our curriculum, just need help with history or I might decide to skip it this year...

Ok, thanks for your help. I looked at grade 4 samples and that would be to much for him and I don't want to overwhelm him and make him hate it. Technically, by our school district he will be a 2 grader but works on 3 grade level in a couple subjects, so I think I will go with R&S 3.

My 7 yr old will be finishing up AAS 3 soon and I want to switch to R&S Spelling next year. Is there a placement test anywhere for R&S? Or should I just choose his level by the samples. I am thinking Grade 3. He has done well with AAS but for some reason hasn't been able to apply all the rules he learned to his writing. I would like a change to see if this would help him and make him a bit more independent to study the words on his own. Thanks!

I know the swollen spleen is a common symptom, but just the fact that she has never seen a spleen so swollen in a Mono patient, kinda made me nervous. She said I had nothing to worry about, but that's what I do! My dd had to quit her soccer team for the season b/c of the swollen spleen. Thanks!

The dr did not do a CBC, by doing further blood work I am referring to a CBC. I am wondering if I should make them do a CBC or if just the mono spot is good enough for accurate diagnoses. I know she wasn't trying to scare me she was just talking a little to much. :glare:

I don't know how I feel, some days I am confident with the Mono diagnoses. Then other days, I let my mind wander back to that comment the dr made. My dd was not prescribed the steroids, but I am wondering if that would help her with her sore throat and feeling better quicker. Thanks!

My 5 yr old dd was diagnosed with Mono a week and a half ago. The dr. did the mono spot test on her and it was positive, but they did not send her off for any further bloodwork. I went back to the dr. 2 days later to get my 7 yr old tested. The dr procceded to tell me how happy she was my dd had Mono. She said she has never felt a spleen so swollen except in cancer patients. I really wish she would have never said those words to me :glare:. She sure did make me nervous. I have been talking with other moms and some think that I should go back to the dr to have further bloodwork done to make sure there is nothing further going on. She has most of the Mono symptoms fatigue, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, but no fevers. So would you take your child back for further blood work or should I stop listening to my hypochondriac (sp?) friends and be confident in the mono spot results? I have been feeling her spleen myself and it has gone down some in the last week, so that is good. I still just have some uneasiness over the situation. Thanks!!

My 5 yr old dd will be in K this year, we start mid-summer, here is our plan: McRuffy Color Math K Hooked on Phonics Explode the Code Pentime Handwriting Lollipop Logic She will tag along with older brother in American History, Zoology, Song School Latin, Bible study and read alouds.

Math: Math Mammoth 3a/b Grammar: FLL 2 Writing: WWE 2 Spelling: AAS 4 Cursive: Pentime Logic: Critical Thinking Workbook Reading: 30 minutes of daily reading from selected books Science: Apologia Zoology 3 w/ Jr. Notebook History: Beautiful Feet Early Am. History Geo: US Geography (mainly games and books) Latin: Song School Latin Bible: Community Bible Study (weekly Wed. class) Plus daily read alouds We are leaving behind our boxed curriculum and are very excited to start with all this new curricula. My K daughter will be following along with us in science, history, geography, latin & bible. Our first year with FLL and WWE, hope we like it!!

Beyond's history spines American Pioneers and Patriots, Stories of the Pilgrims, and Boys and Girls of Colonial Days are all from Christian publishers. The science spine God's Wonderful Works is also from Christian Liberty Press. Some of the poem's are from a Christian viewpoint. So Beyond could not be used secularly and I would assume it would be near impossible to use the other guides secularly either.

Thanks for everyone's input. I will pass along this information to her. She doesn't know what exactly she is looking for and I don't either. I'm hoping one of these will catch her eye and make her decide to HS next year!

I was talking with another mom at my son's soccer practice tonight. She is wanting to HS her 3rd and 1st graders next year. She and her husband will continue to both work full time. She told me she was looking for a complete, secular curriculum so that it would make it easier for her and her husband to school them. The only complete curricula I can think of is Calvert, K12, and Oak Meadow. Does she have any other options? Can Sonlight be secular? Thanks for any advice that I can pass along to her.

I'm in the same boat, between morning sickness :ack2: trying to finish up a curriculum that we don't love and the nice warm weather... my house is also suffering! I just wanna call it quits for the year, and lay around and research curricula for next year. Hopefully, I will start feeling better soon and get some energy and start cleaning!! Wishful thinking...