Triggers: lack of sleep stress hormones too much screen time/eye strain allergies lack of caffeine perfume or other strong smells Mc Donald's food :tongue_smilie: Helps: sleep caffiene lack of sensory items (a very dark, quiet room with no scented items) Relpax

I tried it for migraines and had BAD side effects. First of all..it make me feel VERY out of it. (I literally sat through a green traffic light one day because I couldn't remember what to do...:001_huh:) I had to retype everything I wrote on the computer because I couldn't remember how to spell...sometimes I forgot what to say. Also - it makes food (especially soda) taste different. I returned 3 Cokes at McDonalds one day - telling them their mix was off - before DH tasted it and said "It's fine" (Then I remembered reading that was a side effect) :blushing: But by far the worst was ... it made me SO angry! I cannot fathom using it as a mood stabilizer, because I have never felt the out of control anger and RAGE that I did when I was on Topamax . (And the worst past was my doctor never warned me that was a possible side effect.) One day I stopped just short of hitting my toddler daughter. :crying: I wanted to hurt her,and it frightened me so bad. I couldn't figure out what was going on - so I literally locked myself in my room and called the doc and asked if that was possibly a side affect... and they said "yes." :eek: I did lose about 10 lbs, but it was NOT worth it.

The Frontier 85 has slightly different belt path that the original Frontier, however, so it is supposed to be easier to install.

They are both great boosters, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend either of those seats. They both have large headwings, lined with EPS/EPP foam - which offers extra side-impact protection in the event of a crash. The Parkway SG does have the advantage of having an extra clip (the SG part which stands for Slide Guard) which helps to prevent a child from 'submarining' under the lap portion of the seatbelt. I do harness my children a long as possible. ( My 7 yr old rides in a Britax Regent, and my 5 yr old in a Marathon) but we have started 'booster training' with both girls - (short trips - teaching them not to wiggle, lean or squirm.) My kids have Britax Monarch boosters - but since that is no longer available, the two seats that you listed would be my top contenders.

I agree that not all psychology/counseling is un-Biblical, however, in many instances psychology teaches a person to rely on the opinions of the doctor, or to 'look within themselves' for answers - instead of turning to God. You are putting your trust in people, instead of trusting the Master Physician, Himself. I do believe that, just like any other doctor, God can use these people to help us, but He is the only one who can give us true healing - physically or mentally/emotionally.

Homeschool - just like preschool

Does he understand money? If so, show him with a place value chart and money. pennies live in the 1's spot dimes live in the 10's dollars live in the 100's "There can only be 9 pennies in the ones column. Once you get 10 you can trade them for a dime, but it has to move over to the tens column." (And do the same with dimes and dollars)

We have LOVED the SOTW2 AG this year! We are using MFW:RtR and it didn't include the AG, but I bout it anyways because I love it that much! I can't imagine doing SOTW without them.

I was a classroom teacher, too - and I actually didn't mind stuff like this at all. In fact, I was thrilled, because it showed that the parents cared enough to get involved with their kids. (What annoyed me more what when kids would miss class because their parents didn't 'feel like' bringing them to school that day.:glare:) There wasn't any lesson I taught that was so important that it couldn't be done as homework. Yeah - maybe they missed an experiment or a hands-on project, but in the long run - one day didn't make a major difference in their educational career.

Sorry I should have explained myself better. I think that Take Your Child to Work Day can be a very educational experience, and that it is 'real world' learning at its best. I think that the goal of education is to prepare our children for the future, and I think that seeing people in real-life career settings is well worth skipping a day in a classroom. My kids have loved going to work with their dad, (to a printing company,) and and his company goes out of their way to give the kids a great (educational) experience. I think that this day has as much (if not more) value that a lot of the so-called field trips that the PS kids take.

There was an article in our local paper this week about "Take Your Child to Work" day that made me want to scream with frustration...:banghead: The title of the article was "Kids' day at work interrupts school lessons." and in it the author stated "...when millions of children trot off to work with Mom or Dad all day, they miss crucial lessons and classes get behind." She went on to say that while she sees the benefit of such a day, it should be rescheduled to summer when it won't... "omit the learning in school." Sigh, people just don't get it.... :rolleyes: Why is this different than any other field trip that the kids would take? My BIL (a teacher) had his class watch 'Star Wars' in school one day. Heaven forbid those kids would have missed out on that great educational opportunity. :rolleyes: The worst part is, there wasn't' even an author byline. It was just written under the 'opinion' column. (Well...I think I'm going to give them MY opinion) ;)

I think once dogs have caught birds they will continue to do so... (unfortunately, it's like having the ultimate squeak toy) Our last dog was not-so-affectionately nick-named Colonel Sanders because of his fondness for chicken. :glare:

Another version my kids liked was the Abeka one. (I think it is one of their 4th or 5th grade readers?)

Math - they must do 1-2 pages of CLE math daily (although this year my DD will be using Key To Decimals because she needs extra practice there.) We ususally do a few FIAR unit studies/lapbooks and the rest is nature studies: gardening (botany,) stargazing ( astronomy), and we usually order caterpillars and watch them change to butterflies (entomology.)

:iagree: My kids LOVED that book, too! This year we got "Dangerous Journey" with the MFW:Rome to the Reformation package, and we haven't enjoyed it nearly as much. (In fact, my kids are frightened by some of the illustrations.)

Sending my children to school.... When Dh saw what school had done to my son, and the peer pressure on my DD (in 2nd grade already) he couldn't wait to bring them home. Even at a private Christian school my children still experienced thing like: DS getting a time-out on his first day of kindergarten because he had to go potty really bad and he ran to the bathroom. The teacher wanted to make an example of him, so had him sit with his head on his desk. He came home bawling. My (peanut allergic) son was ostracized and made to feel bad because the other kids couldn't bring in their favorite treats for his birthday, yet his teacher sat at her desk eating trail mix with peanuts ... if she had touched my son he could have had an anaphylactic reaction. My second grade daughter was already being asked to choose what clique she wanted to be in, and told that she 'could not' play with the girls in the other group. They were also starting to 'pair up' and choose boyfriends. DD was told to pick a boy she liked. She said boys were gross, so she got picked on. She also heard stories about pregnant teenage siblings and siblings in jail. :glare: But mostly Dh changed his mind because we watched my son go from a happy, energetic, outgoing boy - to a sad, withdrawn, anxious child with NO self-confidence. School sucked the joy right out of him. His teacher told us he had no friends, no social skills and that he needed counseling. Yet when we'd go to the park he could walk up to any kid, strike up a conversation and have an instant 'buddy'... While I'm sad that my kids had to go through all of that - it really did make an impression on DH and show him that the kids thrive so much better at home.

Or sign up for CLASS and then do Rosetta Stone Italian on the side.

ACE offers a 'legit' accredited diploma CLE has a diploma program so does CLASS ( Christian Liberty Press) You might also look into NAHRS You choose your subjects/publishers, they take care of your transcripts and offer you an actual diploma (and they are accredited)

Mimi Rothschild? (founder of Jubilee Academy , Morning Star, Grace...and about a dozen others...:glare:) http://www.homeedmag.com/editorial/204/mimi-rothschild-taking-over-homeschooling/ Just google her name and you'll find out lots of info. ;)

I would say most wear 'traditional' church wear ( skirts, dresses, blouses for the women and dress slacks and shirts w/ ties for the men) - but there are a few in jeans, too. I don't think I've seen T-shirts (except maybe a Packers jersey on game days :rolleyes: ) Our Saturday evening contemporary service is definitely more casual. The majority wear jeans - usually with a polo or nicer shirt.

Yes, we are doing 1st grade (although given her abilities, I would say she is closer to kindergarten level in most subjects.) She is just beginning LU 107. The first 5 LU's (with short vowels) she breezed through. Now we are beginning long vowels and consonant digraphs. We are having to go a bit slower, but she is still comprehending it. Before we began the program she couldn't even read the easiest Bob books. Now she is reading sentences like: "Sam gave the yellow ship to Tim." or "Mom, here are seven fish. I am happy for the fish." Feel free to PM me anytime if you want to chat. :001_smile:

If you want to see samples - I have some here on my blog http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/foxvalleyfamily/733759/ And here is my DD after using the program (She would not have been able to get any of those words prior to CLE) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/foxvalleyfamily/759963/

I don't know about long term, but something that helped my apraxic daughter short term was the Leap Frog DVDs (Talking Letter Factory and Talking Words Factory) We are just working on phonics/learning to read, and I can hear her humming the 'vowels' song from these videos when she is thinking about how the words are formed.

My 7 yr old DD also has apraxia - and she sounds very similar to yours (with the exception of the rhyming. My DD cannot hear rhyming.) We tried several phonics/ learn to read programs without much success. I would say especially to watch out for programs where the kids have to learn to blend sounds together verbally, or by playing 'say it fast' (100 EZ lessons, The Reading Lesson, etc) As kids with apraxia will just get frustrated if they cannot make the correct sounds. We tried 100 EZ, Phonics Pathway, First Reader, Abeka, and ETC (which was almost a good fit, but it moved too quickly) before we tried CLE's new/revised Learning to Read program and found our 'perfect' fit. It has just enough illustrated examples and repetition that she gets the concepts, without frustrating her because she has to give verbal answers. CLE's language arts still moves a bit too fast for her though - so we are taking that a bit slower.

We are using an art appreciation lapbook from Hands of a Child http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=23194&it=1