nm. Thank you so much!

I think it's fine. All 8 children in my family of origin have names that start with the same letter, are two syllables and end in a long e sound. :) It's no problem.

What a lousy situation to be in. :( How was your breakfast and did anything else come up about the photographs?

We spend about 4 hours, sometimes as much as 5. My DD processes slowly and has some learning challenges so things sometimes go more slowly around here. We are very CM, so many short lessons. :)

We're reading Viking Adventure by Bulla right now. We like it.

I can't truly express how much better my CM-inspired year is going compared to my incredibly stressful hodge-podge year from the year before. This is my second full year homeschooling and the more I learn about CM's methods and work them into our lives, the happier we are. I'm using a curriculum that I created based loosely off AO. I've gleaned things from other CM-based curricula, too, so my year doesn't correspond very well with one of the AO years. Charlottle Mason's ideas just feel so right for us. My daughter has multiple special needs and yet she is very capable and intelligent. As long as DD responds well to this educational style, we'll be using it. Last summer I spent a few weeks gathering my ideas, booklists, etc. Then I made a loose weekly schedule for us to follow. Our weeks really vary, depending on medical appts, therapy, vacations, field trips, etc. Plus, my DD has good days and bad ones. There is no rhyme or reason to it. So, I have to be flexible. Having a list for the week keeps me from being stressed. Many weeks we achieve more than I anticipated and sometimes we achieve far less. Overall, we're doing well for the year. Each week we cover the following: Daily Cursive handwriting (HWOT) Math (we use Math Mammoth with some MEP and Khan Academy) Silent reading (just added this in this month) Reading aloud from K12 readers and other sources (she reads to me) Literature with narration (I read to her) Family read aloud Phonics (this week we finished her last phonics book. Yippee!) 1-4 times per week Spelling (not the CM way) Latin and Greek roots History (we use SOTW, mostly) Geography (using living books) Nature Study Nature Reading Scripture Study Science (using living books and My Pals are Here) Biography (with written narrations) Dictation Composer Study Artist Study Art Music listening Recorder playing The lessons are short and interesting. I don't find it hard to work everything in. In fact, I'm enjoying this year much better than last year. It's more relaxing and fun now. Good luck!

Just wanted to suggest you take a look at Ambleside Online. I use it loosely but definitely love many of Charlotte Mason's ideas. We are CMers more than AOers but the AO booklist and resources (including yahoo groups) are AWESOME. I am learning so much and just love the change in our educational environment since I started trusting myself and not worrying about following someone's curriculum. The hardest thing for me to do as a homeschooling mom is to just RELAX. I know that me being stressed out and rushing around to get it all done doesn't lead to a fabulous learning environment. Good luck!

Allergic reaction. I respond the same way but not every time. Nuts do the same thing sometimes.

I have one DD, 9. She has a congenital brain malformation, shunted hydrocephalus and many other health and developmental issues (migraines, SPD, dyspraxia, GERD, strabismus, amblyopia, anxiety, etc). Doesn't quite meet the criteria for NVLD or Aspergers. She's definitely quirky. :tongue_smilie: Our main problem regarding schooling (and life in general) is ADHD. HWT has been a wonderful handwriting curriculum for her. She has fine motor delays and vision processing problems and this has worked well. Mostly, I use a Charlotte Mason approach with short lessons on many subjects each day and that helps her focus better. She is very creative and funny. Each day is a challenge but she is quite bright and capable so I persevere! I love homeschooling!

Anyone doing homeschool classes on Feb 7 or 8 at WDW? If so, what? Maybe we'll see each other. :)

We'll be arriving on the 4th or I'd try to hook up with you. This is just a quick trip so my family will want to spend every second at WDW anyway. Have fun!

My extended family rents houses in the Outer Banks in NC every year (in Corolla). We always go for a week in June. That could be an option, especially when you get a small house (we're always looking for the 8-10 bedroom ones). Very fun! We did Disney as cheap as possible last February for 10 days and with my family of 3 it was still over $2k. Driving 1700 miles roundtrip ($350), food ($450), hotels for 9 nights ($400 and we got a great deal for the 7 nights we were in Orlando), tickets for 6 days at Disney ($720ish), parking at the parks ($84) and then two cheap days at the beach (mostly free). With all of your extra people to buy tickets for, it's going to run you $3k, I'd think. It's SUPER fun, though! We're headed back in a few weeks. :001_smile: I'd definitely try for a beach vacation if Disney isn't doable. The beach is always at the top of my fun list! Anywhere from the OBX in NC down to Key West gets my vote. LOL

My daughter does have a cerebellar malformation and has many similar issues to your son. Very explosive, no swearing but very verbally abusive to me. Resperidone and ADHD meds have worked wonders for us. I wish you had had more luck with those. I would still look at meds. There are so many options. We've tried 4 ADHD meds this year and finally have something working well now. Are you working with a behavioral ped? A neuropsychologist? A developmental ped? :grouphug: I truly feel for you. Truly. Managing the SPD and making sure my DD gets 12+ hours of sleep help somewhat. Therapy (OT, PT, behavioral) helps some. Meds are a miracle. I wish something else had been but the reality for us is that the meds were needed. I wish I had more ideas. Rewards and punishments don't work for us at all. So many of these suggestions that work for neurotypical children simply do not work for children with brain damage and other neurological struggles. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to chat privately. As harsh as some replies have been, I'm not willing to share anything else here.

Welcome! I spent a few years raising a teenaged family member with bipolar disorder and ADHD. It was tough going but the good days helped us through the bad ones. I hope your homeschooling journey will joyful!

My DD has a cerebellar disorder so I found this especially fascinating. She struggles with so many areas. Thanks for the link!

I'm super sensitive to smells/chemicals like that. Soap, perfume, laundry detergent, etc, all of it can cause an asthma attack for me.

Pollyanna Mandy The Christmas Barn They all have some bad things but are pretty gentle overall.

I'm not sure exactly what you are looking for so I'll just share what we did in the hope that it will help you at least a little. I have a 9 year old who was doing three therapies a week this past semester, all 45 miles away. She also ended up having lots of medical appts and behavioral therapy, all 30-120 miles away. In addition to just making that schedule work, we also had all of the therapy "homework" to fit into our lives, along with schoolwork. First, I really worked hard to make my expectations realistic. That was very hard but maybe you aren't crazy like me and that part will be easier for you. :lol: We loosely use Ambleside Online curriculum, along with a lot of other things. I tend to expect way too much out of my DD. I had to really pare things down and focus on the most important things. Absolutely no busy work allowed in our homeschool. :) I generally schedule school by the week. I plan all of the work that needs to be done for the week and then work on it as we can. Having workable curricula was crucial. Second, I figured out which things we could do in the car while I was driving. We had to make the most of our time each day. For example, I knew that my DD could do her math and phonics without a ton of handholding. She could also generally be successful working on her handwriting, spelling and reading aloud in the car while I drove. On really bad days, she did nothing in the car. Third, I figured out what we could easily do during the long days we were away from home (usually two full days per week). During the time we were waiting between appointments, we worked on literature, geography, history and grammar. If we were near a nature center, history or art museum we made sure to schedule in field trips to those places. We went for walks or we took her bike and she'd ride it at a park. Sometimes, she was just too tired to do much of anything so I'd read to her or we'd just listen to music together. Fourth, we made sure to schedule in her therapy homework on the days we were home. I actually set an alarm on my cell phone to remind me. It was so easy to forget the therapy unless I had that alarm. We weren't great at it but the things we remembered to do were certainly helpful. The big thing for me is to be flexible. My DD has some serious stuff going on and she's very inconsistent. Some school days are practically worthless. On good days we just do as much as we reasonably can. We only "do school" from 10:30 - 3:00. Even that is too much a lot of days. In the end, I try not to worry about keeping up. I figure she's doing the very best she can and that is always enough.

Some of my favorites right now: 7 Wonders Age of Discovery Carcassonne with all of the zillion add-ons Ticket to Ride Attika

Vaseline. Vaseline. Vaseline. And did I mention Vaseline? I also need water, tissues and lotion handy. Vaseline is an absolute must-have.

I add a bunch of worchestershire sauce. Yum!!!

I voted for Yes, around kindergarten to first grade age or younger but that's a 5 - 6 year age range so it seems not quite precise. :D My DD was 1 year old the first time she saw an eye doctor. She's worn glasses since she was 20 months old.

Thanks for sharing this link!

What is Y.E.S??

Lovely, beautiful, tender. Thank you for sharing.