You might try asking over in the bilingual education board as well. I think you will want a program with good explanations of and practice with grammatical constructions, he will pick up plenty of conversational vocabulary from the immersion setting.

I have a five year old who regularly acts out during church. She does much better when she gets a lot of individual attention, and I'm incredibly grateful for the primary leaders who take the time to give her extra attention (and feel rather guilty that it is necessary). Our Sunday was very nice. We had Stake Conference, with really good talks by our local mission president as well Bishop Davies of the Presiding Bishopric. Bishop Davies told several stories about working with the committee that selects sites for new temples. One story was about going into a meeting with the mayor of Philadelphia regarding the site the church wanted to build a temple on there. The mayor was very brusque at the beginning of the meeting, informing the church representatives that the city wanted to use that site for a commercial development and were not interested in the church acquiring it. During the course of the meeting, and following what amounted to very spiritual testimonies from both members and nonmembers present (including a non-LDS city councilman) the mood of those present changed, and the meeting ended on a positive note with regards to the temple project, and the mayor asked if they could close the meeting with prayer. It was a pretty neat story, much better in the original telling

I have bought the prepackaged food before, I don't see a problem with it. Yes I am benefiting from someone else's service just as I benefit from those who serve in bishoprics or in the temple or organize stake baptismal services or plant flowers at Temple Square or act as ushers for General Conference or...I try to serve when and where I am able and gratefully accept the service of others who are doing likewise. This past year my family had the opportunity to weed onions on one of the church-owned farms. I imagine some of those onions are now available in dehydrated form through the church canneries. I suppose everyone could grow, weed, dehydrate, and can their own onions if they are concerned about not taking advantage of anyone else's work when the could do the work themselves, but I don't think that is really necessary ;) That being said, the canneries usually have a lot more variety available in bulk than what the church sales pre-packed, and I believe it is also slightly less expensive; there are definitely advantages to doing things the way you plan.

Thank you for sharing this! I wasn't familiar with this program and am researching it now. I use K9 for filtering, but I like the idea of all pre-screened sites, youtube videos, etc. To the OP, I'm so sorry you're dealing with this and it sounds like you are handling the issue well. I hate, hate, hate the fact that this stuff is so prevalent on the web and that it kind of comes looking for you--a kid doesn't have to be looking for it to come across it. My kids have so far had very limited access to the internet and never unsupervised, but I know that can't last forever and we have started talking to them about the kinds of inappropriate content that are out there and how to respond if they come across something that feels uncomfortable or wrong--close the computer, go get a parent, it's not there fault if they run into it, etc.

I cook amaranth as a hot cereal for breakfast (we put milk and honey on it)--works wonders for constipation. Definitely find ways to get her to drink more--she needs to be drinking first thing in the morning and throughout the day. Maybe diluted fruit juice would tempt her? Or get a large water bottle and fill it at the beginning of the day then encourage her to drink it all in the course of the day?

Stepping tentatively here...I've been thinking about the discussion of special needs kids and church. I keep having the nagging thought that challenges people describe with their autism spectrum kids sound an awful lot like my 7 year old son. It's not the first time I've wondered if I'm dealing with something more than just a quirky kid. I know the special needs board would be the best place to ask this question, but I'm going to ask it here because I'm comfortable talking to you guys and I know some of you have experience with these kids. I need someone with more perspective to tell me if I am dealing with just a quirky kid or something more. This is my 7 year old son: http://growingwisely.com/2012/05/22/the-cartographer-at-work/ He's always been a unique kid. Here are a few things that stand out: Numerous sensory issues--from sensory-seeking behaviors like running and banging into people, to wearing only soft, loose clothing (for a whole year he wore nothing but nightshirts--that is, adult size t-shirts--and boxer shorts in the house; he would put on regular clothes when we were going somewhere, but change back the moment we got home). He is also my picky eater, and I think that is also sensory. He talks differently than most people. I've never quite been able to describe what he does; it seemed when he was learning to talk that it took a lot of effort (mental effort) for him to talk. He used to have a very sing-song tone to his speech, though that has lessened over time. I still get the feeling that expressing himself in words takes effort--often there will be pauses between words, as. if. there. were. periods. in. between. He has a few articulation issues as well, which we are finally getting speech therapy for. We have had mixed success with social situation. Generally he gets along well at home playing with his siblings. He will play with other children, but so far my attempts to help him build friendships with other boys have fallen flat, he just doesn't seem to connect. At church he almost always needed a parent at his side until the last year and a half. I was primary chorister when he was in sunbeams and he used to hold on to my leg or lie on the floor behind me. There are times when he just withdraws and won't interact--my interpretation is that withdrawal happens when he is not sure of himself in a social situation, not sure of expectations of that he can meet expectations. We run into this a lot with music lessons--he is very musical, and has actually made a lot of progress this year on both cello and piano--but we spend about half of each lesson just trying to get him to play something--anything--for his teacher (who has the patience of a saint!). At home he does all of his practice on his own because the more involved I am the less he will do. It's as if any outside direction or expectations overwhelm him, whatever he does has to be internally motivated and directed. We run into similar issues with school; when he latches on to something (like the map drawing in the blog post above) he really runs with it, but he doesn't accept a lot of external direction or instruction. For example, I can schedule math and tell him it is time to work on it, but he balks if I try to assign particular problems or directly teach him a lesson (fortunately math is pretty intuitive for him or we would be in real trouble.) He has also been refusing to say group prayers or to read during family scriptures--even though he reads well and will sometimes sit down and read a picture book to the younger children (so it's not a problem with reading aloud in general). I really haven't figured out what is holding him back there, except maybe a general anxiety. We've also been having a lot of meltdowns lately--something upsets him and he goes off into long bouts of loud, wailing crying. Which upsets my husband. Which is the main reason I'm wondering seriously about whether we need an evaluation and a possible diagnosis of some kind. Only figuring all of this out seems impossibly complicated and I don't even know where to start. It has taken me several years just to figure out how to get speech therapy started. sigh. So does any of this sound familiar? What do those of you with experience think--is this just as somewhat quirky but more or less normal kid, or??? Thanks for listening. I may delete this post eventually as it is more information than I normally share about my children. --Sarah

Make sure you rinse it well first. Quinoa has a saponin (soap-like) layer on the outside that makes the grain somewhat bitter and hard to digest. I find it best to soak the grain for 20 minutes or more, then rinse, but you can just rinse and cook.

We tried different CD's, but what finally stuck was making up our own songs and singing them for memory work.

We have short schedule days and long schedule days. Short schedule is devotional, memory work, music, and math, long schedule is those things plus language arts and a morning loop and afternoon loop that we fit everything else into. Morning loop is 6 different subjects, I think afternoon loop is 8--but they're mostly things that don't take us more than 10 minutes to do. We get through each loop in a week or a little more than a week. Short schedule is for days when we have outside activities, or for times when we are sick etc.

I have enjoyed exploring this map of North American dialect and accent variations. I had the privilege years ago of taking a graduate seminar from the Welsh poet Leslie Norris, and I loved listening to his voice as he talked and read. Here's a sampling. I wish I could read and speak like him.

Grid paper, with grids large enough to write in easily.

Hm, we have a home that we used to live in but rented out when we moved to another state. It is managed by a realtor's office that manages lots of rentals, and their relationship both with us and with our tenants has always been very professional. We have had 3 sets of tenants over the course of 9 years. When a repair is needed the tenant tells the management company, who then contact us to authorize the expenditure. The cost is then deducted from our account (what that usually means is that we get less money in the next check, although if there were a larger repair we might have to pay up front). The house was brand new when we bought it and it has only recently passed the 10 year mark, so necessary repairs have been relatively minor. This office has a website where they list properties for rent that they are managing. Maybe you could find something similar? I would think a company that is managing lots of rentals for other people would have to maintain professional standards. Best of luck to you! We were both landlords and renters for years when we lived in California as we could not afford to buy a home there but were renting out our home in another state. I found I preferred working with a management company as a renter as well--when we lived in an apartment where the owner was responsible for maintenance there was a lot more hassle and stress than when a management company was in charge.

Regarding the question of finding new doctors etc. I have relied heavily on the local homeschool network. Other potential resources are people at church or coworkers, neighbors, school teachers, whoever you come in contact with in your daily life. Sometimes a company will help with relocation costs. If not, I highly recommend deep purging and moving only the essentials.

Breaking the work into small chunks and offering incentives for the completion of each chunk helps around here. Pay a penny for each math problem completed, for example, or a mini marshmallow, or whatever works for your child. I believe in incentives to help kids over the "this is hard" hump.

Congratulations! Thanks for the update, he is beautiful.

We aim for Monday night around here, but if it doesn't happen we just keep trying on subsequent evenings. My husband leaves at 4:30 every morning for work, so he is up really early and often comes home and crashes (naps) after work. Since we need him awake for FHE, when it happens largely depends on how tired he is on a particular day. We sometimes use the FHE manual, more often come up with our own lessons. When we had only small children we really enjoyed using the nursery manual. We have also used the Gospel Principles manual, which is a nice way to cover basic doctrines. Sometimes we don't have a formal lesson, just play games or do something fun together. Recently dh decided to do a series of FHE's focused on learning household skills (like how to load the dishwasher). There are also a bunch of FHE ideas on the sugardoodle website. This is really an area where each family should do what is best for them. I see Family Home Evening as a time to teach the gospel, share testimonies, and especially strengthen family bonds. What that will look like will vary from family to family as well as with different seasons of life.

I always feel embarrassed when someone comes to my door unannounced because the house is always a mess. I do appreciate them thinking of me, and I will invite them in, but I'm always apologetic and wish I didn't feel that way. Of course, I really wish that the house wasn't a mess :D Praying for you that the fear can be lifted and you can be enveloped in God's love.

Hm, don't know if this is what you want but I found Dr. Jane Healy's book Your Child's Growing Mind very enlightening when I was just starting out. Lots of good stuff in there about how kids learn.

My 5 year old enjoys doing the sheets. Just follow her lead, you'll know if it starts getting to be too much for her.

DH likes his personal space when sleeping--it was actually really funny when we were first married because I kept rolling over to snuggle by him and he kept rolling away until he was barely clinging to the edge of the bed. These days he gets his own bed and I get babies to snuggle with.

I would also check with the ward clerk or records clerk to make sure he is on the wards records properly. That is strange that he is not making it onto the primary lists. I would not be happy about the primary leaders/teachers losing track of him and letting him wander the halls either--someone needs to be paying close attention to those little kids. A couple of weeks ago as we were pulling out of the church parking lot my husband saw a little boy--maybe 3 or 4--run out the door of the church and down the sidewalk all by himself. There were no adults in sight, so dh went and retrieved him and took him to the primary room. One of the teachers (from the other ward) saw him and said "oh, we were looking for you!" so dh left him there. I don't think any of us should just be relying on these little kids to keep track of themselves during church.

Do any of you have experience with a child who is reluctant to pray in public--even in a family prayer? My ds 7 refuses to pray; I've just let it go until now but he is getting to an age when other children think it is odd and I'd like to help him overcome whatever his anxiety is. I should start by teaching a family home evening lesson on prayer, I guess, make sure he is comfortable with the formats and general procedure. He should be--we say enough prayers around here! but maybe he needs things spelled out more explicitly. Any other experiences or suggestions?

I'll be thinking of and praying for you too. The shock of an accident can have repercussions for a long time--both physical and psychological. I've experienced walking away from an accident thinking I was OK only to have accident-related issues for a long time afterwards.

It's a staple around here as well. We eat it on whole-wheat bread, and I don't think it's any worse than, say, toast with butter and jam or honey. Don't think it's worse than sweetened breakfast cereals either, and way better than something like pop tarts...

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