I don't normally do things like this but we need all the prayer we can get right now. We are a one income family currently and my hubby came home today and told me that he was fired effective immediately. Please pray that he gets a wonderful new job and fast. Thank you!

:iagree: This is how things are done here...once kids get older, usually the 'shelf' expands more. :-)

:lol: Love this!

Have you talked to the algebra teacher in your local school? They might be able to help. I know the math teachers a York Central are very helpful with things...you could probably get some advice from them even if they aren't your district. :-) They were very helpful when I was young and took the algebra test at the end of Aug without going through their summer school program like everyone else. The algebra teacher even came on her own time to my house one day soon before the test to go over what topics the test would cover so I would be fully prepared. They just love kids that love math and want to do anything they can to help. You may find the teachers are like that at your local school and they would know better than anyone how to work the system.

Something that's fun, easy, and helps is doing hand exercises to stregthen the hand muscles. Learning to write well gets a whole lot easier when the muscles are already strong. At the end of the day (so his hand isn't too tired for other things you do during the day), have him open and close a clip (like a chip bag clip) as many times as he can in one minute. At first it will be hard, but tell him to try his best. The race of it seems to excite kids as does graphing the progress that is made by marking how many times they could do it each day (which also teaches them graphing skills). They think it's fun and love to see themselves get better at something. They usually don't even notice that their stronger muscles are making writing easier. :-) Maybe it could help his hands catch up to his brain. Good luck!

My husband works in Des Moines so we live close by. :-) And no, we are not in a group.

You should check out Apologia. My science-advanced daughter was so happy when I found these books because it gave her real info instead of dumbed down stuff and she thinks the journals that go with the books are fun. I like that it has great experiments that are super easy to do with mostly stuff I already have on hand and the journal lays everything out for me so I don't have to plan at all....just pick up and do. :-)

Fiber helps push things through your system faster. That keeps your colon healthier as well as giving things a little less time to be absorbed.

For us, it depends on what it is. A scrunchi is an elastic band with a bunch of fabric all around it, a hair band is the little rubber bands we use on the baby's hair to make her pony tails since her hair is so thin, a ponytail holder is a regular elastic band, a hair tie is an elastic band that has bows attached to it, and hair 'stuff' is all the other little decorations that the girls like to put into their hair. :-P Oh, and we also have hair clips, flower clips, hair pins, barrettes, and headbands. There is way too many things for the hair in this house! Drives me nuts sometimes! :-D

I believe you have to call them to book a dog usually so you could ask them what they want you to do about the baby, but other than that, I would just put any date that is around now. I doubt they will be checking up on that anyways. :-P

I had big problems with my university about this. I was married with kids and they still insisted on having my parents information. It's so stupid.

The kids I were working with had a parental income of below $30,000. That's what I was calling dirt poor. I never did check for other incomes since I wasn't working with kids with higher incomes. These kids were over the moon about the aid though (and so was I). :-D They really deserved something good in their life for a change.

If you are 'poor enough', you can often get extremely good grants from an Ivy school because of how many donors they have. I've seen kids shocked to learn it would be more expensive for them to go to a community college than an Ivy....but yet again, they were dirt poor.

Sadly, this is becoming the norm at schools across the whole country. I've seen these same things personally at 5 different colleges, but I've heard stories of the same from many, many more places. It breaks my heart because I love higher education so much...what what we have now is simply NOT higher education for the most part.

I have not read the replies to this post, but as someone very close to the college community, I'd say it's because of many things. The cost of going to college is rising at a ridiculous rate. If you haven't been paying attention, you should really check out the numbers because they are horrifying. Also, many colleges are caring less and less about their students. They are more of a number than a person and all they care about usually is that they are getting paid and they seem to do anything to get more money from you. I know of one university that started stamping the year on the books they were selling and telling students that they had to have the right stamp on their book for class (they couldn't buy used books)...though I think they ended up getting in trouble for this. There have been many cases in courts about banks and colleges having deals together where the college will try to trick students into a not-so-great loans with the bank and get a payoff. Many colleges have ended up having to send students a check for tricking them this way. Also, the level of teaching in many classes has greatly decreased so that many courses do not reach the depth that the students that want to have college level courses would desire until much higher up. And, of course, all the classes that are high school level are required so that if you want to go deeper, you have to waste a few years and tons of money to be allowed to take them. Also, many classes that are higher up are very hard to get into because the college only offers one class for one semester each year so everyone that needs that class is trying to get into it, which has caused many students that I know to have to stay at college an extra year (even more money spent). And then there is the fact that the majority of students are just going to college because that is what they are supposed to do so they don't care and mess around, not doing homework or projects, and yet they still pass usually. Since so many students are doing the same, the teacher puts everything on a curve so that almost no one fails. The kids that are working their butts off are shaking their heads realizing they worked so hard to get a 96, got an extra half a point from the curve, but are considered pretty much the same (they both passed and graduated) as the student that did nothing and got 14 extra points from the curve so that they were now passing. Also, they often have to work in a group with those students that don't do the work, so they are left trying to do everything so their grades don't suffer. Even worse, there is rampant cheating going on. I once observed a class that was taking a final (I was in the back and they didn't know I was there) where the teacher had stepped out for a phone call and one student grabbed another students test and was quickly copying answers while yet another student prevented the girl from getting her paper back. She was crying when the teacher came back in, but when the teacher asked her what was wrong, she said nothing. He was very mad when I privately filled him in, but what if I had not been there? To sum up, college costs more, you get less, and you get mistreated while doing it. Obviously, this is not everyone's experience and college can still be very useful, but when so many people are getting this experience and hating it more and more often, they tell other people and soon people don't like the sound of going to college as much as doing something 'more useful' with their time. Also, sorry this is so long. I find this topic very interesting and could practically write a book about it. :-)

Oh yes, people seem to think that the name is very unusual. lol I even have family members that still spell it wrong. It's even worse with my middle name Anna (On-ah). I just tell them that it is Hebrew and that seems to get me a quick nod and change of subject from most people. Are they scared of Jewish things? :-P I think the name is quite beautiful myself and, unlike other children, I never wanted to change it. I am always excited to share the joy of having the name Rebekah when I find someone else with the name....though people have often considered me weird for that. ;-)

Wow...that's really sad. :-( At least you could help. I'd also like to say that you have the same name as me, spelled the same way, and it makes me happy because that doesn't happen often to me. :-) Sorry for the randomness of that comment, but I felt I couldn't not say it at some point to you.

This does not mean that they didn't know how to write a thesis...I run into many times when the people were taught how to write a thesis but used other words for it instead of thesis.

If she did want to go to college for her interests, I would think she would go for business/restaurant management. She could learn the best ways to run a business/restaurant, accounting things, the best ways to advertise, how to write a business plan, and all other aspects of running a successful business. Also, the college would probably help her make business connections with others. It is not necessary to get that degree for doing what she wants to do, but it can often be helpful for dealing with other people or for running her business without have to learn so many things 'the hard way' or paying someone else to do it. Many people go to college for this so I don't think it'd be too hard to find somewhere to do that major...your local community college may even offer it. I know my friend just finished up her hotel management degree at a community college. Sorry if this is a repeat answer because I didn't read what others had posted. I wish her good luck in whatever she chooses...neither of which will be a dumb choice because she has a plan and is working towards it, which makes her smart in my book! :-)

Have you checked out the free area of craigslist? I have seen tables being given away for free there. There may also be free things there that you could make a long skinny table out of. Just make sure not to do anything special to it so you can quickly get rid of it when you no longer need it without DH having any attachment to it. :-P Also, There may be church groups or other groups that having something they could give you or at least let you borrow. We have a place in my area that has a warehouse you can go 'shop' in for free stuff that people have donated to them. Mostly homeless and refugees go there, but they let anyone come that has any need. It's like going to Goodwill only you don't pay anything and the building isn't as pretty. Or maybe you have a friend/relative that would be willing to temporarily trade your table for theirs if they have something that would work better for you right now?

I had my last at 21 and I would be willing to have another baby at any time, though I am often doubtful that I will ever have another one. If I did have another baby, I would make sure to have two more so they can be friends instead of being all alone since their sisters would be a good bit older than them. We have been thinking of maybe adopting at some point. :-)

In public school, I remember that the teachers rarely got all the way through the textbooks....not that I think the public schools should be an example of good work, but if your child is actually learning what you cover, I'm sure they will be doing much better than most get in public school. So maybe relax and just learn what you are working on in that momment and just keep working through it no matter if it has to be continued for the next school year.

Also, she could look into finding a job that is willing to pay for her to go to college part-time so that she could further advance in the field...if she is interested in that. I have a few friends that done that and are very pleased with the results.

For most people, college is an elaborate scam where people charge you thousands of dollars for a peice of paper. Then after, you get a real job where you have to learn the things to do that job there anyways. For a few careers, it is important, but for most, it's a waste of time. I can tell you that out of all my pre-med courses that I took, only one was useful for med-school. I wish that middle step could be skipped. I think the apprenticeships should come back into style...but I doubt they will.

I've used a clip to help with motor skills. It doesn't seem like something that would help, but it actually builds hand muscles, which is very helpful with the kids I've used it for. I just took a clip like you'd stick on a bag of chips and told them to open and close it as many times as they could for a minute each day. Make sure the clip is challenging, and if need be, they can hold it with two hands to open and close it. Kids think this is fun and like to chart their progress of how many times a minute they open and close it. They can set goals to pass and sometimes I have to remind them to open and close it all the way instead of half-way. As they get better at it, writing starts to be a bit easier it seems. You still have to work at them knowing how to write the letters, but the muscles are more cooperative.