I haven't used MCT so I can't speak to that, but FLL/WWE work really well for writing-phobic kids. FLL can be done mostly orally. WWE has been very beneficial for ds's reading comprehension. I have been amazed with how far he has come in dictation, being able to answer questions after reading an excerpt, and narrations.

Hulu plus has them all. Not sure about regular Hulu.

My great-grandmother lived to be 96. She lived independently until about 93. She had one of the sharpest minds and memories of anyone I have known. She wrote letters to people regularly and remembered the birthdays of all of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. We all got a card from her every year. My great-aunt lived to be 92. She retired from her job as a bookkeeper for a collections agency 6 months before she died. She would complain from time to time about the "boy" she worked for. He was 62 :). She was busy from the time she got up until the time she went to bed. Up until the few years before she died, she came and cleaned her nephew's house each week. One of the reasons his first wife gave for leaving him was because he was messy so my aunt was convinced that she was keeping her nephew's second marriage together by cleaning their home. It took them quite a while to convince her this wasn't necessary (she was very stubborn). My maternal grandmother lives on her own. She is in her early 80s. She keeps busy at her church and loves helping out with her great-grandchildren. She gets more tired of late, but she is the kind of person who is always looking to help wherever she is, and she is still able to help a good bit. Dh's grandmother does not live on her own now in her 90s but she did for quite some time. She still reads a book a week and does crossword and logic puzzles all the time.

I use it for dd11. She needs a spiral program though. The spiral aspect boosts her confidence. She gets discouraged with a bunch of new stuff all the same time. I tried it with ds when he was in first. After about 4 months, he started hating math. I asked him why and he said he already knew all of it. The spiral aspect was driving him nuts. We switched him to MM, and he is back to my math-loving guy. Horizons has been working well for dd up until a few weeks ago. They rushed (IMO) through multiplication and division of fractions, and she just didn't get it. We took some time out and went through the MM chapter. It really clicked with her. I think from now on, we will use MM to introduce new topics and use Horizons for that review she needs.

Henry V with Kenneth Branagh is on streaming.

There's actually a week in WWS where the assignment is to describe a volcanic eruption. I bet your dd would do a great job with it!

I did 3 in third and then we went straight to 5 in fourth. It wasn't too much work for us. We are focusing more on Latin this year in fifth so we are reviewing with KISS. I haven't decided if we will do Shurley 7 next year for sixth or if we will continue with KISS. I like the way Shurley teaches the concepts but when I presented dd with real-life sentences, the concepts weren't sticking. KiSS really helps cement the concepts. I might do them concurrently to make sure stuff is sticking.

I haven't, but we were at a restaurant once and MIL pulled a stick of butter out of her purse to use on the rolls. When we all looked shocked, she explained that they use some margarine type product at that particular place and she preferred butter, lol. Oh, my mom also carries tea bags with her at all times. She's a little obsessed- with regular drinking tea, people. She's my mom, and I'm not going there with the board metaphor!

I would put her in WWE 3. The dictation in 4 is supposed to be really challenging. I think WWE 3 will be fine to prepare her for narrations if you want to do WWS right after that.

Since we don't know what the other "off" comments were, it's hard to tell if he's creepy or socially awkward. The important thing is that the OP feels uncomfortable though. Just from the description of events, it wouldn't bother *me*, but I think this is one of those situations where you have to be there to judge properly. I just wouldn't answer the text. If he keeps texting or shows up unannounced then obviously the situation needs to be addressed by your dh.

Ds is a lefty, and the jury is still out on dd2. For ds, I googled left handed pencil holding to make sure he had a proper grip. I taught letter formation just like I did for dd who is a righty. I hope that was ok- he has fairly decent penmanship now. The thing he needed was lots of practice on was doing circles counterclockwise. He always wanted to go the other way. As far as scissors go, I've read different things about whether true left handed scissors are necessary or not. I will say that ds was a horrendous cutter until I got him real left handed scissors this year. I was amazed at the difference in his cutting ability. Previously he had used scissors that say they are for lefties and righties. They really didn't work for him.

This person has played a trump card. There is nothing you can say that will convince this person of the truth. I would be very blunt and tell him/her that the two of you will never see eye to eye about this, and there is no way to resolve it so stop bringing it up. If this person gets belligerent, I would be tempted to remind said person that the devil can disguise himself as an angel of light and since this person has been told a lie by a spiritual being, he/she might want to seriously examine the true source of this revelation.

Is there something else going on with him? If your current place is that bad, it seems really weird that he doesn't want to move. Is he having problems with depression or anything else that would make him act Iike this? If he is fine and acting like this for no reason, I would bluntly tell him that you need to move to do your job. He can either help you look for a place, let you do it yourself, or you will have to quit your job. Ask him which option sounds best to him. I'm not a feisty person. As a matter of fact, confrontation makes me sick. But I would not stay in a home all day with my kids in the conditions you have described for no good reason. It is beyond selfish for him to make you and your kids live like that (maybe my issues with rodents are making me overreact here- I can't tell), and it looks like you are going to have to spell that out for him. ((Hugs))

Has she ever had her thyroid checked? I was just at the endocrinologist for mine, and she asked me if I ever had shaky hands. Apparently it's a sign of hyperthyroidism (over active thyroid).

The bolded is why I would encourage you to be totally honest with your therapist. You need someone who can give you an objective view about where you are in relation to harming yourself. If you cross the line, you might not have the mental wherewithal to realize it or to prevent a tragedy. Having a safeguard in this respect is just as important for your kids as the other things you are doing. I am so sorry you are having to walk this hard road. I will be praying for you.

I started in first grade with dd and ds, but I wish I had had the courage to wait. With dd I did Shurley Grammar and she did fine with it, but it took a chunk of time out of our day (not to mention the horrible year when I tried to follow their writing *shudder*). I wish I had just addressed grammar as it came up in copywork and dictation until about 3rd grade or so. I tried FLL with ds, and I can't stand it. I stopped it and just did grammar with him during copywork and dictation, but it turned out he loves grammar and asked for more. So I continued on with FLL and added in some Shurley. I will probably switch him to KISS next year in third. Dd is doing KISS now and her understanding of grammar has really grown over the school year even though we have only touched on concepts she is already familiar with.

I have thought many times over that people here would be horrified to see the inside of my pantry. I have Coke in there- multiple bottles and I won't give it up!!! I also have some boxes of Kraft Mac and cheese sitting on the shelf, and we have eaten pasta twice this week already. We are all at a healthy, and I do get lots of fruits and veggies, but we love our chips too. Actually this evening I was getting my daughter some goldfish when I noticed ds's open pencil sharpener was in the box. I didnt see any shavings in the box and I didnt know if the sharpener was clean or not. I have no idea why or how it got there (ok, I have a 2 yr old so I have some idea about how), and I was going to post to see if people thought I should throw out the box or not, but I didn't post bc I didn't want people to judge me about having goldfish in the pantry. Whew! Glad I got that off my chest!

My sister worked at CFA in high school. She never came home with gross food stories or complaints about how bad the management is. She loved working there and ate the food fairly regularly- which is more than I can say for my hs friends who worked in other fast food places. CFA is also the only place where I know I can order at the drive through and not have to check my order to make sure it's right before I leave. I have always had good service and great food there. I love that place!

Fortunately K can be done in an hour or two if need be, which is helpful if there are other little ones. Does your 4 month old take good naps? If so, I would try to get the bulk of school done during nap time. With the 3 year old, special toys that are only for school time can be good. My 2 1/2 dd loves to write or color in workbooks so she can feel included. Instituting room time for the 3 yr old can be helpful too. Play dough or any crafts that she can sit and do for a while will keep her attention. HTH! Welcome to the board!

So the $20 is a discounted rate since your dd will be there to help? Um, no. This whole thing seems really presumptuous and bossy to me. So far these people have assumed your dd would help for free, chosen a babysitter for your children, and assigned you an amount to pay the babysitter all without consulting you. This would seriously rub me the wrong way. Frankly, I wouldn't put my dd in this position. I've been the younger helper to a teenage babysitter before. Not only did I not get paid, I did most of the work. I am afraid your dd will be taken advantage of. Can she watch your littles at home if your dh is set on going? I would also be wary that agreeing to the babysitting arrangement will be setting a dangerous precedent. I think it's best to establish that you will be the one to arrange care for your children.

It's so wonderful when a little one responds to the call of the Lord! Praise God!

After using KISS this year, dd turned to me for the first time and said she feels like she is good at grammar. She always did pretty well with her grammar program, but it never seemed to translate into any other writing until we did KISS. I love it!!

This. I think you will bless others and be blessed yourself by accepting the offer. I would do it.

We are having a leg of lamb, broccoli and rice casserole, corn, crescent rolls, banana pudding, and lemon squares. Oh, and wine!

Sea turtles, sea snakes, and hermit crabs are all in Zoo 2. I think I remember something about frogs in Zoo 2 as well. We haven't done the other books so I'm not sure what's in them.