My two middle children seem to have some sort of genetic predisposition to be horrific spellers despite the many years of daily spelling workbooks. I have tried a number of spelling programs and I'm at the point where I need something truly awesome. I recently heard of a program called Spelling Mastery. If anyone has experience with this program I would be very interested in hearing how it works. I would also be interested in hearing about any programs that have worked for you, especially if your children have had spelling difficulties in the past. My kids are 10 and 12. Mild dyslexia as well as dysgraphia may be a concern. Thanks so much!

I wouldn't touch the flu shot with a 10 foot pole. The best thing for you to do would be to research the side effects vs. the benefits.

Dandruff can also be an allergy symptom so if you cure the cause you will also get rid of the symptom. It may also help with his Aspergers. My friends son has Aspergers and he is really helped by diet.

I do have one like that and I think you will have more sucess dealing with the root issue. Check out dianecraft.org we bought this: http://stores.diannecraft.org/Detail.bok?no=64 I will also add that TT did not work for my child because it asked him the same questions that any other math curriculum would (it just frustrated him). TT delivery method is different it is still the same old. The problems persisted until I worked on the drills seperately and now I am working through the processing issues with the brain integration therapy.

I have the same kid. I decided that the school timetable is not my son's timetable and until he mastered his math facts we are not going on with any curriculum. I think mathimatical concepts can be fairly quick to pick up once you have the foundation laid so we are laying the foundation. What we do is Xtra math everyday (it's free: xtramath.org) and Dreambox when he wants to.

There are heavy metals in a lot of foods. I don't think exposure is avoidable but if you take a couple Chlorella tablets a day (or a week- no need to be too neurotic about it) you will flush your system of arsenic, cadmium, lead etc...

I would also get it checked out but just as Chris in VA I had some similar episodes as a teenager when I had my period though nothing ever lasting that long. I also had low blood pressure. Still, do get it checked out fully.

I don't think I would induce. It is the baby that begins the labour and delivery process and I would be worried that bypassing that process and pumping my body full of synthetic hormones may have farther reaching effects that neither I, nor the medical profession understand. I am due in 12 days and the practice that I chose has 5 doctors that rotate so you just don't know who you will get (I am aiming for Thursday evening to Friday- the time that my doctor is on). The last delivery I had went really well and I didn't even know the doctor (it was the same practice). If your concern is not a competency issue I would just let what happens happen. If you have any reason to doubt the other midwife's skill then I would let the primary midwife know.

I would really see a naturopath on the side. It may not be the case, but all of your symptoms could point toward some sort of allergy/ intollerance or celiac. If a person is daily poisoning their body with what they eat their health will deteriorate. Likewise, if you are daily eating things that cause an immune response your immune system will not be able to cope with both the allergy and a legitimate immune need. If you were to read the many years of misdiagnosis some people with celiac have endured and the health crisis they have faced you would be appalled.

Thank-you for the review. I think I will have a look at SOS. It had never entered my mind as a possibility before now although I had heard about it and seen ads for it. Can you buy SOS for just Science or do you have to use it for everything?

:grouphug: When I was 2 years 9 mo. I had to pull my little sister out of an inground backyard pool. My mom left us in the backyard for just a minute and my earliest memory is watching my sister crawl off the blanket toward the pool and just keep on going right on into the pool. I remember being totally shocked that she didn't stop at the edge of the pool like a reasonable person and I ran to the edge of the pool and looked at her in the water. Panicked, I ran to the door screaming for my mom and rung the doorbell a number of times and then ran back to see my sister amazingly still floating and then ran back to the door again ringing the doorbell and screaming. Finally I ran back to the pool, lay on my stomach and pulled her out. It is amazing that she didn't pull me in with her (she was a butterball back then) and that she didn't sink like a brick. My mom only believed me when she saw the scrape marks on my sister's tummy from me pulling her out over the cement edge of the pool. All my screaming had also alerted a neighbour and he was halfway over the fence when I had pulled her out. To this day I would never buy a house with a pool. When we were house hunting we saw some houses with inground pools and I didn't even consider them because of this.

Anybody using Science Fusion? Love it? Hate it? It looks really great to me but I would have to go to great lengths to have it shipped to where I live. I want to know if it is really worth it. Is there anything similar that people are enjoying? Thanks in advance!

The BC Ferries (from Vancouver/ Tsawwassen to Victoria / Swartz Bay) lets out 5 minutes from Sidney and is a very nice trip compared to the Anacortes / Sidney ferry. The BC Ferry has a buffet (excellent), restaurant, snack bar, gift shop, store, arcade, lounge and many other ammenities and the trip is 1 hr 35 min. The Anacortes ferry takes 3 hours from Washington to Sidney and has one small snack bar and the chairs are not comfortable. I have seen Orcas from the BC ferries a number of times. Though if you are already on the Anacortes side it will be a bit of a trip around to get to the border and then over to Vancouver for the BC Ferry. Maybe you could take it one way and Anacortes the other way?

I highly recommend visiting Sidney! It is a town of bookstores and coffee shops with little boutiques thrown in here and there. I think that I can say with near certainty that there are an average of 2 coffee shops and 2 bookstores in every block (and a lot of them are second hand bookstores with old books if that turns your fancy). Just be sure to visit before 5:00 because nearly every store closes at that time except for the main bookstore and coffee shop (and the grocery stores and video store is open til 10:00). There is a neat B&B called the Beacon Inn ( http://www.thebeaconinn.com/ ) And for something more modern there is the Pier Hotel ( http://sidneypier.com/?gclid=CPWjkZz0sbICFYdxQgodVwIABg ) Also, the dining is really good and the beaches are everywhere. The town is only 7 blocks long and about a block deep on either side so there really isn't too much walking to get to where you want to go and Victoria is only a 20 minute drive away.

I remember when my preemie was in the Neonatal ICU and the nurses were talking about the parents that come in with smoke smell on their clothes and how it would cause the babies to have breating apneas and heart bradycardias (their heart rate would slow down often to the point of needing minor resuscitation). So not only did it affect these babies breating but also their heart rhythm.