My daughter has something similar to dyslexia and has struggled with writing all along. We have done a variety of curriculum and she has definitely improved but she will always struggle with a lot of output and smooth flowing writing. She is now a Senior and really wants to learn how to do research papers in case she needs them for the future. She gets less frustrated if it is laid out step-by-step and she can do it on her own for the most part without me in the middle. We want something that takes you from deciding on a topic, to research and organize it, to citation (it would be nice to practice MLA and APA maybe), etc. It looks like IEW's Research Paper may do that - will it or is there something better out there? Thanks so much!

I really, really liked BJU consumer math but with a couple caveats: - they used a lot of formulas such as interest etc and had continuous review of them throughout the book (which was great) but the formulas were never listed in one location and are definitely complicated enough that you would never memorize them all. After getting into the book for a little while we started writing them on a separate sheet and that really helped. - Some of the lessons had a ridiculous amount of problems. 15 problems of the same easy step over and over or towards the end having to do 10 different tax returns in one lesson. You just need to be comfortable saying 3 of those or 2 of those. Loved the overall topics and presentation, the review of lots of basic math, and layout (except for the lack of one spot the formulas are listed). We did the Dave Ramsey (personal finance wisdom) at the same time and plan on doing economics (the laws of economics and the whole government policy) and accounting (business end of things) next year. They all cover different things but for a child who is interested in entrepreneurship I think the combo is important and not too repetitive.

Have you all seen this great clip about millennial proposals?

We love Mavuno Village, a family style orphanage in Tanzania (we have personal connections): http://mavunovillage.org

Thank you for all of your great thoughts. I just checked back today so will read through all of your comments again and think them through!

I'm feeling a little frustrated what to encourage me college dd to do about some ongoing health problems. These are some of they symptoms we've talked about recently, there could be more. milk - always feels bloated and crampy after drinking antibiotics - sick to her stomach, pain and nausea sugar - can't sleep (even if early in the day). This is essentially any sugar although I know she does a fair bit of honey and seems to do better wheat - bloated, sick to her stomach cats and dust - sour throat, runny eyes She was tested for allergies several years ago and they showed up negative, insurance isn't thrilled about retesting even though symptoms have worsened so we would probably have to pay cash. This could easily have something to do with the whole gut health. She went on probiotics at one point and her severe acne almost disappeared. But she has recently gone through some of the cleansing diets that are supposed to kill off the bad and help with the good for most of the last year - good probiotics, no sugar or yeast, etc. - and it has made no impact except not as many tummy aches while she was on it. But boy was it expensive and hard for her to lead a normal life (hang out with friends and all). She has been tested for psyliac and it came up negative. A few years ago we saw a slightly wacko naturopath who tried a few supplements and then started wanting us to eliminate all electrical waves in our house because of the headaches she was having, that was our last time seeing her. Do I encourage her to see a good nutritionist, insist on allergy testing even if we have to pay, find another balanced naturopath (how do I find one without wasting a ton), or what? She is very busy and little money but this is really affecting her life. Thanks for any advice.

If they are Christians I back the Christian medical share plans. We use Samaritans and love it.

Do send out a letter if it is to people that might support the project your daughter is planning on doing. This can be their way of contributing to needy people, they will just do this through your daughter.

My son totally used NewEgg. Felt they were considered the best in the industry for quality and price.

Learning responsibility and how your decisions affect your life are some of the most valuable things my kids can learn. My kids knew early on that we think college debt is unhealthy and we had minimal finances to help them. They started working summers in high school, saved every penny and knew their grades mattered. My oldest 2 are making it through college without loans because of their savings, work during college, and some scholarships (nothing incredible). I think they are so much more employable than so many kids that drift through college with no money concerns.

Koine Greek is Biblical Greek. If that is her goal I would highly recommend Elementary Greek. Easy to self teach and go at own pace.

FFHM has orphanages in the Mexico (Baja, Oaxaco, and someplace else). They also work with the migrant workers, have food kitchens, etc. They depend on US and Canadian volunteers to come down for a week and do basic labor (and occasionally hold a baby). They have decent dorm facilities, you eat meals with the kids, and they have done this enough that all the details are fairly laid out for you. In the Baja, the field workers are mainly from Oaxaca and live in very destitute situations. It has been a great eye opener for my kids and has really opened their hearts to the struggles of those around the world.

Someone mentioned Glacier - very amazing place - but the main road across is usually not open until the middle of June.

Do you have anybody techy who can set it up so you can watch it? If you and your family can watch the service you might like that connection.

Just got a call from a lady in our church who is coming out of a very abusive marriage. She is working so hard to provide a home for her daughter so just took a 2nd job at Shopko. She is required to work Thanksgiving and has no place for her daughter (not too many babysitters or daycares for that day!). Someone in our church will take her in but it just reinforces my no-shopping-on-holidays desire.

No shopping on holidays for me (and I'm odd enough to include Sundays) 1. The loss of family time, family structure. I work with the poor and struggling all the time. The loss of family meal times, days off like Sunday as a family, and of course the holidays have really affected their family units. I would venture to say that many I have worked with have experienced divorce and family splits because of the loss of concentrated family time together over the years. 2. Consumerism. Is it really helping us all to disappear or overshadow a day of thanks by time spent buying more and more? And yes, there are necessary jobs and always have been but when we can keep those balanced (trading off holidays worked, etc.) it benefits the family as a whole and therefore society as a whole

I've seen people skype funerals. This could honor your dh's wishes without taking days out of her schedule.

Sonlight's is getting a lot more active recently.

Ours is $25.

What an amazing lady!

I've also somewhat avoided lifepac but these may work great after looking them over. Thanks!

Maybe Breaking the Barrier has improved but I found with my older daughter there were some definite intuitive jumps that they wanted her to make. She is a great student and struggled with what they wanted and what some of the answers were.

My daughter has some processing issues and visual memory issues that comes out similar to dyslexia. She has done Getting started with Spanish which has been fine. I am now looking for a level 1 Spanish to start over with that is very straight forward. Everything must be clearly taught, reviewed frequently. Absolutely no intuitive jumps! She does much better with a workbook layout although I understand there should be some oral with a foreign language. Any suggestions (would prefer cheaper of course)? Added: our goal is to introduce her to a foreign language, stretch her brain a bit, etc. I don't picture this being a major part of her life!

Just saw one this afternoon in my hometown for $20,000 for their dog's surgeries.

We liked the idea of the Franklin but found most of the words my daughter wanted weren't in there or it didn't understand her phonetic spelling (and yes it was usually phonetic, I would check).