Yes, I have had something similar with my MIL. When one of our boys wasn't walking yet, she said if we were to put him into daycare, he would start walking and talking quicker. She says that is what my sister in law did with her daughter and she just started talking and walking right away. When asked how old said neice was, she said about a year. Ummmm....don't most children start walking around a year old anyway! C'mon people, think! Story update: My son ended up having cerebral palsy and wouldn't have started walking if he was in daycare anyway. In the meantime, I feel like a bad mom because I don't put my kids in daycare. I choose to be a stay-at-home mom! :tongue_smilie:

For What It's Worth... 1. I am an ENTJ/P, melancholy/choleric! 2. As you can tell from #1, I enjoy learning about different personalities and how they function together! 3. I am the oldest of 6 children, and there are 16 years between me and my youngest brother. There are three girls and three boys! 4. I prayed for twins, and God answered my prayer! 5. I am part Hispanic; although, one of my twins tans more than I do. I burn! 6. I feel compassion for people who have messed up eyes. I don’t know what that says about me, but there you go! My sister laughs at me all the time, esp. when I am moved to tears by the employee in a McDonald’s drive thru who has crossed eyes. I couldn’t even talk! I think it’s God’s compassion! 7. One of my FAVORITE pastimes is laughing! I love to laugh. One of the most valuable lessons I am trying to teach my boys is to be able to laugh at themselves! 8. One of my favorite Scripture is “Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are acheiving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Cor. 4:16-18 9. I am an aspiring writer! I have been published, but I still don’t feel like a genuine author. 10. When I was little, I wanted to marry John Boy from the Waltons, Elvis Presley and Donny Osmond! Ha! – not at the same time, of course!

:iagree: I use this recipe, too! It does work great! So easy and so yummy!

I used to only read non-fiction books, and I've only written non-fiction; however, recently, I have begun to dip into the fiction genre through Karen Kingsbury novels. And...I feel like God has given me a message, but I am wondering if it would be a message best told through a fictional setting!

:iagree::iagree::iagree:Love it! Yes, I want to try this also!

Thanks, Everyone! I officially feel "normal"! I really think there is a dynamic to mothers interacting with their sons. He is such a sweetheart and loves on his younger siblings so tenderly, but my gosh we can butt heads and go in circular thinking/reasoning for quite a while before I wake up and smell the coffee: I AM THE MOM!!!! He is highly intelligent, and I think that is part of his "problem" -- if you want to call it that. And he has ADHD but not on meds! We didn't have insurance for awhile and so we couldn't afford the meds. PLUS....get this, he would FORGET to take the pills or he would forget where he put them last. If that isn't a case of ADD, I don't know what is?

I'm in tears today!!! Need encouragement and for someone to make me feel normal! LOL!!! I have a 13-year-old son who I butt heads with! I am constantly telling him to sit down, stop talking, stop interrupting, do your work, etc. He's 13 for goodness sake! NOT FUN!!!!

I really like "Hearts for Him Homeschool!" That kind of says it all, doesn't it?! Did your kids have any say in the matter?

Have you experienced cliques in your homeschool journey?

:lol::lol::lol: I was afraid of letting my boys have TOO much say in nameing our homeschool. For now, we will stick with Kairos Academy. If, in the future when they are a little more mature, I might let them have a say.

We call our school Kairos Academy! Kairos means "when heaven intersects earth"..."the appointed time in the purposes of God!" That's how we SPEND our TIME--pursuing the purposes of God! What about you? What do you call your homeschool?:001_smile:

My boys and I are starting school tomorrow. YAY!!! We are studying Ancient Greece (TruthQuest) and Latin and Greek Roots. We will be watching "Drive Thru History: Greece." I have a couple questions: 1. Do any of you have any ideas for Greek food besides gyros? 2. Do any of you have any good timeline recommendations while we are studying history in general? How do you do your timeline? Thanks! Julie :bigear:

JVA It looks like "The Squire and the Scroll" is a little young for my boys who will be turning 13 in October. Thank you for your input however!

Thanks for the ideas! For those of you who have something at the church, do you invite all the men at the church or just those who have had some sort of impact on your sons?

Thanks everyone! I will have to check out those links you sent Margaret in CO. We can't wait to get out there! We are in the process of getting our house ready to put on the market. It's difficult with four boys, three of whom are home all day long. How difficult is it to homeschool in CO? What does the state require? Looking forward to hearing from more people in Colorado Springs!

I am currently homeschooling in NE, but we are looking to move to Colorado Springs in the next 6-9 months. I was wondering if anyone on this board is from that area and could tell me what the homeschool climate is like. Are there any support groups? If so, what are they like? Do they have lots of activities? Thanks! Julie:001_smile:

How much unstructured time do you give your kids? What do your kids end up doing with that free time? I have twin boys (almost 13) whom I homeschool. I feel like they are bored a lot. We took the entire month of August as a computer and Wii free month. It seems like all they do is ask for friends to come over or for them to go to a friend's house. I think I have a HUGE "guilt" button on my back that gets pushed all the time--not by them, but by my inner meanie! She's always saying that I'm not doing enough for them. We will start school officially on Monday, August 15, but I want to know how much free time I should schedule into their day. In addition to regular school classes, they are involved in taekwondo and youth group. They might be joining boy scouts. I don't want to schedule every minute for them, but how much is too much and how much is not enough?:confused::confused::confused:

My twins will be turning 13 in October, and we were wanting to do some kind of ceremony as a rite of passage into manhood. Now, before you all shoot me down, have any of you read "Raising a Modern-Day Knight"? My parents gave me and each of my siblings a purity ring. It was a symbol of our devotion to God and remaining pure until we were married -- and even afterwards for that matter. That phrase has always bugged me: "Stay pure until you are married!" What does that mean? You aren't pure after you get married? But I digress...... Anyway, have any of you done any sort of rite of passage into manhood for their boys? I really want to set the bar of expectations high and to call them UP in their journey toward manhood. I want it to be memorable and to be a stake in the ground so to speak for them. One in which they can look back and remember the prayers said, the encouraging words and the love shown them by their father and other men in their lives. I think turning 13 is such a pivotal age in a boy's life! Julie

Someone gave us a couple boxes of Gain laundry soap. I was so appreciative, but it made me realize just how much I dislike powder detergent, even though that is typically the cheaper choice. With that being said, before I received the powder detergent, I was making my own and loved it!!!:001_smile: If I can at all help it, I will not go back to buying laundry detergent. The only thing I miss is the scent; however, I know I can add my own. I just haven't in the past. I really would like to find a recipe for making my own dishwasher detergent as well. I haven't looked very hard, but I heard they are out there.

I'm not as smart as you think I is! :001_smile: What is KWIM?

Thank you, thank you, thank you! This website is exactly what I was hoping for. Thanks, Jen.

AprilMay, Too funny! Yes, I knew somewhere, someone would finish that quote. I have four boys, does it show?! Ha! Thanks for the laugh though! :lol:

I need something that talks to me like I'm a 1st grader. Do I soak the lima beans first? Do I simply plant them in a pot with potting soil and put them on the window sill? It's been a long time since I've done this experiment! I need a simple, straightforward approach. Thanks for that website though. If I don't get anymore responses, I just might adapt that one and wing it. :001_smile:

We are going to be studying Latin and Greek Roots this year. The first word we will be studying is "photos" meaning "light." One of our English words we derive from that Latin word is "phototropic" meaning "turning toward the light." I would like to do a little hands-on demonstration for my boys to fully understand what this word means. Does anyone have any step-by-step directions on how to show phototropism with a lima bean? :001_unsure: Thanks!

I have a Rod and Staff set of grammar books that I started using last year and haven't finished yet. What did you finally decide to do with R & S. Obviously, by the sheer number of replies you have gotten regarding the dissenters, there are a number of people who really HATE it. What do you think? Julie:confused: