I behave the opposite of my mother. She left when I was a teen-ager and we didn't know where she was for years. She had never been very supportive of me when I was young. We get along fine now, but I don't depend on her. I find myself over-compensating and making sure that the girls know how much I love them. I realize this may sound rude, but if you find yourself in an antagonistic situation with your kids, are you in a position to find a therapist to help you talk it out? Good luck with everything :grouphug:

I hire therapists to do things with my daughter and sometimes the timing is during a meal time. They typically brown bag it. If I ask them to take her to McDonalds, I have offered to pay their way, but they never accept my offer. (Actually, they usually pay her way as well as their own!). I can understand that budget cuts may have made things difficult. It's also possible that she's having some personal financial issues of her own. I'd sit down with her and ask her how outings and meals should be arranged so that it's fair all the way around. If Melissa asks for a special movie, it's probably on you to pay for her ticket as well. If you want to alternate buying groceries every other week, that sounds more than fair (and would be great to teach cooking skills). (Although if you do that, I would make a list of appropriate things to buy and set a budget). I don't think you should have to pay for her meals. As you said, she can get the food to go and eat it at the worker's home while she fixes herself a sandwich. Another thing is to see if local zoos, museums, etc have a yearly pass you can buy that would be free for both of them. I think looking for free/low-cost things to do is great (but really, she should be doing that). Good luck :)

We just moved into a new home last October and I'm still settling in and adjusting everything. We have a much roomier kitchen which I love. In the corner is a lazy susan type arrangement inside of a cabinet. On the top section, I have put all my spices. On the bottom section, I have all my oils, chocolate chips, powdered sugar, etc. The bottom section smells like rancid oil even though my oil isn't rancid. I'm not sure if it's always smelled like that or if its new. What type of air freshener can I put in there that won't affect my sugars? I'm scared to put a 'stick up' type freshener in there. Would something like cloves in an apple or orange work? The rest of my home smells like lavendar and vanilla if that matters.

I've looked over their site (and I'm not very good with navigating the internet at times) and I can't find information on pricing. What do their curriculum items usually cost? I'm trying to work out a budget for next year and it would help if I had some range to use in figuring things out.

My 7 yr old needs help in learning how to write. I'm looking for something to help her that I might also use with my 10 yr old. Should I start with Writing Strands 1 for both? Or should I start with #2? Or use different ones with both girls? Our DD10 does fairly well but the school has very little demands on writing so she is probably not doing as well as she should. DD7 tries to give one sentence summaries whenever possible. (One nice example is "Jesus got mad and wrecked the town" after reading about the money-changers). I'm not sure if it's because she dislikes writing (physically, it makes her hand hurt) or if she doesn't know how. Any suggestions?

Thanks for the replies. I'm going ahead and changing pharmacies (as much as I hate change). I have used the other pharmacy in a pinch and they have always been very nice and I know they want my business. (We have three kids with medical conditions so there are times where we have a LOT of prescriptions). Although I'm not completely positive about the numbers on the pill, I just googled what I think it was and it looks like a prescription for hydrocodone and some other mixture. :001_huh: While my daughter does have pain with her stomach, what she uses (hyomax) acts more like a muscle relaxer rather than pain relief. That's a scary mix-up. Interestingly, we've used this pharmacy in this town for three years and all the mistakes have been in the last six months. I have never (ever) had a problem with any pharmacy prior to just recently. I'll look into reporting it, but I'm not sure where?

I am a person who likes structure and routine. I use the same person to cut my hair, the same doctor, same dentist, etc. I love our pharmacy and we have a good relationship. They know me by name and there are times when we've had emergencies that they have literally thrown medicine off the shelf to the pharmacist who immediately filled it for me. However. I think they are careless. And careless pharmacies make me nervous. Some mistakes, I can understand. They gave me eye drops instead of an eye ointment. They gave me risperdol pills rather than liquid. Both of those were corrected with only minor aggravation. I have a daughter who takes hyomax (it resolves stomach cramps for IBS) and the pill is placed under her tongue. The first time we filled it, they gave her hyomax sulfate (I think is what it was). It tasted horrible and she had already had two doses by the time we realized it. I returned it and they gave me the right prescription. I had to refill the hyomax yesterday. After we were handed the pills, I asked my middle daughter to check them out for me (she also takes them for Celiac reactions). She told me the pills weren't the correct one. The pharmacist was very nice but assured us that it was the correct pill. He said he had double-checked it himself. When we were out in the car, my daughter told me again that it wasn't correct and asked if she could taste it to make sure it was okay before giving it to DD7. (It has a mint taste and is harmless). I took one from the bottle and tasted it myself and it didn't taste right. I looked at the bottle and it gave the pill description as H followed by PAC (or something like that). The pill in the bottle was a different shape and had a B and on the other side numbers (146 I think?). I went back inside and the pharmacist looked and said that it was the wrong medication. He filled it for me and showed me the bottle so that I could see it was the correct kind. My oldest daughter is non-verbal and I can't have medication that is wrong. She wouldn't be able to tell me. The only reason I hesitate is because we only have two pharmacies in town. This one is a chain and when I visit relatives and have problems, my doctor can call me something in wherever I am at. I love the convenience. The other one is a 9 - 5 place. Just a vent I suppose.... Thanks for listening (reading?) lol.

Oops, wanted to add one more thing. I'm not sure what your stance is regarding medication, but my daughter takes medicine when she has a celiac reaction. Along with the other unpleasantness, she has horrible stomach cramps which are crippling. She takes hyomax/hyoscyamine to help with those. If you haven't asked your gastro about medication, there are things that can help her. Good luck with it all :)

Medically, the reaction you are describing is impossible. (Not that I think you are lying about it, just that many people won't understand because medically it is 'considered' to be an impossible reaction to have). However, I know of several who say that they have reactions simply by walking past a bakery. People who have that severe a reaction are considered 'super sensitive'. For what it's worth, my daughter breaks out in a skin rash when she touches 'wet gluten' like in shampoos or lotions, etc. Medically, that's impossible as well but it happens. :glare: (It's not an allergy either, we had her tested for wheat allergies). If you go to celiac.com and go to their message board section, scroll almost all the way to the bottom and you'll see a section marked for 'super sensitive'. There are many people on that board who will tell you that what you are describing is impossible, however, there are several who will know just what your daughter is experiencing and they may have some suggestions. Good luck :)

My DD10 is headed to Middle School here next year if we don't keep her home. She was home today with a head cold and we were out with DD7 to do some grocery shopping. We ran into an acquaintance and were chatting about homeschooling and education in general. Our acquaintance runs a very good pre-school program and is a really great lady. (And by 'very good program', I mean that it fits the needs of our community and prepares kids for school in regards to learning to tie their shoes and not hit other kids). She told me that her only middle-schooler now goes to private school after a few months trying the public school. As she put it, "At the middle school, the good kids go bad and the bad kids go criminal." It's a bit scary and sad. :(

All of my kids are different both educationally and medically. I do try to downplay my gifted daughter's accomplishments but not excessively. Something that I haven't seen mentioned yet on this thread is that kids (and sadly, adults) are sometimes happy to see gifted kids fail. (This happened recently to my daughter by an adult). Still, I don't find her giftedness to be nearly as lonely as I do my oldest daughter's autism. Even among other kids with autism, she sticks out. She's profoundly autistic and needs help with daily activities. My other two daughters help DH and I feed, dress, bathe, brush teeth/hair, etc. I think my family's best accomplishment is that my oldest daughter is typically happy, content and always smiling. There's competition in the special needs world similar to the gifted world. Sometimes it's a fight to see who has the most severe child. Sometimes it's a battle to who can use the 'recovered' word. While I am happy for all those who have disabled children who improve, I admit to being jealous at times. My youngest may be gifted, I don't know. I know she has some self-esteem issues from being in her sister's shadow. I love homeschooling her because it helps me see her individuality more than I did in the past. I think she likes it because she receives a lot of my attention. For those who are criticizing another pp for saying that she cried...My husband is a genius (seriously). He's also highly eccentric from a highly eccentric family. He has always felt like he is out of step with the rest of the world and that just getting through the day is a struggle. He said that he sees things differently and it just baffles him that others don't see the same things that he does. He worries about our DD10 because he sees a lot of himself (as a kid) in her. He said middle school was when things went downhill for him (he started getting into trouble and eventually went to military school). He has always wanted us to homeschool but particularly during those times so they make better choices than he did. (He was kicked out of every public school they could find, and then all of the private schools as well). I think my DH would absolutely agree with her post (except he didn't cry). I read somewhere (and I forget where) that the drop out rate (percentage) is the same for gifted as non-gifted. Being gifted doesn't really matter if you don't know what to do with it. I think that parental guidance to help our kids find their own gifts is what is important along with developing good study habits and work ethics.

Is he always this boisterous? if so, I would just tell him that he can't take the class. If he typically is well-behaved, I would ask him why he felt the need to behave the way he did. Maybe he wanted to show off a bit?

I'm a big believer in giving my kids lots of confidence, so I started with Primer. She loved it and felt like she was H.O.T. HOT in math! lol She flew through it, asked to do it in her spare time and was in Alpha in two months. She then flew through Alpha and is now in Beta. She's in 1st grade, so she's older than your child. I would start with Primer but not worry about the teacher's manual or dvd, just the student book.

Thank you!

We live out in the country where everybody knows everybody (or at least somebody's relative). Our hot water heater broke a few months ago so I called a friend who could recommend a plumber. She suggested somebody that worked for a company during the day, but did extra stuff after hours and on week-ends. He came out, replaced the element, suggested a few things and we paid him $80. He was nice and knowledgeable. We told him that we would be replacing the hot water heater after Christmas and he quoted a price ($125). Last week, we had a break right at the main which was gushing water. Unfortunately the break was two inches on our side of the main so it was our responsibility to fix. We called him and he set a date. He didn't show that night but I wasn't too worried about it. Two days later, he returned my call and apologized saying that something had come up. He came out that night and discovered that actually one of the fittings had popped off the main. He replaced it with a new one and glued it on. He stopped by the house, just as my husband arrived home. He told my husband what the problem was and my husband commented that if the cold weather continued then there would be a lot more pipes breaking. They chatted for a few minutes and then the plumber left. When I realized that DH hadn't paid him (he didn't quote us anything but it was something that we had to fix regardless of cost), I called him and left a message apologizing for the misunderstanding. I told him to call me back and I'd mail him a check or he could stop by. I haven't heard from him. Should I call again or wait until I'm ready to put in the hot water heater? (Sometime in a couple of weeks). I don't want him to think I don't want to pay.

I didn't read all the replies, but it sounds as if she is threatened by you for some reason. She's almost TOO insistent that her kids are doing great. If she wasn't threatened by you, she would tell you what her kids are doing (activities and such). It's as if she's worried your kids will show them up. Regarding the activities, I would straight out tell her, "I wish you had told me about that activity. It's one that my kids would have enjoyed and honestly, I'm surprised you didn't mention it to me." I think if you tell her in such a way that holds her a bit accountable, she'll tell you in the future. I hope everything improves. I wouldn't be too upset because she sounds like she's worried.

Just to reinforce the above a bit...learning HOW to take a test is as important as learning the information on a test. One of the 'best' teachers at my daughter's school is considered the best because his kids score high on standardized tests. However, he changed his class testing methods so that it resembles the same style of test taking for standardized tests. I have a note on my materials list for next year to purchase test books just to make sure my kids know HOW to take tests. It sounds absolutely ridiculous, but it's part of public school. It's just part of it. And absolutely test on easy things first like a PP said. It's worth the extra money to build their confidence up.

SOTW has a story-telling aspect to it that we find enjoyable. We enjoy reading the history text and talking about it. We do the coloring sheets and mapwork and some of the projects. We read a lot of related books. I haven't concentrated on her learning facts about history yet. I want her to think of history as interesting (which can be a difficult thing to sell to a child). She can remember some of the facts and looks forward to the next chapter.

I didn't read all the responses, but my vote is to not eat it. Granted, I've taken so many health dept classes on safe serving and storing that I'm unusually picky in this regard. Four hours would be the maximum to leave something like that setting out and still eat it. I'd toss it. And cry.

How horribly rude. Whenever I'm speechless, but I feel like a good comeback is required, I try to say it as sincerely as possible. In this case, i would probably say something to the effect of, "That's so rude and your comment has embarrassed me."

Thanks for the suggestions. I really want to push her into piano and she is lukewarm about it. She wanted to do it but then changed her mind. We have relatives who live an hour away. My FIL is a very accomplished piano player and so is his mother (DH's grandmother). They own a piano store and so we have a piano in our living room. DH's grandmother (who turns 87 next week) just put out her second cd for piano music. FIL and Grandmother both give professional lessons but of course, wouldn't charge us for lessons. I'm hoping there is some natural talent for DD7 which would encourage her further. I want to do art lessons (other than what MIL does for both girls) but I would have to include DD10 in whatever we do as she is gifted in art work. MIL and her Mother (DH's other grandmother) were both artists. MIL does beautiful paintings but they are/were (Grandmother passed away last year) both known for their sculptures. MIL currently comes to our home twice a month specifically for art lessons. (Her other visits typically include really cool projects as well). I really don't care about whether DD7 is identified as gifted as it doesn't really change anything. We work to her level. Thank you for the suggestion though. If things change, it's good to have the information. Keep posting with suggestions - I really appreciate your help. :)

I have three daughters, but for the purpose of this discussion, only focusing on two - DD10 and DD7 (just turned 7). DD10 was identified as gifted through PS. As a general rule, DD10 succeeds at just about everything she does. I'm proud of her, but I find myself down-playing a bit her accomplishments because there are a lot of them. Even her PS teacher is in awe of her and has told me numerous times that she has never taught a child like DD10. (DD10 also has Celiac Disease which leads to follow up comments about how amazing it is that she can accomplish so much in spite of having a disease.) The students in her class look to her to solve disputes and follow her lead/suggestions for academics. Meanwhile, DD7 finds herself in the shadows quite a bit. They are both in Children's Theatre - DD7 was with a group of kids, DD10 had a part. They both took karate, DD7 dropped out when DD10 passed her yellow belt. They both love soccer but are on separate teams. DD10 has a lot of certificates, trophies, ribbons, etc. DD7 doesn't have as many simply because she isn't as old. To make matters worse, my sister asked if I would let DD10 come live with her and go to a school for gifted kids (and of course I said no but DD7 heard many of the conversations). (My sister is in awe of DD10). I want ideas on how to help DD7 be her own person. At this point, she doesn't want to try any new activities. The shame of it is that DD7 is very bright and would probably be identified as gifted herself if she were attending PS. We live in a small community and extra-curriculars are not easy to come by. Should I force her into some new activities (without DD10) and see if that helps? If I ask what she is interested in, she will give me things, but then change her mind a week later. She loved karate until DD10 joined and passed her. Academically, she is on target or a bit ahead - she just finished The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and loves reading. We're working on double digit addition/subtraction and are about to introduce carrying/borrowing. She enjoys her other subjects and is easy to work with. She's a great person in her own way, but people don't seem to notice her because they are too busy staring at DD10. Suggestions?

This may not help much, but this IS the time of year for state tests. They typically happen in February and March for our school system. The schools stress over them and a lot of pressure is put on students to perform well. Some students become physically ill worrying about them. Afterwards, there's not a lot of stress put on students other than to prepare them for the next grade. I can't comment on your overall situation (since I'm not there), but it is a stressful time of year. I hope things get better for you all.

We do four days a week and on Fridays, we call the day "Fine Arts Fridays". Our plans on Fridays are typically for older movies that are classics, worksheets on artists and composers. I also do art projects or allow lots of finger-painting, coloring, etc. However, we also plan to school year round.

We had a homemade valentine for most of ours (we ran out of supplies) so it was kind of 'puffy' and stickers and a small bag of conversation hearts. We put two kids per envelope (and real big envelopes for larger families). Most of our envelopes were 60 cents apiece to mail. Our post office said that due to the bulk of it, they had to hand stamp it rather than use the machine, but that wasn't a big deal.