I hate to say it, but it sounds like a good thing she is struggling. Like you said, next week it will likely get worse. Hopefully they will be able to accurately figure out what is going on.

The recipe is very easy to adapt to what you have. We got 20# of free ground turkey from a family at church so I went with that. The original recipe calls for fresh corn or frozen but canned worked just fine and that is what I had in the house. It is a unique recipe and I honestly wasn't sure who in my household would eat it but they ALL love it.

This was a HUGE hit here. I made it 2 weeks ago and we ate it 2 nights in a row. I made it again tonight and my dh said it was very good. Even my 21ds ate it and normally he avoids stir fry. I got the recipe off Simple Dollar but modified a bit 1/2 pound ground chicken or turkey, browned (could used cooked, diced) 1 egg 1 onion, diced 1/2 T minced garlic 1/2 t ginger powder 1 can corn, drained (or use fresh/frozen) 1 T. soy sauce 2 cups cooked rice (about 3/4 raw--use white/brown or a mix) 1/4-1/2 bag baby spinach lemon juice (if you want) canola or veg. oil Heat oil in fry pan and scramble egg in oil. Remove egg from pan and drain on paper towel. Fry onions, garlic and ginger in oil (add more if needed) until nicely carmelized. Add chicken/turkey, rice, corn, egg and soy sauce. Stir and heat through. Place a handful of raw spinach on a plate, sprinkle with lemon juice if desired. Top with stir fry. Enjoy.

I would get a 2nd opinion. Obviously something is going on. Maybe a fresh set of eyes can figure it out. My dd was like this when she was 6 but hers was related to a lingering strep infection we could not kill off.

I would stick with CLE math but slow down. In our area, she would likely be STARTING 3rd grade this year so she would be 1 1/2 years ahead in math. Even if she was starting 4th grade she is still 1/2 year ahead. How about sticking with the basic math drills and doing 1/2 lesson a day for a while--esp. on the stuff she is struggling with? I would not drop math as it is more one of those use it or lose it type subjects but slow down for a bit. I will say that CLE 3rd is very much like ACE 4th so she just might not be developmentally ready for the harder stuff yet.

Sounds like you have a good handle on your kids. Hope you weren't offended by my questions/suggestions. It is hard to know given the info over the forums. You do need to decide what is best for your kids, year by year, and child by child. After homeschooling my girls from K-7th, I am sending 13dd (will be 14 in 4 weeks) to public school this fall. She will be in a full time special ed room with 10 kids, a teacher, 2 aides, and a nursing assistant next door. She will only be going from 9-12 to start. My oldest was in this program and did very well so I am hoping it will be a good fit for her. I am keeping 12dd here at home for this year. It will be good for her to have the 1:1 time and she is the "fall through the cracks" type kid that can't keep up with reg. ed. but doesn't really qualify for enough special ed. Hopefully you can get the best setting for each of your kids. Can the hospital start putting more pressure on your dd, increase their expectations, etc? You really want them to see what goes on day to day.

Sounds like you do have your hands full. Could a lot of dd's issues be due to her brother's behaviors and how that affects the family dynamics (coming in late here and not knowing the whole story)? I am NOT saying this is true in your house but a friend of mine has a son that needed to be in a therapeutic setting for over a year and then another daughter started acting out and told her friends that she did it for the attention as the parents were so focused on the other child. Again, NOT blaming you but they might not be seeing her behaviors at the hospital as it is very different dynamics than at home. While I am very pro homeschooling, the idea of sending one of them to school does have some merit. Even if they had to start 1-2 weeks late or even a month late, it would be OK. A great deal would depend on what options you have available but it is certainly something to consider. I would also be asking this doctor about respite services in your area. In our area, all 3 of mine qualify for various levels. They pay a friend of mine to watch my kids about 4 hours a week. It is WONDERFUL as I can run errands, take a nap, go out with dh, etc. and get a break.

I agree with these. The I See Sam books only require knowing 5 sounds to start and slowly builds from there. Many other programs require the kids to know all of the consonant sounds from the start. The I See Sam books are very good for kids with dyslexia and other LDs If you are interested, I have some samples I can get to you.

Have you checked him for food allergies/intolerances? I thought of this as you said that he would eat only bread (likely wheat) products if you let him. Very often kids will crave exactly what is bothering them.

http://www.menus4moms.com has some great ideas and they are quite easy. Even if you don't like all of them, you can get some good ideas. They send you a weekly email with recipes, grocery list, and menu for 5 main meals a week. She also does some special things for holidays, etc.

We mix: 1 can corn, drained 1 can diced tomatoes, mostly drained 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained 1 packet taco seasoning mix Heat together and put on warm flour tortilla with some cheese, sour cream, etc. You can easily add left over beef or chicken, rice, etc. This comes together in a just a few minutes.

Make sure you are giving enough EPA (1000mg/day). We use Country Life Omega 3 mood--2 per day for this amount. Many fish oils containt 1000mg of fish oil but not enough EPA. Other ideas: reg. sleep/wake cycles exercise every day sunshine higher protein, less refined carb diet [

http://www.llbean.com and http://www.landsend.com are both known to have quality WARM winter wear. Columbia brand is also very good.

I would say it depends. Certainly not something she NEEDS but it might be something she could WORK for. You and dh could decide IF it might be OK for her to have one and then find out how much it would be to add her on your plan---checking text messaging, sending pictures, etc. in addition to the phone calls. Then if you decide she can have one, have her work for the monthly cost. Does she babysit or have other ways to earn money? It might not even be worth it to her for the cost. If she does get one, I would have clear limits on when/where/how it can be used, how much, etc. The extra charges can rack up VERY quickly.

I got rid of them as I lost the weight. I lost 70 pounds and went down 4 sizes. Thankfully for me though a friend of mine was losing just "ahead" of me so often she had things to hand down to me as she lost. [

I think it depends on your life style as well. We have horses, chickens, etc. so we need chore clothes--dirty, stained, old stuff. Then we have everyday clothes, a few outfits for church, and then a few specialty items like show clothes for the horse show, etc. We also have a lot of shoes as we have sandals, tennis shoes, dress shoes, crocs, barn boots, riding boots, winter boots, muck boots, winter muck boots, etc. I try to keep out only those we wear on a weekly basis right now and keep the out of season stuff away. I just can't let my kids (or even myself) wear our everyday stuff out to the barn or soon it will be ripped, stained, etc. We do though wear the same clothes out to the barn several days in a row. What you could do though is cut back what is in their drawers to how many outfits you need between laundry days plus 1-2 more for accidents, spills, etc. and put the rest in a box in the basement, garage, etc. so that IF you need more clothes of that size you can get them out. It also helps keep some of the clothes nicer for the next child to pass them down to.

But even calling him PreK or Young 5s he WOULD be working at his age/grade level. Your area might be different but there are very very few, if any, boys that start K at 4 and then turn 5 1-2 months into the school year. They all go to Young 5s or PreK and then start K when they are closer to 6. I hope I didn't offend you and I do encourage you to work with him at his own level. I was saying that more for maturity and physical reasons. If later he joins any sports, much better for him to be one of the older kids on the team than the youngest and smallest. Also, if some of the girls in his class are starting school near 6, they are more than a full year old and when they reach middle school girls tend to be 1-2 years ahead of the boys physically and maturity wise. That might leave him being "3" years behind some of the kids in his church group, sports, school if he ever goes, etc. I guess this is just a big soap box for me as I have seen this happen so much. My SIL is a teacher as well and she said she can always pick out the young boys in each class---even if they are smart enough, they lack the maturity, etc.

If he is just starting to read, the I See Sam books from http://www.3rsplus.com might be very good for his reading as well as using them for comprehension, etc. They start out very simple and build up. You mention Kindergarten for him. I would urge you to consider holding off on calling him Kindergarten this year. He is VERY young for K, a boy ,and has a slight delay. He might do much better if you call this year PreK or Young 5s and give him an extra year. You can still TEACH him at what ever level he is ready for but this will give him a bit more time to mature if he ever does go back to public school, joins any scouts, sports, church activities, etc. Generally it is much easier for a boy to be on the old side of a grade than the very youngest. In our area, most boys are at least 5 1/2 when they start K and quite a few turn 6 the summer before starting K. That would mean that if he ever went to public school, he might be a year or more younger than some of the boys. Again, teach him at what ever level he is ready for but maybe consider calling him PreK or Young 5s---this would help as well if you move to a state that requires testing, etc. for homeschoolers.

Apples and Pears spelling is tops. http://www.prometheantrust.org/usshop.htm It is super easy to use but must be "taught" by someone who can read at least at a 4th grade level---all of the directions are very clear in the teacher's book but must be read to the child. you can see the entire program in PDF format on their website.

I was just coming here to post about the book, The Explosive Child. It is VERY good and very helpful. It DOES go against the "normal" parenting stuff at times as you do let some things slide (for a time). I don't think that it is a parenting style to continue life long, but when you and your child are struggling, it is VERY helpful. As the child makes progress you can return to more normal parenting---if that makes sense.

Sounds like a honeymood period as well. I know it is different but we saw it all the time with foster kids. Hopefully this week the program can put more pressure on her, raise the expectations, etc. to see what is really going on.

The list is a great idea. It lets him know what needs to be done and gets you out of the "nagging" (as he might see it) of telling him what to do. The Amish (who generally have larger families) have said that 0-7 a child is a burden, 7-14 a child can hold their own, and 14 and up a child should be an asset to the family. So, according to them, a 9 year old should be helping as much as the work he is creating. Do you have any male relatives around that he could work with as well? Boys this age really need some good male role models and learn to do MANLY things. Even for his chores, maybe he could do some of the more "manly" things for you--taking out the garbage, replacing lightbulbs, yard work, washing the car, etc. You might also see about scouts or other program where he can be around a lot of good male role models.

We buy 1/4-1/2 cow at a time and I think ours come out to $2.50-3/pound for grass fed beef. You might check Craig's list or even local butchers to find local farmers that will sell you you for a lot less than $20/pound. My girls sell their free range brown eggs for $1.50/dozen and that often includes some extra large eggs and/or double yokers. We don't feed hormones or antibiotics, etc. but I can't call them organic---but they do free range.

I just ordered this and the LA does seem more advanced. I ordered LA 3 even though my dd did ACE 4th grade English last year. I have ordred social studies, math, and LA for this year. If we like it we will do more next year. I just already had a literature/reading program and science here for her.

Get a horse. Then the dog can have a BIG buffet of horse poop to eat. They seem to love that as well. Sorry I don't have answers for you but that is yet another reason why our critters are outside.