Did you ever end up moving here? I'm curious because DH is interviewing for a job, we're currently a couple of miles north of Boston and had considered ourselves completely settled, but looking at housing costs and this job... it's pretty tempting! Would love to hear about your experience if you did end up moving.

That's physics, yes? We start, too. But it's just 5 weeks till we go away for two weeks, so something to look forward to!

Yeah... Dd12 eats anything that gets put on the table. We now always have two or three veggie dishes, some starch, and about 1.5 lbs of meat. Though we also eat vegetarian twice a week, to keep the budget down. We hadn't had leftovers in about a year, but lately, with the extra veggies on the table, we have them again a few times a week. Which is good, bc I like to throw cooked veggies in with my morning eggs!

How about a gift card to a paint your own pottery place? Or a craft class at a local store (bead stores and paper stores often offer these). Maybe make it enough value that she can bring a friend, or go twice?

I just opened my new Taproot magazine, which has a great article on exactly this topic. Maybe you can get your hands on a copy?

My kids have really enjoyed Honest Pretzels by Mollie Katzen. It's real stuff but explains more details than you'd find in some adult books. Another option is to let her loose in the Joy of Cooking, which explains things clearly. Using the ground rules discussed above would be valuable. I learned all my cooking from watching the food network throughout high school and college, while attempting any recipes I wanted!

For dd12, I've also noticed that it helps when I can have some private time with her regularly. Usually this is after the younger ones are in bed, I just sit with her and we chat about her day. I try really hard to not give any advice at this time (unless asked), and instead to ask questions, reflect feelings back to get, and occasionally share a story about a time that I felt similar. When we do this regularly, it really helps. Though occasionally she goes through periods where she just about acts like it's torture to have me visit! So I leave... :-)

If you're interested in reading about executive functioning (getting stuff done), I really recommend Smart but Scattered. It helped me have more realistic expectations for dd12, to realize that ds8 has done issues, and that dd5 has a gift in this area. It also gives tons of constructive ways to help our kids develop these skills. Good luck!

If she's interested maybe there's a local gallery you could both visit and ask some questions? Or a craft fair?

This is so hard. So hard. I could basically have written your posts about my son, and it's easily the hardest thing I've ever experienced. I live the book rec above, and DS does respond to it. It's not fast, but absolutely worthwhile. If there's any sensory stuff going on, take a look at The Out of Sync Child. It's given us very practical suggestions on how to help DS regulate himself by providing a rich sensory "diet." The book was invaluable, but we are in the process of getting an OT evaluation, to help us get help that's more tailored to his needs. Some techniques in that book though have helped in reducing the length/severity of meltdowns. As we muddle through each day, while very slowly getting more information, I try to catch little fun moments with him and the others when I can. I try to remind myself that this will improve, sometime, as we learn more. I pray a lot. And make sure to get my exercise and breaks from him on a regular basis. It's still so hard. Some days feel manageable, others don't. Occasionally we get a beautiful moment, and I feel hopeful again.

Dd12 has been very happy with Jousting Armadillos. My guess is she'll finish it and half of the next book this year, then finish the series in 8th grade. We supplement by doing Khan, focusing on areas that JA is weak in, such as geometry, measurement, probability, etc.

I also use goodreads. Dd12 is on it, too, and I love being able to send book recs. For summer reading, she chose three books from a shelf labeled "summer 2014" and she loved using the summary and reviews to help her make selections. She also has a "books I chose" as a shelf. She lives the control it gives her. Also makes it easy for me to see what she read during the year.

Yes commas! Though I think I may overuse them...

This is soooo helpful thank you so very much. He's suddenly really into drawing and he's doing a ton of that. Math workbook is hardly happening, but he's doing some electronically at least. Same with grammar and phonics, though he is (on his own accord) reading a lot on his own lately, so that's been great. He does love to build, it was a helpful reminder to rotate his materials. Mostly, I'm just so relieved to not spend the day fighting...

Thanks for the suggestions! We play a ton of games, including barrier-type games (mostly making a structure and directing the other to make the same). I love the looks of Dixit, that one's new to me. I mentioned electronics bc he'd do it without a fight and without my constant attention. We do a ton together, but I also need time to work with the other kids. Ideally he'd do something useful, rather than torture the cat!

I haven't posted much on here yet, but often read! Ds8 has difficulties with expressive language and social pragmatics, but no official diagnosis yet. We do know he experienced early childhood trauma, though the exact nature of it is unknown to us. Over the past few months, he's been melting down on a daily basis, and is treating the rest of us increasingly rudely and sometimes aggressively. We currently do not have the necessary supports, but do have a few helps (speech and a counselor). We're on the waitlist for a neuropsych and for family therapy, but both will be about a 6 month wait. While we wait, I'm looking at reducing the number of fights we have over school, in order to focus more of our energy on connecting with him. He loves anything with a screen and is already using electronics for phonics practice and math drill (just 20 minutes daily so far). I'm looking to stop doing language/grammar with him, but to do that electronically as well. Does anyone have good resources for online games, android apps, tv shows, or anything else he could use? We'd continue working on conversation and discussion during our daily morning times, as well as continuing to share literature and content-based stuff, and he'd continue with his speech therapist. Ideas? Suggestions? Cautionary tales? Thanks!

I'd probably put it on hold, too. We didn't use WWE, but have had similar problems for writing with skill. Dd started that in fifth and the reading was just too hard. She did much better with it in sixth, and is now (7th) working on WWS 2, at a reduced pace. Maybe try again in January, or March?

Dd12 chooses assn artist out of Discovering Great Artists, that was alive during the time we're studying. We get a couple of kid's biographies, and a couple of adult art books since they usually have larger prints. That all goes into our book basket to read all together, and at some point we do the project. The next month, she picks another artist.

Dd12 reads an hour a day, mostly on assigned books. She does 2-3 lessons of WWS2, begrudgingly. This year, we added vocabulary using this school's web page:http://education.fcps.org/ums/node/2893. She looks up the prefix, then rates whether she totally, sort of, or doesn't, know the words and we choose 5 to learn. Throughout the week she looks up definitions and we talk about them. Quick verbal test at the end. She's reviewing old lists weekly, and I may add in a monthly test as well... She's loving it. No separate grammar this year...

We're using Jousting Armadillos but I don't use the answer book. If I needed it I think it'd be cost prohibitive. She also uses Khan for about an hour a week to get a change of pace, because she likes it, and to get extra practice in concepts that need it. When she needs straight up drill (this week it was for adding/subtracting negative numbers), we find a game on Sheppard software. Even 5 minutes a day of that really adds up quickly!

Dd is about to start DK's how to be a genius, which does a lot of explaining on how the brain works.

We always have an audio book going in the car. We've done some beauties that way: Pooh, Charlotte's Web, Little House, etc. I find that we end up talking about those books as much as ones we read together. If there's something I want to share and I haven't fit it in somewhere else, then over lunch really works. These often end up being poetry, biographical picture books of composers/artists, or classic picture books with a moral/lesson I'd like them to ponder. In the end, I wouldn't take away free time for additional books, but these are easy ways to fit it in!

And my kids adored Mr Popper's Penguins at that age. I've scheduled it for dd5 this year, can't wait!

Dd12 is finally happy to do history again! We're spending this quarter on the civil war using materials from the middle school section of civilwar.org and it's been great. We'll use Connect the Thoughts up through WW II and I'm still deciding on what to focus on after that... CtT seemed a bit sparse for the more recent stuff so we'll cobble something together.

I think though that it's equally important for my kids to see me reading for pleasure or personal interest. So while I read (and often enjoy) a good amount of dd12's materials, I also prioritize recommended novels, parenting books, and noon-fiction on a range of interesting (to me) topics.