Not really sure what to do about the crunches, but I have a thought regarding the jumping jacks. When I do jj, I have to concentrate on putting equal weight on both my inner and outer foot as I jump. If I don't, I find that the weight tends to roll to the outer foot and my feet hurt afterward. If I keep the weight evenly distributed, I don't get foot pain. I don't know if this will work for you, but you could try it. Exercising is no fun when it is causing pain. HTH

Great job!! Congrats to everyone else who has made progress as well. I truly believe loosing weight is one of the hardest things to do, but it is so worth it when you reach your goals. Keep up the good work!! :001_smile:

I would start with the Fractions book, then do the Decimal & Percents book. She most likely will get through both books during the school year (if not sooner). When she finishes these I would start the Pre-Algebra books. The Pre-Algebra books occasionally make references to the Fractions and Decimals & Percents books, so there is review happening.

Thank you all for the replies. I didn't realize my post went through last night because I got a screen that said server busy try again later. :) Anyway, I should maybe clarify. My mom and step-dad are not to the stage of needing help at this point, but it is something we have discussed with them in the past and we had a plan of living with them when that time came. Things are happening now that is creating the possibility of bumping the time frame up for that plan (hence the 2 years from now). It doesn't have to happen now, but we have all talked about why not do it sooner since it was our plan anyway. Also, the house would be all of ours. We are looking at buying a new house that has enough room for all of us. We are splitting the mortgage and dh and I will inherit this house in the future. So, I don't think there will be a feeling of it being "their" house and we are just living there (at least I am hoping :)). My mom, step-dad, and dh think it is a great idea and will work out well. I do have some reservations. My mom and I can have our moments, but most of the time we get along great. I just don't want it to turn bad because I value the relationship we have now. I appreciate the comments. I am glad there was 1 positive story. :) Even the ones that didn't work out so great are good to know. I think the rate of success might be somewhat low for this type of situation and we have to weigh the pros and cons carefully. Thanks for the advice and things to think about.

I am wondering if anyone here lives with parents or in-laws? In about 2 years, we will be moving into a house with my mom and step-dad. It will be dh and I, my mom and step-dad, dd and ds (if he is still at home). I am curious how it has worked out for others and what advice you would give someone who is considering this situation. I have been thinking about things like food prep, cleaning, making sure everyone has their space, etc, but I am sure there are lots of things I haven't thought about and probably won't until they come up in the course of daily living. We are excited about this, but also want to be prepared as much as we can. Thanks for any thoughts and advice. :)

We did and apple and orange. The apple was like the head and the orange was the body. They turned out great and about 8 years later, we still have them in their cardboard sarcophagi. It was fun and smelled nice while mummifying. :)

I just thought I would post a quick update about how ds is doing at cc. He has finished his first week and aside from his mishap with his first quiz he is doing well. He received 10/10 on his first writing assignment in Comp I, 100% on his first math assignment and quiz and 8/8 on his first quiz in Geology. He even raised his hand and answered a question in Comp I (this is a big deal if you knew my ds). I am feeling better and he seems to be finding his groove with it all. Thanks, again, for all the support and reassurance.

I switch between treadmill, yoga and strength training. Right now I am using Jillian's No More Trouble Zones for the strength training. The treadmill is a mix of couch to 5k and straight walking. The yoga is for added flexibility and stress relief. I haven't been as good as I would like to be about working out 6 days a week, but I am getting back on track. I really do feel better when I am consistent in my workouts.

I would do as others have suggested and ask him if he can spot the error. If he sees what he did, I would give him credit and talk about being careful. As they get older, I mark the problem as wrong and give it back to them. If they correct the mistake, I award 1/2 credit. I still have to remind them to be careful as my dc still make careless mistakes sometimes.

There is nothing wrong with that. For someone who is not a natural speller, having resources to use is a good thing.

These are great tips. I have such a different learning style than ds, so even when I give him suggestions they usually don't work or make sense for him. It is nice to have some other ideas for him to try. Thanks for taking the time to share!

We love playing games at our house. Thanks for posting this!

Horrible to great? No. Horrible to okay bordering on good? Yes. My dd is not a natural speller and she has had to work very hard over the years to spell even basic words consistently. If I compare her to herself, she has made amazing progress over the years. If I compare her to others (especially natural spellers), she is still below average/average in spelling. I have accepted that this is her lot. She is bright and has strengths in other areas. She can continue to work on and improve her spelling, but she will never be a great speller. That is okay with me (and her, too). For my dd, working on consistent patterns/rules in spelling is what has helped the most. Yes, there are always exceptions in English, but by working on the words that follow the consistent patterns she is able to spell most of the words she needs. I also focus on dictionary skills and being clear in her speaking and writing. Don't give up. :)

Thank you all for the replies. I do need to chill about this whole thing. I am trying. :) The only "classrooms" he has been in his entire schooling experience to this point has been fire-arms training and driver's ed. He has done some co-op classes, but they were still quite informal. In my heart I know he will be ok, I just have to get it in my brain. :) Bonita, thank you for your post. Organizing his time and materials is probably going to be his biggest adjustment. He has 1 3-subject notebook that he takes to classes (he has 3 classes at the cc and 1 online). Honestly, I don't know if he has taken any notes yet (we didn't get that far in our conversation before he had to be to work). I think I will share your idea with him and let him figure out what he thinks will work. I really do appreciate the reassuring comments. I think a lot of my worries stem from feeling like everyone I know is judging me based on his performance. My entire family thought I was/am weird for homeschooling, if he doesn't do well they will be like "see, you shouldn't have hs'ed, now what are your kids going to do?" type stuff. I need to not project my issues with this on my ds. Anyway, thanks! I do feel better.

Today ds had his first quiz in one of his cc classes. The instructor read the questions aloud. My ds thought he had to write down the questions and that they would then be given time afterward to answer them. Not so. He should have been answering them as they went along. He was able to get answers written down for 5 of the 10 questions before having to hand in the paper. The best he can do is 50% on this quiz. Also, I talked with him before school started about jotting down his assignments as they are given. He has an assignment book so it is not as if he doesn't have somewhere to write this information down. He didn't write any of his assignments in his book and then was having a hard time remembering them when I asked about what he has to do for Friday. I knew this adventure would be an adjustment for him, but I am wondering if I underestimated how big the adjustment would be. I am also at a loss as to how to proceed from this point. I don't want to be constantly on his case about what homework he has and when he should be working on it. I do feel he needs to figure out some of this for himself. I think it will give him a stronger sense of ownership in this whole process. I also want him to be successful and not have this become a bad experience. Any advice on how much I should be involved? I want to be there for him if and when he needs help, but I don't want to smother him in an effort to be helpful, kwim? Thanks!

We are using LoF as our sole math curriculum at dd request. We were using it along with MUS, but she doesn't like MUS and wanted to drop it. I have her "teach" me what she is learning from LoF. This way I know if she is getting it or not. Sometimes I have to give her a few extra examples. For the most part LoF has been enough. I think it really depends on your child and how you approach math.

At first it was tricky for me because I don't remember being taught to do this. I have found that with practice it gets easier and makes a lot of sense. If you know what you are starting with and know where you are trying to get to, it makes figuring out how to get there so much easier. My ds came across conversion factors when he did Chemistry and having experience working with them in LoF made it no big deal. My dd is still trying to understand them, but I am seeing the light starting to come on.

Had a great day. Dropped ds off at the local cc for his first day of classes. Went really well. Dd is doing a light week as I didn't intend to start school for another week or two. She did LoF math for an hour, spelling (yes at almost 14yo we still have to work on this), grammar, chemistry and Mapping the World With Art. We also got in a few episodes of Big Bang Theory (love this show!). I was pleased. :)

Haven't used it, but thank you for sharing this. I think we will add it to our world geography study.

I have used the Fabrico markers. I haven't washed anything I have made with them, but these are the markers recommended by some well-known quilt artists that I have taken classes with. I haven't used any of the other ones listed, so I cannot comment on them.

We may be interested. I just ordered this for my dd to use this year. I need to check out the wiki thing as I am not familiar with it. This would be good for her. Thanks!

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We have hard water and I try to be "green" with detergents. The only "green" powder I have found that works is Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Auto Dishwashing Packs. They are those individual packets that you put in the detergent cup. Otherwise I use Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Dishwasher Soap (it is a gel). All the other pour in type powders I have tried leave a nasty, cloudy film on my dishes. Mrs. Meyer's is more expensive than other brands, but they work. Oh, I have also tried Method brand that Target sells. I have tried their dishwasher packs and those worked fine as well.

I don't like Jillian, either, but I rotate between 4 of her videos. :) I say I have a love-hate relationship with her. I hate her workouts (because they are tough), but I love how I feel after I am done (and I am finally seeing some results). I tell her to shut up all the time and my family thinks it is so funny. I tell them if they are going to laugh they can get off their bums and workout with me. That usually makes them scatter. :)