Ahhh...the question to NEVER ask a lady. :tongue_smilie: Actually, I am just wondering what type of diverse group we have here. I know we have all ages and just wanted to see how "many" we had representing each group. Of course, I am not going to have you type it out here...so I made a poll. :) You are welcome to share, if you like though!

Yeah, don't jump too fast! In February and March, I bought and entire year worth of curric for BOTH of my kids. Had it all here and ready to go. In April, I found CLE, then Heart of Dakota. I sold EVERYTHING I had bought and changed the entire plan. Then I got into HOD and decided not to combine my kids afterall (after buying it, of course!). I did end up going with that for my oldest, though and just bought the one that "fit" my younger son in addition. Now, I am forcing myself not to look at other things. When I get the urge to look, I start planning next year day by day! That bores me pretty quickly and I move on. LOL

That is wonderful news! Praise!!!

Aleve works best for me. I think everyone is different. If you continue to hurt after having head trauma (even if it was mild), you may want to see a doctor...especially since you don't remember what happened.

I have a 1st grader that will be going on to 2nd around Christmas. We are doing Heart of Dakota: Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory - along with CLE for Math, Bible, and Language Arts. For Phonics, we are finishing Phonics Pathways and working throiugh the Explode the Code books (as well as ETC online). As we go through phonics, he is reading the level 1 and level 2 readers as they interest him. :) He is learning cursive with New American Cursive. Once a week or so, we do the Artpacs from CLE as well as a lesson in CLE Music.

Oh EWWWW...don't remind me about Christmas in the SUMMER! LOL!

My prayers are with you and I have thought of you often throughout your journey. The way the Lord has worked in your life and your situation is so beautiful. I can just SEE it - and that is amazing. I pray, with all my might, that the tumor in your lung has shrunk! How is your back? Were you able to stay off the steroids? My prayers are with you! Rebecca

Yep...it always worked out somehow. 6 years ago, when I quit working, we lived in GA and paid two mortgages and dh made 1/2 of what he does now (around $58K). We made it, though...and each year, he has gone up in the company and things have gotten easier and easier. Now, there is really no need for me to work at all. I can offer more to the kids/home by being here than I could if I were working. And dh's earnings are plenty for us. We are paying off the cars and the house and doing the best we can to become totally debt free in the next 10 years. :)

Oh Oh...let me answer this! I also went to a private highschool. Most of the kids went to 4 year colleges. Out of the 21 kids in our graduating class, the Valedictorian had a brain aneurysm at 19 and is now completely paralyzed. The Salutatorian was my boyfriend. He made straight A's all through school (grade school too!) and scored at 32 on his ACT. Sadly, he dropped out of an ivy league college after one semester to continue his drug habit. Then he went to the marines where he was kicked out for drug use. I think he finally finished college when he was around 28 or so. Me, I went to a 4 year college, all motivated to get my doctorate and teach English I was 4th in my graduating class...not sure what happened to #3). I came out 4 years later with a BA and a BABY. Most of my classmates in that little private highschool had high hopes at 18 only to find that life changed and their plans changed. It is great to shoot for the moon, but just because you do doesn't mean you are gonna land there.

I just switched my rising 5th grader to CLE math from Singapore at the end of this year. I couldn't have made a better decision!

I second (third, fourth...whatever LOL) this site! She has some GREAT ideas!

Just make sure she knows that you are LEGALLY homeschooling your children in the way you see fit. The way she did it sounds like she went through K-12 or something. And she is a grandmother who homeschooled her DAUGHTER? Does she think maybe things have CHANGED in the last 30 years or so???

Oh my. :( I am sorry that happened. Lowes has some great prices on Washers/dryers. When we were hurting for cash, we bought a Roper washer and dryer for about $500 total. Nothing fancy...the normal stuff. And they worked great for the 3 years we had them (we sold them and bought nice ones when we built this house).

Yep...daily. I use CLE and it drills math facts for 1 minute before each lesson. Then we do flash cards (just 2 numbers at a time, like x2 and /6) - usually takes 2-5 minutes (depending). This starts in 1st grade and is part of every single lesson through the years. :)

CLE has been perfect for both my kids. They drill and learn facts daily in short spurts and the lessons are easy and short. I can't recommend it enough!

A nightmare that no parent should ever have to wake to. My heart breaks for them. My prayers are with the family - and with the families whose children will live because of their unselfish act.

You can absolutely just keep on with math. My younger son learned to read this year, so we are continuing phonics, reading, math, language arts (more reading at his age), and handwriting. My older son is continuing pretty much the same subjects. We do 2 a day. Older ds' schedule looks like this: Monday: Math, Pentime Tuesday: Language Arts, Explode the Code Wednesday: Writing with Ease (Days 1 & 2), Math Thursday: Language Arts, Pentime Friday: Writing with Ease (Days 3 & 4), Explode the Code, Math We do not do formal Science, History, Foreign Language, or any electives in the summer. They get lots of Science from gardening with dh, but that isn't "school"...around here, that is LIFE.

I live in TN and register through a private category IV school. I count my (4 hour +) days to 180 and those are days that we do "full school" as I call it. Once we hit our 180 days for the year, we start "light school" - we do two-four subjects a day (depending) and no more than an hour at a time in the summer. I don't really "count" those days. Those are the days I do what I want to do. If we miss them, oh well. If we have them, yay. Now, if I come up on the end of my school year and there were some unforseen circumstances and we had to miss, say, an unplanned 2 weeks of "full school" through the year, then I start counting some of my summer days. 4 summer days is like 1 full school day, so I count accordingly (and this is really ONLY in case of an emergency). Otherwise I just do school in a very relaxed non-committed sort of way in the summer (mostly to keep them sharp in the basics so we don't have to review for the first 2 mos of the next school year!).

I just think government restriction, in general, is a bad idea. The less control they have over my life, my liberties, my rights, the better off I am (read: we all are).

I was thinking sinus headaches too. Mine are almost always associated with movement and the more I move, the more I hurt. Couldn't hurt to try a good allergy medicine while you wait to see the dr. It sounds like your ds has a LOT of anxiety...but him asking about Lyme disease at his age reminds me of...ME. And I have OCD that manifests in the form of hypochondria (health anxiety). Once you nail down the headache issue, you really may want to seek help for the worrying. I sure wish my mom had gotten help for me before it got as bad as it is now. :( Hope your son feels better soon!

I watched the Eragon movie BEFORE reading the book and I liked the movie better. I wish Harry Potter had never been made into movies...talk about missing a lot! Twilight! LOL I agree on the Tale of Desperaux.

You are kidding? Now they do sections on anyone who has had a 4th degree? GRRRR! That makes me so mad! I really should have had a section with my 2nd child. I, too had a 2nd degree tear after a 4th degree episiotomy. Now, I have TONS of issues...

Unfortunately, I did nothing. I was 19 and just suffered. I couldn't even drive my car (a standard transmission) for 2 weeks. I am sorry your sister is going through this. I am sure she is already using the ice pack pads. My doctor (2nd baby) had me use ice pack pads tucks pads, and dermoplast spray. It helped minimally. Resting helps the most...but we all know how easy that is with a new baby in the house. :grouphug: for your sister. BTDT! I agree with Ellen - man I wish I had known then what I know now about that area and what to do/not to do. The birth that caused me the 4th degree was a suction birth.

I have read, many times, that thyroid cancer is the most easily treated cancer you can have. I pray this is true in your case. I know that doesn't make it less scary, though. Prayers and :grouphug: for you.

To this day, I write half print, half cursive. I taught my older son both and now he also writes with a mixture (just his "style" but the letters are formed correctly and legible which is all that matters). It works fine. :)