Tree House Academy - we named it for our love of the mountains that surround us. It is like we are schooling in our own private Tree House. :)

My ex tried to put up a fight at first. Then he realized he still pays me $600 a month in child support when he should be paying me $1362.50 based on his current income. He pulled the "we will go to court card" and I pulled the, "oh yes, let's do...I can get more child support!" Oddly enough, he became compliant to my wishes. I am so confused by his turn around....aren't you? :lol: ETA: my ex sees my son about 30 days a YEAR and I have custody unless he moves close enough to me to share custody. Thus far, no effort to do so has been made.

What a totally weird case in general. Wow. 10 years huh? Apparently they weren't in a hurry to get him back. :(

I think they are fine. I have some that we actually have never used, but really, isn't it the thought that counts? I mean, they thought enough to have the child fill in the blanks and send a thank you card. That is more than I can say of some of the graduating teenagers I sent money to last year. I would have been thrilled just to get a fill in the blank card.

I have the same problem. Thanks for the tip!

When it is over and spring comes. ;)

Sonlight is kind of considered a "core," but it does recommend what you use for other subects that aren't covered in the core...and many people use what they suggest. I do not personally use sonlight, but the friend I have that uses it does the Core, the she adds in MUS, Sonlight Science, and Artistic Pursuits, I think.

How funny! I love that! The most my son has ever done is read while dangling upside down off his bed with his head on the floor and is body sideways across the bed. But still...you son's is so much better. What book is he reading? Almost looks like Little Women with the thickness. My son is 9 and he would quickly say, "oh mom...that book is way too fat for me to read." :(

Our day went well. Better than I had expected really. My ADHD son was totally on focus today and got through his work in record time. My little britches was moody and whiny as usual and told me he didn't want to do school at all. I asked him if he wanted to go to ps and he told me that no, he just didn't want to go to any school. I told him that was fine but they would take mommy to jail if he didn't do school. Do you know what the little stinker said???? "Oh no mommy! How long will you be gone???!" :seeya: Turkey! But he did finally come and do school and without much of a fuss. He had forgotten what the minus sign was and kept telling me that "5 equals 5 equals 0." LOL And then he seemed to forget how to make a 2 and wrote it backwards twice. By the end of lessons, though, he was functioning on par. All in all, it was good. The worst one today for just wanting to be lazy a.little.bit.longer was ME!:tongue_smilie:

My library was able to order it for me through interlibrary loan. OR you can check out this thread http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74245&highlight=WTM and buy the 1999 version for $10! :) Buying used saves a ton.

We had a great first day back. Little complaining and my older ds really impressed me with how much he remembered. His math was spot on today and he did AWESOME! Little fella was not as thrilled to start back, but humored me for the hour it took to do his work. Of course, refusal to color was part of his punishment to me for making him do school. Drat. How punished I feel. LOL

I use a weird method because I was always an English person and this is just what works for us. We do LLATL Orange every day. I adapt the lessons to fit what I want him to know and some things we just skip all together. We also do WT II every day. I hardly ever skip anything on this. Then, two days a week, he does GWG 4, one page front and back and ususally I try to make it fit well with what we are doing in LLATL and/or WT II. The other 3 days a week, he does Vocabulary Connections - a workbook that I LOVE that really teaches him to use context clues to figure out meanings of words. Everyday we do a list of works from Spelling Power and he does one page/CD work from his Calvert Spelling program. Honestly, we finish his entire day in around 3-3.5 hours, so all of this LA only takes up 1-1.5 hours and it is so many different things that he is not getting bored with one thing or another.

You CAN use the HE powder (I do, Tide) but don't put it in the little caddy thing where you put the liquid, put it directly in the washer after you load it with the clothes. It will mix in when the water runs.

Yes, use the HE detergent. Otherwise you will have a mess. I used mine for a long time with regular detergent and I was always opening the door to clothes that were not rinsed well and still had soap in them. Plus, after awhile, it can ruin the machine. Better safe than sorry. :)

Do you have any new house plants? I have two 12 year old cats and my girl (Sissy) nibbled on the stem of a Lily once and almost died. She had the same symptoms as your cat - vomiting constantly and diarrhea. :( I would give her a bit, but if she is still doing this, I would take her to the vet ASAP - if, for nothing else, a dose of phenergin.

My youngest ds was the same. I pulled him out at Christmas and we have homeschooled ever since. :)

Yep...doctor. :( I know that is not the answer you were looking for since your DH is at work with the vehicle, but it really doesn't sound like a strep rash (thought it could be). A strep rash is a lacy red rash. What you describe sounds more like a reaction my son had to the chicken pox vaccine when he was that age. I am just not sure. ??? Sorry!

You definitely need to take him back to the doctor. Something is going on. His little body doesn't need to miss that much sleep either. :(

Well, physically, we are ready. Right now, my older ds is doing his handwriting and has finished math. The little is watching Wall-E for the umpteenth time and I am putting off calling him in here to do school because I have to be one on one with him the whole time and I am just.not.ready to get back to the grind yet. Oh well...best quit putting it off and go get it done. *sigh*

Did you test only with a Digi? If so, then go back and at least get an Answer or FRER. Did you get a positive pregnancy test with your other kids early on in the pregnancy? Some women take awhile for it to show, but two weeks does seem excessive. I have had whacky cycles lately with bleeding at odd times and so forth. I went to dr after dr and the diagnosis is "we just don't have a clue, but it is nothing serious" after lots of testing. I have had a lot of stress, but, like you, nothing that I haven't had before. I think, as we get older, our bodies just start to change. I am 29 and this started when I was 28. Everyone tells me I am just getting older and things are just going to be a little different now...but that is so tough to believe. Sorry, I rambled. If you don't get AF soon, I would go to your gyn for a blood test. If that is negative, then you are NOT pregnant and you can go from there and see what the dr thinks. Good luck!

Do you have any ideas where you found the reviews that you read through? I would love to make sure I agree the complaints are okay with our beliefs before we proceed. I am not sure I really know the difference between Mormons and other Christians. My ex-MIL was Mormon and she was very spiritual and in most ways, we agreed. I also have another good friend who is Mormon and we have never blatently disagreed about anything either. I attend a Baptist church, but would consider myself more non-denominational than anything.

Absolutely...now, give him the dog too and the house will totally go to heck in a handbasket. :) He does not do what I would do - i.e. he sends my youngest son to bed in fleece pjs on a summer night, he thinks a nice serving of Pineapple chunks is dinner, what is the real need for a BATH before bed??? LOL I am serious about the dog, though. If I leave, the dog goes a bit crazy. Dh can't handle the dog and once made him sleep in the garage while I was gone. The dog howled all night long and pooped everywhere. Now, if I am gone overnight, the dog goes to a kennel where he has a MUCH better experience. :(

Amazon (even the other vendors that sell on Amazon did right by me this year!), Xump.com, Dell, Walmart.com (though their shipping was a bit slower than the others).

If I can, for just a moment, I would like to tell you WHY an open and go curriculum didn't work for us. What you said in the above quote is EXACTLY why. My kids are not all one level. We started with Calvert and while I think they have a good program (don't get me wrong), it was cumbersome and didn't fit either of my kids. I spent hours on the phone with the advisors only to choose Calvert K for my 5 y/o (at the time not even 5 yet) who was a beginning reader. He was sounding out words by himself already. I thought that if I didn't get the K, then he would be missing something. WRONG. It was boring him to tears. It was boring ME to tears. He was way ahead in many areas. Other places, we touched on things he hadn't learned, but that I felt he didn't really need to learn at that point anyway. Overall, it was a waste of a LOT of money and what I learned was...don't buy a boxed curriculum. I thought I was failing my kids by NOT getting something comprehensive, but no. I failed them WITH the other. Now, we do our own things and the kids are learning at their own pace. My oldest is catching up in math, my youngest is reading 1st grade materials - and I am relaxed in knowing that they are working right where they need to be. Just something to maybe ponder as you make your decision. :)

Sonlight. If I were to ever use another "open and go" program, it would be SL. It is Biblical and uses living books galore. I have a friend who uses it and LOVES it and it is great if you have more than one child coming up to use it because most of it is non-consumable. :) (Also meaning it can be re-sold after use for a reasonable price).