I have never heard of making a birdhouse out of a milk carton until I read your post. I did a quick internet search and see that, indeed, there are directions available for making one. (I had only heard of using milk cartons for bird feeders.) Just my 2 cents as a certified Master Naturalist and an avid bird watcher. I wouldn't do it. I don't think the glue on milk/OJ cartons will reliably hold up to the elements, nor is the cardboard sturdy enough. I sure would hate to have a nest full of baby birds tumble down because the cardboard ripped or the glue came loose. Likewise -- I believe if you go to the trouble of putting up a birdhouse, you need to make it predator proof! Nothing is more distressing than finding a snake or rat eating the eggs or babies. http://www.wbu.com/education/birdhouses.html

I have been using it off and on for the past year with my (just turned) 8-year-old. I like the program, but really wished I had known about it earlier and started when DS was 5, instead of 7. :tongue_smilie: I only have a few lessons left and am trying to decide if I want to finish it off or not. I have tried to add more advanced reading to the lessons, but it still hasn't been 'enough' for my science loving boy. It really is a good solid program, in my opinion. I love the way the lessons/concepts are woven together. It does take a bit to read over and get the feel for, but then it is easy to implement.

Like others have mentioned - the early alertness was a big sign with DS. He was premature and didn't open his eyes until he was a week old. Soon after, the doctors were saying that they had never seen a baby - let alone a preemie in NICU - that was so alert and aware of his surroundings. One doctor often commented that DS waited a week to open his eyes, then never shut them again. :tongue_smilie: (True. He has never been a big sleeper. Now, at 8, he is trying to figure out a way to make humans solar powered so we don't need to sleep to recharge. He says sleeping is a total loss of time.) Re: alertness. I bought a sling for DS but he hated it. I sold it and bought a chest carrier. He hated facing towards me, as he wanted to see every.thing. He had amazing head control at a young age, so here I would carry this tiny premature baby facing outward in a chest carrier and he would take every.thing. in. People were always freaking out. DS was also a late talker. Well, he said, "Oh, thank you," at a very early age whenever appropriate. Then after a month, he stopped talking totally and didn't speak again for over a year. He was in speech therapy at that time, but spoke less and less until he went totally silent. Yes, I was freaking out. Then I realized that while all his friends were signing the ABC song, they had no idea what it related to. Meanwhile, DS could identify every letter of the alphabet and put them in order. DS didn't start talking until one month before his 3rd birthday, then it was a complete sentence with adjectives, perfectly articulated. He hasn't stopped talking since. :lol: DS actually hit all of his developmental milestones, sans talking, at a very young age, even though he was nearly 7 weeks premature. He was walking at 10 months and full out running at 11.5 months.

We live for field trips! But then, I have a very, very active boy that learns "on the go." :tongue_smilie: Last year, we went on 45 separate field trips. (I don't count duplicates, like going to the same zoo multiple times.) We are very fortunate to live in a large urban area with loads of museums, art galleries and theaters. I search out cheap or free events, discount days, coupons, etc. We also take educational vacations. DH and I decide on a location, then I seek out field trip opportunities in that area. If we are studying a particular topic, I try to find a related field trip. On the flip side, if something comes up then we will read a related book or two and make it into a 'mini unit study.' (Exs: There was a traveling George Washington Carver exhibit here last year, so we read a biography on him, then visited the exhibit. This year we are attending three plays - The Secret Garden, Narnia and Peter Pan - so will read the books before seeing the plays.) We sometimes go with one or two friends, other times with our homeschool group. Sometimes it is just DS and myself and sometimes dad tags along. (Especially if I need driving assistance. :glare: I don't like driving into the city by myself.)

A lady in my homeschool group moved a few years back and had a large garage sale. She was a former school teacher and had an entire garage full of school books and supplies. (Both homeschool stuff and ps-type items.) While it was in conjunction with a regular garage sale, she opened it up a day earlier (think on a Wednesday) for homeschoolers. I have no idea how much she sold total, but I bought a lot. :tongue_smilie: And - like others have mentioned - the homeschool group I am in has a used book event once a year. Normally everyone e-mails out what they will be bringing and people are allowed to put dibs in on items in advance.

DS got his in October, shortly before he turned 8. He is very responsible, so I wasn't worried about him hurting himself or losing it. What I didn't anticipate is that he would want to take it with him everywhere and show everyone he knows! We had to frisk him before we went to the State Fair, to ensure that he would not set off their metal detectors! I told DH I was so glad he wasn't in ps or else we would be getting that dreaded phone call, "Um. Your son has been suspended for bringing a knife onto school property." :tongue_smilie:

I flat iron my hair daily. I use and love Redken products! In particular: Velvet whip http://www.redken.com/products/haircare/all-soft/all-soft-velvet-whip then followed up with a bit of Smooth Down Heat Glide at the ends http://www.redken.com/products/haircare/smooth-down/smooth-down-heat-glide then blown out flat w/a broad brush. When my hair is dry, I spritz with a bit of Iron Silk http://www.redken.com/products/styling/medium-control/iron-silk-07 and flat iron. If my hair is frizzy, I will apply a tiny bit of Heat Glide. (Just a dab in my palm, then smoothed through my hair.) Okay, now that I type all that out, I sound really crazed about my hair, but really I'm not. :tongue_smilie: I was a major tom-boy growing up and always had super-short hair. I grew it out in college, but that was back in the big-perm '80s. :D Then I went super-short again for many more years. I decided to grow it out about 8 years ago and don't know much about hair care/upkeep. I adore my hairdresser and she turned me on to these products. I love how super-soft my hair feels.

Last year we tested the first week of December and got our results back in three weeks.

I have a lot of issues with NCLB, but this is one of my bigger issues. :glare:I live in Texas, where a large percent of our students are non-English speaking and some of our urban schools have a drop-out rate around 50%. So Texas sets its own standards. And knows that federal funds are based on whether or not they meet their standards. Yeah, if you were in a contest to see if you could meet your goal, would you set your goal high? or low? Sorry. But Texas set their goals embarrassingly low. I think the tests are a complete sham.

Also remember that your children's view of the world and nature are so much different than your own, viewed through harsher adult eyes. To a child, a simple plot of dirt and a shovel and pail and an acorn or two can keep them happily occupied for hours. My son is often outside for hours at a time. But honestly, one of his favorite things to do is run the garden hose at a slow trickle down our driveway and have "boat races" with leaves. He just turned 8, but has been doing that since he was 2. It still melts my heart to watch him cheering on his "boats." He also likes to pick leaves off our boxwood hedge to "feed the (imaginary) ants." Kids seem to find the simplest ways to enjoy nature, I believe.

I gave DS the ITBS last year w/o even thinking about doing a "test prep" book. :tongue_smilie: He ended up so bogged down in the terminology and wording of the questions. In many cases, DS would point out something that was wrong and I would have to agree with him. Ex: One question asked, "Maria put the strawberries in the ______." Bucket, pail or bag? The picture was clearly a woven basket. Stuff like that only added to our frustration. We are not required to test, though I plan on testing every other year. Next time, we will use a test prep book!

We ordered from BJU, too. It was over a year ago, but if memory serves me there was a "bubble" to fill in along with the student info. You have to select what grade/month to have the child scored at - think it was right there on the form. I just pulled out DS's scores from last year. They also give the results two ways. "Core," which just includes math and language, and "Composite," which includes social studies and science. So you can have the child take the whole test, but take their composite score "lightly." When our son took the test last year, I was a bit worried about that part of the test, but I wanted to see his science score so I had him take the whole thing. I was pleasantly surprised at his "social studies" portion, since we hadn't formally studied it. He scored above grade, but we have gone to a lot of museums and I think he has picked up more than I realized.

You can give the TAKS to a rising 3rd grader. I gave the 3rd grade portion to DS when he was in Kindergarten and he passed with flying colors. :tongue_smilie: That is not saying my DS is brilliant, but saying that the TAKS exams are so horribly dumbed down it is an embarrassment to the state! But, then, we are rated something like 48th or 49th. :glare: So I wouldn't take the TAKS exam seriously. (One of the 5th grade science question asks what a bike needs to coast down a hill. The answer? A front tire. Seriously. I lost all respect for our state's exam at that point.) You can give the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and not do the Social Studies portion, that is optional. They give you a couple options of how to take it and have it graded.

Here's the link to the actual recall notice: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10104.html

No problem. May I be dense in return? :tongue_smilie:My DH saved them to one of those "stick things." Thumb drives? He told me to take it in and give it to them and they would know what to do. :D Thankfully, he was right. It was so quick and painless. And I didn't even appear too clueless. I think it took all of 10 minutes. (I was there on New Year's Eve day and they were not at all busy.) Cardstock cover was $1 cheaper than plastic, so I opted for cardstock. When she brought it back, she said she upgraded to plastic for me for free, since it was my first time having anything printed with them. In the future, I would go with the plastic. It just looks so nice. I always thought that their binding was that cheap plastic stuff that church cookbooks have... I was pleasantly surprised at the quality. Prior to this, I had never thought about binding. But - now - I think I will try to get DS's stuff spiral bound. Just looks so much easier for him to deal with.

I just ordered this through Lulu. The same day it arrived at my doorstep, I took two "free" e-books to Office Max and had printed and spiral bound. (One was 161 pages, the other 64 pages. Plastic covers. Cost $21) It was a sharp contrast for me... The quality from Lulu is great. I have never had problems with their binding before. But the two e-books I had printed and spiral bound are awesome. I love that I can open to the page and it will lay flat. I really, really wish I had thought of that before I ordered the science book from Lulu! For my son, at least, a spiral bound student book would work so much better.

I had very similar symptoms a few years ago and ended up being diagnosed with celiac. :tongue_smilie: You could possibly change up your diet to see if helps w/your symptoms. For me, it took a good month of being gluten free to tell a big difference. And I had repeated setbacks - it was so hard to give up bread! But it was so worth it.

Re: Maturity. My grandma graduated from high school at age 16, got on a bus and rode half way across the country to work at a factory in California - during WWII. Two years later, she got married, moved back to her home town and had twins. A year later, she had my father. After the children were in school, my grandma went to college and became an RN. As a parent today, I can't even begin to imagine letting my young teen (if I had one) do that! Nor can I imagine many 19-year-olds married, with three children under the age of 2. (They were married 40+ years and, by all accounts, had a great life.) I talked to my grandma about that time period a few years before she passed away and she said that it was just expected - you graduated young and started a family. You were responsible because society expected you to be. Today, most parents would counsel their children to hold off on marriage, hold off on starting a family. My child is still young, so this is uncharted territory for me. But I will say that I am shocked by the teens in our neighborhood. I am friendly with the parents and discouraged at how many times they say, "Well, they are still young. They don't know what to do with their lives." They are all 19 and 20 now and are still hanging out at their parents, smoking in the driveway, not employed, not in college. I don't know what the expectations are these days but, judging by the kids in our neighborhood, expectations have taken a nose-dive in the last two generations.

My DS has mild sensory issues. He would probably come across as "picky" to some people, as he doesn't like "normal" childhood meals. Ex: Grilled cheese is "too greasy" no matter how dry the bread is. He gags on the texture of hamburger. But he does like "adult" type foods, like salmon, sushi and broccoli. I do what a previous poster mentioned - I always make at least one food that I know DS will like, generally a veggie/side dish, and let him eat as much of that as he wants. DS loves sweet potatoes so that is my "go to" side dish. We do request that DS tries a new food, but he does not have to swallow. We have taught him to try it, then politely spit it out into his napkin. (No commenting and no gagging sounds allowed.) Not the best way to deal with it, I know. But he will now try most foods and has actually found several that he now likes. (Like Brussels sprouts!) Like someone else mentioned - let your child go to through cookbooks with you, take him shopping and have him pick out one new food a week. (We make it a game - like, pick something red today...) One thing that has helped us a lot - try different foods in different forms. Ex: DS hates cooked green things in his food, like parsley or chopped spinach. But he loves raw spinach salads. DS hates plain cooked carrots, but he loves them with just a drizzle of maple syrup. (Sugary, I know. But 1 teaspoon added to a pan of cooked carrots goes a long way!) Involve your child in cooking. If he likes ketchup, put some in a small bowl and let him sample new foods as you cook. (My DS will stand and help me chop veggies for stir-fry and dip almost anything in ketchup.)

It actually says on the bottom of the balance board that you must be barefoot - no shoes or socks.

Speaking for my own child -- We have been using FLL for the past year. DS doesn't need 5+ lessons on "A noun is..." He has it after one lesson, can apply it and is ready to go on.Math? Same thing. If he knows 2+2 instantly, I'm not going to drill him on it endlessly. What is the purpose of that? To catch him unaware and he makes a mistake? To bore him? When he knows a math concept or drill, we move on to more challenging work. That is what homeschooling is all about - having the freedom to work at the child's level.

Re: Boyfriends. I have searched the internet to locate the original article that I read, but have not been able to find it. The only statistics I have found are from 2001. The article I read was 2009 or 2008 and it was published after we, locally, had numerous similar child abuse cases within a very short time period. This website does address my original comment. http://www.pcsao.org/ChooseYourPartnerCampaign.htm

Put the paper in the freezer for a little bit. If I'm on the ball (which isn't very often!), I try to put a piece in the freezer when snow is forecast. I'm just a few suburbs east of you and we don't have snow! Hopefully soon! We are the same allergy, runny nose, coughing mess.

Many years ago, I was a journalist and covered a symposium on child abuse. I don't remember the exact numbers - and it was 15+ years ago so they would have changed - but the majority (like 90-95 percent?) of cases of child abuse happen to children under age 3. One of the speakers said newborns with colic and toddlers potty training are the most vulnerable. I read a large city newspaper daily and the articles I have read over the years back up that info. Likewise. My son had awful food allergies when he was younger. I spent a lot of time researching allergies, causes, what to do, etc. One of the books I read (and wish I had written down the title!) had an entire chapter devoted to child abuse. The author said that many children that are abused have undiagnosed food allergies. Food allergies and "colic" do go hand-in-hand in newborns. Anyway. Whenever I have been confronted by that question, I do point out that the majority of cases are NOT in school age children. Unless we want to live in a society where children are turned over to the state at birth, there really isn't a way to track children from birth to school age. Children are hard work. They cry. Endlessly, sometimes. They make messes. They have accidents. Potty training isn't easy. Maybe we need to address those issues, instead of blaming it on the educational choices of the parent/s. On another point, I read a research piece a few years back that showed that the majority of children that died of abuse were killed by their mother's boyfriend. Again, that is an issue that needs to be addressed by society. It is not related to how the child is educated. Someone mentioned earlier that abusers can be found anywhere. I wanted to point out the recent news story about the pediatrician that is accused of abusing 100 young patients! So yes, sadly abusers are found everywhere.

:grouphug: My son and I almost died from HELLP syndrome 8 years ago. I know it took many years off my husband's life. I admire anyone that has a home birth, but knowing how quickly my pregnancy went downhill - they scare the daylights out of me! Praying for your friend's recovery and for her family.