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.

:seeya: <-- That's me, waving my hand, saying, "Yes, I just bought MCT, too." :001_smile:

The Texas state tests are available, free, on-line. If you want to do standardized testing, like Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, you do not necessarily need to go through a homeschool group. If you (or someone you know) has a college degree, you (or they) can get certified to administer the test through Bob Jones. (Probably others, but that is the one I went through.) You said you are mainly interested to see how your children are doing. I would think it depends on your state - or which state test you would use. They are certainly not created equal! The Texas state tests are insanely easy. My 2nd grade son missed only 1 question on the 5th grade science test. I would like to think that means he is brilliant, but I think it is more a reflection on the test. I trust the results of the ITBS more than our state's test!

DH and I grew up in the same state and went to the same school - and we both remember nothing of our state history! In fact, it wasn't until last year, when we were driving through our home state that we realized Lewis and Clark went right through the area. :tongue_smilie: We are now in Texas, which has an exciting state history. I am not planning on doing anything "formal" for history. This year we visited The Alamo and read a few books on it, plus visited the Bob Bullock Museum in Austin. I think DS will learn - and remember - more state history by visiting different areas of the state and visiting museums.

The serial comma. Books and magazines tend to use it. Newspapers don't. I was a newspaper copy editor for several years and never, ever use the serial comma. They actually drive me nuts. I don't know what I am going to due when it comes time teach that to DS. :glare:

All the stores in this area now carry them year-round, so they are with the regular candy and not in the Christmas aisle.

I would love lots of windows so we could set up a nice bird feeding station and bird bath outside. A basket with bird id book, binoculars and nature journal supplies (watercolors, colored pencils, etc.) A big sturdy table for: microscope, lope, magnifying glass, telescope collector's display boxes magnets terrarium an aquarium, set up as a temporary home for lizards, bugs, etc. every id book you can imagine - clouds, butterflies, caterpillars, snakes, etc. camera jars of sea shells, acorns, rocks One thing that I do have that I love -- I bought a wire hanger w/suction cups at a teacher supply store years ago. I have it up on our kitchen window with bird flashcards. I rotate out what flashcards are up so we can focus on learning four different birds at a time.

My standard gift for outside teachers is a nice candy bar (or some sort of chocolate) with a Starbucks gift card.

DS normally makes developmental leaps around his birthday. The year we switched was a very large leap. :tongue_smilie: He needed harder work. And I was rethinking how we were doing "school." It just seemed like a good time to switch gears.I don't really know "how" we switched. Just looked through our books, tossed what was too young, added in some harder stuff and went from there. We are in a low-reg state so I didn't have to worry about recording. (I do record, for my own records. The year we switched was just 'short' on days.) I will admit it is a bit odd, but I do know several people that record from Jan-Dec - all the children have end of the year birthdays. We do many classes outside the home and I just record (again, for my own records) that DS took a class from Sept-Dec one year and Jan-May the next, or however the dates fall.

I run our school years from Jan-Dec. DS is a Christmas baby and we school year-round. It just made more sense to me to go by age, starting fresh in January, and not following the public school calendar. We did start homeschooling using the traditional school year but :tongue_smilie: It was so arbitrary when to start and where to end. I am so glad that we switched.

I have a (former) friend that sent her children to preschool at 18 months, which is the earliest many places around here will take them. She was a former preschool teacher and really felt that all children needed the social interaction and early education that preschool offered. We are former friends because I don't agree with her. We tried to retain our friendship, but she was extremely pushy and outspoken about my child "needing" preschool. (Which is interesting because he is very social and was reading before age 4 - her kids? :tongue_smilie:) She could never accept that I wouldn't put DS into preschool, then when we decided to homeschool - it just drove a major wedge between us. I can see possibly putting a child in preschool if Mom needed a break or if there wasn't other options for meeting families with young children. Otherwise, I don't get it.

I don't know about this week as everyone is shipping right now, but wanted to comment on my Amazon experience last week. I ordered a toy on Tuesday, at 5:15 p.m. It arrived Thursday morning. I was amazed.

I have had two gingerbread decorating parties. And survived. :tongue_smilie: 1.) Don't bother mopping your kitchen floor before the party. Save your energy for mopping the floor after! 2.) I bought little paper cups - the kind that might be set out at a wedding w/nuts or mints - at a party supply store, cheap. I filled with an assortment of candy, cereal, pretzels, etc. and set around on the table. That way all the kids had within their reach an assortment of decorations, no reaching over anyone else or complaining that they wanted something at the other end of the table. 3.) Most important - buy a cheap plastic table cloth for the table. When the party is done - just roll up all the mess! We always read a gingerbread boy picture book before decorating. If you can find a large paper gingerbread boy, you can play "pin the gumdrop on the gingerbread boy." Or pin the carrot on the snowman, for a general winter party idea.

I have used their math program since preK - will be starting 3rd grade math in January. Love their math - but not so much their LA. It was just too much busywork for DS. His reading level and interest level are so much higher than his fine motor skills. Probably good for some kids, just not mine.

It is just three of us and I only want to cook one meal on Christmas. We start with homemade cinnamon rolls and fruit for breakfast. I bake the cinnamon rolls the night before and hold them in the fridge to make in the morning. Lunch is a cheese tray, shrimp cocktail and easy appetizers. Generally I make a pizza dip -- block of cream cheese, small can of pizza sauce poured over. Top with sliced black olives or whatever strikes my fancy. Top with some mozzarella cheese and bake until warmed through. Serve with crackers.

I do a roast in the crockpot with tomatoes (of some sort - sauce, diced - whatever I have on hand), dry onion soup mix, sweet potatoes and carrots. It is very good.

I haven't used their "Daily Math Practice" workbook, but I have used and absolutely love their "Building Math Fluency" and "Daily Word Problem" books. I found a used, but unused, "Daily Math Practice" book super-cheap a few weeks ago so I bought it and plan on starting in January. It looks great! It has a mix of problems - word problems, horizontal and vertical math problems, etc. (We are 3rd grade, so I'm not sure about 1st grade level you linked.)