Thank you all so much for your thoughts and advice. I feel much better now. I think my pregnancy hormones are really doing a number to my thinking process. I am going to stick with R&S for next year, do my best, and let God handle the rest. Thanks again for taking the time to listen to my panicking.

She seems to be doing well, and understanding most of it. She scores well (usually no lower than 85%) on the tests. I'm starting to think that mabye it would be best for her just to stick w/ R&S instead of switching and not knowing if it will work out or not. It makes me feel better knowing that that your ds used level 7 in 8th grade, and it worked out for him. Thanks for the advice.

My daughter writes beautifully. She has been writing her own stories since she was 6 or 7. I guess I have never looked at it that way, through her writing. Thinking back now, I can see that she is progressing nicely through her writing. Very rarely do I have to correct any grammatical errors in her parers. In fact, she was correcting some grammatical errors from some online writings of my DH's college classmates. I guess I just panicked because most of her writing is not assigned. It is "on her own for fun." We didn't "learn from a book" how to research & write a report, create an outline, write an essay etc. But mabye she is picking up more than I realized. Mabye it's me. Mabye I'm stressing because I didn't teach it to her from a book. Thank you for your thoughts. They have made me think, and breathe a little bit easier. Mabye she is doing just fine, and I'm the one falling apart. Ha!Ha!

My oldest dd will be in 8th grade next year, and I had a very scary light bulb moment just now. I'm afraid that she is not grounded enough in english/grammar/writing for highschool. Here is a little bit of history. We began homeschooling when she was in 4th grade. For the 1st 1 1/2 years we used Rod & Staff. It was very thorough, but I was sure that there was something else out there that was better. So over the next couple years we tried AOP lifepacs, Primary & Intermediate Language Lessons, CLP Applications of Grammar, and having not found "the perfect LA curriculum," we finally came back to R&S the last 1/2 of this year. But now I find myself looking at other curriculums and wondering if they would be better. I am torn on what to do this next year. I have heard many great things about CLE, but when I gave her the diagnostic test, it looks like they teach diagramming completely different than R&S. We have been working through the level 6 R&S book, so part of me says "don't switch again! Just continue w/ R&S level 7" while another part is asking if it will be enough to prepare her for highschool. Any advice as to whether to switch again, or just tough it out with R&S would be greatly appreciated. I feel so confused, pressured and inadequate at this moment. Have I messed up her education?

WOW! Did I write this? I aslo am expecting my sixth baby and feel like I have absolutely NO energy! My 1st 4 went pretty smooth, the 5th one was a little rougher. I was "in labor" for the last 4 months of my pregnancy! Every evening beginning at about 6pm until about 10pm I would have mild contractions. That was not fun, and I am hoping that this will not be a repeat of that. Anyway, you are not alone, I feel like I am letting a lot of things slide just because I don't have the energy for it! Hope all goes well for you.

Hi, My oldest dd is nearing the highschool years, and I am totally clueless as to how to prepare a transcript. Right now we are planning on using the MFW for English/lit, history etc., TT for math & Apologia for science. The rest will fall into place later. I'm just curious, how do I figure out how many credits each course is worth. I guess my question boils down to is how do you prepare a transcript if you are not using an accredited correspondence course or something of the sort? TIA,

I have 2 dd's that we used, or tried to use Writing Strands with. My oldest LOVES to write and is very creative on her own, my 2nd dd, however, hates writing, and struggles to write a paragraph (they are total opposites in a lot of areas). We really tried to like Writing Strands. I had heard so many good things about it, and so many people that loved it. So I hoped it would work for us. The 1st year my oldest dd worked through level 3 and did fine, but she started getting really bored with it. We started with level 4 next year, and it was very clear that it just wasnt working, she started to dislike writing, and I didn't want that to happen because she is such a natural writer. My 2nd dd, just hated it from the start and it was a fight every time I assigned a lesson. I think that she is going to need a not so independent writing program. So, that gives you one opinion coming from two totally different learning styles. We are now searching for a program(s) that will work for my girls this next year.

I am using Adventures with my 6yodd right now. We started in January (our other kindergarten curr. didn't work out), so we are not quite 1/2 way through it. We are also moving at a faster pace that what is scheduled until we find where we need to slow down. I used this curr. w/ my son 3 years ago in kindergarten, and he got bored with the workbook 1/2 way through so I supplemented w/ the colorful phonics workbook from Abeka and continued to use the CLP readers etc. It worked great for him. As far sm my dd goes, so far so good. I think this is a very easy program to use, and my kids are learning to read with out problems! My ds who is no 9 is reading at an almost adult level! I cant keep enough books around for him. As far as the 2nd grade, I'm no help there. We have only used the levle A, but plan to move on to level B when we finish this time.

Thank you all for your thoughts, advice and support. I've got some good ideas to try. I really appreciate it. Hopefully I can get something figured out and put into action before the baby comes!

I'm so glad to hear it's not just me! I am about 13 weeks along, and I am soooooooooooooo absent minded lately that my family often looks at me like I am from another planet. Ha!Ha! Hopefully this will pass.

We moved into our house 1 1/2 years ago, and were blessed/cursed with white tile in the kitchen and laundry/back entry area. It's really pretty when it is clean, but with 5 kids, a dh that wont take his shoes off, and a dog it seems like I rarely get to see the floor! I try to keep it swept and mopped, but it always seems like there is dirt that doesnt get swept up, and once it is wet, then it is stuck to the floor and just gets pushed around. I thought I would love tile floors, but I am ready to pull it up and put down wood (Ha!Ha! like I can afford to do that, but it would be nice!). I would greatly appreciate any tips, ideas or great gadgets that you know of. Thank you,

Tacky, tacky, tacky! Do people actually think this is cute or funny?

I would put vitamin E on it until you can get ahold of your vet. I put vitamin E in my animals eyes when they have problems (cuts, cataracts etc.) and they heal right up. I don't know if it will help, but it certainly wont hurt. Hope she gets better.

Found it! Thank you :0)

I don't know how to do a search. I would be greatful if someone would enlighten me. Thanks

I have heard of quite a few people that like CLE LA program on this forum. If you don't mind, would you share with my why you like it so much, and mabye why it works for you? I would also like to hear if there is anyone who didn't like it, and why. We are currently using R&S, but after looking at samples on CLE's site, I'm interested. I am also curious about CLE's math program. If you have used this please tell me why you like/dislike it. Whats great/not so great about it. Thanks so much

I had Chicken Pox twice! The first time, I was 5, and had only a couple spots. They would go away and a couple more would apear (very mild). This went on for a couple weeks. Then I got it again when I was 15. This time it was more severe (267 spots all over) and it lasted about 2 1/2 weeks.

My longest labor was about 7 hours, only about 4 of those hours being with contractions. I guess I'm not much help. But my mom was in labor for 36 hours with me, and 48 hours with my brother. I'm not sure if there is a maximum "safe" time for labor.

I think it depends on the seller. I have seen some auctions that require payment within 24 hours, or some with in 3 days, and I think I've even seen a few the require it within 7 days (usually if they are going to accept check or money order though). When my dh sells something on Ebay he usually requires payment within 3 days. He includes this info with the payment instructions on the auction. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the tip. This actually sounds just like what my dd is doing. She only has wet accidents. She will wait until she is dancing on the floor. But when I ask her if she needs to go, she says no. I guess I will just start setting the timer again and take her to the potty even if she doesn't need to go, just to try.

I don't think it is coming too quickly for her to get to the potty. She had/has amazing control. We drive just over an hour to church every Sunday, and early on I was concerned that it would be too far and she wouldn't make it all the way, but even when she mentioned that she needed to go, and there was no where to stop, she would hold it until we found a bathroom (sometimes 45minutes)! Things here have gotten a little crazy with my morning sickness etc. but her regression began before I was even pregnant. So I hesitate to think that that is the reason. I guess it could be contributing, though, since it seems to have messed up our "daily schedule" for the last 6 weeks or so.

My dd turned 2 in November, and we started potty training right after. It didn't take long, and she had the hang of it! She was totally independent, even making it through the night and staying dry. She would go by herself, turn the light on/off, and needed no help. This continued for about 3 weeks, then all of a sudden she just stopped trying! It seemed like we were just about back in diapers. Everything I tried just didn't seem to make a difference. I tried taking her to the potty again, thinking that mabye something scared her and she didn't want to go alone anymore, but not even that has helped. Now, we're still not there. She will "poop" in the toilet all the time, but she has frequent wet "accidents." I know after having potty trained 4 other children I should be a pro at this, but my other kids were so easy and just about potty trained themselves. This regression is new territory for me. DD understands that she is supposed to use the toilet and not wet in her panties. Anyone have any suggestions?

We do not require our kids to wear them when they are just riding around our yard/street (we live on a dead end road with only 2 other neighbors. So there is next to no traffic). But when we go on bike rides that extend past our quiet road, then helmets are a must!

MY husband has his Paypal account attached to our bank account. This makes it easy for him to deposit any "Paypal balance" into our account, or when he doesnt have anything in his Paypal account, he can still buy things because he has the option to pull money from the bank account. My Paypal account, however, is not linked to a bank account. It works for me, but I have no way to withdrawl the money from my account or put more into it. I can only spend it online, and my balance grows only when I sell books to someone. This being said, we have had our accounts for 5-6years, and have never had any problems. Actually Paypal has "saved our bacon" (for lack of a better term) when a couple Ebay deals have not gone well. They refunded our money when the seller would not. Hope this helps

I have never used stoneware, but I have quite a few cast iron pans and a griddle. I absolutely LOVE them! I will never go back to non-stick again! Nevermind the toxic chemical issues there.