:hurray: So excited to attend!!! I'd love a class on homeschooling 2E kids. I realize it may not be possible but I thought I'd request it!

There will always be horror stories of women who have had serious problems. No medical procedure is without risk. For me, the risk of trying the Mirena outweighed my problem of heavy bleeding and severe PMS. Both have drastically improved since the IUD. My only regret is waiting so long! Life is SO MUCH better! I think it is worth a try. If it doesn't work for you then just have it removed.

I have a $40 budget to purchase 8 books as prizes for a homeschool spelling bee. The winner of each grade (1-8) will receive a book. I originally planned to purchase the same book for each grade but now I'm not sure. I then thought it would be clever to have a book about bees but then I thought that was too silly. Then I thought of books about spelling bees but I haven't found anything that looks worthwhile. I then thought of just getting the 2014 Newbery winner Flora and Ulysses but it is almost $8 per book and is out of my budget. Any other good recommendations? The books need to fit into a lunch-bag size bag and I would prefer to order from Amazon.

We are having our own LA woes as outlined in another thread here. I hope you get some good advice!

Thank you End of Ordinary for always providing thoughtful responses to my posts!

After coming up empty handed in my search for the best writing curriculum, I just decided to buy DD7 a fancy journal and let her write in it as she wanted. She will sometimes write stories or notes on random paper and I told her that a journal would be a better place to keep track of her writing. This would be our "writing curriculum" for the year. Things started out rough with the journal. She wanted to outline every. single. detail of every. single. day. It was really time consuming and she didn't seem to enjoy it. She was several days behind and frustrated. With a great deal of effort, I encouraged her to record only the most interesting parts of her day. I also told her that it wasn't important to write about every day. It was okay to skip days or even weeks. While I was able to convince her to condense her writing, I haven't been able to convince her to skip days. She must record something for everyday. We took time off of homeschool over Christmas and even though she has had her journal next to her bed, she didn't write in it once over the break. Now that we are back into the normal swing of things, she is desperately trying to get caught up. She is more than 3 weeks behind. A lot happened over the break and she doesn't want to forget any details in her writing. It is really causing her a lot of anxiety. This feels... not helpful. I really just want to throw the journal in the trash. She still writes her stories and notes on random paper. The journal is only used to record day to day happenings. I feel like is hasn't helped her writing skills at all. I'm not really sure what to do from here. Any advice? She is a natural writer and reader. This leads me to my next questions. I am trying to put together a rough plan for the fall. I feel like I have a good plan for all subjects but language arts, particularly writing and grammar. I already have a book list so reading is covered. She reads a ton anyway. We dropped spelling this year because she is a natural speller. I decided to give Caesar's English a try and so far it has been very successful. She loves learning new big words and is very interested in origins of words. We will continue to work our way through Caesar's English at a natural pace and move into the second book when we are finished with the first. Grammar. We are about 3/4 of the way through FLL4. The FLL series has generally been successful for us but it is too repetitive. I'm looking for something new. I have my eye on MCT. No idea which level would be best for us. Any advice on a good grammar program for this child? Writing. No clue. Everything I've looked at in the past seems like a bad fit for us. The journal obviously hasn't worked out. Maybe more MCT? Unless I find something that is worth my time I may just consider doing nothing. Any advice? I have been very interested in Treasured Conversations. Maybe if 8filltheheart is here she can give some advice on whether or not it would be a good fit for DD7. It seems like TC would be good for both writing and grammar?

Thank you for all of the encouragement! Even the less-encouraging posts were still encouraging. For me, diapers, putting on clothes, helping with the potty, cleaning up messes, etc is SO tedious. Homeschool with its ups and downs can sometimes be emotionally draining but not tedious. At least I feel like I have a neuron or two firing in my brain!

Do things really get easier when the littles get older? I see this come up often and I am interested to hear from those who have BTDT. Life has been hard for me with my little ones for a variety of reasons. I have to tell myself that this is only a "phase" and that life will get easier when I don't have to worry about a baby. My little guy just turned 2 and I can see how things are already getting easier for me. I'm not a fan of the baby phase. :ph34r: I am starting to hope that life won't be so overwhelming in the future. Am I being naive? Are things really going to get easier for me? I feel like 5 years old is when my kids just start to get interesting. Why would I ship them off to school?! I love homeschooling!

I was pretty desperate with my heavy periods and decided it was worth a try. One of the nice things about an IUD is that it is reversible. If it doesn't work for you, just have it taken out!

Thanks for all the replies. I may have to try a few things so thanks for the various suggestions. The foam in non-removable. I have the older model of this stroller: http://www.amazon.com/BOB-Revolution-Duallie-Stroller-Orange/dp/B004DC9TD0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420680774&sr=8-1&keywords=double+bob+stroller

I've had 2. No hair loss. No weight gain. I have heavy periods and intense PMS that have both significantly improved with the Mirena. I do have an occasional cramping episode every few months that feels like labor. That is the only negative side effect I have noticed. The benefits really outweigh the costs for me.

I have a double Bob stroller that I have ran with for almost 5 years. This last summer the foam padding on the handle of the stroller started to smell bad. My hands get really sweaty when I run and I assume the smell is from that. I tried just blotting it with a wet rag after sweaty runs and it helped a little, but the smell still lingers. I am now looking to sell my stroller to down grade to a single. I really want to get that smell out so I can get a good price on it. Any advice? TIA!

I coordinate field trip activities for a group of about 8 families. We started with 4 families that were friends. We gained a few families by word of mouth and lost a few families for a variety of reasons. All of us have younger kids so we can plan activities to accommodate that age group. We don't really fit in anywhere else in our community so it is nice to have our little group. We meet every week on the same day and at the same time. Everyone can plan it into their schedule. We do formal field trips once or twice a month and meet at the library or park on the other weeks. I am an organizer so it works well for me, even though I am an introvert. It has taken time and effort but it has been well worth it. We've made some close friends.

No harm in trying an elimination diet. Be sure to keep a food and BM diary. Absolutely talk to your pediatrician about this, though. We had issues a while back and the diary really helped the ped and me pinpoint the problem.

I wipe dirty finger prints off from time to time. "Dusting" has never occurred to me.

I've read many of the books listed here. I would start with "Why Students Don't Like School."

Sounds like we have the same MIL! Mine only visits once or twice a year and she always brings a pile of assessments that she uses in her classroom. (She is a teacher's aide.) She thinks I have my kids placed too low and should be pushing them through more difficult work. She goes on and on about how wonderful Saxon is and how we MUST use it! And Wordly Wise, that is the best spelling/word study program available! :glare: Yes, Saxon and Wordly Wise are good programs. No, we will not be using them in our homeschool. Yes, I want to challenge my kids. No, I will not place DS in a 5th grade math book because that is what your assessment places him in. I have to brace myself every visit for something new. It really is tiring. For me, the thing that stands out in your post is that you are beginning to doubt your ability to homeschool. That is why her comments are particularly harmful right now. When my MIL and I get to a point where I feel like I just can't explain why our choices or best for our family, I always have my DH talk to her. I haven't had to do it for homeschooling yet, but every time we go home to visit our families DH has to give her a big explanation of why we can't do every little thing she expects. I try politely talking to her and explaining our situation but she is able to push me into things I don't want to do. She doesn't push him the way she pushes me. DH has to talk to her multiple times during the trip and we have to keep firm. Maybe try having your DH talk to your MIL will help. When she sees that you and DH are on the same side, she will be less likely to push you. It won't work the first or second time, but maybe having him share the load will help ease some of your burden.

I found it! http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/395573-nm/

Thank you! I knew there was a better way to do a google search but I was typing it in wrong.

This must be it! The changed title threw me off but I think this is what I am looking for. Thank you!

Can anyone help me improve my search for an old thread. I'm going crazy trying to find it! I've put in all the key words I can think of and can't seem to find it. I am pretty sure it was tagged, too, but I didn't have any luck searching by tags. I even tried a google search and not much has come up. How do you find old threads? I'm looking for a giant thread on autism resources from the learning challenges board. I asked if anyone could help me find the thread there but I haven't gotten any responses. Can anyone here help me? TIA!

I've searched multiple ways for a thread that had resources for ASD, Aspergers, and PDDNOS. Does anyone know the thread I'm talking about? Can anyone help me find it?

Yes, this is true. I think that was one reason why I didn't want to have him evaluated. I believed that if he received a diagnosis it would mean that I had to label him as "broken." It took time for me to let go of that idea and realize that a diagnosis doesn't change who he is. My hope is to gain more insight about my child and know how to guide him on his path in life.

I remember that thread well. 8's post about her son was VERY helpful for me. It was one of the major turning points in my decision to have DS5 evaluated. It took a few more kicks in the pants to finally get me to the pediatrician for a referral but it gave me a push in the right direction. Now that I have had 9 months to think about my decision, I regret not doing in sooner. I stewed about it for months before calling the pediatrician. I cried after I hung up the phone. (I cried while on the phone!) Why was I so afraid?! Even if DS isn't ASD, I know that the assessment will be helpful. Can't wait till next week!

To lewelma and Pegs... :grouphug: I am as plane jane average as they come and I cannot begin to understand the world of a profoundly gifted person. I love reading experiences of profoundly gifted adults on these boards and their experiences as children. I hope that when my own children are adults they can look back and say, "Mom did the best she could."