Has anyone ever had it done? We had a recurrent leak in a 3 season room off of our kitchen, and it was so bad that the wood underneath the floor was disintegrating! Dh repaired that and fixed the leaking, but I'm very concerned about possible mold, because this leak happened for 3 consecutive springs. Lots of time for stuff to grow. We also had broken faucet that caused a major leak in our familyroom ceiling a few months ago and we didn't know how long it had been going on prior to our discovery. I called a mold inspector and to test our whole house is going to cost a couple of thousand dollars-just the testing! Money we do not have, but I'm concerned about the health of my dc. Dh, of course poo poo's the whole thing. I know there are home tests you can get, but I'm sure they aren't as reliable. If anyone who's had any experience with testing, cleanup, health issues due to mold; I'd appreciate the info.

We are in Wisconsin, and one of my high school reunions was early fall, because the first night was on a Friday at a home football game. Everyone went to a local bar afterwards, and the formal dinner was the next night. Other times, they have them in August so that they can do a picnic type thing to include children and they've been held at local parks. They also have a separate night for just the adults. It's never been just a one night thing.

Are you sure that's not my dd you are speaking about??? Really, it must be the age. When mine gets something and everything's easy, it's smooth as can be, but if she doesn't understand, makes a mistake, or has plans and needs to get school done ASAP (which usually coincides with the days that she doesn't understand something or the lesson is super difficult :sad: ) then it's a nightmare for all involved. If I could count the times I've said to dh "I can't do this anymore, what should we do?" I've considered all on-line, but we can't afford it, strictly workbook style stuff where I don't have to do one on one with her; you name it. Really, we've finally sat down with her, and I told her we were going to switch her back to strictly using TT (math is one big issue) and that I would have her do a workbook for grammar (we use R&S and do a lot orally) as well as have her do independent history reading with written discussion questions. When we laid that all out in a calm way, explaining that we couldn't continue this way and would not accept any more attitude or disrespect, she got it. She likes MUS and wants to continue with it, and she doesn't want to go the textbook/wkbk route with the other subjects, so we've reached a peaceful agreement. It's been working so far-talk to me in another week, though. ;) The other thing, we were going to either do CC or a TOG co-op next year, and because she will have to be accountable to her peers/and or teachers, it should work well. I feel for you,sister! :grouphug:

I wonder if my director is able to make this decision on her own. The only thing is, my kids tuition would also be going to pay her, as well as the other 2 tutors. And, since the campus is so small...... All I can do is speak with her about it and explain my ignorance. When I first agreed, I didn't have all of the information, and we haven't gotten together to go over all of the details; I found out on my own most of the specifics. One of my biggest faults is my enthusiasm tends to overrule my common sense sometimes. Things sound so good & I get so excited before I've thought through everything.

I have thought of this, except with our campus being so new (this year was the first year) I don't think there will be lots of other families to fill in the gap of my lack of payment in full. At this time, there are only a few other families who are committed besides the director's and Challenge A tutor's families.

Honestly, dd would probably happily give up CC to do a nature walk once a week! We live close to a pond, and when it's nice out, she asks us daily to take her there-she would live there if she could. Today, she caught a turtle and some tadpoles, and then looked at pond water under the microscope for over an hour. (Lots of fascinating little creatures in there). Why do we (meaning me :001_smile:) never realize that it's the simple things that work best? I always feel like I don't want my dc to miss out on all of these fantastic opportunities when they are happiest with the little things. The nature walk and computer class are totally doable, and will satisfy them both. (I do love the idea of having her journal along with it. Kind of like what CC requires in the Challenge class :D . Maybe I'll throw some research requirements in there, too.)

Great idea! I knew I would feel better and gain some insight if I posted! Prior to deciding on CC, I had looked at having both dc take an online class, because I was hoping to have them experience some independent learning and prepare them (especially dd) for high school classes. At the time, I thought they were a little pricey, but they hardly make a dent after adding up my CC costs! Any advice for good on-line courses? I want to make sure the money is well spent. I watched a sample of an Apologia science class (through a local on-line classical school) and couldn't believe how much time was wasted. I kept thinking "I could get this done in a much more engaging way in half the time!" My ds is very into anything programming related, and dd loves science, nature, art.

We made the decision to do Classical Conversations, with me tutoring, and thought we were all done, but then reality set in. I just sat down to try & add up what I think the costs are going to be for CC next year and I am freaking out! I am not one who goes on & on about how I think it's overpriced, because I really don't think it is-if you look at it as a week by week cost and have budgeted for it. However, since we just made this impulsive decision and haven't budgeted for it...... I know I get paid as a tutor, but I think that's only on a week by week basis, and I still (as far as I know) have to pay all of the fees up front. Which works out to almost $1600 for both kids to be in Found. & Essen. plus the reg. fees and supply fees. Then, I started adding up the add'l curriculum costs. Those came to another $500! I do not think we can afford this-my dh was panicking at the thought of "around $1200" which is the amount I gave him! I have sold some curriculum, and am going to sell more at a hs sale in June, but I've done that before, and if I'm lucky I'll make another few hundred. Which will nowhere near cover it. We have some savings, but I hate to touch much of that, and while my mom might help out, I don't even want to bring it up, because she pays for their piano and lots of extras. I just couldn't do it. When we first talked about it, I thought we had some additional income that would have helped, but it's not going to happen. Now, in addition to feeling badly about probably now being able to do it, both for myself (I was so relieved to have my "plan") and disappointing my dc, I am feeling so guilty because I committed to tutoring Essentials and my friend is the director. She'll probably think I'm the biggest flake, because I've been talking about CC (and been on the fence) for a few years. Total bummer.

When I read threads like this it makes me so glad we live out in the country & don't have any neighbors! I do feel for you & your dd, because both of my dc have had situations where they've been the third wheel, and it's not fun to watch them being excluded, especially when there is unkindness involved. I do agree wholeheartedly with the ladies who say they wouldn't allow their 8 yr old play with a 13 yr old. No way! It would be one thing if she had a sister or something that your dd was friends with, you knew the family, etc... We've had friends like that. But yes, odd that she would even want to be friends with girls that much younger, unless it is to exert control and do exactly what she's doing. Try to help your dd get through it by explaining that some people/kids are just not happy and tend to want to make others that way too, or that maybe she doesn't know how to be nice, a good friend, whatever because she has possibly not been taught how. Something like that. And I would definitely get her involved in some other activities with other girls or elsewhere so that she doesn't have to witness the other two all the time.

:iagree: Yes! I was just thinking all of this last night, because we are going to do CC, and I made the mistake of trying to read a lot of the threads about it on here, specifically the "Does Anyone Think CC is Neither". I was pondering the question why do the people I know love CC when it seems so many on here don't. I came to your exact conclusion! And, I decided that I would take it all under consideration and do what I think is best for our family, and that I won't really know until we try it for a year. While I value all of the advice here, I also greatly value 2 of the mom's who I am close with and have known for years who do CC and who also know my dc. I took all of that input, prayed, and received my answer.

:iagree: We did FLL 1&2 and started 3 but for some reason it wasn't as good of a fit for my dd. More writing, something-I'm not sure why she didn't like it as well. Anyway, we started R&S. If you did R&S 3 (which I'm using with ds, now; 4 with dd) you could do most of it orally. That's what I do with ds, and it's a breeze but he still retains a ton and has learned a lot. I will have him do the writing when it's diagramming, and possibly a sentence or 2, but some days it's all oral. The R&S 4 has more writing but we do a lot orally, too. I have them read it aloud to me & say the answers, so we're getting read aloud in, too!

I'm so sorry for your loss.

I've never used TOG and was wondering how much help you get/got as a newbie in using it. TOG seems overwhelming to me! How much time does it take to use? Also, our co-op spends 50min on the humanities portion and is also using Apologia science and is scheduling 50min for literature discussion for the dialectic stage kids. They are going to meet twice per month. Do you think that will work? Thanks for any advice!

That's so funny! I've been searching on-line everywhere, and I've come across some info. but not as much as I thought, which makes me think it's a newer thing. I could be wrong, though. Let's hope we get some responses!

There is a new TOG Co-op starting up near us next year, as well as Classical Conversations! We live way out in the middle of nowhere, so now to have both of these within 25 miles is huge! I'm wondering how TOG Co-op compares to CC (which I know more about). I've never even heard of a TOG Co-op until I saw the info. for this new one. Which is quite shocking!

Yeah! So happy to hear that, because the only place we've found the nitrate free bacon is Trader Joe's (love it!) but the closest one is an hour and a half away.

Thank you so much for this! It helps so much to hear from moms who've had kids go through this & find out about their experiences! It's especially reassuring to hear about the math. My dd is so self-conscious and upset that she's "behind". My main concern is that she understand everything, and I want to make sure her math foundation is solid without rushing through, but she sees differently. I know that switching yet again will only slow us down and probably confuse her, so we are happy to be sticking with MUS. We'll be doing it through the summer, so that will help keep her fresh, as well as move her along without doing it too quickly.

The director was talking about possibly having a separate class for the older kids, because my dd and at least 3 others at this point will be 12 & doing Foundations. Yes, I was thinking having her do Memory Master would be good for her. It's good to hear from the people that waited until their dc were a litter older to do Challenge A-I've been reading lots of blogs as well as getting input from others who've waited and it just reinforces my decision.

The key is being able to discus things calmly and rationally and allow for differences of opinions. When we are reading our history lessons we enjoy looking at all different sides of some of the events, pointing out what we think is right and wrong. I want my kids to develop reasoning skills and be able to form their own opinions based on fact gathering and deliberate contemplation. I don't want them to just parrot what they hear from us, their friends, or television.

Don't you think there is such division, though? We've come so far in so many ways, but in the areas of race and "class" we seem to have stepped backwards. For example, if someone makes a racist comment, yes it's unacceptable and they should be held accountable. But, what about all of the people who are being accused of being racist if they don't agree with President Obama or some of his policies? If the comments are strictly about his policies and not personal. Also, this is just another rambling thought (sorry, in a rambling mood today :D) but doesn't it seem like people are very quick to judge or label others in today's society? I would not classify myself as a liberal or conservative, because I make my decisions based on individual issues. Yet if I have a strong stance about one issue, it seems I am "labeled". I'm not okay with that. If I'm against Common Core, I must be anti-teacher or anti-union, if I believe in wildlife preservation and conservation I'm a tree-hugger, if I'm against GMO's, I'm a "Climate Skeptic of the Left" (I just read an article with this title!) Why can't I (by I, I mean you, me, society) have opinions and beliefs that are varying without getting labeled? When we do get lumped into one particular group, that seems to stir up the animosity. Okay, I've lost my train of thought now because I've been interrupted too many times to count! I'm done with the rant.

:iagree: It really bothers me when someone uses the term "hater".

Yes! Thank you for this comment. You were able to somehow take my jumbled thoughts and put them into an intelligent, concise order.

I feel the same way, and have friends who are polar opposite of me politically, and we either don't discuss it, or it doesn't get out of hand. But, we have one family member who basically stated that it's not enough for us to agree to disagree, or to support her, we have to believe it too-or we don't care about her. And it wasn't said in a nice way. (I'm not just using my little example, I know of many other similar situations-I'm right, you're wrong, and it comes out as hatred)

My mom is convinced the internet has ruined society. :001_smile:

I'll have to add them to my watch list. Hopefully, they will make me feel better about our times!