Yep. They are outside going mad. It is slowing down but then it does not snow often in these parts of sunny South Africa.

The last time it snowed here was 2007. In 2007 it snowed dunring the night and the kids woke up to a blanket of snow covering the ground. 2007 was the first time it had snowed since 1982.Now it is snowing big chunks of white fluff falling from the sky. It is amazing I feel like celebrating Christhmas.Last time I saw snow like this I was 13 and in Lubbock. That is over 20 years now.Well should I let the kids g outside and act mad or should I make them do school?They have never seen snow falling from the sky before except on TV shows. They are going mad outside...

In our previous house we had 1 (with a bath and shower) and 1/2 one from the master with a big shower. We are only a family of four but we have fostered a teen till adulhood and when her sister was visiting for the weekend we would be six. I found that sometimes I had to put my foot down as teens can really take their time. But we survived. We now have 3 baths but this is an old house and one is unusable, the plumbing is there but we need to install new fixtures and finish it up. The other two are also in need of an update and the only shower in the house is unusable and I really do not like the bath that much. I am sure you can make with two but like someone said it has to do with the area. You have to consider sellability in the future. We inherited my in-laws house and luckly was close enough to our other place for us to be able to mone into it but I am afraid that we have to do lots of updates and upgrades in order to be able to re-sell.

Living in the 'rainbow nation' where HS only become legal in 1994 it is hard to find support groups. I was blessed to have found a nice group of people nearby. We are of all walks of faith and thus we will sit together and discuss our Christian faith with some other christians in the group, there are all kinds of faith, from fundamental Chistians (I would be considered conservative christian) to catholics, atheist, jewish and there is a lady that is a pagan. It is more a social group tht meets once a month for a presentation where the children will present a project and then have a meal together and the kids play up. We meet once month with the other groups in the area at a local ring. We also have outings once a month. During presentation days some kids choose to present religious materials. Usually the Christian children. I have always tried to let my kids choose and up till now they have chosen secular materials. I find that most people do not get offended and are very accepting. Due to my beliefs it woud be hard for us to find a group with a statement of faith that I would be confortable signing. We meet ocasionaly during the month with some of the children for play dates. I always tell my husband that I want to go to the US so that my children can have more HS social outlets but reading these messages made me very grateful for what I have. Most of my support is from this forum. I also have a good friend IRL that HS and is a member of our church but unfortanetely they moved 1600 miles away. Most HS return back to school in high school, grade 8 here, and in our group most of the children my kids ages are planning to go back to school in high school. There ae some kids we have met through the ice skating that are HS for high school but they live further away. So am I not sure how this will pan out. I have lots of friends, acquaintances and fellow chuch members that keep on urging me to send the kids back to school but i just listen and move on. As far as family...

Congratulations. Sending some prayers your way.:grouphug:

When used orrectly meds can be a blessing. My son was a changed overnight when he was on Concerta. Unfortunately he developed a heart murmur as a result of the medication and we had to stop. Some days I wish he could go back on Meds. Our psychiatrist is looking into other meds so we wll see.

:bigear:

Does one really need the TSSW? As a WAHM with a chronic ill child with several LDs I can not see me taking the time to actually doing it. I was interested for my 6th grader DD to use the program. Also funds are very tight. Otherwise what does everyone think of Essentials in Writting? I need something that has its own instruction and is pretty much hands off.

:bigear::lurk5: Got a 6th grader in the same position. She also likes workbooks...

Prices like those in the US make me drool. We do not get anything like that cheap even when the back to school sales are on End Dec. to End Jan. :drool::drool: A ream of A4 paper (100 pages) on sale is between US 6.00 to US 6.50. A box of crayola (24 count, if you can find them) is US 2-5 dollars. A small 2 prong (1 inch) file US 2-3 dollars... Maybe I should stop converting prices. This really makes me sad. Sometimes I drool over stationary at Amazon.com (not necessarily the cheapeast) but shipping is also very high.

Thanks... Will look into whole those links.

Ok Hannah, I type fast and I do not always check what I type. ** Reflex **...

Not trying to highjack your thread but is there a way you could guide me in how to find a center in South Africa. I am in East Rand in Gauteng. Maybe there is a website or contacts on how could I find one.

Things bought 2nd hand that I have now given to a friend: 100 EZ lessons - Distar system does not work for my SPD child, O-G stuff works better Miquon Math - Could not get my head around it. Kept the C-Rods. FIAR - All three volumes and BFIAR. Hard to get the books here. I really do not like Unit Studies type of stuff that tries to integrate everything. Kept the cooking book. ** Reading Reflex - Still have it but am on the fence on that one. Lots of things that have been thumped here seem to work for us. Sonlight although I usually read across the page. I need the schedule not so sure about its use for other people. Probably to expensive for a schedule but seeing that I am a WAH mom need something to keep me on track. Also our libraries here are really bad so having the books on hand is priceless. OPTRG is just right for my son. He needs somehing he can focus on reading with no distractions. AAS we use it for rules, the multi sensory helps with his reading. He has several LDs and the OPTRG and AAS combo has been the best with him so far. FLL 1/2 with DS, most oral work and the pure repetiton seems to work. It bores me to death but it works:001_huh: FLL 3 with DD done with work book. For a child that refused to learn grammar it seems to work. But I need lots of coffee.:lol: We did SOTW 3/4 with Audio books and Student Pages along with SL Core D&E and the kids love it. They can listen to it for hours. We took a road trip and drove 19 hr plus both ways and all they wanted to do was re-listen to SOTW. My DD would read along on the books and my son would colour. I had to beg them to listen to something else because I was going to fall asleep. We are doing 1st part of SL Core W with SOTW 1/2 with AG this year. Singapore, we have used the workbooks 1-4 and CWP only. We use Horizons for our main math program. My kids hate it at times and moan but it is the only way they seem to retain their math is through boring repetition. We supplement with Singapore. It has been a great combo. I really dislike SL Bible, seems very disjointed and also their LA. On the LA I might use the copywork/dictation and some of the assignments that are linked to our history studies but none of they recommendations seem to work. ETC it seems to have gotten a bashing here but it works for my DS. We have been known to use the 1/2 books as well. Again boring repetition until the stuff sticks...

:grouphug: Praying for little Desmond :grouphug:

They must be having problems. The website keeps on bombing out.

We also have crazy food alergies here and the nuts and peanuts one is a deadly one (Epipen everywhere), some other stuff just makes my kids to hyper, I have taught my kids not accept anything or even eat anything without asking us first. For my son even if we go visit someone or have a co-op meeting (all the moms bring some snacks, foods and drinks and put on a table for everyone to share) I bring his own food and drinks and keep it separate. Too much risk of cross contamination. My daughter has to ask me first... If they have some friends over I always clear with the parents what they are aloowed to eat or not. If we are at the a game or a park and a little child is hovering I usually offer some but tell the child to ask their mom first.

We do experience a slight delay but that happens with all others websites and I have fast internet. I also keep a few pages open and move around a bit. I would be able to pay a donatin but would not be happy with a subscription.

Another vote for Horizons. My kids seem to retain but sometimes there is too much repitition. When the kids have grasped a concept and the problem repeats over and over again in new lesson I only mak them do half for revision. The only thing I do not like is the teacher's manual besise the answers which I only use ocasionally there is no instruction on how to teach.

I also got the old edition. CBD got the tests and answers packet for sale and the mulimedia CD for the 1st Edition and also the Lapbook. Hope this helps.

Thanks for Vegan Mayo but we cannot have soya. Thanks for all the suggestions...

I am not fussy unfortunately my kids are. DS the one with the allergies has Sensory Processing Disorder and has food consitency issues. I will look into Indian foods, Vegan recipies. Thanks...

We are not coping please if I could have some suggestions for breakfast and lunches. Also need protein full breakfast and snacks or this child does not cope. He is also alergic to Eggs,Olives and Olive oil, THQB, preservatives and colourings We need mostly make ahead ideas. tried to make some Gluten free pancakes and freeze but these did not freeze well. I also need ideas for side dishes that will keep most of the week. I have Sunday afternoons to cook ahead. So please some ideas. How long can one keep rice, pasta and mash potatoes in the fridge?

Please note that I cannot find a egg-free mayo here and this child is also alergic to olives and olive oil and nitrates, preservatives and colourings. Tried to make some pancakes and freeze but gluten free did not freeze well. We need some protein rich breakfast or otherwise he cannot cope. We are not coping with school. I need to cook ahead as much as I can. Need suggestions for breakfast and lunches with all our special needs. The only time I have free to cook is Sunday afternoon. Also if someone knows how long can rice, pasta and mash potatoes be kept in the fridge. Rice in the freezer has not worked. Side dishes that can be kept in the fridge. Snacks...

I said 6 but that is because we try and cook extra so we can have some leftovers some days. With extreme allergies we cook from scratch mostly and somethings we have to cook two different dishes because of what my son can and cannot eat. This includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks... As far as being financial beneficial I am unsure. Our food bill is very high because South Africa is not the best place for special allergy foods so there is no competition and only a few places to shop for these. Also most supermarket and general suppliers do not list all the ingredients so we buy lots of foods from Woolworths which is a very high end and expensive store but we need to know what we eat because of the allergies.