I'd like to hear about it if this is the case. Do you have links or anything? It's been a while since I needed this information. ;)

We worked for years on this and I still don't think he has them down perfectly. :/ It seems to help him do his math work more quickly and with less frustration when he warms up with a review before the lesson, though. So every day he spends 10 minutes reviewing basics at FreeRice.com and then moves on to his lesson. Good luck!

I do all of the same math my son does. I shoot for staying about a week ahead. Very often we will stick at the same spot and I will have some resurces to help him get the difficult concepts. I think it's worthwhile both to be a help to him and just so I know the math. Math is a lot of fun, and Life of Fred is a joy to work with. I actually save my math as that fun thing I get to do when all my "work work" is done. :)

If he is struggling because of a lack of grounding in the basics, go to FreeRice.com or any other site that drills basic math facts and help him get those down. If it's conceptual, check out Khan Academy and Purple Math. I'm sure there are lots of other resources, but those have helped me the most. Beg and borrow curriculums from homeschoolers around you. Try all of them - you never know when the one you thought looked impossible just rings out clearly for him. Get into a co-op situation - you tutor someone's kids in something you are good in, and they tutor yours in math. Find a homeschooled kid or college student who is good in math and who knows algebra and see if you get get a cheaper turoring situation than thousands of dollars. There are lots of resources! :) WE LOVE LIFE OF FRED! :) Yes, they do all have the answers on the next page (or same page sometimes) but the chapter review/test/bridge/city/whatever has the answers in the back of the book or a seperate book. What math did he have before that you felt prepared him for Algebra? If you thought he was ready before, then he probably is ready for LoF Algebra. However, if you want to take some time to do one of the Pre-Algebra LoF books that would be fine, and if you find him liking LoF but struggling, then definitely back up until he is comfortable. Good luck!

If it was me, I would put the bed (and the crib if you use one) on an incline. Just a couple of inches at the head is enough. I would do my best to sleep him on his side. And, I would probably hold or sling him 99% of the time. I had a personal experience with SIDS and I am terrified of it. So that colors my opinions.

She's an artist! I never understood the difference until I started buying good supplies for art classes in college. OH MY GOSH they are so different! I love doing art with great supplies. It's such a joy and so much less frustrating than using supplies that don't quite do what you ask or expect of them. :)

I have stories very much like that. My parents wasted a lot of resources buying me things they liked that I didn't, and they simply did not get used. My son is VERY worried about hurting my feelings and will totally fake liking a gift. If I see it, I will just ask. He is not great at masking his feelings so I can usually tell. If he doesn't like it, I want my money back for it and I want to get him something he will like. I don't want to waste resources because of some misguided idea that he should be grateful for things he didn't ask for and doesn't want. On the other hand, at dinner, if his comment is, "Oh we're having that? Gross," he can go to bed hungry. I'm not a pushover. I expect respect, manners, and kindness from my son and I think the best way to get that is to model how much I respect and care for him.

Having not read any of the thread except the OP... She doesn't sound entitled. She sounds normal. So she's bored with your back yard, who cares? Let her be bored. Offer a choice of a lack of complaining or some chores and she'll find herself something to do. She knows the nicer art supplies are better and wants to use them - that makes sense. I don't want to use the crappy stuff I keep around for when we have littles over here when I do art. I get out the good stuff because it feels better and makes better art. Why NOT let her use the good stuff? What might happen? That she practices so much art she runs out? When they are gone they are gone and she has made art and isn't that really what you are shooting for here anyway? A kid that likes art, and at the same time showing that the natural consequence for using something up is that you don't have any more? If you really don't want her to use them, explain why, and then show her the lower quality supplies are useful by sitting down and making art with her. Kids in the developed world grow up with so much and we are afraid they will turn into horrible brats because of it. I think you have to work to make a brat. You have to get up and do for them when they should do for themselves. You have to go out and buy new yard play stuff or take them to Disney when they are bored with the back yard. You have to cook 3 meals just for breakfast that they have liked before and allow them to demand a fourth instead of just telling them to eat what's there or get their own. You have to run out and buy 6 of every most expensive art supply and never help them learn about conserving or experience the frustration of running out of something. You have to give them lots and lots of stuff and things and little of your attention. Short answer? She's fine.

I was in total agony from a broken tooth for over a month. Finally got the tooth pulled yesterday. Here are all the things that helped me: Ice - Hold an ice pack to the outside of your cheek where you think the broken tooth is, not where the pain is. Even if the pain is radiating out, hold the ice at the source. Take breaks, don't just keep it on. It helps if you catch it earlier than later, before the pain is too intense. Tea bags and tea - Cool or cold, never warm or hot. Hold the steeped and cooled tea back between your teeth over the sore spot. I walked around for about a week with a tea bag (make a fresh one every couple of hours) in my mouth almost all the time once I found this trick. Also, just taking a drink of room temp tea and holding it in my mouth helped a lot. I read that it has to be black or gree tea, not herbal tea. Keep your head elevated - Sleep on a slope or sitting up, don't bend over, etc. Mix tylenol and advil - Together they helped a lot more than either one alone. Pay attention to dosing information. If your head is cloudy with pain, lay out enough doses for one day in the morning and take out of that so you can't go over. Play video games - Seriously. If I caught it before the tooth was stabbing me into a brainless fog of pain, video games helped a lot. It had to be twitch games, like Mario or Tetris, not thinking games. There is something about engaging your brain in a game like that that actually simulates narcotics. Pretty much any media consumption helped, though, so I would do things like play a game on my phone while reading forums on my computer and the tv going on some horrifying thing like Toddlers and Tiaras. Distraction for the win! Clove oil mostly made the rest of my mouth burn. It was not helpful. :( Stay hydrated! I hope you feel better soon. This was easily the most painful thing I have ever gone through, and it just went on and on and freaking on. :(

A Dog Called Kitty

Life of Fred is intended to be self-teaching. She might be interested in that. We like it. :)

I keep his favorites and my favorites. We have visiting littles and I hope to have more kids and one day grandkids so I think keeping the best ones is smart. :)

I suck at staying in touch but I do genuinely care and am glad to hear from old friends. I am just scattered and flighty and bad at that kind of stuff.

We love IEW. I also think that with any struggling or reluctant writer, it can be a good idea to separate the physical act of handwriting from the mental act of composing sentences and paragraphs. They are two difficult skillsets with all kinds of different things that go into them. When my son was in the lower grades, he dictated to me and I typed. He learned to type pretty young and that has helped tremendously. Even now, a request for a handwritten story might get me three sentences of five words each, but a typed story with no guidelines might range from several paragraphs to several pages.

I am definitely fat, and I will say that, because I want to kind of reclaim the word and remove the shame. Ds used to say, "You're not fat! You're just husky!" Oh my god it was so funny. His intent was so kind and he was so genuine. It was great. :)

We are nonreligious. We study all world religions and mythologies as they come up in our other studies or when the mood strikes. I think it's very important. For instance, understanding the roots of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam is pretty much essential to understanding ongoing conflicts in the middle east. Plus religion and mythology are fascinating.

Everything in my signature is secular and it's what we are using for the 9th grade. Good luck to her! What an exciting time! :D

Not even older teens or adult children?

Has she tried using the audio files from the website? So far we are really liking those but we are only about 20 lessons in.

I plan to try this year. My son asked me to do it. I am nervous - I have never written any fiction longer than a page or two. Ds has won the last three years, once with chicken pox and once with a broken finger (and he types his!). We set pretty high word goals, with the idea that he will hit 50k his senior year in high school. :)

I would leave a child (or children) alone in the car when I think the oldest child in the car is capable of dealing with a car malfunction and the car rolling dangerously, a person or group approaching the car, or any other weird random event. My 14 year old could run a panicking younger child into the store, or hit the brakes or pull the emergency brake, or tell a stranger he isn't allowed to talk and call me to come back out. Two years ago? I don't know. Probably not. I've been in two different situations in my life where a stopped car started rolling, once towards a large commercial propane tank. The idea of leaving a younger child in that potential situation scares me!

We are only a week in but ds is enjoying "Getting Started with Spanish". It's a text with free audio files on the website. After that we plan to switch to Breaking the Barrier Spanish.

Have them read Spanish literature and discuss it in Spanish?

I should not that I wouldn't bring a child under 8 or so to the First Shots class, but when I spoke with them they had no age limitations.

We didn't do gun play for many years. I allow it now that ds is much older and can understand my personal boundaries with gun play. However, point it at me and the toy gun goes straight to the trash. Other people's children are also not allowed to make me their gun play target. We do live in a gun-totin' culture in this state, so we have done gun safety courses and practiced shooting with real weapons in safe, coached situations. Anyone looking for a great gun safety course, Shooter's World has a free course called "First Shots". They allow children of any age as long as a parent is there. There was an hour or so of classroom education and then we all had a guided opportunity to shoot a handgun. The ammunition and range time was free as well. I highly recommend it to anyone.