I have a lot of homework to do, thank you ladies. Ok, one more question...if you can lower your blood sugar and a1c levels, will I ever be able to go back and not worry about counting carbs or sugar? Can you ever truly reverse this, or is it a forever watch your carbs from now on situation? Are Asian cultures high in diabetes? I've heard not, but I don't understand how with a lifetime of eating rice they aren't all battling these issues like Americans are. Thank you again! Alison

Thank you so much. I don't want to give up on my bread (the fresh milled full of goodness kind), but it sounds like I should for awhile. I am overweight by quite a few pounds, so I'm hoping just weight loss will help. I've got a knee messed up now with a lot of inflamation, so I can't really exercise. BUT, I think I'll finally go get the dreaded MRI and find out what is going on with it. Is dairy a big issue with blood sugar? I want to eat all healthy whole foods including my bread, lol, but I don't think that is what I can do. I hope I can get these numbers down and be able to eat bread again in the future. I don't eat that much of it now, because I've basically been trying lower carb for months. Not extremely successful, but eating betwen 150 and 300 grams of carbs, which is less than what I used to eat. I'm also eating significantly less white sugar, but I think I'll just go sugar free for awhile. Not to sound like a whimp, but I am. How bad is that self monitor from Walgreens or Wal-mart that someone suggested? I hate those finger pricks at the doctor. Is this the same, or maybe a bit easier? I know, if I don't do something about my health then that will be the least of my worries! Alison

Has anyone here naturally lowered their blood sugar levels? My level was high (118 I think) and then they did the A1C and it was elevated. Not so much to call me diabetic, but she called it pre-diabetic and said she'd see me in a year, but if they didn't change, I'd probably be diabetic in my future. Also, would you consider fresh milled bread to be a good thing or a bad thing for blood sugar levels (the whole grain, fiber and all). I can't figure out if I should go gluten free, or stick with my fresh milled bread only. Alison

mmmhmm, it's terrible. My first 2 got it and it wasn't bad at all, but when ds and I got it, we had those same terrible inner mouth blisters. We had to swish our mouth out with a numbing agent just to get a bit of relief, that was the only thing that helped...didn't talk, barely ate or drank for days. Alison

FWIW, I also am using MC 4, the first book with my oldest, 13, to get him doing some basic writing and working on more grammar skills. I bought the MC 5 book and didn't like it at all...it was just too difficult for me to want to get started with it. I like simple :)

I've used it to supplement occasionally, but never loved it enough to do it full time.

If you used these in middle/high school, what did you do for your other science courses? Also, did you go from Rainbow, to a biology course, then do Spec. chemistry for 10th? Does anyone know when the companies biology will be finished?

We use the kitchen table and have a whiteboard hanging over a window in our kitchen. Like you, I didn't have any wallspace. I also did a small timeline, but it was over my double doored laundry room (aka closet with washer and dryer). I also have a black, metal shelf unit attached to a wall next to the kitchen table (in the living area) that holds our school books. I then have a tub holding extras that aren't being used right now in the garage. Not so pretty and I'd love to have school space on it's own, but we can'tdo it at our house.

I'm a MUS fan, so that's my vote also...however, if you are confident in teaching math, then you could go with Singapore. Singapore didn't have enough practice for my son, and at the time I was using it, I just wasn't that comfortable wth teaching math. I think if you have a child that would need extra practice, then you would possibly have times where you'd need to add to the Singapore lessons with extra problems. As far as MUS goes, my son just wasn't getting his addition facts, so I started him off with Primer..and I loved it. It built his confidence and I was able to figure out the MUS system of doing things. He was 6 when we did primer, and we did it quickly, but I was still glad we did it. Maybe you could try something like that over the summer and see how it goes with him. Like a previous poster said, it can get a bit boring with MUS, but I've tried out a few diff programs (Saxon, Teaching Textbooks, Singapore, MCP, Rightstart ;)) and they all get blah at times, and are definitely work if your kids just don't like math that well or aren't that quick in it. After it was all said and done, I think my son just needed time to mature...and the same thing happened to my daughter. My middle one hasn't had those issues. So, whatever program you use, it just might take your son some time to mature into his math brain. We've hit several roadblocks in math and after a few weeks, or sometimes months, we've made it through. I hope you like your choice. Alison

We had 2 young men visit our church on Sunday and we invited them home for lunch. They are cycling from Jacksonville to Denver on a 40 day journey. They have a few mission opportunities coming up, and will also help start a new church in Denver. They were kind, respectful, and really wonderful guys. They have a blog at http://www.duvaltodenver.blogspot.com. If you enjoy blogs, take a look at it. They are also trying to raise money for their mission trips, if you feel like donating. We had a great experience meeting them and I thought some of you might enjoy reading their story. Alison

Could you possibly buy a camper to park at your new house?

Thank you. My son will be finishing up MUS decimals and pre-algebra during his 8th grade year. Do you think this will be okay for him to do the physical?

We still have about 15 days left of this past school year. Then we'll take a small break and start the next year in July. We are schooling very relaxed though, which is giving us more time to do some deep cleaning, swimming, mowing, etc.

If you have used Apologia physical for 9th grade, can you tell me if you thought it was enough, after the year was over? If you've done the physics course, please share how difficult your average student found it to be. My son is doing BJU's life science in 7th grade and he's really struggling with it. If I were going by the grades, well, it wouldnt' be pretty. I love the video, but really don't like the text as well. I think he will like Apologia better, but I cannot decide if I should spend his 8th grade doing the General science or the Physical science. He's my fairy lazy academic boy and does not have good research/study skills yet. I don't mind doing Physical for 8th, but if I do that, it'll possibly leave me with having to do Physics in 11th...and I'm just not sure how difficult of a course that will be for my non-energetic learner. Thank you for any suggestions. Alison

I think she is, look around on the general board, or do a search.

Yep, it says earth/space science.

That's what I thought also. I'm off to glance at it again.

Can anyone here give me input on science courses for high school? I had planned on using Apologia bio, chem, and physics. The physics concerns me because I know nothing about it...which leads me to my first question, how tough is that physics course? Also, I looked at the college I went to and it requires an earth science or astronomy course. Does anyone have a recommendation for that? Thank you. Alison

Paradox, is that filling in all of the worksheets on that day, or reading of the book? Alison

I loved Saxon Phonics K for this age. I did not do it all as written, but it was still a wonderful start.

:iagree:

:lurk5:

I was able to look at First Form yesterday, and I think it fixed everything I had a problem with in LC1...yeah, big sigh of relief here. thank you for all your comments. Alison

:lurk5:

Class will be 1.5 hours once a week. So a normal lesson is 30 minutes...is that daily?