When my kids were 8 and 11 I created kitchen chore assignments. One assignment is dishes (loading and unloading the dishwasher) and trash. The other assignment is setting, clearing, and sweeping. They each have one assignment for a week and then they swap for the next week. It took a long time for them to learn to do their chores well and to get in the habit. I had to show them what to do and what I expected. But now it's so great! My other kids are now 7 and 11 (he's developmentally delayed or I would have started him when I first started assignments) and now I'm working on coming up with chore assignments for them. Two kids cleaning the kitchen is more than enough, and it would just make it chaotic to add them into that rotation. I'll probably create assignments for vacuuming and laundry. I don't pay them for doing their chore assignment. I found that paying them complicated the whole thing and made them think their assignments were optional. If they want to get paid I pay $5 an hour for doing extra chores around the house that I need help with.

I understand how you feel. I put all my kids in school a couple years ago. They all got into charter schools, so we decided to give it a try. I love homeschooling, and I had mixed feelings about sending all of them. It worked out great for one of my kids, and he's still there. He has special needs and has been in school for awhile, but this school is a perfect fit and we're very happy. One of my kids only lasted a couple of months. It became clear that she was just too advanced for her class, and she greatly preferred homeschooling anyway. My Kindy had a great year in many ways, but I afterschooled her and pulled her out at the end of the year. My oldest lasted a year at his school, then he homeschooled a year, and now he's about to start attending a traditional high school. The moral of my story is you just never know how things are going to go! I take things year by year, child by child. I think we're finally settled, but if things change I'm open to changing things up again. I started out with a vision to homeschool all of my kids all the way through high school, and I had a hard time letting go of that. Once I realized I could better meet the needs of my family by being willing to look at all the options, things went much better.

I put all game pieces in zippered plastic bags. I still use the boxes even if they're in bad shape because they stack better than bags, and the box keeps the bags and board together. When my kids were little we had to lock up the games, puzzles, and toys with little pieces because they use to dump them all and mix up all the pieces, so I completely understand the frustration.

Check out biotin. People in my family have used it, and it helped them.

I just found a book discussion by the author of Yankee Doodle Gals. I watched a few snippets, and it looks pretty great: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/169833-1

Stacia, here are a few resources I have in my WW2 list that are specifically about women : Sky High: The True Story of Maggie Gee Top Secret Rosies: The Female Computers of WWII Yankee Doodle Gals Rosie the Riveter (Lionel Trains) Rosie the Riveter Paper Dolls Rosie the Riveter in Long Beach (Postcards of America: California) Rosie the Riveter: Women in World War II The 1940s Decade in Photos This book is from a different angle, but I'm excited for its release: Anne Frank's Chestnut Tree And this is just for fun....basically the Rosie's of baseball: Players in Pigtails This is a little off topic, but it's an essential book on my reading list for this time period: Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes If you follow the links, then Amazon has more recommendations that are like each resource. My girls are young (7 and 9), so my resources are for their age group. We're covering a lot of wars this year in history (the Civil War, WW1, WW2, as well as more recent wars). I wasn't thrilled about this time period until I realized I could make it come to life through picture books and that I can use these great stories about women to empower my girls. As an aside, I also found great books about animals (dogs and pigeons mostly) that were war heroes during the time period we're studying. I'm so glad to have so many resources to bring history to life for such young children.

Thanks! I'm doing WW2 with my girls this year, and I've been working on finding stories that bring history to life and that show strong women. I just added Night Witches to our study timeline! I wish there were children's books about them, but maybe there aren't any because they're foreign. Their story would make a great picture book.

She may be able to get a job as a paraprofessional helping special needs students at a school. My son has a special place in his heart (as do I!) for the paraprofessionals who have helped him over the years. They have made a tremendous impact on our lives.

My youngest practically lived in her Maya Wrap as a baby. The only time she would play on the floor or sit in a bouncy seat was when someone was right there next to her. Wearing the sling was hard on my back at first, but once I learned to adjust it better I was fine. I loved that I could face her outward if she was awake or snuggle her up to me to nurse or sleep. She loved being able to see what everyone else was doing, so once I started using the sling she was much happier. She also liked having easy access to her milk, and she slept very peacefully in the sling.

You've received some good advice. As a parent of a child with special needs I am a huge believer in inclusion. However, inclusion goes hand in hand with accommodations. In my son's case that means he has a paraprofessional who assists him in many ways, both educationally and by teaching him appropriate social behaviors. It's great that your daughter is trying to accommodate her classmate. I love how children at my son's school accommodate him. However, my son's classmates are never expected to fill the role of a paraprofessional, which is what the teacher in this case is expecting of your daughter. If the classmate cannot work with a group as a team to the extent you indicated, then she requires an assistant to coach her during group work. If your daughter really is okay with the situation, then I suggest writing the teacher and explaining that your daughter enjoys working with this girl, but that I wanted to let him/her know that due to the girl's behavior the projects were all being done her way and list any other accommodations your daughter is making for her classmate. The teacher needs to be made aware of the extent of the accommodations (especially if that means that projects are being taken over by the classmate). Also, I always put things like that in writing, so if problems arise I can refer back to it. I think it's great that your daughter is so compassionate. I wish I had some ideas to help her work with her classmate, but the best thing I can think of is for the girl to have an assistant who would pull her aside when behaving inappropriately and to teach her how to work in the group. It could be a great learning experience for the girl if she had that extra support. It's what I would want for my son in such a situation. A classmate just shouldn't be expected to correct behavior. It sounds like your daughter has a big heart! I hope things work out for her.

That's wonderful!! I also have an 11-year-old son with Down Syndrome. I love when others are able to see him as a person and as a friend instead of as someone with a disability.

I would do it. Having resources/networks is so important when you have a child with special needs. It can be difficult to find resources when homeschooling. It really sounds like you can use what they are offering and because it's such a short day you can also continue working with him at home, making it easy to transition to homeschooling the following year. I would insist on having the one-on-one paraprofessional written into the IEP without a cut-off date. I would just explain that I would be happy to discuss the matter as the year went on if it became clear he no longer needed a para. Getting a one-on-one paraprofessional in an IEP is worth its weight in gold and most schools will not do it. When my kids were little I was set on homeschooling them all the way through. I learned the hard way to take it one year at a time. My son with special needs really needs the resources ps offers. However, some schools do not deliver, so you have to pay attention to what's actually being taught and to what your child is experiencing. We've had some bad ps exoeriences, but after years of fighting schools and after moving to find better schools, my son is in my dream situation. The fact that you already seem to have a good relationship with the school, a good speech therapist, and they offered you a para lead me to believe it could be a good experience. Since you sound happy with the preschool, I would give this a try. If it doesn't work out you can always pull him out.

I have curly hair and, like you, I don't use products with lots of chemicals. I use Giovanni poducts. I wash with shampoo and then brush in leave-in conditioner. I scrunch it with a little gel and smooth a little onto the top of my head. I put in a little clip which helps keep everything in place and also helps prevent frizz throughout the day. When I apply the conditioner, first I put it on my hands and rub my hands together. I do the same thing for the gel. That makes it easier to spread it evenly on my hair. A little bit of Giovanni products goes a long way, so you don't have to use very much. If I don't wash my hair every day it looks scraggly and frizzy. But this routine is very easy and quick to do daily, and my curls come out looking nice.

I just recently found a great deal on a globe here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00A7TSXWG/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1367720497&sr=8-1&pi=SL75. I bought this animal atlas sticker book to go with it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0753464446/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1367720137&sr=8-1&pi=SL75. I plan on using them together as a jumping off point to start studying geography. I also have a Usborne book about children of different cultures and coloring books of maps, so I'll add those in as well. My girls (7 and 9) are excited about the globe and sticker books. For the literature component you might consider stories from different lands. There are a lot of options. We like Asian Children's Favorite Stories and Japanese Children's Favorite Stories to name a couple.

I would definitely look into whether or not there are sensory issues or allergies (dairy, wheat, seasonal, food coloring, sugar, etc.) causing the instability. Also make sure that he eats often enough and drinks plenty of water. Some of my kids have at times fallen into behavior patterns similar to what you described, and doing those things have helped. I have also learned to focus on positive reinforcement and helping my kids to develop coping skills. My 6 year old has her own reward system that I have used for behavior and for homeschooling. When she would fall into negative behavior patterns, I would pull out her reward jar. Whenever she would act appropriately or with kindness, I would give her a penny. At first I showered her with pennies even over the smallest things! When she got a predetermined amount (around 20) she got a prize. She liked when I would put a small stuffed animal in the jar. When she behaved badly the animal would turn upside down because her behavior upset it. The animal was also her prize. Now I use the jar for homeschooling, and she gets a penny for each subject she does each day. She needs that visual reminder. In the past I tried to leave her in her room when she would get out of control, and she would kick the door, etc. I finally realized that she had no coping skills and no ability to self-soothe. (Which explains her need to be in a sling as an infant and her needing to hold my hand in the car for the first few years of her life. My girl needs to be held tight to feel safe.) I started going in her room with her and holding her until she could calm down. Her room became a safe space for her to go to calm down instead of a scary place where she was left alone with emotions she couldn't handle. Maybe you could ask your son (when he is calm) what you can do to make his room a safe space to calm down. I recently started a new thing called "love buckets." If you search on amazon you'll find books (there's a picture book perfect for your son's age). I also bought little buckets and hearts, so my kids could really understand the concept. For a couple weeks the kids filled and emptied their buckets. Now just having the buckets sitting on the mantle acts as a gentle reminder that our actions and words affect ourselves and others. I am not a huge fan of reward systems, and I use them sparingly. However, these systems have made a huge difference. In general I would only have to do the jar for behavior for a couple weeks because after that a new habit was set. I would only pull it back out when I could see the bad habits coming back. Hope this helps! I know how draining this can be on the entire family.

Thank you so much for the code!! I just bought the Iliad, Odyssey, Aristotle, Milton, and Dante's Divine Comedy. What a great deal.

Thanks for the ideas. I have used the GPB videos, but I also got no response when I tried to get answers. For now I'm going to use Chemistry 101. I don't think it will have enough depth to be complete for high school, but it looks like it covers everything that I want him to have a firm grasp on this year.

Something is definitely going on with amazon. I have always received my orders in 2 days as long as I ordered early enough in the day. Lately that has not been the case. Amazon is either not shipping my items out as quickly as they claim (in stock items ordered before the timer for the day runs out have always been shipped the same day) or they're not giving me 2 day shipping. It is a problem when you rely on it. I'm worried that maybe they have spent so much money adding movies to prime that now they can't afford to give me the shipping perks. I bought prime for the shipping, not the movies.

Has anyone used Chemistry Professor Fundamentals of Chemistry? http://chemistryprofessor.com/introduction_to_chemistry.htm We're using The Home Scientist Chemistry kit, so we're set for labs. I would really like to have a solid dvd chemistry program. I like Chemguy (http://www.cosmolearning.com/courses/junior-chemistry-with-chemguy/), but my son doesn't like it very much. Plus, I really would like a dvd program that came with written materials, like a workbook, and Chemguy doesn't have that. Has anyone successfully done chemistry through a labs/dvd/workbook format instead of a textbook approach? I try to avoid textbooks as much as I can, but now that I'm hitting high school level, it's becoming more difficult. My son is only 13, so we're just looking for a first year high school course, not AP level. Any input is appreciated!

Most of the charter schools in my area use core knowledge. Core knowledge is a good program, and it's classic-based. My son is at such a school and is thriving. He has special needs and is included in the regular classroom, and he has learned so much in science and social studies! His main subjects are tailored to his needs, and he gets great support. My girls attended last year, but I pulled one out after a few months because she was too advanced and not learning much. My kindie only attended half day, and I ended up after schooling her because it was a brand new school, and they really didn't have their academic programs completely together yet. Plus, I found my daughter focused much better at home than in a classroom. But she had a great experience, and I'm glad she went for kindergarten. My daughter's friend attends and is very bright and is thriving. The homework load is ridiculous, though. I know a very bright 6th grader who spends 2-3 hours a night on homework!! I'm glad to have my girls back home, as I really value them having free time and flexibility in their education. I just really prefer homeschooling overall, but, on the other hand, the school is wonderful for my son. Since the school you are looking at is new, policies and curriculum will be a work in progress. Initially, our charter said there would be limited homework, but that is not the case. (My son is not affected by this and has minimal homework.) The first year of a charter is tumultuous and uncertain. I was involved in 2 new charters last year. The other was a science-focused school, and they really did not have their act together. They changed alI of their curriculum at the last minute, which was disastrous. My middle school son who attended learned a lot, but there were so many issues with grading and curriculum it was a nightmare. I tried working with the school, but by this time last year I gave up and started making plans for homeschooling. So my advice is to research the proposed plans carefully and know that you are taking a risk with a first year school. Know that it may be a good fit for some and a bad fit for others. Know that what they say they will be offering will change as they put it into action. Also, look at your reasons for homeschooling and what the trade-offs will be. And if you go for it don't be afraid to pull the plug if it doesn't work out. Good luck!

We're currently using the chemistry kit from http://www.thehomescientist.com/, and we're very happy with it. There is also a biology kit, and I plan on using it next.

My six-year-old loves the Lego Friends sets. She got the vet, the car, and the dog show for Christmas as well as the brick box your daughter got. Amazon's prices are better now than they were right before Christmas.

Are you familiar with Joseph Campbell? "A Hero with a Thousand Faces" and "The Power of Myth" are amazing, and he has a video interview with Bill Moyer that is wonderful. You can find a brief part of the conversation here. I also enjoyed "Thou Art that: Transforming Religious Metaphor." Believing that religion is part of mythology does not mean that it has no meaning. Actually, when I went from a more literal view of religion to a more metaphorical one, I opened myself up to a richer spiritual life. I went from knowing all the answers to being open to whatever God would teach me. Not only did I become more open to feeling God's love for myself, but I felt more love for others. I find that what a person believes doctrinally is not as important as the principles they live by. You can teach and live by Christlike principles (forgiveness, mercy, love, hope, kindness, honesty, etc.) without being tied to doctrine.

Ever since the search stopped working I've been typing what I'm looking for in google and adding on well trained mind. This gives me some good results from the WTM forums. It would be so nice if the search function worked, but at least this gives me some results.

I would focus on teaching her what it means to be Christlike. Focus on the principles that guided Christ's life, such as forgiveness, mercy, unconditional love, kindness, honesty, etc. Focus on the things He taught in the Sermon on the Mount. She really is young to understand doctrine like you described, but she is the perfect age to develop Christlike qualities that will stay with her throughout her life. You can weave these lessons naturally into her life as situations come up, and you can tell her examples from your own life of how the principles have helped you. I would avoid pressuring her to believe (I think this would just backfire in the end) and give it over to God. I would focus on loving her as Christ does and on sharing that love with her.