When my children use their Prismacolors they break so easily, and there is a hollow core where it breaks. So, when I sharpen it with my Prismacolor hand sharpener I end up having to take off a lot of length of the pencil. Does this happen a lot? Are my kids just pressing too hard? We've gone back to our Crayolas bc of this issue...

I have a book I love, The Organized and Inspired Scrapbooker. It gives lots of ideas for storing art supplies. My favorites is on the cover! I have an oak lazy susan on our homeschool table. It is covered with an assortment of small glass jars and baskets. Each jar or basket is filled with pencils, colored pencils, paintbrushes, fiskers and glues, deco scissors, crayons, anad small lidded glass jars with pencil grips and erasers and eraser tops. It is so functional and pretty. http://www.amazon.com/Organized-Inspired-Scrapbooker-Wendy-Smedley/dp/1934176125 My favorite purchase for stickers was a birthday present because it was pricey. And huge. I just have the base unit. It holds 100's of stickers. I keep my scrapbook stuff in the bottom of my china cabinet bc it's deep enought to hold this! http://store.scrapbooking-warehouse.com/clipitup.html

I love to watch my children develop! I always thought my 8yod would love to read the same types of books I loved at her age... Betsy-Tacy series, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Anne of Green Gables, Little Women etc. She is drawn to the wonderfully imaginative classics of Edward Eager, Edith Nesbit, Harriet the Spy, Elizabeth Enright...She says she likes girl characters with a bit of "spice". So sweet! All these treasures I've never read! I want to read them all too, hearing her talk about them! My 6yos learned to read this year! He didn't take off at a really young age like my 8yod. He just plodded along, but he is doing great at his own pace :). He read 2 chapters of a Magic Tree House book this morning! His first "chapter book"! My 10yos w/ special needs "graduated" from our homeschool in January to go to a public school special ed class. That was the best decision we have ever made for him. He has friends for the first time in his life, sweet boys with varying degrees of mental and physical disabilities. He has wonderful behavior at school. I'm getting a break to be refreshed to structure and manage his behavior at home too. He is participating in Special Olympics for the first time tomorrow and will be competing in track and field. Yea! My 13yo with very special needs has had another year of far surpassing all expectations and we are blessed to care for him! That's it for me! I would love to hear from you!

I'm leaning towards purchasing mostly titles I can't get at my library. The library has great little old fashioned series like COFA, Jean Fritz titles etc. I do want to own my read a louds like Johny Tremain... I just end up buying soooo much!!! My children love to read and read all the time. My daughter wants all of the revolutionary girl spy books she has seen in homeschool catalogs, so I'm getting several of those. I want to build a real library for them - we have 100's of ancient and middle ages title also. So, give me feedback if I'm crazy to buy all of these or if any of these are terrible!! Spines: SOTW 3 TQ AHYS1 Hakim's History of US set Basic History of the US 6 vol set Child's Story of America Story of the Great Republic, Guerber Story of the 13 Colonies, Guerber Projects: American Revolution for Kids: History with 21 Activities Revolutionary War days Colonial Kids, Laurie Carlson More than Moccasins, Laurie Carlson 8 coloring books (4 for each student) History Pockets: Explorers, Plymouth, and Colonial America States and Capitals and Wee Sing America cds Made for Trade board game Almost Home, Wendy Lawton American Revolution (Landmark) American Revolution (Off the Wall Art) - I have all of this series, love it! Amos Fortune Free Man Before Columbus (Landmark) Ben and Me Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia (Landmark) Blackthorn Winter (w/Veritas comp. guide) Boston Tea Party, beautifully ill. picture book Boys of '76, Charles Coffin Bulletproof George Washington Bunker Hill (Drums of War series) Buttons for General Washington Calico Captive Captive in Philadelphia (Drums of War series) Carry on Mr. Bowditch Child's Story of America Duel in the Wilderness Explorers who Got Lost, Diane Sansevere-Dreher; Ed Renfro Fight for Freedom, Benson Brobrick First Voyage to America, Christopher Columbus George Washington:A Picture Biography, James Giblin; Michael Dooling George Washington's World, Geneveive Foster Guns for General Washinton Heart Stranglely Warmed (John Wesley), Louise Vernon Hope's Crossing, Joan Elizabeth Goodman I am Regina If You Grew Up... series (early US titles - 12) my library doesn't have these! Independence (Drums of War series) Indian Captive, Lois Lenski Johnny Tremain Liberty! (Illustrated Landmark book) Life of Washington, Pollard Lion to Guard Us, Bulla List, C.D. Baker Moon of Two Dark Horses, Sally Keehn Mr. Revere and I, Robert Lawson My Brother Sam is dead Once on this Island, Gloria Whelan Patriots in Petticoats (Landmark) Peter and the Pilgrims Phoebe and the Spy, Judith Berry Griffin The Reb and the Rebcoats Regina Silby's Secret War and Phantom Militia series Samuel Eaton's Day Sarah Morton's Day Sarah Bishop, Scott O' Dell Sarah Whitcher's Story Secret Soldier: Story of Deborah Sampson Sign of the Beaver, Elizabeth Speare Squalls before War (w/ Veritas Comp guide) Surviving Jamestown, Gail Karwoski Susan Creek ( w/ Veritas comp. guide) Taking Liberty: The story of Oney Judge They Called her Molly Pitcher Three Young Pilgims, Cheryl Harness Tinker's Daughter, Wendy Lawton Toliver's Secret True to the Old Flag, Henty Will Northaway series The World of Captain John Smith, Geneveive Foster The World of Columbus and Sons, Geneveive Foster Yankee Doodle Boy, Joseph Martin

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Thanks everyone - I'll check out Miss Read and #1 Ladies series next. You mentioned some of my other favorite series. I love the Betsy Tacy series, Gene Stratton Porter and the Twilight series! I forgot about those - I devoured that over our Christmas vacation! Very romantic and suspenseful - loved them and couldn't believe I did :).

I love reading happy, comfort novels along the lines of Anne of Green Gables. I don't mind novels that include the sorrows of life ( I love Beth Streeter Aldrich), but I dislike sarcasm. I've started so many novels and stopped them over the last several years. I seem to only read nonfiction and children's lit these days. Help please!

I would definately rule out the reflux as well as how she fast she empties her stomach. That would be the simplest explanation. I'm not sure what exactly you mean by the odor or the extent or any developmental delay but you may ask for a screening of metabolic disorders. There are many that would cause distinct odors that a geneticist would be familiar with... http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition=maplesyrupurinedisease for example. HTH.. Try not to worry. But I would check it out if your momma instinct is warning you too!

was sooo hyper and crazed on Friday afternoons but not the rest of the week - when he gets off the bus. I thought it was the change in routine to our weekend family schedule and was taking it personally. Well, today he told me that they serve Kool aid and fruit snacks after show and tell every Friday. He said he had 5 glasses of red Kool aid!! I'm sending a note on Monday. He has major reactions to artificial colors - no wonder!!!! He just started school in a special ed classroom in January. I had no idea they were serving food I didn't send with him...

I'm going through Truthquest American History for Young Children 1 next year along with SOTW3 to provide more American focus. Some additional spines I'm considering for grades 4th and 2nd are: 1.Light and the Glory for Children series & workbooks (I like that there are workbooks, but I've heard some negative reviews of this series...) 2. This Country of Ours by H.E. Marshall 3. Guerber, Story of the Thirteen Colonies (I've been reading these for Ancients and Middle Ages but saving them for the logic stage for the kiddoes) 4. Hakim's History of Us series (my older daughter is an advanced reader and these look really engaging. I'll definately read them myself, and save them for logic stage if they are too advanced. 5. Carson's Basic History of US 6 vol. series ( I was considering this for myself, any recommendations for this set?) 6. A Child's Story of America (Christian Liberty Press, recommended by Veritas), with the tests. I have a boatload of chapter and picture books on my Rainbow and Amazon wishlists that my library doesn't carry. This is getting expensive, but I LOVE history, therefore the children must too - right?? :) Which of these would you choose?

Ok - very encouraging! Thanks! She was a young reader - but had terrible penmanship and spelling. Every child develops so differently, her younger brother is just the opposite.

No one has a comment? I can take it! Should I make her write some of the sentences over? Leave it? Wait for Susan's writing curriculum? Is it good enough for 3rd grade? I really have no clue!

I have MS. I had a major "attack" a year ago that led to my diagnosis. I still walk with a cane. I take Betaseron - and I'm hopeful for improvement. I read that book and mentioned it on the boards. I've been making major changes for our family - 'greening' up our food, housecleaners, food storage etc. I think so much has changed in our environment that has led to these diseases and autism. I've always heard that autoimmune disease is caused by genetics and environment combined. My son has type 1 diabetes and another son a severe mitochondrial disorder. I pray my daughter stays healthy and I'm doing all I can environment wise to help towards that end!

This is for her history notebook. Her summary of The Minstrel in the Tower. I use R&S English and CLP Spelling - just want to see if she's on the right track for language arts as we wrap up 3rd grade. I haven't taught writing formally yet... The Minstrel in the Tower Roger and Alice's mother is sick. She wants them to go find their Uncle Raymond and show him a lute to tell him they were his niece and nephew. Along the way they got kidnapped by two men named Odo and Simon. They hid the lute. At night Alice grabbed the lute and ran to go to her Uncle Raymond. She found him. He gave her a knight to go with her to go rescue Roger. They all went home. Thanks for your input!

My 13yo is profoundly disabled - o2, feeding pump, colostomy, bladder catheter etc... He is blind and can't roll over, but he smiles when we interact with him. He loves "company." We built a house last year in our same neighborhood. We chose a floorplan with his room right next to the kitchen. His full bath is fully accessible and next to his bedroom. We homeschool in the dining room right off the kitchen. So, that "wing" of our house is very convenient for me to care for my son, my home and teach. My younger children do their oral reading in his room - we have a nice soft chair and a half in there. We do read a louds in there often. He has music playing all of the time that he enjoys. We have hardwoods throughout the downstairs so ideally we can push him around in his wheelchair - but he's too uncomfortable sitting up very much. When my 10yo with mild mr and pdd-nos comes home from school at 2pm he spends about 2 hours in my 13yo's room "acting out" our Sunday morning worship with our worship cds. He pretends he's the worship leader with elaborate prayers etc. Quite the wonderful autistic quirk and it is the highlight of my 13yo son's day! It would be undoable to care for him if his equipment and my school stuff were far apart though. I would recommend putting thought into getting that as close together as possible if that makes sense.

Someone PLEASE write this! I would love a program like this! Seriously - there is a huge need. The Veritas and Logos novel guides are wonderful in their own way, but a program that includes several novels each year would be outstanding. A wide variety of exercises, projects and worksheets would be great also.

Yes, the vinegar odor goes away when it evaporates. I read in a green housekeeping book about the disinfecting properties of vinegar - it kills 99% of bacteria and 88% of viruses. It's non-toxic compared to the diluted chlorine bleach products and Lysol type cleaners I've always used. I have a diluted bottle under every sink.

Pyrex w/ plastic lids - we have a Corning outlet nearby. I'm going to buy the matching plastic lids they carry for my French white bakeware also. We also invested in Klean Kanteens for each family member to replace all plastic water bottles and cups.

Closing the Food Gap, Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty by Mark Winn http://www.amazon.com/Closing-Food-Gap-Resetting-Plenty/dp/0807047309 Good book! I think it would be interesting to many on the boards with the discussions on local, organic food and economics lately.

My 13yo developed terrible acne last year. We tried all kinds of over the counter remedies, but I didn't want to put him on prescriptions just for that... The Desert Essence products from Trader Joe's recommended a few posts up cleared him right up. After a year of trying all kinds of products. I think that tea tree oil is a wonderful and gentle antiseptic. We use the pads also, because it is so easy. But the soap and blemish stick are great too.

I have MS. Many diets for MS recommend very low saturated fat. Some studies implicate gluten for ataxia, so I went off of wheat just in case also - worth a try. So, I went of all animal products and wheat. I've already lost 12 lbs. in 3 weeks. I eat all kinds of organic fruits and veggies and legumes, and a small amount of seeds and nuts. I haven't eaten a lot of rice or potatoes yet - I'm doing more of the Eat for Life 6 week plan now. It's amazingly easy. Much easier for me than low carb ever was - I used to have horrible cravings. I think this is a lifestyle change!

I found a really well made club chair at Salvation Army for $30. I was thrilled bc I'm trying to buy minimally and used these days. I'll use it as a sitting chair in my 13yo's room - he's profoundly handicapped. Think a comfy chair next to a hospital bed for a nurse or family member to sit by his bed in at all times. I found an indigo Surefit slipcover at Overstock - it looks pretty sloppy. This is a huge chair, and I did all the tucking possible. I fluffed the wrinkles out in the dryer with a wet washcloth. So, I'm thinking this is just how slipcovers look? Sloppy? My husband was thinking it my be worth it to spend the money to have it reupholstered. This chair is not going to be in a 'living room' per se. It will stay in my son's room or maybe the playroom someday. Would you just keep the indigo sloppy slipcover? :)

I will be praying for you. Know you can come here for support as many of us do. But, I agree with Kay. You need the counsel and support of a real life advocate for you and your child. Maybe a pastor or clergyman? Counselor? Sometimes friends and family just aren't the best to help us through a seriously devastating crisis...

My son with special needs has several dozen stuffed pets. He loves them and talks to them all of the time! He prefers them to other toys because in his words, "they don't break, and I don't have to put them together!". Sounds good, buddy! Anyway, I did some research this weekend and bought this: http://www.stacksandstacks.com/html/11579_stuffed-animal-storage-tree.htm It will be at the end of his bunkbed. His "friends" will live there while he's at school, instead of resting on couches, beds etc. I think he will be able to get them on and off himself. We are both excited to set it up.

I used the Pre K and loved it at the time for the letter sounds foundation. Now - with the Leapfrog DVD's you could teach that in a couple days - what took me a year with daily flashcards!