"Great. I did not want to discuss it with you either." :lol:

Ah, that is a tough decision. Our schools are not good here so I would discourage but I am not sure where you are located. If he chooses to go to school, I would make him commit to the entire year. This could be bad though, especially with the bad influences.

This is not my child so I do not have a bunch of details. A friend has a son who is now in 6th grade who was diagnosed years ago. He seems to keep to himself a bunch and sort of has an attitude. You could say this about most teens but he was diagnosed in second grade I think. He also has a thing about clothing. It has to be comfortable with no poky seams. The keeping to himself thing was really extreme when he was younger.

They must have hit us all. I had never heard of them until recently when I was complaining about American Girl. I love the Bity Babies recommended for 3 and up but I wanted a blond with brown eyes and that is not an option. I did not like the fact that My twin goes up $40 in price from September to December. I know they are trying for advanced orders but geese. Just a pet peeve. I am normally early anyway. $170 for a doll seems a little pricey to me. To see pricing: http://www.mytwinn.com/help/shipping.html

I am pretty sure it is old news. I did email the site to let them know that I thought they were sharing old news.

One of the mom's in our homeschool group did this at our summer celebration and my kids cherish theirs. They sat perfectly still while she traced their shadow.

Have you considered REAL Science, Earth and Space? Here is a link on it: http://rainbowresource.com/product/R.E.A.L.+Science+-+Earth+and+Space+Level+1+(Looseleaf)/042768/1221701376-1661425 It is recommended for 1st-4th grades.

Our church has the middlers and the highschoolers separated into different groups. The middlers are called stepping stones, pretty much 5th through 8th grade I think and then the youth group. Is there a reason they grouped them together? Have you considered "starting" the middlers group? I know a lot of times, there just is not enough people to help to have the kids divided up. Good luck. I know this must be stressful for you. It would be for me.

Food Detective is one of the shows that my son absolutely LOVES. He has informed so many people that there is not a "5 second rule" when you drop food it is not even funny. He will also tell you about passing gum in your stool and what will catch on fire in the microwave. GREAT SHOW. My daughter (4.5) will watch Pinky Dinky Doo on Noggin. She creates stories and then questions the kids about it. It also has a vocabulary word with each story. Here is a link to information about it: http://www.noggin.com/shows/pinky.php - It really helps with reading skills. Another GREAT show.

You Thank GOD that you do not have to make any changes! I am glad everything is working out for you so far!

When dd broke out in them, our nurse's line said to put her in an oatmeal bath or cool bath and give her benadryl.

Oh, and I did not even mention the part about the secret. Geese.

I would not only be on the phone, but I would follow up my complaint in writing. I would also mention it to other adults who have kids taking the course with that person. What was he thinking? Geese.

I recommend Wedgits. They are great building blocks: http://www.wedgits.com/ OR Kapla Blocks. We spend hours playing with them: http://www.kaplatoys.com/ If you do not want blocks, I would suggest First Act Discovery instruments. They sell them at Target or Walmart: http://www.firstact.com/Products/FirstActDiscovery.aspx Hope this helps.

Children will need to be fluent in computers and there are plenty of games recommended for that age. My daughter is 4.5 now and she watched her brother play games when she was three and I assisted her. Her brother also "helped" her play games on it too. Learning how to "point and click" for example. She currently has hooked on phonics lessons on the computer where I do not have to assist her in doing them. She also does her starfall.com lessons. I think a computer foundation needs to be learned at a early age. I also think that 15 minutes a day is plenty of time on the computer. Keep in mind though, my house will only have 30 minutes to an hour of screen time every day. I think a computer is much more engaging than an television.

I am going to have my kids make some mosaic coasters for their grandmothers for Christmas. We bought the stuff to work on them today. I plan to take them to the pottery place to paint ornaments too. As for me, I will be purchasing gift cards for people, lol. I have no "crafting" ability.

My brother had a rabbit when I was younger. I remember the cage having to be cleaned all of the time and that there always seemed to be an animal smell in his room.

I keep my addresses in an open office calc spreadsheet. It is a program similar to excel. I print it up during the holidays to do my cards.

What state are you located in? Is there buyer's agency in your state? Are you working with the realtor that has the house listed? If you are working with the agent, who has the house listed, she can not tell you any information about the other offer in NC (where I am at). She can only tell you to put your best offer forward. If you are working with a buyer's agent, she is suppose to be representing you and I doubt a buyer's agent would lie about an additional offer. She wants you to be able to get the house as much as you want it. I have seen properties sit for long periods of time and then end up in a bidding war with 3 or 4 people trying to purchase the same house. Foreclosures are tricky in and of themselves with a bunch of details in the contracts you need to pay attention to. Good Luck.

Ditto. There is no way that I would let my children go into the school with out me. I think that is a common practice in the public school system. It is to "keep the children safe". Total BS. I would pull my kids out and homeschool.

My kids love the cds too and I think they are well worth the money.

Ouch. I am so sorry. I know that must have hurt. My daughter was about 15 months old when she ripped her toe nail completely off. It took a really long time for it to grow back, almost a year but it came back without any trouble and looks normal.

Have you seen any of the Usborne Science books. They are really great. My son flips through them all of the time. I am not a rep or anything. My kids just love the books. I would recommend middle school for your son if you are reading it to him. Some of the high school books are really dry and may bore him to bits.

We are required in the state of NC starting at age 7. I started when my son was 5 just so he would be into a routine of testing each year. It is funny, I like to see how he does on the tests but I do not put much weight on them. We use the Woodcock Johnson test and my son scores well above average on them. The main reason I do not put much stock in them is because I am not going to teach "to the test" or "how to test". I am not even teaching my kids what is taught in the public schools so why would I test them with the same test. It makes no sense to me. I will test my daughter this year. She is doing Kindergarten. She would not be able to start school until next year if dong public school. I will test so I can "prove" she did school if we ever have to go into the system.

My nephew moved in with us a year ago and he rarely has homework. It irritates the crap out of me. When he moved in, one of the first things he said was that he did not want to be homeschooled. I do not think he would be able to handle the work. His school is really slack.