If you are looking for enrichment for math, I have a suggestion. Challenge Math by Ed Zaccaro. I heard him speak at a gifted conference and he was fabulous. I do not yet have the book, but there are sample pages (as well as other fabulous books--in several subjects) at his website. Just do a google search for his name and you should find it. We've been afterschooling for years--and while it is challenging to find the time and energy, there are so many things you can do to enrich their ps education. By the way, my ds11 is really struggling with the whole organization part of school, too. If you have any ideas on helping in that area, pass them on! Best of luck...

Thanks for sharing...

That's exactly how I felt about the trial week idea...that's not enough time to make it work! The point of adjusting, adjusting, and adjusting some more is well taken...I can see that discovering our homeschooling way would be a process. I think Dh's idea was mostly so that *I* would see what it was going to take to teach and do all the other mom stuff I do...which is most certainly going to bring many changes. Maybe he thinks I'd give up too easily! I need to check with our school to see if we can continue orchestra and track; although at this point I'm a little afraid to let them know I'm even considering leaving. (If we lose our 'spot' at this school, the process to get back in is quite lengthy). I appreciate the comments...

Hi there, everyone. I am new--well, I've been lurking here and gathering a lot of great ideas from you these past few months and now I need to come out and ask for your help! I've been a bit hesitant to post as I'm not an official homeschooler and to some that may be an issue. My dh and I are wrestling with the decision to take the plunge and bring our ds11 home to school for the rest of the school year...and, hopefully, beyond. I have always been a homeschooler-at-heart and I get more excited about it the more I research & plan, while Dh is less enthusiastic...not about homeschooling itself, but mostly because ds11 has mixed feelings on the issue and we are struggling to know if this is the right thing for us at this time. At times ds has been excited about being homeschooled (we've talked of it for quite some time) and sees all of the benefits and agrees it will be a good thing. But, on the other hand, he is just so sad to miss out on the 'fun' side of school. He's sad about leaving his class at school and not being able to play football with his buddies at recess. He's sad to miss out on orchestra, and the Hershey track meet, and field trips. None of these issues are necessarily the most important factor in our educational decision-making process, however, I realize these are real feelings for him. And I'm not sure how to help him through these feelings. And so, I'm wondering how those of you who have BTDT have handled this? Do you have any suggestions for me? My dh wants us to do a trial week of homeschooling. Before officially withdrawing ds from our charter school, taking him out of school for the week and doing homeschool as I've planned out for us. Did any of you do anything similar? What was your experience? What are some ways you have helped your dh grow in understanding about homeschooling? Thanks for any suggestions... Diana

I use the recipe from the back of Bush's Great Northern Beans and typically double it; 4 cans beans, 2 cans chicken broth, 2 small cans green chilies, 4 tsp. cumin, cooked onions, and a bunch of shredded chicken (and a little flour to thicken it up a bit). I'm sure there are better recipes out there, but this one is pretty simple...and I like simple! And we all love it. (In fact, that sounds great for tomorrow night!)

I feel saddened to hear of the times some of you have felt badly while attending church. I realize we are all different and have varying viewpoints and experiences, so I offer these comments in kindness. I think it's important to remember that nobody is perfect. Unfortunately, things often happen at all churches--where feelings are hurt or situations are handled inappropriately or someone has a particularly bad attitude. I'm not saying all of that should be ignored, just offering the suggestion that perhaps instead of only looking at what a church can give to us, we might consider what we can give to the church. In my case, I believe with all my heart in the doctrine of my church--and recognize that others who believe are on the same journey I'm on. We believe in Christ and seek to do His will...looking for ways to help & strengthen one another as we face challenges and teach our families. None of us do everything right, but I feel our hearts are in the right place and we are striving to move in the right direction. When we've moved to a new location and begin attending a new congregation of our religion, dh and I agreed that we couldn't just wait for everyone to welcome us and put forth all of the effort--we had to do our part, too. Join the choir, offer to bring dinner to sick member, participate in service projects, invite people over to get to know them, etc. It seems that serving others is what helps us to form those relationships that we are seeking. Now, as I see the original question was about those who choose not to go to church...so I'm not trying to convince you to go. Simply adding another perspective to think about. To those who are seeking...I do believe there is truth out there and that the Lord will answer prayers in your search.

My ds6 has enjoyed the Magic School Bus chapter books, Flat Stanley, Jigsaw Jones & Cam Jansen. I've also seen a series of Early Readers for the Little House on the Prairie books.

I bought my ds11 a book on coin collecting, a few folders (to keep pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters), and a bag full of coins...he's already been collecting the state quarters, but we thought this would be a great time to introduce him to other coins. Maybe stamps, football cards, stickers, etc...

Thanks for posting about Edventures--I'm going to look into it further. Did you have to purchase the big expensive lego sets they mention in order to do all of the lego projects? Or can you do at least some of them with those you might have at home (considering we own probably $1500 worth of lego sets)?

We use Signing Time with our little one, but my older children *love* to watch, too. So it might be a bit young for an 8yo, but it does teach a lot of vocabulary. The DVDs are expensive, but we are able to get it on a local educational channel, so check around. Also, our library has several copies.

My ds11 sounds a lot like yours. It is so hard to be patient and positive and try to help things change. I think there have been some great suggestions, but I wanted to share one that I'm trying right now to improve the connections with my son. I started a Mom/son journal. I write a message to him and leave the journal under his pillow. He writes back & leaves it under my pillow. It's not a daily thing, but sometimes it has gotten to be that way. Sometimes we go weeks without writing (usually we've just gotten busy and forgotten about it). My goal is to tell him I love him every time I write and to talk about the positive things I've seen him doing. Sometimes I have to think *really* hard to find something positive. Sometimes I've just written about a special memory about him. At times it might be what I hope he becomes someday. His responses are rather brief and not as elaborate as I'd like; but I have gotten a few comments that help me understand where he's coming from a bit better. And as long as it's one more way to tell him I love him, it's worth it. Of course, it hasn't really changed things yet, but perhaps with a little more time. Do you think they just grow out of it, perhaps?!? One can only keep trying & keep praying... Hang in there! :grouphug:

I have had recent luck at Christopher & Banks. Apparently they are online, if they aren't in your local mall. Not too trendy, but updated styles. I feel like I have to do a lot more 'searching' these days for clothes that have sleeves & aren't skin-tight! Have fun shopping!

I find my children love to have a few "dessert" pieces to play--letting them choose a few of their own songs to play around with after the essentials are practiced. For one it might be 'fiddling' music after classical violin, for another may be the Theme from Harry Potter on the piano. One of mine will play for long after practice time is supposed to be over--especially now that the teacher gave her a Christmas book full of familiar songs that she's playing with. Two of mine also enjoy playing simple arrangements of church hymns--I think it's because they are so familiar and I'm not making them practice them, they are playing for their own enjoyment.

Try lexile.com. Many books are now coming with a lexile range printed on the back of them. You can also check out lexile levels of books you are already familiar with and then print out a list of new books within a similar range. I have found it very helpful.

One thing at a time...makes anything look easier! I find on my overwhelming days that if I just think of one job to get done...and then give myself a time limit, it helps me get at it. For example, okay, I'm going to race the timer and see if I can empty the dishwasher by then. Or I'm going to pretend someone is coming over at 10:00 and I need to have the table cleared off & looking nice by then. Or put on some fun music and fold laundry until the song is over. And that's all you have to do. I don't mean to focus so much on just the housekeeping; but that is the part that really overwhelms me sometimes. And to be honest, when my house is straigtened up (dishes done, laundry somewhat caught up, entry way clean), then I feel so much better and able to give my energy to my little ones. I have down days often. I don't know what the answer is. I am not on any meds, but I probably should be. I'm also not exercising, don't always eat healthy, and rarely go to bed at a decent time...I think all three of those things certainly contribute to feeling down. Another thing that would make a difference for me is if I had a friend...someone who could relate to the stage in life I'm at and with whom I could say, hey, this is hard today. Anyhow...hang in there. You can do it! Just pick one thing to try to improve on and see if it helps!

to get a better idea of what you're getting into! Try a google search for Wii and see what the official website has to say. That's where I've researched games before we've bought them. I felt the same way when we decided to jump into getting a Wii. Not that I'm an expert, but here's my two-cents. The Wii itself is like a small DVD player without a screen--it was a lot smaller than I was expecting it to be, considering it cost $250 (last year that was the going price). The games are CDs and cost $30-$60. Most of the games my kids have wanted are $50. When we bought ours it came with one Wii remote and one nunchuk (which is an attachment to the remote that you need for certain types of games--giving you different types of movements). It also came with one game--Wii Sports--which has baseball, tennis, boxing, golf, and bowling. These physical types of games are the reason we finally relented to buying this system...it really does get quite physical so don't pull any muscles! We purchased an additional remote so that we can play two-person games--we're even thinking of getting more so we can all get in on the action, but I remember they were quite pricey. We have purchased a few additional games--my kids' favorites are Lego Star Wars, Lego Indiana Jones, and Madden 08 Football. The worst one we bought was Horsez--it's just really lame and not worth the $30 we spent on it. We've thought of Dance Dance Revolution, because I've heard that it is by far the most physical, but I need to look into that and see if it's appropriate for our ages or not. Have fun figuring it all out...the hardest thing we've faced with it all is enforcing the limits of use! But it has been a great motivator when we need something done and they can earn minutes on the Wii.

I just started Once-a-Month cooking and am most certainly a fan! It has been the best thing for our family! I started out by making multiples of only a few things that I knew my children would eat. I found info by searching on google--Frozen Assets was the most helpful, imo. To add to the other ideas already suggested: Enchiladas--I brown ground beef, assemble the casserole, freeze unbaked; when I want to use it, that morning I put it in my frig to thaw, then bake for 30-45 minutes at dinnertime Shepherd's Pie, Lasagna, Chicken Enchiladas--same as above Taco meat--I brown ground beef, add tomato sauce, spices, kidney beans; thaw & heat up to use in tortillas or taco salad Breakfast Burrito--although my kids say the tortillas are too hard in some spots French Toast--the best for breakfast; after preparing, I lay them all on a cookie sheet, put in freezer for a few hours; then put them in a big bag--this way you can open the bag and take out only what you need; pop them in the toaster & you're all set. We just put butter & cinnamon sugar on top as an easy breakfast my little ones can fix themselves. The other thing I did was to bake a bunch of chicken; shred it and freeze it either in various sauces or plain to add to mix-together recipes. This was the easiest thing in the world, but makes such a difference! When cook up a bunch of ground beef & freeze it plain in bags/containers, my husband doesn't like the taste of it...but if it's in casseroles/with sauces, it tastes much better. I'd actually love one of the recipes mentioned...Mexican Chicken Lasagna? :-)

I feel the same way a lot of the time. I always have a hard time figuring out what to get my brother/sister-in-law; they've always had more financially than we have...and unfortunately at Christmas I always felt like our gifts to them had to be equal, even though it really isn't about that at all! I like the idea of writing down stories/memories. What about gathering/assembling a book of your geneology? Or maybe a scrapbook or photo collage of a recent family gathering or of pictures of the good-old-days when everyone was younger. Or using digital photos put together a DVD and add music. Maybe your kids can do something like that as a project? Oh, one thing I've done in the past is to create calendars--you can buy them at Michael's or Robert's and you add photos/stickers--you can put in birthdays, etc. You can also send in your pictures somewhere like at Walmart Photo shop and they print the calendar with your pictures. A few years ago I found a list of fun ideas on the web--they were called 'survival kits' and the list had a ton of them. Like a survival kit for a new mom, college student, retired, teacher, etc. (and then you gather all kinds of little things) and attach a note that includes the explanation of items. For example, for the new mom, one item might be a q-tip to hold her eyes open when she's tired. They aren't necessarily 'gift-baskets' (although that's an idea, too...but tends to get expensive) but they are funny & cute and show that you put some thought into it. I'll look and see if I can find a copy of it, if you want me to. Good luck...and I hope more ideas are posted here, because I need to start thinking about Christmas, too!

A few months ago I was behind a lady at Walmart who amazingly enough was telling the clerk how much everything should be. The clerk just entered that price and kept going. I asked the lady what she was doing; she said Walmart would match the ads of all local competitor stores. I've done this a time or two previously, but always thought you had to have the ad to prove it (and I'd usually forget the ad at home). Anyhow, this lady looked over my cart and saved me almost $10--just by telling me, Life Cereal is $2 at Albertsons; Goldfish are 99 cents at Harmon's; etc. It has really helped our grocery budget--looking over the ads when they come/making a list of what is what/and shopping only at one store. I've created a price book, I think that was mentioned here--but it has helped me to learn what is really a good deal on certain frequently purchased items. Also, last month I tried once-a-month cooking for the first time--it has been so amazing! I fixed 29 meals all in one day...mostly what I did was choose several meals that I know my family will eat and that will freeze well. For example, I made four enchiladas, four lasagnas, four shepherd's pie casseroles, four taco meat/bean mixtures, two meatloaf loaves. Then I baked a bunch of chicken, shredded it--mixed some with various sauces (for Hawaiian Haystacks, Chicken Lickin', BBQ sandwiches, etc) and put the rest in bags to add to throw-together type of meals. The next day I made a ton of french toast, pancakes, & breakfast burritoes to make our mornings a bit easier. For the one grocery shop to purchase all of the ingredients for all of these meals, it cost $250 (we are a family of six). I still need to figure out my spendings this month to see what a difference it made financially, but I'm suspecting it will show a difference compared to our normal spending. If nothing else, the convenience of it has changed my life!!! :-) Nothing like popping the casserole in the oven and going outside to play with my kids...

We bought a freezer not too long ago, and went with the smallest because we didn't think we'd need to put too much in it. Well...now that I've started doing Once a Month Cooking (which is SO awesome btw), our freezer is way too small. So if I could do it all over again, I'd go bigger for sure.

I have struggled for years with my oldest son and his giftedness. While it's so exciting to see him excel academically, the biggest challenge has been his intense emotions. Believe me, no matter how he is feeling, everyone knows it. (Our neighbors, too!). It has always been a struggle to know how to help him rein in those emotions...and to not lose my own cool as I try to help him work through things. I keep hoping he'll outgrow it--he's now 11--because I can't quite imagine the teenage years if we keep going at this pace! What I'm trying to do now is simply love him for who he is...accepting him & his intensity; all the while praying for patience & guidance. That's easier said than done...sometimes I just wish he were more 'normal' so things weren't so hard. I found an organization with a lot of helpful ideas that I wanted to share--it's called Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted. I think the website is www.seng.org, but if not, just google seng. If nothing else, reading the articles on this site helped me to know that there IS an emotional side to giftedness...and I'm not the only one wondering how in the world to deal with this.