I'd love it a gluten-free group!!!! My youngest is allergic to wheat, dairy and soy!!!

My oldest graduated last month!! We had a party for family and friends that was just lovely!!! In two weeks, she's going on a cruise to the Bahamas with her Grandmother and then traveling on to Disneyworld! She's taking the summer off from classes and then returning to the community college in the fall. So she's spending time with us, as well as her boyfriend and his family, and just generally relaxing and enjoying her free time!

Almost!!! I have to purchase our Art and Latin curriculums and I'm finished!! I'll be doing this on Friday at our homeschool convention!

I did the same thing with my oldest son! This year, he went to every baseball practice and game, and put his heart into it. (He also hit his first home run this year! We used that as an opportunity to show him that, when you practice, you improve!) So he earned an A. Last year, when he didn't put forth as much effort, he earned a B. We'll see how he does this coming school year! He has baseball in the fall and spring and basketball this winter.

Thank you so much!!!! The confirmation was in my hubby's email account! I'm all set to go now!

If he's going with you, then go on Saturday! I thought you'd be trying to manage an 18 month old and shopping, by yourself! If he's there for assistance, I think you'll be fine! Have fun! :)

I'm going on Friday!! Then heading to Virginia Beach for my niece's baby shower. I preregistered, too...and several months ago. Haven't received anything yet, which is unusual. Typically, you do receive a confirmation letter in the mail, and it tells you your admission time for the used book sale. The earlier you registered, the earlier you're admitted, but I haven't received anything as of Saturday. I'll be bringing a cart on wheels for my purchases. I picked it up years ago at Costco, just for the convention! I used to use a suitcase on wheels, but the cart is much easier, as I don't have to stop and unzip it after every purchase! I second the recommendation that you bring a sweater or light jacket. And, as far as the crowds, Thursday is typically the lightest, and Friday is the second lightest. Saturday is the most crowded and I usually avoid Saturday if at all possible.

I have two children on the autism spectrum. My oldest son (15) has always been homeschooled. He's very verbal and completes his schoolwork without any arguments. He needs time to work at his own pace and struggles from time to time, especially when it comes to language arts (spelling and writing are his biggest struggles). He leans toward the Asperger's end of the diagnosis. My youngest daughter (7) has been in public school since she was 3. We homeschooled her for part of this school year before returning her to school in March. She's very intense and high-need, and leans toward the moderate side of autism. Academically, she's on target for her age and grade, but she's the type of child that I can't leave alone for a minute or she's into something. This made it very difficult to homeschool my other children. She's doing very well in school, earns A's and B's, and is very social. Every summer, I contemplate keeping her home with my other children, but...she would require so much of my time and attention that it would impact their learning. The difference comes down to this -- and this is how it's been from the time he was young -- when I call him down to the school table, he comes and does his work .. usually with quite a bit of one-on-one assistance. When his schoolwork is over, he runs off to play. It used to be with blocks and Legos .. now it's with the computer and video games. :) With my youngest daughter, she would come to the school table and complete her work, but she wouldn't go off and play! She'd cling to my leg and whine, or she'd be running the water in the sink...digging in the cat's litter box...stuffing things down the toilet...pulling all the books off of my bookshelf...turning the tap on the hot water heater...etc., etc., etc. As long as your Asperger's son doesn't make you want to climb a wall, I don't see where homeschooling would cause any issues! ;)

We're debating about whether to homeschool our youngest or send her back to school next year. If we keep her home, here's what we're likely going to use: Grammar: First Language Lessons 1-2 Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears My Printing Book Phonics: Alpha Phonics & Explode the Code 1-2-3 History: A Child's History of the World Science: Singapore Start Up Science Math: Math-U-See Alpha & Singapore Math 1 Art: Artistic Pursuits K-3 Book 1 PE: Swimming & Little League Baseball

Reading: Sonlight Core 5 Readers Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears Can Do Cursive Grammar: Fix It Grammar Spelling: Phonetic Zoo Spelling Level B Writing: IEW Student Writing Intensive Level B Vocabulary: English from the Roots Up Volume 1 Science: Biology w/ Heath's Life Science Math: TT Math 6 & LOF Fractions History: Van Loon's The Story of Mankind Latin: Minimus Latin Logic: Red Herrings Mysteries Art: Artistic Pursuits 4-6 Book 1 PE: Tae Kwon Do

I plan on starting the LOF Fractions book with my 5th grader this coming school year. (He'll be using TT Math 6 as his math textbook and he'll finish up the curriculum in March or April -- if I remember correctly! -- and then he'll use LOF until the end of the school year, which is the 1st or 2nd week of June).

Very interesting article!! I have two children with autism. When my oldest son was diagnosed, we were convinced that it was the vaccines that caused it because that was the 'word on the street' in 2000! So we didn't vaccinate our youngest daughter -- and she still has autism! And she's more severely affected by autism than our oldest son. And, we didn't take her for testing until she was 3 years old because we were so convinced that, "She can't have autism! We didn't vaccinate her!" I'm not sure what the cause is...I really don't. I'm now leaning toward some environmental component as to the cause for the skyrocketing autism rate. Not necessarily vaccines, but...something. I mean, look at all the preservatives in our food and hormones in our meat and chemicals added to our clothing, etc. Who knows? If I could figure it out, I'd be a rich woman! ;)

Here are some winners for my special needs children. Of course, this is only our experience -- others may feel differently! Phonics - Alpha Phonics & Explode the Code This worked very well for my special needs kiddos because it uses a word ladder approach (ball, call, hall, tall, wall, etc.) vs a traditional phonetic sound method (ba, be, bi, bo, bu, etc.). My special needs children had trouble hearing the minute differences between the individual vowel sounds. The Explode the Code books are a great companion for this program. Handwriting - Handwriting Without Tears This program is terrific! Designed by an occupational therapist and originally intended for children with learning disabilities. Writing - Institute for Excellence in Writing This program is the only one that's ever worked for my oldest son. They break writing down and utilize checklists...perfect for my son! I would recommend it for older children (I wouldn't plan on using it for my children until 5th grade +) Math - Math-U-See - Singapore Math - Teaching Textbooks All are excellent programs. My oldest son used MUS for Kindergarten through 6th or 7th grade, and then switched to TT. Because every lesson and problem is on the computer, he's self-teaching when it comes to math and he wanted that independence as he grew older. My youngest daughter adores Singapore Math because it's very colorful. She's currently in public school, using Singapore Math! History / Science - Sonlight We've used Sonlight for 10+ years and it's a terrific program. Literature-based and all the planning is done for you. Includes all the reading / read aloud selections you could ever want. I hope this helps to get you started!

Only for the last one! I was fine until the actual birth itself, when her arm and shoulder came out at the same time as her head! I remember that it hurt like everything -- alot more than my other three births....but my entire screaming session only lasted for 2-3 minutes. ;)

My oldest just graduated a few weeks ago. My brother and his wife gave her $100.00, which is what we gave their daughter -- my niece -- when she graduated from high school a few years back (if I remember correctly!) I think anywhere from $50 to $100 is a very nice gift from an aunt and uncle.

My rising 10th grader has special needs (high functioning autism and dyslexia) so his curriculum is adjusted to "meet him where he is", but here's his plan for the fall: English: Phonetic Zoo Spelling Level B IEW Student Writing Intensive Level B English from the Roots Up Volume 1 History: Sonlight Core Alt 7 DK History: The Definitive Visual Guide Science: Biology w/ Milliken Kingdom of Life Guides Math: Teaching Textbooks Geometry Electives: Cambridge Latin I Red Herrings Mysteries Artistic Pursuits Junior High Books 1 & 2 Little League Baseball & Special Olympics Basketball

Here's a little bit about the homeschooled Virginia local who came in 2nd place (from our local TV station) http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Centreville-Boy-Advances-to-Spelling-Bee-Finals.html .................. Thursday was a stressful day for 12-year-old Tim Ruiter. He started the day as one of 41 semifinalists in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. By 10 p.m. tonight, the competition was down to just three competitors-- and Tim was one of them. The Centreville, VA native spelled 12 words right in the finals, before one word finally got the better of him. That word: maecenas. (In case you were wondering, maecenas is a generous patron, especially of literature or art.) Tim tied for second place. Among the words he successfully conquered: "clogwyn," "radiomimetic," "echard," "jacqueminot," and "oriflamme." (By the way, Microsoft Word didn't even know four of these words existed.) Vicky Ruiter says her son, who is homeschooled, has immersed himself in spelling. She finds stacks of index cards all over the house. "I'm unbelievably proud," she told News4 Thursday night, before the final round. "No matter what happens tonight, I don't think we could possibly be more proud of him." Tim was taking the pressure in stride; "I don't mind how I do," he said before the final round; "it's just really neat to be here." Ruiter is a big fan of science fiction, Lord of the Rings, Legos... and words, apparently. He hopes to attend M.I.T. one day, and become a chemical engineer. The winner, 13-year-old Kavya Shivashankar of Kansas, walked away with more than $40,000 in cash and prizes, and a trophy that's almost as big as she is. A record 293 participants qualified to participate this year.

Yes, the homeschooler from Virginia came in 2nd. The winner was VERY good. She knew her root words. She would often say, "Does it contain the root word ___, meaning ___?" It was quite impressive!

There's no monthly fee for the Garmin.

We have a Garmin and it's GREAT!! I'm not sure of the model number .. we bought it at Costco for around $250.00. It does the live traffic updates and it saved us from a huge traffic jam when we were 3 hours away from home for a baseball tournament.

Mine was definitely The Hobbit!! It was assigned reading in 7th grade -- then I spent the entire summer reading The Lord of the Rings series! I also remember reading To Kill a Mockingbird in 7th. It's still one of my all-time favorite books.

I used Level A with both boys this year (grades 9th and 4th). I'll be using Level B with both boys this coming fall (grades 10th and 5th).

We own the Life of Fred books, too. They'd make a very nice supplement. I'm thinking of having my 9yo use the 1st book over the summer.

We used it for the first time this school year and both of my boys really loved it!! Spelling is a weak area for my oldest son, and it's a breeze for my youngest son. Both did well with the program. Prior to using The Phonetic Zoo, we used the Natural Speller, which also worked well for both of my boys. I thought I'd give the Phonetic Zoo a try when we switched to IEW for writing and grammar. I wouldn't recommend it for very young children, however, because it's not like most spelling programs, where Lesson 1 is "cat", "hat", "that", etc. It starts out with some "meaty words", even in Level A.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, as the saying goes! My 9 year old is also finishing up TT Math 5 and he almost always receives 100% on every lesson. He'll be starting TT Math 6 in the fall and I have no plans to change his math curriculum. By using TT a grade level ahead, he'll finish the Precalculus text in 11th grade, which will leave him time to complete a Calculus text in 12th grade, before he leaves for college, so having him a grade level ahead is a bonus, in my eyes. He enjoys math and he's doing well with it. So I see no need to change.