Put tea tree oil on it. Hope he feels better. NATural, sooothing and will help heal

sidewalk chalk, jump ropes, FOOD. Kids in our neighborhood congregate at the kids' house with the trampoline.

I need help navigating all the ADHD 'miracle' parenting helps out there. My dh is not a reader and would prefer a DVD to watch. Can you share what you've used successfully and what to avoid? We need help with the temper tantrums especially, the extreme behavior from my ds7/ADHD. My dh needs something... 1., 2., 3. He's a stay-at-home dad and I think he's starting to lose his mind as we have 4 children at home- his two just came to live us recently and they are 6 & 8 without much previous discipline other than being yelled/cursed at. We have chore charts and behavior charts (allowance), we do time outs and loss of privileges already. Thank you!

I'm going to take ds7 to counseling first and go from there. Jumping into court wouldn't benefit ds7. I need to get to the bottom of what is actually happening. Ex is not the most reliable communicator. Then if we need to go to court I'll have the counseling sessions as evidence instead of word vs. Word.

another not yet grown child but... My dd11 was homeschooled for 3 years and it has made a tremendous difference in her vs. her public schooled peers. She has learned so much in the last 2 years of being in public school and she's still a bit innocent. Too many children are exposed to adult matters at astoundingly young ages- she may bit a tad naive but I'd rather that than what I see in other children her age. I had a 13 year old girl recently tell me that she plans to have others provide for her for the rest of her life. She has no needs for college plans, no need to think about what she wants to do. She's going to live off others- in fact her best friend already pays her way to movies and entertainment extras. She's 13! We teach our children morals, teach/live by example and hold them to standards. Homeschooling really helped develop the family unit and establish the moral compass for our family. I wish we could still do it but we are fully involved in Girl Scouts instead.

I agree, legally it's tricky. Ds7 has shown signs of protecting himself- he doesn't want to talk to ex (his dad) on the phone much anymore and last night step-mom called herself and ds7 pretty much hung up on her. I ask him why he doesn't want to talk to them on the phone anymore and he doesn't give a detail answer- most of the time it's "I want to do this instead." It's sad. I appreciate everyone's input. It isn't a clear cut answer and I'm a Golden Rule type but when it comes to my kids... :) I will continue to pray about this and will try again to speak to ex about my concerns.

He just says they are having problems. He's not a take-action, be involved type. He takes the path of least resistance in parenting which infuriates stepmom (she's said it many times to me). I don't know if she is spanking him appropriately, I have a strong feeling she does it out of anger and frustration- which is never right. I'm in a pickle.

It's not like I don't know what challenges my own son presents at times but as a step-parent myself...I cannot fathom why she thinks spanking her step-child is appropriate. It pains me to hear ds7 say that she yells at him and spanks him. Unfortunately, she will not be open to talking about this because it draws attention on her behavior. I'm asking whether to address this or leave it alone. If I leave it alone, I will keep my eye on ds7...I call him while he's there just for this very reason.

I have a dilemma and either I need to change my thinking or things needs to change. I am a stepmom of 2 children who actually live with us plus my 2 children. My ds7 (adhd/dyslexia/speech) goes to his dad's for the weekend and he has a stepmom there. What is the hive's thoughts on this? I do not discipline my step-children other than time-outs, loss of privileges. There is no spanking, no yelling. My ds7 keeps telling me that his stepmom yells and spanks him when he visits on the weekend (a total of about 36 hours time spent there). My ex tells me that his wife hates my son- his words, not mine. I've already talked to ex about how she treats ds7- apparently he has done nothing. She has reached out to me in the past about how to discipline ds7 and I shared with her what we do. Is it my place to tell stepmom to stop yelling/spanking my son in their home? My ds7 has already told stepmom that his mom doesn't spank and that she shouldn't- ds7 stood up to her and I think it made it worse. What do I do? If anything?

Well with AAR's full refund within a year guarantee and the fact we're afterschooling- I think we'll go this route first. My hope is that the public school is effective in placing him in resource class where they can use the expensive curriculum and we'll be doing added support activities at home. Barton looks fabulous, the price tag is steep for us at this point. If we feel there is a true need to have such a program at home, we'll go that route happily.

Personal opinion. A pastor's heart and passion about teaching others about God is more important than any degree s/he will ever earn. Degrees are only important to his desired path for example, if he wants to teach divinity or other class. Look to see what his elders have?

You too, don't want to hijack the thread- hope you're doing well!

It's called letting go. There is curricula out there planned out for you and you just follow the instructions. Nothing is perfect, fairy dust is actually glitter you cannot vacuum up no matter how many times you vacuum and the magic wand is the hour hand of the clock hitting the bedtime hour. LOL :)

I see affiliate for AAS, if I click the link will you get credit for my AAR purchase?

THe titles that are used in most lessons- buy. I called them the spines. The rest are library books, fill-ins. Agree with coffeegal. I did get dioramas/treasure chests that were fabulous when I could, they were high-impact for my dd.

God's Design for Science was one of my faves for younger years.

there are people out there that "need" to plan, who will plan the most basic of curriculums to the nth degree. I don't know ANYBODY like that. (Just don't go to my trivium academy blog and look around and we'll be good.) Forgive the horrible grammar and sentence structure.

Draw Squad is my favorite, we tried Drawing with Children too much planning. If you want a curriculum Harmony Fine Arts is fabulous.

Love the structure but the ability to dig deeper with all the different subjects. Music, art, history, writing (loved Writing Aids) and mapwork- it was a dream come true. The books are fabulous, the best selection of titles of any structured curriculum I found when I researched it (a couple of years ago). I would choose it again and again. I didn't find it too religious, I wanted secular materials- you can skip parts if you wish. The downfall? Teaching multiple kids at different levels with the books- if you don't have a fabulous library system, it can get expensive unless you budget the cost of books in. Do not buy if you curriculum jump. Maybe someone geographically close to you uses TOG so you can see more? Or contact TOG directly for a sample of the year you want to see? Good luck!

Okay, give it to me. Give me the uglies, the regrets and whatever else you can tell me before I push the ORDER button. More info: We will use it afterschooling for ADHD, dyslexia, speech disorder child reading on K level but he's in first grade. Just diagnosed after extensive testing and just started meds for ADHD. He will do resource classes at school but I want something to do with him at home. _____ I've extensively looked at the samples, ds7 has read from the lessons and readers and asked for his sticker! Warn me now... :001_huh:

Just a suggestion. How about meeting with the school and discussing what could be expected if you were to enroll ds? One week in public school may not be a bad idea- to see what the alternative is and what you and your dh think about it. If dh has misgivings about homeschooling him, it will make your resolve weaker. Homeschooling being the "right" decision is dependent on the participants, not outsiders. Don't worry about naysayers that secretly wish they could do what you're doing. Enjoy your time with your kids, make decisions about what is best for your family.

I sincerely appreciate your input and the programs you suggest would work- I like them and Ms. Barton's videos had me crying, someone understands and knows what I've been dealing with all along. I'm still comparing the suggestions but financially, we're leaning towards All About Reading. Ds7 and I looked at the samples together and read out of the sample readers. He wanted to do more although he had been reading for 20 minutes and wanted to know if he earned a sticker. This is HUGE. He corrected himself. Thank you so much for your input and suggestions, everyone has made a very confusing search much easier. I'm so grateful!

:hurray:Thank you Lizzie, so much! I knew the Hive would have great answers! I'm watching the videos now and my husband and I are both shaking our heads in agreement.

Totally sympathetic homefront- it has taken ds7 4 years to get down the ABC song and we're still struggling with letter identification/sound. Blends are a total nightmare. I've got a few suggestions from the K-8 Curriculum board, and I'll weigh/compare the options. Thank you all for your input, it is greatly appreciated!

Thank you ALL so much, I have someplace to start now instead of just hours & hours of research. Hope everyone's homeschooling is going well and you're having tons of adventures and success.