DH has irregular work schedule and we have many fish to fry. I pay bills and bring up any issues, but he is learning my system to help out and to know what to do in an emergency. We are both frugal and have similar money priorities and views, so it works all right.

Our son (9) was diagnosed with strabismus, so we are following up with a pediatric ophthalmologist and then a developmental optometrist (we aren't sure which specialist holds what types of views in our particular area). The regular optometrist caught the strabismus and told us not to worry about it since DS sees 20\20. I don't know the terminology for his type of strabismus, but what we see in trying stuff at home is that he cannot cross his eyes. He can follow an object for a while as it approaches his nose, and then his left eye (the one with strabismus) will stop turning inward and move back straight. If we cover his good eye, the left eye will follow the object all the way in and turn appropriately. We've never noticed a problem cosmetically, but my son doesn't always have particularly good eye-contact. My son has always had issues with catching balls and such (but he also has sensory issues, so that could also contribute). I am wondering if anyone has had experience with this and can give me an idea of what to expect from each practitioner. Thanks!

http://evidencebasedbirth.com/ This website has an excellent big baby article. I don't know if it has any breech articles. Best wishes! My grandmother's babies were all 8-10 pounds, and her first--one of the 10 pounders--was a 3-hour labor. She was a very petite woman--less than 100 pounds when she graduated from HS.

Watching 3 y.o. DS nurse Clifford the Big Red Dog after watching me nurse his brother. I told him he'd be all set to help his wife someday.

http://www.amazon.com/Style-Lessons-Clarity-Grace-Edition/dp/0321095170/ref=cm_lmf_tit_1 This is not grammar specifically, but it is an excellent book for teaching the parts of writing that some really intuitive writers get on their own but may not know how to articulate. I recommend some kind of style guide (Chicago Manual) or a writer's handbook over a grammar textbook, but if want a textbook, Warriner's English Grammar is good. My handbook type reference is buried in a box somewhere, and unfortunately, covers have changed since the last time I dug mine out.

As a mult-project person, I can tell you that it's a great way to exercise all that intellectual overexcitability. One reason I often have more than one project at time is that every project requires some times of dormancy so that ideas can settle. If I hit a roadblock with project A, I can work on project B until I have some sudden insight into what's gone wrong with A. I also like variety. This suited me well in the work world. I worked as a technical writer, which required a big variety of skills (at least in my particular job). Most of my projects were actually several little projects in one that all required monitoring, progress, and bursts of energy at the right time. If you need to limit her because of budget, space, etc., maybe you can talk it through with her, and she'll have some ideas of her own. I agree with previous posters that not all kids specialize. I like being a generalist, though it made finding a major in college a huge headache. I think there are some articles online about multi-potentiality (maybe on SENG's site).

Soak for 12-24 hours. Rinse and boil for 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit with the lid on for 30 minutes. Boil again until they are tender (time varies depending on the beans). I will have to try changing the water after the 30 minute soak and see if that helps even more with the gas (this method is pretty good already). I second the freezing--I almost always make more than one pot of beans at a time--it's just as easy to soak and watch two pots as one, and then we freeze all the extras.

I AM NOT TRYING TO GIVE ADVICE so much as describe an approach that has helped me endure or acclimate to groups where I am not like everyone else in some way. (I don't know how to format my text, so sorry to shout. :-) ) I am a Christian, and I often feel like the odd man out with other Christians if it makes you feel better. I don't feel that way in all groups of Christians. Having said that, I feel that way nearly always in groups of women, not so much in groups of men. Sometimes even in a group that I don't jive with, bringing up some other topic of interest flushes out some sympathetic soul who has also been slowly dying on the sidelines. If I am in a mood where I am testy about not fitting in, I try to avoid talking because I know will end up being provocative in some way. Once in while I walk away sure that not one person in the group has interests beyond (fill in the blank with the overwhelming groupthink obsession), but that's unusual. Sometimes the group will actually realize they've been rather narrow in their topics of conversation and branch out if someone hits on an interesting diversion. I cannot claim to do this with any type of skill, but I've noticed that the people who can do this really well often change the group over time to be more welcoming to everyone, and they are the kinds of people that others seek out for friendship. That said, I think that we Americans gravitate toward two camps--being so eclectic it's hard to find things in common with each other or so set on a particular idea of what our lives should be like that we can't relate to those unlike us. Our family has the problem of doing many of the right things but not seeing steady results. We sign up for homeschool gym at the Y...and our kids are 2\3 of the class (apparently "everyone" goes to the Y on the other side of the county instead of the one 1 mile from our house). We sign up for scouts...the lack of leadership the first year leads nearly everyone else to quit. We keep trying, and we are slowly appearing on social radar.

If we turn on music or radio, 90% of the time, my son stops making noise/singing. The other 10% of the time, my son starts competing with the radio or the music, and we know that sensory issues need to be our top priority.

My older son was just diagnosed with dysgraphia, and we were told to keep him writing so that he doesn't forget (copywork), but he should be dictating for other types of assignments. FWIW, I wish he had been taught cursive before manuscript (we didn't start out homeschooling)--I think it would have helped tremendously as his cursive writing is much better.

Lots of landmines since every person recovers differently...speaking to the isolation part... Once someone is on the way to recovery, if they are truly isolated (or were before someone intervened), I think addressing that issue in a practical and meaningful way is really important to staying healthy.

I followed an elimination diet that is fairly close to paleo, and it helped quite a bit. I felt worse before I felt better, so I recommend sticking it out. I was doing it because I had some candida issues, and I eventually found out that gluten bothered me (and the really starchy gf foods are not my friends either). She could also have some vitamin and mineral deficiencies as others have suggested. I discovered Shaklee supplements about the same time as the diet, and I really like them. My Shaklee contact is also an RN, so I felt very comfortable following most of her suggestions. You might try adding some high-quality supplements a little at a time (to see which ones may be helping). I also found that a probiotic with a high bifido bacteria count is essential. My migraines are hereditary, and multi-causal, but the elimination diet helped A LOT. GF helps a lot. I clearly still have some residual problems with candida that surface if I eat a lot of grains and/or sugar, and that will trigger some migraines, but the improvement has definitely been worth the hassle.

I bought the K workbook and never really used it. I referred to it, but that is all. I borrowed the teacher stuff, and I never used it. We use the handbook for reading, make our own word cards or use the whiteboard, and find any readers (both A Beka and otherwise) that teach in roughly the same order. That said, my son is picking things up fast, and even before reading, he would ask what letters make certain sounds, including sounds like ch in chair. If you can find readers used (or find compatible readers), and you are willing to make up little games that teach what they do in the workbooks, you can get by on very little. For instance, you can buy picture cards (or make/print from online sources), and sort those into piles by alphabet sounds. You can make word cards of all kinds using the progression outlined in the Handbook for Reading, and those cards can be used for drill, review, or games. When my son was first starting, he liked it when I would spread a dozen cards on the floor, and ask him to find dog, cat, etc. Then I would have him read them all back to me at the end. If you are willing to dismantle some inexpensive workbooks to put them in "A Beka order," you can find MANY workbooks (Teacher Created Materials is what I think I used) for around $2-$3 each to teach the same skills that the A Beka workbook teaches.

I used RSO Chemistry with my science loving 3rd grader, and he loved it. Their website indicates where you can get a kit, but most things are household items. Pandia's site also has a Try Before You Buy feature that has all the supplies listed, lots of sample lessons and labs, and the scope and sequence for the whole year. A lot of things can be modified or substituted if you need them to be. (We used stickers to build our atoms early in the year instead of laying marshmallows out on paper.) Also, if your child loves science, you may find that some of the labs are repeats of fun stuff you've already done at home. In our case, we skipped those labs and took our time with something else. The curriculum schedules 2 labs per week if you follow their pace. I think the e-books are on sale (30% off) for a couple of weeks. The code is on their Facebook page, but I think it's BEST.

In asking around a bit for my own son, a GT consultant told me that kids who hit the ceiling on grade level tests can sometimes benefit from taking the same test 2 grade levels higher. If the Stanford test is a good value for you and other tests would be difficult to arrange or be too costly, maybe you can just give it at the higher level. I was always given above level achievement tests in school, and it wasn't intimidating other than having to go to a different classroom to take the test. HTH

Oh, and we found it easier to use cloth wipes since we didn't have a diaper genie to house the stinky wipes, and they don't flush. We cut up thin, flannel receiving blankets that I picked up at yard sales. I think prariewindmomma has a good suggestion to wait and see what you like. If you are on the frugal side, go with your price point, and then branch out from there if you don't like what you bought. Also, if your child ends up having a lot of rashes, Cotton Babies carries a microfiber sock that you can stuff with prefolds--it sort of makes a pocket diaper out of whatever diapers you already own.

What you use inside your pocket diaper depends on the brand and what they recommend. I didn't like doubling prefolds (unless one was really thin) for extra absorbency. I like the doublers/inserts better. Unless the mediums won't fit in your covers (which I doubt), I would probably skip the newborn prefolds entirely. I had medium diapers with my older son, and I wished I had gotten the longer size to be truthful, though doublers fixed the problem. Quantity depends on how often you wash, etc. If your babies are on the large side, and you plan to use disposables for a few weeks, you might not want any newborn stuff, but fit varies greatly by brand in that regard. Liners are wonderful. I don't remember if I used that brand specifically, but I flushed the poopy ones, and I washed and reused any that were just wet. If you can air dry them, they'll last a long time, and they are probably a fire hazard in the dryer anyway. I think they are worth the investment if you can use them that way.

I highly recommend R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey from Pandia Press. I have no experience trying to work with that many ages at once, but we used it for third grade this year, and my 5 y.o. tagged along for a good chunk of it with no problems. He didn't do all the activities, but he learned a lot anyway. It is geared for grades 2-4, and it would not be too easy for a 6th grader unless that child is already really into science (the material they cover is stuff I learned in 8th grade!). We did chemistry. It's basically a lesson plus two labs per week. The labs use household items for the most part, and everything is scripted, including the lab procedures. The lessons are written to the kids. You are allowed to reproduce student pages for multiple family members. You can try it before you buy it--they have an extensive sample online with supply lists, TOC, and I think a lesson/lab or two. http://www.pandiapress.com/?page_id=20

Thanks for this insight--we are having our son evaluated, and we feel this way a lot of the time.

My older son has major issues with math facts and doesn't really absorb them well. He does know them efficiently enough while he's calculating larger math problems most of the time. We do some math fact review much like what others have described, but I make him say the whole problem out loud as well as the answer. It seems to prime the language pump and keeps him moving through the facts. We also shake things up a bit by grouping the facts together by products they have in common rather than by fact family. For instance, we would group together all the facts that have an answer of 24 (1 x 24, 2 x 12, 3 x 8, 4 x 6). We cover the reverse facts (2 x 12 and 12 x 2) as well as the division facts, all at the same time. When we do them sequentially by fact family, he ends up skip counting on his fingers, and we don't want to go there again--three years of drill when he was previously in school taught him to count on his fingers really fast, but he still isn't fluent with +\-! If we group them by product, he forms relationships between facts and uses them as placeholder values to figure out others. I realize this is a bit clunky, but he enjoys factoring, and I think it will help in the long run when we do equivalent fractions and things like that.

I forgot this option because we didn't use it, but you can buy kits designed for this course at Home Science Tools (according to a note in the book). I see you posted something about co-op chemistry too...you could shorten and use this course for a co-op, but to make copies of things, you have to purchase a separate license. Anytime you need a kitchen, you could use a hot plate\burner (for boiling water), bring basins for wet stuff, or a toaster oven for when something needs to bake. Or, you can bring in pre-made before and after samples for some labs. You wouldn't be able to cover the whole course in 12 weeks (it's a 36 week course), but you could do an overview or choose certain units. I posted this here because I've never used this in a co-op or participated in a co-op, and I didn't want to derail your question when I have no expertise on the co-op topic.

http://www.pandiapress.com/?page_id=20 I don't know if you've seen the samples, but the last time I peaked at them, they offer the TOC, scope and sequence, supply list (by item and by week), sample lesson, etc. You can plug away at this with 2 labs per week, or you can chunk them together. We are doing this book "feast or famine" style, and it's working just fine. Many of the concepts are explored multiple times from different angles, so you can feel free to speed up, slow down, or (gasp) skip a lab now and then. For instance, my son had no qualms about the differences between a mixture and a compound, so we skipped one of the labs--we actually talked about the things in the lab and discussed which they were, but he didn't need the hands-on for that concept. Also, the kids have MANY opportunities to "build" atoms, so if you aren't sure your kids are understanding that the first time around, they will see\do it again several times in other formats. Labs vary greatly in how much time they take, but none are intended to be a hassle. Some require you to let something sit overnight or for a few days. A couple require you to check something periodically over a couple of hours or within a certain timeframe. You can often set up another lab in the meantime when this is the case. Some labs require very little drawing or writing on a labsheet, and others do a lot of that. The labs are fun and do not require expertise. If they are messy, require heat sources, etc., it's quite clear up front. Creative substitutes are possible. One of the first labs has the kids build atoms from marshmallows of all sizes and colors--we bought a bunch of stickers in three colors to represent the protons, neutrons, and electrons. Big time saver and no obligation to eat the sugar when we were finished. Supplies are easy to obtain. A few are odd, like salt substitute. If you have a friend using the same curriculum, you can share items like that. The labs range from mixing things up and observing them to making rock candy. Some labs make fun stuff, like floam. We have really enjoyed this program. I do very little preplanning, but I do read ahead to see what we'll need. If this is not helpful, I would be glad to answer additional questions.

I purchased my Island and Town sets together used, missing only CE. They were sets with the teacher materials only. We've been fine with them. I noticed a reference in Sentence Island that talked about not covering indirect objects in Grammar Island, but in the version I have, IO are covered. So maybe I have some old, some new books together? I am not sure how to tell the difference. I bought the old CE from a friend, but then I decided to buy the new version when I actually saw it. My son is very visual, and he loved all the Roman information in Building Language. For another child, I might have decided differently, though I think the layout and pictures in the new book are much better. I used to be a tech writer, so page layout is one of those things that draws me in.

Following.

P.S. If you are a foodie and really like off-beat things to do on vacation, you might also stop by Jungle Jim's. It's a grocery store, but it really is a landmark. cintinative is right about Graeter's!