Somebody here must have good advice: http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/home-improvement-advice

We have dealt with some public schools that are adversaries and others that are partners. I can empathize with parents who are frustrated with their public (or private) schools. We had a few bad experiences with former schools and attempting to work with them didn't help. We opted to use private schools instead, and the two we used were excellent. My youngest's present private school is a dream. I absolutely love what they teach and the people who run it. Now I must go knock on some wood!

What a royal pain! You could ask a question on one of Bob Vila's forums: http://www.bobvila.com/AskaQuestion/ I used them years ago and found the advice to be helpful. At this point, maybe you need to speak with a structural engineer of some kind? Good luck.

That's too bad they don't allow the younger ones to compete. She could always study the older tests and be good and ready the next year, though. I know my youngest son wouldn't have handled an away camp like MathPath too well at such a young age, but the problems to get in are worth attempting. Next year's are available online. Texas State at San Marcos will take younger out-of-state students if the child has a place to stay. That program is shorter and less intense but would be a good intro for a young one. http://www.txstate.edu/mathworks/

Has the school mapped out a sequence of future course options and discussed them with you? If not, that's something I'd want to discuss with the school. My son is in a similar boat (we did Singapore and NEM at home as well), but the school spelled out what future classes will be available. Other programs to look into: Awesome Math Year-round (AMY) Titu Andreescu teaches as well as a few others. "The AMY is broken into six independent segments, each investigating one circle of ideas in depth. Every two months, students receive a packet of materials organized around a set of notes which comprise a short course in the topic. The courses cover each topic from the very basics all the way to fascinating and difficult results; we believe that everyone has something to learn! The notes will be accompanied by scores of problems, running the gamut from simple to quite hard. Students are expected to write up solutions so that we may provide individual feedback and teach the invaluable skill of proof-writing." http://www.awesomemath.org Math Circles to follow what others are doing: National -- http://www.mathcircles.org/node/77 Berkeley -- http://mathcircle.berkeley.edu/ San Diego -- http://www.sdmathcircle.org/ Dallas -- http://metroplexmathcircle.wordpress.com/ Also, the AMC 8 test is coming up November 17. See if your school participates. You can order a book and previous tests on DVD for about $25. http://www.unl.edu/amc/e-exams/e4-amc08/amc8.shtml Your daughter might also like to participate in MathCounts and/or Math Olympiads. A fun way to learn more about math. (My husband coaches a team.) Then there are the summer camps that get into areas of math you wouldn't typically find at most schools. If you'd like more info about them, I'd be happy to post some links.

I am so sorry. You are treading through some difficult times. I will be praying for you and your family. :grouphug:

I bought burlap (22" x 35" pieces) for my son's Halloween costume at Michael's.

Linus Pauling's opinion about sugar from his book How to Live Longer and Feel Better: "In fact, as to eating and drinking there is in this book only one real don't; that is sugar. Like the cigarette, the sugar sucrose is a novelty of industrial civilization. Together, they have brought pandemics of cancer and cardiovascular disease to the otherwise fortunate populations of the developed countries. Sugar in breakfast foods (as much, sometimes, as the cereal) is especially harmful to infants and children, and the problem of a good beverage, free of sugar or of the chemical sweeteners that are substituted for it, remains to be solved. The cigarette hazard can be eleminated by quitting the smoking habit. Sucrose cannot be avoided, but a large decrease in the intake of this sugar is essential." The YouTube video is interesting. Thanks for the link.

There are some villages in China where people eat as many as 6-8 cloves of garlic per day, so once or twice a week would probably be fine. However, garlic thins the blood, so you wouldn't want to eat too much if you're on a blood-thinning agent or are about to go in for surgery. A few articles from Dr. Weil: http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/ART00364 http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/REM00011 http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400482/Getting-Enough-Garlic.html I try to eat several cloves per week usually crushed on bread with a bit of butter or cheese. If you're worried about your breath, you could eat a little parsley.

Many prayers for your daughter and your family.

At the beginning this felt like the flu, but now it's more like a cold except I'm getting chilled to the bone more easily.

I cannot tell whether we have a cold or flu. Strep tests came back negative. Symptoms: -- started with a dry, slightly irritated sore throat -- a little chest congestion -- slight cough but not much -- bad headache on day 1 -- bouts of lethargy for a few days -- aches in neck, shoulders and back for about 2-3 days -- congestion, slightly runny nose with a few fits of sneezing -- sinus pressure -- my son had a mild stomach ache and for about a day, odd pains under his ribs that shot up toward his shoulders -- no fever We take large doses of vitamin D3 (and raw garlic) when these kinds of symptoms appear, and I'm wondering if (hoping!) that's helped prevent a full-blown case of whatever this is. We've had this since last Saturday. Anyone in the same board or care to guess?

I can take a stab at some of your questions. I'm not familiar with something that combines magnesium, zinc and fish oil. An actual fish, maybe? ;) I prefer magnesium oil (heed warnings if you have kidney problems!). The mag is absorbed through your skin (transdermally), and if you're deficient, you will feel a wave of calm come over you in about 5 to 10 minutes. I love the stuff. However, I'd recommend applying to just the stomach initially because it can bring your blood pressure down. Supposedly, if you're deficient, your skin will itch slightly. This was true with me. Now I don't itch, but who knows why. I sometimes make my 12-year-old use a bit. You can order it from Dr. Norm Shealy's website. http://www.normshealy.com/ We use Carlson's Liquid Lemon-Flavored fish oil. 1 tablespoonful with vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) and some other fat. While you're increasing your omega-3s, you might want to check to make sure you're not getting too many omega-6s. You can track your o3 to o6 ratio at this site. Just enter your food, and it will calculate. It's an interesting site. http://www.nutritiondata.com/ HTH.

I afterschool and use the WTM to research solutions for myself and friends. This is a terrific board for anyone interested in education.

My husband recently read Influence: The Power of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini, and one fascinating example involved an experiment using a movie similar to the Model Me Kids movies to teach introverted, young children socialization skills (in this case, how to make a friend). After merely watching a movie of children attempting to befriend other children, the test subjects did the same which they were reluctant to do before. The children were only told to enjoy the movie -- no lessons or explanations. Might be worth a try for you.

My son's former school used EM. We switched schools because we felt it was too weak. The school he's at now uses Glencoe Math, which I think is better. We did Singapore as well as the school's math curriculum. (Ds, a seventh-grader, still does a separate math program at home as well as the school's.) If you can get your son to do two lessons on both Saturday and Sunday and then just one more sometime during the week, that should help to make it a bit more bearable. It is easier to do this now than to have to do remedial work later. We had our son do math first thing in the morning on weekends. I was empathetic toward his feelings but told him that it was just something he had to get done. Now it's a habit, and he likes doing it. Good luck, Sue.

We haven't read an entire series, but I have some individual versions of classics I'd highly recommend especially for younger kids or even an older child who struggles with reading. Beowulf / Michael Morpurgo (Michael Foreman, illustrator) 978-0--7636-3206-9 Lassie Come-Home / Rosemary Wells (Susan Jeffers, ill.) 0-8050-3794-2 Brer Rabbit / Joel Chandler Harris (Don Daily, ill.) 0-7624-1712-9 Jonathan Swift's Gulliver / Martin Jenkins (Chris Riddell, ill.) Just so you know, there is an illustration of a partly naked woman in it. 0-7636-2409-8 Romeo and Juliet / Bruce Coville (Dennis Nolan, ill.) 9780-8037-2462-4 A Midsummer Night's Dream / Bruce Coville (Dennis Nolan, ill.) 0-8037-1784-9 Moby-Dick / Jan Needle (Patrick Benson, ill.) Our favorite. Very well done. 978-0-7636-3018-8 Canterbury Tales for Children / Barbara Cohen (Trina Schart Hyman, ill.) 978-0688062019 Don Quixote / Martin Jenkins (Chris Riddell, ill.) 978-0-7636-4081 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Angel Dominguez, ill. This is unabridged with beautiful illustrations. 1-885183-47-x

The kids in my son's school all run down the hallway until they come upon an open door, then they stop, peek in to see if the teacher sees them, and continue running! Of course, everyone knows they're running because they sound like a herd of elephants. :D

My son's high school uses Geometry for Enjoyment and Challenge (ISBN # 0-866-09-965-4). You can probably buy it and the teacher's manual used for not too much money. I don't have the ISBN # for the TM, though.

I'm sure you've read many books already, but if you can manage to squeeze in another, I'd highly recommend reading Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John Ratey, MD (psychiatrist and prof at Harvard). He explains in the book what is happening in the brain -- not just with neurotransmitters but how certain parts of the brain can be physically altered by conditions and what can be done to change that. Ratey has ADHD himself which he addresses as well as anxiety, depression, stress, learning, addiction, aging, and hormones and the effect exercise has on them. He is not anti-medication at all but suggests using it in conjunction with exercise. The book is technical and thus a slow read (for me at least). The results mentioned are so compelling, though, I'm going to write up a summary for our school's principal to see if we can implement some of the suggestions. (We afterschool.) Other schools have done this with great success. For all I know, you might be using exercise already, but I thought I'd suggest this for others who might be reading. My son now goes for a short, easy run before school and a longer, more intense one after. He sometimes has trouble focusing, so it should be interesting to see what happens. Good luck and don't feel guilty if you need to use Ritalin.

In 5th grade, my son read Understanding the Holy Land: Answering Questions About the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict by Mitch Frank. IMO, it's a good choice for children in middle school and junior high. About 130 pages.

Prayers for you, Molly. Hoping it all turns out well!

It depends on the school. A good school will challenge a child who is ready. I'd recommend speaking with the principal, teachers and other parents whose kids go to that school.

What are your plans to treat the insomnia? Has she seen a sleep specialist, and if so, have you been given a plan with follow-up visits? I think you are wise to bring her home.

I wonder if he's thought about his future with his children (by Elizabeth) when they'll be grown -- so very soon -- and remember the things he did to their mother. He's very short-sighted, IMO. If I were Elizabeth, I'd take good care of myself. Maybe she'll outlive him. LOL. Regardless, I feel so sorry for the kids especially. Ugh.