I know that I am absolutely in the minority on using AAS for a very accelerated learner at an accelerated pace, but this is pretty much what we did. A lesson a day, not much tile work and I let her do her dictation sentences (we did them all) primarily on a lined dry erase board. Caveat: I chose to take Alex through all of the levels of AAS because she loved doing it and because she is only 5. I do not think I would make the same choice is she was say, 10, and just needing a bit of practice/reinforcement/quickly going over rules. I am also pretty sure we could have gotten her to the same point using a different program, but I enjoyed teaching AAS and never felt the need to change either. I did use supplemental word lists for more challenging words quite a bit. Regardless, we loved AAS and I am sad to be finishing level 7. She has chosen to focus on spelling bee prep materials this next year for Kindy.

Dd ordered it with me this morning...she loves that proceeds go to the non-profit, and in fact insisted that I buy it rather than reading it for free with Kindle unlimited:)

Did anyone catch in the Olivia Incident part 2 video where Joe is talking to Nicole and says "we aren't doing anything wrong. Just camping on the property for a couple of months..." No mention of homesteading, setting up anything, just this. It almost seems as if they have discussed what to say to anybody regarding conditions and he is making sure she remembers what to say. In fact, many of their conversations read like that, with Nicole 'yupping' an affirmation. Also, does anyone know if the word 'reverent' has specific meaning (thinking more connotation here)? Joe uses it at several different times and it almost seems like a code? He uses it at the kids when he informs them they are about to be kidnapped and taken into custody, and when he tells them to get into the 'cabin' and sit at the table so they don't get Into the Olivia thing. Oh, except for Jacob, who is told to put his foot against the door in the officer's way. That poor boy! I felt like Joe purposely put him there thinking the cop would hesitate to involve the boy. Zero regard for Jacob's safety, just a pawn:(

Thanks, I had read anywhere between 500 and 700 calories...apparently each ounce of breast milk contains about 22 calories and it 'costs' mom about 26 calories to produce it...so apparently 650 calories to make about 25 ounces of milk. Recommendation is increased 500 cals increase and 150 from pregnancy fat stores. And average baby takes 19-30 ounces per day, with my hungry guy reaching for the higher amount:) Unfortunately pregnancy really was tough on me this go-round and after delivery and three weeks with resulting medical issues I ended up at quite a bit under pre-pregnancy weight. So not only am I trying to get to a healthy weight, I am BF whilst doing so. Definitely forcing the nut butters:) and because I have such an awesome hubby, he got up and drove nearly 2 hours away to hit TJ's and Whole Foods to stock up on all my favorites that we cannot buy locally. Alas, no sugar, but he made about 2 pounds of fresh guac I have been eating all day:)

I am absolutely finding this to be the case and may not be able to continue to BF because of it:( This is my first time BFing and Max is very hungry and very irritable...I am already vegetarian, nearly vegan with the exception of 2-3 items, but it turns out baby is very sensitive to dairy. I am having trouble keeping weight ON, but am making plenty of milk. I am constantly thirsty:) I have to be extremely careful in planning the meals I do eat and pack in additional at midnight. I am constantly hungry as well, but tend to want fresh fruit, salads with lots of flavor, and I am eating my weight in corn/black bean/lime/cilantro salad:) OP, I know it isn't what you were looking for, but IF the weight is stubborn and doesn't want to come off easily until after BFing, it may just seem to fall off after. This happens to my sister after every one of her pregnancies!

ROTFL😄

Doom and disaster. I knew I shouldn't have opened this thread:). My dd5 has a smartphone. And an IPad. Now, it isn't as bad as it sounds, lol. She used her old IPod Nano for audio books every night for three years until it bit the dust. When we went to replace it, the new generation of Nanos do no have an external speaker, and are almost as much as an IPod Touch. At the same time, we were upgrading our own smartphones. It just made sense that we simply pass one on to her. It does have phone service as well as data, for safety at this point mainly. We do not have a home phone, just my cell and hers when hubby isn't home. With my health problems it makes sense to have a backup...and we have spent a lot of time discussing when and how to use it. She is allowed to call or text a limited number of people, and she almost always asks first. As she gets older that will change. Obviously I don't let her take it to her part time school as there isn't a need. She is definitely not the only child in her Montessori class of 3-6 year olds that has one passed down from the parents. Internet Access: I do not restrict her access, although we do tend to limit overall media if it becomes necessary. So far she uses Internet as a tool. She is fully literate and is always looking up some fact or another, watching a YouTube clip. She uses apps as well. But she typically chooses a book or other activity. We have discussed Internet safety, personal information, and things she might encounter. I just had a baby and she spent a good deal of time researching birth. Because of the nature of this, we had many discussions:) You cannot prevent kids from accessing Internet and things you might not wish them to see. In fact, trying to do so will be more likely to make it the 'forbidden fruit.' I feel it is better to start with gentle exposure and teach it as a tool. Educate them and yourself. Kids who know exponentially more than their extremely strict parents, IMHO, are the ones most likely to feel the need to get sneaky and creative:)

My dd5 has 15 Painted Lady butterflies that should be emerging from their chrysalides any day now:) this is the third year we have done it before releasing them into our garden. All they really do before making their 'j' formation is eat. If they are in your house, what temperature is your thermostat set at? If it is too cold they can get sluggish. Make sure they aren't in a direct draft from a vent as well. We lost a few one year because dd accidentally turned the ceiling fan on high in her room before we left on an overnight trip:(

Btw, the financial assistance for the camps is often done by a completely different person with a different scale. You will never get less than what you FA percentage at the Y is but often more. And again, talk to the camp director personally as they can make it happen. Part of their fundraising is finding people who want to send kids to camp who would not otherwise go. If you want to send him, I can almost guarantee they will help you find a way. As I said above, I worked there and helped navigate my sisters children through the process by speaking with the camp directors:)

Absolutely this. I used to work at a YMCA and this is a very common thing. They have a designated person doing the financial aid applications and the first time is just a formula they apply. They absolutely have discretion to alter this given more information or extreme situations. Really, IME they absolutely want to help get your child in there. Especially if you go in with a lovely, 'is there anyway we can make this happen' attitude. It sounds awful but I can't tell you how many times people came in with a beligerent, 'you need to fix this now' demanding attitude. If they can help, it has always been my experience that they will. Also, worst case you can get financial aid applied to a single class or program, or camp. So if there just isn't anyway to work out a membership, the FA can be used to do individual classes... Good luck:)

We liked the MindWare books too, but if you google 'Multiplication fun sheets' you get a huge variety of free pages like this in all different themes and activities:)

Hope your headache is getting better:( A funny story to cheer you up: this morning I have a headache and am exhausted from being up feeding a miserable 6-week-old. Hubby decides to do something lovely and made me a nice cup of herbal tea. In the process he discovers we are out of sugar. Inspiration strikes, however, and he raids the camping supplies for some. So nice of him:) when my tea is just the right temp I take the biggest gulp...to discover that my tea tastes like flowery brine😠I now get to razz him about how his PhD in chemistry failed him in determining the difference between salt and sugar:). Not to mention the fact that he used a random Baggie of u identified white substance in my food, lol. I asked him if he had recently increased life insurance:)

I used this program/games for my dd when she was a bit younger than that. It is called Gigglemath and is basically a layed-out program for mastering addition and subtraction through games. They are fun, and do work. The games and 'tricks' taught are very much like those in the workbook 'Two plus Two is Not Five'. http://www.gigglelearn.com We live the RS games as well:)

I make vegan jello for my dd5 occasionally as a treat. I get it in prepackaged boxes from Whole Foods. It is made by a company called Natural Desserts and is Gluten free, vegan, kosher, and has no artificial dyes or colors. They make an unflavored sugar free version that I mix with fruit and juice, but they also have a few flavored. It is pretty good! I don't remember what real Jello tastes like as I have been veggie more than 30 years, but I have given other kids and their moms some and they say there really isn't much difference:)

I am in central Texas, but only have one dd5 who will be 'officially' homeschooled starting this fall, do I count?! I FEEL like we have been homeschooling forever, lol, but we all know how controversial that gets:) ETA: No particular stance on good barbecue vs. bad barbecue either, unless vegetarian 'meat' counts:)

Congratulations Quill! In so many ways being a 'non-traditional' (whatever that means these days!)is so much more challenging...and in many ways, much more meaningful for many:) I spent a year in college very young, then 4 years in the Army before returning. Everything meant so much more and I fully appreciated the experience. After all the hurdles and hard work I am proud and thrilled for you. Enjoy the culmination ceremony and imagine the entire HIve applauding and hooting raucously as you cross the stage today🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 I am the obnoxious one with the air horn:)

Did anyone post regarding the Buzzworthy App from the spelling bee? I am posting the Scripps link below. It looks like a fun way to get kids involved in the bee and follow along. In fact, it would be cool if the HIVE spellers want to share their code and we can all cheer them on, and spell with them:) I have a dd5 who is desperate to spell competitively so I think I will let her download it this evening:) http://us5.campaign-archive1.com/?u=af54d277651e6822d87b375a3&id=79468ff89a&e=1541d050b8

Maybe the fans at the game will be so thrilled they won't be as upset by the shelter-in-place order announced, asking them to remain there?!

We are actually in a huge traffic jam on I-45. I can see police officers on the access road out my window rescuing cars. Apparently the reason for the traffic jam is that water has risen up onto the freeway ahead:(

Picked a horrible weekend to have to visit Houston....we just sat in a restaurant for 2 hours with a massive storm system overhead threatening power, severe flood warnings. We could not leave and now cannot get to the hotel at the moment as they are doing rescues in the feeder road right outside the restaurant. I just watched all the emergency vehicles pull two boats by😧 But we are safe, dry, and my dd5 sees it as an adventure (not to make light of what is really horrible for many!). The infant has amazingly slept through it all. Stay safe everyone...

We do have in infant seat (Chicco Keyfit 30) but it stays in the car except for the very rare occasions daddy might use the companion stroller. Because of the wheelchair, there really wasn't anyway to carry the infant carrier other than balance it in my lap, which just isn't safe. My dd and now new baby Max have always been in my lap...although Max is benefitting hugely by the use of a K'Tan. It is SO much easier to keep him safe in my lap in the wheelchair and be hands free. When I go places where I might need to put him down, even in a restaurant, I take one of those fold up portable baby beds. It folds up like a purse with a strap and fits perfectly in a booth or on the floor as a diaper changing area. I can't ever use the diaper changing tables in public places anyway, so it works really well:) http://m.toysrus.com/skava/static/product.html?type=TRU_product_us&url=%2Fproduct%2Findex.jsp%3FproductId%3D21199466%26cagpspn%3Dplab_15899380%26camp%3DPLAPPCG-_-PID15899380%3ABRUS%26eESource%3DCAPLA_DF%3A21199466%3ATRUS&domain=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.toysrus.com&productId=21199466&cagpspn=plab_15899380&camp=PLAPPCG-_-PID15899380:BRUS&eESource=CAPLA_DF:21199466:TRUS

One thing that really got me there at the end: the interviewer questions whether they will comply with CPS requests, saying why wouldn't you if you wanted your kids back. Joe says some nonsense about 'the line' that they are willing to comply with according to their personal beliefs. He says, yeah, a fence and cleaning up the old decrepit sites that were on the property from previous tenants, that's fine. They always planned to, but it was a step-by-step process they were following... But it clearly implied that there were things they would NOT be willing to comply with to get their kids back:( Seriously frightening. I feel for those kids who will need years of reprogramming:( And I certainly hope that the location of the foster homes is kept from them!

I actually managed to listen all the way through the podcast because I was a captive audience whilst nursing the baby. Wow. Joe opens his mouth and the crazy just...evacuates. In fact, I am half convinced that the piles of cr@p all over their fetidlittlehomestead came from his rhetoric and not the animals. Nicole is much more coherent in her rants. Ignorant, misguided and plain delusional, but at least she can follow a topic and attempt to answer a question. Joe is either on drugs or his drug use has made Swiss cheese of his brain:( On the subject of education and their ' unschooling' of the kids Nicole states that the kids know all they need to. "They can all read and write and know science and math." They can use the Internet well to look up anything they want to learn about. Of course, I bet this involves approved sites and strong doses of scorn and appropriate reprogramming on how what the Internet says is actually a large-scale conspiracy by the government and anyone else who doesn't agree with them. Nicole also spouted the traditional stuff about how the kids learned math from building on the homestead, and fractions from cooking, doing things like doubling recipes. Uh...yeah. Because their fort was so obviously built with careful attention to measurements and I am quite certain that their outdoor 'kitchen' has cookbooks and measuring utensils. Because, you know, cooking diseased turtles requires careful seasoning...

Do you by chance have type O blood? I recently read an article that came through my science daily feed where they actually did twin studies to look at the effects of blood type and other more topical factors. Apparently, type O is very attractive to those pesky female Mosquitos! We recently found a mosquito repellent bracelet for my dd that seems to work for her at the grocery store of all places:)

Alex enjoyed a book called Mathematicians Are People Too and the sequel, and we read them for many of the same reasons. Whilst the books are geared toward mathematicians, there is of course a ton of overlap and the big names in science are covered:) Each chapter covers a different one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0866515097/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1432210859&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SY200_QL40&keywords=mathematicians&dpPl=1&dpID=51P4BWJW2FL&ref=plSrch http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0866518231/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?qid=1432210859&sr=8-8&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=mathematicians&dpPl=1&dpID=51Vh-D6qtkL&ref=plSrch Also along those lines, and maybe more what you are looking for is a 2 disc audio set called Scientists and their Discoveries that we listened to in the car for ages. There is a companion set called Great Inventors and their Inventions, as well as Great Explorers and their Discoveries. All of them chronicle the 'greats' and tend to highlight the long struggles and hard work that their achievements entailed. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00629DCPI/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1432211016&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=scientists+and+their+discoveries Following this thread as I consider this meaningful therapy for my perfectionist dd:)