Us too! I was forever forgetting mine or forgetting to load something we wanted. I packed it full of audiobooks just for the car and now leave it in there with the car charger.

Hope your family and friends were all able to share in the fun, and that you were loved, pampered, and fed lovely food!

I like the HWOT instruction, but when I tried it with my desperate-to-write dd about that age, she was adamant that she do it herself. She did NOT want me to teach her. I finally found a set of videos (I know, I know!) called the TV Teacher. With that unfortunate name, how could I go wrong, lol, but I had seen the samples. It isn't a movie you just watch but a set of very short clips by Ms. Marnie. A fun little video all about each letter, followed by her tracing it with a little chant. The set comes with a book that the child can trace along with her, then move on to lined paper. Obviously, I sat next to her to monitor, encourage, and watch for issues. Proper pencil grip is reinforced every time they start:) There is a video for both capital and lowercase letters, numbers, shapes, and even drawings with shapes as the basis. Lots of fun. I know it isn't for everyone, and I would never say it is the best way! But if you have a very independent AL that prefers a different style of instruction, it might be an option. Alex has really nice handwriting now:) I do warn that you will probably never get the chants out of your head. I think there is an app now that might be a cheaper option, or allow you to preview.

Yep...and they also have 3 large indoor dogs. Wood floors that are now not salvageable. The worst part is that they live in the UK, in a semi-detached house...so whilst they own their own house, it is actually part of the house next door! Who are very tidy...I have always wondered what they must think! I feel so badly for them. SIL is fanatic about keeping the curtains closed and the like, so they may not be fully aware of the problem. Totally unfair, almost criminal:(

We are in the same boat. I have almost given up hope that hubby and I will find anything we can agree on. We had the same problem with our dd five years ago, but at least then we had a few ideas! I like Sebastian as well, but it has also become very popular in some areas...and hubby isn't too fond of it anyway. Maximillian and Atticus are the only others at the moment that one or the other hasn't vetoed:(

Ha! Don't be too sure! We spent nearly a month at the holidays with my bil and sil. Now I KNOW bil and dh were raised exactly the same way. My mil is gone, but hubby is extremely clean and tidy. I know that bil was not raised that way, and fil is utterly exasperated by the whole thing. His brother? Nope. Filthy. Same rumpled sweaty Tshirt and jeans for days,and no laundry...so I highly doubt there is any other changing going on:(( He will shower if told, but doesn't use soap or shampoo. He reaks to the point where I think there is also something medical going on. My dd5 (who probably could use some tact lessons but only said what we were all thinking!) made multiple hilarious comments like: "you can't wear that same stinky shirt to the pantomime! You have been wearing it for like five days!" Being pregnant, and very nauseous I could not even ride in the car with him! The thing is? He actually found a woman just as bad about cleanliness as he is! I never would have believed it in a million years. Someday their house will be bulldozed rather than attempt to sanitize.

Thinking of you and your little family and sending virtual hugs...

One other thing: After all is said and done with regard to advice: you know your child better than anyone else. If I had listened to much of the well-meaning advice I recieved when I initially panicked over what to do math-wise for my dd5, I am convinced I long ago would have stifled her love of math and science:) I still panic--sometimes daily I think as I struggle to come up with the next thing. But I have learned to take all the awesome advice I can gather in this forum and filter it through my knowledge of MY child, lol. Good luck, and I hope you find a way to match his passions, with Beast or anything else. This board is no stranger to wildly asynchronistic kiddos!

Ooh, and fun:) Have you seen the Bedtime Math books? They are very cute and would be perfect for kids at different levels to do together. There are 4 levels of problems after a short funny paragraph or two. Problems range from easy logic and addition/subtraction to 'stumper' problems with more challenge. There are two books, and we went through those...but I highly recommend signing up for the free email. You get a daily set, usually based on some current event or science topic. And the bonus problems are a bit harder:) Loads of fun!

Lol, I thought this was just some strange Alex quirk:) The things she remember both blow me away and routinely drive me insane!

Not Ddmeter, but thought I would chime in as this is more or less what I did...I had ordered BA 3A and 3B when Alex was not yet 4. That being said she had already learned skip counting, multiplication tables and was reading well above any level she needed for Beast. We did 3A as a buddy-read. I thought we would wait on the problems but she was adamant. And literally would make herself sick because she lacked the physical skills and patience to work through them. It was awful. But obviously that will be kid dependent and there is a big difference between a 3-year old and a 6-year old. There was not a single math concept that really was above what she could do, but BA offers so much more! 3A is very approachable as it is angles, skip counting, fairly straight forward concepts. But they do ramp up! After 3A I hid the others I ordered until she found them about 6-8 months later. She remembered them and begged:) I let her read them, or read them with me and it was a much better fit. We still struggle with frustration though! We are doing Beast behind what she does in regular math and it is still a challenge. One other thing: I worry constantly about what Ddmeter calls 'the cuteness factor'. Alex turned five in December and still very, very much wants fun and cute. I don't expect that to change for a long time and we are fast exhausting that world:(. It isn't that I can't manufacture cute, but it is exhausting and lots of extra work. I would say that there isn't anything wrong with reading the guides, and they will get more out of them as you read them again. They are fun, cute, and colorful. And if reading the guides is what ignites a love of math for your child or fills a need right now then go for it! We LOVE them. But there were unintended consequences:) The other thing to consider is pacing. I now have a kid you has outpaced the slooooowww publishing schedule. When I ordered them I was certain this wasn't a possibility! Nope.

Definitely the pretest:)Honestly, I have a BA-loving kiddo that is very young...and the guides are wonderful and are wonderfully misleading as to how difficult the challenges can be! I would really hate to him turned off to BA and the possibilities for later. You didn't really mention where he is as far as math goes. It sounds as though (correct me if I am wrong!) that you want to give him deeper, broader exposure to a wider variety of math concepts/challenges and puzzles but outside of the traditional, linear path? If so, there are lots of really fun materials that can do this without being quite so dependent upon solid mastery of arithmetic. I highly recommend the Penrose the Mathematical Cat books by Theoni Pappas. You can read the short (usually 2 page) chapters to him and work through the math. There is the newest offering, a book full of Puzzles from Penrose that sounds like what you are looking for. They are fun:) ETA: I can't see the harm in buying 3A to read together if he just has his heart set on it! It may be that flame that triggers him:) I just think that if you are just wanting to give him challenges and puzzles, there are other ways to go about it for now?

We just returned from a trip to Europe, including extended time in England. I will come back later with some favorites, but I wanted to tell you if the kids love Harry Potter...in the London King's Cross station there is now a 'Platform 9 3/4' complete with a luggage trolley that looks embedded in the wall with photo ops. There is a store next to it that sells anything and everything HP related as well:) Also, the National Rail Museum has a Hogwart's Express--I wouldn't go JUST for that but there are so many cool things to see there!

Yes! We have watched some really good videos from the library put out by Schlessinger Media.Also, he may not be into this like my kid is, but The Unemployed Philosopher's Guild makes some ridiculously cute finger puppets in famous scientists and inventors. We have a bunch of them like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, etc., as well as people of history. Dd loves to reenact things she has learned:) Brain Pop and Brain Pop, Jr. Also have some good clips.

Well, my dd is quite a bit younger, but we have been working on it a bit so I can share a few things we have. The Pandia Press timelines with stickers to give her a rough chronological scope. And they are fun! I found a great set of Junio Classics audiobooks. They are called Great Inventors and their Inventions, Great Scientists and their Discoveries: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00CF65MNM/ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmr0_2?qid=1422043761&sr=8-2-fkmr0&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70 The Timeline games, specifically Inventions and Discoveries have been a lot of fun. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005N57CNU/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1422044093&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SY200_QL40&dpPl=1&dpID=61Hr5dcMg3L&ref=plSrch We also like the Who Was...series, which may be about the reading level you are looking for. Looking forward to what else you and the Hive come up with!

A few more ideas: Emergency bar of chocolate- because it can fix a whole lot. Fun, character band aids- because life is rough and sometimes we get knocked down. A small mirror-so that she can always see herself clearly A CD of her favorite comedy act or funny DVD- because laughter is the best medicine. One of those tiny, portable fish scales- for remembering to weigh the fish in her life and toss back the ones that need to be tossed back:)

Magnifying glass-so she can always read the fine print Laundry detergent sample- since she can now do all her own:) A quarter taped to an index card- a reminder that she can always call home (yes, I know it isn't a quarter anymore, but the symbolism counts!)

Just a thought: When hubby and I had to put up a curtain divider in a doorway at one point (we built a climbing wall/cave into a spare bedroom) instead of a curtain rod (which is not the sturdiest!) we used a pull-up bar. They sell them specifically for doorways with little round metal cups that install sturdily into the frame. The bar then fits in those. Strong enough for full grown men to hang and do pull-ups! We then used nice shower curtain hooks and heavy curtains with grommets to hang to the rod. We loved it. You could do pull-ups, we even put dd's infant swing up there at times--and then a trapeze bar later for her.

I have a collection of fish...the traditional Christian fish, the 'Darwin' fish holding a spanner, and 4-5 others incorporating several cultures and religions...even a Flying Spaghetti Monster. I had a caption printed for underneath: 'School of Thought' Not everyone appreciates this of course. I see it as a tolerance message. Especially where we live. To me, it has nothing to do with what we personally believe and everything to do with how to treat others...but I know from experience that it isn't always seen that way:(

So after multiple miscarriages and 5 years since out dad's birth, we are utterly thrilled to be expecting a baby boy due in April. We learned a couple of months ago that the placenta completely covered the cervix, but the high-risk OB we see did not seem too worried as it was very early. Fast forward, now we are at 27 weeks and discovered that the placenta has not budged. Total placenta previa, and more than likely placenta accreta. Google was not my friend in this case. The doctors have discussed possibilities and we are preparing for the fact that we may be welcoming this baby well before he was expected! And all the things that go with that. Scary, as we have no family around to help or backup to help with my dd5! I guess I am hoping to here some BTDT stories. Nothing may come of it, right? For once, being in the wheelchair may be a bonus as I am already on pelvic rest:) it COULD work out that everything is fine and baby simply makes an appearance at a scheduled csection at 36 weeks! Any words of wisdom?

This is a big problem at our house! The weather was nice, ball-bouncing fun to be had by all. Big balls, little balls, all shapes and sizes, and all nice and firm. Along came this cold spell and BAM! Useless, deflated balls littering the place. What's an active girl to do? But there is hope: Groundhog Day is fast approaching, and hopefully Ol' Puxatawney Phil will have good news for deflated balls around the nation. Spring is in the air, and just maybe, shopping for new balls.

Absolutely! It ranks right up there with links to something that take you rather to a home page so that further searching is involved, or my pet peeve: sites that not only are useless but have somehow managed to disable the 'back' button. I hate that! I typically close the whole thing out of spite. Who has time or patience for a that?!

Put away with the seasonal items? If you have a Christmas tree box or wrapping paper box, etc., and have looked everywhere else... Under the seat in the car? In the rail of the bed? I once searched for a library book for three days, checking under the beds multiple times. It was caught in the rail:( Around/behind the washer or dryer where it got tossed with the sweaty clothes he took off after practice?

An experience? There are so many that are perfect for college age kids and for which the time never seems to be right as you get older and have other responsibilities/commitments. Is she adventurous? A group lesson, maybe with your kids, to do something like rock climbing, sky diving, even a 1st flying lesson. Some things will be more expensive, but I have found that if you shop around lots of places will have deeply discounted rates on that 1st lesson.

Glad she is hopefully on the mend. If is is just a muscle cramp, there is a home remedy that does help...but she may well balk at. Drinking an ounce or so of dill pickle juice is really quite effective. I first was told this when I played college soccer, and then again in the Army. Serious runners also sometimes do this. I wouldn't make a daily habit of it, but if she is in serious pain you might give it a try as a temporary solution. ETA: here is a link that does a fairly decent job of explaining the research (and I think it was only one proper study with lots of other anecdotal stories!). Basically, researchers think that the highly acidic pickle juice triggers a nerve center at the back of the throat (of course not specific!) and sends a message to stop the overactive muscle from cramping. But however it works, it can indeed be effective. http://runnersconnect.net/running-nutrition-articles/pickle-juice-muscle-cramps/