I used to tell the kids, "Mommy is feeling angry so I'm putting myself in time out." I would go into my room, lock the door, go into the walk-in closet, shut that door and sit in the dark until I felt like I could handle the situation again. Much better than losing control. And maybe a not helpful suggestion, but has your son tried supplementation? I'm only throwing that out because high dose omega-3 supplementation worked magic on my son. I'm serious about the magic. Within a week of starting omega-3s my DS went from intense, hours long melt-downs to almost total emotional stability.

If you decide to explore origami then I highly recommend the book and DVDs from origamido.com IMO a DVD is a must because the origami books contain some kind of folding code/symbols (arrows, dotted lines swirls, etc.) that is difficult to comprehend at first. My DS now has it all figured out, but it was challenging when he started.

Wow, that sounds wonderful. Maybe we do need to take some time off this summer :laugh:

I have to keep DS consistently engaged or he defaults to bothering his sister. It will be year round school for us forever. However, there are no kids for DS and DD to play with in our area (that we know of) because we live where the houses are very scattered and there are no sidewalks. Makes life easier. My sister lives in a neighborhood with lots of children and during the summers the ps kids were constantly over wanting her children to play - even though they knew morning was chore time at their house. She finally had her children make a sign to hang on the front door letting everyone know if they were available. That helped - as long as the family ignored the eager little girl peeking in their front window :huh:

My 9-year old experimented with Scratch and then wanted more then click and drag. After Scratch he did Khan Academy's Introduction to JavaScript. Following Khan Academy he wanted more. However, I too, am a humanities person so, once DS decided to move on from Scratch and Khan Academy I wasn't sure where to go. Here are some websites we looked at: 3D graphics - one step up from Scratch: Alice Intro and advanced JavaScript: Khan Academy Web apps - Ruby: Codecademy Game design, apps and Minecraft mods with Java: Youth Digital Ruby, JavaScript, HTML/CSS & iOS: Code School Web Design: Home School Programming Derivative of Java: Fun Programming Codecademy for Python - step by step tutorial: Codecademy Python: Art of Problem Solving Article about Coding for Kids - good links and info about different programming options. After much online research and discussion with DS we finally came up with a plan. As we were deciding the questions that were valuable were: What do you want to do with programming? Games? Web design? Objects? Programming microprocessors? What format? Books? Video? Audio? Step by step or the ability to make mistakes? We discovered that DS wanted to create graphics, preferred video/audio instruction (he doesn't enjoy reading), and wanted a program that would allow him to play around and purposely make mistakes. That led us to Fun Programming and then Youth Digital. DS is also interested in programming micro controllers, possibly using Rasperberry Pi, so programming in Python is next on the list. Hope that helps.

I've been feeling motivated to learn to crochet or knit (it would give me something to do with my hands when I'm feeling overwhelmed) but I'm not sure about making a solar system. Besides, my children would complain because the planets aren't to scale, the moon is the wrong shape, the sun so small there is no way a million crochet Earths would fit inside, the planets aren't arranged so they can complete their elliptical orbits and my daughter would feel badly that the other dwarf planets aren't fairly represented. :glare: It would be a disaster and I'd have to put the whole thing in the back of a very deep closet. Maybe I'll start with a doll blanket instead.

In January we stopped at a hotel on our way home from visiting my family. DD was sick so we tucked her in bed and tried to find cartoons or an old movie for her to watch. The hotel had channel listings, only they were all acronyms we weren't familiar with so we ended up flipping channels. We lasted 2 minutes. And we didn't even view anything overly graphic - it was mainly the frenzied nature of the commercials, the carnivorous nature shows and embarrassing ads for feminine products we couldn't handle. Also, a few years ago I gave up watching action movies with my DH (we were trying to do monthly at home movie date nights) because I'd tremble through most of the movie. I was miserable and exhausted by the time the movie finished and eventually decided I couldn't watch any more. I feel like an alien too because I don't enjoy TV or movies (besides I don't have time to watch anything even if I wanted to).

I write "Note to Self" sticky notes but they are all boring like "take out the trash" or "remember to call so-and-so." I have no idea what Chinese Remainder Theorem is :huh:

Thanks for all the advice. I don't feel like calling the police. I think that would be going above and beyond what they could, or would be willing, to handle. I'm going to write this one down and rehearse it. I will talk to my daughter in a few days when we have all calmed down. Also, I think her deep feelings were telling her that I was doing the wrong thing, only she deferred to my decision because I am an adult and her mother. I don't want her to continue thinking that her overwhelming feelings of wrongness or rightness should be suppressed and subordinated to adult authority. I've had The Gift of Fear on my library book list for months. Now I'm finally feeling motivated to check it out. We still have three kittens and if I decide give one more away I will definitely follow all the great advice I received here about getting a name and address, charging a rehoming fee, etc. Finally, I'm going to use my new found gut-feeling-confindence skills and reassert that I KNOW I gave the kitten to the wrong person. I know it so deep down that no one could convince me otherwise. I'm sticking to that and I'm determined to learn from this experience and never repeat it.

This is exactly what I am going through. There have been plenty of times I've ignored the feelings I've had (and I too believe they are from God) and had a bad outcome. For instance, a couple years ago I had an insistent feeling I shouldn't let the dental hygienist polish my teeth, but I couldn't get her a good reason not to proceed. She made me feel stupid and I caved in to her insistence and slightly condescending attitude. End result was the hygienist was too rough and managed to remove a third of my recent tissue graft, plus cause an additional area of recession. God tried to prevent me from having my mouth damaged but I did not have the confidence to move past feeling stupid and insist on doing the right thing. The kitty incident is the pinnacle of not listening and I am taking this as a lesson for next time. From now on I'm going to try to have the confidence to stand up for what I know, whether I offend or not. I'm hoping this is a pivotal turning point.

I wish I could believe this but I can't. We gave away another kitten a couple hours later and, while I didn't feel like the kitty was going to a great home, I felt alright about the family that came. I did not feel the same about the first woman. The instant she stepped through my door I sensed that giving her a kitten was wrong. I believe my daughter felt something similar and that is why she became so grief stricken after the woman left. It was if I'd told her her grandmother had died. She cried for two hours non-stop and then did not come out of her room from 12:00 until 7:00 p.m. I have never seen my daughter so intensely emotional about anything. However, I will probably tell my daughter that the woman cared too much for the kitten to bring him back (even though I don't feel it's true), and mama cat already has an appointment with the vet.

Thanks. This is what I needed. Several years back I had a "never again touchpoint" with regards to advice my husband gave me about our ill son. I waited to go to the emergency room when I shouldn't have and, although everything turned out right in the end, I decided then and there that when my mommy instinct kicked in I would trust it - no matter what my husband said to the contrary. Now I just need to practice applying my gut feelings to complete strangers. Oh, and I'm going to practice the phrases your recommended. Seriously. I need things I can say without being required to think about them first.

I think I just gave away a kitten to one of “those†people. I had a woman show up this morning to get a kitten and the instant she walked through my door I felt a strong wash of bad energy from her – but despite my uncomfortable feelings I let her take a kitten anyway. After the woman left, my normally stoic daughter had a complete emotional meltdown and cried for hours. By evening all of us were still unhappy so I called the woman on the phone, explained how upset my daughter was and got to “we’d like the kitten back†when the line went dead. I left a message however she never called back and I don’t think she will. I suspect by now the poor kitten is either maimed or dead :crying: So, why couldn’t I tell this woman No? In the past I’ve had similar bad feelings about something and at times failed to listen – often with disastrous results. So what should I have said? Maybe just, “I changed my mind� And then the person argues with you and then what? Please help me know how to be more assertive. I need a list of pat answers I can use. I’m just sick about this. DD is so happy because I tried to call the woman and get the kitty back. What is going to happen when she finds out kitty isn’t coming back? (And yes, I'm praying I'm wrong but my gut feeling says otherwise.)

Well, that's not the response I was hoping for but thank you very much for your honest input. DS wants to use YouthDigital because 1) he loves to program and 2) the boys at Cub Scouts talk about Minecraft all. the. time. and he feels left out. I'll have to weight the benefits vs the disadvantages. Maybe we can give it a try and I'll warn DS that, if we do decide to purchase the Mod Design 1 Course, I will pull his privileges if game play becomes disruptive to the family. And especially if he goes back to being verbally cruel to his sister. Guess I'll have to think about this a bit more.

I was already planning on signing my son up for YouthDigital in a few months but doing it now will save me quite a bit of money. However, what is Plum District exactly? I assume I would need to be a member in order to access the sale price? Dumb mama moment but I just realized I'll need a copy of Minecraft. I'm assuming programming means playing the game as well? I know this sounds weird, but any advice as to how easy it is to keep Mod Design 1 focused more on programming and mostly avoid the game playing? I'm asking because back when I allowed DS to play video games (20 minutes a day - if I could pull him off the computer in that amount of time) he was surfacing from game time with an intense and grumpy affect and making the rest of the family miserable. It became so disruptive that I finally had to ban him from video games.

I was thinking of your post as I was listening to the lecture Building the Perfect Reading List. IMHO It's worth a listen just to hear Adams Andrews read The Biggest Bear. Oh, and I'd like to add The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Selznick to the list. The book looks massive but it's full of illustrations and reads like a movie (actually my husband told me they did make the book into a movie) and my 9-year old reluctant reader really enjoyed it.

What about illustrated books? We do chapter book read alouds, as well as independent reading, but all of us really enjoy books with pictures. My daughter is very artistic so I usually get several beautifully illustrated fairy tales for her to peruse. For my son I check out books on technology or science. There are also some wonderful illustrated history books and biographies. Interestingly enough I've noticed that many picture books are written as read alouds; in other words, adult, and sometimes sophisticated, language. The more complex language, combined with the visual element, might make reading more interesting.

nm I found my answer in the high school forum.

Here is a section of my library book list. I'm very particular about content and have skimmed or read all of these books myself. Jenny Goes to Sea Averill The Indian in the Cupboard Banks American Fairy Tales Baum Paddington Bear (series) Bond The Penderwicks Birdsdall Twenty and Ten Bishop A Lion to Guard Us Bulla John Billington Bulla The Sword in the Tree Bulla White Sails to China Bulla The Incredible Journey Burnford The Enormous Egg Butterworth Hieroglyphs Callery The Family Under the Bridge Carlson The Mouse and the Motorcycle Cleary The Cat Who Went to Heaven Coatsworth The Wheel on the School De Jong The Silver Skates Dodge The Twenty-One Balloons Du Bois Half Magic Eager Magic by the Lake Eager The Saturdays Enright The Four-Story Mistake Enright Thimble Summer Enright The Black Stallion Farley Calico Bush Field, R My Father’s Dragon Gannett Three Tales of my Father’s Dragon Gannett My Side of the Mountain George The Reluctant Dragon Grahame Adam of the Road Gray Phoebe the Spy Griffin King of the Wind Henry Paddle to the Sea Holling Tree in the Trail Holling Seabird Holling The Boy Who Held Back the Sea Hort The Great Turkey Walk Karr The Cuckoo Child King-Smith The Water Horse King-Smith Just So Stories Kipling The Jungle Book Kipling They Were Strong and Good Lawson The Story of Doctor Doolittle Lofting Centerburg Tales McCloskey Homer Price McCloskey The Golden Goblet McGraw Gentle Ben Morey Kaspar the Titanic Cat Morpurgo Owls in the Family Mowat The Story of the Treasure Seekers Nesbit Mrs. Frisby and the rats of NIMH O’Brien Island of the Blue Dolphins O’Dell Egyptian Diary: journal of Nakht Platt The Wonder Clock Pyle A Place in the Sun Rubalcaba The Dragon of Lonely Island Rupp The Invention of Hugo Cabret Selznick Black Beauty Sewell Five Little Peppers and How They … Sidney Five Little Peppers Abroad Sidney The Minstrel in the Tower Skurzynski The Sign of the Beaver Speare Detectives in Togas Winterfeld Mystery of the Roman Ransom Winterfeld Mountain Born Yates

I could have written this part of your post almost word for word. Also, I remember reading the teenage romance novel my friend thought I should read, thinking it was ridiculous but having to pretend I thought differently. I could go on, only I won't. But, oh, how I would have loved to feel like I was allowed to be my genuine self : - ( Anyway, back to the thread.

Thanks for posting. Beast Academy has been a true blessing, and since we made the Beast Academy switch DD isn't wilting during every math lesson so we're finally getting her caught up. Having a happy daughter that spends most of her math time cheerfully humming as she works math problems is worth every penny I've spent on this curriculum. Off to the website ...

The online electronics classes my son has been taking from QuickStudyLabs uses SnapCircuits, and the instructor has all kinds of warnings about connecting the components correctly. It turns out it's possible to burn out polarity conscious components if they aren't in correctly or if there isn't enough resistance through the circuit. Capacitors can explode if they aren't placed in just right. I had no clue this was possible when my son borrowed a friend's Snap Circuit set a couple years ago. DS became bored with the instructions and just started snapping pieces together. We returned the set after he left a self designed circuit unattended and a few minutes later the smell of overheated electronics starting flowing into the kitchen (yikes!). So, my advice is to put the set up until you have read the instructions and have a project in mind. Or make your son promise he will only follow the instructions in the book - no random circuit creation allowed.

We don't have marshmallows, but my children like it when chocolate chips become part of math. Chocolate chips are fun to count and are a great way to teach subtraction (yum) :001_smile:

Someone on this board recommended Quick Study Labs so I signed my son up for the online classes. At 8-years old he started the Edison Projects, completed Edison Projects 1 and 2 and then, later last year (by then he had turned 9-years old), took the online soldering class. He loved the soldering class and since completing it has been able to solder a Herbie the Mousebot and, just today, a Quiz Table circuit board. DS is taking Edison Project 3 right now and then will move on to Introduction to Robotics. I've been very pleased with the classes and material covered. Plus, I was in your situation last year and was so relieved to finally find someone willing to teach a young boy complex electronics concepts. Trying to keep my mechanical son busy and challenged is a challenge in itself. (FYI, there is some Christian content on Quick Study Labs.)

About a year ago my now 11-year old daughter started sagging every time she had to do her math. Her face would almost touch the table and it would take a ridiculous amount of time for her to finish one simple worksheet. That was before Beast Academy. Turns out she loves the puzzle math of Beast Academy (she takes after her father) and the illustrations appeal to her artistic soul. Now she sits up straight and hums little songs while she completes her worksheets. One day she even insisted on doing some of her brother's math problems because, as she announced to the family, "I love math."