I've thought of publishing a few of the lesson plan I've drafted for our co-op, and am wondering if there are schedules that are more common than others. Thanks for your feedback!

I would see if a paint shop or hardware store could donate paint stir sticks. Paint them ahead of time, so at the event, kids can glue their sticks together to form a flag. They can paint on stars if they wish. Kind of like a larger (easier for seniors to see?) craft stick flag. Since you mention 50, could you do something for each state? Cut a large state out of red, white, or blue card stock and have the kids decorate with star stickers or whatever. Each state could share a statement ("E pluribus unum?").

We found some great specimen containers at the Dollar Tree. They are tiny (some are 1/2 and some are 1/4 the size of a plastic film case, if you can remember what those look like), so everyone can make lots of great little collections. I also like to bring a 4 foot string that I've tied into a loop. We can set it out to do a "square foot" examination. https://thehomeschoolscientist.com/square-foot-nature-survey-for-kids/

I don't know her intent. I **think** it's because they are all blonde and blue-eyed, and two girls and two boys. The littlest one was still gestating. Still! Ick, shudder.

I had all of the kiddos at the supermarket, and the cashier said they looked like "Flowers in the Attic children." Um...

Lots of threads about leggings, just wondering if someone has a recommendation for jeggings that hold up. Ideally, they are as unstructured as leggings. Thanks!

We added a small brace to our Billy shelves to keep from sagging. DH added a 2X2 to the underside of each shelf, screwed into the bookshelf sides and to the wall. (We live in California, so anchored bookcases are important.)

I dislike campsite cooking because cleanup is always such a pain. We like to do meals that we can cook over the campfire that require very little cleanup, like grilled proteins and veggies. Since we end up snacking a lot more during the days while we are camping, I like to bring a variety of healthy treats and then something very simple for dinner, like soup that requires reheating.

I'm a big fan of leggings, but echoing that they just don't work for this dress. I think the tank straps and light color would make the black capris look very bottom heavy.

If you don't live near a Dollar Tree, or if you're like me and just don't want to hope they have the colors and quantities I need, I recommend hollar.com. Free shipping on orders over $25. Many products are identical to the Dollar Tree brands, some are a little better. direct link to Hollar's basic party wear: https://www.hollar.com/t/party/color-theme

I have been a CCM for many years in a few different parishes, on both coasts. Each year, we have many children come through our Communion prep program whom we rarely see again. There has never been a question if these children should receive Eucharist. I personally questioned it when I first started in my position, and was given a gentle but firm rebuke from our pastor. His opinion was that we call our faithful home if we imagine ourselves as the father, not the brother, from the prodigal son parable. I have also seen children who have changed their family dynamics with regard to the faith, as the child's own developing faith brought the family back to a more regular attendance at church. I say the above without regard to the OP's points about the parents' current religious state, which does seem to make the reception of the child in the church much less straightforward than case of lapsed Catholics who wish their child to receive Eucharist. I have had a feeling lately that the process we have in place for anyone to receive sacraments feels like hoop-jumping. I would much rather a lower bar and an environment that encourages all to continue attending, learning, and growing in Christ.

Mavala all the way. I don't think you can pick his next soothing activity - that has to be his choice. But, you can offer greater sympathy, compassion, stability, and care in the week you are weaning the thumb. I think it's like nursing: the weaning process is hugely difficult in the first day, but after a week or two the child has adapted to the new reality and is OK.

I always am on the lookout for Millicent Selsam books.

My son has been working through Baldwin's Fifty Famous Stories Retold for narration work. He will read a story (they are short, around 3 pages each), orally narrate, then write his summary. I'm looking for a book that would be similarly useful for my 8.5 y.o. daughter: short pieces with some "meat" behind them. The kids have worked through Aesop and Greek myths in the past. Thanks!

This sounds very, very much like my son - from the short temper to the misreading cues of children around him to the daytime wetting. He has other behaviors (namely, stimming and some repetitive speech) that led us for an evaluation for ASD. While at that evaluation (2 years ago, so he was only 4), our neuropsych also highlighted some potential attention issues to keep in mind for the future. It surprised me that the attention aspect was part of his Dx, only because it wasn't on my radar at all. So, perhaps it's ADHD? Or perhaps it's other neurological issues? Definitely worth a check-in with your doctor. For us, what has worked (lately...it's a moving target): school work: breaking pieces into small chunks; working while eating; cycling through topics - practice a piano song, do some math practice, read a book, play another piano piece. attitude: keeping blood sugars stable (lots and lots of fats, eating all the time); lots of free movement time (trampoline to the rescue!); ignoring many of the activities that would have been a "no" for his older siblings (constantly eating with hands, not utensils); giving very specific directions (pick up THIS game and put HERE; now pick up THIS TOY and put HERE). behavior with others: reminding him over and over and over that his first disagreement with someone can't be a shouted "no" Usually, when he's screaming with others, it's because he's way overstimulated or his blood sugar has crashed. He hears so much negative talk from me (you wet your pants AGAIN!?!?!?!?!?), from his siblings (STOP YELLING AT ME!!!), and himself, so any steps I can do to keep that negative talk from arising is really helpful for him and us all. Giving him discrete tasks he can finish with success is part of that; intervening before he goes nuclear on his siblings also helps. Good luck, mama! It's hard to see our guys suffering so much.

Some things we have really enjoyed that I don't see above: simple machine parts - pulleys, gears, etc google "squishy circuits" (we ordered a bunch of wire, battery packs, resistors, gears, motors, and LEDs for the two above projects) a hand-operated drill (this gets SO MUCH USE at my house) a handsaw and miter box other things that get a lot of use include jars for collecting samples, agar plates for growing stuff, big containers like fishbowls and tanks for growing/observing/collecting, an outside growing space for whatever they want to grow a box of multi-sided dice, graph paper, a large Venn diagram. We have larger-square graph paper (each square is 1/2 inch?) and it is surprisingly useful. the game "Prime Climb" is pretty hot around here these days. Sugru https://sugru.com/ We have jeweler's loupes and a Brock Magiscope that we take into the field with us.

My kids do it when playing dollhouse, Playmobil, Lego, or the like, never so much in regular bodily play. It never bothers me. It's like they are reading a book, really. It makes sense that they would need to add emotion, descriptive movement, and setting when using little Playmobil people to act out.

When we were in PA, our ped would write scripts for abx after tick bites if the tick had been on for some period of time (I don't recall, it changed as new information came out). I feel like our ped in CA would call in scripts for issues we've had in the past - ointment for impetigo, for example - or if a second or third child started to show signs of illness that one child was being treated for. Then again, I've never tried. I'm sure the type of medication and the complications from misdiagnosis would be considerations.

We quite like this book of nursery rhymes - it has a nice collection but doesn't feel overhwelming. Also, the illustrations are captivating. https://www.amazon.com/Mother-Goose-Original-Volland-Facsimile/dp/B000ONO6MG/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1490767064&sr=1-4&keywords=mother+goose+volland+edition For fairy tales, we like the books illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman: https://www.amazon.com/Trina-Schart-Hyman/e/B000AQ1F3A/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_2 We also read heavily from Lang's Fairy Books, which we have on a Kindle.

I hate sleepovers, but my kids are just starting to ask for them. We still have babies at home, so hosting a sleepover isn't super convenient. Also, my oldest DD will have nighttime accidents at times, so she is nervous about spending the night. So, we do SLEEPUNDERS. Seriously, best invention ever. All of the fun of a sleepover (movies, games, staying up later that usual, snack, pajamas if you want), but then kids go home around 10 or 11 at night. My kids like the sense that they are doing something special and fun, but there is none of that early-morning weirdness.

So much YES. Tiny DD1 broke her leg, but I wasn't quite sure about the extent of the injury for a few days. Finally on a Sunday, I had a choice: hope for a Monday-morning appointment with her ped (who would probably order x-ray anyway), or go to the ER. I realized that if I went with the ped route, I'd basically spend several days dragging all of the kiddos around to ped, imaging, and ortho for setting, whilst the ER is a one-stop shop that had the bonus of leaving the kiddos at home with DH. Still, I was made to feel a little stupid as the nurse and ER doc doubted the injury, until the x-ray showed a tiny break.

I would recommend Cal Poly if your child were interested in a polytechnic field. The liberal studies cohort is weak compared to other CSU/UC schools.

Flowers for Algernon came to mind.

I was told during one interview that my undergraduate degrees (economics and mathematics) made me an attractive law school candidate. This was 15 years ago, though. I ended up going down the PhD route anyway, so no advice as to whether mathematics would have helped my JD coursework. I do know that a classmate with a similar application as mine did not have the same level of acceptances to law programs as I did. One big difference? She was political science/economics.

I had a similar situation in which we were expecting our school tech equipment (three iPads and two laptops). We were waiting all that for the delivery...when I receive an email notification that it was just delivered. Checked the doorstep - no boxes. Check the delivery link and see my daughter's forged signature. I called the delivery company in a panic and start to look on the doorsteps of our neighbors to see if it were misdelivered. Turns out the driver left it on the doorstep two streets over!! Have you gone as high at DHL as you can? Made a stink on Twitter or Facebook? Raise the issue: what is the point of requiring a signature if they aren't going to keep it?