Noeo suggests a lot of narrating and writing, but it's easily skipped. :) It was too much for my 1st grader ... so we try to do maybe one page a week, or I'll find a pertinent coloring page to substitute. (The Usborne internet-linked titles actually have some of those!) We're loving the book suggestions. The experiments are not spread out very evenly; they come in chunks. This is okay, but it's not the one-a-week I was picturing. Science experiments in my hands have a 50% success rate, but we're enjoying them anyway. LOL. (And I'm taking careful notes for when I repeat it with my younger child down the road.) Each subject is a year's curriculum. My kids have retained a surprising amount, given that we only read a few pages a day. We're doing Bio I right now. I have no experience with the other curriculum so I can't compare, but we are liking Noeo, as books suit us pretty well. :)

I was recently prescribed the generic of neurontin, and after a few dosage increases (and I was on a very low dose), it caused vision problems for me. It took me a few days to catch on because I have vision issues anyway. Coincidentally, my mom was on it for hot flashes, and it caused her serious fatigue ... again, it took her some time to catch on. Needless to say, neither of us is currently on that medication. :) Anyway, I suggest it because it's prescribed for SO many things, some off-label (such as for anxiety).

Ah, I love Busman's Honeymoon. I hated the one they finished after her death ... I've read her theological stuff and she was a hopeful woman; I've read other things by Walsh (who finished her book) and she isn't a very hopeful woman ... the book came out depressing. I love the Amelia Peabody mysteries too. Even my husband enjoyed the one we read aloud together.

((hugs)) I've got a math-oriented first grader too. It can be strange sometimes. :)

I wouldn't call it a climax, just a defining moment. Perhaps THE defining moment of the series, but not the climax. It's definitely the point where the story takes shape, though, and you know what the series will be about. There do need to be lots of ups and downs in a story to keep it moving, that's for sure. And in the trilogy, there should be a climax for each book as well as one grand climax for the series.

Even not-so-old books get updated. The Little House spin-off series (all the ancestor ones) were being abridged ... one of the authors quit writing for them when they started that. I'm still tracking down one or two of the unabridged set to finish my collection. Some updates are okay, and some aren't, but it's nice if you KNOW you've got an update and can decide for yourself.

So how different was it? The original movies were pretty different from the books, which I really like. The new movie looks even farther away.

Go through paypal, and also through whatever site you used if it has a dispute process. Paypal seems to take things very seriously. My mom does a lot of ebay selling, and a buyer had an issue with her over something (this was the buyer's fault, though) and Paypal took care of everything. My mother was pleased with how they handled it. I would expect them to go to bat for you if what you received was not as described. ETA: Another option, if you used a credit card via Paypal, is to use the credit card's dispute services too.

We use it along with whatever easy readers catch the kids' attention. So far so good. The teacher's guide does have a lot of extra stuff ... punctuation, reading fluency, and all that. But we mostly just do the workbooks, a page or two a day.

Reader Rabbit Toddler is a VERY easy mouse interface game. I used it when teaching preschool computer lessons as a basic intro. DK has a My First Preschool CD-ROM which is also nice ... a bit glitchy on XP but still a good game. You can set it to be click or click and drag, and customize levels on the games. I also used that with my preschoolers.

They do hurt, but compared to a parrot ... now that hurts! :) We used to raise cockatiels, too, as we ended up with a breeding pair. They can be very fun when they get used to you. I would have a vet or pet store person clip the wings, and occasionally the nails ... you don't want to do that unless you're REALLY good at it, as clipping nails too short will cause bleeding, which is of course bad. The males can learn to talk a bit, too. :)

If you can find the older ones, The Three Investigators are really good. The boys are 12-14ish in the originals. There was a short-lived newer series where they were cool teenagers, not such good reading, but the original books are a lot of fun. Cool gadgets and everything. They go up against all sorts of bad guys, but the stories stay pretty clean in spite of it.

I read the entries, and while I think she's trying to do it out of love, it does seem to be crossing a line. It seems disrespectful to be posting so many details online where it can be read, for one, and she shouldn't be educating your daughter without your permission. I could see her attempting to answer a question your daughter asked ... if it happened in my home, I would ... but I would then go to the mom and say, "Such-and-such topic came up today, and this is the answer I gave ... hope it is okay." Or I'd just refer the question back to the parent. She sounds like a truly passionate person who might need some gentle reminders about boundaries. (I don't know if I'd be so calm if it was my kid, FWIW, just trying to see what it must be like from where she's standing.) ETA: I certainly don't think you're crazy. Religion, morals, etc, are certainly best taught in the home.

My sister had surgery for endo too. It was the ONLY thing that ever gave her relief. I'm on another round of meds myself, attempting to find some that will help my panic disorder. I get the world's worst side effects from most of them, so I try to do without, and then things get worse ... so here we are again. I also have to be able to take something for occasional migraines, and watching the interactions between all the different things we're trying is enough to make my head spin. (I've also wondered about ADD, but have never had a formal diagnosis or anything. So no meds for that. Mine is manageable by routine, at least, and spacing out doesn't matter when you can't go anywhere because of panic attacks. LOL.) Anyway, no help here, just sympathy for the roller coaster. ((hugs)) ETA: I also am going to need something for sleep ... the current round of stuff seems to have no adverse effects except insomnia ... which is better than most, but NOT okay for a homeschooling mama! No idea what my psych. will suggest though.

Oh, those charts are wonderful! I am getting so overwhelmed trying to choose something for history down the road, and that will help SO MUCH! Thank you Christie!

Actually, I think one of the criteria for a learning disability to be diagnosed is a gap in ability vs. achievement. They're smart, but something is holding them back from reaching that potential. If you hang out on gifted kids forums, you'll often see the term twice-exceptional, meaning a gifted child with one or more learning disabilities or other issues added to the mix. Some challenging parenting, to be sure. :)

Our homeschool co-op did one, and it was very cute. The kids were so adorable and proud! But for just one ... a family dinner and a certificate would be plenty. :)

FWIW, if you are getting the flyers ... you can combine flyer orders online to hit the $20 minimum for free shipping. For the extra bonus points, the $20 has to be all from one flyer, but if you don't care about that, you can combine for the shipping. Very handy. :-) We signed up a few years back, and it seems they've gotten fussier in the intervening years ... I hear lots of folks saying it takes them two or three tries to get the account going properly.

Before FIAR books aren't meant to be read over and over like the regular FIAR lessons, for what that's worth. It's more that there are suggestions for when you happen to read the book and want to extend the fun. And there are lots of generic preschool play ideas in the second half of the manual. I wouldn't say it's 'challenging' ... it's meant to be gentle. We like it here.

I know, that's such bad wording, "Sure, go ahead and sell, but if it harms someone, you're liable." Really, what good does that do? That's why thrift stores and small businesses and craftspeople are being hit so hard ... they can't afford to test and sort through everything, so they're safer just not dealing with the products at all. I know more than one place that's cutting back items ... Hope Chest Legacy is one online store that's been keeping up posting information. Our local homeschool consignment shop has been hit hard too. I've been a pretty obsessive book collector since childhood, and my favorites are usually OOP titles ... I worried sometimes about my obsession, but now I'm glad ... I've got some wonderful treasures that'll be impossible for future generations to find. :(

The law covers both lead and phthalates (something in plastic). Ideally this would protect us from all the stuff that is made overseas and not tested properly. Unfortunately, it's hitting the wrong end of the problem. Technically you can't even donate or give the stuff away, either, which is where libraries started getting concerned. Sigh, rant, and sigh some more.

It is one of the stupidest laws I've ever heard of ... rant rant rant..... Hopefully, after some time when the manufacturers catch up, donations will be 'safe' again and these stores will restock. For you book collectors, anything pre-1985 printing is considered taboo under the new law because of lead levels in the ink. So get 'em now, before stores catch on that they aren't supposed to sell them. (I've been hitting up library discard sales like crazy lately.)

I always thought shingles was something you were more prone to if you had chicken pox (being variants of the same virus or whatever). I know my sis and I both had chicken pox as children, and she got shingles as a teen anyway. We've decided that if our kids don't get it by the time they're ten or so, we will go ahead and vaccinate. (We delay that one.) Our doc just said to tell him when we had the time to deal with it, since sometimes the vaccine can bring on a mild case. (It's required in our state for PS students, FWIW, so we aren't around a whole lot of folks to catch it from. And since it does get a lot worse the older you are, it's one I don't mind letting them get the vaccine for ... I just want to give their immune systems a chance first. My youngest had a horribe reaction to one vaccine, and also this one is so new that they're not for sure yet if it will require boosters for adults.)

I read an article by Susan Fletcher once, where she was visiting a school to give a talk and the teacher gushed about how much her class was LOVING the dragon story she wrote. And then she came back a week later, and they were all mad at her because at the end, one of the baby draclings dies. They were asking, "Why? Why?" and she felt badly for them. The article was a good one, though, explaining why sometimes authors make those tough choices in a book. Anyway, even authors get those Oops moments. :)

Haven't read all the answers yet ... but if you have insurance, there's a chance that you can find a psych. who's completely covered by it, or one who will apply toward a deductible. (I will say, the one I once had who was completely covered by my insurance was terrible, though.) If you aren't looking for a medication solution, counselors are much less expensive, and you might find some good ones with sliding scale fees. I found a great one by recommendation of my pastor. And your family doctor may be comfortable prescribing some of the milder anti-depressants, which would be under your regular insurance. Be sure to have blood tests done too, to make sure there's not something else going on, like thyroid issues or other imbalances. Doesn't hurt to check. And it gives a baseline for future testing down the road, if this becomes an ongoing problem for him.