Personally, I would just call the doctor and describe your symptoms, reminding him or her that there is already a confirmed case of the flu in your home. I would explain that you're unable to get in to the office because your kids are too sick to leave at home by themselves, and then I'd ask if the doctor would be kind enough to call in the Tamiflu (or whatever prescription) to your local pharmacy for you to pick up as soon as possible. Our doctor does this sort of thing, so maybe yours will, too, if you call and ask. It can't hurt to try, and I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving your kids at home alone, either -- who knows how long you'd be stuck at the doctor's office? Good luck -- and I hope you feel better soon! :grouphug: Cat

Thanks for the tip! I was just looking at their online catalog a few minutes ago, and noticed that I can buy quite a bit of stuff for the same shipping charge, so you know I have to take advantage of that... ;) Cat

Definitely NOT TMI -- thanks so much for sharing your story! You sound like you're a candidate for Best Mom on Earth, and I really enjoyed reading about you and your son! Cat

Just thought I'd give this a quick bump to see if anyone else has used Malibu Pilates! Cat

Thanks for the link! It looks like you have to order 25 books per color, which is kind of disappointing, but the prices look reasonable enough that it may be worth trying them. Cat

I don't think we'd need to worry too much about color-bleeding, but the onion skin paper in between the regular pages has a certain "cool factor" that ds might like -- or else he'd think the onion skin was so much fun that he'd start using that for his work instead of the regular paper! Thanks! Cat

Best and neatest... maybe we won't need too many books after all... ;) Thanks for the clarification! Cat

The BJU teacher's manual offers a lot more information than is found in the student book, so that may help you. We use the DVD program, and it's a lot richer than using the book on its own. There is also a notebooking-type worktext that goes along with Heritage Studies, and some kids really enjoy that. There are also tests available, if you're at all interested in testing. We're not talking about long essay exams here -- just a page or two of basic questions and answers, often true/false, multiple choice, and matching. I have to say that while I originally thought BJU Heritage was pretty light, I'm surprised at how much my ds remembers about it, and how much he enjoys learning about history as a result of the DVD classes. Cat

Thanks! You know, I hadn't even considered the potential storage problem with using different sized books -- I'm glad you mentioned it. Thanks for the link to the Strathmore pads -- 11x14 seems pretty huge to me, but if that's the recommended size, that's what we'll try! I'm thinking it might be fun to use the pads as they are, and make nice covers for them. I know Michaels and AC Moore carry those pads, so maybe I'll pick up a few and see what we can do with them (when I have a coupon, of course! ;) ) Do you have any idea how many pages are in the Oak Meadow main lesson books? From what I can see, it looks like there are only around 32 pages in each book, but I could be wrong about that. If there are only 32 pages per book, won't we end up needing about two thousand books by the end of the year? (Ok, maybe not 2,000... but quite a few!) Thanks again! Cat Cat

Those mini books are adorable, Kristine! While I'm thinking that it would be fun to make our own books, maybe a semi-homemade approach would be easier... not that I'm completely lazy or anything... ;) I'll also check out the Paper, Scissors, Stone website to see what they have to offer. I know I've heard good things about them in the past, but honestly, if you hadn't mentioned the name, I never would have thought of it on my own! Thank you for your help! Cat

I'm looking for something new, too, so I won't be of much help to you, but I can tell you that we've used BJU for the past few years, and while the word lists are ok, my overall impression of the program is that it's nothing special. We used the BJU DVDs for second and third grade, and the second grade spelling teacher was wonderful. Third grade... not so much. We gave up on the DVDs and I taught the subject myself, and we mainly used the word lists. I didn't feel that the worktext was very helpful, as I wasn't impressed with the activities. We are in the same boat you're in -- my ds doesn't need any help with vocabulary or using words in a sentence. He already reads and comprehends beyond high school level... but he's definitely still a kid when it comes to spelling! Fortunately, he's a pretty natural speller, but I want to be sure he learns all of the spelling rules so his life will be easier as the words get more difficult. One problem I'm finding is that every curriculum approaches spelling somewhat differently, and there's not always much correlation among their word lists, so it can be a nuisance to make a change. Your child could be spelling at the fourth grade level in BJU, but only be in the first level of Spelling Power, and somewhere else in Abeka, and somewhere else in Spectrum... AAARRGH!!!! I know I bought the Natural Speller book several years ago at a curriculum fair, but it's a skinny book and I have no idea where it ended up. I'll have to try to find it, but I honestly don't have a clue as to where it is. We've got rooms filled with books and curriculum, and it's not all as organized as I might have liked it to be. Cat Edited to add: I don't think the BJU spelling words are as difficult as in some of the other programs I've seen. We tend to go through at least two weeks worth of words each week.

Hi! My ds is starting fifth grade, and we're new to Oak Meadow. I was wondering if someone could describe the Main Lesson Books to me, as well as let me know if you buy yours from OM or make your own. What size are they? How many pages? Lined or unlined paper? Lightweight copy machine-type paper or heavy drawing paper? Are the covers made of heavy cardstock or something else? Do they contain any pockets to hold separate papers? Are they spiral bound or sewn or glued? Sorry to ask so many questions, but I'm trying to picture these things in my mind! I didn't order all of our books from OM, so I didn't even think of the Main Lesson Books until now; I wish I would have ordered a few when I ordered my other stuff! Thanks for any help or advice! Cat

Wow, choirfarm, no wonder you're able to find ways to squeeze in a bit of schoolwork here and there, even if the kids are a little sick -- you've sure had way more than your share of practice! :grouphug: Maybe you're the one who needs some time off from school! ;) I know that sometimes we take a few days off so I can regroup a little bit, especially when it seems like things just aren't going right and I feel very stressed. Try not to worry about the testing too much (try... then try some more...) because the kids will probably do a lot better on the real tests than on the practice ones. Kids seem to know when it's "real" and when it's not! :glare: I'm sorry you've gone through so much over the past several years, and I truly commend you for sticking with homeschooling through it all. I think you should sit down one day and give yourself credit for the fact that you're doing so well, considering all of the obstacles. I know how easy it is to blame yourself for everything not being perfect (I do it all the time,) but you have overcome so much and they still haven't had you committed to the funny farm, so you must be doing something right! Cat

I guess my perspective is a bit different -- I realize that when my ds is in the business world, things will be harder, so that's why I want him to have a happy, fun, low-stress childhood! Cat

Are you looking for a Christian or secular program? Do you want something that uses living books (like Sonlight or WinterPromise) or something that's more "textbooky" (like BJU, Abeka, or Calvert?) What are you doing now? Cat

What a terrible thing; he must have been so miserable, and it sounds like he was a nice person as well as intelligent, talented, and creative. I hadn't seen the story until I saw your post. I feel so sad for his poor sister. Cat

I can never understand why anyone would take a child to the park if he still had the flu, and I certainly can't comprehend how some moms don't seem to care if they or their children infect other people. Not long ago, we went to a homeschool function and one of the moms arrived with only one of her four kids. Apparently, the other three were at home, sick as dogs. Didn't that mom realize that both she and her other dc were potentially contagious??? I try to be so careful about spreading illness, and it really bugs me when other moms are so inconsiderate! Cat

My ds would manage to think of something! ;) We don't do school if my ds is sick, or has any kind of fever. We usually even take off an extra day or two after he's feeling well. I would rather have him relax and enjoy himself when he's not feeling his best, than try to do schoolwork. As someone else mentioned in an earlier post, 6 months or a year from now, who's going to remember a writing assignment (or whatever?) When my dad was ill and passed away, we "took off from school" for almost 2 months, and when my mom passed away suddenly, we took off for several weeks, because I was really in no shape to teach and ds needed time to deal with his grief. (Both of my parents passed away within 10 months of each other, and we were a super-close family and saw each other every day.) I have to admit that I was quite worried that we would get too far behind in our schoolwork, but once we got started again each time, we managed to catch up quickly. We didn't do every last worktext page or every last math problem or writing assignment, and I pared down some of the material that was redundant (or useless!) and everything turned out very well. I started out my homeschooling as a "check every box on the schedule" type of mom, which goes completely against my laid-back personality, because I was worried that something horrible would happen if I missed any tiny detail. Well, fast-forward to several years later, and I still make sure we cover everything we need, but after dealing with a lot of adversity, I've realized that "life" comes before schoolwork, and little things like taking a week off if someone is ill, is not a big deal. When I was a kid, my mom fussed over us a lot when we were sick, and it's one of my fondest memories of her -- sitting on the bed or the sofa together playing games or with Barbies, and her reading to me. I want my ds to have the same happy memories (well, without the Barbies -- I guess he'll remember the Legos and the action figures...) and doing school when he's sick doesn't seem like a wonderful memory to me. I'm not criticizing you for wanting to get the work done when the kids aren't feeling too sick, because you know what works best for your family, but I just thought I would post a different perspective. Cat

Thanks, Jean -- I'm not exactly in Olympic athlete-shape, either, so it's good to know that the exercises are do-able, at least on the first DVD! The set I ordered comes with the Accelerated Results package, which is basically some sort of vertical handle-things that attach to the sides of the machine, plus 2 more DVDs (in addition to the 3 DVDs that come with the regular package.) I can't really describe the handles, but they look kind of cool on the MalibuPilates.com website. I priced the machine in a few places, and it's 299.00 on HSN for the basic package, and the Malibu Pilates site sells the basic package for 299.00 plus an extra 69.00 for the Accelerated Results package (or something like that -- those infomercial sites are a real nuisance to navigate, and they always make it sound like things are cheaper than they turn out to be when you order!) I mostly bought it because I wanted something that's not too huge -- we've already got a recumbent exercise bike in the family room, and I didn't want another big thing in there. Thanks again, Jean! Cat

Lisa, I'm so sorry you're going through this! :grouphug: I hope you feel better soon -- and thank you for the warning about the sulfa drugs! Cat

:iagree: Another vote for WORTH IT! Cat

My catalog arrived a few days ago... and there are still no details about the new online program. Cat

Thanks for posting the update, Christina! Cat

Congratulations!!!! How exciting!!! Cat

I just bought a Malibu Pilates machine on eBay, including the Accelerated Results package. I paid under $150.00 for it, and shipping was free, so I think it was a good deal. (I hope it's authentic -- I intentionally chose a seller with over 700 feedbacks, with 100% of them being positive, so I think I'm safe.) Anyway, I have seen these things on the infomercial and on HSN with Susan Lucci, and I like the idea that it's not a huge piece of equipment. I've BTDT, with a huge treadmill, Total Gym, Health Rider thing, and some other gigantic weight machine that DH bought for us (although at least that thing made a handy coat rack!) The set I bought comes with several DVDs... BUT... are the workouts good? I think the machine itself will be sturdy enough, but I'm wondering if anyone has experienced good results from the workouts. I'm in halfway decent shape and have done Pilates in the past, but at this point in my life, I'm no athlete, and I have no interest in lifting heavy or killing myself with high intensity cardio. I would probably describe myself as being at a Leslie Sansone level of fitness, and I'm not overweight, nor do I have any current injuries. Any opinions about whether or not I just made a good purchase? THANKS!