A waterpik is VERY helpful for braces as it helps dislodge and rinse food off and from under the brackets and wires. Your DD wouldn't need to spit if she can lean over the sink, you just let the water run out. Yes, it makes a mess the first few times so have towels handy. You would want to be careful with the pressure setting as it can hurt the tender gum tissue if set too high. Most folks start off with a very low setting and slowly work up the pressure once their gums are used to it. For your DD, I would just stick with a lower setting. Oh, also be sure to load it with warm water and run it into the sink until you feel the warm water coming out. So much nicer than having cold water spraying on your teeth! I find the waterpik much less useful for braceless teeth. It doesn't seem to be able to accomplish more than just regular brushing and flossing does. With the braces, I could brush, floss, rinse, and STILL get food particles when I used the waterpik. Bleck! Do you use an electric toothbrush? It is much easier to get those back teeth clean with one. For your DD, I'd be sure to get one that automatically stops spinning if you are applying too much pressure. My dental hygeinist insists that she can almost always tell if someone uses an electric toothbrush because their teeth are much cleaner. Honestly, it sounds like you are doing an awesome job with your DD if she just now got her first cavity. Obviously, I know that you would like to prevent them all, but that sounds like quite an achievement to me considering the challenges.

DH really thought this link should be shared. It shows what happens when the vegan police are called to duty. Content warning - video contains a couple not nice words

I appreciate the feedback. This must be it. I was trying hard to time everything to come out at the same time and I may have jumped the gun on the bread. The funny thing is, one DD liked it BETTER this time. :tongue_smilie:

Thank you for the suggestions. We will check each of these out. I was not even aware of the BBC Knowledge one. :D

Ok, so to cover this small possibility, some folks buy insurance on their kids, pay premiums for years (albiet usually low premiums), and usually drop the insurance before the kids are ever adults. I don't remember the percentages but a high proportion of "kid insurance" policies are dropped before the kid turns 18. Even if they keep paying, the child will never directly benefit. So, they are really paying for the benefit of potential future currently unknown dependents of their child. It's a great deal for the insurance salesmen.

The purpose of life insurance is to aid the survivors with the financial impact of no longer having that person alive. I love my kids but the fact is that the family would have less expenses without them, not more. So, no, we do not have any life insurance on them. The odds of them becoming uninsurable by early adulthood are low, very low, tiny.

:iagree: These are small things, not important in the big picture. The best advice that I heard was to forgive your spouse 5 annoying traits or habits. It's easy to forgive just 5 things, right? The real trick, though, is to not ever actually list those things. Whenever something rubs you the wrong way, simply say to yourself "That's just one of his/her 5 things."

I'm not above a little bribery. Put a small bowl of M&Ms on the table. For each assignment that she completes neatly, she gets a treat from the bowl. Try not to turn it into a battle of wills. No one wins.

You flip a coin or toss a dart. Then you stop reading any threads about the other programs. That's key. :tongue_smilie:

Do your teens have a favorite science magazine? DD15 has really outgrown Odyssey and has asked for a different subscription. Any suggestions? Thanks! :001_smile:

It comes in one of those pop dough tubes and I didn't have high expectations when I first bought it. The first two loaves were great! Crispy crust, chewy interior. I was impressed that it came from a tube. Tonight, however, we tried it for the third time and it was completely different. Barely had a crust at all and had a doughy interior. To be honest, it tasted exactly like their other pop dough tube products. Anyone else?

Exactly! I don't understand all the "closed door as a boundary" posts. The ONLY rooms a guest should go into are the rooms the host/hostess are in or ones they specifically tell them to use (e.g., nearest bathroom). I wouldn't dream that an open door in a friend's house means I can just stroll in there.

I'd start over and do the health class at home and assign a grade and 0.5 credits based on that. For P.E., we require 150 hours of physical activity to get 1 credit. I agree with others that I'd LIKE to give a "pass" for P.E. but my umbrella school requires assignment of A to F grades. Pegasus

This is an often discussed topic and I read every thread that I catch when it comes up. The vast majority of the time, the feedback can be broken down into the following: 1. I used MUS all the way through and my students did fine/well/great when they took SAT/ACT or college math courses. I'm so glad we stuck with it. 2. I decided that MUS wasn't enough and I switched to A, B, or C. Interestingly enough, I've only very rarely seen messages like the following: 3. We used MUS in high school and really wish we had used something else. My students did poorly on college testing or college math courses. Personally, we do use MUS and plan to continue through high school. DH and I both have technical degrees and expect similar for our DC. Pegasus

Format Writing by Frode Jensen This writing program has several sections and the schedule will vary with each section. You will need to be active in seeking input on your writing as you go. Beginning material • Week 1 – Read the “to the student†introduction on pages 5-6, the Single Paragraph formats on pages 12 to16, and do the exercise on page 17. Single paragraph formats Spend two weeks on each paragraph format: read the introduction to each and complete 4 paragraphs of each format, seeking evaluation for each and making corrections/revisions. • Week 2 & 3 – Example • Week 4 & 5 – Classification • Week 6 & 7 – Definition • Week 8 & 9 – Process • Week 10 & 11 – Analogy • Week 12 & 13 – Cause & Effect • Week 14 & 15 – Comparison Five Paragraph Essay Elements This section describes the elements of a five paragraph essay and provides exercises to practice. • Week 16 – Read and complete exercises for pages 34 to 41 • Week 17 – Read and complete exercises for pages 42 to 46 • Week 18 - Read and complete exercises for pages 47 to 52 Five Paragraph Essays Read the introduction and guidelines (pages 53-54) and then complete 1 essay each week, seeking evaluation as you complete them. You will complete two essays for each format. • Week 19 & 20 – Example • Week 21 & 22 – Classification • Week 23 & 24– Definition • Week 25 & 26 – Process • Week 27& 28 – Analogy • Week 29 & 30 – Cause & Effect • Week 31 & 32 – Comparison   Book Reports and Test Questions Read the introduction and write 1 book report per week for three weeks, each from a different genre. The following week will cover test questions. • Week 33, 34, & 35 – Book report • Week 36 – Read test questions section on pages 83-84 and write an essay each day on a teacher supplied topic. Business Writing This section covers business type writing, including letters and resumes. • Week 37 – Letters o Day 1 - Business letter writing and assignment (pages 86-89) o Day 2 – Letter complaint and assignment (pages 90-91) o Day 3 – Cover letter and assignment (pages 92-94) o Day 4 – Political letter and assignment (pages 95-96) • Week 38 – Resume, read pages 97-103 and assignment Condensation This section explains how to condense text into brief notes. • Week 39 – Condensing o Day 1 – Read introduction (pages 105-106) and do exercise #1 o Day 2 – Do exercise #2 o Day 3 – Read the Precis and do exercise # 1 (pages 109-110) o Day 4 – Do exercise #2 o Day 5 – Do exercise pages 112-114 Major Papers Spend the first week reading through the parts of a major paper and creating samples. You will then complete 4 major paper assignments, 1000-1200 words each and using at least 3 sources for each. You will have two weeks to complete each one. • Week 40 o Day 1 – Read pages 116-118 and create a sample title page o Day 2 – Read pages 119-121 and create a works cited practice page o Day 3 – Read pages 123-127 o Day 4 – Read pages 128-133 • Week 41-42 Major Paper 1 • Week 43-44 Major Paper 2 • Week 45-46 Major Paper 3 • Week 47-48 Major Paper 4

I'm not familiar with Write Shop but after reading what you wrote, I have 2 thoughts that may help you: 1. Have you looked at EPS Writing Skills? These are workbooks that break writing down into tiny increments and then build up. Book 3 is for high school students but you could take a look at them and decide where you needed to start. This is the series that finally got DD over her severe reluctance to write. She still doesn't like it, but she can crank out a well organized essay easily. 2. DD is now using Jensen's Format Writing. I have a schedule that I created so that I'd know exactly how much she should be completing each week. In case you find it helpful, I will see if I can copy and paste it into the next post. Pegasus

DD is doing the Kid Coder program as an introduction to programming. She likes it so far so I plan to have her do the Teen Coder program so that I can give her a full credit. We bought the books. I think it would be a pain to try to do it from PDF unless you were willing to print everything out. I thought it was expensive but figure that younger DD can use them too and it was the best intro programming course I was able to find that she could do on her own. Pegasus

Our one month trial of Write Guide is complete so I wanted to update my review. Overall, I was happy with the experience and would definitely consider using it again in the future for a specific goal. I wanted the consultant to aid DD in revising 4 already drafted essays within our 1 month subscription. They worked well together to complete these and we ended up having several days remaining. The consultant proposed working on a new type of essay and offered DD several suggested topics. DD ended up choosing some different possible topics and narrowed it down to one. This took a few days of one-email-a-day exchanges with the consultant and was the only time that I felt that time wasn’t necessarily being used wisely. Still, DD managed to get the essay drafted, reviewed, and revised by our last day. Pros: Having an unbiased writing consultant work with the student. Positive feedback and encouragement provided to the student. Works especially well if the parent has a specific goal in mind and provides expectations to the consultant. Reasonably priced if you only need it for a month or two. Consultant was willing and able to provide me with an overall evaluation of DDs writing and some suggestions of what to focus on next. Website exchange of emails protects privacy of student and consultant (you are not using private email accounts). Cons: Would get expensive if you wanted/needed to use it for a full year. Not the most efficient use of time; I expect DD to write much more than she needed to in order to satisfy the consultant. Timing of exchange can be a bit inconvenient, depending on what time you receive the consultant’s feedback. I’d be happy to answer any questions about Write Guide.

Exactly! A decent man, a good husband and father, and you are content with your life? I can't imagine NOT loving him over time.

When my dad remarried after my mom died, he went ahead and distributed family items that he wanted his kids to have. He had his new wife's name added to accounts that he wanted her to have and had my sister's name added to accounts that he wanted his kids to have. He had the names he wanted listed as beneficiaries on life insurance, annuities, etc. None of this required a will and everything went smoothly after his death. It was his last gift to all of us. No courts, no lawyers, no probate. It's ok to carefully broach the subject with a parent. Better now than when it is too late. :grouphug:

No pictures. I hear the words. If I know the author, I hear it in their voice. :D Pegasus

We are using LLLotR now and have noticed all the page numbering issues. It does seem to be mostly in the comprehension questions and vocabulary. Sometimes the student book and teacher book list different page numbers for the same question. :confused: We are not finding it to be too much of a problem as it is usually within a page or two of the correct page. :tongue_smilie:

I think this one might win. :D Edited to add: Oh my! I couldn't contain my curiosity and did a Google search on "fear of naval touching" and IT HAS A NAME: Omphalophobia

I think this one might win. :D

Mix up small batches in a jar with a lid. Shake it and then shake it some more. Then chill it until it is very cold as it helps with the taste.