I used MEP yr.1 with ds7 as our second math and only used the online material that you can print. I did not see any need for the textbook. The teachers notes are basically the lesson plan and it has activities to do with your child in it as well as when to assign certain worksheet problems. It's a great program!

Thank you everyone for your thoughts! I think I'll continue with the book but I won't emphasize learning the tricks too much. I'll let him try to "see" how it works and then try to deepen the understanding to other larger numbers as suggested so he can understand why. If he takes to them then great! But if he doesn't, well then there are a ton of problems in the book, at least he'll have had a lot of extra practice. Thanks again!!!

Yep, US edition only. I also ordered directly through Singapore math. http://www.singaporemath.com

What a CUTIE!! Babies are just amazing, I'm always in awe of how much they grow the first year and she's been a hard at work!

Ds7 has known his math facts for awhile now but I just want him to keep practicing because he tends to forget or get slower with them after some time. I picked up the book "2+2 is not 5" from B&N today because I remember reading some good reviews of it on here. It's a pretty straightforward book with lots of math 'tricks' in it. For example, for adding 9s it is called Magic 9s: 9+8 = 17 because 7 is one less than 8, then put a 1 in front. or 9+5= 14 because 4 is one less than 5, put a 1 in front. This is different from SM's 'make ten' method. Another example would be "Number in the Middle": 6+4 = 10 because 5 is the number b/w 6 and 4 and you double it. 3+5 = 8 b/c 4 is the number b/w 3 and 5 and double it. I think it's nice to have an arsenal of math tricks in you back pocket to help when you need it, but I also don't want to confuse him with too much and cause him to over think about simple addition. My question is do you think it would confuse him OR conflict with the way he has learned math via Singapore method?

This. I was pretty shocked at the books that were assigned to ds as well, but I have volunteered at the school during the weekly DRA evaluations and it focuses nearly completely on comprehension. The child needs to be able to retell in detail the story-beginning, middle, end, the problem, the solution, the characters, etc. It is quite difficult for my ds to remember the names of all the characters after only reading a short story once. Some names are completely new to him.

I have read this somewhere recently. Thanks for bringing this up.

I've felt this periodically throughout the year and it is a struggle internally. I've looked through some of my old college papers too and sometimes think I'm looking at the work of another person entirely. The name on the paper will have my maiden name and that person almost feels like a stranger to me now. It's kind of sad really, but I feel guilty for being sad about it for I have been so blessed with a wonderful husband and children. Our life is good.. really good. So I shouldn't feel like I've lost something, since I have gained far more. I don't have any words of wisdom, but I do get how you feel.:grouphug:

I use shortening made from palm oil when baking. I Jungle Foods brand and Spectrum brand make it. I haven't had any problems with it. We can't use butter or regular shortening due to ds's food issues so I can't really compare it.

There is something about the show that makes you want to keep watching. It's not terribly exciting, especially the first few episodes, but nevertheless it's fun to watch. I do feel like I'm breathing in second hand smoke half the time though!:tongue_smilie:

I have not watched a weekly TV show is YEARS, but for some reason this show popped up on my "suggestions" box and I decided it give it a try. Well now I know why I haven't let myself get sucked into TV, I'm seriously hooked on this show!! I've been staying up way too late every night trying watch one or two episodes and I'm so tired in the morning! I'm on season 1, episode 14 or so. Anyone else watching?

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I will probably go ahead and shave their heads if they get it. Ds4's birthday is this week and I just don't want to do it until I get some pic's of him though! EEEWWW! I would have done the same thing! I'm going to order that comb! Even if they don't get in now, it will be great to have on hand. I'm feeling itchy too! I go into total girly girl mode when it comes to bugs and even the thought of little critters in my hair or the boys' makes my stomach turn.:tongue_smilie: :lol: I hadn't thought about the "reading corner". Now I've got paranoid thoughts of critters everywhere.:ohmy:

These are great tips! Thank you! I have some peppermint EO and I'm going to make a spray tonight. I have regular old coconut oil maybe I could just put that in their hair? Off to make that spray now :)

Well this was only the first full week of public school for ds7 and we've already received a note in the newsletter about lice being detected in a couple of classrooms :eek ! Ugh, this is definitely one of several major downsides to PS!!! It didn't say which classes but I would hope that if it were in his the teacher would let us know. As a precaution, I've washed both of my boys' hair with TTO shampoo with a couple extra drops added in. Stripped their bed linens and they currently in the washer. Is there anything else I can do to try and prevent any infestation here or in the future?

I always rinse. It's gets rid of possible talc and any other contamination or dirt. The rice turns out more fluffy too and the taste is "cleaner".

We like all of them! I think you should just go for the type you usually cook.

I agree with getting the titer. The separate M, M, and R vaxes are still available abroad so I've not given up hope yet that they will put them back in production here by the time my boys hit puberty. There is also on manufacturer (can't remember the name of hand) that produces the MMR both separately and combined without egg. But it's not available here. :( I'm not anti-vax, I just prefer a slower introduction to the vaccines to a growing child's body. I wish Merck hadn't stop production of the single vaxes, thus taking away my choice to do so. I've called them and requested that they put the single vaxes back into production and I think it would be great if a everyone who wanted them would call. Right now ds4 has not had any of the MMR and I would certainly give it to him if they had it available singularly and I know many other families that would also vaccinate for measles, mumps and rubella if they had the one-at-a-time option. Ds7 had a bad reaction to his MMR at 12 months and I would never give him any more vaccines. I was told his egg allergy was not very severe so I wouldn't have to worry about the vax. THEY WERE WRONG! So I'm trying to be more careful with ds4. How old is your dc? If you have time before puberty hits, I would try to contact drug companies and request them to produce an egg-free and singular version. Hopefully if they get enough of a demand for it they would consider it. If another manufacturer can do it, they can too.

We've only had 3 days of school so far, so I've not quite gotten in the groove of things yet. We've done a little afterschooling and a little before schooling. I really want to be more consistent with a schedule though. It's way too easy for me to let things slide.

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Our school year just started so I haven't gotten any exact schedule down yet. So far it's been pretty scattered. We've done some Singapore CWP problems orally afterschool. Yesterday we did WWE before school. Dancing Bears a couple of times afterschool. I'd like to do some handwriting, but right now I just don't see fitting that in. I'm planning on doing some GWG on the weekend as was suggested here, but was out of town this past weekend so will try for it this weekend. I think doing the SOTW audiobook would be great in the car if you are spending a lot time there. I've been trying to compile some things to listen to in the car, but it's hard for me to not listen to NPR (public news radio).

That stinks! I hope that the host site can aid with retrieving your data. Maybe they have some kind of saving mechanism?

Discount School Supply is where we got ours and it was great! http://www.discountschoolsupply.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?product=12963

If she has a large oversupply of milk then I do think the one-sided feeding is probably best. I was severely engorged for the first 4 months (I had huge rock like lumps even in my armpits) and this was the method I did, it helped a lot. I didn't start it until after the first month though because that is when I learned about it. She could even just do the one sided feeding every 2 hours instead of every 3 if the baby is hungry quickly. It was more painful on the side that I had to wait with, but it does regulate itself after a week. For me, it was the only way to decrease my milk supply. I ended up breastfeeding for a little over a year, so it did not get rid of my supply it just normalized it since I was making too much. If the situation is just that the baby is gaining a lot of weight but the mother is not severely engorged, then I would just continue to feed on both sides like normal. If she doesn't have an oversupply, then decreasing the amount could be detrimental to keeping up with her supply. Breastfed babies tend to be more plump then formula fed babies during their first few months and with so many more formula fed babies the doctor's are probably not as aware of this difference. Ds7 went from 6 1/2 lbs when we left the hospital to 10 lbs at his 1 week appt. His Dr. was delighted, said I must have some magic milk! He didn't stay so large and in fact he is a tiny thing now, but it was just all the fat from the breastmilk at that time.

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