Just to answer a couple questions... she has been homeschooled since she was 8. She hasn't always been isolated and she really isn't now. There are kids her age at the parks. She just has no interest in even saying "hello" to them. Even when she was in clubs she never would foster friendships this isn't something new. She always waited for them to invite he places to do things. I would tell her, why don't you ask so and so to the movies etc. She wouldn't. Right now therapy is not an option. Number 1, we live in an RV. We are looking for a rental but we don't yet know where we are going to settle. It jsut depends on where we can get a rental. Number 2, she would never, in a million years, go for therapy. Never. She has made known what she thinks of it, not for herself but in general. I don't honestly think it has anything to do with needing therapy. I think it is pure boredom. She is very, very smart. (Yea yea most parents say that) She needs to be occupied. I was looking for ways to get her to help around the house and get off the computer :) Not really take her to therapy. I was telling what she is doing to give a picture of what I was up against. As for my previous thread, I couldn't find it. I looked in my history because I thought I had posted something but since I couldn't find it I posted again. I will take a look. We haven't talked to a recruiter. That is an excellent idea and I think that will be the first step. She still says that is her goal so I will facilitate that. Perhaps that will get the "blood flowing" so to speak.

I am sure there are umpteen threads on this. I haven't looked at them all. My oldest will be 18 in January. She does nothing... and I mean nothing... but either watch anime videos on youtube or read fan fiction all day. If I ask her to do anything... anything at all... I get met with surliness and snark. To the point where I don't ask because I can't deal with it. I have work right now that I am doing, that she can do as well. She won't do it. She just won't do anything. I have tried talking to her, telling her that it isn't right that she does absolutely nothing. I have told her (in nice terms) that she is basically being a freeloader. She doesn't care. When I say watch videos and read, I mean she is on the computer from 8 in the morning until 9pm at night. She *might* eat, and she will use the restroom a couple times a day. I don't think it's healthy. My dilemma? What do I give her to do? I am riddled with guilt over the fact that she has no friends (which is partly her fault, she won't try to build friendships). We live in an RV right now and that does make it difficult. However, to be honest, she was this way when we has a brick and mortar house. Just she was in her room doing the same thing. She says she has plans. She wants to join the military and then work her way up to an officer. Great! However she needs her GED. Does she study for it? Nope. Just watches her anime and reads her fan fiction. Should I take her computer away? What do I give her to do? How do I handle the repercussions of her attitude? I need some real suggestions on how to handle this. I want to be direct and to the point with her. I don't think she should be acting this way. Her father and I work about 55 hours a week between the two of us. Not to mention all the chores I do and grocery shopping and cooking etc. I need real help with her. I want her on a different path. I don't want to cringe and feel like a ostrich with I have to ask her to do something. I know it will be tough but if I have a plan it will be much, much easier to deal with. Help?

I know there have been several diet threads but I want one all my own :) I am overweight by about... I dunno, a lot... I am on blood pressure meds. I would like to be off my blood pressure meds. Exercise, for the most part, isn't an issue. I get out and move around a lot. I just know my diet needs work. Let me preface by saying I don't want to talk about counting calories. If it was that simple I'd be much thinner. I have looked and looked and there seems to be even more diets out there than the last time I looked. Which was a long time ago. Maybe when the dinosaurs roamed the earth? I digress. If it matters I am a type O+ blood type. I NEED protein. Carbs kick my royal tookus and even though I know that I still manage to eat my fair share and them maybe my kids leftovers. Which yes, I know I shouldn't eat the left over and I don't always, I was using it as a funny. Liquid diets I don't care for unless the liquid meal is breakfast only. I am not big on breakfast. I know it is supposed to be the most important meal of the day but that majority of recipes I see for breakfast are either eggs (which I like but jeez, a little variety please?) or sugar infested carbs. Either way if I eat in the morning it needs to be small and protein otherwise I am sluggish and sleepy. Same for lunch. I am ravenous at dinner. I am almost a bottomless pit in the evening. So my diet needs to be able to either curb that or fulfill it without filling out the waistline more. So what diets are out there that are sound (not gimmicks), don't cost an arm and a leg (Shakeology) and don't leave me starving (The whole eat only 1200 calories a day... not at my size sweetheart). I have been looking at the Paleo but I just haven't jumped ship yet. I need a diet that kids will eat too. I also live in an RV at the moment. Space is an issue. My refrisgerator is a glorified dorm fridge. It's bigger than a dorm fridge but a lot smaller than a regular fridge. I can't keep much in there. Shopping is an issue. It is 30 minutes (right now that will change in two weeks) to the store, an hour round trip. I can't go out every other day to shop. I usually go twice a week so I need to be able to stick to that. So, any suggestions on what kind of diet would be good? :)

We have done lapbooks. My main complaint is the organization. I don't like they way the lapbook, when I purchase them, are set up. However, I just do it the best way I can. We don't do them all in one sitting. We space it out. I use it as a craft project. I use other things in the lapbook to make it more crafty. Like glitter, washi tape etc. Yes, I do all the cutting out. Yes it can be tedious depending on the topic. But, I don't do all the cutting out at once. My kids really like to do them. I just morph them into what we need. Someone complained about the lines... too many or not enough. If that is the case then ignore the lines. Have them write it on their own paper and then cut it out and glue it into the booklet.

Interesting. I went to ps in Cali too and don't remember idea. Maybe it was a thing too. Though I have to say that my school wasn't big on grammar. My mom went to ps in Cali too. She may have been taught about the abstract 'thing' instead of idea. It doesn't really matter to me, I was just curious!

Maybe it's always been there but I don't remember learning it in grammar school. My mom doesn't remember it either. She remembers being taught 'idea' words are adjectives. I know why it's a noun, I just don't know when it was actually declared a noun... is it more recent? The Google (or my Google skill) failed me in this.

I did look at the pinned thread. The resources, while awesome and long, were all paid sites or textbooks. I can't get books shipped to me right now (the downside of living in an RV) and can't afford to get the books anyway. I did try to search but I didn't find anything that fulfilled what I needed. :)

I need free online resources for Biology. Specifically microbiology if at all possible but regular is perfectly fine. I want to give my oldest some research subjects to write some papers and do some general studying. Help?! :)

I just purchased Saxon Math 6/5 second hand. It is unused EXCEPT for Investigation 2, which is missing. I don't know why. All the other worksheets, investigation and tests are there.. all of them and not even torn out! Except Investigation 2. Is there anyone that would ever so kind as to scan those few pages in and send them to me?

We are going to be starting some school here this soon. I have been having an issue getting the kids to do chores. I know... who doesn't? Well I have been thinking about it and I really need them to understand that mom and dad can't do everything. I have said this to them over and over but I don't think talking is working. I want something a little more gentle but not so gentle they don't know what I am trying to do. A journal to write the complaints? Charts? Schedules? Umm... doing something positive when a complaint comes out? I just don't want harsh. I am all for correcting behavior but I don't want to punish them by taking things away. Even us adults will shirk chores now and again and we don't punish ourselves. However I don't want them to think they can get by every single day without doing things to help. That is basically what they do now. I ,literally, have to tell them to do everything. Even my 17yo (except shower and brush teeth, she does that on her own). They won't walk the dog in the morning (even though they know he has to pee). They won't ever do dishes or laundry unless I (again literally!) get angry and force them. I can't even get them to rinse their dishes! It takes so much (oh so much) energy to get them to do things and I honestly don't have that kind of energy. I know I need energy to enforce anything but I plan to start out small and work it up. Any sage advice and/or ideas?? :)

Are the readers essential or can I use my own books? Are the yellow cards the same as the AAS 1 yellow cards? Meaning just the sounds?

There aren't any conventions near me at the moment so I can't go look at anything. Not cool but I digress. :) My youngest is 7. He can't read. He just hasn't shown any interest. It isn't his eye sight. He can see perfectly fine (that was another thread). He just doesn't want to learn. I have tried Reading Eggs. That was abysmal. He hated it. He doesn't like the singing and dancing etc. I tried Pre-Reading from AAR and neither one of us liked it. He didn't like the zebra and I didn't like the alphabet papers. Maybe it has changed but I felt like I spent a lot of money for just a book with big ole letters in it. I can make those on my own. We tried OPGTR. He was bored with it. We tried 100EZ lessons. Again, bored. It was like extracting multiple teeth to get a lesson done. We tried Saxon Phonics. It was painfully slow. I like Saxon and Saxon phonics worked great for my older son but my younger? Not so much. What else is out there? No singing or silliness really but not so boring as OPGTR or 100EZ. Something meaty but not hard to chew. Something that will hold attention. What else is out there that will teach good reading skills? I know of ETC but I always used that as supplemental with older ds not as the main books. How is AAR Level 1? Ummm... Reading Pathways? Or is it Phonic Pathways? I am going from memory. I also need something that won't break the bank. We are very, very limited on funds at the moment. You'd think I hadn't homeschooled two other kids. Sigh. Any insight?

Even if you don't really care will you still vote which one you like the best? :) Please?

I was wondering what the general consensus was on fonts. I know that there are several but specifically fonts that are in the more popular program. What is the favored font? I lean towards D'Nelaian and GD Italics. I don't like ball and stick at all. What about everyone else?

Neither, this is about publishing work I did in ebook format only either by myself or with another publisher. I want to change publishers.