My 12 yo son has Severs disease which is basically the same thing, only it involves the heal instead of the knee. He just does a bunch of exercises and alternates ice and heat when necessary. It is really important to stretch before any physical activity. He is a competitive baseball catcher and since he started exercises and stretching, he hardly has any flare ups!

Geometry was one of the courses I was thinking about trying. Did you like the supplement videos; are they helpful?

Has anyone used any of the Duke TIP Independent learning courses? What was your experience with the program? Thanks,

I was wondering if you could direct me to the free courses from Duke TIP? My son is a member and we got the distance learning brochure today, but I don't see any free courses. Am I missing something? Dorothy

My first thought was that this sounds like "What Would You Do?" I really hope it was...

Both of my kids want to play professional baseball, but if they have to get a real job.... DS 12 Marine Biologist DS 16 Sports Journalist

Thanks, I just did that. One website says you can use any fresh water source. I guess we will try the creek. Has anyone done this?

We need a pond sample for a biology lab. We live in texas and all of the ponds are gone. We usually have a 15 foot deep pond on our land and it is completely dried up. So what can I do instead, any ideas?? Would a creek give the same results? This is for Apologia Biology Ex:2.1 Thanks, Dorothy Bauer

So I had to read the "What are you waiting for from Amazon?" thread. I was intrigued by the Bento lunch boxes. So that's what I spent the $100 on. I got one for myself and each of my kids. We are gone all day on Wednesdays and I swore I would be better about making healthy lunches this year. I hope this helps. Not exactly what I was originally thinking, but I am excited. I am such a geek.

I hate winter and being cold. This is the first year, since we moved to Texas 15 years ago, that I can't wait for winter to come. Our air conditioner went out yesterday. It was unbearable to sleep last night, even with a fan. I just don't know how much more of this I can take. Dorothy

We have small tarantulas. They only eat about once every two weeks. At first we had to go to the exotic pet store to get the pinhead crickets. They don't sell that size at petsmart or petco. They have grown now, and can eat (not that they really eat them) the small crickets. We still just get fresh ones for each feeding. We tried to get more at a time and they just died.

I told myself, NO BOOKS! I am always buying books. I have 11 bookshelves full of books. I think I have a serious problem :P

I never buy perfume, that might be nice. I used to love Eternity & Jessica Mclintock.

Great idea. I want to get something I really want, but I'd also really like to get a great deal. I may have to just keep an eye out to see if any great deals arise in the near future.

I have actually been thinking about learning how to knit lately. Any ideas to get me started?

I have a hard time buying for me too. I did buy a CHI for myself recently and I love it.

I would love a new camera, but I want a really expensive one :(

Never heard of this, I will have to look it up.

See that's my problem too. I want so much I can't decide.

What would you buy? And what if the limitation was something for you, not your kids...

Operation World is a paper back book which highlights more countries and more information. I think more for a High School student. Window on the World is a large hard cover book. It has gorgeous pictures and focuses on maybe 100 countries. It could be enjoyed by a younger student as well as an older student.

My son plays for the Centex Chargers out of Temple, Texas. The Angels are a very good team. I was told they didn't come to the Texas Homeschool state tournament because they were playing in a 5A tournament to prepare for the World Series. We played them 4 times this year and they won all 4 games. The Riders are an excellent team as well. That is who we beat at the State tournament. My son will forever talk about Billy Carr. He hit 2 or 3 homeruns against us in that game, it was crazy! Pitching (and money) is definitely the reason we didn't go to the World Series. We just didn't have enough for a whole week of baseball.

Just wondering who you lost to? My son's team decided not to go because we really don't have enough depth for a long week. They regularily play the Dallas Angels and the Fort Worth Riders. His team was the underdog, but pulled out a win at the Texas State homeschool tournament. We had a fun year and are looking forward to Florida next year!

My son is in a co-op that is using vol.2 for 9th grade this year. My son does all 4 "for further studies" each week. Plus we do several of the projects, timelines and book reports suggested in the teachers guide. Doing it this way, I feel like it is a sufficient highschool history course.

Yes, that is what we got for 6, but it jujst seemed too simple. As for number 4, I don't know why my brain couldn't think this way. Thanks to all for the answers, I feel better.