http://www.discoveryeducation.com/products/science/index.cfm

I'd go with Core 1. IMO, SL is best when you are use a core that is at least 1 level under your child's grade.

Very disturbing and sad. I didn't read beyond the headline.

The grief comes in waves, doesn't it? Shortly followed by The Guilt. Not your normal guilt, but capital G guilt. My ds will never live on his own. He is at about a 3 month old level, and all signs point to him always being at this level. This is such a big subject, I need to break it down into separate thoughts. Grief. I don't think I'll ever be done grieving ds. I do feel like I have hit a time period where it has lessoned. When he was young, I watched as other kids his age developed, while he stayed behind. God put us in a small group with another family who had 3 delightful sons. Their youngest was just 3 days younger than ds. That was a period of grief and healing for both dh and I. We watched their son climb on countertops, run around and just be a boy. We came to love him, and somehow that allowed us to let go of the sadness. Still, everytime ds's bday rolled around, I would get blue. It was such a scary day in our lives, it was hard to not feel the pain. In the last 2 years, the pain of that day has lifted somewhat. We always do something fun as a family on his bday, and slowly, the day is becoming something that our whole family looks forward to. For me, there is the grief of the loss of a healthy child, and then there is anticipatory grief. Knowing that one day, he will leave us. His disability is severe enough, that he has well outlived what we were told and I know that his life span will probably be much shorter than average. Frankly, I hope to outlive him. I greatly fear not being the one who takes care of him. Because he does not communicate, I have to deeply trust anyone who cares for him. Having a life. Dh and I have come to depend on our church family. We did not go out on a date till ds was nearly 2 years old. Dh actually flew my mom in for that. Over the years, I have come to trust and accept help from some special people that God has placed in our lives. Dh and I have even taken overnight trips : ) We lived across the country from any family until last year. That taught us to make an effort to train those people who wanted to help us with the kids. As for the future, you're right, it's almost too big to think of. I honestly have no plan. I do not see a group home in our future, but I know that I can never say never. It's ok to grieve over this. Jeez, if we grieved every facet of life with a disabled child all at once, it would be overwhelming. Instead, just take it piece by piece. ((((HUGS))))

BTDT!! We found out at dd's well check that she can't see squat. I had NO idea. She is near sighted, so I chalked it up to the fact that she never has to read from across a room. Still, it sure feels uncomfortable when your kid can't read the second line on the chart and the nurse is looking at me like I have 2 heads!

I was a childhood sufferer of CHRONIC UTIs. My suggestions is to see a kidney doctor, pronto. If your dd had not been checked previously, she needs to be tested for reflux. You should be aware that chronic kidney infections can lead to permanent kidney damage and if left untreated, full fledged kidney failure. This is nothing to mess around with. I would also keep her on lots of water, and real cranberry juice.

My van is 5 years old and we're on our 3rd battery. I'm not sure why we've blown through so many.

We've been there. Dh was laid off within weeks of finding out that we were pregnant with #3. We went through 5 months of unemployment. God was so great to us though. So many miracles happened during that time. There was one day that I looked at dh and told him that we needed $1000 before the end of the week to meet our bills. He left and checked the mailbox on his way out, there was a check for $1000. In the end, dh got a job that was the best position and pay that we ever had. He lost his job in Dec of 01, got his new one in April of 02, had #3 in August, moved into our first home in October. :) Those 5 months were hard, but boy did God carry us. It WILL be ok.

Any news on recordings?

Well the upside of Chea is free room and board. Does anyone know if chea Santa clara is as big as long beach? Modesto sounds great, but the cost of a hotel might negate the cheapness of the convention itself.

Oh, that really stinks!! Truly, that sounds like something that would happen in our family. Did I mention that we're moving n the next month?

Thanks for the input. I've heard good things about the Valley H E, but it's hard for me to imagine anything huge happening in Modesto! Time to check my calender : )

California has so many conventions/conferences, I'm not sure which to go to. I was spoiled in Florida, because FPEA had a HUGE convention in our city. I like workshops, but what I really want is a very large and diverse curriculum hall. I do not care if it's a Christian association or not. I'm in NorCal, but could easily attend a conference in SoCal, as I have family to shack up with down there. So what's your fav?

I would continue to work on printing through 2nd grade. Some fun things that have helped ds improve his handwriting are dot-to-dots and mazes. Anything that works on those fine motor skills and is fun will help in the long run. We love HWT.

Churches are chock full of unbiblical policies. Why not have a gathering at a local pool or other body of water and have your dh do the baptism? Nothing biblical about only pastors being able to baptize. (ps, my dh is a pastor : )

We have friends all over the country and it's a fantastic way to keep up with everyone. I think if a person is ok with using email to keep touch, Facebook is like that, but enhanced. I can share pics of the kids with many people, all at once. I can see pics of my friends and their kids, all in one place. It sure beats visiting individual websites. I love it.

This reminds me of a story that a youth pastor friend told us. He was on a missions trip to Poland with his group from Cali and another youth group from Georgia. One of the first nights, Georgia's pastor pulls our friend aside to talk over a problem. One of the students is using bad language. Student said the S word. This being really out of character for that kid, our friend says, "he said sh*t?!" No code word. Georgia youth pastor sputters, "No! He said sucks!" Sucks was "the S word" for that group. Our friend let Georgia pastor know that Cali group would do their best to respect them, but sucks isn't considered a curse word in California and the students may slip up. Our friends said that the culture difference between the Georgia and Cali group was way more severe than the difference between Cali and Poland kids. I say friggin all the time. And the S-word, too.

June-ish. We have a move looming in the next 1-2 months and I'm not entirely sure how much it's going to throw us off track.

Yard care. Since you don't know them well, I'm not sure how they would feel about you cleaning the inside of their house, but you could always offer. Food could be a big help, but I'd be more inclined to do freezer meals, just in case you are not the only one making them meals. Airport taxi is a good idea. I just can't imagine what they are going through. Do they have other kids? If so, I'd offer to help with them too. You are a good neighbor.

From birth our kids are hearing passages read aloud. From about 7, dd started reading on her own. We don't do KJV. Dh is a pastor. He exposits from the original language. I prefer NIV, to get the jist, and really only depend on the original language for the real meaning. I believe dd has NIrV. Dh prefers ESV. If you depend solely on an english translation, chances are you are not getting the true meaning of many parts of the bible.

Help this southerner. So is she swimming under ice?

Oh Denise, your story just cracks me up! I'll bite. Brace yourselves- when I was a s*x crazed 16yo, my boyfriend and I had s*x on a playground. A church playground. That boy is now my dh. My dh is now a pastor. Fitting, no?

I wonder if they are clearancing it because of the new laws. Time to stock up!

The first HS book I read was "The Ultimate Guide to Home Schooling" by Debra Bell. It's a nice overview of the whys and why nots. It touches on approaches and learning styles, but does not get into CM, classical, unschooling, ect. It's a really great intro to hsing. I would hesitate to hand WTM over to someone who could be overwhelmed easily. WTM has the ability to inspire and/or terrify.

I would absolutely pay for recordings. Hope you can work that out!