Well, I am totally not one for bribing but this works for me. I have two rules: 1. Have a good attitude. 2. Do your best. If those are followed they can have some chocolate chips. I only give them like 15 chips but it works. It is an outside reminder to keep their attitudes good. Just me telling them, cajoling and threatening doesn't work. When I first implemented it I was handing out like one or two chips when I would see the behavior I needed: a smile, a good effort or any demonstration that they were putting effort into having a good attitude. After a couple days or a week later, they were just really enjoying school again and I didn't have to be a drill Sargent. It is a habit they are practicing and you just need to find a way to make a different habit more appealing to them. Some may consider it bribing but it does a great job of breaking the spiral I can find myself in, so I'll do it. The other rule about doing their best is a reminder that they are in school for a reason. They were not born with all of this knowledge I am teaching them so don't get mad or frustrated when you don't get something perfect. That is why they are doing school. I don't expect them to know these things! I hope that helps you-- it may be a different treat but keep it where they can see it to remind them and make it a fun thing. Catch them being good and act all exasperated that they are doing so good you are going to go broke with all this rewarding. My kids eat that stuff up.

OK, clearly it is a lot harder to reply from an iPhone than I thought! Sorry, I was trying to answer the question about wether Cover Story is secular or not. Mr. And Mrs. S are committed Christians. From what my kids say from having the high school program OYAN, it is not super overtly christian, it has a definite Christian bent. Like I said, the writers of the curriculum are strong Christians so that is going to come through. If you want something totally secular, you probably won't find it here.

I have to say, I have never had a planner I liked but I really like this one. If they make it so I can add information from my ipad and iPhone, my life will be complete. This is a very Good planner. They are in the process of improving it to work with iOS (so I gathered) maybe someone should ask them to add resource list tracking too. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would shell out 65 bucks for a planner but, here I am!

You might want to check into the Logic of English. Seriously!

The Logic of English rocks. We are doing foundations and it is pretty much my dream curriculum. It is Orton Gillingham, has all subjupects together, is multi-sensory, you don't have to take classes to teach it, it is really fun and my kids love it.

So, I have gone over this whole thing three times and took notes on most of the posts. Great stuff ladies! You are brilliant!

I wish I had advice. If you can't homeschool him, I guess he had better just try to stay on her good side. Do they allow teachers to call students names there? Can you report her? Just some other thoughts. Best of luck to you and your son.

Have fun! I am happy for you!

Lots of bookshelves! Comfy seating. Definitely a sink! Have fun!

Hi Aimee! We have talked in the past about you moving here. I haven't been on the board much since the switch and I just happened to look today and it is the day you are coming back. Unbelievable! Welcome back! Sorry it is snowing today. Monday it is going to be generally warming up. How exciting to be coming back, I know you have been looking forward to it for a long long time. I am very happy for you. (And me since I will hopefully get to meet you!) PM me if you want. We are going to be moving closer to the Springfield area in the coming months and are looking forward to that. There are a lot of great homeschool things going on there that we can't wait to be a part of. The homeschool people here are really wonderful. We are blessed here. Again, welcome home and drive safely!!!! Stacey

I don't know if anyone else has posted this and I don't have time to look but when we fostered my daughter we did two things. We were fortunate enough to get the name of the dangerous person. (don't remember how but we did) We looked him up and he had a criminal record and that gave us evedence. ******You can (at least in Colorado where we adopted her from) Intervene on Behalf of the Child. This is a court order. (INTERVENE ON BEHALF OF THE CHILD) It gives you some footing in the case. You get a lawyer and have this court order filed. You can then be privy to any of the documents of the case and are considered a player. Also, the kin would have to get (or percieve that they have to) a lawyer and that may deter them a bit (it did for our situation). It cost us probably $2000 dollars to do this. I know it is a lot of money but, if you can, obviously, to save your baby it is worth anything you have to pay. I will pray for your situation. The agony is unbearable. I feel for you. I am sorry it hurts so much. You may have hope if you can intervene. Get names, look up records. Find out if they are safe.

I know this is a boring topic but please give me insight!!

Will the warranty for Square Trade be voided by altering the printer to make it CISs compatible? I saw that the regular printer warranty will be voided so I am wondering if I should bother with a Square Trade warranty. Does anyone have experience or knowledge of this? Thanks!

Thank you both for your replies. You both bring up great points. I appreciate your insight. I have to run but wanted to thank you.

We have 2 female dogs, both spayed and very sweet. We have had Bella for about 3 years and just got this other dog (Millie) 2 1/2 months ago. Millie has a history of serious abuse from some jerk who had her when she was a puppy and until she was about 2 (she is 2 1/2 now). Bella wants to play. She can be pretty assertive with her demands to play. I think Millie doesn't want to play like that and after a while she snaps back. (this has happened 3-4 times) Today was a really bad fight. Millie has a deep puncture on her chin and Bella's ear got torn a bit. The vet was closed when it happened. We are in a small town that does not have a lot of resources. We all love Millie dearly but this is not good for either of our dogs. Since she was abused, Millie does not trust anyone. I was able to sneak a little neosporin on her chin and will take her to the vet first thing Monday. I am not sure what to do. Any advice to keep two female dogs getting along? Anyone dealt with abused dogs? Has anyone seen a dog in shock? She seems depressed (Millie). Bella seems fine. I don't think Bella is tryng to be mean, nor Millie. why can't we all just get along?:confused:

Mine is an appraiser too! I agree with all of this. The real work comes after they see the house. They can see past mess.

Some of our family favorites are mostly from my mom. She calls costumes costrumes. She calls the store Uwajimaya (prohounced WaJaMaiYa) Oojiyama--she always has. Now I live in Missouri and we have a lot of Amish, she calls the A-Mish (long A). Others that are fun and now part of our vocabuluary are beebop for bellybutton, gabee for garbage, ert for dessert and wawu for water. Kids are fun!

You really will be just fine not doing the book basket. I have done 4 of the 5 years and never really did book basket. (I am not good on maintenance things like that) They really like you to start with ECC but you really can do what you want. There is not a MFW police--unless Crystal is under cover. It is a great program, we loved it.

My daughter is 13 and is finishing CLE Math 5. I know, I know, she is behind. She is very slow at math and I really want to work on catching her up. HSBC is having sales on both these curriculua. The Help math is for grades 3-8 and Catchup is for grades 6-12. She would be starting CLE Math 6 if all were to proceed as we have been going. I don't see how she is going to catch up (which again, is the goal) by doing CLE because the lessons just take a long time as it is and she takes at least an hour a day to do them. She is kind of in the middle of these two programs (help math may be a better fit for where she is at but I had her do a trial of it for "fun" a couple of years ago and she has an attitude about it already:glare: saying she wants to do CatchUp math instead) Does anyone have experience with either of these programs or opinions on either of them? I am open to either. I just don't have as much money as I used to and want to spend as wisely as I can. HELP!

I have done 4 of the 5 years. I just missed Rome to the Reformation. (unfortunate year where I thought it would be a good idea to try another curruculum--that was a really bad idea). I love MFW. I really do. Right now I just have a minute but I have to say my favorite year is like Crystal 1850 to Modern. The curriculum as a whole is so rich but not overwhelming--I love it. It is easily tweakable (in terms of when to fit things in, catch up and get ahead), doable and fun fun fun. I never had a good library to do the book basket but my kids got a top notch education with just the main curriculum. Great curriculum!

I really wish there was a like button for that article. :iagree: Many think it is just a cop-out to not work REALLY hard at excelling at upper math but for so many people it just is not necessary. It seems reasonabe that if higher math is very hard for a person to understand (I mean really hard, it just is not happening no matter how they try), that person will not fit in a career that uses higher math. There is no shame in that. The same expectation could be made of ANY academic subject. People could act like we are all failures if we don't excel in Organic Chemistry, it is just become an expextation that for most doesn't make sense. That said, I am having this particular child get a good overall sense for algebra with a book called The Algebra Survival Guide. It explains it in a way that non mathy kids can understand. I am good with that.

SORRY! Three of my family has flu so I gotta run!!! Will post later!!