Has anything changed recently at home, like the addition of another pet or something that would be stressful to your kitty? Have you changed brands of cat food or litter? Does she spray in one place all the time? Perhaps she's trying to tell you there's something she's unhappy with. I have heard that some female cats do spray, though it's rare. The first thing I'd do is head to the vet to rule out a medical condition like urinary tract infection or something like that.

I do wish someone with more experience using MEP would reply with some information for you. I feel quite inadequate as I've only used the program for one day! Here's what attracted me to MEP: It is a spiral program with lots of review built in. It's reputed to be as challenging as Singapore, which is what we have been using prior. It emphasizes mental math. It is free and complete, without the need for a lot of extra manipulatives. The student pages have very simple illustrations that seem to be useful instead of just filling the page with clutter. Drawbacks: It's a lot of printing. The measurements are metric system. It's meant to be a classroom program, so some activities will have to be skipped for use with one student. The print on the teacher pages is very small. None of these are big issues for me. I'd say just download and print out some of the lessons to see how it fits your child. Good luck!

After a weekend of furious printing and hole punching, we just started MEP today. We are at a much lower level than 7th grade, however. Here is a Yahoo group I've found helpful: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mep-homeschoolers/

So not only do "kids happen" but kittens happen as well! :lol:

I'm spending about $500 on general curriculum materials for both kids, but my actual total will be much higher because I'm expecting to have to buy 2-3 levels of Barton ($300 for each level if I teach it myself *or* $300 a month to continue to pay a tutor) and $100 a month for art lessons. So... gulp... :001_unsure: anywhere from $2000 to $3800 depending on how the year unfolds.

Yep, that's a pretty print and perfect for a summer wedding, IMO.

I think I will either pair AAS with some inexpensive phonics workbooks or go with McRuffy. I don't have the budget to buy both. Though that would be very nice!

Barton uses key words, at least for the vowel sounds. She teaches a rhythm you tap with your finger tips -- Apple, apple, /a/, /a/, /a/ and Olive, olive, /o/, /o/, /o/, etc.

You can go to the National Gallery of Art Web site and request to borrow DVDs and lesson packets about various artists free. http://www.nga.gov/education/homeschool.shtm They mail the requested DVDs to you, and you are responsible for paying return postage. It cost me just a little over $2 per DVD to mail them back.

I think perhaps you mean McRuffy? There is a product called McGuffey's Readers, but those are old-fashioned as opposed to colorful, I'm pretty sure. I don't have any answers for you, as I am in the same boat with my first-grader. I had almost decided to buy AAS when I saw a mention of McRuffy and now I'm waffling. It seems redundant to do both.

You wrote that your friend and her DH need the money. I think I'd find a way to give them something practical -- maybe a gift card to a grocery store or to a place where they have oil changes/service on their vehicle. If you don't think she'd take it from you, you could mail it anonymously. That way, her family is blessed without having to feel embarrassed at accepting something from you.

I got mine earlier this week and already have nearly wiped out a pack of Post-it notes marking things.

Just say you don't allow sleepovers in a matter-of-fact way and then change the subject. Maybe you could offer to meet the family at the park so the kids could play in the afternoon or something, but I don't think you should feel like you have to explain your decision to anyone.

I'm jealous, too! They toured through our city last year, but we weren't able to go. Now where's that stomping smilie? :willy_nilly: :smash:

:iagree:Yup, this is my favorite. Though I just put a dollop of jam on top instead of mixing it. And I like it plain on Saltine crackers, too. Or with a drizzle of honey.

This is our first summer that we will not take a long break, so it's pretty much the start of our schooling year-round. I work nights, so we don't get up until about 10:30 a.m. We have a good breakfast and I give the kids time to wake up. We do school work on M-W-F from about noon to 4 p.m. My kids take art lessons outside the home on Thursday afternoons. We sometimes do activities with our homeschool group that I count as a school day, but it's not every week. We try to read a little bit every day. ETA: We don't have to report how many days we school in Mississippi, so we just take breaks for vacations or other projects as needed. For example, my son was in bike camp last week, so no school work done.

Any good-sized sporting goods store should have safety glasses stocked near the pellet guns and BB guns.

I used the Prime trial for ordering Christmas presents last year and had no trouble at all canceling -- unless you consider my agony over whether or not to cancel as trouble. Oh, I did not want to let go... :glare:

:iagree: Our extended family has rented condos in Pensacola Beach, Fla., several times. Out the door and onto the white sandy beach.

I read a lot lying on my side, either in bed or on the couch. Is it comfortable to do this with a Kindle?

My son has severe dyslexia. His diagnosis included educational recommendations, and one of them was that we provide him with this device for writing projects: http://www.franklin.com/estore/dictionary/sa-206/ There are similar ones with a full dictionary on the same site; this one only has a thesaurus and spell check. It seems like there's a pretty broad price range among the products available. I don't think it would be any different than using a traditional dictionary to look up words, other than possibly missing the practice with finding things in an alphabetical list.

Sorry if my punctuation was confusing. Yes, I know that they are completely different things. I should have used an "and" instead of the slash.

We are in Ridgeland, which is a suburb of Jackson. :seeya:

I wanted to post to encourage you to follow your instinct in teaching your child. You know him and what will help him learn better than anyone, especially friends who know you only online. There is absolutely no reason a child with autism has to go to school unless that is what you want. My son has SPD and recently was diagnosed with dyslexia. During the dyslexia testing, it was suggested that we also have him tested for ADD/Asperger's. We haven't decided yet whether we will proceed with testing for these because we don't intend to put him into a traditional school situation, and it doesn't seem like a formal diagnosis is necessary at this time. I can make all the accommodations he needs at home. For example, he can jump on the mini-tram while he's working on math facts. I don't need a diagnosis of ADD to know that he needs to fidget while he thinks and he needs short lessons with active breaks. For now, we are just doing what we see that needs to be done and consulting with private therapists when we don't, and it's working out fine. I have a lot more confidence in the therapists of my choosing than those of the school district anyway! If we decide to pursue a diagnosis of ADD/Asperger's, it will be through a private clinic and it will be because we feel it's necessary to help our son.

Another fan of Kids in Mind here. I get a kick out of looking up movies -- rated R ones for example -- to see the crazy amount of detail included. I do appreciate the service the site provides, but sometimes the things they mention strike me as funny. Maybe that's a little twisted, LOL :blink: