:lol: :lol::lol::lol:

Running and a lower carb diet (nothing super extreme but enough to realize that a bread is not necessary at EVERY meal, LOL) helped me lose a bunch. But I had to get to the point of running 3 miles 3x per week and 5 on Saturdays. Then it slid right off. Now I'm just trying to keep it stable in the cold season when I don't want to run so much. It's COLD!!!

We're in our first year at CCC and my daughter is in her kindergarten homeschool year. I am not sure how it works for the older grades, but in Grace's grade what we do in class is classified as "memory work" type stuff. You still have to have your own math and reading program at home. They do memory work for skip counting, and memorize grammar functions, history, science info, latin- but it's not really a FULL curriculum. That being said, the amount of information my daughter has learned this year is AMAZING! I am so impressed with what she's learned. We've gone more in depth with the history and science info during the week and she's had a lot of fun rabbit trails, KWIM? But I still do a separate language arts, math and science program at home. I think it's worth EVERY penny. I had no idea my daughter had the capacity to take in so much information, and I don't think I would have ever even tried to get her to learn that much on my own. But she's having a blast and learning a massive amount of information each week. I'm truly amazed. *I think the later grades might actually be doing a language arts program after school- I'm not sure... * All the CC schools are different in their levels of organization, the types of people involved, etc., so check yours out and make sure you like the tutors and think the people are friendly. Our experience has been absolutely wonderful and we love our group, but I have heard some people talk about negative experiences as well. * There is a website you can subscribe to for 6 dollars a month that has a lot of good bonus information for the classwork. We've gotten a lot of good supplementary info from there and it's been a good investment. * You only need one set of curriculum for all the children unless they don't like to share....

:iagree: This type of issue was not the sole reason that I pulled my child from her preschool, but it was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I don't understand why so many functions HAVE to involve food anyway. I think we're starting to live too fast if we can't eat our dinner at home, but that's just my own personal issue brought forth from having an allergic child. When I started having to deal with my child's allergies I really noticed how much food is emphasized in our culture. It's almost impossible to find a function that does not involve food somehow- and it is usually "treats" that can't really be called "treats" because the kids get them all the time. So I say forget the McDonalds- let's just stop bringing food at all, LOL!

I sometimes take photographs of my child's artwork and put them into a photobook.... Would something like that be helpful?

:lol:

:iagree: This is one of those valuable learning experiences in life. It's not about the mistake, it's about learning that life can often be unexpectedly expensive and how to responsibly handle those expenses.

Do you think it would be helpful for a first grader, or would it be better to wait for later elementary years?

We make marshmallows for my daughter who is allergic to corn (we use cane sugar syrup instead) and we keep it from getting sticky by lining the pan with oil AND putting a thick layer of powdered sugar (also homemade with sugar and potato starch) on top of the oil. Then after you put the marshmallow mixture in it, you put a thickish layer of powdered sugar on top of that too. After we cut the marshmallows we dump them all into a large bag with a bit of powdered sugar and shake it up. Not sure if you've tried that but I hope it helps.

CherryAnne- I don't know how to quote your quote to me, LOL. Right now I'm very, very lucky because my daughter has made friends with some kids in the neighborhood. Everyone usually congregates in our front yard. We are also lucky that all these children are very sweet and well behaved. So I don't have to talk to any moms and they're all happy anyway because I let their kids play after school. I actually try NOT to talk to the moms too much because I am sure I would put my foot in my mouth somehow. I don't want to ruin a good thing, KWIM? We're already the "weird homeschooling family," LOL. So right now I am enjoying a welcome respite from "playdates," and I am hoping that the neighborhood kids and co op activities are going to be enough social time for my daughter. She's an extroverted-introvert: she really wants to be around other people but she can't handle it for extended periods. So we have a good balance going right now. Thank God! I don't know if I could handle anymore playdates in our first homeschool year. It's such a big adjustment as it is...

:iagree:It normally takes me years to make a friend - putting it on fast forward so my child can have playdates is extraordinarily taxing for someone who is introverted at heart.

That is so sweet! It's so wonderful to have those little moments of joy where you least expect them.

My only's "quiet time" from 1-3 has saved my sanity. It's not as if she's forced to her room or anything, but she knows that's her time to do independent, calming activities without me. Also, we watch a friend of hers after school so she has a playmate from 3-5 each day (although they fight like cats and dogs).

Has anyone used any of these programs yet? Do you have recommendations? We are doing the eequalsmcq and really enjoying it. It seems right at my daughter's level. However, I'm looking ahead to next year and wondering whether to purchase from him again or move on to something else. I keep hearing about Nancy Larson and wondering if we should try it. It looks really nice. But if one of these free ones has good recommendations then I'd like to check into it first...

:lol::lol::lol:

Are you sure that parking on the street is still covered by your insurance? Our insurance requires us to park in the garage. If the car got stolen or broken into I am not sure they'd actually cover it if we had parked it on the street. I wouldn't park in the street to accomodate someone else when my insurance might not cover a broken window or lost car. This is completely unrelated, but I had to tell you what we learned at co op this week that's helped my daughter keep quiet when necessary. Before she leaves the classroom to go into the hall during classtime, they tell her to pretend she has marshmallows in her cheeks, a bird's nest in her hands, and clouds on her feet. They have her blow up her cheeks like there are marshmallows in them before she leaves the classroom and not to drop the bird's nest or stomp on the clouds. It actually works, LOL. You might try that for your loud child when getting home late at night... It's worth a shot anyway.

We're using the free Life Science offered by Classic Science... I'll add a link. We've been enjoying it and the years that follow it are also not too expensive (around 50.00). It doesn't seem to have any experiments that call for anything beyond household items at our level (Life Science) and seems just about right for first grade. Anyway- it's worth checking out. You can download the Life Science book and Parent Manual for free. http://www.eequalsmcq.com/classicsciinfo.htm

At some point, when the police have checked several times and your dogs are not actually barking, do they ever report that they are not barking and consider that perhaps someone is just harrassing you? People should not be able to report your dogs as a nuisance without the police actually documenting it before fining you. And they should not be able to harrass you by constantly bringing the police to your door for an average dog barking. That's not what police are for...

This is random too, but have you tried giving her lactose free milk? My daughter gets a lot of gas/diarhea from regular milk but not lactose free.

Could it effect her if she is allergic to wheat and you consumed it while nursing? Maybe it's a straight up allergy. It would definitely fit into your description of having it "under control." My daughter has so many allergies we have to feed her foods she is allergic to, but we manage it so that she doesn't eat so many that she has many symptoms. For example, she's allergic to corn at a level 2- we sometimes allow her to have foods with "modified food starch" which may or may not be corn, we're not sure. She displays no real symptoms from this, but if we were to let her chow down on a bowl of popcorn she'd definitely be in the bathroom. Our allergist says mild to moderate allergies are like filling a cup- you can fill it with a certain amount of allergens but you have to make sure you don't let it overflow.

Have you tried having her allergy tested? We tested my daughter at that age and it turned out she had a large number of allergies. When allergies are involved it gets very tricky to figure out if it's a gluten or allergy issue that's causing problems. My daughter has diarhea when she eats foods she is allergic to... She rarely gets hives and when she does they are easy to mistake for bug bites. The diarhea is the only way I know she's consumed an allergic food. We are having her tested for coeliac after Christmas. Her allergies change every year, usually to include whatever we fed her too much of the year before, but this year the wheat came back clean. She's still allergic to all the other grains though (well, corn, barley, oats and rye anyway). So we're wheat challenging her and testing her later. She's done OK so far but her coloring has gone very pale. Anyway, at the toddler age the doctors did request that we wheat challenge her to test for coeliac and we refused. A child's development is crucial in the toddler years. I would not do anything that might deny a toddler necessary nutrition in that time... and anything that is going to give your kid a lot of diarhea is going to deny them nutrition. The vitamins and good healthy fats and proteins go out right along with the rest of it, and your child's brain will not be getting what it needs during a crucial developmental period. My daughter is now six and I feel like it's OK to challenge her now, but I wouldn't then. And I may be wrong to challenge her now too, but I don't feel like I'm messing with her brain development right now. I know how hard it is to have a child who can't eat what everyone else is eating. Food is so heavily emphasized in American culture but you don't recognize it until you can't participate. It causes so many issues that people really can't understand unless they've been there and done that. But there are a lot of benefits to going ahead and keeping it out of her diet now. She WILL get used to not eating what the other kids are eating. My daughter did- it IS heartbreaking to watch sometimes when something comes up that you weren't prepared for and they can't have it, but they do get used to it and they end up OK. Anyway, this goes to say that it's easier for them to get used to not having it now than to try to take it away from them later if you find out it is a real issue. Think about how great and fun it would be to give it back (if it turns out that way) versus taking it away.

and vaseline? it's decayed once-living things right? so is it classified as biotic or abiotic?

Thank you so much for sharing this with everyone! I was just thinking last night that I need to make some sort of chart because things are starting to get confusing for us. Now I don't have to do that extra work! Thanks!

I can't believe how excited I am about this whiteboard information! It show go under that file "you know you're a homeschooler when..."