out_of_the_ordinary

Thanks, Midnightmom. You find the neatest stuff.

Magnesium helps me. I'm magnesium deficient and magnesium helps us deal with stress (among hundreds of other things). I keep rereading The Magnesium Miracle by Dr. Carolyn Dean.

We've had snow yesterday and today, but no complaints here as pollen and I are not on friendly terms. The weekend will be in the upper 70s. I bet that is going to feel hot.

https://drivethruhistory.com/easter/ My family really likes Drive Thru History! It's not just for kids. DH and I enjoy watching them, too. Free, full episodes of Drive Thru History for Easter Episode 15: The Trial of Jesus Episode 16: The Crucifixion of Jesus Episode 17: The Resurrection of Jesus

Miki, I'm glad you and your home are okay! I hope you can get some rest.

Thank you for taking time to let us know, Annarchy. Continuing to pray for all of you.

Annarchy, for your DH and for you.

Happy Birthday, Becca!

Most of our grocery products are name brand due to needing to make sure things are gluten-free. In the past, we've also had some experiences with some of the store brand items that made us go right back to the name brand. An example is WM's brand of shredded cheese. I don't know what they were doing to it or who was making it for them, but that...substance...would not melt on pizzas in the oven. This was probably 20 years ago.

Buttercup, I'm sorry.

Yes! There's no "behind" in homeschooling. You meet the child where they are at.

What are your favorite books about homeschooling? My favorites: 1. Ruth Beechick's books. After reading 1 or 2, I bought all of these as I soon as I was able to. I liked that in Rainbow Resource's catalog, they have a section for the Ruth Beechick's books under Methods/Styles, simply "COMMON SENSE". I always knew we'd homeschool, but wasn't sure how to go about it, how to approach it, how I would manage it. I knew God called us to do this, but didn't know what to do. Her writing is good, the more I read, the more confidence I had that I could do this. Very practical, very encouraging. Language and Thinking for Young Children- we've gotten alot of use out of this one. It's non-consumable so it will be saved. Even if your younger child is not being homeschooled, this is a good supplement. The Three R's-simple and easy directions. For roughly grades K-3 You CAN Teach Your Child Sucessfully roughly grades 4-8, but I think it can apply for other years, too The Language Wars and Other Writings for Homeschoolers-articles the author had written. Dr. Beechick's Homeschool Answer Book-set up in a Q&A style; this book and the book above pack in alot of very good information. It's broken up well so I could start and stop reading easily. A Biblical Home Education: Building Your Homeschool on the Foundation of God's Word 2. My other favorite author that I found (was led to) early on is Karen Andreola. A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on The Gentle Art of Learning. There is so much good information here! Again, like Ruth Beechick's books, reading this book made me realize that homeschooling was going to be very doable for me as a mother. I also very much like Karen Andreola's other books: Pocketful of Pinecones and Lessons at Blackberry Inn--these are written as a story for a mother to read. The main character is a homeschooling mother and these are just such enjoyable reads for me!! Very encouraging! They also helped me so see more how homeschooling isn't some separate thing we do, it is just the natural part of teaching my daughter. Mother Culture: For a Happy Homeschool Supper is almost ready and I'm running short on computer time. I'll have to come back to this another day. So the rest of my list won't have much in the lines of explanations. Anyone Can Homeschool by Nicki Truesdale. I like that she talks about mamas with health problems CAN homeschool. Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson

I found this to be very helpful when DD was learning to use scissors. https://www.ot-mom-learning-activities.com/how-to-use-scissors.html This is interesting about left-handed scissors. https://www.ot-mom-learning-activities.com/left-handed-scissors-for-kids.html

Welcome!

ANewMe, I'm sorry your daughter is going through this. I homeschool my DD. She would be considered to be 2nd grade, and we've always homeschooled, always planned to, so I don't have advice in how it works with pulling your daughter out of public school. That said, Mother's post is full of wisdom. If you choose homeschooling, YOU can do this. You won't mess up your daughter. You're her mother and you love her and have a strong desire for good things for her that no one else in any school will ever, ever have for her. Look into the options you have. I've heard that the "online" schooling people switched to during the lockdowns was AWFUL all around. But that wasn't homeschooling. I don't know what the laws are in the state you live. HSLDA has a very good website, though. https://hslda.org/legal They have a getting started homeschooling info https://hslda.org/get-started Your state probably has homeschooling groups with websites on the state level that help and support homeschoolers. Here's some good info, too. https://nickitruesdell.com/beginning-your-homeschool-journey-deschool-and-research/ People homeschool their kids in all different types of situations...parents who work full time, single parents, parents of special needs children. For non-homeschooling in my state, there are state cyber schools. In my state, those are filled up and there are waiting lists. Local school districts here hate them because they have to pay for it. Most school districts in my state have their own cyber schools, too (cheaper for them that the students going to the state-run ones). Again, you'd have to see your options for your state. I've been wanting to respond to your post all day, but it has been one of those days and I've been very busy, but I've been praying for you and your DD even though I wan't able to sit here and type something out.

Miki, for your husband. Euphraysne, for all to go well with your surgery and healing. Jeepers, have a safe trip. I look forward to hearing your reports on the stores. LittleSister, I hope they get to work soon on your house. When we had a new roof put on, it took more than an entire winter and a threat of us consulting a lawyer to get it finished.

Buttercup, for your friend.

After childbirth, the hospital gave me a peri bottle. That might be useful in one of those situations. The company that makes SnotSuckers (sounds gross, using it the first time seemed a little gross, but when that baby could breathe better after all the ick in her nose came out, totally worth it!) makes a peri bottle that is supposed to be easier to use than regular peri bottles. edited to add: SnotSucker https://frida.com/products/nosefrida Upside down Peri bottle https://frida.com/products/upside-down-peri-bottle

Happy Birthday, TheCG!

Jeepers, I don't know about Food Saver bags as I don't have a Food Saver. With power outages/staying cold: With the power outages we've had, it depends on the outside/room temp. A winter day vs. a hot, humid summer day makes a difference. Last month we lost power for about 10 hours and everything in the upright was still froze solid and the themometer in the freezer was still below 20. The chest freezer definately stays colder than the upright. We once had a weeklong outage in the late summer. After the 2nd day, I took everything salvageable to a relative's. In the upright, I lost everything on the door and fruits and veggies; meats like roasts and chickens were still alright. I tossed soups as they were thawed and I wasn't sure if it was safe, but I did not want to risk it. Everything in the chest freezer was still froze solid. After, I read somewhere [maybe here??] in a power outage, throw a sleeping bag/blankets over a freezer to help it stay cold. We have fridge/freezer thermometers in all the freezers now. Not the digital kind. We might have bought them in the appliance section of Lowe's. They weren't expensive and hang like an oven thermometer does. Anyway, I figure in future outages, that would help me to better determine what to do.

I'd go bigger. We've had both uprights and chest freezers. I think the upright square footage is almost a bit deceiving because you can't cram as much in there. In the chest freezer, you're piling alot. With the upright, it just doesn't work that well. At least it didn't for me. Put a turkey or turkey breast or whole chicken in an upright, and stacking is awkward to impossible. Or packages of meat that aren't flat. So you aren't getting the full usage of the space in there. Remember, too, with that frost-free feature, foods get the ice crystals sooner. I try not to store frozen veggies in the frost-free freezer. Because the frost-free is actually letting the temp. rise a bit to melt any ice buildup and then sucking that moisture out of the air in there. So your foods are also getting that slight thaw, refreeze cycle, too. (This isn't to discourage anyone from getting a frost-free freezer, but just something to keep in mind with how you use it.)

Becca, look at the Little Britches series by Ralph Moody to read aloud with your son. Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers is the first one in the series. Amazing book! One of the best family read alouds for a series we ever did, right up there with the Little House series. Literally, I could just read the Little Britches series over and over again...it is that good. Jeepers, we use the Pathway Readers. I didn't get the workbooks that go with them, though. We use them for DD reading out loud practice. She liked the stories. Next time you are buying books online for your grandson, look into the nature books by Glenn Blough. They were originally published in the 50s and 60s. Purple House Press is reprinting some of them. We just read Who Lives in This Meadow? and After the Sun Goes Down. They're excellent!

Welcome back, Buttercup!

Happy Birthday, Pauline!

We always have a family read aloud going. (I read; DH and DD listen.) We recently read By the Great Horn Spoon! and we all liked it. One of those books you don't want to end. It was about the Gold Rush. It was very funny and yet we learned ALOT about the Gold Rush and the miners. The main characters went to California by ship and DD followed their route on the globe as we read.