I just told my son's 2nd grade teacher this

That's great to know. Thanks for the tip! After looking at the timeline book more, I decided we aren't going to use it after all. It's a lot of writing (much more than the last one, in my opinion) and I'm just not sure how much it actually adds to my kids' learning. It's more like just more busy work which I'm not a fan of in general. For them, it's just something for them to get done before they move on to the next thing and they don't sit there reading the surrounding events to see how things fit into the timeline (at least my kids don't - others may - I probably would at my age now but not as a kid). But, again, thanks for the tip. It's good to know that companies will possibly work with you on something like that 😀

Thank you so much! I definitely think I'll be worrying more when she is leaving the house and when we transition to when she is in charge of her care instead of us. My cousin's daughter is now 17, who also has Type 1, and she is in complete control of her own care and doing well at it. So that's hopeful for me to see that it can be done by someone that age and done well. We're set up to get her first pump in a couple days so we're excited for the possibilites that that will bring for her care as well. We're SO thankful for all the technology that is available to help with care for this. I don't know how parents did it before!

Welcome! We do seem to have a lot in common. That's good to hear that breaking up the book over two years worked well. I still feel good about that decision but we haven't started yet either 😉 I'm not sure how much of the extras we'll do but my hope is that we'll at least get some read alouds in there since we didn't do any last year (well, we did, but they were all fun books and there's nothing wrong with that, imo 😁)

You are so welcome! I find that focusing on one area of packing at a time can help me to not feel so overwhelmed (like food, clothes, toiletries, camping gear, etc.). Also, after each trip, I make notes on what worked well, what didn't, what we did and didn't use, and if there are any items I need to buy. Then when the next trip rolls around, I look at those notes and it really helps me with getting ready and I don't have to rely on my memory for all those details.

You are so welcome!

This reminds me of how my in-laws always said they camped in the beginning (but they did stick things on the roof). My family camped more like how I do now, but we had a huge canvas tent with heavy poles that the 6 of us fit into. That was always a task to put up each time! We had a 15 passenger van, took out two rows of seats, and packed the trunk full with our stuff (I think some years we even had things on the roof).

My oldest two girls didn't start their language arts careers with LOE but I still had them start with Book A so they could get all the information. My oldest didn't finish the program until 5th grade but I don't regret her starting later and finishing at an older grade. It's what she needed. That program is a lot of work to do, especially if you are teaching didn't levels to different kids. That's one reason why I combined my oldest two together (to make it easier on me). I feel like TGATB was a good switch for us from the Foundations series (we tried the Essential series afterwards and stopped it halfway through the year - it just wasn't a good fit for us and it was even more time intensive for me - I needed something more hands off and TGATB was just right for us with that). LOE was good for my daughter with dyslexia but what I think really helped her make progress was having a tutor in the Orten Gillingham methos (which LOE is based on). That really helped push her forward more. I'm not sure if that's something that is available to you or not for you 2nd grader. The tutor just kind of fell into our lap so we were very fortunate in that regard and I'm so thankful for it. I haven't heard of MWC but I LOVE MM.

We do it more by sections and pages. When they're younger, I have them do about 2 pages a day. However, for the Grade 1 book, we challenged two of my younger kids to do more than that if they felt like it, and they did. So I think they were doing more like 8 pages a day. This made them get ahead in their books so they are now both a grade level ahead of their actual grades. They only did that for the very beginning books and then slowed down their pace once things got harder in the books. I think once they start the Grade 3 book is when I have then do a section a day. However, if the section was more than 4 pages, I would allow them to break it up over two days, so they were never doing more than 4 pages a day. By 5th grade, though, for my older kids who weren't a grade ahead like my younger two, I didn't give them that option any more and they needed to finish a whole section each day, regardless of the number of pages. Otherwise, they wouldn't finish the whole book that year. If my kids didn't finish their book in the school year, then they would have to continue into the summer until they did finish it. For my younger two who are ahead, I don't make them keep going through the summer; they just pick up where they left off at the start of the next year (some summers, I would have all my kids do one page of math a day just to keep things fresh but I don't always do that). My oldest finished through their 7th Grade/Pre-Algebra book and is now using Mr. D Math (online) for her high school levels and, after a few kinks in the beginning, that has been a good switch for us. I hope that long answer helps you out! Oh, I should also mention, we only do book learning 4 days a week because my kids do elective classes at a charter school one day a week. So that is one less day every week that they could be doing math to finish their books on time.

I'm glad it was helpful 😀 The person I wrote to about it was aware of it; I'm not sure if that info got passed down the line though. I don't think we've encountered that same issue with the Geometry course yet (she's completed the first semester). I may reach out to them before my next daughter starts Algebra with them to see if the parent link has been updated lately or not. Otherwise, I guess we'll just deal with printing off a few extra pages as we get to them. We're at least aware of the issue now to be on the lookout for it in case something doesn't seem right but it is a bit annoying. The self-paced class was definitely the right choice for my daughter for the pacing (and for being able to increase the speed on the videos). She would not have done well in the live classes, I think. I hope you were able to figure out what would be the right fit for your son.

Yes, I did that for my going-to-be 5th grade daughter and it seemed to be a good fit for her. I also debated what level to put her in after LOE because LOE focuses on things that TGATB doesn't as much and vice versa. When I looked at the placement tests for TGATB and looked at the free downloads they had, there was enough that was not taught in LOE that TGATB covered that I felt Level 2 would be a better transition than Level 3. Now, my daughter probably could have handled Level 3 straight away but it would have been more of a struggle and possibly less enjoyable than her completing it this past year. Also, I don't think they had the updated Level 3 out yet when I would have been in the market for it and I'm so glad we were able to do it. We both enjoyed it so much, so I'm glad she didn't miss out on the updated version. My son, who is going into 3rd grade, struggles more with ELA than his older sister, so I definitely feel like Level 2 is the right level for his transition. Switching between curriculums can be so hard to make decisions on. My biggest suggestion is to look at the free downloads they have and actually look at what the year entails and see which level your daughter is ready for - I think looking at the actual curriculum (which they thankfully allow you to do) is better than just doing their placement tests, at least for me. I hope that helps!

Glad it was helpful!

I think the course book is good and is a good step up from Level 3 and prepares them for Level 5. However, I agree that the readers aren't great. My girls did not like reading them at all. They don't like required reading, so that's a point against them in the first place, but then, they couldn't connect with the stories or characters in the readers. There was no character growth, and the stories themselves were just boring to my girls. The readers in Level 3 were SO GOOD (the whole course was, really). I wish they would have readers like that for the higher levels.

@SaraWeston thank you for your opinion! I know TGTB stated that they won't be updating level 4 or 5 until later in the future. I think they're focusing on levels 6 and up since they are still one edition behind 4 & 5. Hopefully, they're all similar to level 3!

@rebekahian Oh, I really hope they update them all eventually to be like Level 3. From my quick glance through the updated Level 2, it seems like Level 3 now, so I'm very hopeful for this next year 🤞

@@SaraWeston we really enjoyed the updated level 2!

Thanks for the rec 🙂

No, we don't "vacation" at the beach since we live close enough that we go for the day or a few hours when we want to.

My review of Mr. D Math will come out at the end of this month 🙂

It's been almost 4 1/2 years since I did this, so without rewatching the video, I can't be sure. BUT I did find some notes I took about when to take the pills, and this is what I wrote down (but I would absolutely do more research yourself before going ahead with any of this): At 34 weeks, 1 pill every other day At 35 weeks, 1 pill a day At 36 weeks, alternate between 1 and 2 each day At 37 weeks, 2 every day, both orally and vaginally At 38 weeks, 3 every day, both orally and vaginally *Again, I would do more research before starting this regime. Talking to a midwife could also be a great option to get their advice*

@@SaraWeston omg I’m 36 weeks now so I took one yesterday but I felt so nauseous and fatigued a few hours later. I couldn’t sleep. I woke up sick. So just in case I’m waiting until I’m not sick then I will try again bcz i wonder if it was making me nauseous. Also wow thanks for responding I didn’t look to see how long it’s been since you posted

Update I tested positive for Covid ! I’m feeling better still sick but I didn’t get nauseous from the primrose

@breeguh2854 Oh no! I hope you get fully better very soon! Good news about the primrose, though 🙂

Thank you! I don't have plans yet for a video this year while we're camping. Any suggestions on what you'd like to see?

Does your kids fish why your camping mine love fishing

@donniemabry1470 They do when they get the chance. Their dad or grandpa will take them. I had a bad experience getting a hook stuck in my hand while fishing when I was a kid, so I stear clear off it myself 🫣

My wife make me take off the fish. Lol

No, we don't do primitive camping. I did one as a teenager, and my husband has a couple of times as an adult (once recently with a few of our kids). But we've never done it all together as a family. Maybe when all the kids are a bit older. We keep the food cold in ice chests using a combo of ice blocks and cubed ice and freezing as much of the food ahead of time as possible. I have a video on Camping Food Prep in which I talk/show more about this, if you're interested. We typically stay for 7-9 days. it just depends on our schedule, but the minimum is at least a week if we can.

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with bottle/donor feeding while camping! Hopefully, that will help someone else 😁

You're welcome! Yes, we still use MM for all my kids. My oldest "aged out" of the program last year (she completed the 7th grade book as a Pre-Algebra course) and she was SO well prepared for Algebra this year with a different curriculum (Mr. D Math). I talk about this more in my Year-End Update Video that is up on my channel now, if you're interested. I have zero plans of switching from this curriculum for any of my other kids until they age out as well. If they had High School levels, I would have stuck with them but they don't 😞

Thank you so much for the kind words! This was truly one of the best comments/compliments I've received on one of my videos. I'm glad it was helpful. 😁

Me too! I'm a little nervous about the curriculum as I've always picked everything out myself up to this point, but if we want to leave options open for college, we have to go certain routes. I just really hope it's engaging and she learns from it. I will definitely keep you posted once I learn more about it this next year.

@@SaraWeston Yes, I understand. We are in California too, and we plan for our kiddos to go the A-G route, so we will also have to use certain curriculum. It’s nice to see other mamas(even just slightly) ahead of me, and see how they navigate these years.

So, I talked with a mom at our charter school yesterday whose kids used the Acellus Online program for all their school this past year. (Her oldest is going into 9th next year as well). She had great things to say about it. So that was encouraging to hear since that is the program that they use for our high school for A-G courses for independent study. I will still come out with a video once I have experience with it, but I wanted to let you know in case you would like to start researching it on your own.

I hope it was helpful!

I got it from Costco a few years ago.

You're very welcome!

Thanks!

Thanks for the encouragement and glad you liked it 😊

That sounds amazing that your willing to do that with your kids. I like the luxury of campsites (at least with my kids) so you won't find me doing primitive caning any time soon 😉 When I was a teenager, I did do a backpacking trip (no campsites, water, it bathrooms) so I have done it before but it's been over 20 years - maybe someday....I hope you have a great time!

I know this is a bit late but...I hope everything went well with your birth. Those final weeks can feel like FOREVER when you're pregnant. All of my kids were "late" so I know that feeling all too well.

@@SaraWeston I was late and ended in C-section due to low amniotic fluid and the baby had poop. Those are the dangers of waiting past 40 weeks.

@brendabenitez7359 I'm sure that wasn't the birth experience you were expecting or hoping for. I hope you and baby are doing well now and that you are getting the rest you need to recover from birth and a surgery. That's one thing I regret, not slowing down as much after each birth (which is easier said than done) so I how you are prioritizing you as much as you can during this time. You just went through a lot and now you have a little one to care for on top of that.

@@SaraWeston at all it wasn’t. I listened to my midwife and waited for natural labor to happen. At 41w6d I went to hospital to get induced and I started contractions on my own to only be told my contractions were causing my baby to become stressed and that I needed an emergency C-section. After doing everything right and everything tried to help being labor naturally. I’m still down about it because that was my only chance to have my natural birth and it was taken from me.

@@brendabenitez7359that happened to my aunt too!!! And they don’t know why the contractions were stressing baby out

Thanks!

I like that term, comfort camping 😊 Definitely don't need to suffer if not needed while on a trip/vacation. Those ice chests are very heavy, but that's why I load them up in the car and keep them in the car for the entire trip. They don't do much moving if I can help it 😂

@@SaraWeston It took way longer than it really should have for me to figure out that loading it in the car and leaving it there was smarter than all the things I was trying to do to figure out how to drag it 🤣

I'm so glad you've found so many of my videos helpful - that's why I make them 😊 Good advice on the baby wearing. It definitely puts a strain on your body over time. Also, you're amazing taking 7 kids camping on your own! I broke down when my husband went on an overnight backpacking trip in the middle of our camping trip and I think I only had 4 at the time (they were on the young side, though, so I'll give myself that).