Oh, I should add that I did additional assignments to the books. In American Government, they read the Constitution and did a long worksheet on it. They also did a chart on a department of the government, a report on a local or state government issue, tracked a bill through Congress, found how many lobbyists their family supports, and did a lengthy paper on a major bill, major court case, or major program. In Economics, I had them find news articles about the economy or financial news and we would discuss these (we did it with any current events of a governmental nature the first semester), continued tracking our stock and discussed what factors may have led to their stock going up or down, and read a book about a business scandal, business biography, business trend, or economics (many chose Freakanomics or Superfreakanomics). So I don't use these books alone but add to them.

Totally fine with it and it doesn't concern me at all since a) my kids are homeschooled b) we don't live in TX.

No, but then I do medicate. It has made all of our lives including the medicated ones, much easier.

I actually think that military identification is a deterrent just as is NRA, hunting logos, and any identification with the police (not FOP or something but real police ID). Burglars avoid houses that are known to be defended with arms.

And often there is no help for the older students at all. The class goes over new material, checks homework and then you are dismissed. WHat about kids who have a problem? There is no help. My observation is that they keep raising standards but the basic problems still remain. Now they want all kids to get through our years of math starting with Algebra. Well I know kids getting one on one help who can't make it through four years of math starting with Algebra in high school. How are other kids without a good math foundation and at least some math talent but with a teacher who teaches 150 going to learn? THey aren't. THen you get your rise in drop-outs or push-outs (see a thread a week or two ago about schools telling parents to homeschool their truants).

I used the Idiot's Guide to AMerican Government and Economics for Dummies this year in a class I taught in a co-op for high schoolers. Why did I chose the books- because they were the best, most clear and especially in the case of economics, most rigorous books I could find for teaching the classes. There was nothing dumbed down in the curriculum. What there was were all kinds of formatting points that made the material easier to learn. I compared the books to what I learned in a good class in high school and found it superior. Yes, some kids have an easy time with slogging through page after page of small print with barely any indications of what the most important points are and they naturally are able to pick those out. Most can't. Most nod off. My kids actually remembered most of the material and many of them wer astounded about how interesting this class was. Why? Because they were used to dry textbooks.

My kids as they got older did most of their work alone in their room. When they needed help, they would come to me and we would do it in many places- my bedroom, the office (for very short help), the kitchen, the dining room, the living room (only for discussion problems), and the sunroom. We have a seperate craft/testing/guest bedroom but we only use that for testing like standardized testing or when someone is studying for standardized tests like practicing for an AP or ACT.

I definitely comment on it later with my children. I don't usually bring it up with the person.

I have older children and we are liberal with watching some kinds of violence (war, crime, terrorism). That said, I had a Odyssey of the Mind group that was made up of 11-13 yo girls. We had meetings at my house. I monitored what they watched and did not use my standards but much stricter standards. So while my 13 yo watches 24 and Lie to Me, I wouldn't think of letting other 11-13 yo's watch this without permission and I wouldn't even ask. THey watched cooking or design or science shows if they finished early. All G or so rated shows. Certainly no M or shows with Violence or Sexual overtones or anything like that. So while my kids can watch even some R rated show, I show PG or below to others. To a 4yo, it would be a G only show.

Yes, and in fact, when I lived in Belgium, they took good care of the German soldier's graves even though they were repeatedly invaded by the Germans, not only in WW1 and WW2. I don't have any ancestors who fought on either Union or Confederate sides. The war was not only about slavery and Some union states had slavery too. I try to instill in my children the idea that we are all fallen people and all have our faults. THe foot soldiers on both sides were usually not fighting for a big cause. Many Union soldiers were draftees. Many Southern soldiers had no slaves and weren't fighting for slavery at all.

Oh and a child can have both ADHD and auditory issues. My oldest dd is severely ADHD (helped greatly by medications) but also has very acute hearing. Among the things she does is usually have music while she works, though she is able to do it without music now too (she is 16.7). At night, she uses a fan to mask noises. SHe has a very hard time with children's performances or other not good amateur productions since she hears all the out of tune notes in the midst of a concert. I just see this as a different way of sensing the world. She is much more auditory than most people.

11th grader Hits British Lit with reading great books DIVe Biology Rosetta Stone Spanish My US Govt/Econ class Debate Team OK CHalkDust Algebra 2 Jr high schooler Hits Across the Centuries LOF ALgebra Misses BJU Life Science - not enough new material and too much to wade through

I happen to think that many of the changes DOt supplied were well supported. For example, using the term imperialistic is a loaded term and certainly not free of bias. With regards to world history and studying the enlightement, I don't think that Thomas Jefferson is the best example. With regards to communist infiltration of the government, there has been some vindication of some of McCarthy's targets mainly documents from the KGB do indicate that ALger Hiss was actually a Communist. It is also well-known that Sen McCarthy ended up accusing many people, a number of whom had nothing to do with Communism.

No tin foil here.

NOw I am having to think this over. I have my one dd's first debate partner this year, one friend from childhood, and three students of mine. HOw much for each? Last time I was giving things, I was giving amazon gift cards figuring they are good for college or for fun.

My youngest likes textbooks and Lightning Lit has not worked well with her, I am considering using Prentice Hall literature with her next year. Anyone else has done this and can you give me opinions, hints how to use, anything?

Actually front seats with airbags kill or injure children under 14 fairly often. The problem is that the airbags go off with enough power to hold in place and adult unbelted male and that is too much power for people without strong bones and that includes children under 14. (THey used to think it was height but they have figured out that bone strength doesn't get sufficiently strong until 14 regardless of height).

She is young for that to be diagnosed. How long has she been having her cycle? I would take her to a gynecologist. They can do a test like my dd had done to diagnose ovarian cysts and it is non invasive.

My kids are usually amazed that many others don't do their work. Both of my girls think that one of the best things about homeschooling is the ability to have enough time to do a lot of work. I know dd complained about some other kid and how much time he does on computer games. Then their other complaints center around style. But that is a more local thing since most homeschoolers were plenty stylish in Fl. Here we have some who are but most who aren't. For some reason, it bugs my one dd a lot. (Oh, and she doesn't mean latest so-called fashion styles, she means issues such as not well-fitting clothes or choosing poor color combinations)

My daughter and I use Medic Alert. We have the bracelets. No need has arisen but they did note it at the hospital when I was admitted last year through the ER. I was able to communicate so they didn't need to call.

My dh is a physicist but works with lots of engineers. He sees a great need for many scientists and engineers to have better communication skills both in writing and speech. Now for him personally, the fact that he has both the math/science skills and the communication skills works very well to his advantage and even more so for as long as others are not so similarly skilled. But for the future of our country, he sees some more humanities and social science courses for science/engineering grads to be a good thing. Oh, and Paula, I had previously posted about how workers in Europe were proud of their professions, even if not college educated since majority isn;t. We had the best movers there we have ever had and we move frequently. It wasn't a temporary job for them. It was a true profession and our service was so much better because they had that view.

Yes, we keep fresh fruit around. Most of the kinds, we don;t serve but let anyone take them. Some kinds we tend to serve- watermelons, strawberries, pineapple, etc. We don't specifically buy local since we wouldn't have any fruit most of the year and never any citrus or bananas if we did. (ANd when we lived in FLorida, we would be limited to citrus, strawberries, mangos and a few others and no apples, peaches, cherries, etc.)

What states or companies often do is have laws or rules that they never intend to enforce systematically. The mall does not routinely id people and it isn't easy to figure out who is 17 11/12 and who is 19 so if they did want to ID so -called youth, they would end up ID plenty of customers up to about 22. None of that would be good for business. IF there is a movie theater at the mall, I am sure that movie theater isn't interested in driving away their young customers. Since my dd has a driver's license, she can go to malls though I don't know that she has. When she turns 17, she can go to the movies that none of the rest of us like by herself. WIll they card her while she walks through the mall- No. Because she looks like she is there for a purpose and doesn't look like she is there to make trouble. It is for the same reason that they used to have loitering laws. THose were considered unconstitutional for vagueness. Since these are private companies, they can be vague all they want and they do want. They want to escort the gang members out and let the actual paying teen clients with no criminal intentions in. They do so by these type of rules.

Carrie, I will pray for you. PM me where you are since we may be able to help with your search. Send me what kind of engineer and if he is a US Citizen.

Praying for Ben and Steph.