It is certainly an issue in certain environments. Mainly where the spouse is earning a higher degree or where they work in an area where most people have higher degrees (Doctorates, law degrees, medical degrees, etc.) I think there may be some judgement on the male about choosing a wife. I don't think it makes a very big difference in circles where the husbands only have bachelor's degrees.

I was skinny for about half my life and got dumb comments all the time. I don't comment to people about weight, height, number of children (in a negative way), hair color, style, etc. What a way to annoy people. Why would I want to do that to strangers who are doing nothing wrong? Why would I want to do that to acquaintances? Why would I want to aggravate an annoying person? I can't think of any circumstance where me making such comments would be appropriate so I don't do it.

It really depends on what state you are in. DIfferent covers cost different amounts in different states. In Florida, we used one that cost something like 20 a year andrequired nothing above that which is required by law- calendar of days, health exam, immunizations or letters stating objections to immunizations or health exams. There were other covers that did a lot more. I only used it because it cost less to use a cover than buy a test and it was less stressful to my child. Other people use covers to get co-op classes, educational consulting and such like and those charge more.

Since I make the transcripts, I make them the way I want to make them for any reason. FOr example, for a fine arts program in the summer school program at the PS, I made a plain vanilla transript English 9, American History, etc. I change titles depending on the institution it is going to. If she will apply to Christian colleges, I will certainly separate her Bible Studies and relious studies out of the general titles of Ancient History and Philosophy. I am not finagling on what she did actually but rather changing titles according to who needs to see the transcript or what they want listed. I have turned in two different transcripts so far to different programs and have to work on the third this week. I would keep any kind of transcript up during high school because if your kid decides to go to CC, get into certain programs, or apply for some scholarship or award, they often need a transcript. It takes the normalplace of a report card in high school in most situations.

I get mild depression and so does my youngest. We get that with winter and St. John's Wort is completely effective for mild depression or at least as good as normal medications which also work on about 2/3. I am one of the 2/3 as is my dd. We are both already on Vit D sp that isn't anything we need to do. The only drawback to St Johns wort is you take a number of big capsules during the day (dose is like 6 big horse capsules per day).

How do we do this? I would be happy to buy used textbook and solution manuals.

I was looking for a therapist for my daughter with anxieties and specifically was looking for Christians. One therapist responded that she is a Christian and I said I need one for my daughter since part of her phobic problems include God and Heaven since she has issues with infinity and very large places. I didn't want an atheist to pooh pooh her concerns. So I found a therapist very near my home who practices and is willing to take my insurance and see her. NOw I have found out that she is LDS and so my only question deals with if she would say something else about heaven or the vastness of God then we would. I don't really know what you all believe about infinity and God's vastness and heaven. She has other phobias too like tsunamis and spiders but her most troublesome one is the whole universe/God/heaven one and I would like it dealt with since it troubles her so much but don't want other beliefs imposed on her.

Well normally I wouldn't be having this problem but tuition went up for college and I still need to get some things like expensive math. I am doing many things on the cheap like literature and using a writing program I already have for my youngest. I don't have anything I like for Alg 2 nor for Pre-ALgebra ( I do have things for Alg, and Geometry) and sothere is the expense. NOw what I should do and will try to do later this week after swim and dive end is sell my TOG Year 1 redesigned. That should help a bit along with selling some other non -used things. We aren't starting most new subjects until September so I have a bit of time.

WEll the strange thing is she has spent time away from us. THis year she went on a mission trip to Newark Nj for 8 days and on a winter retreat for 3 days. SHe has gone to camps in other countries when we lived overseas and she went to camps in neighboring countries. She doesn't have separation anxiety as much as simply a dislike of anything changing like growing up. SHe just wants things to remain the same and of course they won't. It is particurlarly strange as she loves to move and has stated that if she can't be in the military, she wants to marry someone in the military so she can keep moving. It is funny because she is a lot like me in many, many ways but I was so looking forward to college at her age. It probably has more to do with the declining economic status she will have as she reaches adulthood. My experience was living with a widowed mother who didn't have a very high income. Her experience is living with parents who live in a nice, large house and take fun (if not very expensive) vacations. She also is getting homesick for our pets. SHe is unhappy that she won't have a pet in college. SInce she is not bored in her classes, doesn't have an unhappy family life or circumstances, has no desire for more freedom since she doesn't want to drink or do other vices, and her main pleasures in life she can more easily do at home (watch movies, listen to cds and read books), I don't think college is quite that attractive.

We can't wait for various reasons (some financial, some logistical). SHe is completely ready even now for doing college classes and she did do one and really enjoyed it when she had just turned 15. SHe knows she is being illogical but just isn't owning the process yet. It isn't that she is rebelling but rather that she is anxious and having that rule her right now. I think that your advice K-Fl us what I will do. We are taking a roadtrip to FL from VA in mid AUgust for her to get her driver's license and it is a great opportunity for us to visit some colleges as we have no specific plans. Thnaks for the encouragement.

I have a very ambitious and dedicated teen who doesn't like growing up. SHe is going into 11th grade and is scared of going off to college. She can't stay home and go because we will move at least once if not two times during her college years. I mentioned that she is ambitious because she realizes she needs to go to college and even realizes she needs to go to a good college. But her anxiety of not being around her family is inhibiting her from investigating colleges and figuring out which ones she would like to visit. SHould I just pick colleges to visit and hope she gets more interested? Are there any books anyone might recommend for anxious teens? Any ideas?

I normally use youth groups as social activities, not for Bible teaching. Rarely have either I or my children found the Bible teaching to be as substantial as we want it to be. Usually too ,many of the other teens are not too familiar with the Bible but that does depend on the church. My teens are always ready for adult Sunday school classes by the time they are around 14. They just need the higher intellectual level provided in these classes. That said, if they are doing fun things and having fellowship time and service opportunities, I think they are a good thing. My kids have their own set beliefs and don't get swayed by silliness whether in youth groups, swim teams, soccer teams, or wherever. In terms of family togetherness, we have plenty of that. We don't need to be together 24/7. Taking a few hours here and there to be apart from me is really okay and a necessary part of growing into independent adults. Each of my kids had different social issues that needed addressing. For my middle, it is to become more comfortable with others and keeping her at home is not the way to do that. For my youngest, I am always on the lookout to make sure she is discerning about her acqaintances and who she makes as friends. I think I am getting more comfortable with her choices because she is always making good ones. In certain aspects of her behavior, mainly her extroversion and a few other things, she reminds me of my sister who made lots of wrong decisions. On the other hand, she is also a very logical, analytical child which my sister never was and that seems to be the key to her making better choices.

I use two library systems. They are all packed with people. Yes, there are people on the computers but there are also lots of people reading, learning (lots of tutoring seems to be going on), and looking for materials. Neither reading program lets anyone do anything except read books for the level my children are- teens. And it can't do with the stress level of the community because while this area is a very competitive places to live, the area I was living in last year was much more laid back and also had reading only logs. I love having DVDs. I read lots of books but I also like to watch movies and tv shows. My dh is steadily going through all the Shakespeare plays on DVD. Is that not educational? My middle is checking out classical choir selections on CD so she can practice singing. All of us check out books but so do lots of other patrons. Yes, there are graphic novel readers. Yes, there are children goofing off. But overall, I am happy that the library is being used and so far, in the areas I have lived in these last six years, books are still important.

No, we are not only not in a recovery, it will get much worse. I was ranting about it to my dh today as we were driving home from church. I was saying that as a cautious person, I would be very unlikely to be an entrepreneur. However, I think our economy depends on may small businesses. Three bills making their way through Congress will devastate them. The energy bill which amkes the companies including small business pay the bill. THe health plan which also makes the same companies pay. Finally, the increase in taxes that many companies will be paying. Three giant increases can't possibly make small business attractive. If people are wary about increasing investments in businesses now, why would they be more willing to invest if the business was making a lot less profit? They wouldn't and without investments, business can't grow. With less profit, many small businnesses will have to close. That is extremely bad news for our economy. We are one of the few who is only affected directly by the bad economy in that our college age son has not yet gotten a job to pay for his college books. My husband's job is secure and he will actually get a small pay raise in Jan., I believe. I really would rather we not get that pay raise but that our children wouldn't be burdened with the enormous debt our country now has and seems to want to increase it as fast as it can. How completely irresponsible of our elected officials.We will get inflation, high unemplpyment and minimal GNP growth in otherwords, Jimmy Carter's stagflation once again. I lived through that as a young teen and it was not a fun time at all. My mom and brother had problems getting employment or enough employment and prices rose very fast so we had much less money.

:iagree: The number one help with my daughter is medication. THe second best thing is scheduling to the medication cycle. SHe is most attentive earlier in the day so we do the subjects she needs most attention to first- amth and science. That is followed by Spanish, which she has difficulties with. The subjects she doesn't have problems with and need less attention are done later- history, history of music, and English. I also have given her a timer and instructed her to set it for every 10 minutes when she is working alone so that every ten minutes she verifies to herself that she is actually working rather then daydreaming, playing games, reading something else, playing with the cat, etc, etc. But most important of all is the medication for us.

We are conservative Christians but so far we have not had any promise ceremonies or anything of that sort with our now adult and two teens. We all get different kids. My older two are introverts who weren't socially outgoing. In particular, with my older daughter, I am not about to go into any promise ring thing or anything like that since she has issues with modesty. Issues like being terrified of surgery not because of cutting but because of not wearing a bra during it. With a child like that, the less I mention purity, chastity or anything like that the better. For a very long time she has been insisting that while she might marry, he better not want her to take off her clothes or have tea. Only just this summer has she stopped adding in the thing about no tea every time she mentions marriage. I don't think she has come arround yet to tea in marriage but I am not about to bring up any talk of purity with her. She has more than enough of that. Our youngest is around girls who talk about boyfriends or wannebe boyfriends but she has expressed no interest yet so no talks with her like that yet either. My oldest was embarassed by the whole idea of purity talks at a previous church.

Broken bones often don't move if they are clean fractures. Basically it is like a crack and they also can't be seen on an xray for a few days, particularly with children.

I meant we loved living in Europe last time. We were there from 2003-2206. If we go this time, it would be probably 2012-2015. Dh has to decide if he wants to go away again from science for so long. But the other issue is that he may be forced to go away from science and end up in North Dakota where I know I would be miserable.

Yes, I am thinking it really may be for the best. We loved living in your the last time and we did homeschool there. But we were at a base with enough Americans for a homeschool group and plenty of activities like Boy Scouts and CHapel youth group for our older children. Here we would be at the Embassy and no base at all so I don't think homeschooling a social child would work. Her outside activities there would be similar to ones she has here- band, swimming, soccer, debate maybe, but there all those activities are through school. Looking through their catalog, the course look thorough enough for me. I don't know what school records involve in pre-high school years. DO you think that it would be copies of standardized tests and report cards (which I haven't been doing for my children before high school but I guess I can dream something up)?

I don't have any idea what to do. My dh is AD AF and they are desperately looking for certain positions to be filled in a few years. He is well suited for one posting since he studied the language for 2 years in college and it is my first language. However, we would start training in the Spring of my middle's senior year and actually probably go sometime in that one's first year at college and the younger's first year in high school. Now my youngest is wanting to be an engineer but she is an extrovert and I feel I probably would need to send her to school so she would meet other kids. That would give her sports and activities that she wouldn't get otherwise. She also would get IB classes. Now if this was a school with great scores, I probably wouldn't be asking these questions. The thing is that the SAT scores for the school aren't that high -only slightly higher than average and though they have IB classes for 11 and 12 grades, those test scores aren't great either. I am also not sure how they would handle her need for higher science and math classes either since they only about 250 high school students. The school also wants three years of records which would include this year but I am at a loss on how to make an elementary record. I know what to do about high school but elementary or junior high records I don't. Dh hasn't decided whether to volunteer or not but volunteering for it might be better than getting forced to go to another place non Europe where neither of us know the language and worse schooling choices abound. The other problem is that I would have to go to a 12 week school and it might be diring the school year when I am supposed to be schooling wither a 12 grader and an 8th grader or just the then ninth grader. Any advice?

Another site has it by states and whether they are required or recommended. Do check the college website though. One I checked that had recommended had it recommended for foreign language. That is for placement and I won't bother until my dd is accepted, if she applies. They say they don't use them in admission but I would not rather have anyone see them if she doesn't score well. Not only that, if your child is still studying the language, their score in May of the Senior year should be better than their score in fall. If you go to the college admission web site, it often gives a better story. FOr the few that recommend it for homeschoolers, if she chooses to apply there, she will be contacting them and seeing if CC transcripts and AP tests (which she probably will do) would count. My deal with her is that the AP test is scored only with regards to how your child did, while the SAT II depends on how they did with respect to everyone else. Since my dd doesn't like the trickiness of the SAT and is most likely going to take the ACT, that is what we will do. My kids are always very busy and they don't get a summer break so I try not to overload with extra tests. I think it will be more beneficial for her to pursue her sports, her volunteer opportunities, her music, and her heavy academic load than try to master any specific test. The main hurdle to pass is the SAT or ACT. If your child hasn't taken one of these, you really have no reason to worry if SAT IIs will be a factor. IF they aren't scoring really high on those, you would probably do better in admittance by focusing on raising those and also choosing the best fit colleges for your child. Plenty of youth end up doing phenomenally well even if their SAT scores were middling. They may not end up going to Harvard but the success of Harvard grads is not as high as the success of some other schools. More importantly, your child may be more likely to succeed by going to a non-Ivy. Examine what you want and what you can afford. Don't be fooled by thinking that since the school costs 55K a year and your family makes less than 150K, obviously you won't be expected to pay that much. Check out the expected family contribution and then decide if you want to put your child through extra testing for colleges you won't be able to afford. I know that some states require SAT IIs for the state universities but most don't.

OUr schools let out a month ago and aren't starting again until the second week of Sept so I haven't seen any school supply sales. I will see with ads tomorrow but I dont's expect it yet. I have seen college dorm supply sales already but they are starting schools in about a month. Things like alarm clocks and rubbermaid bins.

I looked up SAT II required on google and found a list right away. It wasn't all that many colleges considering that there are over 3000 colleges in the US. It was very localized, though, with certain states like CA, NY and VA having quite a number. Very few in the midwest or south.

I don't want any of my children living at home past college. I prefer they attend college away although we do have our oldest commuting right now. I think it important for both us parents and for the children to be separation. I don't find anything untoward about a single woman living alone.

We don't have specific classes. However my kids watch tv. We have discussed herpes (both genital and non), AIDS, birth control, and probably condoms. I don't have worries about dating. My oldest had a girlfriend for a while but her family was more conservative than ours and both of them didn't think intimacy was a good thing. He hasn't had one in the last year and a half and doesn't seem to interested in meeting anyone right now. He is 20 1/2. My next one is almost 16 and is denying an interest in boys, however, has stopped claiming she will be single for ever, too. She is not outgoing, very focused, and just plain conservative in both politics and behavior. Although she is quite attractive and very nicely slim I still don't think she is going to be bothered by boys anytime soon since she gives off such assertive vibes. The youngest Imay have to worry about but not yet. As she says, she thinks other 12 yo who are thinking that some boy should ask them on a date are 'plain creepy".