These books are under my daughter's "special protection." In other words, she loves them so much that she loses her mind at the thought of anyone messing with them. She adamantly refuses to see the film, based on the previews.

Hmm, I drive a MINI Clubman, and I'm getting close to 39 MPG. Considering that the SmartCar gets only 36 and is half the size, I'm pretty pleased. Of course, I know you do lose some efficiency with the S version. We looked at the Prius, too, but decided it didn't have the cargo capacity I needed. (Yeah, I know it sounds funny, considering we went with the MINI, but the Clubman is a wagon shape with back seats that fold flat, providing a lot more usable interior space. Also, we had the roof rack put on and bought the cargo bag. So, I now have plenty of space to haul my daughter's dorm stuff and/or my son's camping gear when necessary.) And, since much of my driving is on the highway, the Prius would have bought us only about another seven or eight MPG, anyway. Mostly, though, the MINI was just so much cuter . . .

If so, then what I do is gather all the books I want my kiddo to read that year, add up the total number of pages, then divide that by the number of weeks we'll be doing school that year. I then assign that many pages of reading per week, doing my best to line up the books with the appropriate topics as we study them. For example, this year, my son is assigned about 150 page of independent history/literature reading each week. I put the books in chronological order and then just assigned the next chunk for each week. Now, for truly independent, "fun" reading, that's a different story. I don't assign that at all, because he reads so much on his own. My involvement with that is limited to making sure he's always got books on hand and sometimes steering him toward new ideas when he's run out. Edited to add: Oh, and here's a link to my blog entry with a sample of my planning pages: http://tweakedacademy.blogspot.com/2008/09/cheating.html

Well, he's turning 11 in two months, so, as my son was the first one to point out, it's really only 14 months. And, just to complicate the matter, he has apparently been told that it would be okay for him to visit a couple of meetings before he is officially 12, just to see how he likes it. And this is a child who is perfectly capable of remembering and holding tightly to an idea for well over 14 months, brooding over it the entire time. He will not handle it well if I say nothing now, "let" him think it's a possibility, and then say no later. As I said, he's intense.

Well, the only person I know who participated in a similar program did go into the military. And even our acquaintance through church who spoke about the program recently was very up-front in describing it as a recruitment tool. For example, these quotes are from the webpage aimed at students: "You can even get a taste of military life, and learn about military history, customs, drills and inspection." "Each year, at least 10 percent of the freshman class at the U.S. Air Force Academy is made up of former CAP cadets." Also, I was very upset to see on the website of the local group (the on in which my son would like to be involved) photos of kids posing in front of the airplane in which they took a "Military Familirization Flight," as well as photos and comments about cadets learning to shoot various kinds of weapons. If this were a different kid, one I knew carried his own strong convictions (one way or the other) who wanted to join this organization JUST for the rocketry/aeronautics aspect of the thing, that might be different. But this is a kid who is still pretty unfinished in many ways and still far too vulnerable to the group mentality. So, we have to be very careful about which groups he's in.

My son is 10, and we're doing ancient history this year. He watches probably an average of one history-related DVD a week, with occasional science stuff tossed in. Sometimes, we get things from the library or from our home stash, but the majority come from Netflix. Here's what's on my Netflix list for this year: Ancient Discoveries (2 discs) Ben Hur (1959) Chased by Dinosaurs: Land of the Giants Chased by Dinosaurs: Sea Monsters Chased by Dinosaurs: The Giant Claw Cracking the Maya Code David Macauly: Pyramid David Macauly: Roman City Egypt: Engineering an Empire First Emperor of China (IMAX) Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Greek Myths Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Lost Treasures of the World: China National Geographic: Birth of Civilization Origins: Earth Is Born (Nova) Origins: How Life Began (Nova) Prehistoric Park: A Mammoth Undertaking Prehistoric Park: Dinobirds Prehistoric Park: Saving the Sabretooth Prehistoric Park: Supercroc Prehistoric Park: The Bug House Prehistoric Park: T-Rex Returns Prince of Egypt (1998) Rome: Engineering an Empire Spartacus Story of 1 Ten Commandments (1956) As you can see, it's heavy on PBS, BBC, History Channel stuff, with some movies here and there.

. . . that was in many ways opposed to your worldview, what would you do? Let me see if I can make this more clear. I am a pretty liberal, anti-war, pacifist-leaning type. I'm not perfect, but I try to practice non-violence in my own flawed way. My husband is respectful of my beliefs, but doesn't have any particularly strong leanings one way or another in such things. Our 10-year-old son has expressed a strong interest in joining Civil Air Patrol. (And, yes, I know he has to be 12 before he can join, but we have an acquaintance at our church who recently took a position with one of the local groups, so this is coming to a head right now.) He (our son) is very interested in model rocketry and engineering and sees CAP as a group in which he could learn about and experiment with those things. He is also, I'm sure, drawn to the idea of a structured "club." I've perused the CAP websites, and I have to say that it makes me extremely uncomfortable to imagine a child of mine participating. And I want very badly to say no, and I know my son would understand and respect my position. However, the truth is that this kid is a bit of a handful. We've had several upsetting incidents with him lately that have me keeping him on a very short leash until we can figure out what's going on and feel more confident that he's got his act together. My husband is a good guy and a loving but not terribly involved father. (And this is not likely to change.) So, there is a little voice in my head whispering that a group like CAP might be really great for my son. But then, oh, but then . . . For the record, he already has other activities in his life. He dances semi-seriously (four or five classes a week plus a couple of productions each year) and sings with an RSCM-affiliated boychoir (which we often describe as "boy scouts with music"). He also belongs to a model rocketry club with his dad and participates in the Religious Education program at our church. Next year, he'll be eligible to join the youth group there, too. He very much enjoys all of these things. So, it's not like he's pining away for social or extracurricular activities. He's just really excited about CAP because he knows the guy who will be running the aerospace education part of things, and that's one of his special interests. Honestly, the other day I had to ask him to stop talking about it and give me a chance to process the idea because I kept crying when I thought about letting him join. But it's possible he'd really love it and benefit from it. I mean, maybe he's just not cut out to be a peacenik like me. Now, before anyone suggests I talk it over with my husband, I'll clarify that we have discussed it. My husband is less ambivalent than I am, but fully aware that this would be a difficult thing for me. And, given that I'm the primary care-taker and chauffeur, it would likely be me who was taking our son to meetings and handling his involvement. So, he's happy to go with my decision. I should also say that letting our son "try it out" is not a good idea. This is a very bright, very focused, very intense kid. If he goes to one or two meetings and loves it, there is no way he's going to take it well if I then pull him out. He'd understand if I said "no" up front, but I cannot risk letting him fall in love with it and then pulling the rug out from under him. That, he'd have a lot of trouble forgiving. So, what say you? Has anyone faced a similar dilemma? What did you do, and how did it turn out?

See, I hate "pan and scan," because I think it detracts from the vision and intention of the director and forces me to look where whoever did the editing for DVD thinks I should. I hate not being able to see the whole frame or both people in a conversation if they happen to be too far apart for the TV screen. Most folks I know who are real "film buffs" much prefer widescreen, because it's truer to the original release.

This may not be the best place to ask this, since most here are looking toward undergrad programs, but I figured it was my best bet. We're looking for a good book about choosing a graduate school. You know, the kind they have for undergrad programs that have profiles of the various schools and information about what majors they offer and admission requirements and tidbits about the culture of the school? We cannot for the life of us seem to find anything similar that focuses on graduate programs, and it's a bit tough to find good information online, too. We hit Barnes & Noble today and checked the shelves, but there was exactly one book of the type we're looking for. It had pretty scanty information, and my daughter didn't like the layout. Oh, and it was also the "2004-05 edition." I should also mention that they did have a few books on the shelves about med and law programs, but we need a more general, arts-type focus. Suggestions? Thanks!

I'm not particularly intersted in the price points of the vehicles in your lots, just the type. In other words, I don't care if it's a Saturn or a BMW, but would love to know whether your vehicle is a sedan, wagon, minivan, SUV, hybrid or something ultra fuel-efficient (MINI, SmartCar, etc.) and what the most common type(s) of vehicles are in you church's lot (or on the street). Thanks, and keep 'em coming! I promise I'll share the info once I have it correlated.

I re-read a few of those dystopian novels last summer when my daughter got into them: Fahrenheight 451, Brave New World, 1984, This Perfect Day. I hadn't read them in years and was shocked at how wonderful some of them (especially 451) were. Edit: By the way, I'm about 14 pages from the end of my first-week book, Bel Canto. I bought my son a copy of The Little Prince a few days ago. It's the new translation I've never read, so I think I'll do that next.

I was looking around at the cars in our church parking lot a couple of weeks ago and noticed things had changed over the last few years. So, I looked at the cars in the parking lot of the church at which my son sings (which is a different denomination from ours) and noticed the types of cars there were different from what I saw in our own church lot. And I got to wondering whether there are any patterns than can be teased out regarding what types of cars are most commonly driven by folks of different religious persuasions. I've spent a couple of weeks trying to think of some elegant way to address this, but have finally decided I'm just going to ask all those who are willing to share to post what denomination they attend, what kind of vehicle they drive and what types of vehicles are most prevalent in the parking lot of their houses of worship. (Oh, and I'd love it if those who don't attend anywhere would post that, too.) Thanks in advance! I'll happily share whatever correlations we come up with once we've got a nice chunk of answers.

My daughter is in her second year, and I got through both the beginning of this fall and leaving her after fall break without tears. I still get a little down, but it's not anything like the hysterical tears with which I started this adventure. For me, the big difference is knowing that she's happy and healthy and doing perfectly well on campus. And, since she still calls me pretty much every day, I barely have a chance to miss her in any meaningful way.

The Typical Course of Study at www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?curriculum. It is very general, though.

Oh, goodness! I can't believe I forgot this one. We love it here, too!

I loved this book as a kid, and some of my favorite memories are of reading it aloud to my daughter when she was about four. The language is so rich compared to most contemporary children's books, just a pleasure to read. I have one Burnett that I've never read on my list for this year, too. I want to read Little Lord Fauntleroy.

Some Like It Hot is a favorite of my whole family. We watch the original Miracle on 34th Street every holiday season. My son has recently been going through a Hitchcock phase. These aren't black and white, but he's particularly enjoyed Rear Window, North by Northwest and The Man Who Knew Too Much. I currently have Philadelphia Story on my Netflix queue, because I haven't seen it in a long time. And, again not black and white, but my son loves the Errol Flynn version of Robin Hood. In general, we all like musicals: On the Town, Singing in the Rain, Anchors Aweigh (pretty much anything with Gene Kelly, as far as my son is concerned).

I got the first mp3 player about a year and a half ago by stealing my husband's. Okay, actually, he offered it to me when I complained about not being able to read while I'm waiting for my son during dance rehearsals because of the noise. I put a bunch of my favorite classical music on the mp3 player (stuff we ripped from CDs in our own collection), and life improved dramatically. I also discovered it was fun to listen to audiobooks while I'm working on craft projects in various waiting rooms. A few months ago, I inherited the iPod Touch from which my husband wanted to upgrade. I had recently bought the new car, which has a connector for iPods. Also, my son and I like to listen to audiobooks in the car. We can, obviously, burn them to CD, but it uses up an awful lot of CDs. It makes much more sense to put them on the mp3 player, but my old Sansa didn't play nicely with Audible.com. So, I took possession of the iPod, and I really love it. We listen to audiobooks together, and I can listen to stuff just for me while I'm making those drives to and from Virginia. I also completely love that I can subscribe to podcasts of my favorite radio shows and listen to them at my convenience. My 14-year-old daughter got a Nano for Christmas and promptly loaded it with every soundtrack CD owned by any of the family (55 in total, I think). Music is her life and may be her career, and she loves having so much of it at her fingertips. My son has a Sansa clip that he got for Christmas last year. He doesn't use it very much. Every now and then it comes out and he'll listen to an audiobook or some music. But I think he's too social to enjoy listening privately. But, yeah, the iPod/mp3 is one of those few techie things that I have adopted wholeheartedly. I truly love mine.

My son is 10. He's been dancing since he was not-quite-seven. He takes four or five classes a week and dances in one or two productions (Nutcracker plus something else) plus the recital every year. Each of those shows comes with additional rehearsals. The time committment varies, but some weeks he spends as much as 20 hours on dance-related stuff. He also sings with a pretty serious boychoir. Unlike a lot of kids' choirs that do two concerts a year (holiday and end of the year), this group performs locally an average of once a month. They also do at least one weekend trip per year (which usually includes two additional performances) and a tour over the summer. This year, the tour was to Nashville, but two summers from now they are going to England. They kick off each academci year with a three-day rehearsal/bonding camp and do another, purely social campout in January or February. Whenever he can do so, he also loves to do theatre. He probably averages two shows a year. (He also does model rocketry with his dad and takes organ lessons.) Mostly, I'm able to juggle all of this. But last spring, things came to a head when he had too many scheduling conflicts. It's fine on a week-to-week basis, but when each group starts scheduling extras and each one thinks it's the most important thing in that child's life, things can get really tense. I had to do a lot of excusing and apologizing and begging and compromising to make it all work. We had several discussions with our son explaining that the time is coming when he may need to make some choices and focus more on one activity. But, honestly, it just breaks my heart, because he truly loves all of them and has some talent in all of these fields. It seems just really wrong to me that a 10 year old should have to "specialize."

My husband does not read as much as I do, but he admires that I do. So, there is no tension about it. He discovered that he has mild dyslexia when he was in high school. He got some help at that time and now reads well, but he never acquired the reading habit when he was young.

Well, for me the primary difference in these two scenarios is that words of encouragement, I would hope, can be given freely and spontaneously all year long, whille Christmas gifts have become mandatory and often get associated with pressure and oblgation to "perform" at a specific time. Personally, I have no problem at all with giving gifts in general. I love finding or making something I think a loved one will enjoy and surprising that person with the item. What I dislike--so much it just about ruins the whole holiday experience for me--is being expected to come up with a great gift on command. And, for what it's worth, I do genuinely appreciate (as in store up to think over when I can't sleep at night) words of encouragement. I find them much more warming than gifts. And I rarely get any, because I don't happen to have family members or loved ones who offer them freely. (Instead, I tend to get lots of gifts of things I don't need or want and often don't like much.) I try not to let it get to me, though, because I understand it's just not their nature.

You know, I think it depends on where you live in Florida. We're in Orlando, and we find it tolerable. The weather is too warm for my taste and there are too many bugs, but it's not a bad place to raise kids. There are still enough open, green, wild areas to run around in, and there are enough educational and arts opportunities to make it livable for us. For now. Of course, my daughter can't wait to finish her undergrad and move to NY for grad school. And I'm already starting to hint that maybe we should go with her, but . . .

Well, in that case: For me, the worst place I ever lived was Missouri. It was a little better once I moved to Columbia (near the university), but I was just miserable there. I should say this was 20 years ago, but at the time the racism and bigotry and general lack of both sense of humor and intellectualism drove me to tears on a regular basis. It was during that stage of my life that I started carrying a book everywhere and reading in any spare moments, largely because it protected me from having to engage in conversation with strangers. I think the thing that made me madder than anything was the assumption that I was on board. I suppose I mostly look like your typical WASP, which I mostly am. However, it drove me insane with fury that people therefore felt it was "safe" to say things to me that I know they would never say directly to the people about whom they were speaking. I used to say that I needed a t-shirt that said, "I am not a member of your club." Argh. Add to that the lack of arts opportunities, and it was just miserable for me.

Well, my son is 10. We're on a very short schedule this year, only 30 full, regular weeks of school work. He carries a pretty full academic load (see my signature line). But most of the time, he does all of the academic stuff in four days. So, I would assume that it would be perfectly possible to do what you want in three days each week, as long as you plan for it.

But the truth is that I just plain read a lot, anyway. I just checked my GoodReads account, and (not counting audiobooks or things I re-read or forgot to log), I read almost 70 books last year. I just think it'll be fun to participate and share here. I don't have any goals in terms of sepcific books. In general, I'm trying to steer toward more "classics" that I never got around to reading. So, last year I finally got through Wuthering Heights (on audiobook, admittedly). I also read My Antonia, The Moonstone, The Woman in White, Candide, Main Street . . . basically lots of stuff published in the affordable, large-format Barnes & Noble Classics line. By the way, I was at a B&N yesterday and noticed they have their classics series on sale, buy two get one free. I bought The Wings of the Dove (Henry James), Barchester Towers (Anthony Trollope) and Sister Carrie (Theodore Dreiser). So, I'll be adding those to my list.