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LeeAnn Balbirona

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Everything posted by LeeAnn Balbirona

  1. This is what Classical Liberal Arts Academy's Classical Arithmetic course is. Proofs and rules first. Application second. It is studied by students as young as 7 and as old as college/adult.
  2. "Memorize the Faith" is a great book, but surely you don't mean you are considering it for your 3 year old, your "littlest"? My husband really enjoyed it and your older two might as well. For some people, this method of memorization really clicks.
  3. At my mother's church they have a monthly potluck, but the dishes are assigned. If you are in the main dish group you will be told to bring lasagna one month or chicken and rice the next month. So there is just one main dish, although twenty or thirty pans of it (with varying recipes and levels of um, culinary expertise). I think this is a neat idea. My potluck pet peeve is when people take such large portions that my own family doesn't even get a spoonful of the dish I brought. I've had that happen a few times. :(
  4. Call it good. I think most people drop it after fifth grade, age 10 or so.
  5. I also recommend CLAA Grammar I. My 7th grader finished both LCI & LCII and CLAA Grammar is a whole different ball of wax. Challenging and enjoyable. I highly recommend it! And at $125 for the online course, a real deal. See the link here http://www.classicalliberalarts.com/Courses/TRIVIUM/ClassicalGrammarI/index.htm
  6. No. My 12 yo does not have a fb page. There is no way to make a fb page for an under-13 child without falsifying some part of the registration information.
  7. Right, by "scandal" I meant an average person and their situation rising to the level of a well-known leader's notoriety...like it makes the newspapers. Not just that a few people, or even quite a few people, gossiping about them. But again, this is probably part of why the practice was changed and we no longer have public confession (in the Catholic Church) as a regular part of our sacramental lives. It only becomes necessary now when a public person commits a serious sin that affects the public--for instance in cases of priests abusing minors, vulnerable adults, committing other serious sins, etc. And this is also why some prominent Catholic politicians have been called out by some Catholic bishops for publicly advocating moral opinions contrary to Catholic teaching--such as Nancy Pelosi, et al, working to extend abortion rights, same-sex marriage, and so on. This is considered a public sin and requires public repentence (thus far, not forthcoming).
  8. Yes. $15 per child with family cap of $40, includes music CD but no t-shirt. We generally ask families to pay about half the cost of the programs we offer. The other half is paid for out of the general parish budget. We do the same for Sunday School and 1st Confession/Communion preparation. A small amount of monetary investment usually encourages to show up regularly because they paid for it and want to get their money's worth, even though it's a small amount of money. :) Free everything often leads to a lack of repsect for the hard work others put into the programs. But of course, if someone asks for a waiver for financial hardship or if they volunteer in a leadership role for VBS/RE, then tuition is waived, no problem.
  9. ...and it still applies today in some situations. I'm Catholic. Generally, in modern times, private sins require private confession (with the priest), and public sins require public confession. So when a well-known leader steals or commits adultery or curses someone out in public those things require public apology...if done in the church, it would be called public confession. (In the Catholic way of things, a priest would need to be present to hear the confession and to absolve the sins sacramentally.) If John or Jane Smith commit one of these sins and it's not caused a scandal (become public) then it shouldn't be dragged out into general knowledge. That might be relative to the size of community one lives in. But anyhow, it was a practice of the early church and generally done before baptism...and the assumption was that once a person had chosen this life (Christianity) with all its dangers and the seriousness of this decision, that their zeal for holiness would keep them from choosing to sin again. But over time, Christians did fall into sin and repeated public confession was put aside in favor of private confession for many of the reasons mentioned in this thread previously. And yes, if done, it should include all sins that are of serious matter, done with sufficient reflection and full consent of the will (definition of mortal sin) not just the sexual sins. Confession venial sins regularly is good for the soul as well, but mortal sins need to be confessed asap whereas venial sins you usually wait until your next regular confession.
  10. Jane, my dd 12 is enrolled in Grammar I. In fact, she just started it this month. We've done Prima Latina, Latina Christiana I and II, so my daughter is fairly familiar of the basics and how Latin is set up. She is enjoying the lesson. It's challenging and well done. Maybe someone else who has progressed further can give you more input on the other lessons. It starts with teaching classical pronunciation and later on introduces ecclesiastical pronunciation. Out of every complaint I have heard of regarding the CLAA, none of them have been about the content of the Grammar program. Occasionally there are proofreading goofs that are brought to Mr. Michael's attention and soon corrected but nothing factually incorrect. Although I am not a Latin scholar and my experience is limited to teaching LC and learning Wheelock's Latin in college, so you know, take that with the usual understanding that this is my opinion. As for being required to take Catechism, I think that is only true if you are intending for your student to progress beyond the basic level of classes and of course if you were seeking an eventual certificate of completion of study from the CLAA. If I remember correctly, a student may take just a single course without other obligation. See here under the section marked "Extern Students": http://www.classicalliberalarts.com/admissions/index.htm So if you just wanted to enroll in Grammar, I don't see that there's any problem with that.
  11. Lynn, that looks like hilarious fun but it's not for me. My husband on the other hand...I am going to have to hide all knowledge of this event from him. :D I already lost him two days this week to a rowing regatta.
  12. Or you could look at it this way. Other programs are interesting in being successful businesses and in keeping customers and thus are more interested in telling you what you want to hear and providing gracious customer service. William Michael is not interested in those goals personally or for the CLAA. "Intellectually bankrupt?" That is laughable. He does criticize other programs but only because they claim to be "classical education" which now I think it is obvious they are not. Priscilla, MODG = Mother of Divine Grace Catholic homeschool program run by Laura Berquist, author of "Design Your Own Classical Curriculum." HTH
  13. Did you get tested for any other problems? I am no expert, but I had whole slew of issues with my monthly cycle before being diagnosed with celiac disease. CD is an autoimmune disease and can cause infertility and abnormal cycles (among other things). Six months after going gluten-free, my monthly complaints were nearly gone. For the first time ever in my life, I had 28 day cycles and no more of the symptoms as you described above (heavy clotting, many days of bleeding).
  14. Yup. This will be our third year doing Latin. Also primarily using LCC even though I plan to afterschool this year. My oldest child has gone through Prima Latina, LCI and 3/4 of LCII. This year I'm starting her and my next one on CLAA's Grammar I. One of our big accomplishments this year was that everyone (but the 3yo) finally memorized the Pater Noster! Woo hoo! We love Latin.
  15. TracyR wrote: "If this happens it could take many , many months to see a specialist because they would be booked. It already takes us long enough to see some specialists but to have this happen at a grander scale..." I don't get this as a reason to avoid UHC. It seems nearly immoral to me. The reason the wait would be long would be because everyone who actually needs to see the specialist would now be able to, each waiting their turn. The only reason the wait is shorter now is because some people are excluded from being able to see the specialist for lack of funds. No one should be denied reasonable life-saving care, regardless of ability to pay. If anything, the increased demand for specialist services should encourage physicians to go into in-demand specialties, and thus there should eventually be enough specialists to serve everyone in a timely manner.
  16. Thanks, I hadn't got around to Googling it yet. Those sites are actually very helpful. It'll be a mix of review and catch up for my daughters. Not too bad.
  17. If Universal Health Care goes through, maybe the answer to inequal education is to have centralized planning and funding for public education as well. It works for the French.
  18. My kids are transitioning back to public school this fall. We happily used Math-U-See for the last two years at home. I anticipate math being the most difficult subject for the girls to catch up in--since it is just done very differently in MUS. So supposedly our district is beginning a new math program, Math Expressions. Anyone heard of it? Good/bad opinions?
  19. No, I wouldn't have the patience. I did Grocery Game for a couple years and that was enough. I spend about $800-1000/mo for our family of six. We eat a lot of beef and chicken and dairy and fresh produce and not a lot of grains. It does cost more though!
  20. I am planning to enroll my three girls in public school this fall, after homeschooling for the past two years (and public schooling three years previous to that, and hsing one year previous to *that*...). My girls will be in 6th, 4th, and 1st grade. The older two have been to ps previously.
  21. I think only a person very prejudiced against the un-degreed (not uneducated, because they aren't the same thing) would really care if a potential mate has a degree or not. If my mother were bringing this argument up to me, I would feel it was unjust and silly. I attended college 5 years but don't have a degree (burned out and missing one course). Sometimes I feel it was ridiculous to do all that and not finish. Most of the time it hasn't bothered me. It certainly has not affected whom I married or my employment (yet). I have been at home with my kids for 12 years now. Most of my friends are incredulous that I didn't finish, my parents most of all. If it was the right program for the student, then I see no problem from changing from a 4yr program to an AA or trade school program. What is the point of having a useless 4yr degree if one really wants a plumber's license or a physical therapy certificate? A four year degree is not a magic formula that guarantees a good spouse or job, let alone happiness. That's more of a problem. How will she support herself until she is ready to start the new program? At her age, why doesn't she know what it is she wants to do? Well, is he The One? I would do a lot for my husband. Presumably if he plans to marry her, he knows she might be giving up her immediate plans for a four year degree and thus, the first question above (how do potential mates view a woman without a degree?) is answered. I wouldn't change schools or programs though unless I had firm plans to marry. Really, I think you need to find out whether the desire to change programs/schools is independent of the boyfriend relationship or not. I would be peeved if my daughter left a good program to follow a guy for less than marriage. I would be content if my daughter left a good program for a different, even if less prestigious, program that met her needs better.
  22. It *really* depends on how high the level of risk. Every pregnancy carries with it a low risk of mortality (or moderate risk, depending on your access to modern medical care). I don't think anyone but your doctors can really help you determine that. If your risk of death is very high, I think you would likely have an obligation to forgo trying for additional children through the usual means. We should not be careless with our lives when we have others to care for. That being said, I don't believe it is moral to use artificial contraception, so my advice would be to choose a type of natural family planning you are comfortable with and abstain as necessary to your level of risk. Also, keep praying that God will resolve and heal you of your health issue--perhaps it is not a hopeless case?
  23. I agree. It's a type of spam. I have run into a lot of websites like this when I do google searches. They seem like they are links to what you are looking for, but when you get there, they turn out to be nonsense--or apparently, mishmashes of other people's writings.
  24. We have really good medical insurance through my husband's job: 100% coverage for everything we've needed (so far) and no co-pay. However, the dental plan covers only 80% and unfortunately this has led us to put off needed treatments, not to mention orthodontia. Our situation is a rarity though--we have it pretty good--very few US employers are so generous with their insurance coverage. That being said, I am in favor of universal coverage and agree with the OP. I cannot imagine the tax burden it will cause, but I don't see any other way to give everyone a basic level of care. Why should the government not be involved in the mission of loving our neighbor?
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