And I am bowing out. All I have tried to say is: 1) I love my region...just like I expect most of you do...and even though we have a lot of ashes, there is beauty in those ashes 2) I am a strong believer in law and order, and if you know much about Martin Luther King, then you know he was too. That's why the demonstrations were so peaceful on the part of the Southern black men and women and all of those who supported them. Rosa Parks and MLK were both Southerns, and I am proud of them! I am also proud of the man who apologized to my grandfather years later for threatening to bomb his house with his family in it for standing up for Civil Rights in Birmingham. That was a hard learned lesson for him. He didn't need to broadcast an apology to the world. Him learning a lesson of the heart was all that was necessary. My grandfather didn't even need an apology from him. It's about learning to love each other. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

1) I always use a lot of exclamation points. 2) I am defensive because of where I live. I currently live in Florida where we always have people coming in and out and they always assume that Southerns are racist and stupid. I am tired of people assuming that I hate the South as much as they do. There is beauty in the ashes, and I have managed to show that to several people who have moved here. 3) Texas is a whole different kettle of fish. Try living in Mississippi or Arkansas. They are always the butt of all jokes. No one seems to realize that while Mississippi is 50th in almost everything, they are #1 in charitable giving. Has anyone ever considered why they are #1 in charitable giving? Probably not. Most people seem content just to berate Mississippi. 4) I don't think you can accurately compare Germans and Southerns. There are a lot of differences. That's all I was trying to say. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

No, they DID try to go through proper channels at first. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

Mine are NOT Confederate war heros. Period. I am trying to express that the Germans have things that they are allowed to be proud of...doll making, car making,...history before the world wars. What are the southern states allowed to be proud of? Nothing because everything people know of our history is just how dumb and stupid we all are!!!! There are LOTS of GOOD people in our history who DID stand up for what was right just like there were Germans who DID see what was going on and did what they could to save lives!!!! And if you think southerns weren't punished, you are GRAVELY mistaken. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

That may have been placed there in the 1960s for inappropriate reasons, but that does not mean that people today should not go through the proper legal recourse to deal with their concerns rather than defacing public property. Two wrongs doesn't make a right. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

I suspect the difference is (and I don't know for certain as I am not German) that people don't look at the Germans and think "Man, those people are a bunch of stupid morons descended from a bunch of stupid morons!" Most people I have heard talking about Germans during World War 2 talk about how they were exploited. That is a very different attitude. Children need to learn hero stories from their own local/personal history. It is when we know these stories and then begin to also recognize the mistakes that were made as well that we can truly learn to be compassionate towards the mistakes of other cultures different from our own without an angst. (I have read this in a couple different books on classical educational philosophy, but I can't put my finger on the quotes yet) Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

I have to wonder if people would see fewer confederate flags if people quit disrespecting Southern heritage by the way they view Southerns at large. We aren't proud of every decision made in the South, but we ARE proud of the grit shown by EVERY Southern to survive in this place. We've had difficult experiences to grow through (slavery, civil war, reconstruction, civil rights). A humid, buggy climate makes growing difficult...especially along the coast with no pesticides...not to mention disease. Our food TELLS our history from the slave trade to slavery, to reconstruction...and all of the cultural variations in between!!!! And it is a completely different thing to stand up against Jim Crow laws when you live HERE than when you travel in from outside the South. If you are from here, you are putting not only your own life on the line but also the lives of your spouse, children, etc. Yes, we have some cowards here just like everywhere else, but we also have some extremely strong and courageous men and women here...people who still stand up in their own way for what is right. My grandfather once told me that from his experiences racism didn't take on by family. Racism he said happened because some people were "content to just drink milk with people." He meant that some people weren't willing to stand up for what was right and that was what continued racism. He knew many many people who didn't grow up to share the views of their families, and he said it came down to the person's character...if that person was a person who was willing to do what was right no matter the cost. I AM proud of our story! Is it a beautiful story...no. But it is a powerful story that has helped shape the person I am today! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

Not to say racism doesn't exist everywhere... But, I do think one of the strengths we have in the South is that slavery and the Civil War IS covered in school, we have tons of monuments about the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement (and examples of what slavery was like). One of the most beautiful places in the southeast in my opinion is the National Civil Rights Museum in Birmingham. They did such a beautiful job of telling that story in a way that was honest, honored those who made sacrifices, didn't add hate towards the aggressors, and focused in on what we could learn from that moving forward. Sometimes lessons learned through personal experience have the most lasting effects. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

I read about half this thread before getting aggrevated enough to just go ahead and comment. I am a Southerner. My family has been here since before the Revolutionary War. We were poor and never owned slaves. In fact my grandfather risked his life and the lives of my grandmother, father, and uncle by standing up for the rights of African-Americans in Birmingham during the Civil Rights Movement. I have spent a lot of time at Civil War battlegrounds, but I have never flown a Confederate flag. What most people outside of the South DON'T get is that part of the problem is that even TODAY Southerns are often viewed as stupid, racist, slobs. People move into and out of my area all the time. I can't tell you how often people have assumed I wasn't from here because I am well educated and not racist, and then they proceed to tell me how they are so glad they found someone else not from the South. Some of the dumb remarks I have either heard or heard second hand are things like "Do people in Mississippi wear shoes?" I love people in general. Doesn't matter who they are. But I do not appreciate people coming into my home and insulting my heritage! Even though my hubby is Jewish and his family came here to escape the pograms I am not about to visit Russia and tell a Russian "Wow, I am so glad I found someone intelligent enough to not be from racist Soviet Russia!" Russians today aren't responsible for past Russians actions, and Russians are who they are today and see things the way they do today BECAUSE of their own history. That history should be respected because it has made them who they are today. Maybe the loser's story isn't important to overall history, but it IS important to understanding each other and the different perspectives we have based on who and where we come from. (Though what we have learned from our other life experiences and reading should not be neglected because we do continue to grow and learn) Anyways... Those are my experiences and thoughts... Probably a bad idea... Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

Sorry, just seeing this. I used the WIAT the last time I tested them. Yes, I still have access to tests, but it is not considered accurate if I test them myself... But I do it anyway because it is just for my own purposes. There are limitations to any test. What the WIAT tells me is how they compare in categories to kids their own age or grade level....which gives me an idea on where we are high or low so we can try to balance our skills out a bit if possible. With regards to narration...in a way it is open ended...but also not... The end goal is where the difference lies. I want to see their understanding of what they hear improve...not for them to have a certain level of understanding for each book. As long as they continue to climb their own ladder of education, they have met my expectations. With regards to fluency, we work on fluency every day, and I suspect her fluency will eventually surpass mine since I did not benefit from this type of education as a kid. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

I highly recommend a private yoga teacher. I used to not get anything out of yoga. Then my health tanked and I needed help. Tried a private yoga teacher and finally understood what it was all about and what I was supposed to be doing. There are plenty of ways to exercise, but yoga was never intended to be "a great workout." It was intended to help you balance yourself physically and emotionally, to focus inward and connect with your own body and spirit. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

I was commenting on a comment not the article. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

People are more than just physical bodies. I like to learn things, and generally speaking, what I want to learn about I cannot find locally. I use my phone for kindle books, audiobooks, to order physical books I can't get locally, how to videos, keeping up with our social events, and book/current event discussions. I have even used my phone to access yoga classes when I was homebound for my health. If anything I think our society is more damaged by this idea that you are parenting right or you are parenting wrong, that electronics are good or electronics are bad, guns are good or guns are bad, liberals/conservatives are right or liberals/conservatives are wrong, your religion is right and you are going to heaven or your religion is wrong and you are going to hell, etc. People are not black or white. We come in all sorts of different shades and flavors. Learning to see what is beautiful in the differences and capitalizing on that instead of judging people (and their choices) as right or wrong....that is what helps kids to grow up to be good citizens that contribute to society....not how much time they spent on their phones or how much time they spent on their butts. There are plenty of people in the world that are physically disabled and they still have value. It's about relationships, not what you do or how you choose to do it. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

We use Miquon, and I LOVE it!!!!! I know people say it is teacher intensive, but I just give the kids their workbook and let them figure out one page a day! Most of the time they can figure it out no problem! But if they have a question they ask me and I help them figure it out. Super easy peasy, and it makes sense to my kiddo that really was NOT getting math!!!! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

I spent the last year homebound due to chronic stress that had caused me to dump vitamins, minerals, neurotransmitters, and hormones into my bloodstream and then pee them out repeatedly resulting in horrible immune system imbalances. (including POTS symptoms...raising heart being one symptom). I read two good books: The Last Best Cure and Childhood Disrupted (the second was my favorite). I see a counselor, but I greatly benefited from a one on one yoga teacher who came to my house. All of these treatments involve needing a shift of mind. We get anxious because we see that there is something real to fear. When we learn that it is just a perception, that what is absolutely true is what lives inside of us, then we are freed from the fear and anxiety. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

I suspect the danger in smart phones, electronics, etc lies in the fact that we as a culture do not teach our children how to enjoy their leisure. Many adults I know today got out to eat, play video games, watch TV, go to movies, etc when they have off time. Not that any of those are bad, but it is very difficult for me and my husband to find outher adults that enjoying DOING and LEARNING new things!!! When you enjoy doing and learning new things, you use smart phones for what they are for...tools. That right there probably explains a lot of depression and social unhappiness. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

I agree that smart phones are not the big bad wolf. My husband and I are from the Oregon Trail generation, and while we did have internet in our teen years and were able to email each other, we also have a stack of letters we wrote each other. My siblings are all millennials and none of them have any letters from their spouses because they were never truly disconnected from them. Today we use the internet to learn all kinds of things like how to dress a deer, how to make soap, how to fix the toilet, to learn about the Byzantine empire,...our kids use it to play games with friends that moved away, to learn how to customize dolls, to learn how to make miniature food/toys, etc... Heck, electronics also helped my daughter learn to talk (she has autism)! Yes, our kids do spend a lot of time playing games and watching shows they like, but I think it is my job to make a point of continually exposing them to all the variety of wonderful things there are out there. As time goes by and they continue to develop, they will find those things that they love from the hopefully wide feast I have spread before them. It's not the kids. It's not the parents. It's about relationships and those aren't things that can be judged or measured. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

I don't have time to read all of the replies right now, but as someone on the spectrum and with two kids on the spectrum... I think fiction is very important! You can tell a lot about who people are based on the stories they tell. (how's that for an analytical way to view something seemingly no analytical! lol) Growing up my lowest scores were always vocabulary, but my daughter who is my mini-me, at 8 scored at a 7the grade level for vocabulary. When I was in school they did all the vocabulary building books and such, but with my daughter, all we do is read great books and have her narrate back to me each chapter as we read. That's it! Many of the books we read are audiobooks, and I completely count that as reading (unless I am specifically look at her reading fluency) because our comprehension and reading fluency abilities are NOT evenly matched. I can read very well as an adult, but I am a VERY slow reader. I read at exactly half the speed of other adults at my education level so if there is an audiobook option, I often choose to take it and do not apologize for it. That is how my daughter learned to love books...listening to audiobooks as she went to sleep! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

Yes!!!! I am SOOOOOO thankful that we now have access to so many great unabridged audiobooks!!!!!!! I wish that had been available when I was a kid! I loved Classics but couldn't read the originals because they were too hard for my reading level but what my mind craved!!!!! And always a pleasure to meet another Aspie! :-) Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

Yes! I had seen this, and thought it made good sense because the two are so much alike! I think what I was noticing is that as a special needs parent is that Charlotte Mason's original works caused less bristling on my part. If I had come to it without that perspective I might have preferred WTM because it is MUCH easier to understand! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

LOL... Yes! This is the impression I had gotten, and I think it messed with how I was reading WTM! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

Thank you! That helps! I am wondering if I was reading it that way due to our interactions with families that use CC and so I just got the feeling that she was really pushing memorization... Though technically, I think you are right... Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

I have ASD myself, and I have two kids also with ASD. My daughter and I do NOT memorize without some kind of meaning/understanding first. It is just not in our set of skills...at all (we do work on it and it is improving but very very slowly) . My son on the other hand is GREAT at memorizing but quite poor in comprehension (though improving with lots of narration). When we first started homeschooling my daughter, I was immediately drawn away from Well-Trained Mind because of the memorization component (and the emphasis on learning to read first...those were also significantly difficult/delayed in her) and ended up drawn to a Charlotte Mason approach. Overall, I have been very pleased with how much they enjoy school (unlike I did when I was a kid) and how they have exceeded my abilities at their age despite the fact that I was actually higher functioning. As time has gone on, I have continued to tweak the curriculum we started off with and recently really enjoyed a talk by Susan Wise Bauer on teaching history! So I thought to myself "I should really read Well-Trained Mind as that is the approach so many of our friends use and as I have borrowed ideas/resources from time to time from WTM." So I started reading it... While I agree with many of the basic premises (reading lots of good books on a variety of topics is very important), I find myself bristling a bit because compared to my own experiences growing up and raising my kids...it sounds like a philosphy only designed for "normal" kids (all the talk about how advanced children are that use these methods, all of the emphasis on memorization when memorization is actually a part of my kid's disability,...and how "simple" reading is...). So it made me wonder, "Are there any special needs families that use this philosophy and how did all of this rub them?!?" Now, I do find that I am in a rather unique position having ASD myself, having kids with ASD, having no typical children, and having been a School Psychologist....so that might contribute to my interpretation and also to why I was initially turned off by WTM. And I should add that I do really like some of the resources I have come across and agree with much of the overall premise. But, I am curious to hear your stories! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

I think whatever you wear should be functional. If you are riding waves, then you need something that fits well enough that it doesn't come off! If you are tanning, you need something that will give you the tan lines you want. If you have a small bladder and make multiple trips to the bathroom, then you need something that is easy to take off. And then there is the consideration of needed support for your shape to keep you comfortable. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

Definitely over protective! I think this is going to become less and less of an issue thanks to the latest "British invasion" aka Minecraft YouTubers! For a while there my kids were running around the Southeastern US pronouncing multiple words with a British accent because they didn't realize that we said it differently in the States!!! [emoji23] Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk