Oh! It brought tears to my eyes. That poem alone must have made it *so* worth it.

Not so much.

It's usually more than here. I'm not sure what the connection is. I don't think socialized medicine made their gas go up.:001_huh:

The argument of last resort.

My husband, who is Canadian, has been watching this debate for months. He is particularly amused by the fear gripping this nation that we will end up with socialized medicine like in Canada. We should be so lucky. Let me share with you my experience with Canadian health care. First, I'm an American citizen. I don't have a Canada Health card so I'm not covered. A few years ago, I flew to Halifax with a severe head cold. By the time I landed one of my ears was about to burst. My husband called the doctor his family uses and told them I had an earache. The nurse said, "Well, if she's in pain, she must come right in." I did. When I got there and identified myself, the nurse never asked me to sit in the waiting area. I was shown into an exam room because I was in pain. The doctor saw me promptly, gave me excellent care and spent time with me. He gave me a script for a very expensive antibiotic -- a Z-Pack. When I was ready to leave, I went to the desk and asked for my bill. The nurse asked me for my Canada Health card. (Notice that nobody asked me for money or health insurance until *after* I had been seen by the doctor -- try that here.) I told her I didn't have one and the woman was completely dumbfounded. She didn't know what to do. She did not have a mechanism for taking money! Finally, she spoke with the office manager who knew what to do with uninsured aliens and she came back all apologetic and said, "The government won't reimburse us, we have to charge you." She charge me $10 Canadian and couldn't stop apologizing. I went to the pharmacy with my script. The same thing -- the pharmacist told me he was so, so sorry, he had to charge me. And he did. $20 for a Z-pack that costs over $100 here. My elderly mother-in-law broke her hip. She had a new one the next day. Sure, when she had cataract surgery she had to wait a couple of months because people with cancer were being seen first. I'm perfectly ok with that. Last year she had a very long hospitalization. She was in an excellent hospital for six months. They basically brought her back from the dead. The bill for the entire stay was $112. It was for the rental of a TV set that was in her room the whole time. I hope to God we get half of what Canadians have. And more than that, I hope people who are terrified of health care reform will reach out to those who have lived with it in other countries and get feedback from them, not just Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and whoever else big Pharma sends out to defeat it. I want every American to have universal health care, cradle to grave. We are the greatest nation in the world. This is the least we can do for each other.

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

You didn't find it because it's not there. I read the entire thing. There are also no "death panels" or any of the things the uber right is attempting to terrorize us with. To all of those who go to town meetings ready to participate in a mob, I have one thing to say. Put your brain in gear and read the document yourself. Neither Fix News nor Rush Limberger are the place to get your information. 'Nuff said.

This year in fifth grade we do this four days a week: JAG for 11 weeks, then CW Aesop B Spelling reading Phonics Penmanship Math Science History Latin Logic Once or twice a week we do Art, Art Appreciation, Music Appreciation. He also takes piano lessons once a week and swimming twice a week. The whole thing takes about 4-5 hours per day. On Fridays we have field trips, go to the movies, or just hang out and have a good time. I am a firm believer in preparing for weekends by acting like Friday is part of it. ;)

Thank you! This is just the series I was looking for for my fifth grader.

For first grade, we went through the entire collection of The Magic School Bus. I used it for a spine and then searched the cable channels for appropriate kids science programs. (I'm sure there's lots more available now -- this was four years ago.) We did lots of hands-on simple experiments. Nothing huge, but my son fell in love with science and it's one of his favorite subjects now.

I thank God every day that dh is Canadian.

I don't. I find it invasive. IMHO, those who want to serve should. Those who do not wish to be forced to go to foreign countries and kill people they have never met, should not have to. In this country, there is never a shortage of people willing to strap on a gun and kill whatever reason.

Not true. Research paper! :)

This definition is 300 years old. Seriously, the way we do marriage--one man, one woman--is very, very new. Three hundred years is hardly "written in stone" and in fact, the way we practice marriage now is not Biblical at all.

The guilt doesn't have anything to do with the act itself. It's got to do with having been taught from a small child that the act is wrong. Many people in India think it's degenerate and unnatural to eat beef. I've never had a problem with a good steak -- didn't have to get used to it. I just liked it from the get-go. On the other hand, I think it's unnatural to eat worms and grubs. Some Australian natives would vehemently disagree with me.

What they want is access to the more than 1500 federal benefits available to the rest of us.

Can you think of a single good reason why a portion of the population should be required to hire a lawyer at great expense in order to avail themselves of the rights you and I enjoy for free? As to millenial-old social institution, you should know that marriage as you and I know it is no more than 300 years old. This would be a great homeschool project -- you'd be surprised how many different ways "marriage" has been defined throughout history. Great can of worms, by the way.

There is plenty of same-sex behavior in nature. Homosexuality is by no means a "human" thing. It may rub some people the wrong way, but it is not unnatural.

For little guys like that I recommend Handwriting Without Tears. Younger children are easily able to handle it. I used it for my son in second grade. He could write manuscript, but he refused because "it takes too long!" It was a real show-stopper with tears, foot stomping, the works. Someone recommended HWT and it changed everything. From one day to the next, he was writing "grownup" sentences and he loved it. Now, in fifth grade, he has beautiful (and quick) cursive handwriting and it's not a mission to get him to write.

The Kumon books are for drill only. There are no lessons, only pages and pages of problems. We use them as a supplement to Singapore Math. When we come to a subject that requires extra practice, we pull out the appropriate Kumon drill book. The Kumon system advocates mastery of a math subject before moving on. Singapore Math also uses the mastery approach. Most other math curricula in the United States use a spiral approach where the child works on, say, multiplication for a week or two, learns next to nothing, then moves on to division. Each year they cover 10 or 12 subjects and learn none of them well. Instead, the Singapore Math and Kumon approaches have the child work for weeks on one subject. During this time, they approach the subject from different angles, but it's always that one subject. Research overwhelmingly suggests that a mastery approach to math is far superior, and is the major reason why children in some Asian countries outperform American kids in math.

I've been creating my lesson plans and schedules on Word. I'm pondering whether getting a program would save me time. Do you use planning software? If so, what's your favorite? :bigear: I'd love to hear pros and cons. Thanks so much.

Exposure to the arts is essential from a very young age. Each year -- since grade 1 -- I've covered eight great artists and 8 great composers. At this age, all we do is look at paintings and perhaps read a short book about the artist. The same thing with the composers -- choose a few pieces and play them often for a month and read a short story. (Mike Venezia has great short books on many artists.) It's not rigorous academics by any stretch. But at the end of each year my son can name the composer of several important works and can identify the work of several artists. For an idea of how we do it, follow the link to The Examined Life and download our free curriculum. It include art and music appreciation.

This year (5th grade) we're going to start pre-logic with Mind Benders (A1) and Red Herring Mysteries Level 1. I've never used anything like this in my curriculum. How do you do these? Do you complete one, then the other, or do you work on both books at once? How much time do you schedule each day/week? I would appreciate any comments or advise you can offer. This is my first foray into teaching logic and I'm a little apprehensive. Thanks.

That's exactly what we do. In fifth grade, this doesn't even feel like "schooling." My son loves this!

We start next monday -- August 3. Still pulling together language arts and logic.