Sorry, you guys are freaks! It does sound more proper and more in touch with the word's meaning to say it your way. But, I've never heard anyone pronounce it that way.

My husband uses one for training hunting dogs. You really have to know what you're doing to do this; it's not punishment in this case, it's training. We have also used it around the house to discourage bad habits, like leaping over the fence to eat the neighbors garbage or getting into the trash can in the house. In this case, the dog learns that he gets a mild shock when he commits an infraction. You can crank up the shock level if you have a hard-headed dog, but our current dog needs only a low level. The shock is uncomfortable, not painful. (Yes, we tried it on ourselves first.) Sometimes, if you have a clever dog, he will get collar-smart, and realize you only have power over his behavior when the funny collar is on. But if you don't overuse the collar, the dog will probably not catch on. Hope this helps.

This is probably a scam. They'll try to get you to print out a check online somehow, or they'll send you a bogus check, but it will be for too much money. Your bank will cash it because you have a good account with them, but in a few days your bank will tell you that the check bounced. In the meantime, the scammer will want you to send them the difference. You'll be out that money when their bogus check bounces. You can report them or ignore them. This is very common.

No. I haven't even looked at the teachers' books. I'm using Story of the World for the stories (kid LOVES listening to the audio CDs), and we do some of the activities in SOTW. We did SOTW1 last year and will do SOTW2 starting next month for 2nd grade. I'm adding the VP history cards just to give my kiddo an overall look/feel for history. Plus, she loves memorizing things right now, so I think she'll have fun with it. Maybe someone else can add something about the VP teacher books.

I have the VP cards, but I'm going to use them in the CC order because I want my dd to have a chronological list of historical events. This means the VP audio CDs won't work for us. Their songs are grouped by category, not chronologically. But, I did find some youtube samples of songs for the CC order: I believe this is what you get when you put all the VP cards in chronological order. I just printed out the list and marked which songs the kids were singing. We'll modify the songs to make it work for us, but it think it will be fun. Here's a list of what they're singing: 1. Creation 2. The Fall in the Garden 3. Cain and Abel 4. The Flood 5. Tower of Babel 6. Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt by Pharoah Menes 7. The Old Kingdom in Egypt First Intermediate Period in Egypt Minoan Culture 10. Call of Abram 11. God's Covenant with Abraham 12. Hagar and Ishmael 13. Sodom and Gommorah 14. Birth and Sacrifice of Isaac 15. The Middle Kingdon of Egypt Joseph as a Slave Famine in Egypt 18. The Twelve Tribes of Israel 19. Second Intermediate Period in Egypt 20. Code of Hammurabi 21. Hyksos Invasion of Egypt 22. Early New Kingdom in Egypt 23. Moses' Birth Plagues in Egypt The Exodus 26. Ten Commandments 27. Mycenaean Culture 28. Amenhotep IV and Monotheism 29. Reign of Tutankhamon 30. Later New Kingdom in Egypt 31. Trojan War Phoenician Civilization and the Alphabet Davidic Kingdom 34. Solomon's Reign 35. Israel Divides into Two Kingdoms 36. Homer and Greek Mythology 37. The Olympics 38. Founding of Rome 39. Greece Colonized, Democracy Begins Israel and Judah Fall Prophets of God 42. Roman Republic Divided 43. Persian Wars 44. Pericles and the Peloponnesian War 45. Greek Philosophers 46. Nehemiah and the Jewish Return 47. Alexander the Great Alexander the Great Conquers Egypt Architectural Advances in Rome 50. Rome Rises to World Power 51. Reign of Julius Caesar 52. Egypt Falls to Rome 53. Reign of Caesar Augustus 54. Birth of Christ 55. Ministry of John the Baptist Ministry of Christ Crucifixion,Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ 58. Rome Burns, Nero Persecutes Christians 59. Destruction of Jerusalem 60. Pompeii Burns 61. Split of the Roman Empire 62. Constantine and Edict of Milan 63. The First Council of Nicea St. Augustine Converts to Christianity Barbarian Invasion and Vikings 66. St. Jerome Completes the Vulgate 67. The Council of Chalcedon 68. End of the Western Roman Empire 69. St. Benedict and Monasticism 70. Justinian the Great 71. Mohammed and Islam Charles Martel, Pepin the Short, and Charlemagne Alfred the Great 74. Otto I and the Holy Roman Empire 75. The East-West Schism 76. The Feudal System 77. William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings 78. Cathedrals in Europe 79. The Crusades St. Francis of Assisi The Magna Carta 82. St. Thomas Aquinas 83. Marco Polo 84. The Hundred Years War, The Black Death, and Joan of Arc 85. The Great Papal Schism 86. John Wycliffe and John Huss 87. Prince Henry the Navigator Fall of Constantinople to Mohammed II Gutenberg Prints the Bible 90. The Renaissance 91. The Inquisition 92. Columbus Sails the New World 93. Martin Luther Begins the Reformation 94. Magellan Circumnavigates the Earth 95. Ulrich Zwingli and the Anabaptist The Act of Supremacy John Calvin and the Institutes 98. Cortes, de Soto, de Leon and Coronado: the Spanish Explorers 99. The Council of Trent 100. John Knox, the Scottish Reformer 101. Explorers of the Northeast: Cartier, Champlain, and Cabot 102. Raleigh Settles Roanoke 103. Jamestown is Founded in Virginia The Mayflower Lands at Plymouth Pilgrims Build Plymouth Colony 106. Massachusetts Bay Colony, Home of the Puritans 107. Roger Williams, Founder of Rhode Island 108. Salem Witch Trials 109. 13 Colonies Formed 110. The First Great Awakening 111. Colonial Trading with England The French and Indian Wars Parliament Acts Unjustly 114. The First Continental Congress Seeks Peace with Britain 115. The War for Independence Begins 116. British Lose at Bunker Hill 117. America Declares Its Independence 118. Washington Commands the Continental Army 119. Winter at Valley Forge Yorktown and the Treaty of Paris The Constitutional Convention 122. America's Founding Fathers 123. Washington, Our First President 124. The Louisiana Purchase from France 125. The Lewis & Clark Expedition 126. The Second Great Awakening 127. The War of 1812 The Missouri Compromise The Monroe Doctrine 130. Traveling the Erie Canal 131. Jacksonian Democracy 132. The Cotton Gin Establishes the South 133. Slavery in the South 134. The Cherokee Trail of Tears 135. Remember the Alamo Westward Expansion War with Mexico 138. 49ers and the California Gold Rush 139. Opening the Oregon Territory 140. Lincoln, the 16th President 141. War Between the States 142. The Battle of Gettysburg 143. Great Generals of the War Between the States Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad Reconstructing the South 146. Black Leadership Emerges in the South 147. The Age of Industry 148. The Battle of Little Big Horn 149. Cowboys and the West 150. The Spanish-American War 151. A President Named Teddy Immigration to America Wright Brothers and Other Inventors 154. The Great World War 155. Roaring Twenties 156. The Great Depression 157. World War II, the Biggest War 158. The Cold War, Korea and Vietnam 159. The Space Race 160. Modern America

We use this. Kid has most of the songs memorized, even though she doesn't know what they mean yet. The cd is fairly well-produced, not a cheesy recording in someone's basement:). http://www.songsforteaching.com/store/banana-slug-string-band-c-866.html ETA: Click on the little red notes for a sample of the music.

Ignoring. I'll probably come back later today to continue ignoring (gives me something to look forward to.)

Sorry you're having to deal with this. It sounds like you're being polite, but sometimes they're not. Just say, "No thanks." When they bring up what you used to eat, agree with them. "Yeah, it's a bummer that I can't eat that stuff anymore. I really miss some of it. Thanks for offering, but I've got a system worked out that really helps me." If they want to continue to be rude, that's their problem.

I'd give her some time to mature. My dd, now 7, was reluctant to learn the technical aspect of reading. We didn't push her. We did gentle phonics and let her go very slowly. We did LOTS of reading aloud to her. She was reluctant to read simple books that we knew she could decode. We just backed off, and one day last year, when she was 6, she started reading independently. Now we can't get her to stop:). If I were you, I'd focus on reading books to her that really engage her. She'll eventually get there. Some kids start reading at 3, others don't start until 8. Give her time. Have fun!

I feel compelled to share why I believe in the Oxford comma (since you are the only people in my life who will appreciate this): Long ago I saw an ad in the paper for a class offered to families to welcome a new baby into the home. The title of the class was: "Mom, dad and I are having a baby." I have been a proponent of the comma ever since.

First Pluto, now this! What's next? Parentheses? Quotation marks? Or we could just get rid of apostrophes altogether. Who needs 'em? (Bring on the kilts!) ((...with men in them))

I hate it too. It is a vicious, nasty disease. I didn't know Molly, but I had been following her struggle and progress, and I was praying for her, so her passing was a shock, and a sad reminder of my mom. My mom, who was healthy her entire life, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, stage 4, in March of this year. She died exactly four weeks after diagnosis. It moved so fast, even the doctors were surprised.

Glad it helps a little. Keep at it for a few days. I hope you improve greatly. It's not fun to have a pinched nerve - makes me feel like Frankenstein's Monster...:eek:

This worked for me: Stand in a doorway. Put your arms up with a right angle at the elbow (like you're being robbed). Put palms of hands on doorway, and move slowly forward, applying a gentle pressure. You should feel a stretching in your back/shoulder. Don't apply too much pressure, just until you feel a stretch, not pain. Hold this for a half minute or so. Repeat. It may take the pressure off the pinch. Hope this makes sense. Let me know if the directions make sense. Hope it helps! Joann

We did SOTW1 for first this year. Dd loved it! Like a previous poster, we did audio cds and some of the workbook pages. Her favorite was Egypt. There are lots of great project ideas. We made cave art, baked a cookie map of the Nile, built a pyramid, made a Trojan horse, wrote in hieroglyphs, made a toga, etc. It was not over her head; these are the stories that have inspired the imaginations of kids the world over for many centuries. I didn't learn much about the ancients until I fell in love with them in college, so it seems more academic to me. But to my dd, history is cool and fun and very interesting. She doesn't have mastery, but she knows her way around the Mediterranean Sea map better than most adults. She knows the major myths and important characters from ancient history. This is a great time to study ancient history. I hope you have a blast!

...to get airlifted out of a remote area by helicopter, and you have to pay the rescue fees. Then you have to outfit your whole house to accommodate your permanent injuries. That's the most normal scenario I can come up with for needing that much money fast... but I'd rather read about the kidnapped ferret.

Great news! I'm glad you're home. I'm praying for your further recovery and great health.

One!

Homer is the world's first great storyteller. He's all the more impressive since he did not have much to copy/imitate (that we know of), yet he was able to pull together ideas rich in history, tradition, religion, adventure, and the joy and pain of human life, and come up with enduring characters and story lines. If you come to Homer later in life, it's easy to ask what the big deal is, because our culture is such an instant gratification culture. But he's worth taking the time to read and understand. It can be work, but it's so worth it. I read a kids' version of Iliad and Odyssey to my 7yodd this year, and saw the appeal he has to a young mind who isn't expecting a "classic." It's just a darn good story. And yes, it will help you understand most Western Lit and art.

Veni, Sancte Spiritus.

Yes. Go for it! I can't run due to bad knees and now a bad ankle. But I love to walk. I have done triathlons and walked the run part (yes, I'm in the back of the pack). I have walked a half-marathon, and I'd like to walk a whole in the next year or two. You don't have to run, especially if it damages your body. Build up the miles using the couch to 5 K plan. Your joints and muscles will still need to get used to distance walking, so a gradual plan is good. Walking is a wonderful way to get and stay in shape. Don't feel like you have to run.

Thanks. I'll add it to my list for next year!

Elizabeth's Post: "The gorilla in the room as far as I am concerned is gender. The day female politicians send pics of their nether parts to men I will eat my shoe. And I am not eating any shoes. Ever. This will be the most offensive thing I have ever said, ready....men are inexcusably selfish, ignorant, sexist and stupid. Statistically, they commit violent crime at a rate that boggles the mind. If you saw what I see every da*n day in this office you would loathe them as well. I promise. Generally speaking and this is not husband bashing, it is gender realism, they suck." Say goodbye to your marbles... Your rhetoric smacks of Nazi rhetoric. You can at least qualify it and say "In my experience, men are..." then you would be admitting that part of the problem is you. If men are truly this way, then we can't blame them for their crimes and faults, can we? You're basically giving them a free pass to do what they want with no restrictions. "Oh, boys will be boys" so they are expected to rape and murder and betray wives and abuse daughters. I disagree. The gorilla in the room is not gender. It is sweeping attitudes of hatred, judgement, and insecurity in the human heart. The HUMAN heart. Not the male or the female heart. I believe we're all on the same team here and I refuse to stoop to gender blame, race blame, social blame, etc.

I'm not refuting the stats, I'm disagreeing with what Elizabeth wrote. She didn't "qualify" her first statement, and she even intended it to be offensive: Direct Quote of her whole post: "The gorilla in the room as far as I am concerned is gender. The day female politicians send pics of their nether parts to men I will eat my shoe. And I am not eating any shoes. Ever. This will be the most offensive thing I have ever said, ready....men are inexcusably selfish, ignorant, sexist and stupid. Statistically, they commit violent crime at a rate that boggles the mind. If you saw what I see every da*n day in this office you would loathe them as well. I promise. Generally speaking and this is not husband bashing, it is gender realism, they suck." end quote. Sorry, I can't NOT comment on how rude I find the above (Elizabeth's quote). I realize some men are rapists. I realize there are a lot of crimes committed by men, but you can't accuse the whole GENDER because of it. That's like accusing a whole ethnic race because of trends in their crime stats. Gender is not the problem. Selfishness, small mindedness, lack of moral backbone, nature, nurture, upbringing, lack of self-control, mental illness may play factors in crime and selfish behavior, but to blame gender is unbelievable to me. I get upset when women are labeled because of gender bias, so I get upset when men are, too. It's just not right. You offer no solution when you gender bash. What are men supposed to do to fix the problem? Emasculate themselves? How about we find the real issues and work on real solutions. Don't just slam men because they're men.

I see it! It's cute, and not what I was expecting...