Dora the Explorer translated into French as shown on Canadian television! Holy cow! We PVR them, and watch later w/ our DD. One episode it literally took both my husband and myself 8-10 viewings to understand the lyrics of a song. "My new school Mon nouveau école." Not only was the French hideously pronounced (we frequently look at each other w/ the "uh, what was that?" while we cringe face), but even the English isn't pronounced well. It's great when you watch in English because both the English and the Spanish are completely understandable and not garbled. But when it got ported to French, I'm not sure where those French speakers might have been from, but I know where they weren't from! FWIW: I grew up in an Acadian bilingual home (Mom French, Dad English) but lost much of my abilities when I went to English-only school since French was punished. My Husband took late immersion (grade 7-12) and has an accent that let's folks know he is not a native speaker of the language because he can neither hear nor produce some of the nuances of the lingo.

I'm 'mathy' and always have been. Math was the subject you never had to BEG me to do. Had to beg me to NOT do it ahead (that didn't work). Once I got into Calculus & Statistics, well... Let's just say I used Calculus to defrag my brain when I was studying for the GRE general & psychology exams. When I hit a snag in my Psychology thesis - calculus. Hit a BIG snag? Take that graduate level multivariate statistics course that tweaks the brain. Realize after-the-fact that the stats course SOLVED the not-exactly-a-stats-problem with thesis data analysis. Hubby is mathy. He chose to learn how to do cube roots in his head just to make sure his students (he teaches at the local CC) paid attention to him, because he actually KNEW what he was talking about. He also used it as a small fund raiser for donating to minor causes - after all, how many public school graduates in CC believe that their instructors can do cube roots in their head? Yeah, not many. :) DD4.5 = mathy. It's genetic. AND environmental. We have stuff around w/ letters/numbers everywhere. She gets it. Period. She understands minus & take-away while her friends don't even get addition with simple things. Discovered that when she was watching a game played at her g-parents' place, and corrected Nanny for adding things up wrong, because those 2 numbers can't give you that! (was adding 5s, and got a number that didn't end in a 5 or 0 - yeah, colour US shocked). I have friends I went to HS with, they didn't consider themselves mathy, but the school was a girls' school and everyone was expected to take Math12 if you were an academic not business student (and even business students were to take business math12). A couple of them went on and are now math teachers because it finally 'stuck' after taking it for so long (and being expected to excel in it just BECAUSE that's what you did). I never heard that someone could not be mathy. It was always considered something where it could change. If someone wasn't getting it, it was because the student wasn't being taught in a manner that got through to them. Even a couple friends who had SERIOUS math woes were expected to get it, and eventually did. In one case, she was later diagnosed w/ dysnumeria, but because of her consistent use of strategies throughout her education, she was mathy in spite of it. [Why yes, the nuns did do 'drill & kill' with a lather, rinse, repeat kind of attitude!] eta: I was also considered a 'word nerd' even though I had troubles with English, especially grammar. I was the girl with her nose in a book, All.The.Time. yet I struggled immensely with simple grammatical concepts. Taking Latin helped immensely, and showed me that I had not been taught the grammatical basics in a manner consistent with my learning style. Nothing like taking a foreign (dead) language that is taught by a music instructor in a very scientific manner to get through to me concepts I had struggled with for years.

I would accept it, whole-heartedly. The revision process will be less drudgery if it was fun to write in the first place. Some folks have mentioned that they'd only allow it for creative writing. Yes, that is certainly an option, and for many families, that's the perfect compromise. BUT, there are ways to turn Fanfic writing into academic/programmed writing. Cover letter, letter of application, etc., can all be done from a character's POV, and you may be able to gently place it into the realm without having to bludgeon them. Persuasive writing, compare/contrast, cause/effect, description, narrative, process analysis, and definition, can all be transitioned into directed writing in a Fanfic realm/universe. For those who's brains just don't think this way, here's a couple examples: (I'm a Sci-fi fan, and have been since almost birth; but any place where there is a defined universe, lore, history, mythology, and characters can be fair game for not just creative writing, but also the other forms that are seen in academic writing. A familiarity with the realm/universe/time that is a shared love by the student and parent is also an excellent time for bonding, good discussions, etc) Letter of application or cover letter (this was one of the harder ones for me to do): How would Wesley Crusher have written his life experience essay for StarFleet entrance requirements? How different would that be if it were Nog? Star Trek was a morality examination in the guise of futuristic science fiction, often vaguely disguised, but still recognizable. In this, there are a myriad possibilities. I have a good dozen leaping to mind, some appropriate for a younger child such racial inequality {http://www.trektoday...ttlefield.shtml}. For middle school through younger high school and beyond has the option for meatier topics such as forced relocation {http://www.trektoday...rneys_end.shtml}, infiltration of an outlaw faction to bring them down/prevent cultural item destruction {http://www.trektoday..._part_one.shtml and http://www.trektoday..._part_two.shtml}, genetic tampering {http://www.trektoday...7/lineage.shtml}, judgement/punishment/solitary confinement {http://www.trektoday...irty_days.shtml}. and those are just a few. High school juniors/seniors can handle some of the more sobering topics that I'd never put on a younger child: prisoner of war/torture {http://www.trektoday..._part_one.shtml and http://www.trektoday..._part_two.shtml}, collusion/inciting to war {http://www.trektoday...moonlight.shtml}, enforced euthanasia {http://www.trektoday...lf_a_life.shtml}, assisted suicide {http://www.trektoday...n5/ethics.shtml}, witch hunts (not literal witch hunts, figurative ones) {http://www.trektoday..._drumhead.shtml}. I have written a university piece for a Psychology course - Non-Verbal Communication - using the life of Spock through the Original Series and the first 4 movies. It was an examination that I later saw taken up as variants in fanfiction. Got an A+ on the paper (50% of the course grade). I used quotes from Star Trek in my Masters' Thesis (and had them commended as being more apt than a couple of literature examples) on Human Rights and Personality correlates. These are things that can be done inside the realms of fanfiction, using it as a springboard..

I started my journey to homeschooling MissB before I got pregnant with her. I already knew that the school to which she'd have to go was a lousy school. It used to be ok, but now, no. So I started reading up on TWTM when I was on enforced rest during my pregnancy and it just resonated w/ my heart in such a way that it put me more at ease for a lot of things. In the time since then, I've learned things that make it even more an issue. Reasons against public schooling in the Anglophone system: 1. The school which she would **HAVE** to attend is the absolute worst in the entire district (and that says something). I've spoken with various district folks, and b/c of the subdivision in which we live, that is the ONLY school in the district that will accept her. They want middle class families to send their kids there so they have at least a few students performing remotely on par. That would mean traveling out of the district, 2x daily to get her, as there would be zero busing options for her. Since our province has amalgamated the districts, that would be a considerable drive. It would preclude me working in any manner outside the home as I would expend almost all my daily energy getting her there and back (minimum distance is 55km over a road that sucks in the winter).. 2. Finding out from the literacy resource person for K that when MissB was 2.5 and knew her ABCs in order, she was already ahead of more than 1/2 the incoming K group, that gap would be increasing almost monthly in the interim. 3. Her birthday being in February means she will be 5yr7mo when K starts. Even though she is currently 4yr3mo, she can count higher than required in K, in both English and French. She knows the sounds of most of her letters and is clamouring to learn how to read. I've been doing the foundation very gently. 4. Our district is pathetic on differentiated instruction when it comes to students who are advanced in any manner. This results in advanced students sitting like lumps on a log for the majority of the classroom day, which is 6hrs. 5. The school she would attend is also home to the Alternative Education Centre for students who have used up all their chances at other schools in the district, but are not of an age to be out of school. As a result, there is a disproportionate number who have streamed from the K-8 school to the AEC deliberately. There would students from 4yrs8mo to 18yrs on the same property (though at different times) and there are no sweeps of the yard for drug paraphernalia, cigarette butts, condoms, leftovers from alcohol containers, etc. The one positive we have in favour of public school is if we can get her into the Francophone system for K. Even though we are a predominantly English family, we speak to her in French for at least part of every day. There are things we require her to do in French (with prompting from us), etc. Since the Anglophone system in our province lost early immersion at K, and it is now Grade 3, this would be the best choice. In the case that we can get her in (not exactly going to be easy b/c of our names, and the fact we weren't educated in French in this province, though Hubby was through middle Immersion from 7-12), I will be English after-schooling.

So, I'm not alone. Yay. After reading TWTM while pregnant with MissB, I tentatively planned out her education through to high school graduation. HEAVY STEM emphasis. Now that things have changed a bit, and that she may go to French school, I'm revising things, and that's taking time. I just want her literate in English before she starts French as it is more of a whole-language approach, and phonics is how we decode English (though I have found a phonics book for French!). Hubby has realized that no matter what happens, she will be doing considerable education at home, even if she spends the day in a French school. I have a bunch of curriculum materials for LA (esp phonics, early reading), Canadiana, a few things for science/math, and nothing for Canadian or World history. So I'd say I'm on par with how things are in my mind. I'm more a STEM or languages spine person (she's already responding to French queries, knows some Spanish, and a bit of Chinese), so languages are one of her skill areas, and I do not want to lose that. So now I have to take up some slack and learn those two languages for which I have no knowledge (Spanish, Chinese). I also have to update my spreadsheets ;)

Glad I'm not the only one noticing the challenge when it has been a time since the previous use. But I suspect that much of it will fall back into place, as some things have done in the past. I find the more we do the 'fall into place because it has already been a learned skill' in front of our children, the more we can impress upon them that learning a skill in advance of actually needing it really DOES make a difference later on, even if the skill needs significant work to refresh! :) :) I've even used the "No, you don't need it now, and might never need it. But if you do, having learned it easily now will make refreshing the skill a whole lot easier later." In response to "Well then I'll learn it later!" argument, I've used "Yeah, that doesn't work so well in adults. Learning it at your age is a piece of cake. So why not learn it while it is easy? I'd rather re-learn a skill I've had in the past than try to learn it from scratch and be frustrated!" It did work a couple times, w/ the children of friends, and nephews. I've yet to have occasion to test it w/ my own child. I suspect after one application of this reality in one of her parents, she'll catch on - she's pretty good like that! :)

This type of bilingualism happens in Moncton, NB too. Well, to be fair, the greater Moncton area, up through parts of the North Shore of NB, etc. We have pockets where there is uni-lingual fluency with a melange for the other language. We also have a dialect that is a bit brutal to understand by those who are uni-lingual French or uni-lingual English, Chiac. [ French version http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiac ; English version http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiac ] Anecdote: Local friend from Finland (speaks Finnish, Swedish, English, French, German; reads all 5; written fluency limited in German, otherwise all 5 as well) said that walking behind some teens speaking Chiac, her husband and herself were SO confused, it took them a good 5 minutes to determine what was being spoken, as the accent for Chiac isn't either an English OR a French one. After 3-4years living among folks who speak it, they 'added' it to their list of understood languages, but not to spoken or written fluency.

Use the new puppy as excuse, and give puppy some quick leash training (heel, come, sit, whatever) immediately after the phone - some good 'reasons' to have puppy issues: - new puppy takes phone ring as cue to pee NOW, so you gotta go take him outside immediately (if she calls back in 10 minutes, use the same line, and say "what can you do, small puppy, small bladder")... then take the dog for a 30s leash exercise outside... - some other "gotta walk the dog NOW" issue... then go walk the dog to the sidewalk and back... - keep the leash by the phone so you can say "sorry, got the dog leash in my hands and was about to step out w/ him"... turn the kitchen faucet on just before picking up phone "look I gotta go I left the water running" or "I'm up to my elbows in dish bubbles" get one of the kids to respond to a cue of some sign you can make up, and then have the appropriate child go "hey mom, look at what I can do!" or "Mom, come see what I just did"... so you can say "kids need me, have to go"... There's also the ever popular "I have to go pee", "you caught me on the way out the door", "something on the stove is going to boil over", set the microwave to ding in a few seconds "gotta go [blank] is ready"... When my mother was alive and used to call all the time to harass me, I used to head to the apartment door, and have one foot in the hallway outside of it so hubby could legit say "she just stepped out the door, I'm not sure when she will be back"... ::sighs:: on your behalf...

We are average, standard-issue for our demographic in our area. We are fortunate to live in an area that has a reasonably low cost-of-living per sq foot for housing in many desirable areas. :) That being said, we are less than 2 miles form homes that reasonably sell for 3-5x our asking price; homes we would not consider because of their location, lack of trees, and fact they're less centrally located to the primary regions we frequent. We can walk to everything but our church and hospital (both more than 1mi away at 7 and 2-ish respectively). My husband is a 5 minute walk to his work, as am I. When this house was built and shortly thereafter, many parts of the area developed in support of the new suburban areas. Over the last decade, the development in our portion of our city has been exponential; everything from new subdivisions, mini-malls, big-box stores, etc., have sprung up within a 5km/3.1mi range toward the northwest. As a result we are a 1-car family, and that reduces our income requirement significantly, and we only refill our Toyota Echo every 10d or so, depending on visits out of the area to visit hubby's folks. Our community is currently NOT a public transit/alternative transit friendly area (bus service is on lockout, things don't look pretty, talks broken off again, etc), but even with traffic as it is, we can make it from one end of the tri-community area, to the extreme opposite in under 20 minutes, 30 during 'rush' periods or accounting for detours due to construction season. We are in a tri-community area of approx 125k people, with our primary city being about 65k, with 2 significant communities attached in a contiguous and interlinked manner. A recent MLS listing search of our area, putting in our specifics in requirements, yielded roughly 40-50 in our price range, prior to having some culled from the list by an agent who knows more information than that placed in a listing. And given the laundry list I alluded to previously, we could reasonably expect to pay 10-25% more than the current value of our home. Most of the homes in that price range in our area (especially our immediate mini-subdivision) do NOT stay on the open market any real length of time. One of the houses on our street recently was sold within 3wks of placing it out. Another home, slightly less desirable due to having a couple more items needing work, is on the market, has been for about 10d, and we expect it to be sold before the end of the month. BTW - Canadian, living in Moncton, NB: less than 45 minutes to the highest tides in the world, Nova Scotia, the warmest water north of VA, and the coldest water south of the Arctic Circle. We get more snow than any other community our size or larger in Canada (but we are barely a shadow in the rain department), we have a temperate northern maritime climate with 4 distinct seasons that can be intense, and vary between 8h15m of sun time in December to 15h45m in June. Low pollution index, high quality of living, and a culturally diverse, bilingual area that is economically diverse as well. :)

Most folks have spoken to many of the issues I would have in buying a new home, but I guess my take is rather different, and you should have seen our checklist when we started thinking about buying a home, many of them are things folks don't think of unless they have health issues: would not buy a home with: 1] attached garage - too risky w/ fumes getting into the house, I'm already chemically injured by petrochemical fumes, don't need to be adding insult to that 2] mould/mildew or a bathroom w/o a fan 3] smoker's home 4] carpet 5] leaky basement 6] wiggly windows (winter sucks money out of a house, don't need it LITERALLY sucking it out too) 7] lawn care company that uses anything I can't eat or drink on the property 8] creosote or Wolmanized or other permeated wood product for a deck 9] anyone who can not or will not provide me w/ the specific product usage and dates of most recent usage for vermin eradication had better be certifying the lack of presence of those beasties! 10] recent paint unless a low-to-no VOC brand used, but I would prefer to do my own 11] cracks/grooves/etc in the tub surround materials - this one is non-negotiable unless they're willing to put in a completely new fixture & surround that doesn't require toxic glues/adhesives to seal! been nailed before. 12] storage of cologne in bathroom medicine cabinet, obvious copious use of bleaching agents, smelly candles, room freshener, etc. - then again, I can't even BE in those houses any real length of time, so the risk of buying one is limited. 13] another non-negotiable item - house MUST have 2 forms/sources of heating, at least 1 of which is independent of power. 14] dodgy electric system, drippy faucets, or dusty power junction box indoors; outside I want to see a nice, neat, power/phone/etc inlet area, not something that looks like "attack of the spaghetti monster" 15] no overhead lighting in rooms - our current living room is a black hole, even with 4 lights in it, pale green walls, white ceiling, etc. I don't care if the lights are switch-controlled, but they just have to WORK (or be easily made workable). 16] spare oil tanks in the house or on the property that aren't currently being used to provide heat (spent $500 getting one of THOSE removed from this house) 17] downwind from industrial things, OR an abattoir or pig farm! 18] seeing vermin traps on the property unless they are to catch a nuisance mammal-type critter! things that do NOT detract: 1] in need of paint - no fumes there [post-1970s home though, so we don't worry about lead] 2] hardwood floors need some sanding/staining 3] no garage &/or gravel driveway 4] close to major thoroughfares is ok if there is a greenspace buffer, or it is at least 1km/0.6mi away! 5] removable storm windows and removable screen windows - some folks think it is a nuisance, but seriously, not so much! 6] anything I can sand, paint, scrape, crackfill, etc., not a problem, even bad wallpaper is no big deal! 7] if I can fix it w/ insulation, and simple draft-prevention techniques, I'm ok with it. and things that ATTRACT: 1] lots of screaming kids in the neighbourhood 2] clotheslines 3] basketball/hockey/etc nets in ppl's driveways 4] dandelions :) we LIKE dandelions 5] falling down wood fence, tree stumps, etc... I prefer UNmanicured areas! We currently live in a 46yo home, the one my hubby grew up in. We know the majority of the home's history of upgrades, defects, etc. We know it has not had to be fumigated for wriggly critters. We know there's no termites! We even knew which floorboards squeak! We know it doesn't flood, the basement is dry and does not leak, the attic is clean though dusty, and even if the fixtures were Harvest Gold, Avocado, or worse yet, Lilac, it wouldn't have mattered. :) Yeah, a couple places in the neighbourhood have HAD lilac fixtures in the loo! We knew what things needed doing when we moved in, and some of the things would have been deal-breakers had the price not been so sweet, or the solutions not so easy. There is something to be said when you can eat your dandelions, rhubarb, and raspberries w/o fear of chemical residue :)

:iagree: many of us would have loved to have had that *spotty* education! and everything HRH has attempted in the world stage, she has excelled and come off as nothing less than highly articulate and knowledgeable about world events - and she has done so in more than one language. *spotty* indeed!

instant grits are good for emergencies; fruit (not apples, they're too tricky to cut/de-seed before you awaken); crackers & spread (current faves are humus or soy butter, but others are good too); I've been known to thaw frozen veggies for emergency use... edamame is a popular veggie choice :) on the road, when I have a migraine and have to rebalance my electrolytes a cola of choice (real Coca Cola in Canada) and Hostess BBQ Corn Chips are my combo of choice. some folks will keep a couple of hard boiled eggs in the fridge for emergencies, cheese, frozen meals that are leftovers from something yummy last week, etc.

Anne series = INCREDIBLE :) Emily series = INCREDIBLE but for a completely different reason Both are on my 'mental floss' list for 'must read at least once every 3-4yrs' and I have the boxed sets of them bought properly on PEI when I was a pre-teen, on one of those family trips :) Growing up in the Maritimes, this was our "Laura" book series, where things made sense that don't to those who aren't from a maritime tradition. At university (in the Maritimes), one of the popular "students not from here" trips would be to PEI & the associated LMMontgomery sites. It usually was on the list w/ Hopewell Rocks (highest tides in the world) and Magnetic Hill (illusion hill in Moncton, NB that messes w/ your mind even if you know the trick!). And, FWIW, these were NOT on the curriculum at school growing up as it was assumed the girls would read it and the boys would hit you if you even suggested they read them! Maritimer for life :) Grew up in Saint John, NB; university in Saint John, then Fredericton, NB, then grad school in Guelph, ON. Moved to Moncton, NB when done w/ grad school. Do.Not.Wish.To.Live.Elsewhere!

Facebook has a group :) https://www.facebook.com/groups/158947230864513/

I've had to do this for myself too, it isn't something we think of, especially in this day & age where they SHOULD be able to have better access, not worse! corn too? ugh! there are still OOOOOOODLES of things you can do to keep her diet varied & fun, but it does mean that some of the traditional gluten-free pre-made stuff won't be on your plate b/c a LOT of it has corn. you will likely have to determine if it is the protein or the sugar that is the corn problem - one makes the grain an issue, other makes high fructose corn syrup an issue. but that's a battle for another month, right now she's better than she's been in ages, and that is ALL that matters. :grouphug: you are her best advocate, and now will be her best security detail. YAY Mom! btw - glitches along the way are a part of the learning curve, so DO NOT get yer knickers twisted if something doesn't go right the first time. if she is - overall - getting better, then it is going right. if you have questions, The Hive is here for you :)