Every time I read those chapters, I am amazed anew. The Bible doesn't give scientific explanations for the resurrection of Jesus, for the Egyptian plagues, the falling of the walls of Jericho, and so on. Lack of an explicit scientific explanation doesn't hinder my faith. I don't personally care how God created the earth. If the Bible said that it took millions of years, I would be quite happy with that. Since the Bible says it took 6 days, I am happy with that. Don't mistake that to mean I don't care about the geological implications. I've done a lot of reading about that and am firmly YE. One thing that strikes me in regard to this debate and that I rarely hear discussed are the verses Genesis 1:24,25. "And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good." What, exactly, does a theistic evolutionist do with that? No one has to answer that. I'm not looking to start a debate. I just wonder about it.

That would be a great pic! I have one of my son on the toilet. You can see his legs, hands, and face, but everything else is covered by a big picture book he was looking at. It might embarass him someday, but it sure was cute. I would post a picture like that on the internet, though, I agree with the OP in that regard. It just doesn't seem safe. I meant to type I "WOULD'T" post a picture like that.

Thank you! The bolded was particularly helpful. I've spent thousands on curriculum purchases each year, but I've never sprung for the lesson plans. I thought it must be something like that though. It just didn't seem reasonable to do that much. The red part made me :lol:. My poor kids. They don't only do the books listed. They do the series or other books by that author. Ds6 is working through a stack of Nate the Great books now. Dd7 just finished Detectives in Togas and is ready to start the second one. I just ordered two more by that author. When she finishes The Story of the Treasure Seekers she will have 4 or 5 more books by that author ready for her. And on and on. I won't cut the books, but I may be more choosy with the guides.

Thanks, I'll take a look at Rod and Staff. I don't exactly dislike Shurley; it just doesn't seem to get done.

I buy every single book in their lit section. So far this year she has done: Black Ships Before Troy Book of Fairy Tales Charlotte's Web The Children's Homer (through History) d'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths (through History) Detectives in Togas (through History) Homer Price Misty of Chincoteague Stuart Little (and she has almost completed one of the 3rd Grade Pathways Readers and will start the second one soon) She is currently on The Treasure Seekers She has left to do: Alice in Wonderland The complete set of The Chronicles of Narnia With the selections that don't come with study guides, she has read Ballet Shoes, 4 books from the Louie Lighthouse Series, Pompeii Buried Alive, and The Trojan Horse. She still has The Dragon of Lonely Island, Paul Bunyan, and Peter Pan to read. She doesn't have a problem with the reading. She could read the 11 books she has left in 2 weeks. My question is more with the study guides. I overlap the history and lit study guides, but rarely ask her to do 2 chapters worth of questions from a single book a day. If I assign just one chapter a day, we can't do every guide this year (in a regular 36 weeks). Does that make more sense? So when you say you easily get it done, how do you do it? Do you do 2 chapters some days? Skip some projects? Is the difference only doing 2 books from the Narnia series (these books are the ones we'll have to do in the summer, unless we do one book per week and answer the questions orally)?

Dd7 is in third grade now, so next year will be out 3rd year doing the Veritas Press literature. My sister also has a daughter in the same situation. We talk about what our kids are doing a lot, but since the girls are the oldest in each family it has been the blind leading the blind in some situations. Last year and this year we've gotten all of the lit books and lit guides for the girls (except for one lit guide I missed when ordering). This year there is no possible way we can finish every book doing one chapter per school day. When I was filing for this school year, I told my sister that it must be a curriculum where you choose *some* of the books. Surely the kids at the schools can't do more than one chapter a day. Should the kids be doing each book? If so, how do you schedule it? If not, how many do you choose? This isn't such an issue with Dd because she is a fast, avid reader. But I've got a couple of boys coming on that I don't know about yet.

Dd7 is working through Shurley English 3. We only do the vocabulary and grammar bits, but we are still way behind for the year. I just don't feel like doing it. Some days we will sit and do a week's worth. Some weeks we don't do any at all. Dd is good at grammar and is VERY good at independent learning. I'd like a just do the next thing kind of book, especially if it taught the student directly. I don't mind teaching her, but next year Ds6's course load is about doubling and I'll be working every day with Ds4. I'd like something with diagramming. Something simple and straightforward. I have a writing program, spelling program, and she is learning vocabulary through Latin and lit.

This is us, too. We don't have a system, but Dd7 reads so many books that if she wants something I buy it for her. I bought her 30 books in January.:blushing: She has been reading them along with school books and other books I've just had around. I have hundreds of books for her level, but I still buy just about anything she wants. Used. On eBay. But it I feel embarassed when I think of it. I have bought her well over a hundred books for birthdays, Christmas or on request in the last 18 months. It would have been heaven for me as a kid, though, so the more she reads the more I buy.

That is really awesome!

Sure. I love company. Iowa might be a bit of a drive, though.

If I am hosting a meal, I make enough to feed everyone as much as they could possibly eat. At the last brunch I made, I served a breakfast casserole, crepes, bacon, eggs, and sides for those, fruit salad, a desert style salad, cinnamon rolls, and set out yogurt cups, orange juice and some kind of shake. Even though I served several different items, I made enough of each type for everyone. If every person present had filled their plate with fruit salad, there would have been enough. Coming from that perspective makes me wonder why there wasn't more food served. A growing kid taking three pieces of meat wouldn't even hit my radar. I certainly wouldn't think of him as greedy. If you offer to feed someone, I think there should be enough food for every person to be satisfied - including growing boys. When I look at the situation from the position of being the guest, I agree with those who say you should limit portion size if there isn't enough to go around. It is one of those times when you can only control your own actions. As a hostess, I would prepare more in this situation. As a guest, I would take less.

My oldest Dd did Phonetic Zoo A as a newly turned 6 year old. I had her sit by the CD player and push pause if she needed to. She is a natural speller, though.

1st - 11 hours, short for a first but with 3 hours of pushing until they finally used forceps. She still has a big head.:glare: The others were much easier and took less time added together than the first by itself. 2nd - < 2 hours 3rd - 4 hours 4th - 1.5 hours

Did she keep her job?

Get rid of them. We DO have garter snakes in our yard. They haven't come out yet this spring. Last year we saw 10ish the first day they were out. We got rid of close to 20 altogether. They had a hole about 15 feet from our front porch. Sorry, but I'm not sending my baby out to play in front of the kitchen window if there is a snake hole there.

Dd7 (8 in a few months) is 52-53". I haven't weighed her in a bit, but she is around 60-65 pounds. She is usually the tallest in a group her age. I am 5'5 but Dh is 6'3 and my little brother is 6'6. When she was three weeks old, I noticed her legs grow from one day to the next. After that day, she couldn't wear any 0-3 months clothes that were connected from foot to shoulder. She has been long legged ever since.

I thought of Alexander when I saw Titus.

When I gave my sister a shower, there were 4 or 5 distinct groups of people. I gave each group a "time" to shop for if they needed ideas. Our side of the family had bedtime. Mom and I got her a crib and nighttime things, and we made coordinating quilts. Other groups had bathtime, mealtime, playtime, etc. It doesn't sound like that is what you are looking for, but you could make up lists for each activity with several inexpensive items, a couple midrange and one more expensive. Dinnertime: Bottles/bottle brush Baby spoons Sippy cups Bibs Plate set High chair Bathtime: soap/shampoo/lotion bath toy bath seat baby towel baby nail clippers Naptime: blanket pacifier baby monitor lullaby music

How could it be worth it? I don't think it would. I would rather they be arrested and go to jail for the rest of their lives. But if my daughter was r@ped by 18 men, I don't think I would be thinking rationally. I have woken up in the middle of the night in an awful state just dreaming that something bad had happened to one of my kids (a fire, car accident, etc.) I have no idea what kind of state I would be in if someone had deliberately hurt my child. If I were really lucky, someone like RM would sentence me.

You are right, of course. I have NO sympathy for certain criminals, but there are things our judicial system just can't do.

I support the death penalty. Not for everything but I do for child r@pists, etc. Oh yes.

Not in my case. My sympathy would be for those required to carry out physical punishment.

I can only speak for myself, but if I acted violently toward someone who hurt my child, I would be legally responsible for my actions. I would expect to be sent to prison. I don't think our legal system should brutalize people. I do support making prisons unpleasant.

Thank you for replying. I am very sure your 12 yo knows more about technology than I do. I was really hoping someone would tell me I was doing something wrong. Maybe someone still will. I'd rather be doing something wrong than make a two hour round trip to exchange it.

I always said primer with a long i until I heard Mom use a short i. She actually used primers growing up, so I went with her pronunciation.