I have been, frankly, HORRIFIED at people I knew and loved growing up, for actually, the last 4 years...a whole bunch of Southern Baptist missionaries, and "God-fearing" missionary kids that I knew all my life on the mission field. These are people I looked up to and held up as examples of "godly" men and women, sacrificing and pouring out their lives for black and brown people...and yet they not only overlooked and pooh-poohed Trump's sexual bruh-ha-has, but they worshipped at the feet of the most blatantly racist president we've had in a long time. I have begun to think that what motivated my missionary "Aunts and Uncles" was not, in fact, a burden for lost souls, but a mere desire to spread American "exceptionalism" far and wide. I really just DO NOT understand how they can purport to be followers of Jesus, and support the former president, the carnage he's wrought, not just in the Republican party, although there's plenty of that, but in the entire political and social system, the lies, the denial of reality...I just don't get it at ALL. I feel utterly shell-shocked...particularly since the pandemic started. There were so many people that I'd come to know and respect at our church (we are military and move a lot, so we'd only been at our church for 2 years). I was really impressed with them, and truly wanted to be part of that community, to allow others in to my life, to grow closer to Jesus among these people. Then, Covid hit, and at first the church followed the guidelines--online services only. But then they started meeting together again in small groups with no masks and no social distancing; and during church, allowing masks to be taken off after the singing. Then, several of our friends from there, along with the "Covid is a hoax" mindset, began echoing all the rubbish around the election...and I am just absolutely shaken. I don't want to set foot in that church again, although it would probably be best for our kids' social lives if we did, because they were a part of the children's ministry. But right now, I have the attitude of, "If you supported Trump, or didn't bother to mask up during the Pandemic and treat the virus seriously, I do not want you in my life." I have better things to do with the few(er) remaining years of my life than to put up with that insane B.S. And yes, your DH is right...but I have been kind of thinking over the last 4 years that Jesus is actively separating the sheep from the goats, and making it apparent to us all. Until this last year, I was completely unaware of American Christian Nationalism...but now I seem to spot it everywhere. And it's a relief to be able to clearly tell myself, "That is Christian Nationalism, it is not of Christ." A wonderful podcast I've discovered in which they discuss such things is the Holy Post Podcast. It's really great to hear the perspectives of other Christians who are likeminded concerning the events of these past few years. I find it really helpful to understand what's going on. I'm reading several books they've discussed on there, including Kristen Du Mez' "Jesus and John Wayne" which really touches on how Trumpism has actually been built into evangelical society, it's not actually a new thing. Am also reading "The Making of Biblical Womanhood" by Beth Allison Barr...also helpful.

My kids are close together in age (K & 1st), so I have to be with each for reading and math. I just allow the child I’m not working with to have free time: they play (mostly!) quietly with legos, play dough, lite-brite, Lincoln logs while I’m working with the other. We’re all in the same room. Occasionally I have to tell DS6 to not interrupt me and his sister bc she has to focus on math now, but it doesn’t happen often.

No. It always ramped up several weeks after I got a positive test.

Don’t know if it’s popular, and I don’t care if it is or isn’t (yes, I’m now that age!), but they sure do come in handy! Along with my “I don’t care what’s popular” maturity, I’ve discovered an intense love of wearing “nicer” fabrics like silk, linen and cashmere (2nd hand!), even when I don’t leave the house all day. Ain’t no way I’m letting those anywhere near popping grease without covering them up!!

Haven’t started yet, but next year for DD’s 2nd grade, we’ll finish Logic of English C and do D(probably???). We’ll do WWE 1 ; and Spelling Workout (I’ve discovered I have an intense dislike for the spelling in LOE). She’s reading so well though, that I’m not sure what the point of doing LOE D is...perhaps someone can enlighten me.

It sounds like it could be cultural to me (I’m guessing Asian of some sort?). Lots of cultures defer to their hosts; lots of cultures have specific practices regarding behavior around meals, and don’t want to offend. Without knowing the specific culture he’s from, it’s hard to know exactly. BUT, I grew up in Africa, have been around many different cultures while there; and there are always unwritten expectations around food, and eating. One Zambian pastor (so educated, and familiar with American culture) we’d known for YEARS came to the US for a visit and we took him out to eat. He sat beside me at the restaurant but, like your student, was utterly overwhelmed with the task of ordering from the menu, and asked me to pick something for him. My point is, it might be food related anxiety but I would bet it’s a cultural thing for him.

I just tried magnetic lashes. Because Angie at Hot n Flashy. You put on this special liquid eye liner and the magnets on the lashes stick to that. I’m not usually a fake lash type. But those looked fun. I may wear them for date night when we ever get a date again!

I know nothing about production timelines, etc. but watching the ending of F&WS had me wondering if the writers came up with that scene the morning of Jan 7. Because that was so how I felt watching the news coverage of the previous day.

Which live webcams are these? How does one watch them?

Banana Republic has some nice linen cropped pants (I don't know if that counts as capris in your book or not?). But I don't know if they would arrive in time?

We have done the same. No dental check ups for any of us since quarantine started. However, I started having TMJ pain back in October, and I put off going in until February, when I couldn't stand the pain any more. When I called my dentist, I specifically asked what precautions they were taking, and among other things, they had stand alone air filters/purifiers in each office. That made me feel much better. That trip prompted visits to the Oral Surgeon, a CT scan, and an MRI, all of which I had to undertake without a mask for a large chunk of time. I did NOT take my kids with me, however. Also, having had at least 1 vaccine, you're better protected than previously, so I say go for it.

Digressing a little, but my step-mom is a bit like your ex-friend. She has resisted wearing a mask this whole time and proclaimed that she believes in "faith not fear" and then got the vaccine back in Jan. Then she posted the other day on Facebook, "Silver Sneakers for the first time! Exercising in a Mask is no problem for me." I was dumbstruck.

Me too!!!!

Not sure about anti-vaxx per se, but there’s an overwhelming number of anti-maskers and anti-quarantine types in all 4 of the local HS coops I’ve looked into. Therefore, I haven’t gotten integrated into them enough to actually find out if they are anti-vaxxers or not, but I would be extremely surprised if they got vaccinated. As these local HS coops are my only experience with homeschool groups, I was quite amazed to see “so many” people on this forum supportive of masking, and getting vaccinated.

Don’t know if you’ve ever been over on Reddit xxfitness, but that’s where I get most of my fitness info from (they have lots of good stuff under “community info”...of course there’s also plenty of the clueless “how can I spot reduce” questions, but if you can look past those you can really learn a lot...) Anyway, they seem to hold that too much cardio can indeed make you super hungry, and depending on how much you eat to deal with that can derail your gains. I tried for years to get away with not doing cardio, but frankly besides being great for your heart and lungs (which at 47 I need to take much more seriously!), I also find that it improves circulation improving the appearance of that pesky cellulite that seems to be omnipresent at my age. But yes, as you said, I think there is a fine line!

I find that if I’m lacking in protein overall (like less than 40 g a day)I can get really hungry, particularly when I’m expending a lot of calories. But I hate eating meat, and I’m sadly lactose intolerant. So, I generally end up supplementing my meals with protein bars or a protein shake. When I’m really tracking what I eat and eat closer to 90-100g (which is lower than the weight lifting world recommendations, I know!), I feel much less hungry!!

Sort of??? Non-denominational reformed church plant. They were really great at the beginning when our state shut down from March to May; then started meeting outdoors (I think) during the summer. Then they changed venues to a larger space to accommodate social distancing. They seat people socially distanced as family units. BUT, when the singing is done, and the preaching starts, everyone takes their masks off, because they're no longer moving around. I guess they still aren't up on the info about the virus being AIRBORNE and totally able to float around on air currents, whether people move around or not. Also, they only require masking INSIDE the auditorium, not in the entrance way, where the kids are running around, maskless no doubt. I touched based with the pastor and associate expressing my concerns with how things were being run back in September, and they said they were within CDC compliance, and weren't going to be doing anything differently. They continue to meet inside in community groups, and although I don't know for sure, I seriously doubt that they mask at community group. That's just how things are here among Christians (that's such a sad thing to write!). We live in IL, but in a VERY red county, and practically NONE of the Christians I know here took the virus seriously or masked if not required by a business. We started homeschooling at the beginning of all this, and I'd joined 3 coops to try with the kids, but we can't ever go to anything because no one ever requires masking. It's a "oh, do it if you want!" type attitude. And I'm here thinking, "you know, EVERYONE needs to mask to help protect OTHERS, not just yourself." Because of this experience, I thought that all homeschoolers were more of that mindset. I wanted to cry with relief when I just recently read a thread on this forum about being angry about COVID, and how it has revealed things about people that were not apparent before. Anyway, I digress from this thread. As far as church, needless to say, we haven't been back, and once we're all vaccinated, we won't be going back either. We will be looking for a new church.

Hunter, thanks for your insight. I wasn't aware of Ella Frances Lynch, but I downloaded her book and started reading it this morning. I'm looking forward to seeing what she has to say. Thank you for that link. Another Lynn, thank you for the freedom to pursue what works for us and what doesn't. I happened to save several books from my own homeschool childhood (the Old School Calvert from the early 80s), and happily discovered that I have several of the books that keep popping up on the CM books lists: Hillyer's A Child's History of the World, Crommelin's Famous Legends and I even found A Child's History of Painting this very morning! Perhaps with a bit of research and using the things I already have, I can craft something that will work for us. Thanks for all the encouragement!

What is the group opinion/experience with this curriculum? I've just discovered it, and am loving what I'm seeing so far...BUT. Last year, I fell in love with Memoria Press because their books were so beautiful...I started actually implementing it this year with my little ones...and I hate it. So, I really don't want to fall into that trap again. If you have any experience with the SCM curriculum, please share. I'm very very new to Charlotte Mason, haven't read her books, but have "For the sake of the Children" on order, and am also looking for a used copy of Karen Glass' Narration Book. So, I'm trying to educate myself...it's slow going. What initially inspired me to research Charlotte Mason was the discovery of Burgess Thornton's Animal Book for Children, which I got from Blossom and Root as a Science course for my DS5 and DD7. They ABSOLUTELY adore that book. They come running to read it. They have been a bit more tepid towards the "lovely" Memoria Press Book read alouds that we've done so far this year. I mean, they love being read to, but they don't ADORE the MP books like they do the Burgess one. If there's more books like that around, I want to find them quickly before they grow out of that stage. I've looked at Ambleside, Wildwood, A Mind In the Light, My Father's World, A Gentle Feast, and Simply Charlotte Mason. I'm drawn most to the SCM Enrichment Studies at the moment, specifically the Music and Painter studies. I'm also intrigued by the Habits (Laying Down the Rails), but I'm a little apprehensive about that because that'll be hard for me to work on too. I'm happy with my Math, and Language Arts Curriculums that I'm using so I'm not looking do SCM Language Arts program. I'm not sure about history yet...I think we will wait a year or two. Any insight would be appreciated. Also, for context: we are not Covid homeschoolers. But I'm not sure if I'll be able to continue homeschooling into their late elementary grades--I'd like to, but hubby's retirement in 3-4 years may require me to re-enter the workforce, depending on the situation we find ourselves in.

Good question! I was in a bit of a hurry when I typed up my post. I'm looking for some really good read alouds that includes all subjects--History, literature, Bible, Geography, Music, Art, etc, etc. I guess "living books" is a good description. I've found a few books on Living Books Press website that I think might be really fun: another science book by Fabre called Storybook Science, but I think that is a 4th grade recommendation; The Wonderland of Nature also inspired me, although we're not Australians, and I'm not sure if she just specifically talks about Australian animals or many different kinds. Also, I think I LOVE her book about Little Grammar People--but K and 1 is probably too young to start that yet. Basically, the discovery of my children's response to Burgess' book and Vos' book is inspiring me to seriously consider Charlotte Mason style homeschooling more closely. I haven't really done much research on her methods/book recommendations, because starting this homeschool journey (we just started this year), I was so set on doing more of a classical approach--which I'm finding I loathe, and my children do not particularly love either. But they can't WAIT for me to read Vos or Burgess, and beg for more and more. I'd really like to be able to channel that enthusiasm somehow!

Is anyone familiar with her works? I am considering reading her The Wonderland of Nature to my K and 1st grader as a read aloud. We are currently reading The Burgess Book of Animals, which they absolutely LOVE, and I'm looking to find more books along that vein, books that they beg me to read to them. So far, they love Catherine Vos' The Story Bible, and the Burgess book.

My DD, who’s in 1st grade, will be going from Level 1 back tracking a little to Halfway through LOE Foundations A, to get caught up with spelling. She’s pretty good at writing, so I was planning on continuing through with HWOT (In HWOT order )till we get done with it (I think we’re about 1/2 way through the transitional Kindergarten book. Then, I’ll probably consider doing doing LOE writing or maybe even doing cursive. I’m not really sure. Did your little finish AAR Level 1? Then where in LOE Foundations are you going?

Actually, we started with AAR and HWOT this year, transition level I think it was called. My little man’s fine motor is ATROCIOUS, poor thing, so we just do the best we can with HWOT and leave it at that. So, when I switch him to LOE, I think I’ll leave him with HWOT.

That what I think I’m going to do. Calling them is a great idea. The online assessment test recommended I start at A with her bc she hasn’t had any spelling. But she’ll be SO BORED with the reading. But there will be the games, which is why I’m switching. 😄 Are you switching too? I just hope it doesn’t mess up the progress she’s made so far.

As a history teacher, I am greatly intrigued. What methods are those? Is that the McGuffy readers??