I agree -- if you really think something is wrong, talk to a psychologist or other mental health professional... but it's probably within the realm of normal emotional development and not pathological. I'm not a fan of necessarily insisting young kids say sorry, because I think it's kind of insincere. One thing I do with foster kids who seem to be lacking in the empathy department is to be on the lookout for situations that we can talk about. Like, if we're reading a book and something happens to a character or if somebody gets hurt at the park or I hear about something that happened at school, I might ask "how do you think he feels about that?" or "Gosh -- how would you feel if that happened to you?" or "I wonder why somebody might scream so angrily like that...?" I'm no trained professional, but I figure that some kids might need more help in realizing that other people have feelings and understanding that there are reasons why people behave in certain ways. Also, I've had kids who attend a psych day treatment program and I know among other things, they often play games... Maybe you can find a therapeutic board game intended to help develop empathy?

How about Foerster with DVD instruction? Here's a review: http://www.mathmammoth.com/complete/foerster_algebra_1_home_study_companion.php

In a few days my younger daughter and wife are off to a tennis tournament and I have to take my older daughter down to San Francisco where my brother and sister-in-law live. They're all going down to San Diego for Comic Con. Rather than driving back up to Oregon only to return a few days later to pick her up, I decided to just hang out at my brother's apartment in San Francisco since he'll be gone. So I have from Thursday to Monday by myself! In San Francisco - a town I've been to a few times, but don't know all that well. What should I do? He lives in the Mission district and once there, I'll take public transportation or walk. Shopping? Hanging out at a cafe? Going to a show? a movie? a museum? Walking around aimlessly? What should I do in San Francisco by myself? I haven't traveled alone in years!

That's what I'd do too. Bed bugs, lice, parasites, other weird pest infestations... They have been with humans for a long time and can be dealt with. I wouldn't let bed bugs stop me from traveling or force me to throw away perfectly good items.

We're going next month and staying at the Americana. I'm pleased to hear these good reviews... I chose it because the price is really good and it's close to the airport (DCA) and metro. I'm prepared for a little shabby...

Thats okay then... I was imagining that it was in my daughters cabin or something... That's cool though - your daughter and mine probably saw each other in passing at the international day celebration. And they've probably met the same Concordia airport staff. It was her third camp there -- she loves it!

Ack! My daughter just got back yesterday from there. It wasn't Bemidji Lac du Bois French village, right?

Wait - Please don't tell me it was concordia language villages...

The one we did allowed us to continue working on the puzzles. Our guide (or mentor or whatever he was called... the guy on the other end of the radio) told us that we could continue to stay but we would be "risking radiation poisoning" (we were locked in the lab of a mad scientist). We said we'd risk it. If somebody was booked directly after us, I suspect we would not be allowed to continue. Also, the fire marshal had told the company they weren't allowed to actually lock us there. So ours wasn't so much an escape game as it was a find-the-radioactive-bomb-before-it-blows-up-Portland game. i don't think a claustrophobic person would have trouble with it since we could leave if we wanted.

We've done the ITBS and Terra Nova (CAT 6) at home one year and through a local homeschool group for a few years. They've been fine.

My younger daughter and I did one recently on a vacation. The puzzles were fun, and I loved tearing the room apart, but we got stuck in a few places and needed help. And we were five minutes over the 60 minute time limit needed to save Portland from radioactive contamination. Sorry Portland.

MP World Geography is very open-and-go. Ellen McHenry is more fun, but more work.

I didn't do spelling at second grade, but if I did, I'd go with Apples and Pears A and only do half a lesson per day.

I've used homeschool helper for a couple of years and am quite happy with it. It's a little annoying to input the lessons at first, but once done, it's great. I do all planning over the summer and surprisingly manage to stick with my plans for the most part. I set my custom dates for vacations first. I don't like using their holidays since we definitely work over Columbus Day and such. For several subjects like math, I do a batch entry of 180 lessons that looks like this: "Lesson ". Then once I have the dates right, I go in afterwards and add in the numbers so it looks like this: "Lesson 2-5, 1-43 odds" Some days get changed to "Chapter 2 test" or something. Science is also batch entries: "Read & questions p. " and then I'll add in the numbers "Read & questions p. 214-226". On days when I've planned an activity or game or experiment or documentary, I just erase the note and change it to whatever we're doing -- i.e., "Write lab report". History is too varied for batch entries, so it looks like "Read ch 25 and outline" or "Watch Am. Exp. - Triangle Shirtwaist Fire" or "RLAH - populism". I use lots of abbreviations. English has some batch entries -- like I might do a week for a novel study... So I'd do a batch entry of five lessons: "Read Great Gatsby ch. " and I'll add in numbers to make,for example ,"Read Great Gatsby ch. 1-10". This year we're doing a study skills class. So I did a batch entry for like 35 Mondays that say "How to be a superstar student" and 35 Tuesdays are "SAT verbal prep" and 35 Wednesdays are "Current Events". This class will be more fluid, and I'll probably change things up, so for now it's pretty vague with no page numbers. I don't use anything more than just the lesson note in homeschool helper. In the morning while my daughter gets to work on math, I look up the plan and prep what I need to do for the day (find a youtube video, print off a worksheet online, make a test). I'm not too rigid and often change things a little if I've over or underestimated what we can get through or if a surprise orthodontist appointment takes up the morning. I hope this helps!

I'm a direction-follower unless I know how to do it. Like... I don't follow a recipe for something I already know how to make. I don't think I'm particularly rigid -- I happily change the ingredients when I cook. Or change the pattern when I sew. But when I assemble IKEA furniture, it's a step by step process for me because I don't know intuitively how it's supposed to go. My wife, on the other hand, just doesn't believe in instructions. Or rules. She just does her own thing. Annoyingly, it typically works fine. In a way though, we're kind of a power couple. She uses her common sense, and I research directions and reviews.

No! I don't even know of anyone in my social circle who does. It'd be pretty unusual here in our smallish artsy college town, though in the more rural areas in our county, hunting is pretty popular.

My 11 yr old is definitely not interested in boys or makeup, and it would not surprise me if she never became interested. She is interested in friends and having more independence. My 13 yr old is interested in boys, but a bit too sophisticated for the few goofy boys her age that she knows. I've said 13 is too young to date and she gets it. She likes to wear lipstick and mascara and is pretty subtle with them. She likes fitted, cute clothes, but is pretty sensible overall. However, I've had foster kids in the 6-10 yr old age range come to live with us bringing makeup and trashy clothes who talked of having boyfriends. I think it might be an economic or social class issue or maybe an indicator of exposure to inappropriate adults?

For me -- Class 2 is fun. Class 3 is fun and challenging. Class 4 is challenging and scary. I won't go on anything more than that unless it's with a guide in an oar boat. Are you taking inflatable kayaks or hard shell?

I guess that depends on which standardized test you are talking about... I don't know much about CC, but I doubt the focus is on test prep.

Our squash are almost ready for eating. I'm currently overloaded in lettuce and radish and raspberries.

Aside from babysitting, my first job was in the drive through at Wendy's. I was 16 and earned $3.80/hr. When minimum wage rose to 4.25, I was so excited about my "raise".

Hooray!!! Twenty years ago when my wife and I were trying to figure out a way for us to live together legally in the same country, we never would have thought marriage equality could come so soon. Unfair immigration problems, second parent adoptions, unfair tax situations, inheritance, not getting spousal benefits.. we've been able to tackle some of the issues but I'm so glad it's officially over!!!

It would probably be okay if you are visiting the plantation to see a fancy house and landscaping, but it's terrible as a historical site. The wealthy guy who bought it covered it in campy tchotchkes, paintings and sculptures of slaves (think: offensive caricature) and bizarrely, framed photos of his dog's wedding ceremony in Dior gowns. It was a terrible waste of money. They did not address the history or lives of the people who lived there... The tour was a weird sycophantic homage to the current owner.

I am no expert, but I had a great vacation in New Orleans a few years ago. I'd definitely recommend visiting the Laura Plantation and definitely recommend staying away from Houmas House Plantation. Jean Lafitte national park was fun and we got to see some cool wildlife.

PBS has a documentary "Slavery by another name" that was pretty good. I think it's based on a book, though I haven't read it.