Oh my goodness, that is pretty shocking. The WF local to me is in a really ritzy area of town with the best customer service I have ever seen. I can't imagine something like this. :grouphug:

I would never say "OMG you only have 1 child!!" I just don't get why people feel the need to comment on someone else's family size at all. When I had my fourth, several nurses on the floor came by to exclaim and state I had the biggest family they had seen in quite a while. :001_huh:

Yes, the dollar section in the front, though they were $2.50 as some of the items are in that section. I think they had 6 colors.

For those of you with young ones/preschoolers, I wanted to mention I was in Target today and they had small lipped bins perfect for sensory activities like beans with scoopers and the like for $2.50. They are a bit bigger than a sheet of paper in size x maybe 3-4 inches high and came in several colors. I love those for activity bins for my youngest ones. They aren't so big as to be unwieldy for small hands but still contain the project. They would also work for my olders for workbox things. They also had plastic magazine holder type things that I strongly considered for holding workbooks and school materials, drawer organizers, pencil cases and other school items, again in the dollar spot area in the front. Plus of course school supplies are already on sale. Just a PSA for anyone as addicted to supplies as I am who didn't already see these items. ;)

Actual fundraising? No, not in our personal homeschool here. I'm not above asking for school supplies, books (fiction usually), science kits or other supplies and needed items for the kids from the grandparents for birthdays and Christmas. :D

Testing is not mandatory in CA, even in public schools, though they would like to tell you it is. You can opt out of testing no matter how you file or where you send your kid to school.

It sounds like they are not invited. Usually the inner envelope on the invitation would say "family" or "and kids" or something if it was everyone, even if the outer envelope only had the couple.

This site has a megaload of tutorials compiled according to topic: http://thinkliz.com/free-sewing-patterns/

:iagree:When I want it just gone I do the local HS list then the library donations.

We like Whole Foods for the Whole Family http://www.amazon.com/Whole-Foods-Family-International-Cookbook/dp/0452255031

Uh, not yet but considering it .... my MIL. You can guess how well that will go over so I have so far been chicken. Is there a way that my friends cannot see when I post responses to others or see comments by my friends? I don't honestly post much, but my MIL uses her FB connection with me to spy on the rest of my family (who post on my wall or I post comments to them) for snarky comments and gossip. I'm hardly a pro at FB though so don't know all the settings.

Nice! IKEA has a similar look one we have, but the height is 2x the Container Store one (though the price is less than 1/2!) http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40107872

No gloves. If they get dry or whatever I use some quality lotion on them. Natural cleansers most of the time, a few exceptions like toilet bowl cleaner as I haven't found a natural one that does the job adequately.

I used to. I "retired" about 3 years ago. Wages tend to be quite low for the first several years IMHO. I worked in the field for 15+ years and made great money at the time, but the wages actually stagnated and then started decreasing as it became more and more common to outsource to foreign countries.

Ah, I see where you are coming from now. That makes sense in what you experienced, and I see the difference you are showing. What I was meaning with the local groups in some cases is that they specifically *ask* you if you practice AP (going into details), or unschooling or whatnot. You would have to actively lie to be part of their group rather than just be silent about it. Not all groups obviously but many. So to me it seemed the same as what you were describing. I understand now that some of the Christian groups you experienced you could just be silent and enjoy the friends and stay away from certain topics.

PS - I can totally see my kids wanting us to join this group. Picturing in my head my kids hearing that *their* moms don't make *them* share with siblings, nor do any type of work they don't feel led to do.

She was expelled from the group for making her kids share in her own home, not at the park. Her belief and thus her practice was different. It wasn't that she forced kids to share at the park. Her kids reported mom made them share. :tongue_smilie: Sorry I apparently wasn't clear before.

Perhaps I am misunderstanding you then? Are you meaning that the SOF groups you disagree with then are those that don't let you come at all? But couldn't you just nod, sign (or not sign) and keep your mouth shut in those too? I'm seeing them as the same because in both in order to stay you would have to basically lie and say you agree to or are something you are not. I'm not trying to be contentious, just trying to understand what you are saying there. You obviously think they are very different. Just curious why?

How does it work that he was charged? Wouldn't someone have to charge him of the crime, and it sounds like the parent's didn't (crazy in and of itself)? Or just if the police hear of it by any means they charge him even though he married her. What a crazy case. My prayers for the little girl. Even if she is not abused, he doesn't sound like someone at first glance that would be a great parent for her.

I'm just curious how this differs from signing a SOF even if you don't believe it? Wouldn't that be the same? Saying you share beliefs but you don't? And just keeping your mouth shut. I guess in a very small town it might be more obvious I suppose that you don't go the same church, but lots of these large groups sound pretty anonymous. Edited: I don't do the SOF groups either. My point is just that other groups may not call it a SOF but do the same thing. It might be mean, but it's their right I suppose. I can understand those of you saying it's frustrating, it's hard, and I wish it weren't so. I just can't agree with saying it is not their right to do so.

It's not the single person who decides to leave. Here is an example from a friend of mine. She has unschooling tendencies and went to the local unschooling group, where it was explained to her that children are not to be forced to share. Ever. The belief was that you never interfere with the individual rights of the child. If a child does not feel led to share, no sharing is going to happen. Not even in her private home between siblings. She was ejected from that group because she made her two children share with each other. It is made entirely clear to the person in these nonreligious situations that the family is being excluded.

Not written down. The "group think" on the topic is made 100% crystal clear to the new member very quickly though. :tongue_smilie: And enforced. Edited to add: In Cali from what I have experienced the charter/no charter, schooling at home/unschooling, attached parenting versus more conventional, and such differences are as explosively controversial as religion-based differences are in other parts of the country.

You and I appear to have a grocery store. I am extremely fortunate that I have never lived in a place without one accessible to me. I understand that isn't the case for everyone. Telling someone without a grocery to go to the deli at the store isn't going to work. What do those people do? I answered from the perspective of the scenario offered - parents are taking the kids to McD's because it is cheaper for them. Okay. [Compared to the 7/11 maybe? Don't know.] In the above framework, is that parent going to then choose a salad? No. It is more expensive if the reasoning is McD's is the "cheaper" alternative. So in said person in said framework telling them go to the store/deli is not happening for whatever reason - 2 jobs, not at home during dinner, no grocery. Do we just take the kids? I don't know the answer by the way. I do know saying "go to the store" isn't going to work. What will work to get these families on track is probably the million dollar question, right? :tongue_smilie:

I would agree it is what *I* would do. However, in the quote I was responding to the assumption was apparently economic reasons and unavailability of a grocery store?

We did P4/5 for 2 years with my oldest. It was before the days of P3/4. First year was read and enjoy, skipped some books, added some library books, had a grand time. Second year we did it with all the workbooks, extras and LA K, in greater depth. It worked for us then.