Wow, I've always known it as prosopopeia. I has no idea there was another meaning for apostrophe! I'm not surprised that there are two meanings for one word, but I AM surprised that they're both literary. It's a great poem, you should be proud. You should be even prouder that she thinks she can do better and wants to live up to what she feels she can accomplish!

I'd never heard of Abeka, but I cna't bring myself to use it - the first things I read about it were all about how great the videos are, how long they are for this subject and that, etc. I did the math and realized my 5 year old would be in front of a TV for WAY too long. And now I KNOW that there are Abeka books and more interactive options, but I jsut can't get past that initial turn-off. Aside from that, I thought all you Comic Sans haters would get a kick out of this (the second and third photos). http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/2010/03/30/completely-valid-rebuttals

:iagree: Besides, the day actually WAS black, what with the sun being dark for three hours. I don't see this statement as racially charged at all.

I think you're making a good choice. Talk to her and see what she has to say. See how she responds. I have to say, with all of the therapists I've dealt with (between speech, OT, behavioural, physio, etc) not ONE of them would have the audacity to presume to tells us what parenting choices we should or shouldn't be making for our child. They're too professional and frankly, they have enough respect for us to realize that we think these things through and their opinion won't change our mind. The only time someone HAS mentioned something (WRT to homeschooling, btw) was, "Can I ask what you plan to do about social skills?" That was it. Not a lecture, a (albeit leading) question, and one that was easily answered (to their satisfaction). If a therapist thought they had the right to call me out like that.... hoo boy. I'd talk to them afterwards and see if we could mend fences, but the relationship would NOT be the same again. Can I ask how often you meet with this therapist? Spending the first 10/15 minutes talking to you instead of your child seems a bit excessive (and frankly, expensive for the amount you pay them per hour!) if you're seeing her frequently. To answer a PP, yes, it's common for children to be left alone with their therapists. I often leave the door open to hear what's going on if I feel like "tuning in" for a while, and the therapists will always tell me when the session is done how things went and what weaknesses he had, etc.

I love Henry. I know I'm going to sound like one of those Moms who like names based on movies, but when I hear it I flash to the movie Ever After, where the Prince tells Drew Barrymore to "call me Henry". That right there makes it a romantic, classic name for me. ;) Honestly though, I do like it. It's more "classic" than "old" to me.

I don't have mine yet - how long is a typical segment?

I'm 28. I'm homeschooling two of my three children, both of whom have autism, and considering the possibility of fostering other children with autism. To call someone my own age only partway to adulthood is just plain insulting. If this man is immature, making up ridiculous excuses for it certainly isn't going to help him open his eyes at all. That being said - the kid who played Jacob in New Moon was just a teen. A very hot teen. ;) He's attractive - it doesn't mean I'd go out and jump his bones, but there's no reason to pretend that he's not attractive just because he's young - it's not even really sexual, but he is good looking. (Same with Sawyer - although personality wise, up until recently I'd been more of a Sayid fan. ;) )

Really? Up here in Canada there are a few distributors. If you're in Canada (I know you're probably not, but on the off chance that you are), you can order through http://www.learninghouse.ca . It's probably cheaper to just buy directly from All About Spelling, though.

Well, one more post and you're there. :D

Aurelia, thank you! I keep wondering what the plural of "curriculum" is. I'm a newbie to this whole thing and couldn't seem to find it anywhere (or my mind in it's rushed state just glossed right over it). I never thought I would homeschool. My three best friends throughout my middleschool and teens years were all homeschooled - of the dress-only wearing fundie variety. (No offense - I'm a fundie myself, but their families were just a little kooky.) I was always SO glad my family wasn't like that. I never "promised myself" I wouldn't do that, because it was SO far off my radar that I never even dreamed it would be a consideration. I also never thought I would be crunchy. Yet here I am, baking my own bread, growing my own veggies, and shopping for local organic food. You can still be cool and be a crunchy homeschooling Mom, right? RIGHT? [pleads for affirmation]

Excellent, thank you! I'd been told their website didn't ship to Canada, but it appears that they do, so I can get whatever I want! :D

I can only find one Canadian company that sells this program, and they sell a cursive product for younger kids and one for Grades 5+. I've heard that this is a good program for kids with fine motor issues, but I need something that will help them with their printing first. Does HWOT have a print program? (I'm assuming not since the title is HandWRITING Without Tears, but a girl can dream.) Are there any other comparable programs for printing?

Boot legs are only slightly wider around the calf then straight leg, to accommodate, well, a boot. You probably wouldn't feel like there's a lot of extra fabric around your legs unless you're used to wearing skinny jeans.

I've been there. I was hurt, he said he'd stop, did for a while until I regained trust, and then eventually he'd shatter it again. over and over and over. What finally changed is that (and this will sound corny) he began to love Christ. He had been trying to do good for ME, and for the KID and for HIMSELF. But when all's said and done, his love for me and the kids and even his own good is limited. He needed to sincerely love Christ, and have THAT love be his motivation. Frankly, he's a new man, not just in regards to his problems and our trust issues. Everything is different. He's a better father, a spiritual leader, a caring husband. Until he really understand what love was as modelled by Christ, "got" the meaning of it, accepting it for himself and loved Christ back - there was no way he could love anything or anyone enough to change. In short - work on the problem, but consider what that problem is. Whatever is going on, I'm willing to bet that if you look ahrd enough, at the root of the issue isn't his relationship with you, or his relationship with the kids. It's a problem with his relationship with GOD that's at the root of this, and THAT's what you need to be focusing on with him. If he can get the heart, soul and mind in the right place with Christ, the rest will follow.

The first set is the order in which they were written. CS Lewis wrote The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe first, and if I'm not mistaken The Horse and His Boy and The Magician's Nephew were two of last he wrote, despite fitting into the storyline at an earlier point. More recent editions usually sell them in the order in which they're intended to be read, which it sounds like your new set is. The order is which they're read should be 1. The Magician's Nephew 2. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe 3. The Horse and His Boy 4. Prince Caspian 5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 6. The Silver Chair 7. The Last Battle

I have an (expensive, top-of-the-line) version. I've never found pieces of plastic because of it. HOWEVER, it doesn't actually shop ANYTHING. It barely holds anything, and it certainly doesn't chop all the way through anything - it pretty much just makes dents in the top of it. SUCH a waste of money - thankfully I bought it with a gift certificate I got as a gift, or I'd feel bad for wasting that much money.

Rose was a candidate? Somehow I missed that! Is she still, or was her name crossed out?

Hurley's name was in the cave, and his corresponding number was on the wheel. Both were not crossed out. His name on the rock was "Reyes", I believe - I forget exactly how to spell it. I think that out the end of this, Hurley will be the one to save them all, to everyone's surprise (perhaps even Jacob's). No one expects anything of him, and we all know how they like their plot twists. ;) It seems almost like they're intentionally downplaying him thus far. It MUST be for a purpose.

There's a Lindt outlet about 2 minutes from my home. One of those bars is 25 cents. A bag of truffles is about $1. How is a girl supposed to lose weight?

Hulu doesn't work outside of the United States, and there's nothing except promos up on youtube. Does anyone have any sites from which I might be able to view this internationally?

Regardless of whether she talks to the Dad, she HAS to report this to Children's services. She's a MANDATED reporter. If she were to talk to the Dad, nothing changes, and this happens again... She would need to report it anyways. And if they find out she didn't report this incident now, she turns already tenuous relationship with CPS into a flat out bad one. Besides, how exactly would she get in touch with him? Call up the mom and ask for the step dad's work phone number?

Can I ask why? Someone recommended it to me, but I have no idea how it's different from other curriculum choices.

I am NOT a germaphobe. Frankly, my house is pretty unclean. It's often untidy, I don't dust often enough, and I disinfect RARELY. We almost never get sick, and as long as I have half an hour to run around before company comes over, I'm okay with it. Knowing whree I'm coming from, as an anti-germaphobe - I am SOOOO with you on this. I usually make sandwiches on a plate because I don't know what germs might be on my counter (and I don't have a cat!). If I DO make sandwiches on the counter, I wipe it down with a Lysol wipe first (I just bought there - love 'em). Rinsing out your mop in the kitchen sink? Does he KNOW what's on your floors? He wants you to wash your dishes (and your hands) in that? Lesson learned on the hand vac - thin dust flies EVERYWHERE when I empty mine. My hands feels gross afterwards. I sure wouldn't want it on my counter. The sandbox.... um, ew. Just ew. I'd keep some disinfecting wipes handy (have I mentioned that I love them?) and give him some room on the first 3 - tell him he can do it his way, but you want him to wipe down the area around it after. Meh, maybe since it creates more work he'll just change how he does it. But in the interest of compromise, I'd give on those 3 to get the sand changed.

I'm okay with it, depending on the motivation behind it. I think often, a person will do it because they don't feel like they're good enough the way they are, and they need to be "fixed" to be worthy of some goal they're trying to attain. That's not a healthy reason. There are plenty of reasons it could be just fine, though. For myself - I yo-yo in weight. When I go down, I get those lovely flappy arms, and the tummy pooch that currently makes me look 4 months pg turns into a cottage-cheese-ish flap. If I ever get this weight off and KEEP it off for substantial amount of time, so that I know I've figured out how to make it "stick" - I'll get surgery to remove the excess skin.

Marella sounds similar to my oldest boy. I think both you and your wife are right here. She may have a short term memory and be unable to reconcile the idea of her tantrum a week ago affecting something today. However, your wife is likely also correct in that she probably can understand consequences. It sounds like you're just making the consequences too far removed. When we first started the reward system, our boys worked for several small, but immediate and tangible rewards throughout the day. For example, they'd work for chicken nuggets for lunch, or playing with a favoured toy (that was reserved especially for this purpose, or playing a game they love, etc. We also keep a lot of little trinkets on hand for those times nothing else appeals to them - a new shiny toy or colouring book from the dollar store (or in Marella's case, maybe shiny jewelry or hair accessories, depending on what she's interested in) that's sitting there waiting for them can be very motivating. Here's what we do - it's a technique that comes HIGHLY recommended by our autism behaviour therapist. It may not work for you guys, but it sounds like it might be worth a shot. We keep a sheet of paper on a very visible wall. It looks like this (apologies for the poor computer rendering): _________________________________________________________ | | | _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ | | = (insert poor drawing of reward here) | | | | _____ _____ | | = (insert drawing of reward with a red x over it here) _________________________________________________________ How it works: The top 5 space of for smiley faces. When she is kind or holds back a tantrum when she might normally have one, she gets a smiley face. (When you first start out, use ANY excuse to give a smiley face - it helps them get used to the system and see it as a good thing). Once she earns 5 smiley faces - she gets the reward. The bottom two lines are for the letter X. If she gets 2 Xs, she loses her reward. She cannot work for that reward again that day (but you may choose to let her try again the next day). This way, you can give her a consequence (either an X or a happy face) immediately, and she doesn't ahve to wait a full week to eitehr lose or gain her reward. Plus, there's a visual around at all times that will allow her to keep tabs on how she's doing. It's worked wonders for my kids. They've been doing it for a while, and it's been phased out to the point that its' pretty much unnecessary now. Start with more rewards, then pare it down to one a day, then down from there. I hope something in there helped you!