I don't really try to distribute my calories in any particular way -- just hit my goal for the day -- but 1200 calories seems really low to me. Was that number recommended to you somewhere?

DH has an advanced degree in math and is a professor (in a different discipline). I was just talking to one of his friends who majored in math as an undergraduate and then worked analyzing market research for a pharmaceutical company. Lots and lots of their math grad school colleagues are in finance, and I have another math major friend who is an actuary.

We are a mixed-race family and live in an extremely diverse environment. I used to think that it was better not to make a point of noticing and discussing differences, on the theory that all that socially constructed nonsense should perish in the dustbin of history anyway. However, at some point I read some research that suggested that in fact this wasn't the best way to teach a child not to be prejudiced (I can't remember exactly what I read, unfortunately, but it must have been the Po Bronson piece mentioned above). Being an empirically minded kind of person, I decided to revise my approach and oh my, I'm glad I did. There were some serious misconceptions under the silence and subsequent conversations have convinced me that explicitly noting and discussing some of these difficult issues is the way to go.

Sorry to hear that it wasn't nothing, but if you have to have something, basal cell is a good diagnosis to have. My mother had one removed from her nose last year and it was something of a production since it was on her face but her nose looks just fine. I believe that they have a technique these days -- Mohs, possibly? -- that involves taking one layer off at a time, but it leaves much less of a scar. I actually had a melanoma removed from my back (I am also extremely fair skinned) about 15 years ago, and despite the rather primitive excision technique, even that scar is not terribly noticeable these days. Best of luck.

Do people in China really have a lower rate of osteoporosis than Americans? My husband is Chinese-American and my understanding is that osteoporosis is a major risk for Asian women generally. His grandmother, who grew up in China, was terribly bent over; MIL had a fairly precipitous drop in bone density after menopause but she seems to be staving it off so far by a LOT of exercise (she swims).

My almost-6yo is totally that kid raising his hand to offer the random comment in a class. Also forgetting to raise his hand/raising his hand too often. My husband and I have both noticed this -- the other (conventionally schooled) children in his music and sports classes definitely have a better grip on classroom norms. We are working on it, but it's a process, and in the interim I am sure that people find it annoying and/or judge our parenting negatively. OTOH, I regularly get compliments on how nicely my older boys play together and how sweet they are to other children on the playground. Are we doing well, or poorly? Hard to tell.

Wait, what? This can't mean that there is a state in the U.S. in which only 3% of people consider themselves Christian, right? The last surveys I saw put the number at 76% nationally.

Yes, this is pretty much my experience as well, except my oldest is only coming up on 6. But I also always feel compelled to add in these sorts of discussions that it's not like there are all sorts of magically inexpensive, noncompetitive preschool options for not-crazy people. In the two neighborhoods I've lived in since having kids, if you want to send your kid to ANY preschool, of any kind, you have to (1) go through the whole application process a year in advance; and (2) expect to pay a staggering amount. We didn't do it, obviously, but everyone else i know did, and like the PP said, it was insane to watch but all turned out just fine in the end. One of my good friends moved to the 'burbs last year and she could not get over the idea that she could just go to a local synagogue and sign her kids up for preschool, boom, write the check, done.

I talk about emergency preparedness with my kids, but less in the context of stocking our apartment and more about where to go and what to do in the case of an emergency. Staying calm, noticing exit signs, following instructions, going down to the basement, etc. Beyond the current disaster in Japan and the WTC situation (we live very near) we do FIAR and this has come up surprisingly often in those lessons, too.

Age. I can't imagine anyone possibly cares what work we're doing, and I don't keep close enough track of what various schools do in different grades to be able to give an precise answer by level, anyway.

Yes, this. There is a massive infrastructure in place there that simply does not exist here. I was there for one evacuation and people move FAST. Everyone knows what to do (because they practice) and supplies are in place. And even so the toll is horrifying.

I used to live in a house in northeastern Japan that has certainly been swept out to sea. After it fell down, probably -- I was in that house during a relatively minor earthquake (and subsequent tsunami warning) and I can't imagine it withstanding a big one. Now I live in an apartment building two blocks from the WTC. We keep several days of food and water in here, plus some cash, but in the final analysis I think in our circumstances surviving a disaster would be mostly about luck and secondarily about staying calm. I now respond IMMEDIATELY to all alarms, though. Not too long ago I snatched the kids out of their beds and ran down 16 flights because I smelled smoke and saw the fire engines downstairs. (Turned out that it was just a burning hose in the laundry room.) Two nights ago a plane flew low and loudly overhead and in that moment of waiting I thought, "If I hear a crash, I am grabbing the kids and going down to the basement." I have a friend who was in the WTC during the 1993 bombing and only survived the 2001 one because she kept walking downstairs, even when the announcements said all was okay.

Jean, I just posted in reply to one of your posts on the College Board -- I'm sorry for what you're going through. I have friends in Yamada and Miyako, up the coast, and am just walking around with my heart in my throat. I also can't stop watching the videos and other stuff on the web. Hugs to you :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

Avi. We had three boys. And my grandfather's name was Abraham (Avi is short for the Hebrew name for Abraham), no less. Avi would have been PERFECT, and I fought hard for it all three times. But, alas, DH just wouldn't hear of it. Our last name is Chinese, and he felt that Avi Wong* would be just "too much." Sigh. So I now feel that everyone else should name their baby boys Avi. *Not our real name

Oh Jean, I so hope everyone is all right. :grouphug::grouphug: I lived for a bit in Yamada-machi, which is north of Sendai, and still have friends there and in Miyako. It is such a catastrophe. I can't stop watching the videos of the water and looking at photos of the aftermath, even though I really should. Like you, though, I can't imagine we'll hear from anyone any time soon.

Yes, this. My BIL really wanted to major in history but his (practical, practical) parents wouldn't hear of it. They wanted engineering, but after prolonged battles settled for economics. He went into business right after graduation but quit in unhappiness a few years ago and is now an aspiring actor. It s making his parents CRAZY -- all that money they spent! for an ivy league education no less! what is he doing with his life?! -- but they can't do a d-- thing about it any more, and he manages to pay his own bills. They should have let him major in history, if you ask me. Maybe he would have figured out what he actually wanted to do instead of all this drifting. It certainly seems worth discussing the practicalities of graduating with a theater degree, but as another poster said, it's not like there's any degree that guarantees you a secure future.

I cannot stand amusement parks or carnivals, never been to the circus or to a mass picnic, but I like local festivals. It's almost impossible to get away from the crowds where I live, though, and any kind of weekend event is sure to be a total mob scene, which pretty much saps any 'fun' out of whatever it is.

I just thought of another one -- The Core Knowledge books are secular, as far as I know.

I have no idea what the correct answer is. FWIW, we started HWT K printing at 4 and I have always been very finicky about proper grip and letter formation. For handwriting practice (as opposed to just writing on his own) I insist that every letter be correctly formed; if not, he erases and does it again. HOWEVER, we do very little practice -- 5 to 10 minutes, tops. Now that we're in the 1st grade book, he often does much less than a full page per lesson -- sometimes just a few words. My thinking here is probably informed by Suzuki music, which we also do -- better to do less but do it perfectly. But really, I'm just making it up as I go along. :001_smile:

I would say that FIAR -- minus the Bible supplement, obviously - is largely secular. There is no mention of God or religion in the main guides, and so far all of the recommended resources that I have found have also been secular. That said, IMO FIAR is informed by a certain sensibility. For example, some of the suggested social studies lessons on values emphasize the importance of obedience, which always strikes me (I'm Jewish) as particularly Christian. The selected picture books are ones that would be largely inoffensive to a religious audience -- no Heather Has Two Mommies here -- and so far (we're only in Vol. 2) none of the characters in any of the books have been anything other than undetermined (most books), Christian, (a couple of books) or Jewish (one book), although there's nothing at all derogatory to anyone else, either. The go-along holiday and seasonal guides that you can buy through digital download are not secular -- the religious stuff that is presumably shunted off to the Bible supplement for the main guide is integrated within for the other guides. I still think that it is very usable for a secular homeschooling family, though (as we are).

That quote from the garrison commander is just appalling. You can ask folks not to jump to conclusions quite yet without oh-so-coyly blaming the victim. Ugh. Those poor families.

I voted no for K-4 and then "other,' because my oldest is only a kindergartener and it seemed silly for me to project that far forward. I have to imagine that it would be extremely difficult to homeschool a 17yo who was dead set against it. Not that you couldn't refuse to enroll them in school, but I can't think that you'd get much done at home, either. Although come to think of it, I do remember reading one book -- I think it was Paula Penn-Nabrit's book? -- about homeschooling middle and high schoolers who hated homeschooling. In any event, I'd like to think that as everyone gets older, we'll be able to decide together.

I'm still boggling at the idea of a homeschooling store in the first place. But this: cracked me up The "aesthetically problematic" in particular. No democracy of tastes here!!

I find bread pudding just OK (unless it has raisins in it, in which case no way), but making it chocolate would definitely raise the appeal. That said, I'll take the flourless chocolate cake instead every time.