I believe in clear, accurate information. Books are great (and there are several threads of recommendations fairly recently, though I like "It's Not the Stork", http://www.amazon.com/Its-Not-Stork-Families-Friends/dp/0763600474 which is age appropriate but detailed), but if not I would simply say something like: "Women have a special passage between thier legs called a birth canal, or v*gina. When they give birth, the muscles in the uterus where the baby has been developing squeeze tight and push them out through that opening, which can stretch wide to let the baby pass through." Further information would be provided as questions were asked, or with time and preparation I might pull out a book. My six year old could tell you this information, probably pretty close to verbatim. My four year old has heard it, but doesn't get it yet. I guess my point is that accurate information about the body has to come from somewhere, and as homeschoolers it's us or no one. I don't want to raise boys who are afraid to talk about thier own bodies. I do actually know a young man who almost died because he was too ashamed to tell his mom that he had pain "down there" and ended up with stage 3 cancer. I also want to raise men who can talk to their future wives with openness and candor, will know what they are talking about, and can discuss human sexuality and development without shame or discomfort. The way we as parents present this information sets the stage for a lifetime of attitudes. (Note--I have no problem saying the actual word v*gina, I'm editing it so this thread doesn't come up in unsavory internet searches)

Well, we definitely go to church ;)... then come home after fellowship time and classes, if I'm teaching any. On the way home sometimes we have a family lunch out. When we get home I take a nap. And the evening is all family time--playing games, watching movies. Today we have a friend over (to play games and watch movies), but usually it is just us. We decline birthday parties and the like. When I was growing up we always went to see a matinee as a family on Sundays. I really enjoyed that... but now we see our matinee movies on Fridays.

When my husband was hospitalized several years ago, I started driving through fast food. Never got out of the habit. So our Sunday morning drive starts at the closest McDonald's--and since we live 11 miles from church, we are just finishing up by the time we arrive. I guess it could be worse--usually we eat egg mcmuffins without the meat--so it's an english muffin, a piece of cheese and an egg. Not THAT bad nutritionally...:tongue_smilie:

I love the Indigo Girls as well! At my old church I led a modern worship service and we used some of their songs--Hammer and A Nail comes to mind. Also a Tori Amos fan, though I haven't listened to her for a while. I saw the Indigo Girls perform back in college (around 1990 or so) in Baltimore. Don't remember the venue--it was kind of a small club. Fun memories!

"Don't they know that when there is more than one queen, bees fight to the death?" Now to tell him to quit reading over my shoulder!

Well said! Kindness and understanding all around will do wonders for the "water cooler" and the world at large.

I like the student pages three hole punched (after cutting off the binding), but the teacher's portion comb bound (also after cutting off the binding). There's no reason you couldn't have them all hole punched together, of course!

Mine from last year looks great.... they cut it close enough to the spine that you can still detach it at the perforation... about 1/3 inch between the cut and the perforation, which is the left side of the page. But it probably depends on the person who does it--I'd be very clear! I also pulled out the teacher pages and had them bound seperately.

I always enjoy the threads where people post their upcoming plans. I just bought all my books for next year (though they aren't here yet) so here goes and feel free to chime in with yours: 2nd Grade: SOTW II Literature--Classics 400-1600 (some read-aloud) GWG 4 SWO D/E HWT Printing 2 CW Aesop Trail Guide to World Geography Minimus Secundus MP Famous Men of Rome study EPGY Math (online) Explorers Beginnings II Bible R.E.A.L. Science 1 -- Earth & Space Drawing with Children Kindergarten: Phonics Pathways HWT K book Literature: Classic fairy tales (read aloud) Survey of world cultures (Based on GTG and other resources) Drawing with Children Singapore Earlybird Kindergarten mathematics

I don't know... but if you do end up having to buy a softbound copy, you can always take it to Kinko's and have them cut off the spine and punch holes. I did that last year, plus had them comb bind the teacher pages seperately as a small book of their own, and it was less than $5. I think just the cutting and hole punching would be even less.

I'd just do it as a read aloud! I've used the AG much less than expected this year (not feeling crafty, I guess), and I'm always amazed at how much my ds remembers. Even if we just read the material and discuss. We often, but not always, do narrations. But it's all sinking in, somehow. How about listening to the CDs in the car while you are driving? Better than no history at all, and they might really enjoy it.

My oldest ds is just finishing up Minimus after finishing PL and giving up most of the way through LCI because he was bored. Minimus has been a hit--though I'm glad my dh has a good Latin background because I think he is able to explain the grammar in more depth than the text does (my dh is the sole Latin teacher here, for the most part). I just ordered Secundus from Amazon a couple of days ago. We're planing on moving on to the Galore Park Latin Prep next. It looks great--and my ds want's something colorful and exciting. I expect we'll be starting it sometime next year, but since it's a step up I think the delay won't hurt. I'd like to head for Cambridge Latin eventually, but not sure how that will work out...

Oh Laurel... I'm so sorry for you. We'll be praying for you and your dh. I must say that I do admire people who are called to teach public school... it is a tough job, and I'm sure for some of these kids a much better place to be than a violent home. But as a wife, that probably isn't very much comfort. Ugh. Please come and vent here... it must be so scary.

We did FLL 1 & 2, but went on to GWG 3 (instead of R&S). It covers the same material, but is a newer, workbook based curriculum. I liked FLL well enough, but GWG seems clearer and less "fluffy", and my ds can do the written work almost independantly. So we're going to be sticking with GWG... at least check it out at http://www.growingwithgrammar.com We're going to be trying CW next year (2nd grade) as a writing program, though we may jettison some of the grammar because we'll be doing GWG 4. I think it will be challenging because of the handwriting in our case, but we're planning on letting him type some of the work as needed. You may also look at Writing Tales, which appears to be simpler--would probably be a better fit for a younger child in general. Now, I think that lots of folks would recommentd holding off on the writing--but my dh is a professional writer (and so am I, in some ways) and we think of both creative and expository writing as a core subject. On the old boards, however, I had a discussion with the authors of CW on the accelerated board, and they recommended against starting early... but I think in our case it will be a good fit.

Yep... you really should head in to the ER. It's a pain, but better safe than sorry!

If you search the past threads about this, you'll find a link to court documents for the previous allegations--there were fairly detailed records of this family's history with child protective services. Unfortunately, the judge's decision to state in his ruling that "all children must be in public school" affects everyone in the state. And so the court battle begins... even if the ruling is permanently vacated, we'll probably end up some new, and more restrictive, legislation as they try to "clarify" state rules.

Quiet work space? Bwah ha ha!! I usually work at a desk in the bedroom (upstairs, with the door shut) but our boys still run in and out all the time. I'm pretty good about being interrupted though, I don't easily lose my train of thought.... also, I do a lot of my writing late at night or early in the morning. In some cases I can sit downstairs and work on my laptop in the midst of it all--earplugs are one of my favorite things!

Lol! That was my thought too... I know a doc with whom she'd fit right in! Anyhow, I just think that some people have poor coping skills and are easily socially overwhelmed. It doesn't suprise me that they exist, just when I discover them in places where you would THINK more social skills are required. And some level of professionalism. Sorry you had such a bad day. I always ask myself the same question afterwards--was it me?? But nope--it wasn't you!

It's at the bottom of the page... Reading age = (Number of correct words/10) + 5

I have a similar experience... elementary and junior high were the pits (and definately affect our homeschooling decision), but high school was OK. My public high school I attended my last two years was really pretty good, I took three AP classes my senior year and had lots of electives--French 4, advanced Drama classes with an awesome theater, etc. I have no idea how it is now--I graduated from Overland High School in Aurora, CO, but I've never been back in the area since I graduated in '88. Socially, it wasn't spectacular, but not as bad as junior high or elementary. My dh attended a private high school (Newark Academy in New Jersey) and loved every minute of it. College was awesome all around, however!

I hope this is getting less frequent, but I was shopping at a teachers supply store just last week, and was asked for my teacher discount card. I replied that I didn't have one, we homeschool. She started telling me that if I bring in a document from my charter school, that will suffice. I've been through this discussion before there... I just smiled and said we don't use a charter or umbrella school. Shocked look. "So how are your kids given their yearly standardized tests?" "They aren't." "But... how will they ever go to college?" "By doing fantastically on the SAT." "Oh... they can take SATs if they aren't in school?" "Yes. Anyone can take SATs." "Oh..." I stopped myself from making the comment that my standards were far higher than those of any public school, and just smiled and went about my day. How will my kids go to college, indeed!:tongue_smilie:

Thanks, friends! Your advice confirmed my guess, and we called the doc's pager line after I posted. Ugh, what a night... we tried for several hours, but every time he tried to drink it would come back up. He finally just stood over the sink. Dh says it wasn't the taste, he thinks, but something about the consistency that made his stomach reject it. He'd swallow, and 30 seconds later be retching. Anyhow, we finally got a call back from the MD late last night. He said just to cancel this morning's test, reschedule for next week, and he'll have him do the pills prep. They have pills! But he wants him to do a liquid diet for two days before the pills, then one day of pills.... so no food from next Sunday to next Wednesday! Dh is just happy that he won't have to try to get more of the liquid down... he really felt bad, and kept assuring me that he wasn't trying to be such a pain. Poor guy... it was some night. Thank you!

OK, my dh is having a colonoscopy tomorrow morning. (You knew it was going to be something like that, right?) He's supposed to drink 4 liters of this clear liquid stuff to clean him out. Problem--he keeps gagging on it and vomiting because it tastes so bad (it does have added cherry flavor). He's a "super taster" in general, and very sensitive to unpleasant flavors. So what do we do? How much must he drink? Any MDs or nurses want to give some advice on this? He's been trying for half an hour, and it isn't pretty....

I've never been... my best friends were either a year younger than me or a year older than me. I can vaguely remember a few people from my year, but not enough to actually want to see them! I'm still in touch (rarely) with my best friend from high school, and she's the only one I'd want to hang out with. Now, college friends we still see pretty frequently (dh and I went to college together), so we don't go to those reunions either--we are still in touch with all the friends we'd want to see.

My dh has been a SAHD since our oldest son was born--six years now. He has done freelance writing during that time, and still has his "day off" on Wednesdays, when he drives down to work in his favorite comic book store with his good friends. I know that he struggles with maintaining his personal identity when he is just "the boy's dad" most of the places he goes... but the actual daily parenting stuff he loves. I work full time as a pastor, often from home (like now) during the day, though I have far more evening and weekend meetings and committments than I would like. I work a lot of hours, but I try to do most of my writing at night or when the boys are doing school, so we can spend lots of time together. I do dislike missing family dinner so often, but we have family breakfast together every day, and I'm rarely out of the house for more than 3-4 hours at a time. I like my schedule fully integrated with my life. I enjoy that we have a lifestyle where it is rare that we aren't both in contact with our children for several hours a day, that we really get to co-parent and rejoice in our family together. I did attend a training seminar this past Friday/Saturday, and was out of the house all day from morning to night--I can't imagine how folks can live that way! My boys missed me so much, they just draped themselves over me to watch a movie that night.