Pre-holed copy paper! I agree with the in house copy machine, but it's even better when the paper is pre-holed. I also use a ton of 3 ring binders so everything has a home. Jo

Would you please express my thanks to Emily for her service! Thank God for your daughter and others who choose to serve in harms way. I will pray for her now. "Because living significantly is more important than living safely." --- Jo

Don't expect change overnight! It takes a while to develop the imagination if they have been watching a lot of TV for entertainment. It happens even when TV is generally rare in a home but for some reason (illness, mom's on bedrest, etc.) the TV has been running more often. I find that my children need some kickstarts into imagination. I let them build forts in their rooms with tons of spare sheets. I play charades with them. I let them prepare an entire picnic banquet in the middle of the family room floor using all the dishes they wish. (clean up stinks, but the imaginative, thought provoking fun are worth it). We start a family story: I make a story story like, "once upon a time there was a naughty little prince that lived in an enormous castle in the middle of a forrest. All he ever wanted was...." And then I pass the story on to one of the children. My naughty prince stories are family favorites! I guess I'm just trying to warn you that all the ideas given are wonderful, but many of them will take some time working towards. Your attitude will go a long way! Jo

Mrs. Mungo- that's a good point. Perhaps they had to say 8 survived the crash because Claire obviously survived to have the baby, but doesn't make it off the island. Wait, that wouldn't make sense since Kate is claiming Aaron is her own. Oh phooey. I thought I was on to something. It may be the reason Sun is one of the Oceanic 6 and Jin would have been the other survivor of the crash that doesn't get off the island. Sun had to get pregnant somehow, right? ;) I don't think is becoming any more looney. He has always been intense. But I'm still reeling from the whole Jacob, Walter, cabin thing. Creepy. The Locke comment that pricked my ears last night, was when he told Miles that he was protecting the island (wasn't that what he said?). Or did he say he was in charge of the island? Does anyone remember that? Honestly I liked that he was playing rough with Miles. Someone needs to get answers! Jo

Hey Missy! Some of us consider these fightin' words!! ;) I'm like many others and don't really count weeks. We do the next the thing. My life has been one interruption after the other for two years strait. There is no way I would reach the mythical end to the school year. :rolleyes: Of course I'm being cheeky about the "fightin' words". It just puts some of us in a tail spin to try and tally that number up. Having said that, we've had two weeks of fantastic learning! If I could keep these weeks rolling I would be satisfied to never reach an "end". Jo

Kate is preventing her mom from seeing the baby because it will give away some clue? Can anyone tell me how long they had been off the island when Kate went to trial? Obviously there is some time lapse because Aaron is older, but I'm wondering if it was mentioned in the trial? This would rule out Kate still being pregnant I think, but there are some fuzzy areas that I would like to clear up on timing. And why does Jack look so put together? When, or at what time, does he disintegrate? Sheesh! I need a chart on the wall or something! :o So who is number 6? Lets take a poll.... I think it's the Korean woman- I can't remember her name, urgh. Is it Sun? Or is that her husband? Jo

When we saw the footage this morning on the news my kids were going nuts! They thought it was the coolest thing the Navy had ever done! Coby came up to me later and said, "Mom, I bet the Army-Navy game is going to have a lot more Navy fans this year" I was rolling. I can't wait to hear if Drew got to observe it. He's out there in the general area from what I understand. Your Dad must be thrilled. Jo

Having read through the replies, I can see that people were taking the "why" much more literally than I was. I have indeed been asked, "WHY do you homeschool", but more often I'm peppered with logistical, philosophical, and personal questions about our choice to homeschool. Many of you mentioned that people don't ask you "why?" but ask you "how?". I would agree that this happens more often than not. Add that to that fact that I can talk to a stump :o- seriously I just LOVE meeting people from all walks of life. My husband gets asked about our choice to homeschool a lot. He also gets challenged by his colleagues about the ability to give a quality education- of course he is surrounded by engineers! ;) I can see that our exposure to wide varieties of people not associated with homeschooling or church makes us more of an oddity than most. Nobody in our church has ever asked me anything about homeschooling except what we use (curriculums). It's starting to make a little more sense. Thanks everybody!!! Jo

Reading the post about what you say when people ask, "why do you homeschool," many of you said people rarely ask. Is it just me that gets this question all the time? Seriously, it is a rare week that I don't get asked- maybe every other week. I suppose this may occur because I will talk to just about anybody- in lines at the store, at the park, in the street, etc. :o But I was really surprised that so few people are asking. Maybe they look at me and naturally think, "What the HECK was she thinking!" LOL :) Jo

My dh found a great starter sentence when someone asks us why we homeschool. "No type of education is perfect, and homeschooling has some drawbacks" We have found that it disarms people. We usually follow up that statement with something like, "but of all the imperfections, we can live with the ones homeschooling brings the easiest" Jo

"preferrably females" :D I don't exclusively wear dresses. It would be particularly difficult during the nursing days. I DO, however, almost always wear skirts when I go out. I like knee length skirts (more sporty than feminine, I admit). I don't know that I have any philosophical opinion other than I think I look more put together and lady-like. Also, there is my dh's preference for skirts on me (he likes my calves)....:) I wouldn't be able to make a commitment to only wear one type of apparel though. Jo

Horatio Hornblower I love Lucy Andy Griffith Show The Lone Ranger Superman (the black and white, real people one) Bonanza

"the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment and to pay more respect to the judgment of others..." --Benjamin Franklin on urging his fellow delegates to ratify the constitution after getting bogged down in debate. "Tyrrany, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph." ---Thomas Paine "I have not yet begun to fight" ---John Paul Jones (context is everything to this quote. He was being thrashed by the British Navy, his ship was badly damaged, and the British commander called out to ask if he was ready to surrender. He went on to capture the British vessel and crew) Okay so none of these are directly related to homeschooling, but they are some of my favorites. ;) All my school quotes are in boxes in storage. Jo

As a former Labor and Delivery nurse there is no way I could do a home birth. I simply have too many memories of things going wrong. I have had midwives in the hospital and this is my favorite option. As for your wishes, that depends on just how assertive you are. I'm a pain in the arse.:o I refuse almost all interventions. As long as I'm certain of what I want, and everything is going fine during labor, they leave me alone until I'm pushing. I like it this way. You can also refuse to allow the baby to be taken anywhere without you or your husband. I haven't read the other responses. I'm sure there is a wide variety of opinions on this topic. My ultimate advice is to go with what you feel most comfortable (not just in esthetics but also in safety). Jo

and I remember a few more specifics from the interview. He challenges the willy nilly use of the word "fascist" as it is used today. The author points out the historical atmosphere in places like Germany and Italy prior to the wide spread acceptance of fascism. He points out the general popularity of Moussolini and Hitler in the early days. I believe the gist of the book is that fascism sneaks in with smiley face, not as a ruthless, lunatic leader. He points out that fascism starts with a little governmental control here, a little there, and then marchs towards other losses of freedoms. Hitler was a vegetarian with a strong push to revise the nutritional practices of the nation (I never knew that!). People thought that was fairly benign so they allowed the government to control certain dietary practices. I admit I didn't learn much about the conditions of the countries prior to them ushering in fascism, so I think it will be a good read. That and my preceding notion that the word "fascist" is indeed used too...well...um...liberally. :rolleyes: Jo

it sounds quite interesting. I would like to read it. It's on the ever growing reading list. Jo

I had another thought. Would you be willing to contact one of the local homeschooling organizations and ask if there is a family who would do a trade in hosting your family. Since you live in the DC area this may really be possible. When we lived in Como Park we attended a church called Grace Church Roseville. They had a very organized homeschooling group and perhaps they would have some ideas. Just a thought. Jo

The hike from Taylors Falls to Stillwater is lovely and very child friendly. The bonus is at the end there is the BEST little bakery. We often camped at Taylors Falls and then walked into town for hot chocolate and baked goods. You will find the Como Park zoo very limited if that is what you leaning towards. Then again it's free, there is a carousel nearby, and the park itself is lovely. The larger zoo is a little bit out of the way but fantastic! As for accomodations, have you looked into cabins at state parks? We stay in state park cabins quite frequently now, but we rarely did then so I don't know what's available. It would be an adventure. Jo

I won't be joining Costco until we move back to the Leeward side of the island. The travel time would negate the savings. At the Kaneohe MCB OV is $5.35/half-gallon! Horizons is still in the $3.60 range. I like the taste of OV better, but yikes the cost difference is just too much. The local safeway has a generic brand of organic but we haven't price compared. I wonder what provider feeds into the generic store brands? Hawaii is about to shut down it's last dairy farm. I have only lived here a couple months but I'm already writing letters about why the government can't protect certain land areas as "forever agricultural" land. It is the absolute ONLY way the farmers and dairies will invest in their businesses. The cost of land and the money from home builders and hotel industry can always out bid on the land. Can you believe I can only find ONE organic farmers market on the entire island of Oahu? One. And it isn't in a convenient location for most of the island. This is Hawaii for pete's sake. Year round growing season, plenty of demand. :confused: For a place that is actually debating a BAN on plastic bags and styrofoam. They could do a lot more. Sorry, I got a little off topic. Jo

About 2 BUCKS more per half gallon for OV. Making the transition to organic milk after moving to Hawaii is taking a bite out of the food budget! Jo

Congrats my dear. :D:D:D:D Jo

And our schedule often varies from week to week. I have no problem doing school on Saturday and taking a day off during the week. As a matter of fact I despise going out on weekends because of the crowds so a week day errand day is almost mandatory for me. And when my dh is home we take off "routine" studies and do things together- read alouds, hiking, etc. Your school can look completely different than anyone else. Just be sure you are meeting your goals and adapt as you go along. Jo

You mean other than the LOST Baby...LOL. I'm such a loser. I hung out with San Antonio's David Robinson when he was at the Naval Academy. I've met Mia Hamm. Can't say I "know" her. There are the artists from my reggae groupie days. Some Marleys. I've met the least popular Charlie's Angel. LOL. What was her name? Kate something? I had to google-- Kate Jackson. She lived down the street from my cool aunt in Pensacola FL. Of course I've cycled through some famous people while waitressing at a nice place in Winter Park, FL. But I don't really think they count. But my favorite famous person was my uncle. He was an actual WWII Ace and the replica of his plane with his name is hanging in the Air and Space Museum at Dulles. We called him Uncle Red because he had striking red hair. They even have a model plane for sale that has his name on the side. I think it was a Hellcat something. He taught me how to wind surf when he was in his seventies. :)

choosing to homeschool actually made us immune to these things. I've seen too many posts on this board about lice treatment to make me put this on the "reason to homeschool" list. :o I know lice is always a possibility. Jo

I'm so glad you linked that. My kids and I were all gathered around the computer screen. My kids thought is was "cool." I should have taken your suggestion for having tissues nearby seriously. I'm still sniffling. It's just so heart touching. My kids need to see that kids with no parents, no secure home (mud dwelling aside), and little else can still show such joy. We would love to visit our sponsored children some day. They are so precious. Thanks again for linking that Jen. Jo