Self esteem classes guidance as a subject :lol: group projects pre-K full day kindergarten 20 minute lunches that are really more like 7 minutes to actually eat vending machines in the school

Blasphemy! And all of you that hate Wuthering Heights and Faulkner. That's crazy talk! :tongue_smilie:

Nope, it's from a blog dated 3/3. Nothing about it being a joke.

Herman Melville. Joseph Conrad. Anything by those two. Boo, thumbs down. How about Chaucer? Dante? Oh, wait. Paradise Lost. That would be my big winner, in the loser category. :P

I think the question is interesting, but I'm not sure I really understand it, either. Traditionally someone who calls themselves a Christian is someone who professes to Nicene Creed or Apostle's Creed or similar (now I believe a true Christian is one who has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and professes him as Lord and Savior, also). Different denominations among Protestant and Catholic will have differences in doctrine, but not on something as fundamental as the resurrection. Am I missing something? And why would someone who is not of the Christian faith, believe anything at all about the resurrection? Or even have any interest in it? Do LDS and Jehovah's Witnesses consider themselves under the general umbrella of Christianity? Maybe I've been living under a rock, but I was not aware of that. :bigear: ETA: Aquick search reveals.. I need to crawl out from under that rock. ;) My answers are pretty much what CindyG said, with the addition that I believe people other than Christ that were raised from the dead in the Bible, had only their physical bodies raised and that these were not immortal bodies. Christ is different because He is God. I've been Protestant my whole life.

Thanks, I will look into all these suggestions. I have some Roald Dahl around the house and we've read a few aloud, but he just doesn't pick them up. I can't really figure out what he likes. There doesn't seem to be a consistent genre, except that he seems to like books that have some element of non-fiction. Maybe I need to check into some more historical fiction that isn't too girly.

Well, it turns out ds does not like most of what I enjoyed reading when I was growing up. And he isn't much of a bookworm. Reading level--no problem, he can read anything he wants. He just doesn't love to read and I'm hoping to spark his interest. He's not interested in Narnia, E.B. White, and all the classics I'm familiar with, although we've read many of them aloud. He loved Magic Tree House last year and read all that the library had. He also really liked the "Nim" books by Wendy Orr, and Bunnicula. He's read a couple of the Captain Underpants but we're really trying to avoid stuff like that, and the Wimpy Kid stuff. He's read a couple of the Marguerite Henry books, and William Stieg, but lately I usually have to tell him he needs to read something, or he won't. :( He really doesn't need to build fluency, I just want him to read something halfway intelligent and learn to love reading. Help?

I am still figuring this out so I love to read what everyone else is doing! Thanks to all that posted. LA: MCT Island, which I think ds will love. Probably also WWE3 or WT1 for writing, but maybe trimming some weeks off depending on how much pf the MCT writing we do. Copywork of poems and verses used for memory AAS4 is planned, but I'm going to see how he does with either Megawords or SWO as a supplement, and then we may switch. I need to find ways to increase his independence where I can to free up some time for the younger ones, Math: Singapore 3A/3B plus challenging word problems. Hands On Equations as a supplement if we can get to it. Music: instrument lessons which include theory. For music appreciation, we play and talk about music all the time. I have started to introduce a but of composer study, and will do that more as we study history, since we are starting SOTW3. History: SOTW3. A lot of supplementing for American History, using books from SL core 3 and others. It might take us a long time to get through SOTW3! Science: I'll probably purchase elemental science chemistry or physics to use as a loose guideline. We tend to follow interests for science. Right now working through Janice Van Cleave's "Engineering for every kid", which will probably take us into the fall. Art: Artistic Pursuits. But am hoping an art teacher will fall from the sky into my living room once a week or so. so that it actually gets done. :001_huh: Language: Rosetta Stone Spanish. Want to do LfC A, but may not add that in until late fall. Phew! Third grade is scaring me a little. I feel like I have to up the expectations a bit.

Kind of like the relative that visited us and then we offered to take them out to dinner. They then insisted we go to a fondue place. They really wanted to try fondue. !! And ordered the most expensive thing there. Now when they come, I make pasta. Or sandwiches. LOL I had some people come over during the low carb phase and pick apart their meal because they had just started the diet and hadn't told me. For goodness sake, when you are a guest, take a couple of bites of the potato and vegetables. Urg. Rude. I would not have gone out to get a piece of fish the day of. I am a mostly-vegetarian person and don't like beef, but if someone invited me to dinner, I wouldn't say anything about that because it is not an allergy.

Well, there ARE physical issues that make some people unable to run very far. Even some that wouldn't be immediately obvious to you. Have a few more children or having previous joint issues and erm, you might find out what I mean. But I mostly agree that MOST people when they say that don't want to work up the stamina for running. The same is true for homeschooling. There are some people that realistically can not --single mothers, parents with chronic and severe illnesses, illiterate parents, or disabilities that they don't feel they can overcome sufficiently to do the job. Most people probably never thought of it or just don't want to. But to say everyone can if they wanted to, might be overstating things.

I can understand it's upsetting, but from my perspective, I am tired of my kids being given sugary foods at every turn. I understand that they may have approved the cupcakes if they were labeled, but even that I don't like. A school is not a family and why should all the classmates get a sugary treat that some parents don't want their kids to have, just because it is one child's birthday? If you want to have a birthday party, invite the child's friends to your home, and then you can serve whatever you want. I do miss the days of my growing up when every thing was easier. However, in my school growing up, they wouldn't have served soda and cake regularly, had sugary juice drinks and fruit roll ups or donuts passed out at every sports practice, and the servings of treats were a lot smaller. And even though I still grew up with plenty of junk food, I want better for my kids. Just another perspective and of course it isn't personal.

To me that isn't deep cleaning, that is basic maintenance and yes, I do those things every week. I vacuum twice per week, and with little kids, sometimes the bathroom needs to be cleaned more often as well. We And my house doesn't appear spotless most of the time either! Deep cleaning to me is washing windows inside and outside, cleaning the fridge and under the fridge and oven, dusting high up things like fans and light fixtures, cleaning the outside and inside of my cabinets, cleaning baseboards (rather than just dusting them), and decluttering closets and cleaning in the corners, cleaning inside the dishwasher, things like that.

Top 50 but not top 20. :) For my kids it just depends what their goals are. Sure going to an Ivy represents connections, but if one wants to be a teacher or a physical therapist, nurse, or similar profession, it doesn't matter enough to pay the big bucks for a higher name recognition school. If there is a specific goal for science, engineering, music, pre-med, pre-law, then it might be worth it. Schollarships also matter. If they can get into Yale, but school # 35 offers a better deal, then that matters too. Several dentists, pharmacists, and other professionals I know went to tier 3 or 4 schools on that list (I am one of those that actually notices the diplomas on the wall and takes note ). Yet they are great at what they do.

I would try to show them some recordings, maybe youtube, and let them pick. It is probably easier to find a teacher for violin than for the others. As far as one or another being bad for your body, ANY instrument can result in physical problems if it isn't approached correctly. You really have to be very careful in choosing a teacher. Don't just ask other parents, find out who the advance teacher is for the instrument and ask them who the best beginner teachers are. It is really important to focus on posture and correct technique from the start.

I agree with this. Neighborhood kids will come to me and tell me every.little.thing that is going on in the play. I do what the above poster said. If I do correct or speak to one of my kids as the result of a tattling, I try to do it very unobtrusively or do it later so that senseless tattling is not seen a getting a "big" response from me.

If he doesn't seem approachable, I'd probably just call the police. If you go over and ask and he's nasty and won't respond, then later he'll guess that you were the one that called on him. If you know any other neighbors that are home during the day, I'd find a way to casyally talk with them about it. It might end sooner if more than one person on the street has the complaint. Speaking from experience.

Ditto. Pit bulls and swimming pools are deal breakers for me.

I piano shopped last year. Check out http://www.pianobuyer.com/. You can read it online for free, articles, ratings, tips on buying used or new. There is also one of those "for dummies" books about buying a piano and maybe your library would have that. As a piano player I really wouldn't recommend a keyboard. You may also find that your kids outgrow a digital in a few years. At a certain point in learning a digital is just not the same as a real piano, so if you go that route you may want to upgrade at some point. Don't buy a piano that is more than 30-40 years old, those ones on Craigslist for a couple of hundred dollars. They will probably need quite a bit of work to get them up to playing level. I'd be careful with anything used as a lot of people don't know very much about pianos and think their old piano is worth a whole lot more than it is, IME. I would get a good tuner to check out a used piano before I'd buy it and make sure it won't need lots of work beyond tunings. I'd recommend a studio or taller vertical piano, this is taller than a console or spinet.

What they don't mention is that babies also die in the car seat carriers (the alternative to the sling) because of a similar body position. This is also a risk. Kind of like telling people not to have babies in bed with them when a few people have done so improperly. The article doesn't give any info about the 7 deaths, what slings were used, what the situation was, were the babies preemies? Many preemies or very youngnewborns probably shouldn't be in the sling, car carrier or stroller.

:tongue_smilie: I probably should stay away from this thread with my current snarky mood. I should say that it isn't any of my business what people do with their children's education. It isn't. But I agree with you that what people perceive as TWTM education for a preschooler or kindergartener is nothing like what SWB espouses in her book. And it seems sad to me. Only a few years ago my oldest was 3 and 4 and I was very excited about homeschooling. I'm very glad that I listened to all the people that told me not to start the heavy academics then, even though he was clearly so smart.

Here's another problem with waiting til they are older and giving the "talk". That might be fine for the oldest, but if there are younger siblings, well, kids do talk about these things, maybe especially siblings of the same gender. so it isn't just neighborhood or school peers we need to think about. I heard the TALK when I was about 9 and was very embarassed. But I promptly discussed it with my younger sister who was 6 or 7. I didn't want her to go through the same mortifying experience. Our mom had no idea when we told her this, as adults. Yes, we could have asked questions, but our parents never brought up the topic, so we didn't feel we could ask. I know we as parents like to feel we have an oprn relationship with our kids, but kids can also sense our discomfort or avoidance of certain things and not push it. I would assume any 13 year old knows a lot more than she says or acts or leads mom to believe she knows, I don't care how sheltered she is. Does she have no friends her age, never watch any tv or movies, no youth groups, read no books geared toward teens or even classic adult lit.? I would be talking about it and giving her a book ASAP and making sure my own values were made clear. For my own kids, we have talked about the menstruation and biology part of it since they were preschoolers, and I have boys. It just isn't a big deal.

:iagree: When I see all the curriculum that 3, 4, and 5 year olds are doing I just wonder. :confused: I'm sure a few of them are gifted, but still. Even gifted students don't NEED to do math worksheets when they are 3 and 4. But maybe that is another thread--the perceived need of homeschooled moms to have their very young children be advanced in grade level. WHY call a 4 or 5 year old a first grader? Just... WHY? My kids read when they are 4 and 5 but they are still kindergarteners. :confused:

I don't see a problem with it, with the exception of math facts. I'm really glad I don't have to stop and think of a song for my multiplication tables. I think it's more beneficial to know those cold by just associating the numbers with another number. Maybe I'd try songs if after a long time trying, nothing else worked.

Didn't I read in a prior edition of TWTM that SWB used PP with her older kids? Maybe not, maybe it was just what was recommended in the book. What are the differences between these two? Order of concepts presented? Pictures? Fun factor? Level reached by the end of the book? When I try to look inside the book on Amazon, I can't actually see any of the lesson pages.

Nope, I never wonder that. My oldest is 7, too. I know what our pschools are like and I know he's learning more at home, being challenged more, getting better reading material and individual attention. I think he'd be bored and disruptive. I do occasionally wonder whether he'd be better off in an academically solid private school, but not very often, at this age. I think individual attention trumps positive academic peer pressure at this age. I'll probably wonder more after the next couple years when we start to get into more difficult material and writing. I really think, though, that just about any concerned parent could do a great job, superior to ps, for grades K-3. There just isn't a lot going on in ps K-3 beyond learning to read (waiting for everyone to attain the basics) and basic math, and ds already knows how to do those things. So what would he be doing all day there? Oh, and nearly all of the writing is journal writing and creative writing prompts, which he doesn't like and which don't teach necessary skills, anyway.