I see where you are coming from, but remember it was "houses we wouldn't BUY" not "places I could never live." We're talking about having choice but that doesn't mean we aren't grateful for that choice. I also don't feel bad when I go grocery shopping and have lots of choices. It doesn't make me ungrateful that I don't walk out with just rice and beans. I get your sentiment, but I don't think anyone was being entitled or ungrateful. We are all in different situations.

You should just buy her a bath mat. Is there a reason she is afraid of slipping??

I was thinking of taco salad with what I have: tortilla chips, black beans, cheese, and lettuce. We were part of the massive power outage here in VA last week. Four days of now power meant I lost allllllll of our groceries. It's going to take be a while to build it back up! We've already been to the store three times!

Nope. Mine was one-on-one with a man. I hadn't thought about that since now. It was fine. It would not be fine with my own daughters, though. Different kids, different needs. They'd need to be together or with a group.

:iagree: Us too. Switching from Spelling Workout.

:iagree::iagree::iagree: Especially if she teaches at a private school that has the luxury of excluding children with special needs. Most of her students can probably access the literature at a higher level, and, being totally stereotypical here, probably have extensive background knowledge to bring to the table. How sad for her, indeed. How sad for her students. What a waste of tuition!

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

I was a classroom teacher (1st grade) and when we first started homeschooling (3rd grade) I was SHOCKED at how much more we got done in a day at home than in a week in the classroom. There is just no comparison. It's not just the amount of work that gets done, it's the fact that you are providing your child with one-on-one tutoring, instant feedback, and an appropriate challenge. You just can't do that in the classroom. So, yes, my kids get more out of one single lesson than they would sitting in a classroom hearing/practicing that concept all week. I don't think there is a good comparison of hours to hours because it does depend on your children and how you teach. Also, we spent 3-4 hours a day in 3rd grade, but that included subjects that my public schoolers were lucky if they got once a week. There is a LOT of wasted time in public school. A LOT. It's not just getting books out, it's getting ready for lunch, getting ready for recess, cleaning, dealing with behavior, stopping for assemblies/fire drills/guest speakers, etc. However, many of those things have value. Kids are learning patience, cooperation, and how to behave at school. They are having unique experiences and getting to see the "outside" world. Our kids at home get to do all of that (usually to a much greater extent), but we can do it in a way that doesn't interrupt their learning and doesn't create distractions. My dd with special needs is able to get *quality* instructional time every day that is 10 times more than she ever got in a day in school because of all the school things that prevented her from really learning. Again, it depends on you and your child, but seriously, there just is really NO comparison. :)

Oh. My. GOSH! I could have written this verbatim! I'm almost laughing because it's so true! My mom was just here for a week and I needed a bottle of wine and three days in bed to recover. ***OK, I just cut out the body of my message because I realized it was way too personal. I can totally relate though!!! My mom is still really active and still works, but my husband says he has noticed it IS getting worse with age, so I try to take that into account and be patient. Yeah, that sounded good, but let's be honest, I am soooo not patient. A good friend gave me some great advice. She said that the best way to maintain our relationships with our mothers is to stay the he** away from them while we are raising kids! haha I never thought that would be true for my mom and I. We've always been very close.

:iagree::iagree: Please get it done. It will be SO worth the money in the long run. Then make it a priority to go twice a year! It will save a lot of pain. :( I hate the dentist, too, but my mom is a hygienist so I'm brain washed. :)

We supplement CLE with Dreambox.com and several Marilyn Burns book, in combination with items from my teaching career. We love CLE and I think it is very easy to supplement, especially when you know what you are doing. I'd rather have an easy to follow skeleton that provides mastery, then a program that is all over the board, difficult to follow, and leaves gaps. We've found it to be a great fit (in elementary).

This went around our school and our pediatrician said there was NO reason for concern because my kids' shots were up to date. She was more concerned about me.

Do not let them come over!!! You are not overreacting at all. You don't live in a bubble. This is different.

WOW. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for posting about REWARDS. It's exactly what I was looking for to use with my other dd. THANKS!

One of my dd's is in AAS 3 (not the one starting Megawords). After reviewing Megawords 1, I'm still under the impression that it's better to start with book 1. The layout is very different than AAS, since it is workbook/writing based and even though you could move through it quickly, I think it would be confidence building and help the child learn the "Megawords way." That's my opinion, not having started Megawords. My dd who is starting the program can already spell all the words in Level 1, but I'm still going to go through it with her. I want her to really understand the rules and the set up of the program so she can feel confident when she gets to rules or words she doesn't know. Honestly, I'm thinking we'll go through book one in just a couple of weeks.

I liked Dr. Carol Reynolds and Andrew Peduwa (sp?) the best, even though we don't use IEW. Apparently attendance was down significantly and there were fewer vendors..although there were plenty for me!

So I went to the HEAV convention in Richmond this week and I mentioned to a few vendors that I had heard x,y or z about their curriculum from TWM boards. A lot have them were shocked, especially Moving Beyond the Page, since they are so different from WTM methods. I explained that there are lots of different types of homeschoolers on here. It's interesting that more of them don't search and follow boards like this. I would think it would provide them with a lot of feedback and insight, especially for their marketing departments. Just an interesting observation.

:iagree::iagree::iagree: I hope she realizes that no amount of money in the world makes foster care like a private, infant adoption. It's a completely different scenario. Completely. She should definitely take the classes, then reevaluate. She should also realize that the chances of adopting a baby are slim, but not impossible and she should be prepared to care for a child for a year or more and then have that child go home. Your first priority needs to be supporting reunification, if possible. That was harder than we ever imagined! We all go into it with some innocence, but it makes me nervous when it comes across as a last resort for people. It takes balls to be a foster parent! Also, it was greatly stressed to us that you need to have had time and help to grieve your infertility before you embark on all of this. That was really good advice. *** edited to add that I don't mean to imply that it was a last resort for your friend. It was just the way you worded your post that made me want to add that in there. It's just so different than traditional adoption. I don't mean to offend at all!

FWIW, I don't have time to read the other posts, but we got our girls when they were 4 and one of them was just like this. She's perfectly fine now and it came with a good therapist and a few years of her learning about love and stability. Attachment issues are a concern in any adoption. They are fairly normal. RAD is extreme and just because a child has attachment issues does not mean she is going to be x, y, and z. It just means they haven't had a chance to be loved yet!

The dog chewed off Josefina's hand. I looked into having it replaced and after snipping, it was almost as expensive as a new doll. So, she's still missing a hand. I have let the girls take their dolls to the store to get their hair redone. That makes a huge difference and I think it only cost $10. So, I guess it just depends.

Duh, I just saw you are in Chesapeake. I'm in Charlottesville, so I'm far away.

So, my advice is not to hold them back, technically.. Teach at their level, then do an evaluation instead of testing. Where do you live? I can do your evaluation if you want. I'm not sure what you can do now about what you've already sent in though. Do you have a local group you can ask? Maybe someone has experience with the district.

Swimming everyday seems to be doing the trick for us!

Our property manager told us that 60% of renters have pets, so you might have a better chance of attracting renters. However, he also said that small dogs do the most damage because they are more likely to pee inside. We have a backyard and dog door, but lucked out and got renters without a pet. Our house rented super fast, so in the future we'll try to say no pets. You just don't know what kind of pet owners people are going to be and our house is only 6 years old. However, I would take an older couple with a dog, with good references, over a pet less family with several small children. Lesser evils, you know? Sounds harsh, but my house, my rules. :) Oh, and our homeowners insurance has never asked us about pets. That was not one of the questions we were asked when we switched to a landlord policy. Damage- our agent told us to change a flat, non-refundable fee of about $250 just for the extra cleaning you'll have to do, then the damage comes out of their deposit. We are now renting and have a dog and this seems to be pretty standard. We have awesome renters and an awesome rental agency. We live too far away to manage it on our own and our agent happens to live a block away, so it's perfect.

I'm in VA too, by the way!