Also I found that modeling just 2 letters smoothly is easier than the whole thing...usually the end because that stays the same in a lot of words (word families). So if it is cat I will point out at and model just at and have him repeat that part.

Kids: Black is Brown is Tan Adult: Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria

With a child with HFA I am worried...we LOVED Disney because she could be like all the "normal" kids and do the things they do....just in the 2 hours that she was able too instead of a full day (which my sister with the same age children did on her trip to Disney). In addition my concerns are for things like obsession...there have been times at Disney where my child was obsessed with one ride and would not leave that ride to do anything else...if we had a return pass but she is obsessed with splash mountain and it has a short line we may miss out on taking her on a ride that she would love at any other time but needs time to transition to doing it. I actually image Disney being more of a horrible experience for us that would include more meltdowns and less fun now :(

1981 Suburban....best car I ever had it was a tank!

My diva make that monthly issue a breeze. There was a learning curve that did cause some leakage and I had to use a different fold to begin but now I can do it just fine....but it NEVER spun like the directions say.

Ability based (but fluid with changing occurring regularly as children progress) grouping of children. Lots of recess and physical activity. Miquon based math program. Phonics based reading instruction plus leveled reading groups that way all children can learn in the way that best fits them. Science, History, Art and Music mandatory!! Uniforms. Parents/caregiver required to be involved in some way (with an understanding that some parents might need creative ways to help outside of typical volunteer work). Scales of learning based on what is within the ability of children of certain age groups no set every child will be doing xyz but rather all children in the age of five will be doing something between a to d.

It is speaking up when bias (good or bad), stereotyping or discrimination is present. Its actively talking about race in a positive way that includes actually talking about race (not color blindness). It is teaching our children to question those that show bias, stereotyping, or discrimination in a respectful way including in literature. It is patronizing those companies that show that they are working toward equity like the bandaid company that has multiple flesh colored bandaids, or going to see the movies/tv/music that shows a minority member in a nonstereotypical way ie Tiana, Doc, Darius Grey (assuming you engage in watching movies/tv/music of the majority that has similar rating topics ect). It is talking about those people who have and are working for change of all racial groups including white anti-racists. Have books, movies, music, pictures, art in your home that portray a variety of racial groups. Look at the toys that you have and ensure that your children have baby dolls/toys that represent all racial groups. We have a unique power in that we are already outside the mainstream by homeschooling. We get to have more power over what our children see, read and learn. That means we can ensure that the things that are children are reading are teaching the value of all humans...we can read things that challenge them regarding race and have discussions about race. When we read books that use the n word (which is present in classic literature) we can talk about the time it was written and how everything has changed and what we can continue to do to change it. Our children are going into a US in which the majority of babies born will be nonwhite! Many of us with little ones will be one of the first generations in which their parents have been raised in a world in which equity based on race it law bound. They will have been raised seeing a black man as president (regardless of political leaning this is an amazing thing for black kids). They may be able to reach more fully the dream of MLKJ than we have and we have the opportunity to help them reach that. :)

It has been less than 200 years since slavery was abolished (1865), and even still there was outright hate and disgust towards black people by many white people for another 100 years. It has only been another almost 50 years in which we have established laws to ensure that people are not discriminated against based exclusively on skin color. Basically less than 1 generation has passed in which legal racism was allowed and encouraged in some areas of the nation. Thankfully the evolution in the last 50 years has made it very clear that Hate speech towards other is NOT Ok and people are not accepting outright racist speech. But 50 years is not a lot of time to really deal with the structure of racism that was an integral part of the US for 100's of years. There is trying and there has been some positive changes but change is slow. This video is telling us that we all can have the power to help change the structure by using our power that we have by being the majority (white privilege) to speak up when we see examples that while typically is not intentionally racist shows that we still have some learning to do regarding stereotypes, bias, and prejudice that was entrenched for 100's of years. White privilege is part of the conversation because whites hundreds of years ago and 50 years ago made the rules that created the system that was based on racism. Yes most of us had NOTHING to do with it but we now have the ability to help make it better for everyone because all of us agree that all people regardless of skin color should be treated with respect and individually I am sure we all do our best to live that way. But that is not enough because there is underlying framework that still functions on race from before our time and we need to take the time to help dismantle it because we are the majority (for now). Yes there are hateful biased people of all races and it is upsetting when we are treated in a manner that is not fitting our personal beliefs that all people should be treated with respect. It is wrong when anyone uses their bias and prejudice to treat people differently based on skin color! But that is not an established pattern of oppression as has been demonstrated by dominate culture and sadly is still demonstrated more often than most of us would really like. And no not a black in white thing 1940 internment of Japanese Americans, rules limiting chinese immigration that in some places was not eliminated from law until the 1900's. But black and white has had the longest standing obvious display of systematic hate, discrimation, and bias. This video and conversation is and should be about what we can each do to continue to create a world in which want our children to be raised in were tolerance and respect are shown in every way possible to all people.

Ben and Jerry's factory is between Burlington and Montpelier and is super yummy lol

But you still benefit from white privilege...for example...when you turn on the tv the likelyhood that the person who is on the screen is from your same race is exponentially higher for white people than for black....Right now my kids are watching one of two preschool programming that has a main character that is black (not talking about groups in which one of a group of main characters happens to be black) whereas a white child could almost exclusively watch preschool programming that features a child that looks like them. (As an aside on this the bachelor reality tv show has cast a nonwhite man for the first time in its 17 season run, and the last season was the first in which a nonwhite woman was the winner at the end) Another one...when a person puts on a band-aid that says it is flesh colored it will mostly match your skin tone...my black children get a flesh colored band-aid and it doesn't even come close to matching their skin tone...and there is only 1 brand of currently selling band-aid companies that makes dark brown band-aids and they are only available online. White privilege effects all white people...that said it is not something that we have to give up but rather work one acknowledging and then sharing. For instance when we notice there are no companies making band-aids that match we shop the one that does. When a show features non white main characters (and you would watch something like it anyway) watch it and help it have better ratings so that companies realize that we as a nation want more cultural diversity on TV. I made sure that when Tiana came out (first, and most likely only, black disney princess) I made sure to buy as much as possible to help disney see that there is a market for movies in which the main character is not white. We can use our privilege to help others get the same.

I love that video! As a transracial adoptive parent I have the white privilege to talk to white people about racism in a way that a black person could not but I am actually slightly in touch with racism because my children are black. As for our current status on racism I have found that outright Hate is a lot less common (still occurs on occasion but people are much more likely to comment on outright hate based racist speech ie Paula Deen), but the harder to identify institutional, privilege based racism is still occurring and may be the hardest to fight because it is rather under the radar and for many can appear normal. Why not assume that a black male in an all white neighborhood is up to no good because the stats tell us that black men are more likely to be a criminal but the immediate assumption shows a bias that is racially based. Or the fact that a security guard is more likely to follow a black women around the store than a white women. But it is harder to fight because it can be harder to see and even harder to articulate. This is why talking about white privilege is still an important part of the conversation about race because the majority of racism now is less overt and more institutionalized.

I teach only if they bother us...but my children seem to belong to the die bug die camp, although they have decided potato beetles and ants are ok most of the time and try to play with them...usually ending in the bug dying anyway

Severe food allergy to milk (that we didn't find out about until she was 2) and every enviromental they tested. She also has ADHD, epilepsy, and was finally diagnosed with High Functioning Autism and yes I think that there is an immunologic connection to most of this...especially with how long it took to diagnose her with the food allergy.

After your lessons you should find out if they have a masters swim team its great for fitness swimming.

I really like Olly and yes you can print weekly (or daily) schedules for your children. The program does pretty much everything I need it to do.

Yep they tried that with my daughter...thankfully eye contact is not the only indicator of a spectrum disorder. The DSM has a variety of options including eye contact but not exclusively. My dd had odd eye contact at 2+ but we worked really really hard on it and by the time she was 4.5 and they were attempting diagnosis it was "better" enough that they said it wasn't a problem. Then 1 year later one of the Dr from the diagnosis team saw her again and gave the diagnosis based on non progression of social interaction and all the other issues that were previously talked about irregardless of eye contact.

High functioning children (Aspbergers) are high functioning. That means that they are able to function....until that moment when they can't. Be thankful you have not had to endure a melt down or a social interaction that is markedly difficult. Judgement is hard and not needed from a family member. Since you are a caregiver I would take time to find out everything you can be ready to help this child more.

If you did the best you could then you have done the best...we have had our house in another state up on the market for 2 months now about 20,000 over market rate...no one wants to buy it because we are not going to sink 10000 or more into it to fix it...which is what it would take. Next month we are going to have to put it on as a short sale...and if it doesn't sell by dec I don't know what we will do because we don't have the money to float this house after Dec and still pay the mortgage on our house in New England. :( Short sales were created just for this sort of situation.

Roger Williams zoo! I actually haven't been to Southwick but we love to go to the RWZ and drive over 4 hours to get there...it is in a lovely park that has a carousel and things too that my kids enjoyed.

Yep its the adhesive...both my kids are allergic to it...beware that if you have surgery you may have reactions to the tape they use! My sister had hernia surgery and is allergic to adhesive and it cause MAJOR issues after the surgery because of the rash it caused close to the incision.

Just wanted to say my son has the same thing...milia is what I found although it is typical in babies its what his looks like. I think it is heat rash related. It doesn't really seem to bother him either so I am just keeping an eye on it.

So there are a couple of different ways based on the numbers in the problem. For your example 369 + 983 369 rounded up 1 is 370. 980 +20 = 1000 which leave 350 then since you rounded up 1 you have to take that away from 3 which leaves 2 and the answer is 352. It sounds complicated but is really fast in my head, just explaining it is hard. Another option is the one above starting with the hundreds and adding "backwards" from the traditional algorithm. Another option is for not so easy to round numbers is to find easy 10's. IE 325+ 827 the 7 in 427 + 3 (from the 5) = 10 which leaves 2. 800+200 (from the 300) = 1000 which leave 100 and 20+20+10 (from the ones combo) is 50 so the solution is 1152.

I do the same gift cards but anytime I change the password they make me verify my credit card number and won't let me do anything until I do...how do you keep your credit card off?

I really like Olly. I have not tried a lot but I find it fairly easy to use and complete enough to do everything I want it to. Supposedly the iPad app will be out at the end of Aug.

Pamela, I am so sorry for your loss...this reminds me of a blogger who is putting together a series of blogposts on what is motherhood. When she asked that question I realized that to me motherhood is loving and then letting go....for some people they get to love a long time before having to let go but for others they only get to love for a short time. You are a mother and you loved this baby for as long as you could in your home and you will go on loving her even after letting her go. I don't know how to help you get through this other than to say keep loving even through the hurt of having to let go because that is the best you can do as her mother, and the mother of your other babies.