I just went back to check our FB page for the company ... just to be sure we don't have any mistakes like that. When you sell a grammar curriculum, you better get it correct!

How about the reviews for this product? http://www.amazon.com/Uranium-Ore/dp/B000796XXM/ref=pd_sbs_a_13

Okay, if you haven't seen the thread about the wolf T-shirt on amazon.com and the accompanying reviews, you gotta check that out. On that page are images of other items purchased by those interested in that T-shirt. On that list is a gallon of milk (who buys milk on amazon.com?) Anyway, this is one of the reviews of the gallon of milk. I'd love to know how long it took this person to write this, but it's AWESOME! http://www.amazon.com/review/RXXPVOUH9NLL3/ref=cm_cr_dp_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00032G1S0&nodeID=16310101#wasThisHelpful

That's fine. The VAST majority of middle schoolers, though, have no context with it at all. I swear they just think it's a book about animals ...

You've got to read some of the one-star reviews as well. Too funny!

7th grade is a RIDICULOUS age to read that book. To really get it you'd have to understand Communism and world government history. 7th graders (in most PS) have done little to no history or civics. They do "country studies." 10th grade makes a lot more sense.

Looks like enough people had a problem with the accompanying questions for the DoE to revise their document: http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MmVkZTA1NTIzM2M5YWJjNDcxNTJiZmJiZTZjZDFjMjg=

I totally agree with this! My example is Animal Farm. Isn't there some book list out there that has 6th graders reading this? It's not a book about farm animals!:001_huh::001_huh::001_huh: If you read it and THINK it's about farm animals, you're too young and inexperienced to read it, IMHO.

The quote was not, "Ask not what your president can do for you, but what you can do for your president." I don't really have a problem with this speech or the teacher lesson plans (as long as it's a neutral speech, which remains to be seen). But I can see how some here take exception to the angle of the questions. It does seem to be all about Obama and the presidency and not the country itself. It's an important distinction.

Try http://www.replacements.com. They're in NC and are fantastic at finding stuff like that. You can even enter a pattern and they'll e-mail you if it comes in.

As far as I know this is for real. While I don't agree with hardly anything Obama says or does, he is the President and I think him making a speech to the school kids of America is appropriate AS LONG AS it's not political. What I mean by that is this: If the speech is merely an encouraging "do well in school" type of thing I think it's fine. If, on the other hand, it covers cap and trade or health care reform, I'd have a HUGE problem with it.

Rachel! I'm so sorry if I gave that impression. I'm of course not referring to loving parents like you who decide to homeschool ... for whatever reason!

We use carbonite.com and love it. It's $50 a year.

Would it help to say that quotation marks are used to indicate someone is speaking, whether that person really existed or not? Without them we wouldn't be able to "see" in our mind who is talking. You could take a paragraph or two from a fiction book, retype it without the quotes and have her try to read it. Punctuation is used to help us understand what is being said and by whom. Real or fiction.

Here's what you do there (our program works very similarly). Let's say that there are 5 words in the sentence that need to be labeled. That sentence is worth 5 points. For each word he gets correct, give it a check mark. For each work he labels incorrectly, circle it. Then count up the check marks. DO NOT deduct points, especially if it's for labeling a word that was supposed to be left blank. That's not fair since he doesn't know what to do with that word yet. What you're concerned with is that he label correctly the items he's been taught. Go over the mistakes for all things missed.

There's a happy medium here. I assigned a quarterly book report when I taught PS. The kids could pick their own book to read, but it had to be a classic. I had to sign off as did their parents. they always started with, "classic books are boring!" If you have a kid who likes Captain Underpants, give him The Three Musketeers to read. Like the A-list/Clique books (dreck)? Here, try anything by the Bronte Sisters or Jane Austen. If they had a low reading level, I gave them an adapted version of the story. At least they got the story and broadened their horizons a little. People are so concerned about making books relevant ... what is relevant to a 12-year-old who is never pushed outside their own little zone? It's the teacher's job to make it relevant.

Some classroom teachers balk at the idea of being able to teach a substantive day of homeschool and still being finished in about 3 or 4 hours. I guess they don't realize (I did!) that if you take out passing periods, lunchtime, and MOST IMPORTANTLY the 20 minutes per class period getting obnoxious kids to be quiet you can cover everything in about that amount of time. There is SO MUCH TIME WASTED in a classroom setting.

Thanks, Stacy! I actually meant to leave off the AG part of my signature, but I forgot. I'm always afraid I'll be seen as advertising on here. Mom's doing well. Thanks for asking!

But I've done that job, too! It seems that being a proud public school teacher and supportive to homeschooling are mutually exclusive and they're not! I did send this out to the listserve, though: The vast majority of homeschool parents I've talked to really do admire and appreciate the hard work public school teachers do. They realize that you are doing the absolute very best with the situation you are handed. They look up to you and want to learn from you. While some classroom teachers see an adversarial relationship between homeschool parents and themselves, the reverse is almost always not the case. Humbleness and mutual respect is a good thing for both parties. I think you're right that encouragement was lacking in my original post; a flaw I wanted to make up for.

I can appreciate this, Kim. I do want to say, though, that I am a credentialed, time-in-the-classroom public school teacher. I feel a little more leniency to call BS when I see it. I also want to point out that this note was sent after numerous messages on the listserv about homeschoolers. Some were ill-informed, but polite and substantive. It was the "angels" and "often" thing that really got me. I do think I could have been calmer and more gentle in my response. Unfortunately, the SEND button has been pressed.

I hope I don't get thrown off, either. You're right, though. I thought her tone was divisive and completely condescending.

Some other lady emailed me off list to tell me I should apologize for my "tone." LOL!

Good, I hope she takes it sweetly! I didn't want to be a wench, but I couldn't BELIEVE what she said! I haven't gotten a response yet ... should be interesting!

So, I'm on a listserv with grammar-types, mostly high school and college teachers. Somehow the messages got on the topic of homeschoolers and this message was sent to the group: "Contrary to some of your beliefs, home-schoolers are not just those who have religious preferences or high standards--students are often home schooled because NO OTHER SCHOOL WILL TAKE THEM. They have serious discipline problems, and unfortunately, they usually make their way back to the public school system when their parents realize that we teachers do a difficult job of managing their "angels." If only the public knew what public school classrooms have to deal with--they might understand our low performance levels." So, OF COURSE, I had to respond. I hope you like it! "They" do understand the reasons for the low performance levels, but that doesn't mean they want their kids in those classrooms. What you've said is completely NOT true. I spend my entire summer with homeschool parents and kids all across the country. While there may be a few here or there who fit this description, classifying it as "often" is a joke. If, by your account, no other public school will take them, how do they end up back there, hmm? Your statement is as accurate as this one: Contrary to some of your beliefs, public school teachers are not just those who want to make a difference in the life of a child or serve the public--they often work in the public schools because NO OTHER SCHOOL WILL TAKE THEM. They are not good at their jobs and like to be safe from firing (since tenure makes them impossible to get rid of, even if they're incompetent). How does THAT feel? Why are public school teachers so threatened by homeschoolers? Is institutional education really THAT fantastic? It only began a few hundred years ago. Many of those classics we teach and revere were written by men and women taught at home. I am a public school teacher, but I'm not threatened in the least. I know I'll always have a job if I want one because I'm good at what I do. Thankfully those HORRIBLE homeschoolers pay enough money for our grammar program that I can afford to stay home with my small children and run our company. All those wonderful, SUBSTANTIVE education classes we took to get our credentials were mostly drivel, if we're to be honest with ourselves. Our training is in teaching large groups of kids at one time. Take that away and almost anyone who wants to put the effort in (through workshops, great curricula, training, support groups, co-ops, etc.) can teach. Let us not flatter ourselves. Erin Karl Analytical Grammar You like???:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

It has been my experience that, although Shurley does a good job of basic grammar, students who go all the way through Shurley 7 have not mastered the phrases and clauses. That's a lot of years of grammar to not have it mastered, IMHO.