Hi Rosy, Thanks for the welcome. Best, Jenny

Greetings to all of you CVA people in WA! We are also starting CVA this year, and it will be our first homeschool experience too. Our son is starting K. Received some of our books yesterday. Haven't had any contact from an AT yet. Don't even know what a SLP is! We are so happy with this option! Can you imagine? We get to choose our own curricula, have our kids at home, get support and financing from the state? Is there another country in the world where this would happen? My husband is from Brazil. There is is illegal to homeschool. When we lived there we paid higher taxes than here, but anyone who can afford it sends their kids to private school, because the public schools are totally without resources. In the end hardship can serve to make us more resourceful. I have never met such resourceful people as a I did in Brazil-my husband included. Even to have public libraries like we have all over our country, is something that most of the world does not have. Let's enjoy it! All the best to all of you!

Hi Aubrey, been thinking about your post since you posted. I have a MA from Stanford. Used to think I was very smart until God got a hold of me. Lovingly, pushed my face into the dirt. Opened my eyes, opened my ears. Filled my heart with so many questions, and no one to answer them. Many questions that I didn't know how to even voice. Convinced me that only He could answer my questions. I started crying out to Him. He answered. Remember James 1:5 "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him." All the best to you, Jenny

So glad this post came back up-I am glad that people are willing to talk about their faith and ask questions. One of the key doctrinal issues that I see between reformed and non-reformed doctrine today is whether or not man has free-will to choose God or not. Of course, the issue is really, what does the Bible say? Both Martin Luther (see "The Bondage of the Will"), and Calvin believed that Man is dead in his transgressions and sins (Colossians 2:13-14). I believe this too, because this is what I understand the Bible to teach. Referring to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God warned Adam and Eve “ in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:17) Adam and Eve ate, and yet they walked out of the garden. We know that God does not lie, so they had to have died that day: they died spiritually. Satan’s lie to them was “you will not surely die.” And it is a lie that continues on today in the form of the belief that man is not truly spiritually dead, or at least not totally…that he can somehow effect some positive change in his spiritual condition-and gain favor towards God. But God says clearly that, “…those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8: 6-8) I am impressed at how when we read Bible passages about Salvation, we see that the subject of the sentence is God who is doing the action-and the sinner is being acted upon. Like Ephesians chapter 2, if you read it, consider what it is saying about who is doing the saving. I hope that everyone will take the time to prayerfully consider this issue. Read the Bible asking God to reveal Himself to you. He does. I had never heard of Election until I went as a missionary to Brazil. There, the man who is now my husband told me about it. I started reading the Bible with the question: Is this true? I started in John and the passages just leapt out at me. John 1:12-13 for starters, “But as many as received Him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” This is such excellent news for the despairing sinner-like I was two years ago when God saved me! I was afraid, because I knew that I could not even muster up the faith to trust in God for salvation. I was very religious and proud of my works. When God calls though, He brings us to our knees before Him. He is so good and so merciful. Praise the name of Jesus! Only Jesus saves!

Hi Summer, this is a long post so I am only addressing your first question, as I don't want to take up too much space. :) Reformed Theology is also referred to as Calvinism. However, it was not John Calvin who proposed the five points. I post the following excerpt from a book entitled The Five Points of Calvinism: Defined, Defended and Documented, by Steele, D. N., Thomas, C. C., & Nicole, R. (2009) It is available on Amazon.com, and is the most concise and clear presentation of the “Five Points of Calvinism” that I have come across, along with the Scriptural references for all the points. “To understand how and why the system of theology known to history as Calvinism came to bear this name and to be formulated into five points, one must understand the theological conflict which occurred in Holland during the first quarter of the seventeenth century. In 1610, just one year after the death of James Arminius (a Dutch seminary professor) five articles of faith based on his teachings were drawn up by his followers. The Arminians, as his followers came to be called, presented these five doctrines to the State of Holland in the form of a “Remonstrance” (i.e., a protest). The Arminian party insisted that the Belgic Confession of Faith and the Heidelberg Catechism (the official expression of the doctrinal position of the Churches of Holland) be changed to conform to the doctrinal views contained in the Remonstrance…Roger Nicole summarizes the five articles contained in the Remonstrance as follows: “I. God elects or reproves on the basis of foreseen faith or unbelief. II. Christ died for all men and for every man, although only believers are saved. III. Man is so depraved that divine grace is necessary unto faith or any good deed. IV. This grace may be resisted. V. Whether all who are truly regenerate will certainly persevere in the faith is a point which needs further investigation.” The last article was later altered so as to definitely teach the possibility of the truly regenerate believer’s losing his faith and thus losing his salvation. A national Synod was called to meet in Dort in 1618 for the purpose of examining the views of Arminius in the light of Scripture. The Great Synod was convened by the States-General of Holland on November 13, 1618. There were 84 members and 18 secular commissioners. Included were 27 delegates from Germany, the Palatinate, Switzerland and England. There were 154 sessions held during the seven months that the Synod met to consider these matters, the last of which was on May 9, 1619. “The Synod,” Warburton writes, “had given a very close examination to the ‘five points’ which had been advanced by the Remonstrants, and had compared the teaching advanced in them with the testimony of Scripture. Failing to reconcile that teaching with the Word of God, which they had definitely declared could alone be accepted by them as the rule of faith, they had unanimously rejected them. They felt, however, that a mere rejection was not sufficient. It remained for them to set forth the true Calvinistic teaching in relationship to those matters which had been called into question. This they proceeded to do, embodying the Calvinistic position in five chapters which have ever since been known as ‘the five points of Calvinism.’ ” The name Calvinism was derived from the great French reformer, John Calvin (1509–1564), who had done so much in expounding and defending these views. No doubt it will seem strange to many in our day that the Synod of Dort rejected as heretical the five doctrines advanced by the Arminians, for these doctrines have gained wide acceptance in the modern Church. In fact, they are seldom questioned in our generation. But the vast majority of the Protestant theologians of that day took a much different view of the matter. They maintained that the Bible set forth a system of doctrine quite different from that advocated by the Arminian party. Salvation was viewed by the members of the Synod as a work of grace from beginning to end; in no sense did they believe that the sinner saved himself or contributed to his salvation. Adam’s fall had completely ruined the race. All men were by nature spiritually dead and their wills were in bondage to sin and Satan. The ability to believe the gospel was itself a gift from God, bestowed only upon those whom He had chosen to be the objects of His unmerited favor. It was not man, but God, who determined which sinners would be shown mercy and saved. This, in essence, is what the members of the Synod of Dort understood the Bible to teach."

Thank you so much everyone for your posts! I will check out all the resources you have posted. I really like the idea of having life skills be part of the curriculum for homeschool. Thank you again for all your input.

Question: I have looked at Ray's Arithmetic on Amazon and liked the comments I saw. I was wondering if you use/have seen the teacher's guide written by Ms. Beechick? (not sure how to spell her name) If so, do you like it? Do you find it well-laid out? As in: lessons all planned. Or how does it work? I am new to homeschooling, and am researching curricula.

Hi, new to this. Just wondering if anyone has any feedback about what are some age-appropriate chores for kids. By God's grace, I have two kids, ages 3 and 5. They are great kids! Thanks for input.

Greetings Michele, I have not yet used Rosetta Stone. However, I am fluent in Spanish and wanted to respond to your post, just to see if I might be able to share some information that would be helpful in your decision. My experience is that if one learns Spanish well, with correct grammar, one can understand spoken Spanish in any country, and can also make oneself understood. There are some grammar differences between Spanish from Spain and Spanish from Latin America, as another poster mentioned. And some Spaniards consider their Spanish to be the standard for what is proper. There is a Royal Spanish Academy (located in Spain) which "is the official royal institution responsible for regulating the Spanish language" (wikipedia). However, in my experience, most people one encounters in normal life are not overly concerned with this, but rather with communication. I have found Spanish from different countries is similar to English in that speakers from different English-speaking countries (i.e. Ireland, England, Canada, The United States, Australia) all understand one another-even though we have different accents and sometimes use different words for the same things. I also found that these differences are easy to assimilate/understand once one knows the fundamentals of Spanish grammar and language. Hope this helps! All the best to you.