I find that if I give them much of a break between school and homework/afterschool work, they're less likely to be enthusiastic. We get home from school, they get a snack while I clear a space and get their books together, then we do homework and afterschool work all at once. They get to choose what order things get done in, but they must do it all before they break for playtime. DS likes to do afterschool math before doing his assigned schoolwork, then does his afterschool independent reading. DD likes to do schoolwork first, because it's easy, and then afterschool work. They both seem to really like doing it with me, rather than independently, and it gives us some nice togetherness time.

Just a quick note from the atheist in the corner who has read this entire thread: Thank you for showing me that there are a variety of Christian perspectives on the acceptance of difference. I agree with the bulk of what's been said here today in support of the OP. I didn't know that would be the case, so thank you for that new understanding. I've also been reminded that we all are flawed human beings and each do our fair share of judgement and assumption-making based on outward appearances. I need to fight harder against that tendency in myself. I appreciate the reminder. Thanks again,

I never participate in the official fundraisers, but we try to come up with a money-making project my kids can do to earn and donate some money, and we'll match it. For example, when DD was in K last year, rather than sell the cookie dough, she did a read-a-thon and asked for pledges per book. She read 25 books over a couple of weeks and raised over $300 from friends and family (which I pitched once on Facebook, and got a ton of responses). The proceeds went directly to the school, 0% to the fundraising company and 40% to her classroom. This year, she's doing extra chores for a month around the house, and I'll match anything she donates. She's proud of her contribution, we don't have to buy or sell junk, and the school ends up with more money they can use.

Yep, in central NC, just south of the VA line. Thank goodness for the new roof...

Just a quick note on this as someone who runs a business from home: I get it all the time too. Because I work at our home office, I supposedly have time to run errands for people, watch their kids, walk their dogs, etc. Um, no. I'm working. And when I'm done with that each day, I have my own errands to run, kids to watch, dogs to walk, etc. People don't seem to understand that working at home (whether its office work, teaching, or parenting the little ones) isn't the same as being on vacation. All of it takes time, effort, and focus. I work harder now than I ever did when I worked in someone else's office, and when the kids are out of PS for the day and I'm trying to teach them something and keep the house from turning into a giant heap of toys and dishes, it's even harder! I admire you HSing parents and what I've started to think of as your bottomless reserves of dedication and commitment. I think you've earned the right to wear your PJs until lunch or wake up a little later than your neighbors. So there. My two cents. :) [ETA: Of course, as I type this I realize that I'm spending time on the fora rather than do the work I'm saying keeps me so busy, but let's say I'm on a coffee break. :001_huh:]

I went to the German and Norwegian camps from when I was about 9 through high school. I loved it, learned a bunch (about languages and learning independently), and will send my kids when we can afford it.

[sorry! This turned into a LOOOONG response. :)] I'm in the same situation, reversed. My 9th grader is struggling in math and has some math anxiety, and my 1st grader is gifted. For the 9th grader, I'm backing up and solidifying his understanding of math concepts. He's taking Algebra this year, but I have him working on fractions at home. We do one lesson per day, after school, before he starts his assigned schoolwork. We work toward understanding, not necessary correct finished answers. So, for example, if there's a question about converting a number of miles into a number of feet, our goal is to set up the problem and understand the "why," not necessarily work through the arithmetic. I also read the problem out loud to him, so it keeps him from getting too anxious. Then, after his assigned schoolwork, he reads independently from a nonfiction book of his choosing for 30 minutes. For the 1st grader, my goal is to enhance her strengths and fill in some gaps. Her PS is good, but the teachers have a finite amount of time and too many students. She reads a book of her choosing and her school-assigned home reader while we wait in the car to pick up the 9th grader from school. When we get home, she does her assigned schoolwork, which never takes more than a few minutes. After that, we read aloud from a history book while she colors in a relevant printable (Story of the World or on-topic library book, with accompanying activity page), do her writing program (Writing With Ease text) using passages from the history book, and grammar (First Language Lessons). Finally, she does an on-line puzzle to help with critical thinking. I've also been discussing math with her teacher and have a meeting set with her next week to talk about the best approach. She's working on a 2nd grade level so I want to make sure she's really solid in it, without adding too much pressure. Her teacher has suggesed that we do a round-robin of on-line math games, manipulatives (which she'll provide to me and teach me how to use), math fact speed drills, and math games (like Sorry, but with flashcards to determine the number of spaces to move). We'll do that last, I think, since it's her favorite subject and she'll look forward to it. We finish all of that by 5pm, when I go pick up the 4-year-old, who is in day-care. When he gets home, before dinner, we do a lesson from the Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading, read out loud a library book of his choosing, and then do his favorite, counting with Cheerios. He gets to eat his right answers. :) On the weekend, we also do a science/art project from a book my mother got us. It has great experiments that use art projects to show various scientific principles. We do it every day after school, one weekend day, and do a little more than usual on days off and early release days. I'm done with work by 230pm each day and work from home, so I can get things organized before they get home, and I work through a schedule each week to make sure I have all of the materials printed out ahead of time. Hope that helps! My favorite thing about these boards is getting ideas based on how everyone else handles things. I'm still struggling with figuring out how to negotiate the afterschool work for both school-age kids at the same time. Sometimes we end up with chaos because they both need help at the same time.

This.

In our PS system, only the super advanced kids take Algebra in 8th grade, and they have to go to the high school to take it. The regular college-track has them take it in 9th grade. The system sends lots of kids to highly-ranked universities every year.

2 boys. The first not until age 4 when he had another surgery and some infection issues. The second at birth. No complications.

I'm a former journalist and a trained historian with some experience in publishing. I'd go first to the publication in which you want to be published. They often have guidelines of the type you're asking about: what kinds of book reviews they want and if they have any specific requirements. You could also read over ones they've already published. Each publication will have it's own style. About quoting, generally you should keep it to a minimum, including only passages where the wording itself is the reason for the mention. Otherwise, a quick paraphrase is best. Good luck!

Our 13 y.o. has a laptop and our two littles have a desktop PC that they share. Then again, we own an IT business so we have computers coming out the wazoo. I would not have purchased the teen his own laptop. We have strict parental controls set up and he's not permitted to use it in his room.

Jinks! You owe me a Coke. :)

I live near Guilford and Elon, and I'd recommend both. Also nearby is Davidson, which is a small, high-quality school.

Maybe it would be useful to define the words "agnostic" and "atheist." People often get them confused. An agnostic is a person who has decided, essentially, that it's impossible to know whether or not there is a God/god/gods. An atheist is a person who has decided that there isn't a God/god/gods. Your family member is on the fence -- not in the sense that they can be convinced in one direction or another, but in the sense that s/he believes that such things are unknowable, and that that's OK. Most agnostics and atheists alike have a strong moral/ethical code, but one that's not based in religious beliefs. For example, I'm an atheist and was raised as one. I believe that it's our responsibility as humans to care for each other. My basis for that belief is a non-religious one (societal duties, an ecosystem model of existence, etc.), but the result is that many of my values are the same as many Christians, Jews, Buddhist, etc. We should be kind, honest, and treat others as we would wish to be treated. We should work hard and be generous. In short, you probably don't need to worry that this person is going to start being unethical or sinful. They'll follow the same moral compass they've had the whole time, perhaps similar compass to your's, but it'll be rooted into a different place. I have some relatives who are religious and if we have a successful relationship, it's because we both accept that we must allow others their own opinions. It goes both ways.

I don't think wine actually goes bad within that time frame. The alchohol inhibits any bacteria growth. I'd drink or cook with it, no problem. Then again, a bottle of wine usually doesn't last that long around here. ;)

Whenever I start a new project, I usually started looking first at scholarly journals to see what other people are writing about my subject. So perhaps there are religious scholars out there who have written about this or a related topic? Their scholarly articles would be secondary, as would be books of a similar type. Best of luck! Sounds like you're approaching it from the right direction.

This is a great use of the census. If the document is compiled by the governmental census-taker and perhaps presented as part of the census data package, it's a primary document. If it's compiled by another historical or religious organization, it's secondary. Tell me again how you plan to use this type of information? Will you cite the actual passages and what the book says about them, or just the passages? If the point is to talk about how JWs interpret the passages, it would be primary. If the point is just to conveniently gather the scriptural passages together, first go to the scripture to get to the original, which would then be primary. Whether you're using it to show how JWs interact with society (or other such thing), or even just to show what the beliefs exactly are, it would be primary in both cases. Yes! Images of all kinds are typically primary sources. This is a great idea. Also, just for peace of mind, know that scholars can debate endlessly about whether the use of a source is primary or secondary. It's rarely black-and-white. Good luck!

On rereading your post, I realize I didn't address the specific things you asked about: 1. Bible study literature. A. If you will use it to describe how JW's interpret the Bible for study, it would be primary. B. Deciding whether the Bible itself is primary or secondary trickier. It depends on whether your approach assumes/accepts the Bible as a direct, contemporary writing, or as an after-the-fact writing. Professional scholars usually say that it's secondary. You may believe otherwise. 2. High-schooler's paper. A. Secondary, if the high-schooler isn't an actor in what you're studying (a research paper on WW2). However, this source isn't really a reliable source for use in a scholarly work at all. B. Primary, if the high-schooler is an actor in what you're studying (the influence of Hollywood movies on high-school perceptions of WW2). 3. The census. Using the census is actually a bit problematic, depending on why you're using it. A. Each census asks slightly different questions. For example, what racial groups are lumped together as "black" or, previously, "colored"? Are there five options listed, or just three? What if the person answering the question is both Hispanic and of African descent; does the question allow that answer? Can you choose multi-ethnic, and if not, what will that mean for how a mixed-race person answers the question? B. Each census-taker (both the individual being counted and the individual doing the counting) brings his/her own assumptions and agenda to the table. Are unemployed people more or less likely to volunteer their employment status? What populations of people are more or less likely to be counted at all? C. You can use it, but be cautious in what you're asking of the data, and whether you need to find an additional source to validate it. Obviously, I'm really into history, so I'm sure I've given you much more info than you want. :) I love this stuff! [Thanks, Meet Me In Paris!]

The key is going to be how you're using the information. The JW yearbook would be primary if you're looking at how JWs interpret and collect this information. It would be secondary if you're seeking the data itself. It would be the same for any other belief system: If you're seeking data and are using these sources to collect it, it would be secondary. If you're seeking insight into how these groups collect and interpret data about their own groups, it would be primary. The book describing Jewish observances would be primary only if you're seeking information on how Jewish people describe their practices ("From descriptions of practices written by 20th century Jewish organizations, we can see that they ascribe specific meaning at several levels..."). If you want descriptions of the observances themselves, you would use the book as a secondary source. From my grad school thesis, here is an example of a source and how I used it: a history book written in the 19th century about race relations. * I used it as a secondary source when I mined it for specific information about happenings in the 18th century. I was looking for data. (I might have written, based on my research, "This book shows that there were several trials where blacks were permitted to testify against whites.") It was secondary because it was a step removed from the subject I was studying. The author wasn't an actor; just an observer. * I used it as a primary source when I used it to talk about how historians of the 19th century interpreted the previous century's events. ("This book shows how historians of the period used their own assumptions to interpret events.") It was primary because it was not removed from the subject I was studying. The author was an actor.

I completely understand and admire your desire to be upfront about it, but the laws have left a loophole through which this poor puppy has fallen. Because the owners won't willingly give the dog up, and animal control hasn't found them to be neglectful, there's no way to help the poor thing through the usual channels. Just to look at it with the cold eye of the law for a moment, if you found a piece of furniture on the street and it was obviously allowed to be there by the owners, you would be legally permitted to take ownership. In this case, I would treat the puppy like an abandoned animal, which it is in practice, if not according to animal abuse laws. But in a broader sense, ethically speaking, I think the greater good is served by quietly taking the dog in. Consider it your random act of kindness for the day. :)

When I was in school, there was, of course, a lot of discussion about this very issue. In every circumstance, for every 10 people of color in the class, there were 10 slightly different opinions on how they'd like their ethnicities described. There was no "right" or "wrong." Just go with what feels respectful, and you won't offend. :) ETA: And thanks for opening up this conversation. Our society is so squeamish about race relations that we end up with lots of misunderstandings. It's better to be able to talk about it in an open and honest way, and defuse any confusion or tension that can result from apparent differences.

True that. Score one for Bill. :)

May I contribute? For street cred: I have a graduate degree specialization in African-American and ethnic history. It's a personal choice whether people prefer to refer to themselves as African American, African-American, black, Black, person of color, or some other ethnic description. All of the self-applied terms are acceptable. However: * Because there is confusion with other geographies (Haitians=Creole, British=Black or Afro-British, Caribbean=Afro-Caribbean, etc.), as was mentioned. * Because, all of those terms assume that a "black" person is of 100% African descent, whereas the reality is that most people, especially Americans (no matter what they look like), are a descended from a blend of ethnicities; * And because other countries (especially those of with a Spanish and French influences) have historically delineated even further, creating specific terms for specific ethnic percentages and combinations, proving that labels for race are really socially constructed anyway and don't have a basis in biology; I prefer "person of color" or "person of African descent." Then again, I don't take offense (and don't know anyone who does) at any of the above terms. The only thing I don't appreciate is when someone is referred to as a "Black", rather than a "Black person" or "black person." When I'm talking to my children about race, I expose them to all of the acceptable variations for ethnic descriptors, but most often use "person of color" and ask them to only describe someone's ethnicity when it is relevant to the discussion. For example, the man on the street is not "black"; he's the one wearing the red hat. Her friend's Asian Indian heritage is relevant when we're talking about her mother's beautiful sari and jewelry collection, but not when we're talking about what she did in school that day. I also am seriously dorky in that I ask the kids to describe their own (Nordic) skin color as "pinkish beige." :)

Me too, kind of. He's always been in PS and we've just started afterschooling over the summer. He's significantly less resistant than I thought he would be. We did some work all summer, so it's not brand-new with the school year. When his attitude starts to get really bad, we take a break and talk about the benefits to him of doing this work. Math will be much easier next semester, and he acknowledges that he's just not being challenged in our PS system. He's also on a block system, which means no math this semester. We're doing Life of Fred, and I'm considering incorporating him into the history study I'm doing with my pre-schooler and 1st grader. He likes history anyway, and if he doesn't start to get any more homework than he's been getting, we'll have plenty of time to do it.