I liked private school as a child for the same reason I enjoy homeschooling- I love to learn. I did NOT like school once I moved from my small, Christian one to the local PS in high school. I wish I had never gone! I think it probably depends on the child

I don't really have a strong opinion either way. I do enjoy seeing people open the gift we have given them though, if they choose to open in front of others. My twins usually do open their gifts at their family party, my grandparents and relatives expect it. I take it as a good opportunity to discuss ahead of time appropriate reactions and for them to work on their manners and social customs :)

I do daycare and used to teach pre-school and I constantly hear from many (not all) parents that they don't know how I do it, they would go crazy if they had to stay at home with their kids, etc. I know it isn't for everyone but it does make me sad because I know how much their children desperately with they could be at home with mom.

Books! It says someone was giving it to me which, to me, sounded like a gift. I love to read and I read my books over and over so it is the purchase that keeps on giving :)

I am reading Ann Rules's Everything She Ever Wanted.Really creepy!

I like the teacher manuals but I would at least really recommend the answer keys. It is a lot to correct, figuring out all the answers yourself. I have 2 kids in third now and had one in fifth last year, haven't had any experience with fourth though. The third could be pulled off without either but there is NO way I could have done the fifth in a reasonable amount of time, esp. since I was never taught to diagram sentences. While I can do it to help him or explain it, it definitely isn't second nature enough to correct sentence after sentence in a timely fashion. Hope that helps! :)

:iagree: We should do the best we can to not offend others but there is a point when it becomes ridiculous. My husband is black and my kids and step-kids are all mixed. I have had black people, who have overheard me use the term "black" get angry with me (and cuss me out in public lol) for not using "African-American." However my husband doesn't like being referred to as African-American because he feels it makes it seem less than American. He says he isn't from Africa, and no one in his family has been for several hundred years. A lot of it is just a matter of preference. I wish people spent more time trying to understand that others were raised differently, have different opinions or are even perhaps just ignorant of PC terms and didn't take things quite so personally. MOST (not all lol) of the time I don't think people mean any offense, they just don't understand. :) Just my 2 cents and hopefully I didn't offend anyone!

:lurk5:

Thanks it was too cloudy here to see it!

I'm in! :)

I haven't heard of the research guides. Can someone tell me what they include? How expensive are they?

Thanks! This is awesome! Any more? :lurk5:

I just want to hear other opinions. My DSS is in 8th grade and just started doing Connections Academy Online free through our state. He was doing his Lit lesson and told me the story he was reading made him uncomfortable, it was his second day and I hadn't had time to preview his Lit book yet. I came over and was quite disturbed to see him reading this story! Esp since it was done with no moral guidance what-so-ever. Just read the story and discuss the vocabulary in it. I told him to quit reading it and I would tell his teacher that I didn't think it was appropriate for 8th grade (maybe any grade!). So what do you think? I know I am conservative, I am just interested in other opinions. Heres a link if you haven't read it: http://www.literature.org/authors/poe-edgar-allan/tell-tale-heart.html (Beware even as an adult, I find it quite disturbing!)

Great article! Thanks for posting it! :)

We are getting married next Saturday and "obey" will be in my vows :)

LOL! I identified some with each of them! I swear that is why I have so few friends also! :)

I have Safari and can't get it up.

When we applied for the marriage license we were told we had no choice that it had to be done according to his birth certificate. Not sure if that is the case but they called in a manager because they weren't sure and that is what their legal expert told us. At that point we didn't have time to go through a court process to change his name before the wedding. *sigh* He isn't really on talking terms with his parents anyway, so I think he just thinks it would be easier to change it once and be done with the situation. I am only in a supportive role in this present situation lol

Thanks! Great tips :) I appreciate the support! Right now with homeschooling 4 kids and a wedding, now this, I am going nuts. School might be put on hold... I was going to wait to next week but yeah... We will look at that law and also see about filing a report! I was thinking the same thing about a lawyer, it is just too big of a mess for us to do on our own! As to the social security cards apparently in the 70s/early 80s you were able to just go get a ss number for any name so he actually has 2 cards issued to him. One with his legal name and one with the name he has been using. (We just found out from his mom about the first one, of course she has lost it and is "hurt" we want to "change" his name.) To get a new ss card you need a birth certificate and a second piece of ID to prove you are that person, wherein lies the problem lol. They said they will link the 2 ss numbers though as soon as we can prove that he is that person, so that all his credit and debts etc will follow over.

So my fiance got his birth certificate because we thought we would need it for the marriage license (turns out we didn't.) Guess what, his step dad (who he didn't even know wasn't his dad) never adopted him! His parents just decided to use that last name for him at 4 years old. Everything, school records, hospital records, insurance, EVERYTHING, is in his step-dad's last name, which we have just been informed is NOT his legal name! So we are in a mad dash to get identification in his legal last name. Well, because of identity theft, no one will issue us anything, using only a birth certificate. Apparently anyone can get a birth certificate so it means nothing. We have been to so many places explaining the whole situation and cannot figure out what to do next! I am so irritated. I have less than two weeks until our wedding and this is NOT how I wanted to spend it! Sorry to go on like that but because he is really angry and embarrassed about his parents and the lies I can't really tell anyone else! Thanks for listening :)

SOOO glad there are people here that agree with me :lol: My 14dss is having a rough time. You know I didn't have cable, video games, etc growing up, AND i lived in the middle of the country with no one but my brother to play with. He'll survive :)

At least for my twins YES! Somersaults and front flips and back rolls ALL OVER MY HOUSE! They hit the walls when they fall from hand stands. They try to walk up and down the stairs on their hands. They fall into each other! They do back rolls up into hand stands. They do hand stands down into forward rolls. They do hand stands into a bridge. They do head stands in the bathroom, the hallway, the "sitting only" living room, almost never in the playroom.... Can you tell what phase my boys are in?! I wish I could afford a tumbling class!!! Oh and as to push ups ands sit ups, Uncle is in the Army.. enough said lol

Wow we have some OLD fairy tale books that by all means aren't Disney quality but I really don't remember a s*xual theme to them. There was definitely violence and harsh punishments but... wow is all I got! I will remember not to pick that one up! Glad you shared though! :)

My twins both have a high pain tolerance! One broke his finger and didn't tell me until it was so swollen it couldn't be bent and then said, "My finger looks funny Mama," and the ER sent us home saying that it couldn't be broken if it didn't hurt. Ped called the next morning to tell us it actually was broken. They don't run fevers either so when they were little we wouldn't know they had an ear infection until their eardrums burst. My asthmatic doesn't tell me he is having a hard time breathing until his lips start turning blue, needless to say we have a pulse oximeter at home now and I just do random checks! It isn't any fun! I think some kids are so busy with life, they are able to tune out everything else or something. (That is my theory with them ATM lol) It doesn't seem to matter how many times we have the conversation that it is important for me to know when something doesn't hurts or they don't feel well.

I agree with the two posters above. I will add in here that I am quite strict and know it and am okay with it :) I let my kids have a lot of freedom in a lot of areas but we are very serious about disrespect. If it is making someone feel bad or upset, annoyed etc than it isn't nice/respectful (at our house). For us it is religious reasons: J-O-Y, Jesus first, Others second, Yourself last. :) And I also agree with several posters about the hubby! LOL that is my line of defense ;)