It is completely overstated. The US perinatal (baby just before, during and just after birth) mortality rate is right in line with those in Europe. The one single European country with a large percentage of homebirths, the Netherlands, has one of the highest European perinatal mortality rates and one that is higher than ours. They are now beginning to move away from homebirth for that reason. They have good research showing that their mortality rates for homebirth and hospital with a midwife are equal, but more recent research has shown that their low risk patients who are cared for by midwives have a higher perinatal mortality rate than the high risk patients cared for by OBs. They are definitely examining their system. The studies comparing home and hospital birth are mixed and conflicting, but the evidence seems to be that home birth is probably about as safe as hospital birth, for low risk women. Many of the catastrophic events occur too rarely to show up in the studies, due to the low population of homebirthers. There is always a very small, but real, risk of something going catastrophically wrong during delivery. So I do think that there is probably a slightly increased risk from an out of hospital birth, but for most women it is not an unreasonable risk IF they have competent medical providers, with established backup and good transport to hospital. Of course, you may not feel that way if you are the one the catastrophe happens to. FWIW, I've had two hospital births, a birth at an accredited birth center with CNMs, a birth at an informal birth center with CPMs, and I'm going back to the hospital. My best experience was definitely with the CNMs. I started reading and looking at the whole of research, and both sides of the story, and I feel that the best option for me is in the hospital, although I know the "experience" won't be as nice. If there was a birth center run by CNMs in town, close by the hospital, I would feel comfortable choosing that.

I personally wouldn't get the additional phonogram cards or the word builder cards, until you see how you like the program. They really are more extras, IMO. I invested a lot (some money, but lots of time) into making Spalding work, and ultimately couldn't cut it. I wouldn't buy too much to start off, until you know how it works for you.

We cut things back to bare bones. Math. A language arts workbook. Lots of science and social studies type movies on Netflix. We didn't worry about what we weren't doing. Once I felt better, we started doing more again.

Not sure what to vote. We watch way more TV than what is good for us (at least the kids do), but we only pay for Netflix, which is less than $10 a month for our option.

They used to protest at the Catholic churches in Topeka on a rotating basis, since the Catholic Church is a f@g church, you know. (They may have protested outside other sorts of churches, I don't know). We saw them once when we visited my brother-in-law's parish, and they were protesting across the street while the first communicants were lining up outside to process in. They were there on a regular basis. They recently protested at our parish and all churches of all denominations in the same town. The reason? It was the "birthplace of the Patriot Guard." They are equal opportunity offenders.

I absolutely agree. They are all about the publicity, and getting worked up about them only makes it worse.

We take the summer off. We usually have some traveling, swim lessons, day camp or other activities, vacation Bible school, etc. going on. We also enjoy the weather and the down time. I don't think that formal academics are the only way to learn, so I don't worry about not doing them during the summer.

Here in KS, a man was just recently arrested for planning this very thing. He was lying in wait for them with lots of ammunition, but he was found and arrested before he did any firing.

I've had the Bind-it-All recommended to me: http://www.amazon.com/Bind-all-Z-2812-Bind-It-All-Machine-Ver/dp/B001TBING2/ref=pd_sbs_ac_13 And am also looking at The Cinch: http://www.amazon.com/We-R-Memory-Keepers-Bindery/dp/B0037CK9MC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1299005692&sr=8-8 But there are several different systems on Amazon. I just want to hear more experiences!

I'm thinking of getting some kind of home binding system, whether comb or coil or thermal, I don't know. Does anyone have any experiences or recommendations to share? We weren't happy with using pronged folders or three ring binders for our printed off workbooks, but if anyone has any other suggestions I'd love them!

I disagree that this is how MM is intended to be used. I think that Math Mammoth does need to be actively taught AND the author expects the homeschool teacher to actively teach it. If you just hand your child the workbook, you will likely not have good results. If you need lots of guidance on how to teach, another program may work better for you. I admit that I am a mathy person and have been through education classes and have had teacher training, and I like Math Mammoth because I don't have to consult a teacher's manual, rather I use the instruction in the book as a jumping off point for teaching the material. I understand why someone who liked more specific suggestions for teaching would want to use another program.

My current avatar is our new little one.

My SIL's husband had a very difficult time reading, but it has improved dramatically since he began meds for ADHD.

I had a mild prolapse that was helped a great deal by physical therapy. I would definitely get it looked at. Never mind, I just realized how old the original post was. D'oh.

I know this is a tangent, sorry! You can see Kolbe's catalog here, although it is the one from last year: http://www.kolbe.org/catalog/ Here's a bit of info on the elementary literature program: http://www.kolbe.org/documents/catalog/ElementaryLiterature.pdf It is $150 for course plans that cover 3 years of elementary literature, from 4th - 6th grade. but there is also a study guide set available (I found it under their fourth grade books section): "Elementary Literature Study Guide Set 3 Book Set NEW FOR 2009—Elementary Literature Study Guide Set. Includes detailed chapter by chapter study questions and vocabulary lists for each of the 41 books in a 2 book set—a student book and a teacher book with answers—and a separate glossary for looking up the vocabulary words. This set is good for all three years of the elementary literature program! 3 Book Set T3930 $30.00" This would be designed to be used alongside the course plans, but perhaps it could be used on its own?