Who is the "we" to whom you are referring? your family, or americans in general? because i'm sure they are referring to the beef that the vast majority eats...

I think its because it takes TONS of water and grain to build up a cow, much more than say, if we ate the grain and water. However, i don't think that that's reason enough to boycott beef altogether. I am a firm believer in "everything in moderation" Its awesome to increase your bean consumption because its very very VERY healthy but not reasonable to suggest no one eat beef!

ARGH!!! my 1st and 3rd graders are having a heck of a time with math. i'm thinking of switching to math u see... anyone have experience?? i'm math brained, and my oldest is too and i just don't know how to EXPLAIN what seems so simple to me! ARGH!!!!

YES!! absolutely!! you have NO idea how much your feelings and circumstances will change as time goes on. I've found this to be true anyway!

i'm just popping in here quick, and am only on page 2 of 7!! but i saw this and havince once felt this way myself had to argue against it... SURE we can't prevent God from creating life within us, this is exactly what happened with my #4, there was NO time when we could have concieved her, yet we did. This was the turning point for us when we became QF convicted. because it seems to me that the issue is NOT just in whether a life that was meant to be can be born, but what is our heart in it, kwim? like are we cheerfully obeying or are we rebellious against God. Also it almost seems like testing God to say that if he really wanted us to have a child, he'd work against the birth control. That may be, but that doesn't show a submissive and obedient spirit, and it also doesn't prevent us from the natural consequences that come from being disobedient (like not having that particular child who may have been a huge blessing to us) Now, i'm just offering another perspective, i'm NOT claiming to have all the answers, not by a longshot. We are still searching too. but this is the opinion i'm leaning toward personally. Dh is way more laid back about the whole thing, he can't see why i'm stressing out about it, LOL!! i look forward to reading everyone's discussion PAST page 2 as i get some free time!!

Math U see is an easy curriculum?? COOL! i've heard good things about it but thought it was a more teacher intensive one. that's why we chose a simple book math (calvert) with no excess manipulatives. Our cyberschool actually, is REALLY GREAT! we are in WA, where homeschool laws are pretty lax as is, and the cyberschool we attend (columbia virtual academy) is very reasonable. it was created BY homeschoolers and while we are expected to cover all subject, HOW we do so, and with WHAT curriculum is totally up to us. we have a required number of hours which we have NO problem meeting, LOL. anyway, thanks for your rundown of your day, it helps... i've been homeschooling for almost 8 years now, you'd think i'd have it together by now!!! but the problem is every year our circumstances change, drastically! its NUTS!! Thanks everyone!

REALLY?? see, i don't know how that's even possible!! i tried the konos in a box once, and it was a DISASTER!! there seemed to me, to be like no structure at all, and i was totally lost using it!

Please forgive me if i have some typos... i'm getting used to a new laptop. anyway, we are using calvert this year, its NOT going well, i've reduced us to just doing a page or so of math and language per child except for my 7th grader who's doing a full calvert load, but mostly on his own. basically, here's my lineup- Alex, age 12, calvert 7. going pretty well but i'd like to participate more. Nikolas-9 working on calvert 2, but not going so well, Chloe-6 working on calvert K except for Calvert 1 in math, which she excells in. Annabeth is 4 and difficult and we started doing calvert math k with her, but then went to kumon workbooks to help her develop better hand eye coordination as she has a hard time writing. oh and Leif is 19 mos and is a TORNADO! i have alex help play with him so i can get the middle kids started but its just not going well. we just started calvert art and music, the enrichment ones and REALLY like them. i'm wondering what other curricula is out there that's similarly low maintenance, like in writing, reading, any other subjects that would help us maximize our potential right now. i'm going to do one of those tv programs, cosmeo or united s treaming... any feedback would be awesome... OH and we use a virtual school, so while i'm Christian and prefer a Christian curricula, i can't buy them with our school, and i do have some discretionary funds for homeschool but couldn't afford a whole program like bju homesat or the like... I'm considering doing unit studies cindy rushton style but i'm a bit afraid having crashed and burned in the whole unit study thing before... thank you!! rebecca

personally, i'd suggest you go ahead and use SOTW and just omit the offensive chapters. I dont' think that would affect the flow of the curriculum. I personally, found SOTW a LOT easier to use than sonlight, but then i come from a place of schooling lots of olders with some youngers also so reading aloud so much was hard for us.

does anyone know how this compares to cosmeo? and is the trial on united streaming still available?? i was thinking of trying us if it was still available on trial, then doing the trial on cosmeo, then doing cosmeo.. wondering if that is a good plan... thanks! rebecca