I find that my college students who cannot write in cursive cannot take notes quickly enough to keep up in class.

There is a children's museum in San Antonio. http://www.sakids.org/home.aspx The Witte Museum has free entry on Tuesday afternoons. If you are into art: The San Antonio Museum of Art and the McNay Art Museum The missions http://www.nps.gov/saan/index.htm The quadrangle at Ft. Sam Houston is a nice park area where you can pet deer, see peacocks, etc. http://www.informationsanantonio.com/toseeanddo/sanantonioattractions/quadranglesanantonio.html Depending on interests, there is a transportation museum, sport events, and caves in the area. Several state parks are nearby (Pedernales Falls, Guadalupe River State Park) The LBJ Ranch is a state park/national park where you can tour the LBJ ranch in the national park, and enjoy a picnic and a visit to an 1800's style German farmhouse on the state park side. (This is near Johnson City).

DH is an only child, and his mother was an only child. If there are more than five people at the dinner table--he thinks it is a huge family gathering! On top of that, he is an extreme introvert, so he can easily get exhausted at a family gathering. But, I wouldn't label him as a "family separatist." I also wouldn't conclude that he has trouble with trust. I don't know what her family culture is, but I would find it hard to find my place as part of a "family" when I wasn't married to the father of my child. I would see this as my boyfriend asking his family to consider me family when he hasn't made that commitment yet. If you extended that beyond family to "good family friends," I would be wondering what exactly my role is. I wouldn't consider a friend of the family of the father of my child my "sister-in-law."

Is there anyway he can leave for the funeral on Saturday instead of Sunday. Often, Saturday flights are cheaper and there will be less of an end-of-a-long-weekend crowd and less chance of flight delays.

We recently left a church where this was a constant problem. It was a large church with a large paid staff. A number of parents complained about both the quantity and quality of the information provided parents. The staff would use a number of different methods to communicate--facebook, twitter, email, church website, texting. No consistent method was used, information was provided last-minute, and the information was not complete. I would be ready to take my child to an event on Sunday evening and as we were walking out the door she would get a text that it had been cancelled (with no communication with parents). The main office at the church often did not know what was scheduled for the youth. A number of times facebook would have one set of information and the church website another. One of the many concerns was that parents were being left out of the loop for 11- and 12- year olds. We did not think it was appropriate for staff to directly text the students without the parents being notified--and not all pre-teens have texting and smart phones. It was also impossible to do any family planning. I, and some other parents, repeatedly offered to help with communication issues. The church's solution was to pay for more elaborate websites and communication systems--but not use them. That was not the only reason we left that congregation, but it was indicative of broader problems. At the church we now attend, a calendar is given to parents at the beginning of the year and at the beginning of each semester. All youth activities are placed in the monthly church newsletter as well as the weekly bulletin. They are all clearly on the church calendar on the church's website. Parents receive an email from the youth director every Monday morning with details about what has been going on, events for the week with details, and heads-up about events in the future. Additional emails are sent out if there is some reason that they are needed. Announcements are made at the beginning of the worship service and include youth events/activities. Occasionally, we receive communication by snail mail. This is a smaller church with a much smaller staff, but the communication is consistent, useful, thorough, respectful and allows youth and families to plan appropriately.

There was also an article earlier this year that appeared in either The Economist, Wired, or The New Yorker--I can't remember which one about how The Apple Store in Manhattan is another major location--preying on runaway teenagers.

Along Interstate-10 through Texas. Houston appears to be a major hub for the activity.

I recently saw a statistic that there are more slaves in the world today than any time in history. Living along the main human trafficking corridor in the US, I think it is sometimes worse today in that we think "how could people have thought that slavery was OK," thinking that is is a past issue, but it has just been removed from our sight.

DD and her friends joke that they have the speech memorized. Two more characteristics that are in the list: 1) We have a diverse student body 2) We have every type of club--and if we don't have the type you want, you can start it.

I am not familiar with this curriculum, so I am not in a position to say how long is a reasonable amount of time to take on one of the section tests. I know that I tend to underestimate how long it will take for students to take a test. In my college class, I try to use a rule of giving my students 3 times as long as it would take me to do the test. (If I can work a test in 15 minutes, then it is the appropriate length for a 45 minute test period.) If you have guidance from the author that this should only take 45-60 minutes and your son is taking much longer, then it may indeed be that he is working slowly. Can you try more closely replicating a testing environment one day to see how he does? If you take him to the library, for example, and say that you will spend 1 hour with him sitting at a desk taking an exam, how would he do? My ds focuses much better and completes work more quickly in places other than the house. Does he get stressed if you set time limits? Or, is he just a daydreamer? (I have one who would start worrying about the time constraint and not do the work and I had one child who was just more of a daydreamer and would not finish because of going off in another world.) One thing I found helpful was do short chunks of work with a time limit; for example, see how many math problems you can do in 10 minutes. I did this more as a game and gradually increased the time to practice the skill of focused concentration. Also, does he have any incentive to finish more quickly? I realized my ds had the attitude, "the faster I finish, the more work she will give me." If he knows that the slow work is cutting into the time he wants to do something, he has more incentive not to dawdle.

I have never heard of this before. I am in Texas and grew up in Louisiana.

I think a teacher would be out of line telling a kindergartener that she is acting like a baby is out of line. I was in a situation of being a witness in a dispute between another faculty member and a college student when the college student yelled at the faculty member, "You are treating me like a five year old!" I was so tempted to intervene and say, "Well, maybe that's because you are acting like a three year old!" But, I bit my tongue and wouldn't even say that to a college student who was totally out of line with his behavior. It never ceases to amaze me how some "professionals" will talk to children. When my ds was in fifth grade there were some problems that kept arising; we told ds to tell the school staff that he wanted us to be called the next time something came up and we had informed the school of this. So,, the next time it occurred his teacher sent him to the office for us to be called and the secretary said to an 11-year old boy, "Wow! You really are a girl aren't you? You want your mommy." That is one of the many reasons we now homeschool.

An optometrist first diagnosed my retina problems. The optometrist that I see has advanced training. In fact, he was an optometrist for NASA, studying sight issues faced by astronauts. But, it is a retina specialist who treats my retina issues. FWIW my retina specialist has told me not to go to the emergency room if I suspect further retina problems in that emergency rooms do not have the equipment to look at the retina. She has told me to call her immediately. Once, I was seeing flashing lights, a sign of retina problems on the weekend, and she was at her office within minutes to see what was happening.

Dorms and cafeterias are not money-making operations at most universities. For example, within the University of Texas system, the revenues from these "auxiliary services" was a little over $441 million but the expenses were almost $492 million, meaning that these services are being subsidized by the universities.

Optometrists are not medical doctors. What optometrists can and cannot do varies from state to state. Because of a family history of retina problems (which must be treated by an MD) I never saw an optometrist when I was growing up. Optometrists were allowed to do basic vision exams and prescribe glasses, but they could not do any type of exam that included "medication" (including dilating the eye). Optometrists were not allowed to prescribe any eye drops to treat eye infections, etc.--I do not know if it is still that restrictive. When I moved to Texas, optometrist were able to do much more and opthalmologists were not interested in prescribing glasses or contacts. I know see both a opthalmologist who is a retina specialist AND a highly trained optometrist who prescribes lenses, deals with infections, etc. So, posters in different states may have different experiences with when to see an optometrist or an opthalmologist depending upon state regulations.

Last year I had a college student who had a "quote" in a paper she turned in. When I asked for the source of the quote, her response was, "Oh, you mean it needs not come from a real place. I thought I was just supposed to add quotes to the important facts I made up." She had been trained how to write a good SAT essay!

I have had laser eye surgery to repair holes in both eyes. My father had a detached retina as has my uncle. My father was one of the first laser eye patients in the mid-1960s when lasers first became available. Retina problems are serious. It is important to take care of any hole quickly.

I think the dorm atmosphere varies greatly from school to school and even from dorm to dorm. When I have taught at universities which enforce dorm rules, I have found that students who lived on campus generally performed better than students who lived off campus. They were more involved in campus activities and in the classroom. Students who lived on campus tended to more focused on their schoolwork. Students living off campus tended to become distracted by transportation issues, lease issues, roommate issues, etc. I think when colleges are able to create a community of scholars in the dorms it is a wonderful experience for students. On-campus housing can provide the space and time for intellectual inquiry and for students to become immersed in academic conversation. When universities protect the campus environment to promote a place that is conducive to academic inquiry, I think dorm living is the best option. But, this isn't the dorm environment at many campuses.

My DD was in public school in 8th grade, but took Algebra I and French I for high school credit. Those courses now appear on her (private school) transcript as completed high school courses that were taken in 8th grade. So, having some 8th grade courses appear on a high school transcript is not unusual.

It wouldn't occur to me to take it as a negative comment. If someone told me that she was running a marathon, I might say, "I couldn't do that, but good for you." Or, if someone told me she was an emergency room doctor, I might say the same thing. I don't see it as a judgment about what is being done, as much as a comment by the person saying it about herself.

I have one that is wired that way. When I say wired that way, he showed signs of this early on. At 13 months he showed no interest in holding on holding on to furniture and walking around, etc. Then, one day he stood up and walked across the room by himself. He has always been one to sit back and not try until he can do something well. My other child is exactly the opposite. Some of the things that we have found that have helped over the years (yes it is a long process) are: 1) Finding some things that the child can really excel at and encourage participation so that the child does has some of that "excellent" need met. 2) Don't totally avoid things the child won't excel at. Try to set expectations beforehand. 3) Praise trying (not accomplishments) even for the things the child does excel in. 4) Point out the trying and failing in others One of the things that helped my child was he like to watch the show Monk. He could see the humor in trying to have everything just so.

We didn't build from the ground up, but we did a significant remodel to an existing home (adding a second floor and significantly redoing the first floor). The process went smoothly until the last 20%. Our contractor came highly recommended and we enjoyed working with him for the first 80%. Then, it became a nightmare. Apparently this is common as the money begins to dwindle and the contractor wants to move on to other jobs for cash flow. I think some things to consider as you decide whether it is worth the stress is: 1. What will your living conditions be while you are building? 2. Do you have a specific deadline in which you have to be in the new house, or can you manage a few delays? 3. Do you find decision making stressful? 4. Do you have a clear idea of what you want in a house? 5. How do you like working with contractors, service people, etc? Is this some you enjoy or is it something that is stressful? 6. How much time do you have to devote to overseeing the project? I would spend the money to get a real estate attorney to look over any contract before you begin working with a contractor. Keep in mind that real estate law can vary greatly from state to state.

I have written several books (nonfiction) and a number of articles for trade publications. For a first book, a publisher will want to see at least one completed chapter (not necessarily the first chapter--I usually write this as one of the last chapters) and a detailed outline. You should also provide a market comparison--tell the publisher what your book would be similar to AND how it will be different from other books on the market. I have written two books with my husband and one with another co-author. Even if you are doing it solo, it is nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of. It also helps to know what your strengths are. Are you good at writing a bit each day? Are you able to stick to a schedule? Do you work better under pressure? Does proofreading drive you crazy? I would try to spread out my work so I didn't have to do all of my most hated tasks at the same time.

Do they want to just travel or travel and study? Do they want to go to one place or multiple places? DD attended a program with University of Dallas in Italy. UD has a Rome campus where the students stay; the trip includes a stay in Venice, also. Students take either a class on Shakespeare or a Latin class. DD has also stayed on her own in Austria and spent three weeks in Austria taking a German course this past summer.

http://prep.uiw.edu/academics I do not have personal experience with University of Incarnate Word Preparatory High School, but I have friends who have really liked it. You can do an entire high school diploma through them or pick-and-choose particular courses.