My youngest is about the age of your oldest so we've been thinking through this same issue for a few years now. I do think kids need some sort of adult direction. My oldest is very responsible but not quite outgoing enough to do things on his own. With him, we used AWANA as a springboard - he tended to be a leader (just by his nature) in the class. In order to foster a service attitude, we organized up work days for various neighborhood organizations (Big Brother/Big Sister, etc.) in which the kids could serve. Our church has a youth leadership team which he was part of. I would say that at 18 now he is still a quiet leader - not a rambunctious, dynamic type. Whenever there is a need in our church, he is usually one of the first to volunteer. So, in that regard I think we've been successful. Since moving to a new church which doesn't have a junior high/senior high AWANA program, we have enrolled the younger 3 boys in Boy Scouts. Like the others have said, this is a fantastic program to develop leadership skills. One of the things I have found to be the most valuable is to get the kids involved in something out of their comfort zone. In the case of my 2nd son, who is happy to only say 5 words in a day, we had him volunteer at a local mission helping with VBS last month. He isn't used to having to talk so much, answer so many questions from the kids, or dealing with social issues he has never seen. Another time, my oldest was totally blown away when he had to "register" adults at this same mission in order to give away Thanksgiving meals. He came home shocked that most of these people could not sign their name. The "X" signature was always something on movies, but he experienced it in real life. All of these exposures have helped to create a desire to serve as well as to lead in my boys. I think the key is to frequently put them into situations that stretch them. It is hard to spend a lot of time with the oldest in this type of project because the younger ones, in many cases, cannot participate. But if you can find another mom with similar aged kids, maybe you could work something out. I know that the service organizations around here are always looking for volunteers and there is no end to the need for help.

Ah! I've always used Frontline, but she had a bit of a reaction to it the last time. Thanks for the advice; I'll call the vet.

My doggy is in a family way :). But we live in the country with ticks and fleas. I usually have her on a flea/tick control regimen, but with her pregnancy felt that it wouldn't be good for the puppies. I found a natural flea/tick spray in which the main ingredients are various herbs - mostly cloves. She hates it! She hides when she sees me with the spray bottle and then sulks for hours after I spray her. Is there anything else that doesn't smell so strong? TIA

I'd suggest Mystery of History. There are three levels of work associated with each lesson. It's so easy to implement and the lessons are interesting and seem to be retained well. I have had TOG, but, IMO, its greatest value is in the high school years. I found it to be too much for the elementary years.

Here's one that my boys did not forget: Kids Playing Catch On Freeway Go Splat! Sorry, kinda gross, but maybe it's just a boy thing?!?

OK, help me out here. Where did the Greeks get this theory? In other words, why was the Greek system of thinking more "moral" or superior to our thinking today or even of the thinking of other ancient societies? If they had decided that murder was OK, would we embrace that today simply because the idea came from the Greeks? I can think of many things that the Greeks did that were legal and probably considered moral at the time that, today, would appall us. Does morality change over time? Is there some "standard"? All we have to do is look at history to see that a lack of a moral standard has led to great destruction (I'm thinking the Holocaust right off the bat). I agree that we can trace ideas back to various cultures and can even agree that some of these cultures might have had some morality, but as far as I can see there must be something beyond humanity that is responsible for the definition of morality. Otherwise we are just picking and choosing someone else's worldview (Greeks, Enlightenment Philosophers, etc.) to claim as our own and that, of course, begs the question of, "why is this particular line of thinking more moral than another". Perhaps we need to define "morality".

Yes, that's pretty close. You mentioned 2 things that I find interesting: "theory of natural rights" and "personal responsibility for free will". I would be interested in what that theory means to you, from where was that theory derived, and how you define "personal responsibility for free will". I'm truly interested in your viewpoint because I'm working with a group of teens and these questions are brought up often. So, to answer these kids who often cannot completely formulate what they are thinking into words, it would be helpful for me to understand where others are coming from.

I used this with my 9th grader last year. It was sufficient for him. We used it in a co-op and did add in other things (debates, etc.). If using it for an upper level high schooler, I would definitely add in other books. We only used the history portion of the program, though. Remember, too, that current events are scheduled and these can be a great tool for adding in extra writing, debate, or oral presentations.

So how do you make a decision when your definition of "harm" conflicts with another person's definition of "harm" - where do you turn to make a decision? For example: Many people would feel that abortion harms both mother and fetus; others would claim that denying an abortion can bring harm to a mother and that bringing an unwanted child into the world could cause it harm during its lifetime. My point is that ultimately there is "something" out there that gives humanity a base for moral living. Our "feelings" just don't matter because they often conflict with other peoples feelings. Even those who claim not to have a Christian worldview end up defining their morality on something intangible. When we each determine our own "standard" we will end up in conflict at some point with someone else whose standard is different. So can we truly say that our "standard" is right?

But how do you define "harm"? Harm appears to be defined differently in different cultures or societies. What standard of "harm" do you strive to avoid? And from what/where did you derive your standard of "do no harm"?

I believe it was some sort of medical equipment clearing house. They had a LOT of sales and great feedback. Prior to bidding, we looked up the particular scope on various used medical equipment sites and found that it had a great reputation and sold for far more than what we paid for it. I guess most people who are purchasing medical equipment for an office or lab don't use ebay.

Ah! That's exactly what my dh said (he is a physician). We both wanted a binocular model which raises the price some. Honestly, though, the one from Sonlight would probably meet your needs. My son took BJU biology this year with a retired veterinarian. From what I saw, they really only needed a good quality student scope. But we love our laboratory scope here at home. We use it periodically just for fun.

Check out ebay if you want a high quality scope. I purchased a laboratory quality scope for under $150. It is not a student quality scope; it is a professional quality scope.

Here's a non-liquid version of the object lesson: http://www.rightlydividing.net/Walking_with_the_Lord.htm Scroll down to the "What Can Wash Away My Sin" section

We made the choice based on geography, amount of a particular language being spoken locally, and his future career plans (which most likely will include foreign travel/living). In our case, Spanish won out. But French seems so much more romantic :-)

Another really enjoyable read is by Steve Wilkens, Good Ideas from Questionable Christians and Outright Pagans - An Introduction to Key Thinkers and Philosophies. He is a professor of philosophy and ethics at Azusa Pacific Univ. I've taught World Views of the Western World for 3 years and will be teaching it again next year. I am adding this text because it is makes the subject so approachable for youth and WVWW doesn't really have a "spine". We will also be using Sophie's World. FYI, Wilkens is a Christian author.

Professor Rufus Fears (Univ. OK) of the Teaching Company also praises the KJV due to its poetic language structure and literary influence. I was surprised to hear this while listening to his lectures in Books that Made History, Books that can Change Lives.

I've got 4 boys! When we built our house, the plumbing supply store had some snazzy toilet seats in stock. They actually just lift off the commode. I purchased these for all our bathrooms and love them. I soak them in the bathtub in Lysol, then I clean the toilet and put the seats back on. I have also found that Tilex (mold/mildew remover) sprayed over the brackets that hold the seat on keeps them nice and white. I also have the boys wipe down the toilet daily with those premoistened cleaning towels. BTW, my dh is the worst shot of the bunch!

Oops! Just noticed that you want to move your student in Spanish level 2. Then definitely, I would get a more rigorous course than Rosetta Stone. For us, using the concurrent enrollment option made the choice easy. He simply took all his foreign language requirements at the university beginning with the basic entry level course.

My son (just graduated) did Rosetta Stone haphazardly as a sophomore (after 2 years of Latin). He went right into university level Beginning Spanish 1 as a junior in high school (concurrent enrollment). He did great. He went on to complete 3 semesters of university level Spanish carrying a 4.0 GPA by the time he graduated form high school. He will begin intermediate Spanish 2 as a freshman in college. So, personally, I wouldn't worry too much about high school preparation - it seems that the university level (which oftentimes is more rigorous than CC) assumes no prior knowledge of the language. Any Spanish taken before the university/cc course will help the student.

I really liked Singapore science for the elementary years. I know there is a new program from Singaporemath.com now which I haven't used (I used the Primary Science program). It is inexpensive and is great for laying a foundation for upper level science.

We made that same one. It is so much fun! We live in the country and have lots of space. The trees are great targets. It's fun to see how far one can be launched. Only drawback I've found is that my potatoes disappear!

We've found that a good outside (large) dog keeps the coons away from the house and surrounding areas. Trapping works unless you live in an area with an infinite amount of coons (as we do).

Yes, until I actually had the kids, then realized that NOTHING would ever prepare one for all parenthood entails. It's sort of "learn as you go". Some preparations make the stresses easier - or maybe just fewer stresses, but being a parent is just hard sometimes.

and they only have PM (no e-mail) and they don't seem to check the PMs, what do you do? She also has a zero posting number. Here's the situation: a lady wanted to purchase some items on the swap board, asked if I would take a money order instead of paypal, I agreed, money order hasn't arrived, I have a name but no other contact information than the PM, she isn't answering the PM, and I have a line of other people who want to purchase the item. WHAT TO DO???? HOW LONG TO WAIT???? I've e-mailed admin for an e-mail address for her, but haven't heard back. Any ideas? I don't want to spend hours trying to contact her for just the few dollars I'm getting for the item. Would it be tacky to go ahead and sell it to someone else and send back the MO if/when it ever arrives?