Thank you for all the replies! (I was hoping that the people I'm surrounded by are the ones with the thinking that is out of line, and not me....) I've edited my original post, explaining why I'm posing this question in the first place, and why I worded the poll the way I did. Thank you, Dear Hive, for your support in this matter! :)

Help! I don't know how to add an option on the poll. :confused: I haven't been able to read all the replies yet - I didn't think there would be this many so quickly! I'll be back later this PM as I have to get to an appt right now. I want to say THANK YOU, though - I tried to make the question/poll as non biased as I could as not to "sway" the results. We are that family, and I am getting a bit irritated with the number of people commenting on our kids' names. Especially since I was born in the US and have an ethnic name myself - we (as did my parents) made a very conscious effort not to choose names that are cumbersome, really out of this world (in a bad way) sound funny, are impossible to pronounce/spell, or sound like curse words in English.... Yesterday my coworker asked what we planned to name the baby on the way. I told her. She asked to write it down. Then she wrinkled her nose and said "well, I guess he'll just have to get used to it and live with it" and threw the piece of paper in the trash. :glare: I've gotten similar comments on my own name, as well as the names of my kiddos. I was starting to wonder if it's me, or if I'm just dealing with people who are comfortable only in their familiar little world.... ACK! Gotta run - but thank you all for the replies. I

If a family moves to the US from their native country, what are your thoughts as far as naming their baby (born in the US)? ETA: Adding to my original post, as my "explanatory" post may have gotten buried in all the responses. Thank you so much for *pages* of support for how I feel about this matter. I was born in the US to parents from Northern Europe, and my DH is from the same country (I met him there; we've moved back to the US fairly recently). My own name is reflective of my heritage, as is that of my DH and our kiddos. Having grown up here (and not there), I (we) put in a tremendous amount of thought and consideration into the names we chose, trying to balance heritage with something that wouldn't be a burden to the child, nor very difficult to pronounce/spell, nor translating into something vulgar, etc. I've been really surprised by how rude some people can be, and a recent question posed by my coworker ("did you pick a name for the new baby?") left me both fuming and reeling. As I mentioned in a second post in this thread (somewhere on page 4? ;) ), she vehemently scowled both at the name itself and at the general idea of giving a child a name that pays respect to our heritage. I've had to look at a fair amount of wrinkled noses from the people I am surrounded by regarding all 3 of our choices for names, and many have rolled their eyes and sighed - hence my poll. I phrased the options the way they've been presented to me by others in their comments about how we should be choosing our children's names. I did not explain my situation, because a)I was still quite upset when I first posted and b)I really wanted to know - does anyone here really think this way??? Let me reiterate that all are rather easy to pronounce and spell - only not generally known in the US, and clearly traditional to another country. Yes, unless we are Native Americans, we are all immigrants. I read somewhere that the person who forgets his heritage when he steps off the boat not only robs himself, but America as well. That's it. I'll stop now. I've been seething quietly and really wanted to know the opinion of this community - people who are comfortable in general with answers that don't fit the cookie cutter... :) :grouphug:

:grouphug: Praying for you - hang in there!!! You're doing all the right things - hand washing, hydrating everyone, breastfeeding (sharing immunity), and mothering all your little ones all at once. This shall pass - and with every minute, you're one small step closer to getting back to your normal rhythm. :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

:bigear: We're moving soon, and our new home does not have a washer/dryer. We have a babe on the way and use cloth diapers, so a front loader is not going to be practical... We've been eyeing the LG HE top loader, though it's on the pricey side, I believe. I've also seen good reviews re: the Maytag HE top loader. Ahem. That was a long way of saying :lurk5:...................

Thank you very much for all the replies! This AM I looked again at the way the law is written - I will say it's much clearer with a few more hours of sleep under my belt.... :blushing: Thank you for the input to each and every one of you - I think I keep forgetting that no state will require a detailed daily log of what was taught, just a general subject list along with some samples and descriptions... Thank you!

Praying for your DH and your family :grouphug:

What do you do if you teach history based on the WTM four year cycle, but your state/school district (we'll be in PA) requires that you teach US and state history every year? I planned out our history, and then went to the state website to see what subjects are required. In the elementary years, US and state history are required - from my understanding, every year? And what exactly is "civics"??? *here I go - I'm posting this - and I bet that there's a very simple answer that I am totally missing....* :001_huh:

:iagree:There's also: trulia.com zillow.com (some can be "outdated", though, listing homes that are already sold - good for a geographic/map search, though) Also, local websites. Try Google for the "closest major city" and "real estate" - examples are CNY real estate in central NY and Pittsburghmoves in PA. It can be difficult because many search engines won't let you enter acerage as one of your search options :confused:. Realtor, trulia and zillow will - though zillow does it in sq feet of land (I think), not acres. There are a few that have only for sale by owner listings: forsalebyowner.com and fsbo.com come to mind. Good luck!!! (We just went through this ;) )

Hmmm. I'm getting the impression that HEM is a big hit! :D I read somewhere that it was more of an unschooling magazine, but I may be mistaken :confused: I should note that we're a religious family, so that's not something that I would have an ideological problem with, per se. When we became interested in and started researching homeschooling, a relative that schools at home gifted us a subscription to This Old Schoolhouse. It had some great ideas, but our main reason for keeping our kiddos at home is not based on religion, and I felt I had to work hard to get to the actual schooling part in that magazine. I decided to take a look at Secular HS magazine, because it seemd to cater to those HS'ing for other reasons. However, I found plenty of anti-religion in there, which bothered me just as much as the religion. I WANT TO READ ABOUT LEARNING AT HOME!!!! Give me no religion at all - neither positive nor negative references! Grrrr. Given some of the history and roots of HS'ing, I do understand why religion is such a big part of the story. That's not what I'm looking for in a HS mag, though. (Sorry, :rant: over...... :blushing:) So...there's nothing geared toward classical educators it seems, huh? I'll have to look at HEM again - thank you!

This is pretty much verbatim what I was going to suggest. My Mom cut up a bunch of very large thin cotton and thicker cotton flannel squares and made them into "blankets". I still use them with my just-turned 3 yr old as a blanket for a nap or a snuggle, and know I will use them with the coming babe. We also always give a book - usually a board book that is a favorite in our house or something along those lines. I naiively like to think it encourages the parents to start to read to their kids while they're still babies ;)

I've looked at quite a few, though mostly at online samples... I can't seem to find something that would truly be an inspiration, and focused primarily on learning at home. :tongue_smilie: As an example, this forum meets my online support/resource needs perfectly. Not too religious, but not too secular, with some mention of current events and opinions, but not overly focused on them, built by kind and intelligent people that are unified by their quest for excellent education at home and grown up enough to let others have some room to be who they are. Yes, that is a horrific, run-on "sentence" in stream-of-consciousness...:lol: So, is there a homeschooling magazine that is really worth ordering? :)

I've looked at quite a few, though mostly at online samples... I can't seem to find something that would truly be an inspiration, and focused primarily on learning at home. :tongue_smilie: As an example, this forum meets my online support/resource needs perfectly. Not too religious, but not too secular, with some mention of current events and opinions, but not overly focused on them, built by kind and intelligent people that are unified by their quest for excellent education at home and grown up enough to let others have some room to be who they are. Yes, that is a horrific, run-on "sentence" in stream-of-consciousness...:lol: So, is there a homeschooling magazine that is really worth ordering? :)

No expert here, but I put in another vote for the plastic, non notched, non connecting rods. I was all set to get the wood version, as I dislike plastic in general and make an effort to buy toys, containers, etc. that are not plastic. However, I read here that the plastic is very high quality and not "plasticy" if that makes sense :tongue_smilie:... and actually nicer, smoother, and better made than the wood version. That swayed me, and I don't regret my decision - they really are terrifically well made. To be fair, I haven't actually handled the wood ones, though others that had often said they chose the plastic instead.

I'm having the same problem downloading it to iTunes here.... and my DH is working on it ;)

Thank you for the advice, reviews, and replies - I'm finally understanding this! :)

Thank you so much for all the replies - that gives me a much better idea of how to plan this! I'm almost wondering if I should buy the Island series at some point and wait for it to be a good/appropriate point to introduce it... Hmmm. Is it worth getting the "set"? As far as incorporating Killgallon - am I understanding this correctly? Sentence Composing should come before Story Grammar? MCT Island should come before Sentence Composing? A basic foundation in grammar should come before Island? Finally, I've seen so many posts about trying to find Killgallon used in order to save money. Saving money always makes sense, but the books I'm finding on Amazon are under $20 - am I looking at the right resources? It seems other resources cost a similar amount, but there seems (to me) to be more people talking about trying to find Killgallon cheaper... :confused: Thank you, everyone!!! :)

I have read that the MCT series was written for children starting in 3rd (and advanced children at that); do the books just go in sequence through the elementary and middle years? Is grade 3 when most start with this series? What about Killgallon? It seems there is a grammar book and a writing book, but I can't find the level that the elementary version is geared at. Are there certain skills/concepts that should be mastered before starting (either or both of) these books? (I'm not sure how I think I'm going to teach this if I'm having so much trouble figuring out how the programs even work. Ahem. :blushing:) Thank you! :)

:thumbup1: *AWESOME*! Thank you for sharing!

May I jump in with a brief hijack? :blushing: I've been searching the boards and everywhere else online for a good beginning french program for my soon to be 6 yr old DD. She's a very strong reader and loves languages, and I have some background in French. Would it be reasonable to start with L'art de Lire and just skip L'art de Dire? Thank you! (hijack over!)

These are my reasons as well. :iagree: with this as well - my DD is often ant to anything I want to officially teach - including tying a bow/tying her shoes! :lol: I have learned that the wording makes a difference. That, and catching the wave, so to speak, as far as timing goes. If she's interested in something, I say - "ooo, let's go read about this!", if she's not into it, I let it go - I figure she's not at the age where I have to push it (for fear of pushing her away as well).

That is just *awesome* (and I mean quite awe-inspiring)!.... GOOD FOR YOU! :hurray: :cheers2: (and maybe, just maybe, Mr. Rap Star will toss his trash somewhere appropriate next time; he had to have felt like a dweeb... :D)

Ours is a bilingual home, and in addition to our native language and English, DD has started a very basic intro to Spanish in her Montessori K this year, as well as some informal Latin (SSL) at home. We plan to continue with Spanish and Latin, and add in French as well. These are all languages that I have had considerable exposure to myself, so that's partly why I feel compelled to share that with my kids. It helps that both my kids really like languages :)...

I've tried this as well, and found that it worked very well. Pregnancy has pushed me back into store bought antiperspirant mode, and partly because I inadvertently put much too much lavender essential oil into the last batch and the scent was making me sick...:tongue_smilie: Our grocery store sells coconut oil in the "natural foods" (i.e. "crunchy" ;) ) section. It was much easier to find once I realized that it's a solid at room temp, and not an oil. You can also get it online - I know mountain rose herbs sells it.

Exactly this. As far as going to the ER, listen to your gut and follow DS's lead. If he's starting to get pokey, isn't really peeing too much, or is really vomiting after drinking anything, even a teaspoonful, then he needs to go to the ER. The other option is to call the doc on call- maybe they'd be willing to call in a prescription for an antinausea medication without sending him to the ER - zofran/odansetron comes in a melt in your mouth tablet. Hang in there (and make sure everyone is washing their hands well!). GI bugs flourish this time of year - and why go they always seem to strike on a weekend?!