I too am very grateful to this board and people who share such news with us. I don't hang out on the Singaporemath.com forums so I would never have had a clue. I placed my order for 3, 4, 5, 6 weeks ago when the "news" first broke....and have received my order already so we're set for years to come, lol. And while I respect Rainbow's business knowledge and could of course be way off base....frankly if you really want these books, I would really suggest that you order it sooner rather than later. I say this because the "news" has begun trickling down....I've seen the announcement posted on two different Yahoogroups that I participate in, so word is getting out. And while it may have migrated to WTM directly from Singaporemath.com it's making the rounds rapidly and of course that means everyone else is going to start panic buying as well. My mind says that the supply isn't gonna last through the summer as more and more people discover they won't be able to wait for grade level before ordering these. Get 'em while they're hot folks. Being consumables they aren't likely to make a huge splash in the secondary market either....I know I've had my eye out for all the Singapore supplements to buy used for more than a year and have only picked up a few here and there.

Is your goal to keep her fit, and of course to instill a life long habit of daily exercise. Or is your goal to teach her the basic fitness regimen? My children have always been naturally active enough to keep fit.....our day includes plenty of get-outside-and-run-and-play days. Of course, as they get older, they don't want to do that quite as much, so we find other ways to stay active.....dance lessons, karate, sports, etc. And several of my kids love to be outdoors hiking.....not something I share, so I farm them out to friends who do hike, lol. "The experts" recommend that all children get at least 30 minutes of exercise every day, and preferably an hour. I'm sure depending on what expert you consult will show whether just playing is enough or if it's required to be regimented. That said....I have noticed that my children don't always know the specific games that other kids (public/private schooled) want to play, because they never had these basic regimen taught to them. Dodge ball for instance required a few minutes of explanation.....however, baseball they've watched enough games to quickly pick up on the way to play. However, after one rather humilating day of trying to play baseball, something my son had only watched never participated, he declared the need to sign up for "lessons".....which made me laugh, because it wasn't really lessons, it was to play on a league. Now he knows how to hold the bat, hit the ball and not carry the bat with him to 1st base because he wasn't quite sure what to do with it!! There were other basic games and such that I remember playing in PE in school that I have come to realize my children didn't know. To remedy that we spent about a year going through a book called The Ultimate Physical Education Game Book. Most of the activites required a minimum of 2 kids to play, so you didn't need an entire classrom (but more than 2 could also do most of them). This might be fun for your daughter to go through with a friend. We picked a different activity every couple of weeks, spent some time learning it, and then I simply sent the kids in the backyard to play it until they got bored or wanted another choice. I'm sure if your library doesn't have that exact book, a search for physical education will turn up one of the other many books on the subject that I've seen from time to time. I chose that one because our library back then only had two choices, and this was the larger book, lol. Whatever you decide to do.....my personal opinion, as someone who absolutely hated PE in school for a wide variety of reasons and therefore has struggled her entire life with weight issues and must "force" myself to exercise because it's "good for me" rather than because it makes me feel good.......please lean more towards making her enjoy being physical and active rather than making it so regimented and required that she too hates it. I sooo wish I had had a teacher who taught us to have fun, rather than teach to the test (i.e. the year end physical fitness exam). If you want motivational ideas....consider the President's Challenge (google it). They give out awards and offer a lot of nice ideas. I found the keeping track and fitting it all to their requirements to be more than I wanted to do, but again, I have such issues with physical fitness, I'm guessing it was more a mind block than a real problem, lol.

True, and I would want to know also, but from the boy's point of view it would not help the already strained situation.

Is it possible that the mom who dropped off Boy B thought that both your son and Boy A would be going together to Boy A's house? I can't imagine a mom allowing her son to steal a friend away like that, but I also can't imagine an 11 year old saying to his mom "BoyA and I are going to go back to A's house and play M but (yourson) can't play M games so he'll have to stay home". For that matter, we can't even be sure that Boy A's mom realizes that she dropped her son off to go to another house and play M games! Mom may have thought that they were staying at your house to play, not going for video games (M or otherwise). Akin it to our generation "going to the library"....yeah that may be what the folks thought but it was really an excuse to have parents drop you at the library and then sneak off to whatever you wanted to do that they won't let you! If you know BoyB's mom well, you might call and casually bring it up....I'd probably call and say "Son was so disappointed when B left for A's house the other day....We'd like to invite B to come over and play ball in the yard tomorrow." Non-accusatory way of seeing if Mom really had a clue what her son had planned. Of course, if B wasn't supposed to be playing those M games either, you may get him in trouble, which would not be a good thing. Kudos to your son for his doing the right thing.....for so many kids it would have been easy for him to go off to A's house with the others and then lie to you about the games they played! Sounds like you're doing something right. :tongue_smilie: I know that doesn't mend his hurts, but I'd have made a big fuss over it so he knew that he'd done the right thing and that "I" appreciated it. Then I'd have probably stopped working in the yard and done something with him to try to heal the hurt. Or gone for ice cream.....my favorite hurt and reward medicine, :lol:

Hmmmm....if your baby is due in September of this year, and you weren't to homeschool, then your eldest would be starting Kinder about the time the baby was born. Most Kinders around me are half day. Your 3 year old would still be at home with you all day. So your mom thinks that it would be less stress on you to have to get your daughter ready for school each morning and have to pack up the baby and toddler to walk/drive your daughter to school. Then 4 hours later again take the baby and toddler to get your daughter. I think that I would sit down and tell my mom that I appreciate her concern, but that I would really appreciate her support and help during this time. No matter whether your one child is in school for a few hours or if all three of them are at home, having 3 children under 6 is a bit of work for anyone! As for schooling.....your daughter is going to be soooo far ahead of the other 5 year olds in her class that frankly, she's likely to be bored and understimulated. A wonderful recipe to kill off the love of learning in a child!! Yes, the first few months after the baby is born you may not be doing schoolwork as rigorously as you are now....but ya know what, it's ok. Your daughter will already be far enough ahead that taking a short detour into "life lessons" instead is not going to harm your daughter's education. In fact, bonding with her baby brother and practicing her reading skills on her two younger siblings can be an extremely positive situation. The more your kids bond at a younger age, may it will help keep that bond stronger as they grow up. I think I'd also talk to my husband and tell him that you also appreciate his concern for your wellbeing, but that homeschooling is important to you and that you really want his support while you work through a schedule for the three kids. Frankly, you'll be needing this help if the 5 yo is in school or not! The absolute worst case.....the baby is born and you find that next summer when the baby is almost a year old that everyone was right and you can't handle 3 little ones and homeschooling. Ok....your daughter will be old enough age wise, and it sounds like she's darn close now to start 1st grade. So because she's so young right now, you haven't actually held her back....because she'll still be ready to enter school right where her age dictates. But, honestly, I think you want this enough that you will figure out a way to do it....because it's important to you. And, we'll be here to listen to you "whine" when things get rough and to encourage you to take it one step at a time and that it really is possible to do it! Good luck, and congrats on the baby news!

One other thing I thought of.....DIsney currently has a promotion if you go ON your actual birthday. You would need to bring a birth certificate to prove it's your son's birthday, but he would be entitled to either a free one day in one park ticket or a $75 gift certificate or special fast passes. Since you are planning to go for more than just that one day, I'd suggest the gift certificate because the one day ticket isn't upgradeable and the more days you stay the cheaper "per day" it costs, so it greatly reduces the value of the free one day. (In fact once you hit 4 days on a ticket, the extra days after that cost mere dollars). The fast pass is nice, and the above poster is correct that July has crazy long lines, but with proper planning and early arrival you can get the regular fast passes and not wait as long. But, $75 of souveniors is very very nice! You can read about the promotion online at disney.com and preregister to get a bit of the work done ahead of time, then you take your proof of birthday to the guest services window the day of your birthday. One note....you say "next July" and I'm assuming you mean July 2009....if by "next" you actually mean 2010, I don't know if this same promotion will be going on or not. It's only advertised as being through the end of 2009, but the "year" of a million dreams lasted 2 years so you never know. Personally, as homeschoolers we avoid doing most vacation type things during the summer because the crowds are always much much bigger, and I'm not a heat lover (odd considering I live in the desert, lol). It's the time we spend doing most of our schoolwork and we play more during the cooler spring/fall/winter months. But, if July is the only time you can go there are ways to survive it.....disboards.com is a great place to get great been there done that type of ideas. It definitely takes some planning and thought but it's very do-able. And of course, knowing what to expect and how to work around the pitfalls makes it much nicer than being oblivious to the problems until they strike! So proper planning! Also, be sure to stop by guest services and get the birthday boy a free Birthday pin. It's guaranteed to get him a lot of attention from the Cast Members (staff) as they always say Happy Birthday to those with pins, and every once in a while the magic and pixie dust strike and there can be other surprises as well. For the birthday pin you do not have to be there exactly on your birthday....celebrating it is good enough for Disney, be it days or weeks or even months off, it's the celebration that they go for. So if you do go ON his birthday, get him a birthday pin and any other children (or children at heart) an "unbirthday" pin. We celebrated my daughter's "half" birthday because she was born in summer and we weren't going then.....and they wrote "un-birthday" on the pin. The extra attention that Alice and Mad Hatter paid to my daughter (since the term un-birthday comes from their movie of course) was absolutely delightful and a highlight of her memories. The characters stopped the tea cup ride and took us for a whirl all by ourselves. Remember though that the pin is not a guarantee that something that magical will happen.....but you never know what may!

Can you describe how you schedule this for one semester? I've got Botany and plan to start it this summer hoping that we could finish by year's end, but I haven't yet gotten around to figuring out how to scedule it all in to complete that fast. Thanks!

Actually it used to be 180 days in advance, now it's 90 days in advance. You can use this "calculator" to find out when your "window" opens (just an FYI, the calculator does still give you the 180 and 365 days because the change to 90 days is pretty recent and there is still a lot of hope it will go back to 180. The 365 is for specific events not dining): http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/pscalc/dispscalc.html The number to call is 407-WDW-DINE (407-939-3463). Things like Cinderella's Royal Castle (especially breakfast); Akershus Princess Storybook Breakfast; Chef Mickeys; Le Cellier, Vicotoria & Albert, those are the hardest reservations to get....if you want one of those it is recommended that you call at exactly 7am Florida time on your 90th day. (in fact most FAQ's tell you to call 1 minute ahead and keep hitting redial...then to interrupt the person who answers by saying I need "Cinderella on X date for breakfast". They'll understand your rudeness and save the small talk until after they try for you! Yes...it sounds nuts, but seriously.....call at 7:15 and there won't be anything left). If you don't get the reservation, or can't call on that day, you can keep trying but some people call every day for weeks and aren't able to get in....some luck out and get in because someone cancelled just before them, lol. It's the luck of the draw, but if your (or the kids) heart is set on a very popular restaurant....start early to get it booked! It's a rat race (pun intended).

Are you planning to stay on Disney property? If so, then yes, you can book your package now, you'll be required to pay a $200 deposit, and then the balance is due 45 days before arrival. But you can call them and make payments on your balance whenever you want. If you are staying off site, then that depends on the owner of the property where you are staying. Most require a non-refundable deposit and the balance 30 or so days before arrival (each owner of course sets their own rules, so 30 days is just typical), but I've never heard of one that takes monthly payment, though hey why not. What we did was open up a checking account and called it "Disney World Fund" and each time we had extra money it went in there. We didn't plan our first trip until we had almost all the money we needed....but our second trip we planned and paid into our account each paycheck. It went much faster of course when we had a "budget line" amount from each paycheck to go into the fund instead of the "hey if we go home and eat lunch instead of McD's, I'll put $5 into the fund" or "we made $10 today in coupon savings, into the fund it goes". Even if you're staying onsite and therefore able to make payments don't forget that room and tickets aren't the only costs. If you're doing the dining plan then most, if not all, of your food would also be paid, but be sure to look at allearsnet.com at the menus to see whether your family would really eat enough to warrant the cost of the dining plan. We did it on one of our visits and found it to be way more food than we typically eat (and so we were often bloated and uncomfortable after a meal) or we ended up throwing away food which always bothers me. My kids hated the "kids menu" options because it was so limited and the same thing constantly while the adults got lots of choices. Plus, we figured out when we were paying out of pocket it was actually better for the kids to share an adult meal....enough food for two kids, better selection and the price was often cheaper than two kids meals. Sharing desserts also meant we got to try things and satisfy the sweet tooth without eating so much rich sugary foods. And we drank water instead of soda (a few of the kids brought flavor packets to add to the water). You can get water at any counter service free just for the asking, so no need to cart around water bottles either. allears.net; mouseforless.com; mousesavers.com; disboards.com are probably the largest for information and disboards is definitely the largest community/forums I ever found. There are a lot of ways to save money and yet still have a fantastic time. Enjoy!

LOVE Jim Weiss...have met him several times and he's such a warm person. Haven't listened to a bad CD by him yet. Considering that you are doing SOTW2, I'd recommend getting the Middle Ages stuff to fit in with your studies. Then next year you can get the American stuff as you head in SOTW3. Be sure to check your library before you buy.....it might help stretch the budget a bit and our local libraries have a great number of his CDs. We also own a lot of them....when the kids want to check them out again and again it's time to buy them. We typically wait for him to come to town (check his online schedule he does many HS conferences but he also does teacher conferences and such....when he's going to be in or around your town for a conference, write to him and ask if he's making other appearances. We've seen him at libraries and bookstores doing storytelling and meet/greet. By getting them when we see him we can have him autograph them. He always puts all of the kids' name into the autograph so that's exciting for them! It's worth paying full price even, and I'm typically cheap, lol.

As far as organizing books....we have a separate bookcase that is exclusively for library books. They are put there when we first get home from the library. NO personal books are allowed on this case...and no library books are allowed on the other bookcases. When a book is finished and ready to be returned to the library we have a wicker basket near the door that they go into....on library day (a set day of the week so like someone else mentioned our books are always due the same time each week) we simply scoop them all up and go. I used to have the same problem....zillions of lists everywhere, written in notebooks, bookmarks on my computer, word docs, the library wish lists and paper here, there and everywhere. I finally spent one summer getting it all together on an excel spreadsheet. I did a lot of revising but finally settled on columns for: NOTE: Some of the columns may seem unnecessary, but they are there more for their sort value.....since my list now has several thousands entries it's essential to be able to sort by need. First is a single space to put an X if we own the book. I've lately been thinking I should put WHERE it is, lol...but that tends to move around too much to really help. But at least knowing for sure that we own it is helpful. This is also very helpful when shopping used sales to know whether I already have it. It's also, admittedly, the hardest column because I have to diligently keep it accurate or it will lose it's entire value! Next is a blank space for each of my children....then when a book is something I expect them to read at some point, or is one that they would enjoy I put an X in the column for them. For instance, some books are decidedly "boy" or "girl" books and if it's not one I expect everyone to read I mark just the boys or just the girls. When the child has read the book I put the first letter of their name in it....this sorts it nicely when I click on Susie's list and all the S go together but all the X sort together as well, so now I can skip looking at the ones Susie read. It doesn't matter that two children in the family have the same initial, the idea is really just to get the X removed but not leave it blank either. The X meaning I want them to read it and a blank meaning I don't. Reading level (sometimes books have this indicated, there are also some websites to determine it, but mostly I guesstimate. I tend to put in the youngest age/grade that I think they should read it, knowing that I can always put it off for another year. Title Author Fiction or NonFiction (this is a one space column either F or N. I later added B for biography and F for free read just to make the sorting process work better). Description (I often cut/paste this from somewhere online that I've either found the book or somewhere like Amazon where I can get the detailed information I want/need. ) Timeline (if the book relates to a time period in history I list the date or event...i.e. 1492 or Columbus.) Resources (Here I list anything else I have to go along with it....websites, study guides, crafts, ideas, etc. This is another one that I try to keep up to date as I find resources and think "oh we should do this when we read that"). Libraries (I have cards to several different city's libraries so it's helpful to know which one carries it as a book and/or as a movie or audio). Pages (knowing this has been helpful when I'm looking for something to assign and I want it to take a certain amount of time....don't usually want to choose a 300 page book if I want him to read it in a day....on the other hand if it's a book to read/listen to during a 3 hour car drive, I don't want a 1 CD audiobook!) Source (usually this is just the first place that I found the book listed because many many many of them are listed on more than one list. It also helps me to compile a list like below when someone asks a question like yours, lol. A LOT of the entires are simply WTM meaning this board. As for places that I have gotten my booklist....most of the ones already mentioned, this board often has threads about "what do we read for X " and I'll check those and add ones that sound good. Some websites I've used to list books (not all of these books, even the award winning ones were something I deemed appropriate or worthy, but it was a good starting point and then I'd look at Amazon or elsewhere for more details before adding to MY list): Newberry Medal and Honor Books Caldecott Medal and Honor Books Theodor Seuss Geisel Award (Dr Seuss) Sibert Medal and Honor Books Pura Belpre Award Michael L Printz Award Carnegie Medal (for videos) Batchelder Award Coretta Scott King Book Award Notable books for Children Notable Children's Recordings Kidsreads.com classic reading lists 1000 Good Books Lists 101 out of this world books for kids ages 8-13 Horn Book lists ATN book lists There are literally thousands of lists here, sorted by awards, authors, genre, and so on. Another lists of lists There are more, but that gives you an idea. Most big (and many small) public libraries have an online list of recommendations. Check things like New York City Public Library or any major city through google. And then of course, there are BOOKS of book lists, lol. (of course WTM too) All Through the Ages by Christine Miller Books Children Love by Elizabeth WIlson Books that Build Character by William Kilpatrick Books to Build On by E.D. Hirsch Great Books of Christian Tradition by Terry Glaspey Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt Invitations to the Classics by Louise Cowan Let the Authors Speak by Carolyn Hatcher Tending the Heart of Virtue by Vigen Guroian Reading Teacher's Book of Lists by Edward Fry (there is a whole series of these like Literature Teacher's... American History Teacher's....Art, Science, Vocabulary, writing, literature, math, social studies, etc.) As for the child that devours books....rejoice! And then go check out a few of the book of book lists above (and look on your library shelf all around those same call numbers as there are a lot more that I don't have listed because my hand is growing tired of typing, lol). There are books of lists by age and gender. As my kids grew old enough to navigate the online library catalog, I set them up looking up books they found in these lists that interested them to know which library (if any) we could borrow it from. I have them make a list of those books for me to review before we borrow, again usually I read about it on Amazon or other book sites. Questionable ones are removed from the list until I can research deeper, the rest they are then free for them to check out. They can easily find hundreds this way.

This had me laughing out loud......I too have actually had to tell my children, "NO, you may take a book into the bathroom, there is only 30 minutes until dinner and it's your turn to set the table." Seriously....it's truly called the reading room in our house. :lol: I still have posters that rotate through each bathroom....before the kids could read it was things like sign language charts, alphabet, animals, etc. This month it's algebra and latin!

Oh yeah, I think there is a lot more to this story than the public has heard....but then if the news reports are correct (questionable) then it might be that the police don't have the whole story yet either. Of course, that doesn't mean we'll ever truly know.....a lot of times the truth never quite comes out in cases like this.....there is a lot of suspicion but not necessarily enough evidence to prove anything and to always leave a big question mark. Think OJ, lol.

What if we had this same discussion but substituted the words "Homeschooler" and "Non-Homeschooler"? Would the results be the same? To some extent, I honestly think it would be......and for this scenario I can say that I probably am a bit of someone who judges (where I don't feel I am on the religion side). I know that if I have a choice of enrolling my kids in a class that is all homeschoolers I do it before I would choose the one open to all (i.e. there are a lot of programs around our area that because of the large population of homeschoolers will have their classes during school hours for the homeschoolers, and then again later for everyone). And while I don't choose my children's friends, I know that I influence it greatly by most of our social activities being with homeschooled families. There are only two families on our block with children near my children's age....and we have never made any effort to even meet them....and we've lived here 7 years. Of course, they have never made any effort either, so what does that say? I know that public school kids, like homeschoolers (like Christians and non-Christians) come in all different types. There are definitely some homeschoolers I prefer to avoid.....but then there are people at work I would like to avoid too, lol. Such is life. I think humans tend to gravitate towards those most like them....so Christians hang with Christians, non-Christians hang with non-Christians......homeschoolers hang with homeschoolers....and while we're on a roll...quilters hang with other quilters and we avoid the knitters, lol. But...back to my original pondering......would we all feel the same if we substituted Christian for Homeschool? Do you ever find that you are snubbed or looked down on because you homeschool? Or do others accuse you of thinking you're better than they are because you homeschool your children? Are you better....after all you put a lot of time and effort into your children at the expense of a second income (and all that provides).....and most homeschoolers have a closer relationship with their kids because of all that time they spend together.....and let's not forget that our kids will be better educated because of the one-on-one and hopefully our choices of curriculum were more rigorous than the public schools, and so on and so on and so on.

I'm one who holds on to the fact that God sees me n*ked in the shower and still loves me, so I never worried about what I wore to church. And thankfully I went to a church that apparently felt the same as the difference in clothing ranged from grubby jeans all the way through to what looked to me more like wedding reception attire, lol. And everything in between (mostly in between of course, but there were always those who you could count on to be grubby, and those who would always be completely decked out). I would ask myself a couple of questions in your situation: How do the other people who attend these meetings dress? If your children are dressed in the same manner as others their age, then I would let it go. Especially teens. They have enough issues that I wouldn't want clothing to come between them and the purpose for being at church. I would want them to be comfortable enough to be able to focus on the service rather than on their feelings of being "different". If the other children in the group are dressed more formally, then I'd have to ask myself whether it's a mountain I want to climb. Again, the comfort to hear the message issue would be more important to me, but I think I would also have a discussion about sometimes having to do things that aren't our first choice because it's the appropriate thing to do. I love my blue jeans and don't own a dress anymore.....and we don't tend to do things where jeans wouldn't be appropriate (we also live in the Southwest where blue jeans can actually be considered dressing up, lol). However, if there were some occasion where blue jeans wouldn't be appropriate, I'd go shopping. But, since I don't think the President will be asking for a meeting, nor is anyone wanting to bestow an award on me or anything else exciting like that, I am saving my dress shopping for another century. LOL Good luck with your decision making.....it's never a black and white situation so the answers aren't always as easy either.

:iagree: Plus, keep in mind that you don't know that the name he is using now is really his name. Criminals have a habit of making up names to escape their past. My big concern would also be that your daughter is starting to see this man as someone to trust. As a toddler is too young to explain stranger-danger the chances that she'd not whimper or cry if he tried to leave with her is very high. It sounds like she didn't cry out for Mommy when he took her out of the building, and that would definitely worry me. While the cell phone call could have been completely innocent also, my experience is that it's one of those testing the envelope scenarios. I also can't imagine any reason to want to keep holding a child while you're on the phone....even as the child's parent, I would welcome my spouse taking the child so I could finish the call. Very strange indeed. And I also heartily agree with the others who said that once you assert yourself please please watch that he doesn't turn his attention to another child. Your mommy instinct is working wonderfully, but some parents ignore their instincts and later regret it immensely. Most child molestors will first become friends with the child and family.....gain their trust and their friendship. It makes the ability to abuse for long periods of time much easier than a kidnap to abuse situation. In the latter the risk of discovery is greater because there is no excuse for being with the child. In the case of "friends" someday it may not seem odd for him to take her to the zoo, playground, etc. And that is where the abuse time is found. And children who trust an adult usually trust them when they tell the child "it's our secret". And almost every time that a "friend" is accused of abuse the parents are stunned because they never thought the "friend" would do such things. They are experts at manipulation and gaining trust. I'm sorry that you have to deal with such a horrible situation. A child's safety is such a scary to thing to have compromised! :grouphug:

Crockpot here too....get the cheapest cut of meat because it comes out fork tender and delicious for me every single time. Dump roast into the crockpot (I try to remember to thaw it, but if it's frozen, just make sure to start it an hour or two earlier, and it's still fine). Halve red potatoes, cut carrots into large chunks, dump in whatever fresh mushrooms will fit, lol. Two packets of Lipton Onion Soup Mix, a generous amount of garlic powder, fill the pot 1/3 to 1/2 way with cheap red wine (burgundy jug wine). Put crockpot on low, leave the house or the smell will cause you to sample all day long, lol......at least 6 hours, preferably 8 hours and it's done. Take meat and veggies out and keep in turned-off oven to stay warm while I dump the juice into a pan, bring to a boil, add a little cornstarch and gravy is done. Make a green salad and it's a perfect meal (of course it's great without a salad, but it tops it nicely). Chocolate dessert makes it truly perfect. There is never enough leftovers for another meal, but there is almost always a small chunk or two of meat, so I freeze it and when I have enough "chunks" I thaw and make taquitos out of the leftover meat. Yum.

Update in today's headline is that she came in to the police station of her own accord and after a bit of hedging, admitted that she knew where the killing had taken place (something only the murderer or an eye witness would know...something the police hadn't yet found even...but the police confirmed that "something" occured there, investigation still pending). She hasn't actually confessed yet.....but it does seem at this point that she was at the very least "there" when it happened. Sad, very sad. An earlier report said she was the daughter of a pastor, now they're saying granddaughter. But I agree totally with you......in my former line of work (law enforcement and then lawyer) I saw a LOT of people of all (or no) religion who are not the kind of folks I would associate with outside of the office but who were well regarded in the community. The facade that people put out in front of the world can often be VERY VERY convincing, but the reality is that behind closed doors they are not what the world believes them to be. The headlines are constantly full of them, Christian or otherwise. Former Presidents, religious leaders (not exclusively Christian faiths either), celebrities who previously were considered "above" the decadance of Hollywood, etc. Christians simply have a well known, written and oft quoted set of standards that they consider the ideal goal to reach. I don't think you have to be Christian to agree with a lot of the attributes that are often called "Christian behavior". In fact, I would consider them more "decent human" behavior. The thing I find ironic....Christians will be quick to point out that these are ideal goals...and that as sinners they know that they will occasionally fail.......but when others who are not Christians occaisonally fail, it's somehow worse than when a Christian fails. Don't get me wrong, I still consider myself Christian despite not going to church for a few years.....mostly my problem with church has been the hypocrisy. Human behavior (all humans, regardless of age, color, bank account status, religion, or favorite music) fail to be the ideal. But, hopefully, the good humans keep trying to improve. The others are just scary people.

Is there a way to enlarge your schedules so that I can read what they say? I tried clicking/double clicking on them and it didn't do anything....I tried downloading it and it's just as small. I'm not really familiar with blogs and how they work so I'm not sure how to make it open, and would appreciate your help. It sounds like you are the organized person I want to be! I'm so much better at the planning than at the doing though.

If it's any comfort.....my "baby" sister who just turned 41 this year....when she was in elementary school her goal in life was to be an "Avon Lady". Now, I don't have anything against Avon though I don't use it but my mom was a bit upset at the prospect, lol. She even stopped buying Avon so the pretty lady in the pretty dress would stop influencing my sister. By junior high my sister had changed it to Mary Kay because they had those pink cars, lol. So....what does my sister do now that she's an adult? She's an executive at a major grocery store chain, in charge of national something or other. Marv salary, groovy car, glamourous clothes.......and she's finally realizing she forgot to stop and have kids, but otherwise she's had a pretty wonderful life. So....don't worry. Like others have said, they'll change their mind a lot of times. And honestly....if politics is really what he wants, you won't be able to stop him. So maybe just up the character training so that he might be better than most!!!! Seriously, though....I think I'd try to find out WHY and what it is that fascinates him about politics. It'll be hard for a child that age to articulate his feelings/reasonings.....but try to engage him in conversations to reveal them so that you can see what his real desire is and then perhaps be better equipped to guide him toward something that will still fulfill his desire without making you want to change your name! My sister wanted the glamour. My mom was a non-dress wearing type.....I think today Mom would have lived in blue jeans, but 30 years ago "slacks" were her uniform. This sister was the only one of 4 girls that wore makeup EVERY day in high school (I wore it twice in my life...prom and wedding). She lived in dresses and had more shoes than Imelda Marcos. Still does! Her idea of "weekend wear" is a dress without hose or high heels! She comes to visit for a weekend and it takes two large suitcases.....my entire family spent a week at her house in the same size suitcases.....for 4 of us! Her thing was the glamour that these woman exposed her to......perhaps your son is interested in the "change the way things happen".....or even the power. Power is not always evil.....but if that's his desire I'd steer him towards being his own boss rather than political power. If it's making changes happen, there are a lot of career goals that involve positive change outside of DC. Good luck finding what makes him tick!

Easy.....leave your computer on with this thread loaded, and then find a way to suggest that one of the parents do something on your computer. They'll have to see this posted and unless they are truly just plain rude hopefully they'll get the hint. HEY FOLKS, DID YOU GET THE HINT THIS IS ABOUT YOU! GO HOME! Now, since that may not work, then perhaps what you should do is say "why don't you guys go to the park/zoo/mall/airport (lol) while we do some schoolwork today. Come back in time for dinner of course!" Doesn't get them out of your house for good, but maybe you can get some school done. If not.....then grin and bear it, plan to do a week of school during your "summer break" and the next time they come to visit be sure that you make it very clear that you're sorry but you only have 2 days available in your schedule, but you'd love to see them for those 2 days ONLY. And while you're at it....call those other friends that are visiting later this month and confirm their arrival and departure date!!! :grouphug:

http://ourlosbanos.com/homeschool/history/worldstudies.html has a lot of very good culture studies and some map-type geography. Since you said that YOU wanted to include culture, I thought I'd post it. Mapping the World by Heart is wonderful, and I can't believe how much "I" learned while we did it, but it's written for an upper elementary level and I would be worried that children as young as yours would have a lot of difficulty with all the work necessary. I found that before we did Mapping the World, the best way to have things stick as far as where countries are located was when we tied it in with something else. Just studying a country's name, place on the map/globe, and a quick summary of it's vital statistics didn't really form the peg to keep it in the kids' memory. BUT....what did peg and stick was when I started pulling out the globe and having the kids find the country that was mentioned in our other studies (from literature reading, from history, even from science or other subjects when it references anything about a country). For instance, in science if the book we were reading said that this person lived in that country, we looked for the country.....this was invented or discovered in that country, we looked on the globe. This also helped the younger kids to get an idea of how far away those countries are (this is where we live, this is where Grandma lives, and remember it takes us 4 hours by airplane to get to Grandmas....here is where Louis Pasteur lived and it takes an entire day to fly there...etc). That said, Evan Moore and Carson Dellosa both have some great resources specifically for early elementary kids in teaching them about maps and globes and where things are located that we used before I realized the pegs were better for the memorizing of globes. I can't remember the titles because that was quite a while ago and we no longer have them, but I'm sure a quick search for "maps" or "geography" on their websites would come up with many choices. When the kids were old enough to watch the nightly news with us, we'd also pull out the globe to find exactly where they were talking about. Although we now know exactly where Somalia is located because of Mapping the Globe, before that program, we'd have located it on the map as we listened to the news about the pirate/hostage situation which is so prominent in our local news this week. Your kids may be too young yet to be hearing a lot of the news, but I mention it for later years (a peg for you, lol).

Besides the fact that both your children are young (at least according to your signature).....keep in mind that public schools take chunks of time off as well.....2 weeks for "Winter Break"....2 weeks for "Spring break".....and 3 months for summer. And let's never forget the wasted time during the day when you have 30 kids in one room (ask any public school teacher how much pure learning happens in a typical day....according to my 30+ year teacher MIL an hour or two a day spread out in chunks of time is considered a good day in public school. At home we can do the same 2 hours in about 3 hours when you account for the bathroom breaks, the broken pencils, the daydreaming, etc. but usually better). I have had many such episodes in our decade+ of homeschooling.....my DH was critically injured in a head on accident and we spent many months shuttling back and forth to a hospital over an hour away, and then I can't even begin to remember the amount of time 'lost' with his doctor and therapy appointments for more than a year afterwards. In between all that we did "school lite".....meaning that I kept up math and reading in a more formal sense (reading books in the car took my DHs mind off the pain of bumpy roads....and math was portable enough for the kids to do at the doctor's office, etc). The rest fell by the wayside. We've moved several times as well. We've also taken time off for extended vacations when opportunities arose....once for over a month. But.....my kids are doing fine school wise. We don't use a typical school year, because we like to do lots and lots of field trips (some educational but just as many for fun)....so we don't take the summer off. We school year round and for a couple of years I did keep track of days and hours to calm my mind that we were at least keeping up with the public school hours. Now I don't feel that need because we were soooo far ahead of public school just in sit down hours, not even counting all the learning that happens around here in non-sit down times. For us, as with most homeschoolers, as you grow more comfortable with learning and your kids grow more eager and curious, learning becomes a way of life....not a set of hours that you "do" school. Learning never stops around here, it just sometimes isn't on our curriculum write up. Now....all that's great to read and think about, but with kids that young I'm guessing you're feeling a bit inexperienced to "know" what I've learned through experience. So......keep this in mind....if all else fails and after the move and settling in time you feel that your kids have regressed in what they already knew.....then you will have an entire summer to bring them back up to speed (not to mention the next many many years). You will know within a few days, maybe a week, after restarting school whether the break mattered to your kids' ability to recall what they already knew or not. If they did, simply keep going with school time or start early next fall, or just do a few days here and there to keep them going. Oh...and some people don't do well reading aloud in a car....engine noise, voice volume, even queasiness from reading in a moving vehicle.....if that's the case for your family, then consider using audio books during the drive across country (or even just while doing errands around town). It's remarkable how attentive even the most rambuncitious of my kids can be when a good engaging book is in the car stereo! A cookie sheet with magnet letters or pictures, or even just as a board for coloring helps keep fidgety kids able to do something with their hands while they listen. Playdoh can also be used, but if you have a messy kid, Playdoh in the carpet is not good. Don't ask me how I know! Another thought came to mind....a lot of your anxiety about their school work could really be about the move, having to do so much of it yourself, leaving your friends and familiar places, etc. Is it possible that you're using their school as an outlet for all your worries????? Just something to mull over while you tape up boxes, lol. I tend to hyper focus on the kids and their learning when life starts going wacko on me, because it's easier to focus on and easier to fix than other life issues....so maybe I'm projecting onto your situation now too, lol. Good luck with the move.......I love and dread moving all at the same time. I love the new adventure of a new town, but I dread the work and the sadness of leaving the old one behind. May you find more to love than dread!!

I personally think it depends on your family's love or hatred of "crafts". If you aren't a crafty person/family, then I can see where all the cutting, coloring, pasting, would seem to have no value. My family likes these activities and the finished products don't end up in a binder on a shelf never to be seen again, so for that reason alone I like lapbooks. We put completed lapbooks into a laundry basket under the living room table....and I've seen the kids going through theirs and their siblings many many times. THey also love to pull them out and show them off to visitors. Since they review them so often (on their own!!) I believe them to have much more benefit than the notes and other reports and such that sit in binders forgotten until I tell them to review such and such. If time spent doing these is taking away too much from the other work you have scheduled......I have let the kids do the cutting and coloring during read-aloud sessions. It keeps their hands busy but their ears listen to the story. I don't have them do the writing part because that takes concentration, but cutting and coloring not so much. If you like the idea of a project that they can have pride in but don't like the art/craft aspect......do some reading about "notebooking" which isn't as craft intensive, but looks better than a plain sheet of notebook paper with writing on it. A couple of places to get them premade so all you do is print it out (I'm a customer to these, but not an owner or anything): notebookingnook.com historyscribe.com (they're having a 50% off sale at currclick this week) notebookingpages.com notebooklearning.com

Been there, done that, don't want to do it again! Call your Family Support Division on the base and tell them that you need someone to talk with......someone who understands what it's like to have 4 little ones at home and DH half way 'round the world....and worrying about him all the time even when you've convinced yourself that you're not. That's what the FSD (or whatever your branch/base calls them) is there for.....to support you even when there isn't much they can do except listen. As for the friends at church....unless they're military....honestly they don't get it. It's not that they're being rude or even insensitive, they just don't have a clue what it's like and therefore it's not a case of not knowing what to do....they don't even realize that they COULD be doing something for you. You'll have to take the first step to let people know that now, more than ever, you need them....not for meals or even babysitting (though those are nice, lol)....but the thing that is sometimes hardest for some to give....a hug, a shoulder, a tissue. But believe me, if you can get through that first step, you'll find out who your true friends are. And don't fuss about the house......or the arrangements......throw the dirty dishes in the oven for now, toss the toys into a room and close the door......go to the local grocer and get a cold cut tray and some delicious bread....and invite a few folks over just for sandwiches and fellowship. I loved those get togethers almost more than the stiff formal everything is perfect parties. Remember that the true need you have is fellowship, not fancy food or stiff proper manners. You need down home. And next time you write to or speak to your DH....tell him that this retired military family is profoundly grateful and proud of him for his service to this country. And proud of his wife and children for bravely going on without him here everyday. :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: