After all you've been through, 6 days a week is quite a bit. But, of course, I applaud you for your great effort! It does sound like you were dehydrated. My performance with and without adequate water prior to exercising is drastically different. I can hardly get through my workout w/o 1-2 glasses of water first, and I feel like Wonder Woman when I do have it. Water is incredibly important. Don't be afraid to give yourself a day off in between work outs to give your body time to rest and rejuvenate especially with your history. You're in it for the long-term. It is a life-style change, so keep telling yourself not to worry about results right now. If you change your life-style, the changes will come. You can count on it. Bless you!

I too wanted to write so majored in English and got a writing minor. I ended up in publishing as an editor in college editorial--health/science textbooks. I must say that my major wasn't really in English (lit) but in Deconstructionism due to the postmodern ideas that had obviously influenced my professors (and now all of university thought). So I spent (wasted) my time deciding what I thought a text meant or said instead of learning any objective meaning that the author may have had in mind. My writing classes were good--the best being my grammar class in which we learned real rules and objective facts about language. So, what I might add to the discussion is to research carefully the English departments of the schools in which you are interested -- the professors and their focus and backgrounds (who they studied under) to determine if there is at least one who is not a Stanley Fish fan. Of course, Susan, you are in the best position to know who these people might be. Lastly, publishing was an incredible field to work in. We need many more Christian intellectuals who are serious about influencing our culture for good in this area. Especially college editorial. I have some really fun stories...... feel free to pm me if you want to hear more.

These would be definitely on the fun side b/c they are probably pretty easy for your son...but have you looked at the Dear America series? There are many about boys--journals from boys at different times in history.

I believe you just hit search at the right top. I'm so sorry to hear about your son. Can you call his doctor? I always am hesitant to call the answering service, but it sounds like you don't need to be in this case. I'll pray for him now.

So good to chat with other CAs! I don't tend to get offended easily and am usually a steady-eddy. But I must say that my first reaction was very mother-bearish. I was very angry at the audacity of the court. I had been helping my husband study for his political science comps for his Ph.d. and the history of the courts was one the areas he worked on. Knowing the history of how the court has operated under the Marshall court to begin with--in which the Supreme Court saw itself as using judgment and never WILL--to the 50s/60s when the court intentionally began seeing itself as a social engineer using WILL with no objective document (the Constitution) to base any judgment on anymore....it was very interesting timing. I don't know what will happen, but I do think that the outrage around the country has been very helpful to us. I sincerely hope the court ends up embarrassed, if this is possible, and will be set back quite a bit. This is needed. For those of us who intentionally place our confidence in God--who is good and wants good for our lives (and the lives of our children)--I think we have reason to be confident that He will grant us our request.

LizzyBee asked how far the judgment went in regards to location in CA. We are in Orange County (and the decision was made in the San Fernando Valley) and have been told by a lawyer that it does not pertain to us here. I had a friend get a knock on her door at 8:30 in the morning the day after the ruling by a (well meaning) neighbor telling her, "It is against the law to homeschool starting today!" Of course there is much confusion right now. But the ripple effects (neighbors, superintendents, police starting to take matters further without proper understanding) for now might prove more a problem. I certainly hope not. Honestly, I'm not convinced we have a ton of allies within CA (although we were very happy to hear Schwarzenegger's comments yesterday), so the uprising from all over the country has been incredibly helpful to us. Thank you to all of you!

We are in CA and were glad to hear what our governor said yesterday. As far as credentials go, if you read the decision that the court made, it specifically says the credential would have to be for the grade you are teaching and the subject you are teaching. This effectively bans homeschooling; and I believe they (the judges) were quite aware of this. For Jr. High and High School that means every subject, every grade. No one, of course, has this type of education, nor would they have the time to get it. By the time they were out of school, their kids would be too. That is what is so outrageous about this.

I understand your concerns and agree with Karen in that WTM gives you the whole bananas in one book, but not even Susan Wise Bauer says she follows it to a T every day (and didn't when she was homeschooled herself). However, I have to say, 98% of the suggestions in curriculum/methods I have found are nothing short of excellent if you desire a classical education. Each time I have entered a new stage with the kids (unknown territory) I have started with WTM's suggestions for texts, etc. because I have come to trust their brand of excellence. We started out, 7 years ago, with your oldest in a Classical school for Kindergarten. It was a wonderful school, however, I saw in the upper grades how rigorous it really got for them. We wanted rigor, but also wanted our kids to be kids, and therefore decided to do it on our own. So, I have chosen to scale back in some things each time I can tell it is too much. I really appreciate that control. My 7th grader does a solid 6 hour day of work every day. If he were in the regular Classical school, he would also have 2-3 hrs of homework a night as well. The hard part is that it takes a few years to experiment with time/child to see what is too much and when you can challenge more.