I believe in general that our current system of justice is completely wrong because it leaves out the Justice part. Punishing a thief by making him/her sit in jail for a while is not justice. Making him work off his crime to make restitution to the person/people who were stolen from is justice. Obviously, that's not something that we're willing to take on in our society. Too much work :glare:. On the other hand, you cannot make restitution for intentionally taking a life with malice or for rape. For those things I support capital punishment.

In the next year, we will begin looking for a new house. So related to the sq/ft per person post, I'm wondering what you all would consider the bare minimum/ideal number of full bathrooms for 6 children/2 adults. Most homes in our price range have the typical 2.5 baths, with one being the master and probably not intended to share (although I wouldn't mind). I'm just wondering how hard we should search for a home with 3 full baths. I know they're out there, but I'm not sure how high on the priority list that additional bath should be.

We have 1950sq/ft for 7 people (going on 8). That works out to about 278 per person right now and 243 in January. I don't mind the amount of space, but I do wish it was shaped differently. We sure could use more closet space for the kids; especially having to store clothes for hand-me-downs. 10 years worth of summer and winter clothes takes up a lot of space. The bedrooms are small but workable for now - little people means small clothes and small beds. I think eventually (with six kids) we may want another full bathroom. One full bath for that many kids is a lot to share, it seems to me. I suppose they can use our master bath which has a small shower. And there's never enough space for books!

Just keep moving moving moving... Well Jo, at least you have the excuse of a household turned upside down! Or inside out? Squeezed into a space warp? And duh! My 3 older kids DO have working arms and legs. The two older ones are even somewhat coordinated and can carry stuff from one room to another. Excellent idea.

My plan has been to begin school the 2nd week of July but even after a 9 week break I am dragging my feet. I'd delay the start, except that we found out we are expecting "bundle-of-joy" #6 in early January, so I want to get as much school done before then as possible so we can lay off for a month or so when the baby comes. I have a 7th grader, 4th grader, and K'er (plus 3yo and 1yo). Here's my to-do list: Register with umbrella program (can be done online) Sort through playroom toys (this is 1/2 done) Put away last years books/supplies (I know it's pathetic I haven't done this yet) Get out/organize books for coming year. Buy basic supplies - paper, binders, pencils, etc. Set up daily lesson routine and go over w/kids (esp. 7th gr. and 4th gr.) Photocopy worksheet pages and organize into binders. I know things will be easier once I'm over the nausea :tongue_smilie:. I just need a bit of motivation!

Strawberry rhubarb sauce served over ice cream (or angel food cake). Put a couple cups of chopped rhubarb in a saucepan with 1/4 C water and 1/2C sugar, and 1tsp lemon juice. Cook and stir until the rhubarb is nice and soft. Stir in 2 C strawberry slices and cook for another couple of minutes. Let cool slightly before serving or refrigerate and serve cold.

Janice, it appears I'm not allowed to give you any more positive rep. yet :), but I wanted to thank you for your words of advice. In general, I am NOT a curriculum junkie and rarely change or add programs once I've chosen something, but after reading your post, I thought about all my writing programs and was surprised at how many I actually own! With the prospect of eventually having 6 kids to teach, a simple, consistent program is really what I need. :)

From what I have seen in the examples, I was hoping it would be feasible and beneficial for my kids (and help with my own scheduling.)

Yep, this is the policy at our house. The word "bored" (or any similarly worded phrase or behavior) is synonomous with "please give me some chores to do".

...once told me that "the best catalyst for creativity is complete boredom and the best cure for boredom is to take away everything but the outdoors, some rocks, and some sticks." Not as punishment of course, but just to force them to create their own excitement. Or not. No one ever died of boredom. ;) Might be worth a try. On the other hand, my 7yo loved marble runs - especially when we gave him a box of "stuff" like pvc pipe, paper towel rolls, and a roll of tape; he liked drawing huge "life sized" houses and mazes with chalk on the driveway; anything having to do with water or building forts with big blankets and chairs/sticks.

We are also Presbyterian (PCA). Many in our church keep their kids in service from birth, although we do have nursery care through age 3. 4yo and up are in the service. I placed our church in the liturgical category because we include a lot of responsive readings, Apostle's Creed, the Lord's prayer, etc. Not as "high church" as a traditional Catholic Mass or Anglican service, though.

Has anyone here tried combining (history) discussion sessions for Dialectic and Rhetoric? How did it work?

My highest score was in the Science section, and I tested particularly strong in chemistry despite the fact that I hadn't had ANY chemistry since Jr. high. ;) Science was always my worst subject.

My computer has been on the fritz the last couple days, but I will check the plants for signs of little nasties. On the other hand, it rained like crazy last night and today, and one of the plants already looks like it's growing a bit...so, maybe that's it. I'll keep my eye on them!

That's pathetic. Obviously, they have some horribly loose screws. :glare: A disfunctional kitchen is enough to make anyone crazy. I sure hope you get something worked out quickly!

From what I have heard it's not possible to fail with zucchini, but apparently I am achieving the impossible. I have 3 zucchini plants in my small garden and they have been roughly 4 inches tall for the past 4 weeks. They don't grow and they don't die. (On the other side of the garden I have 3 cucumber plants which are growing like crazy. I'm a little afraid of them.) What can I do to help my zucchini grow? Is it too hot? Too sunny? Not enough water? Too much water? I was really looking forward to making zucchini bread this summer.

I cannot fathom having to complete the entire text in a year! Whew.

Last night dh started talking about a sandwich he was trying to repair, and I said, "OK honey, hope you can fix it", mainly because I was afraid if I didn't respond, he'd just keep on talking. ;) Does that count?

Yes, I'm SusanTN there (how original :tongue_smilie:) and thank you for reminding me because I have a bunch of new books to enter. I wondered if it was going to be something useful, and it turns out that for me it's just fun to see the books we have. I like book collections and I especially love looking at the author clouds. So dreamy. :)

Well, if I were to apply to college today, they would accept my high school transcript, even though I graduated 20 years ago....so, I'd say go with it. You can always do some checking/updating through your library or the internet.

If a student completed 1/2 of Wheelock's one year and finished it the next year, would you consider that enough for 2 high school language credits (one credit for each year)? Or would you only count it as one language credit for completing the entire text (1/2 credit each year)?

That's a good question. Here are some that might work depending on what you need... The Supper of the Lamb (a sort of theological cookbook - thought provoking and entertaining). 84 Charring Cross Road (a collection of correspondence between a NY writer and a London used book store over a period of about 40years post WWII. Short, very entertaining, one of my all-time favorite books.) Up From Slavery - Amusing Ourselves to Death Anything by Paul Johnson (Birth of the Modern) The Best Things in Life (A Socratic Dialogue by Peter Kreeft) Eats, Shoots, and Leaves How about books about literature? Peter Leithart has a series including Ascent to Love (Divine Comedy), Brightest Heaven of Invention (Shakespeare), and Miniatures and Morals (Jane Austen).

So do you think they would be comfortable on trips with every seat filled? Even with teenagers? My oldest 13yos will likely be 6' tall within a year, and so room for him is a major factor for us. He needs leg room! Plus the bulk of car seats and all that. Another factor is that this van will be used for quick trips to the grocery and other errands that may not include everyone. We would probably need all 8 seats maybe 3-4 times per week, not including our trips. I will take a look at the Odyssey, too. I didn't realize they had an 8 seat option.

If you knew you'd need at least 8 seats- including 4 baby/toddler/booster seats - what would you go with? Something you could find used, and not necessarily pretty. Here are my thoughts so far: Toyota Sienna - easier to handle, easier to park, better gas milage; more expensive, more crowded. Ford Econoline 12 passenger - more room for long trips (we take at least 2 half-way across the country trips each year and also go camping, scout trips, etc), more comfortable for growing kids, not too hard to find a reasonably priced older model with lowish milage; difficult to drive / park (although we rarely park on the street/city), worse gas milage. Also, if you'd go for an Econoline, would you look for an E150 or E350? What's the difference?

The Lazy-Bed Garden by John Jeavens (?). Very informative for organic/subsistence/companion gardening.