Do you have any facts to back this up with? Because I've worked extensively on HIPPAA implementation, and I find this extremely hard to believe. They cannot share personally-identifiable health information with anybody. Can they share that 12% of students have asthma? Perhaps…but not John Doe, 5 years old, Kindy, has asthma. There are already existing limits in place (which Common Core has nothing to do with) on what can be shared and what cannot. "The Department does not collect personally identifiable information at all except as required for mandated tasks such as administering student loans and grants and investigating individual complaints. The Department is not legally authorized to create a national, student-level database and has no intention to create a student records data system at the national level." http://www.ed.gov/k-12reforms/standards The only state that I've read anything about potentially sharing PII is New York. There is some controversy about them using a service called InBloom to store data…but once again, it's limited to New York and is not a Nationwide thing and has nothing to do with Common Core. It's also been going on since 2002. Long before CC was implemented. (BTW, parents sued, and the NY Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit http://www.publicconsultinggroup.com/news/post/2014/02/14/NY-Supreme-Court-Dismisses-Parentse28099-Lawsuit-to-Halt-Student-Data-Sharing.aspx "The court determined that SED has had an information security policy in place since 2002 and has established rules governing the retention and timely disposal of student data. The court stated “As with any electronic storage of personal information, concerns about hacking and unauthorized access are significant.†SED, consistent with statutory requirements, “has shown that steps have been taken to protect this information. [inBloom], as well as any other contractor, is bound by restrictions on the release of information.†"

I've always been a non-drinker…even before I joined a no-alcohol faith. Not rude…but have non-alcoholic beverages available. Yes, it may pose issues for some (DH does not like to attend parties where people are drinking), but if you let them know, they can make that choice. Same goes for recovering alcoholics… a warning would be nice. On a side note, I have been served alcohol on quite a few occasions even when requesting non-alcoholic versions (for example, at a Mexican restaurant…they had two versions of a limeade…one with rum, one without…I requested the one without). It actually makes me wonder how many alcoholics deal with this as well. I would think it could be truly troublesome for those who are trying to stay sober.

Not addressed at me…but...I guess for me there are already so many predatory "colleges" out there. If they do not have the skills to make it in college, and you encourage them to undertake a lot of debt in order to go or to gain a worthless degree, then that is wrong. Not every career requires college, nor is every person college material. We need to rethink our education and have more apprenticeships and vocational options.

Whatever changes are made, I would like to see that kids who actually go to college are college-ready. It shocks me how many remedial classes kids take. I'm not sure of the solution, perhaps it's a different kind of diploma kind of like the Regent's in NY…but kids who are college bound, should leave high school prepared and able to do college-level work. If they can't, there is something seriously wrong. I took both the ACT and SAT. I had no plans to take the ACT, but my friend asked if I would go with her, so I did it on a whim. No prep or anything and scored extremely high. I did just OK on the SAT (no prep either). Turns out in hindsight, the ACT was a far better predictor of success as well as areas of competence. I hated science in high school, yet scored in the 99th percentile on the ACT Science portion. After my bachelor's degree, I went back and did a post-bac pre-med program and thrived. Had I looked more favorably on the ACT (it was not well regarded at my school for some reason), I may have actually taken some science classes as an undergrad, and easily could have become a physics major. I loved physics when I took it, but felt it was too late to go back and pursue it.

I have…but then again most of my life I had short (but not a pixie short) hair. I finally grew it out in my late 20s…. and while I enjoyed putting it back in a ponytail, that was about it. My hair was just too thick/heavy. So one day I had it all cut off into a very short pixie and loved it. Only thing was I felt I had to get my ears re-pierced…because I felt I needed to have earrings…even if they were just studs.

I would like to believe that we would help all of our kids through college, grad school, maybe help them with a down payment on a condo/home, etc. My parents did that for me, and I am very grateful. But, I also watched them continue to support my brother to this day (he's 49), in spite of years of drugs, jail, etc. They've financed various businesses for him all which failed. THey've enabled him to never have to grow up, and I will not do that for my kids. If we ran into a similar situation, I'd have no trouble showing tough love.

Sorry I can't offer any more regarding specifics. I did have a friend who lived in DeLand and went to Father Lopez High School in Daytona…and it wasn't a bad commute. Lots of kids came from DeLand she said. Homeschooling is big in Central Florida. There's a big convention that happens in May in Orlando. They even do a high school graduation for the kids. If you're going to be in the area, it might be a good place to start http://fpea.com

For the Mom looking at homeschooling 3 kids, would they all be elementary? Curricula like Calvert can be a lot to do for three kids…but Calvert does have a lot of free webinars that you can listen to (including homeschooling many). Go to http://homeschool.calverteducation.com/about-home-schooling/webinar-library If they are relatively close in age, then something like Sonlight, where you can combine grades, might be a lot easier. Just break out the math by level.

There will have to be parental involvement, but as previously mentioned, there are programs like Calvert that are very well planned to make the parent's life easier. It's a good stepping stone, and some virtual schools also have it available, which may/may not appeal to the parents as they'd still be under the public schools. Sonlight is planned out with a daily schedule, but it would require parental involvement in terms of read-alouds, etc. Honestly, I would say probably the best thing for these parents would be to actually research what Common Core is and get away from the myths and conspiracy theories. They could also look at forming a co-op, where one parent takes responsibility for one subject. What do they think they're saving their kids from? Thing is, Common Core standards will still find their way into textbooks and curricula used by homeschoolers. Having standards so that kids can move easily between states and be on the relatively same page is not necessarily bad. (For example, Massachusetts had much tougher standards than Alabama, and comparatively if you look at Mass students and how they alone did on the PISA tests...they were near the top...far better than the average US student.) However, if they want to avoid all the testing of No Child Left Behind, homeschooling may be a good option. But...I'm not sure how they'll realistically avoid Common Core. Multiplication is multiplication. Saying that 4th graders should understand place value to one million is not going to harm a child. I suppose one could choose not to teach that?

Used to take classes at Stetson (which is in DeLand). Yes, you should be able to get a good house for the money, but there would still be a commute…and your DH would have to listen to the radio/traffic to see if he could take I-4 to the beach or if he'd have to take 17-92. (Not a big deal, but sometimes the tie-ups on I-4 are insane. There are virtually no exits between DeLand and Daytona, so when something bad happens, you're stuck. (Might be one or two, depending on where you live.) It's probably 20-30 minutes to Daytona, depending on traffic. If you go to Daytona itself, you can also look up/down the coast. Maybe up to Ormond and down to New Smyrna for a reasonable commute. In terms of COL, I've lived in the Jacksonville, Orlando, and Naples area. I did not notice a lot of difference, except for Naples (more expensive).

dp, sorry :) Might as well as use the space by posting

One thing we do is try to get our kids to appreciate all faiths/holidays/paths to divine. So, even though we're Muslim, we bought a King Cake on Tuesday and talked a little bit about Mardi Gras and Lent (and what similarities there were to Ramadan). We talk about Diwali and Hindu festivals. We talk about solstice and pagan festivals. We talk about Hanukkah, Purim, and the like. We really work hard not to demonize anybody--and to point out that there are always good people, always people that stand up to injustice, no matter what the cost. So, when talking about the Nazis…we might talk about the various assassination attempts against Hitler, or the Germans like Dietrich Bonhoeffer who went to the concentration camps, etc. When talking about American history, we do talk about the good things and are patriotic, but we also talk about the negative stuff. We'll also talk about the bombing of Dresden and all the civilians killed. We'll talk about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombings of Tokyo. As they get older, I'm sure we'll address the whole Suez Canal crisis, Israel/Palestine, and whatever wars are going on. Ideally, the goal will be to see it from both sides… so if after talking about the Holocaust, do you see why the Jewish people wanted a homeland to feel safe? And then…talk about the Palestinians…and their rights as well. No doubt this will bring up the whole treatment of Native Americans and how we took their land. My goal is for them to always look for the good people…to see the good… to not live in absolutes. To not believe that an American or Muslim is better than a person of XYZ country or faith …. but rather to look at their deeds and actions to make that determination.

I'm sorry. I can relate as I'm not sure which is worse in our area, being Muslim or being a "bleeding-heart liberal". ;) Have you thought about starting your own group? What about approaching the Catholic Mamas you spoke of?

Yes, I forgot about scoops/dishers. I started with a 2 tablespoon one, and now have a 1 tablespoon and a 4 tablespoon. I use them all the time!

My favorite baking product is parchment paper. With that, my actual pan doesn't matter. These days I'm using a pack of half-sheets I got at Sam's for maybe $10-$15. They've held up quite well. For spatulas and baking mitts, we actually usually buy them at the Dollar Store….and they hold up great. Now…what/how they're made is a different story…. On a side note, I bought a Popover Pan a few years ago, and I'm so glad I did. We love to have popovers on the weekend, and it makes such a difference. I have had good luck with Chicago Metallic brands…as well as Nordic Ware non-stick. Oil sprays like Pam will make any pan sticky, but I've heard that if you use one of those pump bottles (no additives), it's less likely.

Yes, that we already did. :) We're coming from Florida which also has no state income tax. Yippee!

I didn't know any parent was required to pay for college, especially when college can cost $40k/year. I know plenty of parents who've made continuing to pay college tuition contingent on grades, or not getting pulled over for DUI, or whatever. That's their right, they're footing the bill. The only way this makes sense is if the parents were abusive. I haven't seen any charges of abuse come out, so I'm not sure where the legal justification for this is. I hope that this will end up being a good learning experience for her. Having to work, and perhaps attend community college for a year or two would not be the worst thing in the world for her.

OK, this is the first I've heard about spiders and windstorms. :) Is a windstorm just very super windy (I live in a hurricane area), or do you have dust storms too? Are we talking a mass influx of poisonous spiders or nonpoisonous ones? Where I used to live we had scorpions, but they were not the kind whose sting would kill you…more like a bee sting. I am hoping to appreciate it for what it is. I've been to Southern Utah and Arizona and like that climate as well. In general, I tend to be happy wherever I find myself…just want to know what to expect. I was surprised when I looked up the YMCA that it's a YMCA without walls (or whatever they called it.) Is there a good place for swimming, swim lessons and the like?

You can do a tray of sliders in the oven pretty easily. This Pinterest board might help: http://www.pinterest.com/code3654/cooking-for-a-crowd/

Unfortunately, I don't have much choice in where we are. DH may go for a year to see if he likes it, before we all move. THanks for the honesty. :)

If you're from this area, can you tell me a little bit about it? Is it a nice area to raise a family?

Considering either the Kids Write Basic or Writing for Fun for my 10 year old. What was your experience?

We switched this year for 4th grade. Honestly, it was hard because the bar models were so foreign. While I could figure out the problems using algebra, I couldn't always figure out how to teach them to my son. The Teacher's Instruction Guide did not always help. Switched back to Math Mammoth, and life is much easier. :) I don't think we're losing anything either.

You totally reminded me of when I had an interview in Seattle many moons ago, and bought some doughnut holes at the Pike Place Market. They were so incredible. Ashamed I forgot about a good ol' Nathan's hot dog with brown mustard too.

You need to thaw it. If you have a microwave, it should have a defrost/thaw feature. If not, you can try putting the sealed package under running water.