My three now adult or near adult children who are very active Christians all loved it. They read it around 12. As an aside, I think we need to be a little less fearful of fantasy. Fear is not a Christian trait. If your child encounters something that seems to be fundamentally wrong in any piece of literature, all you need do is discuss it. Being exposed in a guided way to wacky is not necessarily a bad thing! Remember it is literature, not theology. Granted, some literature is intended to confuse and harm, but this is not one of those. L'engle is a Christian, by the way...a mainline Protestant, I believe, but she is not necessarily a disciple if you understand my distinction.

Well, good luck. I hope she settles in soon! :)

Every once in awhile I run into an article or a conversation villifying competition. I am curious, without setting up any particular context, what are your thoughts on competition?

This woman is threatened, frustrated, frightened, jealous and trying to relieve her anxiety by attacking us. That's all. She is small and irrelevant, and I pity her.

As a veteran mom with 5 kids from 22 to 2, and a close and healthy extended family, I think I know what might be going on, but you may not like what I have to say. It is very unpopular. First of all, as children develop they change a LOT. What works for them one week, month, year, may be a problem for them the next. You have to remain open and alert about what is going on, and try not to make assumptions based on what your child was like a year before. Here's the unpopular part - Children 1) need some time alone to process, think and just be, and 2) need their mommies. (and daddies...) Full time daycare and preschool, while the norm in our society, is very hard on kids. They all have different ways and degrees of coping with it so you will get lots of anecdotes about how "my kids thrived in daycare", etc. But it is no less true that it is a difficult and overstimulating day and that most children will do better with a stay at home parent. That is not to say that they and you will not have plenty to do to occupy your time, to feed your soul, to socialize and to grow. If your family will end up in crisis by your leaving your FT job, then you could try this: Plan every evening some very special exclusive time with your daughter. Then, in the morning, tell her that if she can find something about the day to enjoy that the two of you can have special time together to share it. I would also schedule something very special on the weekend that she can look forward to all week. Also, when she is home I would keep things quiet and low key. Keep the tv and computers off, try to keep the activity low key. Allow her time to just imagine, think, read, rest. I would also consider that someone might have said something hurtful to her at school. Her reaction to the new student whom she walked away from makes me think that she is feeling resentful. One thing is clear, something is going on and there is an answer. You will find it in time. Hope that helps.

You are absolutely doing the right thing. You may even need to up the anty a bit. What is keeping her occupied in her room? A computer? TV? Her favorite pop lit? Maybe that should go, too. I've taken the door off the hinges of one of mine who was not being honest about how she spent her time...it was a hard, but she came around. She needs to know that disrespect is not acceptable - and this is a form of disrespect. Being harsh is not being mean - it is being a good, loving mom! Just don't get angry - that will derail the whole disciplinary process. If you get angry she can convince herself it is all your fault. Stay calm, soothing, loving and tough. A great psychologist I know - Dr. Ray Guerundi (google him!) says that if you do not discipline your child, the world will. And it does not love her as much as you do! Good luck!:001_smile:

Nearly anything by Twain, Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, and Robert Louis Stevenson or Jack Londin plus: Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray Big Red by Jim Kjelgaard Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle Old Man and the Sea by Earnest Hemingway Shipwrecked! True Story of a Japanese Boy by Rhoda Blumberg The House of Sixty Fathers by Meindert DeJong The Twenty One Balloons by William Pene DuBois :)

I think a Horse and His Boy - C.S. Lewis would qualify. Both (human) characters are well developed and their respective horses play sidekick to each.

You misunderstand my last paragraph, Joanne. I am not implying that anyone <i>here</i> is advocating vulgarity. This comment is a side observation that bemoans our culture's laxity toward vulgarity. That laxity does tend to immune all of us a bit from the coarseness of certain expressions. Using the F-word used to make us bristle, and no adult would think of speaking it aloud to a child, whether as correction or otherwise. Now, (some - many) men use it in front of woman, (some) parents use it in front of children. There is nothing debatable about it...although it is perhaps slightly off-topic. ;)

I disagree with a lot of the posts here for this reason - your friend did not have to use the term outright to educate your daughter about the expression. She should have given your daughter the benefit of the doubt, and assumed she didn't understand the connotation of her words. If your daughter was in fact being vulgar, then perhaps the shock value would have had a purpose. Had the woman felt that for your daughter's sake she needed to be more informed, the adult could have referred to the word without saying it outright. All she has done in this case is alienated your daughter unnecessarily. I think the woman should be told in polite terms that you would have preferred her be a bit more gracious. People today throw vulgarity around much too casually. I hear adults saying it to children in common speech and it should really give us pause. It is a term that refers to an abusive attitude toward women and shouldn't be taken lightly. My two cents.

Nicole, You probably already chose a program, but I have a great option for you. In full disclosure, I designed my dream online planner after years of searching, and it is now being used by our local coop. It is free and does everything you would want it to. Most importantly, I am a usability wonk, so I made sure it was easy to navigate. www.LessonMinder.com. :001_smile: Susan Mom to 5 Veteran homeschooler and Hive Mind newbie!

Without a doubt - Mel Gibson's Hamlet. Ok, ok, he's a nutcase, but he speaks Shakespeare fluently! :001_smile: Also very well done is his mother's role played by Glen Close and Ophelia played by a very young Helena Bonham Carter and Ophelia's father played by Ian Holm. One of my favorites movies hands down.