Hey, at least a couple of those kids can read. You can give them their own lists. Or do what I do, and send them on fly away teams to get all the stuff I forgot back in aisle 3 and 4.

I did them off and on for a while. Then I was really consistent for almost a year. I didn't lose much weight, but I did gain a lot of stamina. I mostly did the 2 mile, and occasionally did three miles. I had a couple dvds so that I could alternate them. I also would play the dvds with the sound really low and listen to BBC world service news. Last summer I joined a kickboxing class. It was hard, but it would have been impossible without the training of the walking videos. This year, I've even started to run. THAT wouldn't have been possible without the kickboxing. So for me, the Leslie Sansone dvds were a necessary step onto the path of better fitness and better health.

I would agree with the idea that this needs to be tighter. One of the main goals of a letter like this is just to register with your legislator that you oppose the bill. You can put in a couple of good reasons with your contact info. I would also remove sections that make you look oppositional. Comments that caught my eye were in the section about the DOE assuming you are a liar and acting as judge and jury. While you may in fact have these feelings, I think in a letter like this, you need to try to remain uber-calm and rational. Don't give them a reason to automatically dismiss your arguments. What you might also consider is submitting a version of the longer letter as a guest editorial in your local paper.

I had good luck with clip together frames from Ikea or Selgros. These are a piece of board and a glass front that make a sandwich with the print. The clips hold them together. I have several things that are framed in these. I actually like that the graphics of the print stand alone without a frame around them. I think I remember Ikea also having more traditional looking frames. These were usually in the downstairs are right before the checkout.

I guess it depends on what you mean by harassed. Here in Hawaii, I know of several people who have been informed by principals that they are required to do things not outlined in law. This includes testing at grades where testing is not mandated, providing testing by a certain date and participating in testing at schools instead of using one of several standardized tests. This has happened to friends of mine, not just a friend of a friend of a friend. And it is being done by principals who ought to know better because they have been corrected year after year after year. I have also watched as homeschoolers, supported by HSLDA, were almost the only voice against mandatory universal preschool (this was in the District of Columbia). I don't think that you have to follow their endorsements uncritically. And I don't think that only legislation that they support is worthy (for example, increasing access to public school activities like sports for all homeschoolers). I also don't think that all homeschoolers fall in line with the wider range of HSLDA politics. But neither do I think that HSLDA reps are evil men, intent on fooling homeschoolers. I was once part of an email loop that discussed legislative action for homeschoolers. Scott Sommerville was part of the group. I was amazed at the graciousness with which he answered some very vitriolic emails. So I guess I'm saying that I don't think you should take all HSLDA bashing at face value either.

That may be the case for big recording artists like Madonna. It may be a totally different case for the artists (voices, writers etc) who put together a radio drama, which has little chance of making money on tour. It is also not the case for many authors of books (to extend the copyright discussion a bit). DH wrote a book of WWI history. He gets a check every couple of years which is his royalties on any copies that have sold in the interim. Any copies that are created in another way (say on a university library copy machine) are books that are not sold and for which he is never paid.

And even in this case, it doesn't have to be an organized, competitive team sport if there are other areas where the student can demonstrate leadership. For example, if I have a homeschooled candidate who takes high level courses and has leadership roles in scouts or church or 4H or some other group and for sport is involved in martial arts or weightlifting or running, there are lots of times that I would consider that. I would want them to be able to demonstrate rigor and improvement and time involved (a lifting or running log or describing a belt test and classes they assist with, for example). I had one great candidate who had had some swim team experience but also did bike races and swam the Ironman Triathalon in a junior division. As a Blue and Gold Officer (Naval Academy admisions rep) I am looking for someone who can tell me about their leadership experiences in a clear and passionate way. There are plenty of kids with titles (club president or student govt) who can't describe anything that they've taken charge of or ways that they've driven along something they were passionate about. And there are kids who don't have the easily recognized titles who can tell me about their passions. In other words, don't just tell me you were president of the German Club, tell me how you lead people in that role. (And it is worth saying that some parts of the country are much more competitive for service academies than some other parts.) But that is all in knowing about the type of college you are applying for. One of our friends is a senior who is looking at music schools. They demand auditions and in one case a complex application detailing experience with music production and recording studio time. I think that for a student with goals like his, it would have been counterproductive to spread himself thinly through multiple activities.

I haven't had the scale move much in the last six months since I started working out regularly. But my clothes are fitting better and I'm feeling a lot better. In January I added the Couch to 5K running plan on days when I don't kickbox. This morning was the first day of doing week two. It took me a month to master the week one running. :confused: But this morning felt great.

Interesting. That would seem to eliminate the possibility of a homeschooler having any modern language credits unless they were dual enrolled at a community college. Or is your state one that has accredits homeschools or umbrella schools. I've looked through the sample AP exam for German and it looked well within our goals for their language ability over the next few years. Our thoughts were to try to complete the AP exam relatively early and then move along to some of the German certificates like the B1 exam offered by Goethe Institute. We are definitely collectors of languages. So it probably isn't really a problem. But it may be worth our waiting to do those particular AP exams until sophmore year.

I think it is not that unusual. I have encountered plenty of people to mean not including Christian or not including religion when they say secular. People can have different meanings of secular in the same way that they can have different meanings of Christian or of homeschooling. I think that it is quite common for people to get comfortable in whatever circle they are in and assume that other logical, kind and intelligent people also have the same views. It may be an educational choice that has a presumptive religious affiliation, a religious affiliation that has a political bent or a political bent that has an assumed stance on a social issue. When we were living overseas, we frequently encountered the assumption that if we were Americans living overseas, we were going to vote a certain way (which wasn't the case). Some of our friends were genuinely shocked when they found out what our own preference was. One of my favorite disconnects was an inclusive homeschool email group that required that members already be a member of a real world inclusive support group. Although in this case I was able to point out that an individual might be in a restrictive support group and still be able to be a member of another support community that was inclusive. I think in the original exchange, the woman made a faux pas. She might have been invited by someone at a church. She might have been mistaken about the nature of the meeting. She might have just been embarassed by the implication of her question and not known where to go conversationally after that. And for all we know, she sat at home this weekend, thinking that she handled the exchange poorly.

There is a Carnival of Charlotte Mason Homeschooling. Not exactly what you're looking for, but maybe a source of blogs and other info about CM that will lead you to a forum.

I have gotten a couple notes of thanks that I've held onto. I think that something that says much of what you've said here would be great. That you are so thankful that they have been so involved. That you wish you were able to personally do more with/in support of your mom. That they are great brothers and that you feel lucky to have them. I don't think that you can assume that siblings will contribute at all in a situation like this. My mother's siblings chose my grandmother's final illnesses to be another oportunity to take sides against each other, steal from each other and act in other selfish ways. If your brothers are great, do tell them that. I think that a note that is actually sent is far better than some bigger and better thing that you may never get around to.

DH and older kids do taekwondo (tkd). Classes start with running, then stretching then jumprope or ladder drills. Our previous school had the kids all running line drills across a big gym. I would say there is a big cardio component. Then they do drills on various skills, kicks and punches. There are standard forms for the belts (above the first couple) that the kids have to learn. Forms are sets of blocks, punches or kicks that are done in a certain order and facing a certain direction. They get progressively more complex as the student goes up in rank. In tkd they are called poomse. (They also exist in other arts like karate etc.) Sometimes the kids will do light sparring in class. They wear shin and arm pads and focus mostly on timing, blocks and distance. For our school, most of the heavy sparring is done at extra sparring class. This is included in the monthly fee but is optional. At these sparring sessions, the kids wear pads as well as padded helmets and chest/back protectors. DH has also studied a couple of other arts including karate, kwongnu (retatively new are that originated in Vietnam) and hapkido. We move a lot and he has never been able to continue with the previous art after a move because they weren't available in the new city. We chose tkd for the kids for a couple reasons. It is widely available. We hoped that they could continue it even after moving. (This worked great when we moved here. Our current studio has several high level competitiors, and the owner is a great coach.) We also liked the more sporty aspect of tkd (vs. combat hapkido, for example). While dh plans for the boys to take hapkido at some later time, he didn't feel the focus of that particular art was appropriate for the boys while they are still young. And while our school as a whole has a strong focus on sparring and competition, there I haven't felt that the owner or instructors care any less for students who don't compete. Our owner was very up front when we joined that sparring was optional but that we needed to not get upset if other students progressed faster because they were getting half again more practice time than our kids. I would suggest that you not sign any long term contracts (at least at first) but go month to month instead. You will also want to ask about the cost of testing and uniforms. Our current school will test students whenevery they are ready (except for black belts which are annual). Our previous school only held tests twice a year. From talking to our owner, I've learned that he depends on uniform sales to keep the lights on. But he also was happy to let the kids stay in their old uniforms until they grew out of them or wore them out. Some schools may pressure you to buy new uniforms right away and frequently. You will also want to watch what the teacher student ratio is and how the class assistants behave themselves. I prefer a studio that has more permanent equipment (like floor mats), but that isn't always possible. Our school also has enough paddles and shields (padded items to kick against) that the kids can pair up for this practice instead of always being in a huge line waiting for their turn to do a practice kick with the instructor. There will need to be practice sets with the instructor, especially when they are learning a new kick or combo. But our previous school had a lot more time waiting around or students otherwise poorly supervised. Spend some time watching the instructors (including senior students who assist in junior classes). I am so impressed with the character of the people in our school. And since we are there about ten hours a week between all of our classes, that is a good thing. My kids are learning a lot more than just kicks and blocks from their time in class.

Do you know if this was a matter of wanting high school level work rather than two years, say in middle school, that might not have had the same scope and sequence? Would AP credit for classes taken before high school have satisfied them? Or did they really want the student taking the language while in high school? I ask because our older kids started learning German as young children (we lived in Germany) and we are planning on just continuing. But we will run out of standard coursework well before hitting the high school years.

I recently found Dorothy Sayers' mysteries. I really like them. One of my favorites is one of the last, Gaudy Night, which also finsihes the romance between Lord Peter Whimsey and Harriet Vane. I might suggest three books with both Peter and Harriet: Strong Poison, Have His Carcase and Gaudy Night. One thing that I really appreciated was that the story deals with strong smart women and what kind of man can be a good partner to them. A strong antidote to some of the silliness that is out there. BTW, I think I've read all the Whimsey books now. Five Red Herrings is a hard read with lots of dialect. Nine Tailors is good but moves slowly.

I like Celestial Seasons, especially the Zinger teas, Nutcracker Sweet (which is a Christmas seasonal tea) and the Apple Cinnamon. They sometimes have variety boxes with a couple bags of several different teas. Rooibos tea is also good. Tetley has a line of this.

Land's End Overstocks has a lot of yoga pants, leggings and skirts in the $10 range. The yoga pants are designed to hit mid calf. If you want a longer leg, try the leggings. BTW, I like LE because the inside of the clothes feel soft too.

While College Board sends all scores when they send a report to a college, the college may not take all scores into consideration. I am an admissions liason officer for the Naval Academy. We take the highest math (ever) and the highest verbal (ever) to form a composite score. We also put a lot of stock in candidates who had low scores, studied and retook the test to improve their scores. (For what we are looking for, identifying a weakness and taking steps to correct it is important.) Some other colleges take the best set of scores. Others create an aggregate by averaging the scores. You might also look into the PSAT. I think that this test is now available for lower high school students. The Junior year PSAT is used for determining National Merit Scholarship eligibility. It may also create an avalanche of college information packets in the mailbox.

We're in the Pearl Harbor area. I'd love to have a Hawaii WTM get together sometime.

I was thinking of how ice is used to make roads drivable by lowering the freezing point of water. Maybe you could sprinkle rock salt on a bowl filled with ice and leave another one plain for comparison. If you have a town road salt depot, you might see if the public works folks will give you a little bit of road salt to pass around. I remember thinking that it was really interesting, much larger than I'd expected.

I have gotten nice lesson plans from National Geographic. They also have My Wonderful World which is a pro geography campaign. I also have some nice children's atlases and geography activity books that are from Rand McNally. The atlases come in at least three different levels. The activity guide that we have is probably upper elementary school level. It is fundamental but well done. FWIW, I had an older version of the Hillyer Child's Geography book and had to get rid of it. The ways that peoples of other countries were referred to (appropriate to the era in which is was published) just grated on me.

There are sometimes problems with relatives and/or friends "helping" older voters cast their ballot. Our family had an incident of this where someone "helped" dh's grandfather vote, almost certainly in an opposite direction from what dh's grandfather would have chosen to vote (and he was in no mental state to cast a ballot at all). If this precinct was in a community with a lot of older voters, they might have been instructed (or just taken it on themselves) to have been more vigilant about only allowing a voter in the booth. This is not to imply that you looked either elderly or in danger of being hoodwinked by your daughter.

It is also standard to put your kids on the big yellow bus that rolls through the neighborhood and have them spend several hours in a big building with other kids, in the hopes that they will learn something. I don't follow that standard. I don't see why I should be bound to take the board without modification either. Having said that, I think there are threads that work fine with quick reply and others that benefit from having a more branching feel to them.

I find that it's easy to forget that my kids don't always understand things the same way that I do. I was at a neighbor's house for an hour last week and told the kids they could watch a movie, but not answer the door unless it was an adult they knew. When I came back, I rang the bell, just to see what would happen. #2 son opened the door a crack to see who it was, instead of using the peephole, which is to high for him. I don't think it ever occured to him that opening the door could allow someone to push it all the way open. There is a lot of shrewdness that comes with being older. It is such a struggle to try to impart some of that shrewdness and skepticism without being doom and gloom in the other direction.

To respond to comments on your blog, you could just reply in another comment to that post. Then other blog visitors would see the first comment and then your response. You could also visit the blogs of people who comment or who link to your blog and make comments on their blog. To do an update here, you could just make a new post on your original thread. That will put the thread back at the top of the pile again.