She's near Manhattan. Her siter blogs from Lawrence on the "April Showers" blog. She's funny too!

When I was teaching in the ps, there were many studies out there that showed that having children read *under* their reading level increased fluency. It's proved true with my dc. Have a shelf of library books that are below your dc's reading level, and have them pick one or two to read each day. Or set a time limit (start small): Have them read aloud to you for 15 minutes, etc.

I need new glasses, and the place at my eye doctor's office is saying that the lenses will be $250-$300 alone. These are single vision lenses, nothing fancy! Ack! We don't have vision insurance, and my son needs new lenses, too. The numbers are adding up. Can anyone recommend somewhere, or how I go about making sure local places aren't going to give me sub-par glasses? Thanks! HIllary

Someone may have touched on this, but over the years I've sort of found that actually studying the Bible is more helpful than studying other books. I love the Bible studies by John MacArthur. They really get you into the Word, and what's learned there is applicable in all sorts of areas in life.

I've ordered from them for the past 7 years, and have had nothing but good experiences. I always phone in my order, and ask if they see anything backordered. (They can't tell from their computer system what's out of stock until the system is updated the next day, though.) Usually the shipping is super-fast. Sometimes I've had to wait a couple of weeks, especially if I am ordering during a busy time. (like August) But that is sort of to be expected. :)

I probably can't help much, but I'll try. We're moving to Nebraska in (gulp) 5 days. From what I *hear* homeschooling is easy. You have to report annually, and maintain records, but not much else. There's a big homeschool group in Omaha (http://www.omahahen.org) and it sounds fairly active. I grew up in Idaho/Oregon, but have lived in the midwest for the past 7 years. It was a big transition, but I really love it here now! Hillary

I grew up in a desert climate. I was used to 110 degrees and no humidity in the summers. It's very hot, but you could cope with the heat. It's much more humid here, but I'm several hours away from Liberal. I also don't know how the humidity compares with Michigan's. The medical issues would be a huge concern. The hospitals in Kansas City are good, but they're at least 5 hours away. I don't know about Wichita's hospitals, but even those are 2-3 hours away. Can you see what's over the border in Colorado or Oklahoma?

My dh was the middle car in a 3 car accident several years ago. We stopped talking to the insurance company of the "at-fault" driver early on. Call your agent, and have them to all the haggling with the other company. If you get a call from the at-fault driver's company, politely give them your agent's phone number and request that all communication go through them. You have been more than patient. In our situation, we did pay the deductible, and then it was refunded back. Our insurer decided to fix our car, and then go after the at-fault driver's insurance themselves. Be sure to get a copy of the police report!

What's the weather like? Windy. Windy. Windier than you've probably ever experienced before. Buy a hat. Or a scarf. Something. We're in the opposite corner of the state, so I'm not sure what the area's like, other than it's windy and flat. I know people who have grown up there, and they love it. The summer storms would be spectacular! Homeschooling in Kansas is pretty easy. You register your homeschool once, that's it. no need to do it again unless you move.You need to teach comparable subjects, and keep track of your hours. (There's a certain number of hours you've got to hit, depending upon the age of your child.) There are a couple of homeschool groups in that area. One I know of is: "Southwest Kansas Christian Family Educators " There's no contact information on the state website, but if you click on this link you can e-mail them and ask how to contact this group. We moved to Kansas from Wisconsin. It took a couple of years for us to fall in love with the state, but now we think of it as home!

"Quit telling your stupid story, about the stupid desert, and just die already! Die!!" LOL!

Oh, I love BUmble and Bumble. It's just so darn hard to find! Hillary

Laney, you made me laugh. out. loud. Now - when do we get to hear your Eddie Murphy "Hot Tub Party" imitation? :)

We have used BJU Bible from grades K-6th. I really like their Bible program, and we'll continue to use it for our younger children through 6th grade. I can't say I ever saw an "emphasis" on Calvanism in the younger grades, but nothing seemed to contradict it, either. (Does that make sense?) I realize that you were asking about the jr. high ages, and I'm sorry I can't address that. But I did want to let you know that we really liked this curriculum for the elementary grades. HTH a bit, Hillary

How is it that no one has mentioned "The English Patient?" People, please. That was one awful movie, made worse by the fact that everyone else I know seemed to love it.

Ooohhhhh, I feel for him. But I especially feel badly for the younger two, who aren't in a custody battle. I know that living with xh isn't in their best interest, but were I one of the kids, I would at least want to feel wanted. :(

You know, I've learned that the best way to keep others' hands off my stash is to enjoy things no one else likes. So....in my stash right now are Hot Tamales, Good 'N' Plenty, and Twizzlers black licorice. ;)

I've read 18, from start to finish. Another 10, or so, of those I started but never finished. (Life is too short for some books.....) There were lots of good books on that list, but many I was surprised to see.

Vol. 3 of the Horatio Hornblower series "The Duchess and the Devil." Man, I love, love, LOVE the Hornblower series! Hillary

I can tell him how not to do it: Don't make a mix tape of break-up songs and mail it to her. My "darling" Mr. B., whom I dated in college, chose this method of breaking-up with me. Charming. I agree with the other posters, though. It should be done in person. The best way is to be kind, and straightforward - no vaguaries, no cliches. Just gentle honesty. It's never easy that way, but it's kinder than a mix-tape.

I did. :) I'm sure it's still possible. I just filled out the FAFs like everyone else. My age was never an issue.

We like it. (We only have the first one.) You can probably check out a copy from your library. The first time through the songs, they have silly lyrics to them. The composer's name is usually somewhere in the lryics. The second time through the songs, only the music is heard. This way, we get both versions. The down side: lyrics are hard to get out of your head. The upside: My kids remember the composers of the pieces. They enjoy both versions, and recognize them when they hear them other places. :)

We use Rosetta Stone quite a bit, but not alone. I'm using another program along with it (SYRWLS) for a grammar emphasis. The combination works quite well, I think. :)

We have. Our # ends in 06, and we got a paper check a couple of days before the 16th. Hillary

I, myself, never really learned to type. So take my opinion with a grain of salt.... In our house, we bought typing software. Ds 12 worked through it daily, until he reached a consistent speed of 25 wpm. (He started at 8) By that time, he'd finsihed all of the "lesson" part of the software. Now, he just does the review sections and works on increasing speed. We have it on our schedule for 2 days a week, 15 minutes each session. I'm not sure at what point we'll stop. His speed increases with practice, though, and I want to make sure he gets plenty. HTH

Dh's number ends in 06, and we just got the paper check this week. If she's expecting a paper check, I'd give it a couple of weeks. Hillary