We're kinda new to this, but FWIW... WE have a no pajama rule. There were a couple of days, before I established the "no pajama" rule, that DS started school in his boxers and T-shirt. And, I confess, I was also in my PJs still. :blush: But, we honestly did not accomplish as much on those days as we did when we were more... formal, I guess you could say, about our school day. I've noticed that DS does much better with lots of structure, and even he recognized that he works better when he's dressed. I need to reread the FlyLady site, and remind myself to shower and get dressed FIRST THING every day... since we've been out of school for the summer, I've been staying in my jammies far too long every day, and I really DON'T get anything accomplished! Oh, and, as an aside... well, really, back on topic... my DS18 was only in public schools (none with uniforms). But, when he was in 4th grade, he was exhibiting some behavior problems, and, as a consequence, I required him to wear kahkis and a polo (or something similar) to school every day. It made a difference. It really did.

Well, I think there are very few people who have been able to follow his advice on their home mortgage. At least, I've not met very many people who were able to do that, although I've sure met a whole lotta people who wish they would have followed his advice, especially some of my military friends who bought homes in Northern Virginia right before the bubble burst... I do know that when people start FPU (Financial Peace University, Dave's 13-week program offered at many churches and other organizations), if they already own a home, he does not advocate SELLING it just because you don't meet the ideal guidelines (less than 25% of income, 15-year note, etc.) unless you are waaaaay over your head, and your mortgage is something like 50% of your income or something crazy like that. I am a member of the TMMO (Total Money MakeOver) forum at Dave Ramsey's site, and although my family isn't debt free yet, I am inspired by some incredible stories of people I have met there. There are a lot of people who are living very, very frugally -- some by choice, others by circumstance -- in order to be completely debt free and to build wealth. They drive "beater" cars that they buy with cash (no car loans), they work two or more jobs (often the second job really is delivering pizzas, like Dave suggests!), they rent until they can buy under Dave's guidelines, they eat beans and rice, they don't take vacations, they don't go to movies, they don't eat out, they don't have both cell phones AND a house phone (one or the other), they don't get cable or satellite TV (Netflix is their primary source of entertainment), they don't run out and buy the latest fashions, they shop at thrift stores, they sell anything they don't use (some of these folks are experts at eBay and Craigslist), and they live as frugally as possible. I wish I could say I was one of them... but I'm not. I'm not even worthy to be in the same room as many of those hardcore TMMO folks. They are amazing. I've personally met several people who followed his plan, made major sacrifices for a few years, but said it was totally worth it -- because they are completely DEBT FREE, without even a house payment. I can't wait for the day when we can say the same.

Oh, my... I was jumping up and down when the Six (plus 2) reached that yacht... :001_tt1: And what the heck... I kept thinking "WHO IS JEREMY?!" and when I saw who was in that coffin... HOLY COW!! :ohmy: Oh my, oh my, oh my...

Dave sez: • Put down 20%. • Mortgage should not be longer than 15 years. • Mortgage payment (including PMI, if you put down less than 20%) should be less than 25% of your gross pay less taxes. (Not gross income less taxes, IRA contributions, medical insurance deductions, etc.) That is the ideal situation, short of paying cash for your home. :)

And before today... I had no reps. I didn't even think about repping other people. I was like the shy girl standing on the wall, trying to figure out what those gyrations on the dance floor were all about... the girl the others would talk to, but wouldn't want to, ahem, rep, if you know what I mean. Then... someone opened me up to the world of repping... and my heart is full of good reps I just can't wait to give away... as soon as I earn some more to give...

What does it take to get to two squares, anyway?

Well, that is a very good point. Limits are good, I guess.

I'm about to hit 100 posts... maybe I'll get more reps to give out, then! :D (On another forum I'm on, we tend to have the occasional, ahem, post-padding party... not that anyone would ever do that here ... right?)

Yay, Brindee! Thanks for sharing the love! I tried to share it back... but was out of reps!! :( Why this limit, I wonder?

Today is the first day I got rep points! I have four. Boy, do I have a long way to go!!

These are all great! Thanks for the link. I like the one that says: No HOMESCHOOLED child is LEFT BEHIND. It's one of the reasons we homeschool!!

I agree. I didn't write any letters, but I did think it was OK for other moms to do so, and I do think it was OK for Subway/Scholastic to say they'd consider homeschoolers in the future when they host a contest. I don't think the moms who wrote were whiners, and I don't think the company was spineless to respond as they did. It's a pretty broad and somewhat ugly characterization to call them such. I guess I'm clearly in the minority here... hope I don't get knocked too badly for it.

Ouch. :sad:

:iagree: It feeds on a perception that homeschooling isn't really... school. Subway/Scholastic aren't opening THIS particular contest up to homeschoolers now, just because many were vocal about their disapproval. But, they have agreed to open future contests up to homeschoolers -- in essence, recognizing that our children are legitimate "students" in a "legitimate" form of school. My guess is that most people outside of the homechool realm don't even know about this "issue." It's hardly a hot news topic -- I haven't seen it anywhere but on homeschool forums. I don't think it puts homeschoolers in a negative light that we stepped up and asked why our students were excluded from a writing contest. I don't see it as whining, I see it as standing up for our rights, in the same way that other groups asked to be recognized and not discriminated against. I am sure some homeschoolers who contacted Subway and/or Scholastic about this issue weren't as diplomatic as we all wish they'd be. But, I have no doubt there were just as many families who voiced their disapproval with tact and as a means of informing these companies that 1) we are heavy users of their company's products (especially in the case of Scholastic) and that it is ill-advised to discriminate against a strong component of your customers; and 2) that homeschool families ARE schools, and could benefit from the prizes awarded and/or would be happy to help enrich another non-profit organization, such as private school, daycare facility, church school, etc., with the "big ticket" prize. So, I really have to disagree that asking for equal consideration in these kinds of contests was whining and that it put homeschoolers in a bad light. Probably we may just have to agree to disagree on this issue. I certainly didn't mean to stir up a hornet's nest by posting this response from Subway! :001_huh:

I can't wait!!!! :w00t:

I think it's all in the wording. This was a semantics problem. Could have been solved by saying the contest was open to anyone, but should a homeschool family win, they'd get $XX of personal play equipment for their home, and be allowed to choose a public or private school to receive the rest of the equipment. Or something like that. What raised everyone's ire was the "no homeschoolers allowed" phrase. Had it just been worded differently... they probably would have avoided a huge mess. I don't think they're spineless to keep eligibility open to HS'ers in the future (not backing down for THIS contest)... that's just good PR.

No one from the school would go on record, they just sent a statement saying the incident was under review. A news article I read said the mom got the "official" diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome on Tuesday, from the psychiatrist doing the evaluation. So, he is now "officially" considered Autistic. If that's the correct way to phrase it. I agree, Paula, the child needs bombarded with encouragement and affirmation. Personally, I think the school should pay for the family to have counseling to help repair this child's self-esteem.

Same here!!! :w00t:

To HSLDA: We at SUBWAY restaurants place a high value on education, regardless of the setting, and have initiated a number of programs and promotions aimed at educating our youth in the areas of health and fitness. We sincerely apologize to anyone who feels excluded by our current essay contest. Our intention was to provide an opportunity for traditional :001_huh:schools, many of which we know have trouble affording athletic equipment, to win equipment. Our intent was certainly not to exclude homeschooled children from the opportunity to win prizes and benefit from better access to fitness equipment. To address the inadvertent limitation of our current contest and provide an opportunity for even more kids to improve their fitness, we will soon create an additional contest in which homeschooled students will be encouraged to participate. When the kids win, everyone wins!

Wow! This is fantastic! I have copied and pasted this into a Word document so I can keep referencing it as I plan this summer. Thank you soooo much!! What a huge help this will be to me!

According to the link Tammy provided this morning, the mother HAS received the diagnosis of autism from the psychiatrist doing the evaluation -- but just received that yesterday. News articles PRIOR to Tuesday that claimed he DID have a form autism were incorrect (as the mom was still awaiting the results of his evaluations), but subsequent articles on it WOULD be correct in saying that he is autistic.

That would be fabulous! :001_smile: If/when you have the time ... Thanks in advance!!!!

It looks small... and it says it does all sizes, but doesn't show you how it accommodates a larger sheet (say, the 11" side of a letter-size sheet of paper). The sample video shows them using it on a palm-sized book. How easy is it to use on a full-size sheet of paper?

Yeah, I guess I was really thinking out loud there... :D Thanks for listening!!

That looks great! I wish there were a resource like that for middle grades (4th-6th). This is exactly the kind of thing I've been looking for, as I wanted to do an overview of the biomes with my 5th grader next year. Do you think the material is adaptable for that age?