I decided around age 11 to give it up. I used hot sauce to help myself....I was afraid to taste it, so I knew it would work :o). Both my brother and my sister sucked thumb and finger (respectively) till around age 11/12. None of us had braces or buck teeth. I think we didn't pull our teeth with our thumbs the way some kids do.

In CA, the law is 25 mph when children are *on the street* either going to or coming from school, OR if the schoolyard is *unfenced* and children are playing in the *unfenced* schoolground. So if it is during school hours, but the kids are out doing recess or PE in the fenced schoolyard, the 25 mph speed limit does not apply. You need to look up the actual law in the dmv handbook in your state. It will define it for you.

well, in my perfect world, I guess I wouldn't "allow" disrespectful speech at all. In my real world, my kids are occasionally or frequently (some days) disrespectful, in spite of my not "allowing" it, in which case they get their tushies kicked and have to rewind and incur consequences. For me, not "allowing" it doesn't mean it doesn't happen, it just means we deal with it. But then, I have more than one rather high strung, spd teenager, so I do know that there are parents that don't "allow" it, and their kids got the message long ago and actually don't do it. I would say that the word "allow" can have a variety of meanings depending on circumstances and temperaments.

Hi, my thought was to see if there were any graduates of Master's Seminary around where you are. That is John MacArthur's school (we live pretty close to there, know lots of people that go there), and doctrinally/preaching style etc. is pretty close to what you are looking for. Only exception might be the tongues issue. Expository preaching. very straight, doctrinally. Anyway, there is one guy in Hilo who has a pretty small church. I have no clue where you live, but maybe you could contact this guy and get some thoughts or recs. from him on possible churches to try in your area, or pastors he would recommend. There were a couple other grads in Hawaii, but they were working at schools there. Anyway, just a thought. Here's his website. http://www.hilobereans.com/index.htm

Also, for real time, ACTUAL INFO, here is the "horses mouth", so to speak. http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-03-15/japan-nuclear-crisis-what-is-a-full-meltdown?cid=bsa:relatedstories2:2

There is way too much panic-mongering going on, IMO. Here's a really good article describing what is actually happening. I wish our country would rethink it's policies and allow more nuclear power. BTW, current reactor technology does not require a separate power source to provide water circulation for cooling. It utilizes a built in convection system that uses the heat from the cooling rods to circulate the water. It would literally cool itself should the reaction be stopped in the event of a natural disaster. Anyway, hope this provides a more rational side to things. http://bravenewclimate.com/2011/03/13/fukushima-simple-explanation/

ds 14 has been in a year and a half. He is still tenderfoot, but getting close to 2nd, and has a lot done for 1st as well. He's in a great troop, and has done about 7 merit badges including 2 that are Eagle required. He did the cycling merit badge last summer, which was HUGE for him. He's gifted/SPD, and heavy duty athletics is NOT his forte. Not to mention all the sensory issues that we deal with daily. His dad (an Eagle scout) was sure there was no way he was going to survive all the long rides etc. It was tough, but he finished all the rides including the 50 miler. It has been soooooooo good for him to be able to spend time with dad, and he's been forced to stretch himself in so many ways. I stay out of it as much as possible. I told dh at the outset that this was his baby, not mine. DS is an challenging, frequently exhausting kid to parent, much less homeschool. Totally worth it, especially given his quirks, but hard. He needed a dad thing really bad, and scouts has been perfect, especially since dh was hugely into scouting when he was growing up. Ds was voted chaplains aide, so that's been a great thing for him as well.

yep, I have a mac with firefox (we use the most), chrome (use for streaming video), and safari (comes with), and both firefox and chrome were doing that. grrrrr. turns out Safari worked....yay!! Not sure what I would have done otherwise.

OK, I really would have loved to watch all of that....it's amazing!!!....but I get motion headaches from things like that LOL. It took all of about 10 frames, and I was starting to get "that feeling". Wish this was in a linear (ha) form. I love math, and agree with most of what was being presented.

Well, I have 2 girls (currently 17.5 and 19.5), and they are both so different. Both had their ears pierced as babies. Oldest has attached earlobes that made it difficult for her to wear studs without them getting infected. She let her holes close up years ago. She started wearing a tiny bit of makeup around age 18. Her choice. She has always been modest in the extreme, and would never wear short skirts or revealing clothing of any kind. I had nothing to do with most of this...except for giving advice along the way. She cares very little about fashion. Now my middle dd, otoh, probably started wearing a little makeup in jr high. She has acne problems, so I've never made makeup a big deal other than what kind, and making sure she gets her face clean. She has never gone way overboard with it. She loves pretty clothes, and pretty earrings. She pushes the modesty boundary occasionally, but understands it and is fairly accepting in general. We've always been the "no dating till you're 30!!!!" sort of people, LOL, but she found herself a boyfriend this year (Senior year). They don't date alone at all, but see each other at co-op classes, volleyball, theater, go to church together sometimes, hang out with friends. He's very nice, is very responsible, mature, respectful.......absolutely nothing I can complain about. He's in the Sheriff's explorer program. He's the one encouraging my dd to be modest LOL! If they can survive dating for another 5 or 6 years, he'd make a great sil :o). All this to say, that we have our principles, and hills to die on, but every kid is different.

Check out Exploration Education

The claw :o). http://writingclaw.com/default.aspx

well, I'll chime in late. $92.75 is 106%, so you can just divide it by 106, and multiply by 100.

Tirzah

Here's something I saw recently that was really good about fibonacci numbers. http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=9CB2FJNU

You need to learn the magic word :o). Here it is. "Whatever!" said in the most cheerful of voices. I, too, have the world's most irrational child...who is now 14, btw, and still occasionally irrational about the most annoying of things. Honestly, do not engage. It is for attention. You can make it into a huge respect issue if you want, but I would spare myself the energy if I were you. JMO....having dealt with semi irrational/SPD/world's most stubborn children for the last...oh...20 years or so (who are now mostly grown and amazingly more rational LOL). The 14yo is my youngest, btw, but my oldest was just as bad.

I so excited that the cowboys are back!!! I love those guys! They are real gentlemen. Can't wait to see it :o).

Agree with the others. Lots of oral work. Appropriate amount of copywork. Teach your boy to type NOW. Get a good gamey typing program and just let him loose. He'll figure it out in no time (unless he already knows how). Are you using Megawords for just spelling? Sounds like you can be done with phonics. In math, go halvsies on scribing. You write one, I write one. I did this with my son, gradually ramping up the amount of writing. It has been a real struggle. He spent a couple years doing Kinetic Books Algebra in 6th and 7th, which doesn't require much writing at all. This year he is doing geometry from a textbook, and he is just now at the point that he can write all his math. Barely. And I have to nag him to make sure he puts enough steps in there instead of trying to do most of it in his head and just write the answer. And it looks like a 1st grader wrote it and he's 14. OY! I feel your pain. Pretty much: assist with the needed logistics in subjects where he needs physical help. Let him fly with the academics. IOW, don't hold him back, but help with the physical writing as needed. Scribe for him, gradually ramping up each year. Try not to pick curriculum that is writing/workbook intensive for for content subjects like science or history. And yeah, it's a continual tightrope.

Probably only better because it has a larger screen. Not sure if you can do e-mail or not. Internet, yes, but a bit limited in graphic capability.

Well, I own a Kindle, and love it, but last night I was at B&N & was playing around with the Nook color. right off the bat I was disconcerted with the backlit lcd, and the page turning. My eyes just don't like that computery feel for actual reading. I would definitely get the sickish headache if I had to read this for long. Also, there are no page turn buttons, you just finger swipe the screen back and forth to scroll the pages. I don't deal well with that kind of visual motion. On the kindle, it is more of "disappear, reappear" when you hit the page turn, as opposed to the actual left/right scrolling. I didn't like having to swipe the screen every time either. I much prefer the quick thumb button on the Kindle. There was also annoying lag when scrolling the pages. I'd swipe the screen, and it would take a second for the screen to "catch up". Kindle is much quicker. I have to say I just love the e-ink a lot more. Color or not, I was NOT impressed. BTW, Kindle has a few free games (word game, minesweep, poker), and others for pretty cheap. JMO :o). Kayleen

Definitely what CAmom said. Get the free ESV from Amazon. Just hit Menu, the "go to...." then hit the down arrow to get to "table of contents" , then pick your book (you may have to page forward), arrow up or down to select chapter etc. I can navigate just as fast or faster in church than those with standard print bibles. Love the ESV, btw. It's a great translation.

I'm already using it, so not sure why everyone thinks it isn't out yet (??). We are enjoying it. It is very straightforward, and fairly engaging. It isn't incredibly difficult for a 7th/8th grader, but it's just about right for us. If you have an accelerated student, you might want something more challenging.

Not sure how you got indulging bad behavior from the book. When dd (now almost 20) was 2, that book was a godsend.....it really helped me see my child through different eyes. I just had a very hyperactive, intense, sensitive kid who was *not* what I planned on LOL. Yes we spanked when necessary....in retrospect, I should not have spanked her as much as I did, probably. This book was most helpful in teaching me to be thoughtful and proactive in my parenting of her. There were definite things that tipped her over the edge, and she had many sensory issues that were challenging. I learned better how to anticipate trouble spots/situations, and plan ahead in order to head off potential behavioral disasters. I learned to see some of her trouble spots as areas of real potential if handled correctly. I never got the message from the book that bratty behavior was acceptable or excusable, but it did help me to discipline more thoughtfully. Btw, she is now, as I said, almost 20, and just as intense, but highly motivated, a straight A student in college, and headed most likely for engineering. I recommend this book very highly. It's not the Bible, but it has good ideas.

second the gliga. When my dd started lessons I did my homework for over a month online, and we ended up getting a gliga gems 2. We live in S. CA, though, so we actually went down to pasadena to the shop and picked it up. *very* nice violin, her teacher is very happy with it, and it will take her quite a ways. Under $300. No regrets.