Government schooled, private schooled, homeschooled - or I prefer "Independently schooled." This does come up a lot - when we are out and about with family members who think and say negative things about homeschoolers being "weirdoes" or "unsocialized" (yes Spy Car, many of us find our children described in similar insulting terms to those lighthearted choices on the poll). I like to point out to my anti-homeschool sister and parents all the homeschooled friends we see out there at (church, the library, walking down the street, at the farmer's market, at soccer practice, etc.). Interestingly, most of my students in the online public charter school and their parents refer to themselves as "homeschooled." Legally they are not homeschooled, they are public school students... but it is easier for most outsiders to understand the shorthand than to try to explain the whole kit and caboodle. (and it continues to amuse me that of all places, THIS site continues to tell me that the word "homeschooled" is not recognized in its dictionaries!) We have a few miles to go still.

2 yo asking to watch "puppies on pbs." Now I am sitting here listening to lots of backyard birds, enjoying the silence while dh and other dd sleep... just me and the birds, pbs is elsewhere!

Going to be in Missoula, Montana... we will be in the middle of a big driving vacation (day 5 of 18). I will miss our town's fabulous 4th festivities, but am looking forward to what other folks do around the country... Anyone in or near Missoula, Florence or Lolo?? What will you be doing??

My mom has a set of World Books from about 1965 or so... there is indeed an article (I think it is "Space") in which the phrase "Someday, man may walk on the moon" appears. We had them in our living room while we were growing up and most times there was a question at the dinner table, we'd be told to "go look it up." They were/ are outdated but oh, the memories of going to look things up in those slick pages. Especially the see-through frog pages! We used them well into the 1980s for research reports - I don't think we ever got dinged by the teacher for naming the population of Afghanistan from 20 or 25 years previously... and it is so interesting to go through them now as history. So my vote is.... keep them?? Or, indeed, someone nearby may want them. (Libraries don't. School libraries don't. A local ps teacher might, though they may be used to cut out pictures for school projects.)

Oooh, good questions. I understand that some sects actually have individual "tithing settlements" with a someone in charge who tells people how much they should be tithing, and if they don't, they may not be allowed to participate fully in all aspects of their belief system. I much prefer for it to be an act of worship and thanksgiving for the blessings we have received, and not "paying to get in." That said - if you want to be technical, 1) Not tax refund. You've already tithed on that, if you tithe gross. Yes to the stimulus check, it was unexpected extra blessings. 2) Yes. 3) ... ooh, I want to know what others say. I say, no. I have been the recipient of generosity for basic living expenses (groceries) from someone at church, and was very thankful... at the end of that month, when we had $30 left in our grocery budget, we gave that "back to God." So - if the medical bills are paid for and there is something left over from that specific need, I would not feel comfortable spending what someone else gave me on, say, a haircut or manicure... I'd give it back to God. Other opinions??

I am continuing to learn that as a hs mom, it is a GREAT thing to send my kids to VBS and have hubby volunteer, so that I get a week of Mommy Camp!

The author of the book "Stolen Lives," Elissa Wall, grew up in the FLDS in Salt Lake City and the Short Creek area of Arizona/Utah. At 14 she was forced to marry her first cousin. It was the trial of Warren Jeffs as an accomplice to her underage r@pe that finally landed him behind bars. The book is about her childhood, the time leading up to the marriage, and the effects of the marriage and the trial. It is a fascinating look inside. Riverfront Headmistress said part of the fascination is loyalty of members... but the only books we get with "inside stories" are all former members. There is still that little piece of "why" missing in Jessop's and Wall's stories.

I read the book, and have followed the information about it as much as I can - Brooke Adams on the Salt Lake Tribune has a blog about polygamy and she posts as things come up - she is very very sympathetic to the FLDS, which is a side I don't see a lot elsewhere. I don't know why I have this fascination with FLDS, Amish, Hutterite, etc... because they are different? At this point in each of those histories, it is so little about what they were thinking and more about being raised in an alternate culture (very little conversion, almost all born into it). I live in an area in which there are two Christian sects that used to be considered "cults" but have somehow morphed into "mainstream" over the last 30 years or so, and now have "cults" or splinter groups of their own. My mom was always interested in learning about them, not in order to follow their tenets, but just curiosity... and I think I got her genes. Maybe I'm most interested in those who choose to leave... that takes a LOT of fight, strength, belief in something else to overcome a whole lifetime of enculturation.

Do NOT mention it to the counselor, IMO it will do nothing for the hs/ps divide. I like the idea of sending an email to the webmaster, just make sure that it is worded ever-so-kindly and there is no hint that you are a "holier than thou" home schooler... (Not that you are, but so many ps's are SO defensive and anti-hs that you just need to be REALLY careful!) You don't want your students to have the reputation that "Their mom homeschooled them, so they think they are better than everyone else."

So's one of my kids (so that makes me weird!!), but we chose her name to be easy to spell and pronounce since our last name is so tough. Our other one we THOUGHT would also be easy but already at age 2, it is getting misspelled at church, etc. Whoops. My sister still can't spell my FIRST name, and she has known me since I was born. Or bron, which is how she spells that one...

hee.

This sounds like us, except for the bus stop - we don't have that. We have created our own "community" by engaging in church activities. Also, my parents live 1/2 mile away and my sister is a mile - in our town it is "all the way across town" but we have family nearby in times of need or to just throw together dinner. And when we have rolling brownouts, at least one of us still has electricity so we will all gather there and save energy. I am sad that we don't have any real neighborhood connections. We heard kids playing in a backyard behind us once, so I went over with dd to meet them. They looked at us like we were weird and now call over the fence to tell dd to leave them alone. The house next to us has been vacant since before we moved in (2.5 years) and almost every day one of us will pray that a nice family with nice kids near her age will move in. We go out walking and tend not to meet people. I keep wondering if it is us, or them, or our culture of being busy and doing everything in the car?

I have to disagree with Tammy, having too many of the same initials can be difficult to sort out. What with current privacy laws, children's first names are not supposed to be in a lot of emails, and how would you differentiate them? (This comes from my experience as a teacher of twin boys whose initials are both JJJ and parents are upset that information keeps getting posted under the wrong name.) Our two boys were Youssef (Joseph - love that he was used by God to save his family and two nations. Think big!!) and Elias (Elijah) who took big, bold stands for God despite popular pressure.

This is one I read but would never have called a "classic." There are so many things literarily wrong with it... it may be on an interesting subject, but it truly is poorly written. There are certain books I would recommend to so many readers... "Holes" for upper elementary and beyond all the way to adults, is so WELL written, tying in so many plot threads. "Harry Potter" is both popular and well written, though reading the whole set together can be trying as you begin to see her plot twists coming a mile away, and again, entertaining and literate enough for adults, though it is considered a "children's" book. As I said previously I love "Maus" and "Maus II," and will be using them to soften the sting of Nazis for my 5th grader this year. It is interesting to see people debating "classic," "new classic," etc. Maybe they should say "Popular," but "Classic" seems more erudite somehow, even if they didn't quite get it.

Her hand looks like a real hand today (almost 72 hours after the sting). The red streaks did not go past her elbow... still has some blotches, but looks like it is returning to normal. And I am in the market for a good family practice doctor in the IE not affiliated with Beaver Medical Clinic. (She also stands at the poolside, loudly shouting at the bees to "Go 'way! Okay, bees? You go 'way!")

I'm currently regretting Harry Potter, because it is ALL dd can talk about. But it is entertaining, Jim Dale does a wonderful job with all the characters (any of the books). Laugh out loud funny: Stockard Channing doing Ramona Quimby, Age 8. Yes it is a children's book, but very very funny!

I think this is why so many cultures around the world have a "siesta" time... it could be any one of a number of things, but the sun does drain you. Sometimes I really miss having everyone close up shop and go home for a big lunch and a nap before re-opening everything around 4 p.m. What's that old saying, "Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noon day sun?" It's because it's hot! And in England, it isn't nearly as bad, so they have never had to have this kind of a schedule!

I can go one further - we actually went to the enrollment center, but I could not find her immunization record... so they wouldn't let her enroll! As the year ended , I am SO GLAD I did not do it. I think it is wise of you to be thinking ahead and seeking out alternative plans though. I have a toddler at home and have felt this year as though she is getting shortchanged, so I can empathize a little with you there. Better to stop because you have a plan in motion rather than a hasty "your arguments make me crazy!" I'm also glad to read that someone else's son has finally gotten past the arguing stage... maybe there is hope? Girls at this age seem to begin the arguing as a way of us wanting to help them leave the nest, I sometimes think.

We have used 2 and 3, and will be using 4 next year for 5th grade. My dd is a little "too" creative, so it was very helpful to have her options limited a little bit. She can write whatever she likes at other times (currently hiding out in her room writing a play), but she also has needed guidance in following directions. Unlike some other posters, I liked the voice - talking to the child as if having a conversation with someone on the same level, not talking down as a master to a student. I loved the beginning of book 3 that asks her to start following directions, on her own, and come to her teacher when she is finished. The other thing I like about it is that it goes really nicely with a schedule much like K12, in which they do 3 weeks or so of vocabulary and grammar, then a week of writing. The lessons are broken down into about 5 days of work, then you give them a week or more to let it "sink in." I noticed that dd's writing in the in between weeks (say, with SOTW outlines or paragraphs) did indeed improve.

This is exactly what I was thinking... some families just don't feel they can share everything, and even if it is not her bio kid, there is sometimes family shame at not having "perfect" children (especially given her age). Maybe it is something else that most people just don't understand, so as a family they have decided to say "It's ADHD." To adopt a child at that age - there is the possibility of major anger issues, attachment issues, and more... let alone what might have been going on in his little life before being adopted. Who knows if biomom gave him the best environment, in the womb and once born?? And if they did not institutionalize this one, would the others have been at risk of harm??

sorry if I offended you!

If it's that cool there, would you mind picking up a palm frond and waving it towards the west? Thanks.

Does anyone else browse the "to be shelved" racks/ carts??? For some reason I always think "It must be good if someone checked it out recently!" I have only been disappointed twice.

Yes. We have one set of friends with whom we make Bailey's shakes... Ice cream, Bailey's, a little milk, chocolate syrup, topped with whipped dream and chocolate sprinkles... mmm, going to the freezer RIGHT NOW.

I've been trying to find a book I want to read on our vacation.... and I just came across this post. How many have you read? I have read 27 of the 100... I guess I have a few choices for the road!