Really, for me, it depends on what kind of trust was broken. Certain things, for me, warrant divorce (infidelity being a big one...there are so many other alternatives). Other things may be forgiven in time, but only if both people work HARD at it. Before my dh and I were married, we had one of these situations. He had lied to me about some pretty important stuff and it took me a long time to forgive and a lot to make things right...but we did it!

Really, before I let her change her name, I would have her talk with a therapist. It sounds like she is trying hard to remove all traces of her dad and his influences from her life moreso than just hating her name. If her dad had named her after his mistress that ended your marriage, that would be one thing. But he chose the name based on someone he found attractive in school. I am not sure, but it sounds like there is much more to this than just a name. I lived a similar life when I was young and I desperately wanted to change my last name to my grandparent's last name and totally rid myself of my father's last name when I was about 11. My mom would not let me do it until I was much older, and as time went on, I felt the need to do so less and less. When I got married, I did drop my dad's last name and just used my middle name along with my married name. I know your daughter can't do that with her first name. If she does decide to change her name, Zoe is very cute. I have never seen it written Zoey...just Zoe with two little dots over the e.

Do not hesitate to call and definitely trust your mommy instinct. I don't mess with a fever/headache combo because of the possibility it could be meningitis. My kids have NEVER had a headache AND a high fever at the same time. If they ever do, we are off to the hospital to rule it out. You just can't be too sure. I hope your little guy feels better soon!

I am not sure what you mean by required. My umbrella school requires semester grade reporting and day totals, but I am not required to grade individual materials. I mostly come up with the grades on my own based on how hard I think they are trying, how much improvement they have made, etc. I base it on my perception of how they are doing - and I am pretty sure most teachers do the same thing. They "take grades" sure...but my son never made below an A in ps even thoug he had some lower grades on this and that through the year. The teacher knew he was smart, tried hard, and "got it" and I think that played as much a role in the grade card as anything. Besides...aren't grades mostly for teachers to let the PARENTS know how the kids are doing in school? I know how my kids are doing. ;) But I do give them a grade card once a semester with the grades I report to the umbrella school just so they know how they are doing and what to work harder on.

This breaks my heart. My prayers are not for her - she will be in God's loving arms soon...but for the devistated family she will leave behind. I can only imagine. :(

Oh heavens. My prayers are with her and her family. :(

:iagree:on both points!

We LOVE it. My 4th grader does a good portion of it on his own. We do experiments together. We are moving on to Biology II as soon as he finishes up Physics I. :) Love love love NOEO.

*jealous* :glare: No really...how awesome!!! It goes without saying...Have a wonderful time!

Sounds good to me. I have a 5 year old and a 4th grader (I say that because my 5 year old is now doing all 1st grade stuff) this year. The only thing I would add is that you seem undecided on handwriting...have you looked at Pentime? I was having a hard time finding a handwriting program that worked for us and then someone here mentioned Pentime. We LOVE LOVE LOVE it. It is WONDERFUL. I can't recommend it highly enough and it is very, very inexpensive.

Have you worn gloves lately? If you did, it could be that - maybe you used a different detergent or had an allergy to the material (like rubber gloves). I also worked with a girl in a restaurant once who was allergic to the bleach water we used to wipe down the tables. She broke out on her hands and down to her wrist from sticking her hand in the water so much. Probably an allergic reaction. Put some hydrocortosone on it a couple of times a day (even if it doesn't itch) and see if it goes away. Also try to think of anything new you may have used or had your hand in in the last 48 hours or so. Good luck!

Well, over all, I have to do what is best for my family and my budget. If I am doing well on budget, then I will buy things like Writing Tales from the actual source. However, if I am strained, I have to think of my kids and my family before I think of a business' finances. KWIM? I buy a LOT used.

I am behind. :( Eragon took longer than I expected and Eldest is not moving too fast either. Blah! Week 8: Continue with Eldest. Start Interview with a Vampire Week 7: Eldest Week 6: Eragon Week 5: Ink Heart Week 4: Breaking Dawn Week 3: Eclipse Week 2: New Moon Week 1: Twilight

Today they will chill and play with dad. I prefer the kids help my dh do his "work" (outside tinkering around) than help me do laundry, etc. I kind of prefer to do some things alone. :) On Sunday, we have church and then I have a standing lunch date with a girl friend. After that, we all relax and watch a movie and I get my lesson plans prepared for the next week. Weekends aren't super exciting here, but they are nice. :)

I will be using LLATL red as soon as we finish LLATL blue. My son is 5.5 and will probably be 6 before we start it. I also use ETC (he is starting book 3 now) and spelling workout for him. My older son does LLATL as a supplement. I do not think it is enough in the upper elementary grades. He does it along with Writing Tales II and Growing with Grammar (plus Spelling Power/Calvert CD combo for spelling). However, I have a degree in English and this is kind of my "thing." I like to hit it from all angles, so this may just be too much for some...

We are doing NOEO physics I with my 4th grader and we both love it. Next year, we are going to use NOEO Biology II. :)

Oh.my.goodness. She is gorgeous. I am a cat lover and have owned 3 siamese and more tabby cats of some color or another than I can count. Hands down, that is a beautiful cat!

I use Writing Tales II instead of WWE, but I agree with the others. My 4th grader is working on proper capitalization and punctuation, and making sure his sentences make SENSE. LOL That is a tough one for him apparently. He is a young 4th grader (9 in August) and I am not sure if that makes a difference or not. Probably not. When he writes for Writing Tales, he writes his story by hand. Then, we sit down together and go sentence by sentence as I type. We talk about what it says, what makes sense, capital letters, and so on. I feel like I give him a "shot" at it and then we work together on making it good. That gives him a sense of what he did wrong, but also allows him to work through it and not feel insulted by my corrections. A lot of red ink on a page is enough to upset even me (and you should have seen the red ink I got by my editing teacher as an English major in college!). In the end, though, his Writing Tales II stories are usually around a page in length (the stories are quite long now) and generally at least 3-4 paragraphs (but it is material that is being "re-told" and not "thought up").

Not really. I did when we were doing Calvert. I grade all of his math stuff - sort of. By grade, I mean I see how many he missed and that gives me an idea of how well he understands it. We go back and do reviews and I grade-ish those too. Again, just how many he missed= is he getting it? But I don't really issue grade cards, and I know what he knows, so I feel no need for "grades." It feels too public school to me.

In the beginning, I felt a bit of sympathy for this woman. Now, not so much. :glare:

I am so very sorry for your loss. My heart breaks for your family. My thoughts and prayers are with you all.

For K, I did Calvert for part of the year. Then we did Singapore EB, moved on to LLATL Blue, and we have done ETC since the beginning as well.

That is all. :001_wub::001_wub:

We are using NOEO with my older son this year. My 1st grader was not quite ready for it, so with him, we are using Singapore Early Bird Start-up series Science. It is made to be done using the workbook as a guide, but living books as the core. This is what we plan to do - going more in depth with things my son is more interested in. Come 2nd grade, we will start NOEO Biology I.

I spend ~$40 every 6 weeks on my dog's special food for allergies. It is a human grade, excellent food called Flint River Ranch. I don't even think they sell it in stores. It is made fresh and ships to your door. We have been on it for over a year and that, with the combo of allergy shots and baths once a month in selsun blue, have totally cured his issues with allergies. :) Just FYI, I buy a 30 pound bag and my 30 pound cocker spaniel eats 1.5 cups a day. He is a very healthy weight for his size and we have never had an issue with this food causing weight gain. www.flintriver.com