Oh, that poor little girl! I cannot imagine someone cutting off my hypothetical daughter's braid! That "teacher" should not be working with children!

Very, very cool!

Eek! Is he young with no people skills? The last thing I would do when meeting anyone new is bring up such a contentious issue and then insult someone's lifestyle choice! As lionfamily just posted, there is a difference between getting to know the pastor as a pastor and then pastor the person, but I can't imagine him being so ... tactless. I'm sorry. Eek! That would bug me. Shouldn't that be done during a separate choir/play practice time? I wouldn't want the boys to go ten weeks without worshiping God.

Not at all. We attend a very small church. (60 members, maybe, with an additional 50 regular attenders.) There are no other children exactly the same age as my older two kids. There are a lot of littles and the closest to my oldest are two years older. That said, most of the children, with maybe two exceptions, get along fine. Our highest priority on doctrinal agreement. We're there to worship God and learn. I look at everything else as secondary and optional. I'm sorry you're having trouble finding a church fit though. I was so relieved after finding our church home after years of wandering around.

Congratulations! :party:

That is so funny!!! :lol:

I think Level one might be too easy. You can check it out here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/21179610/Writing-With-Ease-Workbook-Level-1 My seven year old is not a strong writer, but he is doing very well with Writing with Ease Level 2. You can see samples here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/21451558/Writing-With-Ease-Workbook-Level-2 I would consider starting your eight year old with Writing with Ease Level 3. You can see a sample for that here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/21451748/Writing-With-Ease-Workbook-Level-3 By viewing the samples, you can get a better feel for which level would work best for your children.

My English teacher in HS named his daughter "Anna Claudi-Day". At the time, I thought he was so clever! :lol:

To answer an earlier question asked by OP, for secular curriculum you can't go wrong with SWB's Story of the World series. We love it around here!

??????? Protestant = any Christian that is not Catholic or Eastern Orthodox

Well, technically, old fashioned Baptists are Reformed. The Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689 ;) What I am guessing you're looking for is a modern flavor of Baptist commonly referred to as Dispensational Baptist. As others mentioned, ABEKA or Bob Jones curriculum would probably fit the bill.

We're Reformed Baptist.

LOLOLOL! That video was hilarious. I can roll my eyes when it is my 13 year old cousin, but what really drives me :willy_nilly: is when my MOM types slang like this on her Facebook page. AARRRGGGHHH!

I second Hyperdash! My boys LOVE it and it tires them out! :-)

:iagree: I'm glad I didn't waste my time on Julie's book, but just put My Life in France on my Amazon.com wishlist for Christmas! Thanks for the recommendations!

We celebrate it as a cultural & family holiday. We have a tree. We sing Christmas songs & hymns. We give presents and bake treats. We don't, however, view it as a mandatory Christian holiday that must be celebrated officially by the Church and all church members. It is always correct to preach, study, and sing about the incarnation, no matter what the day or season.

We love them, too! Thank goodness the baby are listed in stable condition. That is encouraging!

Some that we enjoyed were: The Story of the Thirteen Colonies by Clifford L. Alderman Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham The Minute Boys of Lexington by Edward Stratemeyer Fighting For Freedom or The Birth of the Stars & Stripes by Lieutenant Lionel Lounsberry Our Independence and the Constitution by Dorothy Canfield Fisher and Trail Blazer of the Seas by Jean Lee Latham

:iagree: I just posted in another thread about this. One of the biggest lessons I have learned is not to buy curriculum based on a recommendation unless the person has actually *used* and *finished* the program! There is a honeymoon stage that homeschoolers go through with new curriculum. Do not run out and buy anything immediately after an encounter with a person in this stage. LOL!

I don't mean to pick on *you* particularly, but this is my problem with these curricula fads ... people post about how amazing/wonderful/life changing they are after using them for one day. Or one week. Or 3 weeks. And, they convince others to spend $$ based on their recommendation. And, three months later, they've bailed on the program and are now promoting some new life changing curriculum. I wish people would restrain from promoting any particular curriculum until they've actually finished an entire year of the program.

My husband owns a small construction company. We have an HDHP with a HSA for our family and one employee through Humana. We LOVE it! They are very helpful and we have saved a lot of money in the past two years since we started it. From my understanding, it is tax deductible on our personal deductions, but not our business deductions. Don't quote me on that though. We have an accountant and she does all of our business and personal tax stuff.

I agree with the many other posts that said just be there. We had a stillborn baby boy six years ago this month. I don't think most people knew what to say, so they just stayed away. I felt very alone. What was not helpful was when someone came over and played riotously with my children in the other room. It was then that I learned the Proverb Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, and like vinegar on soda. I didn't feel like talking, really, but just having someone there to be quiet with me was comforting. I didn't feel like eating, but meals were appreciated by my children and husband. Someone coming over and cleaning the bathroom and doing laundry was helpful, as I didn't really get off of the couch for a couple of weeks. I really felt as if I were in a slow motion whirl where everything was happening around me. Little notes of encouragement or "I'm praying for you" were comforting. I'm very sorry for your friend's loss. :-(

I loved Katie John by Mary Calhoun when I was young. :-)

Thank you very much Colleen! You were so helpful to me on the history thread and now here, too. :-)

Anyone?