My mother works in a library that has absolutely NO limits on the number of books a person can check out. She would be thrilled with the person who came in right before closing and only wanted 30 books. They also only recently limited the number of DVDs to 100 per person. Why? Because of the person who came in and tried to check out 200 DVDs for her lovely children to watch on a long weekend!:001_huh: ETA And as for adding to the rules: Don't come to the library only to refuse let your child check out the book they are begging to take home because you've already picked out 6 princess movies for her to watch.

Well, I don't know if it was the textbook or the instructor, but I retained so much more from my 1 semester of Russian than from 4 semesters of French. Sadly, Russian wasn't an approved language for an Art History minor. :glare: But I kept the textbook and all the tapes Irina Vladimirovna made for us.... wonder where those tapes are now....

Well, you could also look at it from another perspective. When I was in high school, the powers-that-be suddenly decided that every student needed a computer class in order to be "prepared" for the technology of the future....... We spent 1 hour/day for an entire year learning the history of computers in.agonizing.detail and basic programming. We learned how to build our own spreadsheets, code a basic game and whatnot all on the Apple IIe! I took that class my sophomore year and what I learned was obsolete by the time I graduated. Technology changes so fast that whatever these elementary kids are learning will probably be of no use to them by the time they enter high school, much less the work force! One of the skills from high school I use most is typing... which I took on a basic electric typewriter, talk about old-fashioned. A keyboard is a keyboard. No matter how the various things attached to it change, the keys are still in the same place! A classically-educated child knows where the keys to understanding and knowledge are and that is something that will never change no matter what they need to learn what to do/use.

:iagree: I used this one in my undergrad class as well. It is very thorough.

Also, Homeschool Buyer's Co-op has a group buy for QM math. You can get 25% off the deluxe verson ($15 for one year) or 30% off the CD version ($46 for Level 1 & 2 bundle). I'm thinking about getting it to help the extra student I'm teaching cement her subtraction skills. I'm debating between this and IXL math. IXL costs more, but the practice is geared a lot differently. ETA: MM is Math Mammoth. They have inexpensive books on different math topics that each cover many grade levels.

My "d"h works overseas as a contractor for an independant company. Beyond that, I don't know much because of all the security clearances involved. I knew a LOT more before he left the Corps.

:grouphug: Wish I could tell you.... but I don't get it all done either. I've slept on the couch for way too many nights because my bed is full of clean clothes that need to be folded and put away and I'm just too tired to do it. Today we got up, did K w/my ds, drove to speech therapy (both kids have their appts today at least), picked up my extra student and drove home for school with her and dd, drove into town to work for 2 1/2 hrs, came home to read stories and get the kids to bed. I'm DONE and tomorrow is even worse - 2 art classes to teach, 4-H (between previously mentioned art classes, but in the same bldg/room), school w/extra student, and gymnastics in the evening. Right now I'm supposed to be preparing for my art classes and getting work together for my extra student to do on the days she doesn't come to my house, but I'm relaxing just a bit before getting to work on that.

Yes. My sister didn't circ her first and he had many problems. He was circ'd at the age of 5 and that was a bad experience for everyone involved. When ds was born... I researched about it, but "d"h wanted it done as a matter of course, so I agreed.

Nice! We have tadpoles, too, but they are taking FOREVER to change. We've had them over a month and I still can't see any legs at all. They were collected for us from a local pond by a family friend and we have no idea what kind they are. But if the change can happen virtually overnight... I guess I better put a cover over the top so I won't have any escapees. We've been leaving it off in order to see the tadpoles better.

I was in the car on my way to the airport. I had a flight scheduled to leave before lunch that day. My MIL called and said that the Pentagon had just been attacked and she didn't know what else had happened. We turned on the radio, heard the reports that all flights had been canceled and went to "d"h's grandfather's house to watch the TV coverage the rest of the day. It was unbelievable.

Do you have a curriculum store nearby? I recently drove 3 hrs to a good one. Half the store is new and the other half is used. I was even able to consign some stuff I'm not using anymore and will hopefully make some money.

I haven't lost any papers lately... but I have turned this house upside down and can NOT find my 3-hole punch! Of course, this is the year we'll need it most every day and it is not to be found! I know I just saw it 2 weeks ago, too.

We've used HWT since K and for me it would depend on what specific problems he has with his handwriting. If it's his spacing between letters and words, then cursive could help correct that much easier than print. The cursive book starts out very easy... all the letters that are almost exactly the same as in print and the line spaces are still fairly big at the beginning of the book. One thing I don't like is that there's not much instruction or practice with capitals. Basically only one line per capital letter in the whole book and it's at the very end! If he has problems with stamina or staying within the lines... I'd probably go with the print book. I don't know why, but I feel like there's more writing per page in the cursive book. Also, the lines are very narrow at the end - about like college ruled paper. Hopefully someone else will share their opinions as well. HTH

We try to stay away from preservative laden, processed cerals, too. But it's REALLY hard in my area. The least offensive I've found are: King Vitamin Crispix Quaker All Natural Granola Annie's Fruity Bunnies

Growing up, my best friend had one and her mother wouldn't let anyone jump until their parents signed a liability waiver. She was a nurse, too, and wanted to make sure every parent knew the risks and wouldn't hold her responsible for any accidents that happened. I thought it was a dumb rule then, but now I completely understand!

Congrats on your sale! If you look at your home page (or whatever they call it), you should see a button labled "Withdraw". Just follow the instructions for where you want the money to go and everything should be fine. Just be aware that it can take up to 4 business days for the money to actually be available in your checking account. I normally just keep the money in my account since I buy online fairly often. ETA Just checked... it's not a button but just the word "Withdraw" under the tabs on your My Account page.

Ds 5 has a friend over and they are running all over the house doing what 5 yr old boys do when they haven't seen their friend for a week. Dd 9 is trying to hide from them, lol.

:grouphug: I know you probably don't want to hear this, but my "d"h was like this. Before we married, I watched him play with babies and preschoolers and seem to have fun... after we were married it seemed he wanted to stay single and "enjoy" life with no strings attached. He started staying home less and less and hanging out with his single guy friends more and more. I did make the "grow up" comment to him once and it didn't seem to phase him. He finally left us and has only spent a grand total (if you add together all the hours and days) of about 2 weeks with them in the last year. Even then it's about what HE wants to do and not about what THEY would like to do. (like taking a 4 yr old hunting when he's actually trying to be quiet and get a good shot) You've gotten good advice already and I strongly agree with those who suggest counseling... just know that he may see it as a total waste of his time and just not go. I'm sorry you're going through this, but I also agree that you should stick it out. If he really wants a life w/o kids he will find a way to get it, but I don't think you should make it easy for him by filing for divorce. I've known others that have really turned around and made great fathers... that just didn't happen with us. :grouphug:

if you can't eat at your kitchen table because it's got a habitat with 11 tadpoles, 3 dead moths, a jar of slime, and various sculptures occupying most of the surface.

I just wanted to chime in on our experience with our local rescue group, too. They have booths all.the.time in front of our local PetsMart asking for donations and people to sign up because they have so many animals that they don't have foster families for. I read their requirements for adoption and am not surprised that they are overrun with animals. In order to adopt from them you have to sign paperwork agreeing to ALL of the following: -3 initial home visits before the dog is allowed to go home with you. All members of the household must be present at each visit. -The dog will live exclusively indoors and be taken for no less than three 20 min walks daily and NEVER off leash - not even inside your fenced yard. -You need a written vet reference and approval letter even if you have never owned any pets before. -At least 2 unannounced home visits within 8 months of taking the dog home. -The dog MUST be crate trained and crated at night and anytime you leave your house. -Your yard must be fenced with an actual visual fence at least 5 ft high and preferably not chain link. -You also have to agree to never leave the dog alone for the first 3 weeks it is with you in your home. An adult must be present 24/7 for that first 3 weeks. -Only feed the dog certain brands of food and you must get prior approval if you want to change brands. With these kinds of requirements, I'm surprised they find ANY acceptable families!

We did this experiment, too, but for our science fair so we tried several kinds of toothpaste. We found that some toothpastes "protect" the shell better than others, but one brand made the shell disintegrate much faster than our control. Interestingly, the toothpaste that protected the shell the best was a natural one that had no flouride in it at all.

My absolute favorite combines apple, carrot, spinach, a small bit of broccoli and ginger. It's absolutely delicious!

:iagree: My dd's ped told us that we could have been having her eat too much fiber at one point when she had problems (she was much older than your dd, though). I would suggest really increasing the liquids as well.

My ds did the same thing. He even got so constipated that he threw up. What worked for us was talking about trash. I asked him if he would want to live in our house if we never took out the kitchen trash. We talked about how that would make us sick and about how going to the bathroom is our body's way of taking out the trash. It took a few weeks of asking if he had "taken out his trash" to get him back in the habit of going, but he seemed proud to have a "job" to do, lol. Hope she gets relief quickly!

My sister went to K and 1st in an inner-city school in the mid 70's and then we moved to a small central TX town for her 2nd grade year. Her new teacher could NOT understand why my sister thought "door" and "floor" rhymed with "show"!