Please forgive me if I'm in the wrong place. I've never started a thread here. My mom always (pretty much up until high school) had a chapter book going with me. Every night she'd read as much as I could convince her to. We read to DD every night (and day), but I'd love to start the ongoing-book thing with her. But is there such a thing as a LONG book written to a preschool/K level? The only thing springing to mind is Uncle Wiggly, which was a childhood staple for me. Not a chapter book exactly, but pretty close. Thanks.

We're only preschooling, but he likes doing math with her in the evenings.

This is kind of where I am. There are a LOT of things our tax dollars fund that I am not a fan of. But I really, really like state parks and city parks and libraries, and roads, and the list goes on. So I just pretend that that is where all MY money goes. The value I get from these things is worth what we pay in taxes. I just looked up my district. I didn't see anything recent, but in 2005, they were paying $6,600 a student, which I think is awesome considering it includes salaries and maintenance, leases, etc. Salaries are 90% of that cost and teachers here make a livable wage, but nothing like *I* think they deserve. It is a "good" district. I put the quotes because I don't measure success in standardized test scores. But needless to say, putting DD in school here would be an option, and it would turn out OK. Though they just cut the GT program though, and that pisses me off. They even gave a budget breakdown. The state gave 2K per kid, the homeowners gave 2K per kid and the other $2K came from buisness owners. I don't mind paying the taxes, truly. But It *would* be nice to have a break for our schooling years.

OK, I have 7 bookshelves, which is what I answered. I have two bras, now that I see the innuendo. I guess you can see where my priorities lie! :lol:

There is a path of action between putting up with it and sitting your boss down for a heart to heart, and that's to have something ready to say if he does it again. If he patts your butt and you immediately say, "Hands off buddy!" or even just "Please don't!" He COULD get the message without feeling like he has been taken to task. A reaction that he perceives as "in the moment" and that allows him to play it off could be less threatening and embarrassing for him. Then the real test would be if he did it again, at which point I would either ramp up, "I really meant it when I asked you not to do that. Please stop." Basically if he is (in his own mind) being chummy or flirting to see where he can get, he should get the message after the negative reaction. If he's a jerk he might chastise you for disliking it or continue. At that point I would probably quit. PLEASE do not get me wrong, I think any woman would be justified in breaking a guys nose or filing a lawsuit at any point in the situation you've described. No one should have to put up with that. But if you really want to keep your job and keep the workplace environment pleasant, then sitting your boss down for a talk really probably will not achieve that.

Many of the playgroups I have been to, The 6 and 7 year old girls are so nice about including my 3 year old who ADORES them and it makes me :001_wub:. Especially since most non HS kids we meet out prefer to play "run away from the baby" at that age. :(

Yeah, that list of literature for kids is a really good list! But it would have lasted me about one summer month. Some of us have a voracious enough appetite for books to devour literature and fluff! I read the yellow spine ones in the summers. Love them! To this day I collect antique ones.

Nancy Drew is some of the most innocent literature I read as a kid. Yes, she is rich and her dad spoils her, but she is extremely grateful and giving to a fault. She has a very innocent, long-term relationship (doesn't she get engaged to him at some point?), and friends who are in similar situations. I never remember anything beyond kiss on the cheek actually, though I could be mistaken. Her dad is a caring and intelligent man and she respects him deeply. Her fiance is similar - chivalrous, intelligent and kind. She's smart, caring, respectful, resourceful, a fierce and loyal friend, humble...I really can't think of any negative attributes. I would LOVE my daughter to read about and look up to someone like her. Obviously I am *not* someone who would not let their child read the books, and I'm sorry for jumping in the thread. They are extremely formulaic and not great literature by any means, but the ONLY thing that anyone could maybe find objectionable about them is that she dates (one guy) and is allowed to be alone in his company. If you do let her read them, I also recommend the yellow spines. They're usually ALL OVER secondhand bookstores.

Is it just the two of you? We stayed in a lovely little inn with a continental breakfast in Adams Morgan when we were on our honeymoon. If you're willing to do a double bed and use a shared bathroom you can get there for $110. Rooms with private bathrooms run around the $150 mark. http://www.adamsinn.com/

You can absolutely block people not on your friends list. She will not be able to see anything your daughter writes on anyone's wall, nor will your daughter be able to see anything the adult writes. If the adult searched Facebook it will be as if your DD does not even have an account.

My mom said I will give you $XX. You can use it to pay for your wedding in full, use it to pay for part of your wedding, or elope and use it for a house, etc. We ended up using it for about half the wedding and paying the other half ourselves. My in laws paid for our photography for us. All my friends are married now. The only people I know who the bride's parents paid for it all is the woman my BIL is marrying. Sit them down and tell them what you can afford. You could also mention that if they waited you could probably do X amount more. If they are sensible grownups they should be able to plan accordingly and be grateful you are contributing. It takes about $45 to get married. Everything else is frosting.

I've done everything in the first book including dozens of duels and all the potions and it only took me a few hours. I find it extremely unsatisfying. They could have done SO MUCH with this, but it's a whole bunch of nothing. Reading Rowling's insight is really cool, but we could have done that without this big mediocre program.

Our (TX) prepaid covers tuition and feeds, but not housing, meals or books.

My daughter is almost three and we just opened her college savings fund; we will put away $150 a month until she is 18 and we will still need to supplement from our income at the time. For a state school, at today's prices locked in. It will suck, but it is the advantage our parents gave us, and one we will pass on. It might actually feel like we're getting a raise after paying what we plan to for her high school education.

Nope, unless it was just an obscene deal. Like getting a complete $1,000 curriculum $200 or something. Has really nothing to do with whether I trust the seller would complete or not. If I buy something I want it now.

So far I like everything Usborne I've picked up. We just got the my first Encyclopedia of the Human Body, of Science, and of Animals, and my DD just pores over them. LOVE.

Mine is only in Pre-K and I'm resisting. I can't know what will work for her and what new stuff will be out. Learning aids are my exception. Encyclopedias, historical fiction or non-fiction, learning games, manipulatives - if I find good deals on any of that I pick it up.

3-4 times in 8 years together? All times he unintentionally hurt me deeply with something he said or did. I have a feeling that when his father dies (hopefully not for a LONG time) he will be a mess. OH! And when I had severe back spasms that landed me in the ER at 36 weeks pregnant. He could see how horribly I was hurting and he was terrified something would happen to me or the baby. I was right on the edge of out of control with pain and I know he had never seen me like that before or since. He held it together that day though he was very tense and choked up, but as he took care of me on bedrest the next few days he would have moments that worry would spill over.:crying: He really doesn't like to see me hurting in any way. :001_wub:

I have an anthropology background and immediately viewed the book through that lens, especially given the actual content. It may be a stupid book, but I don't think it's what people here are railing on about. There is no way Amazon will yank the book. Their policy is absolute and total noncensorship, and they only pulled the pedophile book after tremendous pressure from almost every aspect of society.

:iagree: I used to belong to a forum with a disproportionate number of radical unschoolers. While the ones in lax states took joy in the fact that no one was overseeing them, you would find the ones in high-reg states coming online every year for "reporting" help. With posts (I am not even kidding) detailing how their kid played video games 8 hours a day and maybe liked to read sci-fi and helped her in the garden and other unschoolers would help her spin that into chemistry! and art! and literature! If he was playing age of empires it was history and if he played Sim city it was civics! People who want to skate by will do it anywhere.

Amazon has a bunch.

So I agree with this. But also think the same thought applies to people who heard stories of children's eyes swelling shut, 911 having to be called for people whose throats were closing, 2-day migranes and essentially said, "Forget you. I don't like your delivery so I'm going to keep doing things that cause others harm." Jesus would totally have endorsed that. That's just his style. My jaw just dropped when I read one particular response. This thread is giving me tremendous insight into how "Christians" act. Wowza. Forget turning the other cheek, we should escalate instead. And I am NOT sensitive to scents.

I'm pretty good at researching purchases. :) I actually found that printer because it has the best reviews on Amazon of any of the inkjets. The ink seemed to be in line, pricewise, with the other printers in the same class. I think a double pack of black was $35ish, and they're estimated to do about 450 pages each? Though since you linked your ink cartridges, I have found generic inks that should bring the price WAY down. I never thought about generic ink. :tongue_smilie: Still sitting on this one before I pull the trigger though. Want to read a little more.

It sounds like you are saying that progressives are the ones in this thread saying they have no need of a philosophy, but core knowledge people do? I guess I disagree. I would absolutely put myself in the core knowledge camp. I have goals for my daughter's education. I want her to be at or above (preferably above) grade level at all times, and to test well. I also want her to enjoy learning and to learn to think critically. I want her to get into the most academically-rigorous private school in the city for high school. Her learning style and interests will have a strong hand in my choice of curriculum, as long as it is a curriculum that will get the job done skill-wise. But I have no desire or need of a philosophy. I will do lots of googling and forum-searching, make a short list of curricula, then get more in-depth or hands on looks at them and pick what I feel will be best for her, adapting as needed. Usually there's also a good bit of asking my mom her opinion (she was an excellent elementary teacher for 30 years.) When I think of researching and choosing a philosophy, I just can't fathom why I would want to box in my daughter's learning in that way. Maybe that stems from the fact that I haven't heard anything about any philosophy that remotely appeals to me. Who knows. But not having a philosophy doesn't mean you don't have strong academic goals. Though I am confused, because what I bolded in your quote is exactly what I do and plan to keep doing. Are you saying you can only do that if you have a philosophy, or that that is the philosophy? Because as best I can tell, my philosophy is "Teach her what she needs to know, in the most enjoyable way possible."

I have long, extremely thick hair? Lathering up and working the shampoo through thoroughly takes a minute or two, and then rinsing it out takes quite a long time. If I don't do a really good job of it I get horrible buildup and that's gross. I also have to shave my legs - takes several minutes...add in everything else....then if I want to exfoliate or something. If don't have to shave or wash hair I can be out in 3 minutes. But add those two things in (I do them every day) and the absolute minimum I can rush though a shower is 10 minutes. And I feel frazzled after. 15 minutes is the norm for DH and myself around here. If we had a hot water problem we'd stagger showers. I prefer middle-of-the-night showers anyway - right before I crawl into bed.