I will just add that, in times before now, reading pagan authors and pagan mythology (Homer, Vergil, Horace, etc.) was an essential part of education. This was no less so for some of the greatest theologians in Christian history. You'd be hard-pressed to find any who weren't very familiar with pagan mythology. The best of western literature has always included ancient mythology; Christian leaders, theologians, and clergy grew up on the stuff, why shouldn't our kids?

Miquon :(

Don't be scared! LfC is an EXCELLENT program! Just use it after you something else for a while. I highly, HIGHLY recommend Getting Started with Latin (GSWL). My husband (a Latin teacher) agrees. :)

LfC is fast-paced. It has you memorizing principle parts and noun endings really quickly--I'm glad my 4th grader (who is gifted in language) did something else first (Getting Started with Latin). My 3rd grader did SSL1, is doing Getting Started with Latin now, and then will move on to LfC in a year or so.

I actually bought it for the pasteurizing milk function (for yogurt). Love it!

I'm having a difficult time transitioning my 4th grader to cursive, but we've been using Pentime curriculum, which is helping a lot, because one day it's practicing a letter, the next day, cursive copywork. We started him with HWT cursive (we also used it for print, which was fine) and it was a HUGE mistake. The writing couldn't look more ugly. I'd honestly prefer he print to HWT cursive.

Would like to buy a set of 25 tips for when I have friends (kids) over to decorate. What size would be best for all-around decoration (outlining and details, not for filling in the whole cookie). Cookie would be around 4" tall, I'm guessing?

We don't say no, either. Kind of hard to make a gameplan when mom doesn't tell you there needs to be a gameplan.

Who said it was half over? We've had one class, at which his allergy came out (the kid announced it, mom did not) b/c the recipe to be made that day included peanut butter. It was definitely a life threatening allergy, as mom has made very clear, before OIT.

I asked, and she didn't answer. More secrecy, more obfuscation. We're prepared to bend over backwards for this kid, and she's putting up more roadblocks. Right now I just don't trust her.

Never said that. Not once. We never wanted to exclude. We have in the past and will again make any reasonable adjustment to cooking policies, nut policies, whatever. But we kinda hafta know about a potentially life-threatening condition in order to make accommodations, agreed?

You read that he can't eat more than 3 peanuts or have a potentially life-threatening reaction, right? And that mom isn't in the room, and that no one has an epi pen around, and that he's only 7, and that the teacher better get her recipes right or the child could die, right?

No, he wasn't safe. The very first recipe contained peanuts, which made him run angrily out of the room, much to the surprise and shock of our poor cooking teacher (who had no idea b/c mom lied on our registration form). No plan had been come up with other than "let's keep everyone in the dark until it becomes a real problem."

Whoa, there. Don't mistake others' comments for mine (the OP). Last year we banned ALL NUTS from the co-op (snacks, cooking class, everything) because we had a peanut allergy in the group. I and the co-op are more than willing to make all kinds of concessions to make sure our kids are welcome AND safe. As one previous poster suggested, I have now instructed all cooking teachers to not include nuts in their recipes out of an abundance of caution for diagnosed allergies, which, as was pointed out to me, is a far greater risk than having a diagnosed allergy in the classroom. This is not about inconveniencing anyone--our teachers are more than willing to find recipes that do not include nuts (and substitutions are super easy to come by). This is no problem at all, and just basic human decency, in my opinion. The problem is liability and the lack of regard for the teacher and co-op's potential liability. My problem is that the conversation was never brought up. Just because mom knows he's safe doesn't mean our co-op and our teacher is protected from all liability--we are not. I don't care how mature the kids is, or how well the OIT works, you cannot convince me to disregard any discussion of liability when a 7 year old is left to manage a life-threatening allergy when the allergen is present and being eaten right in front of the child. We are more than willing to make every accommodation so that this child can take cooking class next session--with mom there in the room with him (remember he's only 7, and with a no-peanut policy that we'll be happy to implement, but not mid-session. Not when mom willfully omitted any information about this whatsoever.

Yes, this exactly. She instructed her son to come find her when they used peanuts in class. This could be every single class! But if we had known in advance, we could have done something about it. You can imagine what the teacher was thinking when the child announced his allergy as they were going over a recipe that contained peanut butter. If I had been the teacher, I would be livid. I'm sure he is in fact very safe, but the fact that she completely disregarded our registration process, she disregarded the right of the teacher to know what kind of danger he was or was not in due to allergies, and she disregarded any kind of consideration for our legal liability should something go wrong is unacceptable. And I'm sorry, but can anyone really tell me that this is not STILL a serious allergy, even with desensitization? This is a class about EATING. And the recipes contain peanuts. He is SEVEN. His mom is not around (but in the building). No one in the room knows how to identify or treat an allergic reaction. These are the facts. And they may not make mom scared, but they sure as hell do me, who am responsible for the co-op's financial and legal health. I just can't justify the risk.

I agree. It would not have been difficult to accommodate. No nuts in the recipes, mom stays in the room to help (and to alleviate any fears the teacher might have). Done. After having it percolate a bit, my biggest beef is that she intentionally mislead the co-op by leaving the allergy disclosure section blank. She was trying to make life easier for herself and her child, but in the end made it much, much more difficult.

This exactly. I can't trust that our cooking teacher, who is not a trained professional, can keep him safe, period. What if she made a mistake? What if she's a total idiot or is just lazy (she's not, but still)? The boy's mom tells me that he won't accidentally consume more than 3 peanuts, but how do I know that? How does she know that? How can I possibly expose our whole organization to legal liability based on what she "knows" won't happen?

Yes, this was my reaction exactly.

The mother is teaching a class while her son is in cooking class. Just learned that he is only 7 years old.

Yes, we have an allergy disclosure section on the registration form. Shockingly, she intentionally left it blank (because, as she later explained, most people don't know about desensitization treatments...but in my book, if he can't have more than 3 peanuts, isn't that still a serious allergy?)

So our co-op offers a cooking class (kids make and eat their creations), and on the first day a student tells the teacher he has a peanut allergy, which his mother didn't inform us of, despite there being a clear allergy notification section on registration. The mom says that due to desensitization treatments he's received, he can now eat up to 3 peanuts a day with no reaction. In my opinion, this is still a serious food allergy and we cannot be held responsible for keeping the student safe. Do we: a) let him take the class and instruct all cooking teachers not to include peanuts in their recipes b) say no, students with severe allergies cannot take cooking classes, since our teachers are not trained professionals, and there is no professional oversight of what goes on in the kitchen, so the co-op can't assume this risk. Obviously I favor option b, but am interested in hearing what other co-op people and parents of students with allergies think. I think it was unreasonable for the mother to not tell us about a serious food allergy and then sign him up for a class where he eats (the boy is around 8 or 9 years). His mother thinks he's safe. Is that good enough? Please, enlighten me!

Thank you! Found it.

Did I miss something?

I had one of those. It lasted a year. She's very sweet now :glare: Good luck :)

It really IS perfect. And my husband, who teaches A.P Latin, agrees. My ds, who is now almost 10, reads Latin beautifully, and I mean BEAUTIFULLY with it. So awesome. When I'm feeling down about how little we are accomplishing in any given day, I remind myself that we finished GSWL. Boom. Confidence boosted. :)