I'm adding a little bit here rather late, but I haven't been on the forum for some time and when I came in here today this thread caught my eye. This is a major problem in my family and it bugs me. My one aunt and my mom are Messianic Jews. They hate the concept of Christmas though and they are very much against it. It has been so harshly pushed on my other aunt (mostly by my first aunt not my mom) that my second aunt has become defensive and now often posts things such as "it's Merry Christmas, not Happy Holidays". It is more from pure defensiveness, not because she is pushing something herself. I, on the other hand wish that people would take a chill pill. I don't really care if secular groups, or satanists, or Jewish people, or Christians, or whatever want to put up decorations wishing others a happy holiday in their own way and from their own perspective. We talk about being inclusive and accepting, but it is not either of those things if we are unable to accept other people's views and well wishes. If we want to be accepted by others, we need to be accepting of others. You wish me a Merry Christmas, I will wish you a Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah? ditto. Happy Holidays? sure! I don't care what you celebrate. I think it's awesome that everyone can celebrate something that makes the winter more fun and enjoyable. Why not share that happiness to others in your own way, even if it just a greeting. Accept the greeting as simply well wishing, not a shoving of beliefs down your throat. People want to put up festivus poles, I'm supportive, people want to put up nativity scenes, I'll support that too. I consider myself Christian. We celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah in this household.

We can't do more than one of them a year, but my oldest thrives with them. There is a spot for more discussion and it opens things up well for more in depth probing. It has helped my kids slow down and really think about the book. They are a little heavy, and my youngest doesn't find them very exciting, so more then one a year for each kid is just too much. We look through them and pick one out for the year. Then we pick a literature study from another group just to have variety in how we look and think through books. I love having variety.

Tater tots get ketchup. Fries get ketchup or gravy depending on my mood. If they get gravy though, I usually go in search of cheese curds to add to it.

We will stop grammar, in this household, when the child is able to consistently find the different parts of speech and use them well, when he/she speaks well, and when he/she is using those parts of speech properly and consistently in writing. Then i think it will be time to take those learned skills and use them elsewhere. That is what my mom did with me and I appreciate it. I enjoy grammar, but if it had been pushed at me for years I would have grown to hate it. Thus far none of my kids is ready to move on yet.

I voted other because it depends on the kid. My oldest is registered as 5th grade this year and I considered moving him into it, but decided to spend one more year getting his fact recal a little sharper. He'll head into it in 6th grade. My dd will probably heading into it for 7th or 8th (8th is most likely) just because she likes to takes things in at a pretty slow and steady rate and math is not her favourite subject. My youngest, even if he didn't accelerate any more at all, would be in algebra easily by 5th grade.

Following just cause I'm curious too.

I wouldn't try and push studies at them either. That comes across as pushy and judgmental. Just tell them that you are pushing for your kids to be more interactive with people while they are kids and you would really appreciate it if the tv's could be off while you are there. Make it about you, not them and you have a higher chance of them complying. Attack their way of life, and even if you are right, most people will not comply.

I sing about beatings and tease the kids that way too. My kids would ask for beatings which meant chasing them around the house and tickling them. It was all fun and games until my youngest piped up (very loudly of course) at preschool that his mommy gave him lots of beatings. There were audible gasps from the adults until it was explained and they saw he was grinning over it. Since then I have tried to be a little more careful.

My youngest has been tested and is gifted, but is emotionally immature and acts like a typical 8yo in some ways and younger in others. Gifted doesn't always mean more mature, it just means they are able to absorb information differently. 3 grade levels ahead would make me think gifted and it usually runs in families so it's silly to discount her as being gifted simply because it feels and looks like familiar behaviour and skills.

My son is reading well above grade level and has beautiful cursive but he struggles with writing. It comes across as a motivational issue sometimes, but he honestly is overwhelmed and can't think through it. He has processing problems though and while it doesn't affect his reading, it really makes him struggle to put much out with his writing. He needs very structured instructions and lots of time. He is getting there slowly. It takes patience.

In the winter time we boil them. In the summer they are either grilled or over cooked over a campfire on a stick. We do a lot of campfires around here and a lot of black hotdogs. In the winter there is the odd hardcore BBQ'er who will pry open the grill at -40 to keep grilling the meat.

I am so glad you ladies have educated me. I would have been seriously disappointed if we had been down south and had gone to someone's home expecting grilled meat with salads (what we always call BBQ here) and instead had pulled meat. At least now I know what to expect. As for the dead horse, I didn't even think to mentally question that one because I have been to BBQ's around here where they actually did grill up horse meat. No I didn't ever have any.

My first was a c-section so I couldn't really use him as a measuring stick. The next was 5 weeks early. The third was three weeks late and finally induced. That last week was brutal and I finally ended up sitting in my doctors office crying and asking him to help me out. An 8 week difference from one pregnancy to the next feels like a lifetime.

Just a heads up, I am all for kids being able to do their work without a calculator but if you plan on maybe, possibly them going to a school they should get a crash course on how to use a scientific calculator. I grew up on Saxon and finished my high school on it, and then decided I wanted an Alberta diploma so I did my high school over again online in two years. I almost failed my math the first year, not because I didn't know my math, but because I didn't know how to use the calculator and it was expected and often required.

I was 5, my little sister was 7, and dd was 6. But that was just a regular braid. French braiding I didn't get until I was about 10 and Dutch braiding about the same time. My sister was 12 when she finally managed to French braid her own hair. She could do it on my hair before that but trying to do it on her own head was a little more challenging for her.