Those are words that no mom should ever have to say...I am so sorry his life ended so soon and for the hole in your heart and life. :grouphug:

There is no such thing as "the government". They are not special or magical. They are just your neighbors that you hired to perform a job you couldn't or didn't want to do. More regulation isn't going to change people. Friendship, persuasion, peer pressure, community standards - those are all the things that are going to change peoples hearts and make them WANT to do a good job. Personally I think there is already too much buck passing to some anonymous government entity that is going to solve the problem. If you are your brother's keeper then get involved, if the problem is the mom is depressed or overwhelmed or some other reason for her lack of excellence, but if it is just a choice she is making...I am all for personal responsibility and the idea that people are free to raise their families according to their own standards. There are a million things on this board that I don't agree with but I firmly believe that parents know and love their children best and are in the best position to decide how to raise them. Who are we to decide what method or religion or political party or any number of other lifestyle choices someone should choose? Down from the soap box... :leaving:

Found this on my Twitter timeline - a website that went through all the homeschool curriculum providers and divided them up into planning to change to meet CC, coincidentally aligned with CC, or not aligned/don't care. http://www.theeducationalfreedomcoalition.org/ The list is helpful, the politics may make some people want to spit, others may love it - not endorsing, just information.

Edited my pp to add url of common core website, a quote from them about how this is NOT federal central planning (I am still unsure about the end of that road) and a non-link suggestion about a good overview in the Wikipedia (I know...) article.

I think the problem is there really aren't any facts to discuss. No one really knows what the fallout of all this will be. I am uncomfortable with education becoming more centralized. I prefer education decisions to be made at the school, or at the very least school board level. I also don't like that the federal government has so much power over what the states choose to implement - choose common core or not, but if you don't we don't send any federal funding. Why the government controls education funding at all is a mystery and a problem. From what I have read testing (ACT/SAT and grade level testing for the states that require it for home schooling) will also be geared toward common core. Maybe a problem, maybe not. I read somewhere that common core math is based much more on process than answer so if your child cannot explain how they get the answer, maybe test results won't be as high. Also big emphasis on non-fiction reading - but that doesn't seem like a problem. It really doesn't seem like it would be that hard to bone up on the CC requirements to make sure you can pass the test. Also read some info about databases and wanting to include non-traditional kids in the information. Don't like that but also don't know if it true. I am anxious to read everyone's replies. ETA: yah, Wikipedia, I know, but they have a pretty good synopsis of the plan including the Race to the Top carrot dangling to encourage states to adopt - Common Core State Standards Initiative (sorry, I am on my daughters Mac and don't know how to copy urls). And the website of the CC people is corestandards.org. "The federal government will not govern the Common Core State Standards Initiative. The Initiative was and will remain a state-led effort. NGA and CCSSO are committed to developing a long-term governance structure with leadership from governors, chief state school officers, and other state policymakers."

Love this thread - makes me want to take a look at my life so I can be this way. I will add my grandpa and my next door neighbor. My grandpa lived to 98. Had open heart surgery in his late 80's and then went on a senior citizens tour of China when he was 90. He lived in his own house until the day he died, cooked, went to the senior center dances and flirted with the women every Sunday night. He went the way I would like. My mom took him to the hospital because he was probably dehydrated and was kind of seeing people, but nothing really physically wrong, not sick or anything. They did some tests, the doctor came in to see him, said he would be right back with the results and when he came back grandpa was gone. Moved on with family members that had been visiting him :) My next door neighbor just lost his wife last year and is nearly 90. He lives in a large home with a beautiful yard that is well cared for, is active in his church, travels and is learning to play the piano. He is a wonderful friendly man and we are so grateful to have him as a neighbor. I attend church with several widows who are very social and active and happy. I think part of the success is their happy social and family life.

Happy Birthday!!

We watched the first class week (and even took the quiz) today and love it. The professor is fun and the class is full of good information, well taught. This is one of the few classes I have bought the book for and I am glad I did. The book is well written and just as interesting as the professor. I have taken, and finished several Coursera courses and so far this is one of my favorites (if anyone was on the fence about signing up). Some classes there is a penalty if you don't finish quizzes or assignments by the deadline, others give you the whole "semester" to get through the work. Most of them have left the class up for auditing for a month or so after it closes and then it goes away. And we take the lectures with us on the iPad or on my phone. Works fine. Love Coursera. Fortunately it is free because, like the Teaching Company, it is kinda taking over my life. Way too many interesting classes and I have no idea when they will be offered again so we just take 'em all.

I had the teacher's guide and only used it once to look up an answer I thought I knew but wanted to double check. There are some additional activities but we never used them. You might want to though. I don't know if sample pages are available but the extra activities are more modern extras. Almost seemed to us like tacking stuff on just because though. I sound kind of wishy washy :laugh: but I don't want to talk you into or out of anything. Bottom line - I never used the teacher's guide and I used the entire PLL program.

The winner (Roni Paulina Cordova) posted all kinds of answers, including some obviously frustrated ones - one of her answers was right. I guess you could look at what she posted that nobody else guessed? I am pretty sure I don't need whatever it is, lol, but it sure was an annoying contest. Sorry if you didn't win anything.

Here is a page that includes ELL and LD information in the statistics. Subtracting those out still leaves millions illiterate, and not just "functionally" illiterate. http://www.ncsu.edu/csleps/service/Resource_Sheets_Service/Facts%20on%20Literacy.pdf And just for fun, the BBC has a story today about the latest comparisons of countries and education results. The US is 17th...

I know several families that are lax about schooling their kids but none to the point of illiteracy. More regulation would not have helped any of them, they would have just gone underground. I don't think more rules are going to help this problem. I think it is cultural and until there is societal pressure and a culture of excellence in education and a desire and need to be well educated, not just given job and good citizen training, nothing much will change. I also think it is easy to get on the "any homeschool is better than public school" bandwagon when the public schools are generally failing the U.S.

Personally I am a sockist - I dislike all socks, all the time. I take the dog out in the snow with bare feet. :leaving: Sorry to politicize your thread - just needed something random to post to see how this all works.

So sorry that other peoples choices are causing you trouble :grouphug:

Without a doubt :) These others are just things that don't get taught much and have been causing complications. They also had a class on basic personal grooming because some of the girls were not looking pleasant and professional and presenting themselves well to the public. The more I see what they need to be able to do to be successful, the more I am amazed so many do it at all. They seem like such young punk kids, and yet lives are changing because of them.