I understand that some tragedies are unavoidable, I am saying that in my life I do everything I can to avoid them with my children. I'm not saying it is always possible, I am saying I do my best. If a child is 14 and can't read, you can make the inference that the parent was not paying attention. Malpractice will always happen, but in many cases it can be avoided if people simply pay closer attention and don't just assume that professionals always do the right thing. I never said it was okay to "abandon all these children", I never said that "You're on your own!" Did you read my post? I am saying that if we create a society where individuals take responsibility for their families and don't just trust benevolent governments, or doctors, or authority figures to take care of their children, the children and society as a whole will be better off. My position comes from my compassion, I want what is best for kids, which is why I became a teacher in the first place. Competition between schools creates better schools, and better schools is my goal. You don't need to abandon public education to accomplish this, you simply need to fix the system so that parents and administrators can hold the schools accountable. Allowing parents to choose which public school their children attend, creating charter schools, or providing parents with vouchers to send their kids to attend private schools would accomplish this. The only downside to these policies occur to those who run the public schools, as it would end the monopoly that public schools currently hold over low income students, and it also threatens teacher unions.

I'm not saying the school district is not to blame. I am saying they get away with it because the parents have given up control and allowed the government along with the teacher unions to create a virtual monopoly. The parents should be running the school districts. If a doctor is using a dirty needle, there will probably be other signs surrounding that doctor that will be a clue that said doctor is unethical and does not do a good job. I don't take my kids to any old doctor, I try to find one that is well known, professional, and listens to me. I take the same approach with my kids education, my older kids go to what I consider the best private school in town. My 8ds has learning issues and so being at home is the best environment for him. The problem in school districts like this is that many or most of the parents are not paying attention to what is going on, and if they would assert their parental responsibilities the schools could be help accountable. That is my point, the teachers are not doing their duty, but the parents are the customers, and so they need to take their business elsewhere. If they can't take their business elsewhere they need to get the teachers who are inadequate fired. What is standing in the way of parents doing this? For many it is apathy, for some ignorance, but it is also the system itself. Unions make it nearly impossible for teachers to be fired in many districts. I'm not saying schools should be money making machines. I'm saying that free market principles would fix a lot of these issues, and that is all I really care about. It is the reason why private schools out perform public schools. This can not be blamed on socio economic circumstances either, because plenty of private schools cater to low income students, I worked at one. Private schools have the possibility of losing customers and going out of business if they don't perform. I worked at a private school serving kids from all kinds of backgrounds, that had been in danger of closing due to poor performance, and I was one of the new hires that came in after some of the under performing teachers were let go. We experienced a pretty amazing turn around within a few years, and competition with the public school was a driving force behind the reforms. We were able to have kids from at risk or low income families attend due to our low tuition rates and scholarship programs, and kids from higher socio economic backgrounds also attended our school because we achieved the academic excellence their parents were after. Our school was not a "money making machine," but we had to be the best because without paying customers, we couldn't afford to keep the doors open. When kids are involved we should only care about the results, not whether the way we run our schools is politically correct. If free market principles such as competition will fix the schools, let's implement them.

I am a former teacher. Reading instruction is not a civil right, just as health care is not a civil right. It is a service provided by a professional in an exchange of goods, your child recieves instruction the teacher recieves a wage. It is the parents responsibility to educate their child, just as it is their responsibility to provide adequate care. It is not the responsibility of the government. Whether they choose to send their child to public school, private school, or homeschool, it is still the responsibility of the parent, it is still a choice. The method chosen by the parent may fail, but it is up to the parent to rectify the situation. If the schools are not teaching the children appropriately, the parents need to step in and make the necessary reforms. They need to either push the school to make the necessary changes, or they need to teach the child to read themselves. The problem is too much government control, parents have been content to hand over the care and education of their children to the so called experts. The willingness of parents to give up their parental responsibilities in order to recieve free education for their children is to blame, as government control in schools always has the same result. I'm not saying public schools are bad, I am saying public schools where the parents and local community have given up control are bad. In many districts, parents have little if any control over the curriculum, and even less control over school policies. That is why so many parents resort to suing the school district, it is often the only avenue available to them to have the problems addressed, as administrators often stonewall them. Most of the parents are simply too lazy to take an interest, they prefer to let the experts worry about it for them, and that makes it possible for the parents who do care to be treated in this manner. Until public schools have to operate like the private sector, that is until they have to cater to the whims and desires of their customers, you won't see results. As long as they are guaranteed students, guaranteed jobs, and guaranteed funding, there will be no real changes in these failing school districts. School vouchers are not a silver bullet by any means, but they could go a long way to creating some of the circumstances I have described. So, why are school vouchers and charter schools so villified? Unions. I would also like to add that there are also wonderful public schools with wonderful teachers out there, and there are communities where the parents are heavily involved. I'm simply addressing the districts where this is not the case and where the system is obviously broken. I also realize I am preaching to the choir here, just needed to rant. All my teacher friends were outraged by Waiting for Superman, but I thought it was pretty much right on the money.

I was only 200 miles from my home, and I was at the beginning of a cross country trek to visit family. I was literally driving from one end of the country to the other. Of course they said it was deactivated to protect me from fraud, but it was really to protect themselves from having to cover fraudulent charges.

I feel so lazy now, it is time to rethink my life :tongue_smilie:.

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

I agree with all the points you make. But I don't think that feminism is being judged harshly because of it's radical fringes, I think that those who openly oppose feminism are also on the fringe. I think that feminism has become such a hot topic today because the movement itself has started to attack women who don't hold a certain set of beliefs. Feminism today is going to turn itself into a fringe group all together if it continues to exclude individuals such as myself, individuals who believe in equal rights for women but are also conservative and pro-life in our personal belief systems. There used to be room for people such as myself in the movement, and the only reason I don't openly identify as a feminist today is because I have been told by so many feminist friends and family that I can't do so if I am pro-life. You get the same message from feminists in the media. Since half of women identify as pro-life, it is a very devisive stance to take.

My first reaction to the word: freedom and choices for women. I also ask myself why anyone, male or female, would be against equal rights for women. That baffles me. QUOTE] Wanting freedom and choices and equal rights for everyone is not exclusive to the feminist movement, and just because you reject the modern feminist movement does not mean you are against equal rights for women. I think this is my point, that the feminist movement my mother and her sisters were a part of is not the same movement today. It has become less inclusive. It has become so monolithic and militant towards women who are pro-life that a lot of us who once identified as feminists are now belittled and attacked by the movement. My mother and her sister both battled sexism in the military, as they were high ranking officers in a male dominated field. I know first hand that there are real benefits I enjoy because of the feminist movement, and I am grateful. I wouldn't change the past. But let's be intellectually honest and admit that the feminist movement today has changed and it is no longer inclusive to certain political and/or religious or moral beliefs. I didn't leave feminism, it left me.

If you are Catholic: 1. Is the Bible inerrant? Can parts be taken as metaphor or does it all have to be literally believed (i.e. 7 24 hour days of creation)? 2. How do you reconcile with the bloody history of the church? 3. What is your belief about evil and Satan? 4. How do you think of God? (Vengeful, Loving, All powerful, somewhat Pantheistic-everywhere in everything, etc.) 1. The Bible is inerrant, that is the truths taught through the Bible remain the same even if there are some historical inaccuracies. Could God create the world through the process of evolution through billions of years and cause this to happen over the course of 7 days? Of course, anything is possible with God. 2. The church is made up of human beings who make mistakes, and evil men will always gravitate towards institutions that allows them power and influence to attain their own goals. This is true with the church and with every other institution in history. Anti-popes, bloody wars, and other stains on church history are tragic and sorrowful, but they do not negate the teachings of the church. For example, Congress right now is full of corrupt individuals who use their positions to further their own interestes instead of truly serving their consituents best interests. This corruption needs to be rooted out, but I would not argue that the fact that this corruption and bad behavior exists is a reason to abolish the Constitution and start over. I am still proud to be American and proud of the positives my country has done, even as I do my part to rectify the ills. My faith in the church is the same. The church has been able to survive for 2,000 years despite this, which is truly amazing. No other institution in the history of man has accomplished this. 3. Evil exists, Satan seeks the ruin of souls on a personal level and on a global level. He wants to lead as many souls to death as he can, and this death is seperation from God and an eternity in Hell. Men have a sinful nature, and so not all evil done in the world is the result of some sort of demonic interference or Satanic influence. But, Satan does exist and if you believe as much then to think he isn't active in the world is naive. 4. God is good. He is the supreme being, the creator of all things, God is unique, He is eternal. God is transcendent, he is not limited to that which he created, he is not bound to it. In other words, he is not bound to the physical limitations that human beings are. God is omnipotent- all powerful, He is omniscient- all knowing, and he is omnipresent- present everywhere at all times. These are some attributes of God that we as humans can try to comprehend, but it is also impossible for the human intellect to fully comprehend God, the nature of the divine will always remain a mystery. One such mystery is the mystery of the trinity. God is one in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. This is impossible to truly comprehend on an intellectual level, it is a mystery of faith. God created us because he loves us and wants us to have a relationship with him. Because he loves us he gave us free will, and so we choose to follow God's law (which leads us to heaven) or we choose to defy God's law (for which the consequence is hell). This is not the result of a reward/consequence type of system, since God is good one cannot be in his presence unless they themselves are holy. God's law is designed to make us holy, rejection of God's law leads to sin. God does not want to coerce us or force us to follow him, He has used revelation to teach us about the nature of God and His law and He sent His son to win salvation for us on the cross. But it is up to us to accept that salvation or reject it. The church exists to help as many souls as possible know God and become holy so they can spend eternity with God. Obviously, as a human institution, it fails at this mission at times, but when percieved in historical context, it has also succeeded in it's mission more than any other human insitution. Whether you agree with the church or not, it has survived persecution by the most powerful empires in the world only to go on to become a worldwide institution with a billion members, this should be impressive no matter what your religion is.

I agree as well. I was raised by feminists, my grandmothers and mother and aunts all paved the way for my sisters and I to be in the workforce, and I appreciate that. But it came at a high price, being raised by a single mother who is very focused on her career is hard. I often think that the sacrafices we have made in our lives is not worth it, but other days I think that they are. Either way, I always considered myself a feminist, and my in-laws are what I would consider feminists as well. However, I no longer use that label, because the movement has become very monolithic. I have pretty much been berated by every "feminist" I know because I am pro-life, which includes using natural forms of birth control. It also ruffled feathers when I decided to leave my career behind and become a SAHM and a homeschooler. It has also caused people around me to become uncomfortable because we decided to keep having kids. Our choice to have a larger family leaves us open to the most absurd and insulting comments. Even strangers feel as though they have the right to comment out in public. The working mothers I know just don't understand it, they act like I am allowing my husband to enslave me because I don't work and I have so many children. They look at my life as burdonsome, and they pity me. This is hard for me to put up with, because my life is far from perfect, but I love it. I resisted the whole stay at home mom thing for years because it ran contrary to how I was raised, and it meant that my mother's hard work would have been in vain. I have been treated like I am "dragging my sisters down" with my choices. But, when I finally decided to stay at home and have more kids, I found a peace and happiness I hadn't had before when we had fewer children and I was working. Raising a larger family truly was what I had always wanted. It was the choice that was right for me. I don't think there is one right way to raise a family. That is why it is so ironic that so many people are uncomfortable with my decisions, since I try hard not to judge theirs. I am grateful to the feminist movement of the past, but weary of the feminist movement of today.

This movie is for real, but it really doesn't do enough justice to the fact that home births are dangerous for some and hospital births do save lives in many cases. I've had 5 c-sections and one VBAC. My births have all taken place in hospitals, but they have taken place in 5 different hospitals in 3 different states. My first child was an emergency c-section that was botched, and my 2nd was a VBAC that should have resulted in a c-section but didn't. In both cases, at the same hospital, my children and I are both lucky to be alive. But, it was the only hospital in the area, and obviously if these were home births we wouldn't have made it either. My experiences have ranged from horrendous, where my child and I are both lucky to be alive because of awful medical treatment, to wonderful experiences where I was taken very good care of. My sister has had 3 home births, all of them wonderful. She has a great midwife who refers people to obgyn's almost as often as she takes patients on, she has such a high demand she can be very very safe and only choose patients who have no identifiable risks. For those who are able, home births can be so much less stressful than staying in the hospital, and less risky. I have had some horrendous hospital stays, and some awful staph infections, but in those cases they were the only hospital in town, and there is no way I can home birth, so I had to grin and bear it. I would much rather have been able to deliver naturally at home. I do envy my sister, but I am also grateful for modern medicine, without which my children and I would not be alive today.

Good for you! I had to spend two hours on the phone once on vacation fighting with my credit card company because I did not want to give them a travel itinerary every time I left the house in order to avoid having my card deactivated. When it wouldn't work at a gas station, I called and they said they needed to know my intended destination and the dates I would be travelling. I told them if they were going to require that information I would simply close the account. There was a two hour run around with various customer service reps trying to convince me it was standard "policy," while I tried to close the account, only to be transferred again and again. In the end they finally caved and reactivated the card without the info, and I kept the account open but I haven't used it since and never will again. I only keep it open because it is one of my oldest accounts and so it helps my credit rating.

I'm planning on using this with a few modifications. I am using Singapore Math instead of R & S, and we are also using book selections from Ambleside Online Year 2. I am also throwing in some Catholic resources from CHC as well. This year has been too hectic for me to really plan well myself, so it was MP to the rescue!

Do you eat processed foods? If overeating is an issue, I would suggest avoiding ALL processed foods. There are some studies that suggest that certain individuals become addicted to many of the artificial flavors and preservatives used in modern processed food, as well as to sugar. Some are more susceptable than others, but while you think you are only having cravings or overeatin, you could actually be dealing with an addiction. You need to go cold turkey, because the more you eat the more the pleasure centers of the brain become desensitized and you end up eating more and more to get the same amount of enjoyment. It actually does affect your brain chemistry, just like any other addiction. If this is an issue for you, you need to go cold turkey in order to get back to a normal brain chemistry. That is you need to avoid processed sugars, artificial flavorings, and preservatives as much as possible. My husband has a problem similiar to yours, Atkins is the only thing that worked for him, because the lack of processed food and sugar actually changed his appetite and helped eliminate his cravings. You could accomplish this without using a diet like Atkins, but my husband was truly addicted and needed a really structured diet to help keep him from falling off the wagon.

Thank you, I really like the looks of First Lessons. Can I ask you why you prefer the Brautigam books to the rest of the Maxwell series?

I don't know why I didn't think of that, I guess I was about as clear as mud :tongue_smilie:

Thanks for the link, I think this may be what I am looking for. Thanks for the "vintage" tag , I couldn't find much when I searched for public domain books. :)

I just found Composition for Elementary Schools, by Hosic and Hooper. Anyone seen this before and have any thoughts? http://books.google.com/books?id=xPUAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA52-IA1&dq=composition+elementary&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=3#v=onepage&q=composition%20elementary&f=false

Books published before 1923 are automatically in the public domain, and many of them are available free online through various sites. Here is one I found, but I haven't had a chance to look through it yet: http://manybooks.net/titles/websterw2809728097-8.html

I used Ambleside Online last year with my ds7. We loved it, we are using Year 2 this year. We are also using Memoria Press, but not for literature. I am using the MP lesson plans for Latin and reading and memory work and recitation. But Memoria Press does have great literature selections with student and teacher guides for each grade, and their selections are all found within the AO literature selections and free read lists, though some are read at different ages. I find that the schedules AO has are very challenging and rigorous, and my son has done well with it.

Thank you for the links, they look like great resources. Anyone else have a public domain composition book they have found useful? I'm thinking along the lines of Classical Composition. Thanks!

Several cities I have lived in have distributed lunches to children in local parks all summer. I agree you need to get on WIC, and the WIC office should also be able to let you know about other assistance programs available. Your income includes child support for these programs, but if you aren't recieving any... You might want to find out about low income housing assistance, they may be able to subsidize some of your rent.

I am looking for a public domain compostition book for upper elementary. Anyone have any recommendations and/or reviews? Thank you!

Caves are pretty cool, usually. We just read Farmer Boy, and they had plenty of ice cream and iced lemonade in the summer made from ice from the ice house. They also had iced egg nog as a drink to help them cool off while doing field work, it seemed odd at first but it makes sense, plenty of carbs and protein and nice and cold. The heat wave is a great excuse to sit around and eat popsicles!