We haven't started ours yet, but I've looked through it a little. It looks secular to me. Things like "going to church" don't bother me, though. We deal with people who are going to church on a daily basis here (I live in the Bible-belt), so I'm okay with that as long as it isn't actually teaching religious beliefs as fact. (For what it's worth, I'm atheist.)

LOL, I guess I was slow!

Technically it's both since it is functioning as an adjective.

I second Handwriting Without Tears. We used Zaner-Bloser for printing and then switched to HWT for cursive. I very much wish I had used HWT for printing as well.

It could be an allergy, or it could be a side effect of the medicine; a rash can occur when taking this medicine. It's also possible that the medication is affecting your liver. Other than that, I totally agree with Ellie. How high is your cholesterol? Have you ever had your thyroid levels tested?

As you said yourself, though, "whiteness" doesn't define anyone. Neither does blackness, Asianness, NAness, etc. We all have our various cultures. Yes, we often share those cultures with people of the same color, but it goes beyond that as well. It turns out that my culture is a combination of a large range of backgrounds, and of that I'm proud. I've found it quite interesting to post on message boards with people from all over the world. For example, I find that some parts of my culture are very similar to that of some people from Australia. It makes sense since both Georgia and Australia were settled by prisoners; most likely we share some common heritage. Also, I think it's interesting that some of my speech patterns that I was told as a child were "incorrect grammar" are correct in British English. In addition to that, even though I've never been directly connected with an NA tribe, when I speak to others who are, I realize that a lot of my culture does indeed come from that background. In doing genealogy, I've become even more proud of my heritage regardless of what color someone calls me. For example, I've found that I'm related to Jimmy Carter (we share a common ancestor who fought in the American Revolution), and I'm finding interesting tidbits that jump all over the map of Europe and parts of Asia. Despite being "white," my father (he didn't look "white"; he looked more NA or Latin) grew up as a sharecropper. Because of that, his family shared a lot of culture with the many black sharecroppers. There wasn't always the prejudice between whites and blacks that some seem to think has always existed. The sharecropping families, regardless of being black or white, helped each other in any way that they could. My great-aunt breastfed at least one black baby because her mother wasn't able to do so. They didn't care about color; they cared about each other. I know I've rambled here, but my point is that regardless of color, we all have interesting histories. I grew up as a poor "white" farm girl in South Central Georgia, but I still have a very interesting family history.

I haven't tried MUS or Saxon, but I agree with the suggestion to try something else. This is the fourth year we've used Singapore, and we're very happy with it. However, I don't think it's a good program for someone who struggles with math. When I was teaching 6th grade math last year, I gave them some of the CWP 3 for bonus problems, and even in 6th grade, most struggled with them.

Parrothead and Confuzzled, what treatments have you had or are you currently having for Graves'? I have Hashimoto's (but one endo said that she thinks I have both Hashimoto's and Graves'), and I have vision issues or dizziness at times, too. I have found, though, that mine seems to be connected to sugar levels and allergies.

Thank you. I've wondered the same. I think some people have been taught to almost be ashamed of being "white."

Many people don't know this, but during slavery in North Georgia, most slaves were of Native American, Irish, or Scottish descent.

I chose FLL, but I'll admit that I don't always follow the script. Since FLL 4 isn't out yet, I was planning to go with Growing With Grammar this year. However, ds loves FLL and doesn't want to change (he tends to be a creature of habit anyway). I'm not sure if I'm patient enough to keep waiting for FLL 4, though.

This is the fourth year that we've used Singapore, and we're very happy with it. However, ds is a natural in math. I think you should give it a try and see how it goes. Don't be afraid to change if it doesn't seem to be working.

I filled out the census form in 2000 (the long form at that), but it apparently got lost in the mail. Therefore, census workers came to my door to ask the questions. Dh wasn't home, but ds and I were. One of the census workers argued with me when I answered that ds was hispanic because he "looked white" to her.

You're probably right. Since ds is so mixed, I joke that he can apply for almost every scholarship based on race, ethnicity, or heritage. Can you imagine if he could get both a hispanic scholarship and one for Sons of the Confederacy? ;)

There is a difference between the feel of a real piano and a keyboard that doesn't have weighted keys (or even one with weighted keys), so I somewhat understand what sarahv is saying. However, if my options were to use a keyboard without weighted keys or for my children not to be able to take lessons at all, I'd choose the former. Ds (9.5) has been taking lessons for over 3.5 years. He takes lessons on a regular piano, but he practices on a keyboard with weighted keys. While there is a difference, it doesn't seem to be affecting him. His teacher compliments him all the time, and others do as well. The biggest complaint I've heard from him is about the pedal; that's a relatively new complaint, though. He does like the feel of the piano better, but he's okay with the keyboard other than the pedal. I'd love to be able to buy a piano eventually, but it simply isn't an option for us right now.

That's awful. Things apparently are quite different here. Regardless, my time as a public educator convinced me even more that my son would be homeschooled. I taught five years before ever having a child (before even being married), and then I taught in a temporary position for 21 weeks last school year (dh is self-employed and took care of ds during that time). I couldn't believe how much worse things are now than they were when I taught 15 years ago.

I can totally relate. I went to my nephew's baseball game, and it was over 100° with stifling humidity, yet I didn't sweat. My sister was sweating like crazy, and she couldn't believe that I wasn't sweating. I said, "I know you're going to think I'm exaggerating, but I truly feel like I'm cooking inside." I had to go home at that point. I can't stick to an exercise program because of this problem. It really is frustrating. I am hypothyroid as well. I have Hashimoto's Disease. Even on meds, though, while my "numbers" look good, I still have most of the symptoms of hypothyroidism. I suspect that even if your blood work wasn't yet showing that you were hypothyroid, you were already having some of the symptoms. Most likely you have autoimmune thyroid disease; were you ever tested for that? I think it's worth a try. However, when I mentioned it to my doctor, he pretty much blew me off. He also ignored my low IgA level as well as some other issues. As long as my thyroid "numbers" look okay, he thinks I'm fine regardless of symptoms. I'm presently looking for a new doctor. I've been there, too, but try not to feel bad about it. If a family member of yours was sick, I'm sure you would accommodate him/her as well.

I chose "white" because that's what I'm considered to be. However, in reality I'm a true American mutt. I have ancestors from many of the countries in Europe, and when I go far enough back, I even have some from SE Asia. I also have both Cherokee and Creek ancestry. As far as I've been able to find in my genealogy research, all of my ancestors were here by the 1600s-early 1700s or before. Dh is hispanic and is a mixture of basically all the races. He knows for sure that he has Native American (from Puerto Rico and Mexico), European, and African ancestry, and he's pretty sure that he has some Asian ancestry as well.

When I was teaching school last year, I asked about this and was told by the librarian who checked in it that it was legal for me to do. My husband would download the videos for me and burn them on DVDs so that I could show them on my classroom TV; it wasn't complicated to do. (I didn't have the proper equipment in my classroom to connect my computer directly to the TV to play them that way.) I don't see why you couldn't do the same thing.

I'm so glad to hear that things are going better. Hang in there!

I agree.

I can't speak for all schools, but that's certainly not the case here. When I was teaching school here in NW GA, we had to get everything approved unless it was a simple educational video from the school library.

I know some Republicans who don't like McCain but are planning to vote for him right now who say that they will vote for Obama if he chooses Sam Nunn.

Unfortunately, we don't have the space to have a separate school room. We basically "school" all over the house. I do have lots of bookshelves, though, for all the books I've accumulated, both for school and for simple enjoyment.

For the most part, I agree with Blueridge. Freezing applesauce in jars works great. I've always gone ahead and screwed the lid on, though; I didn't wait. As for freezing in plastic, I personally don't like doing that unless I don't have another option.