I may be unpopular, but I don't believe in either a) forcing a child to invite someone to their party if they do not want to or b) that being left out is to be avoided at all costs. Sounds to me like that girl was being a bit of a bully, and even if she has things going on that cause her behavior problem (two sides to every story), that doesn't mean you need to encourage contact. Who knows, maybe the girl will realize that her behavior made your dd not want to be her friend and change. Or maybe she won't notice or care.

I would definitely make your concerns heard by the people in charge of the center. Specific examples of issues you have with the program, ask for details of how the teachers will be able to make sure all age and ability levels are catered to. I would try not to get too emotional about it but let them know you are very disappointed with the changes you've seen. Parent feedback *should* be part of what they're looking for with a trial program like this, and if it's not I would be very upset in your situation.

OP asked "what do you think?" That is asking for our opinion. Telling us to edit what we think when it is specifically solicited is ridiculous, she's free to ignore us all and do whatever as the parent in the situation, but I don't believe in sugarcoating. Just because something isn't uncommon doesn't make it the best option nor does it make questioning its implementation wrong or harsh. I've seen multiple "I" stories and shared one myself, as well as people asking for the motivation behind limiting a child's free reading and requiring her to figure out what she wants to produce at such a young age, I believe that's called dialogue and talking it through with her.

"Poorly written" and "written on a fifth-grade reading level" are two different things. There are good works of literature written for children.

Rubber cement. That stuff is like nostalgia in a bottle. I have no idea if DS will ever use it but I want some.

I've had great results with ds with the When I Feel... books by Cornelia Maude Spelman. http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5696.Cornelia_Maude_Spelman

This boggles me as well. Why the emphasis on producing original work? Not everyone wants or is capable of producing original, creative content on a schedule, least of all children. Personal anecdote time: being forced to produce creatively, to make my own drawings/paintings/stories with limited exposure to art forms made by anyone else, and shamed for wanting to read fiction made me *hate* creative assignments, freeze up when asked to write that way, and purposefully avoid art classes for nearly a decade. I can't imagine doing that to another person or what could be gained from it.

I'm from Oregon, and I'm pretty sure I either learned about it from hitting the "random" button on Wikipedia (fun Saturday nights, that's me) or from browsing r/TodayILearned. It definitely wasn't something I learned in history.

I really don't understand the mentality of being above the rules for whatever reason. If you don't like the rules in a particular location, don't go there. If a pool is uncomfortably cold, I wouldn't put my kid in it and would complain to the management, but blowing off the rules is rude.

I'm an unlucky person, and a firm believer in following rules even if you don't particularly like them or fall on a cusp. Booster seats are not typically expensive, I've seen them for $30-50 which for two days isn't cheap but is cheaper than a ticket and you can sell it to a consignment shop afterward. If you're willing to run the risk that every time you get in your car with your kiddo that you may be pulled over and fined for not complying with the rules, that's your business but I wouldn't recommend it. I can't think of any situation where you're let off the hook by saying "where I'm from, that rule doesn't exist."

That would drive me absolutely bonkers, and I agree that it's rude. Especially the "I knew about this last week but waited until the night before to tell you" crap. Not.Cool.

Preface to say I am very much a "put my foot down, give no mind to whether my views are popular, Mom's word is the final word except for revelation from God" parent in almost all respects. Having said that, I agree with Joanne, from personal experience. I was in a similar situation as your dd and was not told the whole truth until many years later. As a result, I spent many of those years dwelling on the unfairness/mistrust i wrongly assumed my guardian had in me and was oblivious to the danger I could have been in had I had the wherewithal to disobey, even if it was "just for a minute." I was hurt that she hid the truth and did not give me information I might have needed to protect myself. Kids draw their own conclusions from what data they actually have and induct the rest from their very limited experience. Preserving innocence in a noble goal, but many kids have no reference for the horrible things the world is capable of and the misunderstandings such an arrangement can cause can damage your dd's trust that your rules are made for legitimate reason.

My son puts himself in time out (I'm working on curbing his door slamming, he's 4 going on 14 and female apparently) when he starts winding up for a fit, but we've framed it in "Do you need a break from this situation to calm down?" since he was about 2, so I wouldn't describe it as being punished by being alone as a negative consequence so much as getting away from whatever the fit was about and redirecting himself and telling me why he's upset and what the feeling is. It doesn't work every time of course, but he's impressed me a few times with stopping himself from getting to "making Satan cry" levels and naming his feelings so I'm not just groping for an alternate activity.

My middle school had Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, it was a bit dry but got the job done and included a few good speeches from history for dictation, though not knowing how to use more advanced punctuation (semicolons and such) does throw off the dictation test.

Bugs of any kind (I've never seen a cockroach in the "wild" but we get ants and I've been converted to the cult of Tarro bait traps) and smells will make me rampage with cleaning products. I also hate toys/books/cushions on the floor or coffee table but that puts me in more of a "time for you (DS) to pick up or any toys out of their homes are getting a time out" mode.

I would take it to the store. I can't imagine that the person you're talking to (many places have customer support staff in a call center that may or may not be near the actual state where your store is) would have any way to tell the people packing your replacement at a warehouse to test your drawer before shipping it. No warehouse job I've ever had allowed or required us to assemble and/or test products before shipping to customers.

I used to say this about Oregon. We don't have an accent, everyone else does :lol: But then I found people from Ireland and Tennessee say the same thing and it was like everything I believed about the world was wrong.

I've heard people say dahg/dawg (my phonetic spelling is crazy, those are slight variations in my head voice) and also dough-g with a long o as in "git along little doggies". I'm also guilty of the long a "egg" pronunciation.

I love this attitude, and it really is true. However if your reason for going to college is that employers require a Bachelor's for just about everything these days, the paper is more important than the actual learning, which I think is horrible.

I have about a quarter of a degree in everything that's not STEM. Psychology, Comparative Religion, and Fitness Technology were my official declared majors but I only went to community colleges and did not graduate mostly due to conflicts with the unpaid externship requirement. I enjoy learning for its own sake and I love making connections in history and linguistics especially, but I'm undecided on whether the $30K of debt I have was worth it. (I'm not of the opinion that everyone needs to go to college for the "experience".)

Terrible and disgusting? I would not take that person's advice to heart on the subject of parenting and tea time. One should not be explicit while children are directly watching, no matter the children's ages, however bathing together with or without the implication of what else may or may not be going on while you're in there, is nowhere near. Kids need good role models for how the marriage relationship works and examples of affectionate or "normal" behavior. Where else do they learn it?

Not surprised here, unless she didn't get a syllabus or course expectations of any kind at any point after registering. Most DL registration will tell you to check your email and log in to the DL system to a) make sure your login works and you're in the class and B) check the syllabus posted on the class section of the DL site for required reading or assignment due dates. In a B&M class it always frustrated me to waste the whole first day doing repetitive introductions and reading the syllabus no one bothered to check beforehand (available online as soon as you're registered for the class). Wasn't this a joke in Legally Blonde that at the college level (I realize she was in law school bit still) you would have reading for the first day?

Bolded for emphasis. I think part of this has to do with what one considers "socializing well". There are many social behaviors that thrive in popular culture that I do not want my kids socialized to, not all of them can be objective because not everyone shares my opinion about the particulars. It's also difficult to deal with the fact that sometimes our actions as parents don't have the intended effect, some poorly coached kids thrive while others afforded every opportunity do not. How much influence other people have on any one person's life and choices is a very subjective thing.

The first underlined portion is a slippery slope argument, an informal fallacy, and assumes that there are only two options, literal belief or not being a "real" Christian. ETA this is how I read it because as I understand it I am not required by the Church to believe that the Bible is the literally inerrant word and that every sentence is to be taken literally. If your denomination believes this, of course I can see how not believing the generations and days were the same as they are today would be a serious problem. Depending on your denomination, personal interpretation of scripture and/or how literally you are expected to believe the tenets of that church before you are considered out of sync or communion or whatever can vary wildly. Some allow disagreement with the "official" interpretation and others do not, expecting members to take it on faith. The second underlined portion is exactly how I feel, I would identify as an Old-Earth Creationist with the caveat that not everyone who uses the same label believes exactly as I do. I believe God exists outside of time as we experience it, so the six days of Genesis could be metaphorical, God could work at what we would describe as "super speed" (He is God after all, why not?) allowing all of the work to happen in what we would have experienced as six days had we been there, or any number of other possible explanations. I believe God created and any discrepancy between what He actually did and how we understand what happened is because we are not God. But I also believe it doesn't really matter, as in it doesn't effect my salvation or anyone else's as far as I know, may the Magisterium correct me if I'm wrong. I also don't think we're owed an explanation, or are even capable of understanding the entire plan as He has laid it out, and the obsession with counting generations or assigning literal scientific dates to when which dinosaur was where or doing what goes right over my head.

I don't call my biological father anything, I don't know him, and I call my stepfather "dad" (my mum refers to him as "your father" so I just go with it) even though I would never call him that to his face. Pacific Northwest born and raised, not sure if that's indicative. As far as southern ladies saying "daddy" into adulthood, that always reminds me of the film "Blue Sky" where the main character's wife calls him "daddy". Sets off my ick response just a tad.