Here's a funny for you...I asked my dh about it and he was more adamant than I was about leaving the kids! :D He said "Sure, I would love to go on vacation for a week, if we could take the kids with us!" :lol: Now that I think about it, I could probably leave my 10yo for a few days but not my 5yo. He would not do well without us for a week but the 10yo would probably be fine.

So I am having my first "putting my ds in school" crisis about music. He has had piano lessons for about 3 years and he is a very good pianist and loves it. He tried guitar for a short time but was not interested and dropped it. He has not expressed an interest in any other instrument as of yet. If he were interested I would probably choose violin next for him. When he starts school in Malaysia next year he will be in 6th grade and "band" class is a mandatory class for all. But this class includes only wind, brass, and percussion instruments (I hope I am using the right terms). No piano. No strings. I don't want him to play the drums for many reasons. What should he pick next? He doesn't want to do flute or clarinet because they are "too girly"...remember, he is a 10yo boy and doesn't think like an adult yet so please don't be offended by that statement. I guess I should mention that his main goal with his music is to be the worship leader at a church when he is an adult. What do you think will be a good instrument for him to play next? The only thing I can think of that would be most useful to him in his future is a saxophone. But I also have ZERO musical skill so I don't know if I can give the best advice.

:iagree: SAVE PLUTO!!!!!! :D

Would I do it? No. We have never left our kids with anyone else before and I would be miserable after the first day. Should you do it? If you feel comfortable with the idea, sure!

At what point do you think kids should be allowed to use calculators in Math?

:iagree:

You got it! :D

My ds got this last summer from wearing his crocs so much. We just put Gold Bond powder on it and it went away.

Yes they do...especially the Rag Coat. Who Owns the Sun? is another major tear-jerker.

The God's Design for Science books from AIG are great!

I just wanted to thank all you ladies (and gents) who took the time to respond to this post. What at first seemed like a simple question by my 10yo has become a rich and complex, and sometimes heated, discussion. What we ended up with in our talks today was that "American culture" is not so easily defined but then again maybe the cultures of other countries aren't either. So now we are talking about the world being more "globally" connected than before. Things we look at as being American have their roots elsewhere but it seems so do the cultural traditions of most countries. The only difference I guess is time. This is a great time for this discussion too with our move to Malaysia. Ds will attend school with kids from 24 different countries so he will get an up close and personal experience with this interaction of cultures and I am sure we will both have a better idea of similarities and differences in our cultures! As long as I don't have to eat cheeze whiz and deviled ham on my spaghetti noodles, I will be OK. :D

Please do, and maybe an EKG and an echocardiogram as well. It took years for a doctor to properly diagnose my condition and get me on the right meds. I know what you mean by feeling terrible after it happens. :grouphug:

Ummmm....wow....it was just a question. And since it was originally posed by my 10 yo ds I think I'd rather use it as a jumping off point for discussion as to what it really means to be "American" (and many posters on this thread have given excellent food for thought) rather than tell him he failed. :confused:

Well, it isn't my success story but my grandmother had 12 children with #12 at age 47! And this was in deep woods Alabama without all the "advanced maternal age" care that we have now. :D

You could be having tachycardia or possibly a panic attack.

And we call alcoholic beverages "adult libations". :D

:iagree:

I get BP spikes when my heart arrhythmia is acting up. Are you experiencing any palpitations?

I think fencing is awesome! I am not sure if this will be available when we move but I would love to find classes for ds.

Yes, I get withdrawal symptoms about 15 minutes into any diet! :D I don't know if it goes away because I cave every time.

I have not had the guts to watch it myself. The previews were overwhelming to me. The Bible's description of the crucifixion is graphic enough for me.

Congrats!!!

For me it is about worldview. We are devout Christians so we look at EVERYTHING from a biblical perspective (picture putting on a pair of biblical glasses). The Bible is the source of truth in our lives and anything that contradicts the Bible is not truth. So we don't compartmentalize our faith, it precedes and permeates everything we do. Teaching all the academic subjects and then teaching "religion" separately is not God-honoring to us. Having said that, we DO teach about other faiths, other scientific theories, etc. It is important to us that our children know what is believed by others as they need to be able to defend their faith. This past weekend my ds and dh went on an outing with the youth group to the Ohio Caverns. During the tour, my ds got into a lively yet respectful discussion with the tour guide about the age of the caves. He could not have done that if he did not know both sides of the argument. So we do use some secular and some Christian materials and I agree with other posters that the supply of secular homeschool materials will be greater when demand is greater.

Without getting into too many details, when I was away at camp one year (I was 11yo) my mom cleaned out my room (I was a messy child) and she stumbled across my diary and read it. There were things written in that diary that I did not have the courage to tell anyone. Because she read it, she was able to take action and help me. If she had not read it? Who knows where I would be right now. I thank God for my mom's nosiness. :D

I do a combo of "assigned" reading, "his choice reading", reading the classics aloud and (although I know some don't agree with this) letting ds read the "great illustrated classics" version or a children's version now in preparation for the real thing later. For instance, this year ds has read: Gilgamesh the Hero Black Ships Before Troy The Wanderings of Odysseus The Aeneid for Boys and Girls To name a few. When we hit these in the next round he will read the real thing. HTH!