I find the job market to be the biggest example of cronyism I've ever seen. This, to me, is why many minorities (I use the term for anyone who is not a part of the accepted mainstream group, could be for any number of reasons, not just ethnicity) cannot crack easily into a new field. I am so tired. The playing field is not even remotely even. It is just frightening and terribly depressing.

Wow! I looked in the OED and it notes that "seamstress" is for a "needle woman" whose occupation is "plain sewing" as distinguished from dress making or embroidery. So seamstress is not a catch-all. And not really for a hobbyist??

Peaches? Plums? Sweet potatoes? One day doesn't mean constipated, though.

Unfortunately almost all the eyeglass places are owned by the same company. It's freakish. I will give them credit for one thing. My husband got glasses from them, the lens never sat right in the frame, and he went there several times about it, and then it popped out while out of the country, in an area that had no optical shops, and he had to go about a day and a half with no glasses. I wrote them a letter telling them just what I thought about them, and they called and said to come in to the store and pick up a check. Granted, they tried to roll it over into a new pair of glasses, but they did refund it.

I agree with you. This is a common practice. After I had a weird interaction with this man who developed a math app (it wasn't correct for some of the times tables, and he initially didn't understand and so put no priority on fixing it, making the app not too useful given that the missi numbers were why I bought the program!) he signed me up for all sorts of mailing lists (wives of p*rn addicts, online gambling, weight loss, coupons, etc) - several of them emailed me the IP address used to set them up, and it was from the exact geographic area he lives in (I checked the IP address from his emails). Anyway he now has a glowing review. The last name of the female reviewer is his last name, but of course, his last name isn't anywhere on iTunes, I just happen to know it because of the email exchanges. I ended up removing my review, instead of giving him a good one after he fixed it. i would have promoted his app on here if it were any good! but I certainly won't now. So I do think one has to proceed with caution with online reviews.

The other one I've seen is insisting that applicants are currently employed; this is discriminating against all sorts of people who've been laid off and some of them can't find a job... And the longer they're out of work, the less likely it is they will be hired. I know tons of people with good college degrees and plenty of experience who can't find very good work. I know a whole group who are working as janitors at a hospital. Luckily the pay is not too bad, so they left other positions for it.

What's scary is that I really don't see a good job market anywhere. Check this out. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/02/the-phd-bust-americas-awful-market-for-young-scientists-in-7-charts/273339/

BA is driving my son crazy, though, I have to say.

I thought the woman who was involved in the vaccine said that it wouldn't reduce the American rate much, because the American rate is already fairly low. That being said, since not everyone on this board is an American or has a child who will live in the US or have partners who do, I think it's a bit deceptive to say we are all in the same situation. For example, in many parts of the world, cervical cancer is a huge killer AND women have very poor access to routine (or any other sort of) gynecological care. http://www.who.int/hpvcentre/statistics/en/ http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2012/dec/14/cervical-cancer-striking-women-down

You know, I've seen examples of tests (like SATs or other high-school level national exam type things) where there is actually more than one correct answer to sequence problems, but clearly the test writers had a very narrow view. I can't find any examples, though, but I am certain I've read about this. I hate much of the pattern stuff for kids, like ABA -- what comes next? gee, it could be, ABAABAABA, or ABABABABA, or maybe ABACABAC, who knows? I always like when my kids come up with something unusual instead of the simplest answer. I think it's that the presentation is different and therefore they are hard, but I have seen posts by some people who do not seem to want to take the time to learn the different thing-- ever! -- and then complain that the problems are hard, even in reception or something. That seems unwise to me -- how can you teach it if the WHOLE THING (not an occasional problem) is a mystery? However, I can say that I remember my mom confusing me when trying to help with calculus, because she'd forgotten things, not because she never knew them, and I was a little irritated with her for her weak memory!

I have used BA by itself, but not as my only math program. I use it in blocks. My son is just finishing 3B. I haven't bought c or (obviously) D.

Goodness, that didn't come out right, then. I wasn't suggesting making fun of non-native English speakers' innocent mistakes, nor do I really believe anyone who says "eat healthy" is an idiot. I thought I was obvious in my suggestion that this was over the top (that someone who says "eat healthy" is unqualified for homeschooling). It was more a reaction to their choice of words/tone in their description of their lifestyle, such as "we do not play with superheroes." Yikes.

Or to suggest they brush up on their adverbs (say "eat healthily") and question their qualifications for homeschooling with such a tenuous grasp of grammar? (ETA: This was a joke. I am not making fun of non-native speakers. I am poking fun at the superior tone.) I think it would be highly entertaining to have a day out with you. I don't think we have much in common -- and I think that would be what would make it fun!

You're funny. To me too, it's like a word like lead vs lead or read vs read or bow vs bow.

I definitely agree that Singapore's Primary Math's word problems can be tricky to do or explain without using algebra. Nonetheless, I think it's troubling when a kid's first grade math homework confuses the student's parents. I do not think you are alone....but I think the fact that SO many people were taught by unprepared/underqualified teachers has led to an enormous mess and confusion. There is no reason for otherwise intelligent and educated people should be so mystified by basic math. Anyone looking for a children's book with commentary on "new math," by the way, should read Eleanor Estes' "The Alley." It's in the first chapter.

"Crafter" is so much nicer sounding. Or "sewing enthusiast."

Right, and most PhDs in math/science don't take ANY teaching classes, so when they go to teach, they do get on the job training. Or they work as teaching assistants and get that training first hand. But somehow it is seen as less critical or totally unimportant (probably a mistake) for future professors to learn anything about teaching, whereas it is almost the ONLY thing future k-12 teachers are supposed to focus on. Neither is healthy. I feel the same way, but I have met those people. It's not unlike the reaction I had to a report about how high illiteracy rates in Philadelphia are because there are so many high school dropouts -- in my opinion, learning to read is not normally the responsibility of a high school, so there are other forces at work and other organizations besides high schools to be held accountable. I don't understand all the frantic screams about Singapore or MEP or any other math program, at the most basic levels. I haven't been stumped by anything in any elementary school program yet. I *really* don't think that qualifies me as a genius.

Is "sewer" an attempt to be gender-neutral, I wonder?

I've seen the same posts on this forum, though, people whose minds are boggled by MEP y1 problems or whatever. I think the depth of the problem is frightening. I think most people don't AT ALL understand the basics, such as addition or place value, and then things are built on a really confused foundation. I remember the part in, was in Liping Ma's book, about asking teachers if it was ok to omit the trailing zero in multiplication intermediary steps, and lots of them got quite frantic about it, to the point I wanted to cry. And the teachers currently teaching elementary geometry who kept getting perimeter and area confused.

I think mine liked the two of the rainbow fairy books she read mostly because they have a cute cover.

I have no idea what the case is now, but my teacher was older than my parents when I was in high school and has long since retired. He was the top math teacher at the school. He was THE teacher for honors classes. And I attended a magnet school that was at the time considered one of the top in the country (not by me, mind you). The other teachers had vastly less experience than him and didn't teach above algebra. He had apparently taken a few math classes in college, but let us just say that Calculus was a grand disaster for all parties. My feeling is that the law may be that someone needs such and such credentials to teach math, but then there are all these empty classrooms -- so someone has to teach them, and I have seen statistics about the huge numbers of underqualified math teachers in US schools. According to the NCES study, which surveyed high school teachers during the 2007-2008 school year, fewer than half of chemistry and physics teachers majored in those subjects, and a quarter of math teachers don't hold math degrees. The problem extends to history, where less than two thirds of teachers hold a history degree. Conversely, 82 percent of English teachers, 90 percent of art teachers, and 95 percent of music teachers hold a bachelor's degree or higher in their field. http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2011/06/08/many-stem-teachers-dont-hold-certifications This study is even more frightening: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/budding-scientist/2012/07/13/math-teachers-feel-theyre-poorly-prepared/ I did go to college with a girl (ahead of me) who was a math major and was getting her elementary (multiple subject) credentials at the same time; otherwise all those intending to be teachers were going for a single subject credential.

My mom got my daughter one. She still reads Lang's Fairy Books on her own. I never even bothered to read it, but she still is reading other books so I don't think any crisis has occured. I read the Babysitters' Club and other silly stuff myself.

I don't shop daily. My produce lasts for several days in the frig, or in some cases weeks (apples, potatoes, ...), and I have some frozen items. I use canned for convenience, especially coconut milk and pumpkin puree, or tomato paste. I think if one lives in a remote area where fresh vegetables are never available, that is another matter. But I don't buy things like, say, canned pasta. I cook from dried, which is a convenience food.

Hugs to you from someone who was made fun of on this board for giving my children the occasional juice box. Among people I know in real life, I am some kind of a health nut because mine don't drink soda or eat candy all the time. Online, I am a freak because I'm not distilling my own rain water and juicing alfalfa sprouts for my kids. I saw this before in breastfeeding and baby-wearing groups. I bake. I consider it healthy because I made it with real food. And I am not about to go low-carb.

Quite a few members of the board contributed to Angela's list at http://satorismiles.com/childrens-book-list/ You can also find some great ideas in books like Books Children Love by Elizabeth Wilson; this is nicely organized by topic. http://www.amazon.com/Books-Children-Love-Revised-Edition/dp/1581341989/ref=pd_sim_b_5