The gramma of the hour was Michelle Obama's mom. She put all the older people to shame. She looked strong and pretty :)

Don't I know it...... They are well versed in Sonic Youth, Jane's Addiction, Modest Mouse, The Shins, etc; but sadly lacking in the root knowledge necessary for true understanding :(

My kids didn't know who Jimmy Hendrix was..... I am a disgrace.

She might have been a wee bit emotional... I didn't think she sounded her greatest, but at the same time............. (ducking) I'm one of those people that dislike grandstanding during the singing of patriotic songs (see also the Nat'l Anthem). She sounded like she was trying to be somber (till the end), not something her voice is used to.

Lmao, it's taking me LONGER to read TMWWT than it did TWIW... I think, I just don't like it....

Need to start supper, so I can't stay...... FLASH CARDS flash cards FLASH CARDS The week before last my son took three hours to do twelve stinkin' problems. Last week, we drilled every single day. Simple, one digit addition, 1 through 10. Every day, for at least twenty minutes, we drilled. Over and over and over and over and over. Friday, I put up an addition chart, 1-10, and timed him.... 13 minutes. We went from three freakin hours for twelve problems to 100 problems in 13 minutes. Flash cards flash cards flash cards I am a new convert.

I wonder if some of it isn't due to the complication of 'white.' In so far as why people prefer to say, simply, black, hispanic, Polish, etc. As far as I go, I tell people my husband is Scottish (he's half Scottish), because it's easier than saying, he's dark because he's Scottish, but we have no idea what race his father is. In my case, I say French, because my maiden name is French and it's easier than saying, French, German, Dutch, English, Cherokee. More often, I say I'm a Euro mutt, but even that isn't 100% true.

The Witch of Portobello but I also want to read "The Painted Veil" I love this group :)

As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death. Leonardo da Vinci When we lost our grampa, I think the most touching thing was the card my friend sent me. It was not full of platitudes, it was not uncomfortable. It was a sincere apology, that things like this happen, a sincere wish, that we would feel less bad (her words) and that we would be able to keep him in our hearts forever. I'm so sorry for your friend and her child. What an incredibly horrible, hard moment to face. Be there for her and remember that these things never stop hurting. You can never cry enough, or grieve enough, or scream enough, to make it feel better. There's never enough hugs or well wishes to fill the chasm. Bitterness is protective. :grouphug:

I read somewhere that life can be compared to a sonnet. There is a definite form, rules, things that will definitely happen, but what is done within those boundaries are up to the poet, or the person whose life it is. IOW, while you may be destined to live in DC, whether you live in NW or SE, is up to you. Whether you have a mansion, or a refridgerator box, is up to you. I've put a lot of thought into the idea, God knows all, he knows all outcomes, but we were blessed with 'freedom.' If time is not looked at as linear, rather as a collection of moments, like bubbles, this could make more sense. Bubbles can join together and create a bigger bubble. Now, supposing that every possible moment that ever was, would have been, or will be, or is, are all floating around and only those moments that 'happen' get to join into the big bubble. Then, all those other moments, the possibles, the would have beens, are all floating around and popping and what have you, but it's only the moments we choose that get to join our reality. God knows what's in all those bubbles, he blew them, right? So he knows all things that are, were, could have been, and might be. He also knows us, our nature, so he knows which bubbles we'll most likely choose, but the other bubbles are there for the taking. Anyway! It makes sense to me. Lol... Saw you were trying to kill this thread and decided I couldn't let you do it ;)

I don't expect them to keep the kids from talking. My issue starts with the idea of a flyer (a flyer, a FLYER?!?) being given to kids to explain the situation. Murder, death, loss of a loved one, is not an issue to be dealt with like a kegger at AlphaK's house. It is a serious issue. The school made their first mistake there (IMO). Whether or not the adults need to deal with the issue of the rumor, or the issue of gossip are two different things. The kids will talk, I totally understand that, but the adults/school, are not there as onsight therapists (or at least, they shouldn't be). Deal with kids gossiping. Our local school deals with this sort of issue in a completely different manner. For instance, my son's beloved K. teacher was diagnosed with Cancer last year. Mrs. P had been teaching long enough to have returning college students. She is very loved, all of the kids know her. The school's first step was a SEALED letter, delivered BY MAIL, to all of the parents (of course, Mrs. P gave her permission). That letter explained the prognosis (good), the treatment, the expected absence, and where we could send letters, cards, flowers, etc. In that envelope, and in another SEALED letter home, were permission slips. Those slips were asking for permission to have Mrs. P explain to the kids, herself, what was going on. As her treatment progressed, the parents were kept well abreast of all activity. IMO, that is how you deal with a 'crisis' situation in a school. You always ask the parents first. You do not go to the children without Mom and Dad's permission. Information is gotton to the parents, with some attempt to keep it from kids.

I forgot... I did a post on Thursday and just forgot the weekly wrap-up... So, here it is, a few days late :( Don't tell Drew, he'll take away my t.v. time! http://lionhomeschooling.blogspot.com/

They should not have released any specifics to the students at all. A vague, 'we've had reports of a possibly dangerous situation' would have sufficed. When it comes to life and death, the adults need enough information to keep the children safe and the children need enough information to make them understand there is a possible danger. That idea, that the school must do damage control, before Mom and Dad have even been notified is what causes MANY of the problems people HAVE with public schools. They step in and decide, this is our place, this is what we should do, WE know what is best. Frankly, I would be ticked off if someone else decided to discuss a death/murder/etc, with my child, without my permission.

Mon - Thurs are all regular 'school' days. Friday, we take our tests/reviews, go to the library for their preschool activities and then head out for some recreational fun.

Both, depends on the situation. When giving a phone number or address, I say 'oh.' However, when doing math with the kids (or number recognition), we say 'zero.'

I agree, to an extent. The information should not have been guarded. That just makes it all seem sinister and under handed. However, perhaps there was a lack of info in order to keep the 'peons' from attempting to talk about the 'elephant in the living room.' IOW, it IS a parent issue and while some people feel a need to talk about it, others might think that overreaches a bit, into parental territory. You should've known what had happened, the possible dangers of the situation, however I'm not sure it was the school (or the YMCA's) place to discuss this with the kids, before allowing the parents time for their own conversation. Side note: Last year, a well-known couple (well-known to us anyway) died as the result of a murder-suicide. The husband shot his wife and then himself. It didn't make the papers at all, to my knowledge. Their obits. were printed (of course), but nothing about the crime. Because we are a small community, the people who write for the local paper decided it would be too hard on the kids to see their parents splashed across the paper, so nothing was written. The same thing happened this year, when a man shot and killed his granddaughter. That was covered by a larger, not as local paper, but the local paper, again, decided to keep mum as a sign of respect to the family.

:iagree: I guess it would depend on what you believe the goals of classical education are. If it's independant thought and the ability to learn, outside of an 'educational environment', then I would feel like a failure if my dcs fell short. If it's a full scholarship to an Ivy League school and a six figure income, then as long as they're happy (and fulfill the aforementioned parameters), whatever :) As of now, Andrew wants to be an astronaut, Mommy isn't even sure how to spell the word :001_huh:... If he ended up a janitor for NASA, and it made him happy, then I would feel successful. However. If my son ended up as some rediculous character on Nick or Disney, sending puking pics to his friends and naked pics of his girlfriends to the highest bidder, I would be horribly disappointed. I think the hopes are realistic, as long as the person hoping is realistic. It would be great to be the mother of super geniuses, bringing the world peace and environmental soundness, not to mention cures for cancer and the common cold. I would be just as happy as the mom of blue collar workers, assuming they could think and learn.

I chose a classical curriculum, because it is the most rigorous, well rounded one I found. My son's issues are all grounded in his being 'bored' and reading the descriptions online, as well as TWTM, lead me to believe this would be far from boring. I felt really let down when I realized that my public school education hadn't even gotton me ready to attend the local community college. I was angry that my AP degree meant little more than a GED, because of the level of education I was given. When I read about becoming a non-learner, lights went off over my head, and I realized what had happened to me. I learned to dip to a lower level, in order to fit in, in order to make my teachers happy, and I could not bare to let that happen to Drew. The incident with the report card and his rediculous teacher's take on his 'behavior problems' were the last straws. My husband's reasons for going along with me are the same as my own. We continue to learn, I'm taking all the classes I can handle and Dh is living vicariously through me, but we both feel the perfidy of a school system that only creates blue collars.

We can recognize that relative to the listener, speech can be considered evil/immoral. The problem is, who gets to decide? The beauty is, the framers saw this is issue and countered it with blanket protection. IOW, speech is free. Public speech, when it falls within the parameters of local and state laws, is not to be hindered. The parameters set to protect other citizens from suffering any loss of personal rights, are making libel and slander. Children were not always looked upon as things to be protected, more as property. So, there was no concern that little pitchers with big ears might pick up a slogan or two. I think the protestors chants could be construed as slander, if what they were saying was slanderous. Otherwise, it's not slander. It's wrong, immoral, disgusting and steps well outside the bounds of decency, but still protected by the Constitution. Why? Well, because most funeral protests do not revolve around the dead, but around an issue the protestors want raised to the forefront. Is it wrong to use a dead person as a pulpit? I believe so, but then, I'm sure there are many that would disagree. What about anti-war protestors? That mom, forever ago, that protested at her own son's funeral? Should that be illegal? It was her son, her baby, in that coffin. As for the counter question, free speech can be stymied once one is on private grounds. It can also be hindered by the entering of a public building, if that building has rules in place. Can you wail in court? Beat your chest, jump like a monkey and bray like a mule? Sure, if you want to be held in contempt. Inside somewhere its different. The rules change. Our rights do stop at the point of enfringing upon the rights of others and that is where the line should stay. Location is always important. Inside vs. outside, public vs. private, etc. Which is why I LOVE blanket rights and abhor blanket laws. Let's protect the kids, oh I know! We'll make a law that says that every single toy MUST be tested before it can be sold to kids. That's a great law, woohoo, save the children, yeehaw, jump on the band wagon! Oh... sorry OP Shop. Sorry, small businesses... sorry Ebayer... sorry parents that just wanted to get a little something for the kids... sorry kids... no toys for you!

That's us! With three younguns', we're tapped out :) Neither of us, however, are willing to undergo any procedures. It is even more complicated, because my mom had breast cancer with hormone receptors. IOW, she got breast cancer from taking estrogen. So! I don't take any pills or anything with hormones. Oh, and he's allergic to latex! Woohoo! So, we don't plan on anymore, but the BC options in the house are severely limited and we aren't willing to get cut. Let's see how long this lasts!

I agree. DH refuses to get his stuff tied off and I just can't imagine allowing someone to cut me open outside of life threatening problems. The possible side-effects for either procedure have scared us both off. We are also the 2%ers, if there's a slim chance of something going wrong, it tends to go wrong for us.

I thought plenty of things. Oh, I thought about stapling his pants to the chair and glueing his eyes to the paper. I thought about screaming at the top of my lungs. I thought about systematically destroying his toys until he got the work done. Trust me... I thought about it. In reality, I fussed some, but just kept him there, no lunch, no potty breaks, no nothing. Thankfully, today, we were nearly done by lunch (he's dawdling over a history project, but that is a-okay with me). I think it was just the return from a break. Oh, but we did discuss no more two week vacations. I don't think we'll see one of those for a very long time to come.

:confused: Have you kidnapped my son? Wait, he's right here... are you me? OMG, we spent three hours, THREE HOURS, on math, yesterday. Let me write that again, THREE bleepitybleepin HOURS! on math. One worksheet, twelve review problems, THREE HOURS!!!!!! I will say, Drew does like handwriting to a point, he's proud of his new cursive skills, but there's enough whine included in that part of the day to make me worry about driving later. I told him, next time, one week vacation is all he gets. Today, we managed to get through the work by two :( I'm hoping that by next week we'll be back to having the afternoons free. I feel your pain.

FYI, making tea solo (or undergoing a tea treatment from the spouse) can alleviate stress and even get rid of headaches. Of course, it's almost like exercise at that point (I know it'll help, but I don't wanna!). The release of happy hormones/chemicals in your brain (from the tea), helps you cope. We still have our regularly scheduled tea, regardless of whether we 'want to' at the time. So, I answered that it doesn't effect our tea consumption. We may not 'want' to, but we do it anyway.

:iagree: Is it that people are not allowed to disagree, should some generalized ps bashing be at hand? I must say, in my short time here, I've never seen anyone attack someone for a personal experience in ps, that was related with hopes of support. I have seen some... what I would consider questionable, responses to general questions about raising kids, sports and what have you, but never following the personal experience of a parent. That being said, when things are posted as a direct attack to public schools and then extended to cover all public schools (see one case used to show what 'must' go on at all schools), then responses should be expected. JMO