I do this, too. There are some great blogs out there.

If you're ok with fiction - Nick of Time and Time Pirate by Ted Bell are great, action books. My boys loved the books. Def. just fun reading books, not "school" but they might be interesting enough to get your son to be more interested in reading. (I read the first aloud to my boys and then they fought over who got to read the sequel first.) For non-fiction, we liked DK Eyewitness WWII, The Big Book of WWII, Wright Brothers for Kids.

LOVE Kennesaw Mtn. So glad you mentioned it. I was blanking on the name. My kids had the best time there! I agree the Chattanooga aquarium is better than the GA aquarium. But I still think the GA one is worth the visit. World of Coke....hmmm, mixed reviews. Way corporate-y and the beginning movie - UGH. However, my kids could not get enough of the tasting at the end. (What's the name of that AWFUL one - you know the one that everyone tries and says "Ugh, gross!! Here you try it.") Since we're mentioning shopping - Trader Joes!!

I agree. It's interesting and a little scary. Scary because I'm not sure how to fix the problem. Your experience at grad school raises the pertinent question - how do you get a student to self-motivate? Ideas?

Lesser known must sees - Atlanta Botanical garden - fantastic kid garden. My kids LOVE it. Center for Puppetry Arts - esp. good if you have a bad weather day Fernbank - awesome exhibits. The Varsity - for food. Personally I recommend the grilled pimiento cheese sandwich. My boys would not. :) (assuming that you are going to go to the aquarium since it is well known and def. worth it.) Sorry I'm no help on the hotel front, but I'm sure you'll get great advice. As far as driving, it's really not that bad. Most of the main attractions have easy parking. Personally, I think it's less hassle than the marta. However, I'm not a big fan of driving in cities either, so I understand where your husband is coming from.

Edited so that the entire article isn't included.

My kids enjoyed them. We used them as enrichment, not core.

Whoops! Sorry. Here it is. From NYT Sept. 11, Thomas Friedman article: I want to share a couple of articles I recently came across that, I believe, speak to the core of what ails America today but is too little discussed. The first was in Newsweek under the ironic headline “We’re No. 11!” The piece, by Michael Hirsh, went on to say: “Has the United States lost its oomph as a superpower? Even President Obama isn’t immune from the gloom. ‘Americans won’t settle for No. 2!’ Obama shouted at one political rally in early August. How about No. 11? That’s where the U.S.A. ranks in Newsweek’s list of the 100 best countries in the world, not even in the top 10.” The second piece, which could have been called “Why We’re No. 11,” was by the Washington Post economics columnist Robert Samuelson. Why, he asked, have we spent so much money on school reform in America and have so little to show for it in terms of scalable solutions that produce better student test scores? Maybe, he answered, it is not just because of bad teachers, weak principals or selfish unions. “The larger cause of failure is almost unmentionable: shrunken student motivation,” wrote Samuelson. “Students, after all, have to do the work. If they aren’t motivated, even capable teachers may fail. The unstated assumption of much school ‘reform’ is that if students aren’t motivated, it’s mainly the fault of schools and teachers.” Wrong, he said. “Motivation is weak because more students (of all races and economic classes, let it be added) don’t like school, don’t work hard and don’t do well. In a 2008 survey of public high school teachers, 21 percent judged student absenteeism a serious problem; 29 percent cited ‘student apathy.’ ” Our big problems are unfolding incrementally — the decline in U.S. education, competitiveness and infrastructure, as well as oil addiction and climate change. Our generation’s leaders never dare utter the word “sacrifice.” All solutions must be painless. Which drug would you like? Rothkopf and I agreed that we would get excited about U.S. politics when our national debate is between Democrats and Republicans who acknowledge that we can’t compete unless we demand more of our students — and then debate longer school days versus school years — who acknowledge that bad parents who don’t read to their kids and do indulge them with video games are as responsible for poor test scores as bad teachers — and debate what to do about that. Who will tell the people? China and India have been catching up to America not only via cheap labor and currencies. They are catching us because they now have free markets like we do, education like we do, access to capital and technology like we do, but, most importantly, values like our Greatest Generation had. That is, a willingness to postpone gratification, invest for the future, work harder than the next guy and hold their kids to the highest expectations.

Did you catch this article in the NYT? http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/opinion/12friedman.html?_r=1 Reminded me of my favorite saying: "Learning can only happen when a child is interested. If he’s not interested, it’s like throwing marshmallows at his head and calling it eating.†Thoughts on the article?

Haven't read those, but looking forward to reading the responses. As far as other recs: How Things Work by MacCaulay - and if you like it, he has tons of books, most can actually be found in the library. Anything about Da Vinci. We liked Da Vinci Inventions You Can Build Yourself and Leonardo's Machines. Mathematicians are People, too - I was guessing that the Champions series was biographies. Could be wrong. Archimedes and the Door of Science - Benick - again if you like it, she has others along the same line.

What I'm hearing are two very diff. points of view. One side believes that any topic is valid for learning analytical and reasoning skills. The other side is saying that classes like Pop Culture studies are fluff. I think both sides are right. Ideally, a prof. could teach all sorts of fabulous skills using any topic as the launching pad. However, we have all seen the fluff classes that do not teach anything. As an econ major, I agree with the poster who mentioned opportunity cost (I mean, how could I not agree, really?) :) The class may or may not be a fine class, but what else could the kid take and would that other course of study be better?

Stott pilates is excellent and the videos I've seen (matwork and flex-band) are very good. You are wise to steer clear of a lot of them. A friend got Denise Austin's video. Ugh. Do you have a pilates studio in your area that will allow you to drop in for one class? If you have an instructor work with you (even in a class situation, not personal training), you will get so much more out of your pilates work. Well worth the 20 bucks or whatever they charge per class. If you do choose to do this, talk to the instructor ahead of time and let him or her know that you are new, want to learn proper form and encourage him/her to correct you. If you don't do this, many instructors will just fix any dangerous postures but not nitpick on your form because they want you to have a positive class experience. Then as you come to more and more classes, they will perfect your form. You want them to know that you came to class to learn and want them to really work on your form. Instructors love this and will be thrilled.

Another good book to consider - Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War - the Landmark Edition. I just started reading this version and it's fantastic. Makes it so much easier to understand. Not a big Anna Karenina fan. War and Peace - drags in parts, but worthwhile.

I'd call HSLDA on that one. Notionally, I'd think that you would register in whichever state you plan on filing your taxes and registering to vote. Very cool though!!! That sounds like an amazing adventure.

There is always a possibility - in fact a certainty - that people will make bad choices. People always make some bad choices. Fact is - they are THEIR bad choices. I'd rather have to live with my bad choices than be forced to live with a federally or state mandated bad choice. People will never choose the way you (general you) think they should. I mean, people are still using Saxon Math and I hated it!! :) On the question of who "owns" kids for life - well, no one. However, parents are responsible for them til they are 18. Parents have a much larger claim on that responsibility than society does. Will some parents fail in their job of teaching their kid. Yep. Do many school systems and teachers fail in their jobs of teaching their kids - Yep. You are right that society does end up paying for those failures. However, regulation hasn't made the schools failure-proof. I don't think regulations will make HS failure-proof. I disagree that most regulations exist for our own sake and make us safer. Many regulations exist because of lawsuits, poorly written laws, bureaucratic ease, etc. As far as putting more regulations in place - I'm not comfortable giving gov't more power over my life. I'd rather err on the side of allowing people to be free to live their lives and make and own their own choices. Making people less free to minimize theoretical potential problems sounds like a bad idea to me. I'm glad that you are having a successful time working with your school. It is wonderful that you are having such a positive experience. Remember that some of us are not so lucky. Isn't it better for all of us to choose what is best for us individually?

Good for you. Now, while your still upset, but calm enough to write clearly, write a letter and tell the bank WHY. The bank won't know why you closed your account. Let them know and trust that Rude Guy's boss will let him know, too......in a not very pleasant way.

:iagree: I'm so glad someone else recommended the Sheinkin books. I sometimes feel like a rep I recommend them so often. They are fantastic! Another fun book that is easy to pick up and read bits and pieces of is A Brief History of Everything. http://www.amazon.com/Brief-History-Everything-Ken-Wilber/dp/1570627401

Mine does. He is an outstanding writer, so he has taken it upon himself to focus on writing with them. He finds WSJ articles for them to read and summarize. He edits them and they redo them. He also assigns them books reports. It's been a mixed blessing. It messes up MY beautiful schedule. However, it has been great to see the boys' writing improve dramatically. Plus they are getting a broader education by reading articles on all sorts of topics and then discussing with us. Makes for very interesting dinner conversation (ok, not always, we went thru a few steel industry chats and zzzzzz) Other than that and informal learning, he leaves it all to me.

One of my kid's did not do well on an eye exam, but the dr. said that it could be his age (wasn't paying close attention, didn't follow directions well enough. It was years ago, wish I could give you more detail). I took him back in a year and he did fine. and dr. said his vision was 20/20. Perhaps that is what your dr. is thinking? I agree with folks here that getting a 2nd opinion is money well spent. I really just wanted to post to tell you about zennioptical.com if you didn't already know about it. Cheap glasses that have worked very well for several members of my family. Prices start at 8 dollars a pair. Just thought I'd pass it on in case your children misplace things as often as mine do.

WHAT??? Not a fan of "The Coug?" I dunno. I pretty tolerant of most things. You can have your religion, politics, curriculum, school choice, yada yada, but come on!!! Ya gotta love "The Coug!!" ;) I am curious about the back story. You're right, there was def. a message being sent.

Lots to ponder and try. Thank you for your ideas. I love quicken's debt. reduction plan and used that to successfully pay off school loans and cars years ago. It's just the day to day record keeping that was getting me. Off to quicken!!

Duct tape ETA - ok, for those of you opposed to the whole duct tape thing...the ever popular school box. We don't actually have a box. I have 5 sets of educational toys that I bring out each day (one on Mon, etc.). Bristle blocks, legos, magnet mosaic board, dry erase board, lacing board, special markers, play doh, etc. When my 3 yo gets wound up, I bring out the box for the day. Also, and I hate to admit this, I've been known to use the gum distraction. One piece sure buys a lot of quiet in my house.

So I'm gearing up for my second attempt at Quicken. Please, take pity on my. Can someone please tell me how they setup their quicken accounts? We buy most things on CC and pay off each month. I'd like to be able to break down spending my categories - grocery, travel, clothing,etc. What is the best way to do this? How many categories to you have? Do you enter each receipt as you get them or keep 'em and wait til you get your cc bill and break them out? How do you separate a home business acct? Completely separate or just a separate category? Any advice, website recs, thread links, etc. is greatly appreciated.

Wait for legal aid. Laws in each state vary so much that what works for one person won't work for another. Spend your waiting time documenting everything and getting organized. You may also want to do a little searching on the lawyer she's using. Could have a history of this sort of thing. Not that you can necessarily use that, but at least it could let you know who's pulling the fast one. Sorry you're going thru this.

I don't do full OAMC cooking sessions anymore. Instead, when I'm making one of the OAMC recipes for dinner, I make a triple batch and freeze the other two. Main tip I'd give - try a recipe first before you make 5 batches of it. You may find your family hates it. OAMC getting started: http://www.frugalmom.net/blog/2010/05/7-steps-to-once-a-month-cooking/ Recipes: Good list of several sites. http://busycooks.about.com/od/makeaheadrecipes/Make_Ahead_Recipes_and_OAMC.htm