Admittedly, I have only read the first page of posts, but here are my question? 1. If WE all think that we can do a better job educating our children than the PS systems, then why would/should we "submit" (OP's term) to regulation by an entity deemed (by us) to be less capable of judging the true educational needs of your students? 2. If PS systems are so horribly underfunded that they cannot pay a decent wage to their teachers, where are they going to find the budget and personnel to regulate HS activities? Who will develp the standards? Who decides what standards are considered and finally developed. I get the impression that some are more concerned about how perceptions about Unschooling families reflect on more traditioanl/rigorous HS'ers. Who cares? I don't care what they do and I certainly don't care enough to have additionaly requiremetns imposed upon me due to THEIR (in)actions. Let them be. none of my business. just my opinion. no offense intended to anyone. -CS96 EDIT: just read the most recent post quoting your ultimate decision on how to proceed. Well done and very understanding. I've decided to leave my post up simply as a matter of debating the principle of the original post despite your recent resolution.

so... tell us which ten you picked!

actually it's not twisting the copyright law. buying one copy of a text and copying it for use with several children is illegal unless specifically liscensed by the owner of the copyright. period. I'm not saying anyone will do anything about it, but it is against the law. As to the argument regarding Christian values... "give unto Caesar....."

Re-sell: Unsure how it might be ruled in a court. You could get the protection of teh the previously referenced law regarding re-sale OR depending on what you click on the website, may be entering into an agreement NOT to re-sell that may be judged enforceable (I've never bought from the compnay so I don't know what their terms and conditions are on their website) Reproduction: Unless specifically stated, CAN'T do it. Fair use is very narrow, limited generally to very short excerpts for instructional purposes. Doesn't matter if it's public or private use. Doesn't matter if you make money or not. Doesn;t matter that you may think it doesn't make sense or seem "fair." You cannot copy someone else's work unless specifically given permission, OR within the parameters of fair use (very limited) copying a worksheet for subsequent children is NOT fair use. You may not like it, but that doesn't change the way copyright and fair use are applied by the courts. I've done a considerable amount of research on the topic, specifically with respect to photographic copyright protection. It applies equally to print.

thanks... got carried away :)

many have already been mentioned: Socrates "Apology" Mark Antony (Shakespeare) "Friends, Romans, Countrymen...." Henry VII (Shakespeare, again) "St. Crispin's Day aka: We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...." Patrick Henry "Give me liberty or give me death" free on Amazon Kindle Washington's Farewell address Gettysburg address FDRs address following the attack on Pearl Harbor Churchill's address to parliament regarding the Battle of Britain "Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few." MLKs "I have a dream" Kennedy's Inaugural Speech Reagan dress in Berlin 1987 "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Reagan Farewell speech "Shining city upon a hill" - cheers

cool thanks!!!

Based on the context, I think he's talking about achievement-style testing, not AP testing. Particlaurly since AP testing (in History) has an essay component, not exclusively MC.

MUST take a trip to the Star of the Republic Museum http://www.starmuseum.org at Washington on the Brazos and the Bullock Texas State History Museum http://www.thestoryoftexas.com in Austin GO TO the Alamo VISIT Gonzales, Goliad, and Presidio La Bahia

First, I think you've gotten some good advice re: test taking skills Second, I cannot speak to the curriculum choices as I'm not familiar with it, but there seems to be soem consistency in the comments of others. Third, wondering why the concern re: test scores in third grade. They are not used for anything that I am award of other than to evalute the PS proficiency in test prep. Last, I saw this article today. It may change your perspective on testing as well as you confidence in your own abilities. http://www.washingto...testing-regime/

My vote would be to STAY IN TEXAS.... good grief! Why on God's green Earth would ANYONE want to leave Texas!?!?!?! j/k...kinda. hope you find your answers. - a currently displaced Texan

based on teh heat in AZ you may consider riding after dinner so it's cooler. other that that I'd stick with an early turn out and regular school schedule. then maybe some light chores, dinner, ride, groom put up or turn back out it out overnight.

- turn off you wifi at your house - put an access code on it - put an access code on it until 1500 and then remove it problem solved

The ? was open to anyone. my point was, and I think you may share my view based on your resposne, that "historical fiction" can mean differnt things to different people. After all Herodotus is really historiography, but we still look to his works for knowledge. and as you stated Stowe's work is seminal even if a work of fiction. Literature informs us about the people who wrote it and the societie and cultures from which they came (or their perceptions of others). Ingnoring literary works, set in historical settings, is to only tell part of the story in my opinion. I am not disparaging it, but I cannot understand the massive current of "nonfiction exclusivity" I've seen lately. In the end, non-fiction is relative term when you consider that even academic studies are genrally publish with an agenda in mind utilized the facts that support the authors premise and attempting to repudiate facts used in opposing arguements. In teh end, non-fiction is only as "factual" as the the writer/publisher's desire/ability to present an event from every perspective imaginable. A massive undertaking that would likely only hold teh interests of PhD's studying a single facet of an event or problem.

Define historical fiction. would you consider Les Mise'rables historical fiction? Mark Twain? Stephen Crane? Chaucer? are we suggesting that even these should not be studied, or rather that they should not be studied for their historical content? Does not literature provide perpective on the societies and cultures that produce it; even when it is a society's look back on itself, written after-the-fact? (Les Mis was publish 30 years after the timeframe in which it is set)