Awesome! Thanks for sharing!

Sounds like we have a lot in common. We pulled dd at the end of last year, in large part due to Common Core (or at least our district's implementation of it, if there's a difference). We had attended a meeting about Read to Achieve at the end of 2nd grade but honestly didn't think much about it because dd is an advanced reader so we didn't anticipate a problem. We're glad we missed all the hubbub around the tests, though, even if it was by accident! ;) I forgot to say above that the law does not require you to test at the end of the year, just once every 12 month period while the child is homeschooled. Although the recommendation is that you test fairly close to the same time each year, so you get a more accurate comparison of progress. I'll also second what Ellie said above: Your school and/or district will probably have no clue about homeschool law here. In some states, I think the public schools are more involved with homeschoolers (such as states that have to provide portfolios or be evaluated by a licensed teacher). But in NC, we are pretty much separated. Feel free to PM me if I can help.

What scripture are you referencing here? I'm not familiar with one that says this off the top of my head.

It looks like that's correct. The limited option only allows you to attend one session per day. That might not be worth the drive, unless there was one topic you REALLY were interested in. Hope to see you there!

NC requires homeschoolers to test annually. Since you are just starting, I believe you have 12 months to complete the first test. Double-check me on that, though. NC homeschoolers DO NOT take the EOG's. There is a list of acceptable tests. We're doing the Woodcock-Johnson III next week. Here's the link to NCDNPE's FAQ's about testing: http://www.ncdnpe.org/FAQs/hhh114s.aspx. Just curious, did the Read to Achieve initiative affect your decision to homeschool? We also have 3rd-grader, and we're hearing lots of complaints from her peers and their parents.

We use CLE LightUnits. We started the year doing every problem (this is our first hs year). But because dd is a quick learner and CLE uses tons of review, we recently switched it up. Now she completes the new material (all problems) for two lessons at a time, three days per week. (CLE only introduces one small concept per lesson.) One day per week, she does the review section from one lesson to keep her skills fresh. On the last day, we added Beast Academy for more challenge (all the problems there). She also is required to correct any mistakes from the previous day's lesson, complete a speed drill (addition, subtraction, or multiplication), and study flash cards every day. She was getting bored and making lots of careless errors before Christmas. She is much happier now.

That's not it, exactly. Christians believe that Christ kept the full law on our behalf. So in his death, we receive not only forgiveness for our transgressions, but his righteousness imputed to us as well. Theologians refer to this as his "passive obedience" (paying the penalty for sin) and his "active obedience" (fulfilling the law).

They will when they're older, I bet. And I bet she will appreciate the things she was able to do and the time she was able to spend with you when she's grown. At least, I hope mine will! Hahaha, nah... It's a combination of a couple of nicknames I've used for my kids over the years.

With the right last name, I like it. I kicked it around for while with dd, along with Corinne and Cordelia. DH vetoed all three. We did end up with a "C" name, though! I also like Daphne and Ophelia with your existing Phoebe. :p

I think it's so awesome that you can homeschool on the road! Just think of the memories you're making. We don't have a school on wheels, but I like to think we're making some memories too! :laugh:

We might be interested too, if there were some older elementary kids participating (or when dd8 gets a little older). We are not super-isolated, but we definitely don't live in a neighborhood full of kids. We do try to get involved in co-op and other extracurriculars, despite the drive, but it has been harder for dd to form bonds with kids that she only sees once a week. But honestly, she only has one friend I'd consider *close* -- maybe that's typical at her age, or of her personality? I never know when I should worry about these things! Her BFF also moved and now lives 45 minutes away, but we make a point of trying to see her once a month or so.

If anyone is organizing a meet-up, or interested in organizing a meet-up, please let me know!

LOL! Us too. We're called Cair Paravel Classical Academy, after the castle in Narnia. (Plus, I figured it sounded Latin-y enough that anybody who didn't know what it meant would assume we were all high-falutin' and college prep.) Trying to come up with a castle logo that doesn't look Disneyish turned out to be harder than I anticipated...

That's kind of what I figured. Thanks for answering! I'm kind of a sucker for books, so I should probably leave my debit card at home... Talked it over with DH, and we're definitely going if my parents will keep the kids. Hope maybe I'll run into some of y'all there!

This is me, exactly. Which is why I was waiting to see workshop descriptions from GHC; I was trying to figure out how much dodging I'd have to do. I'm still annoyed that they haven't bothered to post them, when at one time their website said they would be posted in January. And I signed up for their "updates" email, which has been nothing more than a weekly sign-up-now! pitch. <_< I also really would like to hear SWB, and Richmond is a lot closer for me than any of the mini-workshops. DH and I are going to discuss it tonight, but I think this is hands-down the one that fits us best. Question for those who have been to conferences before: Do you usually get better deals if you buy curriculum there, or is it more a chance to thumb through the books?

I know. DH and I could both go to GHC for less than half of what it would cost for me to go to VA alone. The only benefit is that we could probably save some money on lodging, but not enough to make up the difference. I think we could swing it, financially, but I'm a real cheapskate! Do you know where SWB and Jim Weiss are going to be?

This. I first started "kicking the tires" on homeschooling before dd went to kindergarten. But dh was pretty firmly opposed. He always fell back on the socialization argument. He comes from a long line of public educators (both of his parents were public school teachers, as well as several aunts/uncles, and his grandfather was a revered superintendent of schools -- the local ps admin building is named for him). Ironically, dh's own ps experience was pretty lousy, and although he is quite successful, he never earned a college degree and still struggles in some fundamental areas. He has phenomenal people skills, which are the key to his success -- but maybe also why he's so concerned about socialization. I was the straight-A student who graduated summa cum laude with a four-year degree in under three years. But to be honest, I didn't have any confidence in my ability to homeschool until I read TWTM. It is overwhelming, but it gave me a road map to follow. Once *I* felt confident enough to at least START, dh started to come around. I could talk intelligently about what we would be doing, and why. He agreed to give it a go. We still say that we're taking it a year at a time. Anything can happen. But at this point, dd is happy and flourishing, and we're starting to make plans to homeschool ds, too. So I would say: educate yourself first. Be able to explain what you want to do and why. Then ask him for his blessing to try one year, or even just one semester, if that's all he's comfortable with.

We're in NC, but I'm thinking of going. I really like the sessions they're offering. I've been debating between that one and the GHC in SC, but I would prefer something without a lot of religious content. And I'm kind of annoyed, because GHC still hasn't posted any descriptions of their workshops. I just wish the VaHomeschoolers wasn't SO much more expensive! :thumbdown: Anyone going? Been before? Recommend it?

Seriously? That's the position you're going to take??? :confused1: I didn't say that anything I said was "proof." And I could turn your argument right back around on you, because you said essentially the same thing: "MANY scholars who do historical criticism..." There is no definitive proof that the Genesis accounts WEREN'T written down earlier, or that they WEREN'T inspired by God. You can't prove a negative. And yes, there is some faith involved, but after all, we're talking about religion here. I don't think the involvement of faith is a surprise to anybody in this discussion. I do think, however, that it is intellectually dishonest to point out that "many" scholars believe one thing, without acknowledging that "many" others believe something else entirely. I was merely rounding out the dogmatic statement that YOU made. As to the canon of scripture, there is good evidence that the New Testament writings were in fact considered to be inspired scripture by the early church well before the composition of the canon. Peter, for example, refers to Paul's writings as scripture in one of his own letters. So I don't think you can exclude the New Testament from 2 Timothy based on that argument alone. Even if you can, we ARE discussing the Old Testament here, aren't we?

But that's not what it says. It says that Eve was created FROM Adam, not in his image. By that logic, we'd have to say that Adam was created in the image of the dirt, because that's where he came from. This is actually a very important distinction, IMO. I agree with your assessment of the two stories -- in no way are they mutually exclusive, even though one is more detailed. The details given are not in conflict with one another. Yes, and many biblical scholars believe that, whatever the mechanical process for compiling the stories, the process was overseen by God, who is the ultimate author of all scripture. In which case, the two accounts are not an either/or proposition, but a both/and proposition. If you look at the overarching scope of the Bible, it has an amazing continuity for 66 books written by 45 men over several hundred years. See my point above. The mechanical process by which it was written was through men, sure. But MANY Christians throughout the centuries have believed that the ultimate author of the Bible was God himself. The New Testament even makes this claim for itself; it calls itself "breathed out by God" (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16). No disrespect meant to your brother by any means, but I don't quite follow the logic behind going "red-letter" as a response to the fact that scripture was written by men. Men did, after all, write down the words of Jesus as well. And some of those same men wrote other parts of scripture which are rejected by red-letter Christians.

Most YEC's I know don't regard it as a salvation issue, per se. I think for a lot of them, it has more to do with the authority of scripture. If you can take the creation account in Genesis (which presents itself in the form of a historical narrative, whether it is or not) as metaphorical, you can do the same thing with other historical passages. Which becomes a problem, especially when you get to the gospels. It's one of those "slippery slopes" we're always hearing about. ETA: I have not as yet picked a side in the YEC/OEC debate -- like someone said in one of the other threads, I'm a "Middle Earther"! :D

Same phenomenon here. And dd8 and dh will also just STAND THERE AND HOLLER while ds3 makes a huge mess. Thankfully, he's getting better but he still gets into things he shouldn't sometimes. Today, I was in the bathroom when I heard dd screaming, "No! NO!" When I was able to emerge, I found that she had left a mug of tea in her room, which he had dumped, as she watched, on her bed. The bed with the freshly cleaned sheets, which I had just put on about two hours previously. When dd was a newborn, dh was changing her diaper when she started to pee. He stood there, yelling, with a clean diaper IN HIS HAND, while pee ran all over the changing table and dripped onto the carpet. I had to get out of bed and clean it up. :banghead: ETA: DH is great about cleaning up usually, but he's terrible in a crisis.

Our former pastor constantly refers to his wife as "hot" (or worse yet, "smokin' hot") on Facebook -- and even from the pulpit! :ack2: "Sexy" gets thrown in there too. I don't have a problem with men calling their wives beautiful, etc. -- but those terms have a sexual connotation that, IMO, is just completely inappropriate for public discourse. Nobody needs that mental picture. I think it's kind of a weird thing to say with your kids sitting in the room, too. :laugh:

Glad to see this thread resurrected. My current UO's: Men who publicly refer to their wives as "hot" are disgusting. The ick-factor triples if said man is a pastor. No one on Facebook thinks your kids are half as cute as you do. I do not need or want to see a daily photo of your two children doing nothing but smiling for the camera. Nor do I need a daily reminder of how "blessed" and "undeserving" you are of these "two miracles" that God has given you. Thank God all you want, but leave me out of it.