Does anybody know of a media outlet that does not manipulate and distort its reporting to serve an agenda? I'm not being snarky here. Seriously, if you know of one, please share. Both sides make this same accusation.

DS goes to a morning preschool program, even though he's only 2 (but turning 3 a week from Saturday... yikes! :scared: ). It's from 8:30-12 and only two days per week. There are options for three- and even five-day programs. I see lots of parents dropping off but more grandparents picking up. When DD went there, I was working, so I dropped her off and MIL picked her up. I know working parents often have need of a full-day program, but I'm very glad the half-day option exists. DS loves going to "school" and it gives me a good chunk of uninterrupted time to work with DD at home. I think I make a pretty decent elementary teacher, but I am terrible at preschool-type activities, so the plan is to keep DS in preschool and perhaps even a private kindergarten, and start homeschool when he's 6.

Wow, I wish I had something helpful to add, but I don't. We have crazy in my family, but it's a much more benign form of crazy. Warm hugs and much love to all of you who have had to deal with these horrible people. You deserved better.

This kind of thing is one of the major reasons why I think that it's a bad idea for churches to have a paid staff. It's just too easy for things like this to happen, and when they do, lots of people (not just the one who was fired) get hurt. IMHO, while I agree that this man should have (and hopefully did) carefully consider the risks involved in leaving his job to join the church's staff, I also think that if a church decides to take on the role of employer, it has a greater obligation to its employees than a typical company, or even a typical non-profit. Unless the employee did something egregious and illegal, the church should have made a greater effort to extend, first, job counseling and/or training, and second, severance. Businesses exist to make a profit, and they don't have a moral obligation to consider the needs of their employees. By their very definition as the Body of Christ, if churches intentionally and/or carelessly harm a Christian brother and his family, they are harming themselves and acting contrary to God's will. I'm not saying they were obligated to keep him on staff forever, but even with cause to let him go, they should have made more of an effort to do so gently, and in a way that caused the least possible amount of pain. I have been on church staffs, and I've seen the inner workings of more churches than I care to count. IME, they are not always the great places to work that one might expect them to be. Luther's ideas about vocation make a lot more sense to me now that I've gotten over the feeling that I can only love God and serve my neighbor within the confines of a church. I don't know that I would leave my church over one incident such as this, unless it was part of a larger pattern of behavior. But, I agree wholeheartedly with the others who have raised concerns over your church's leadership structure. If the staff are building themselves a little fiefdom, I would run as fast as I could in the opposite direction.

:grouphug: Sending good thoughts your way...

See my link above. Looks like DNPE has backed off on the inspections. They won't be doing any more after the 5 they've scheduled. Sounds like people weren't happy.

We're not, but it's on our list to look into. We're having to "ease into" everything to avoid going bankrupt. :) No, I wouldn't refuse, either, necessarily. I've read the statutes, and they seem relatively straightforward, but my sister is an attorney, so I might ask her to take a look just to see if I'm missing anything. I was curious as to how the law is enforced, logistically. If it's an option to mail in the scores or even meet the representative off-site, I would prefer that to having someone in my home. That's simply a personal preference; I'm private like that. And, as I said, since it is our first year we don't really have anything to show them. But if all they want is to see a test score, what is the point of an in-person meeting? I did think it was odd the way that NCHE made it a point to say that compliance is required, but that there's no penalty for non-compliance. ETA: Thank you both for your advice!

I think for me it has been learning to see the Bible as one, long, interconnected story instead of disconnected vignettes. That shift in perspective made so many things fall into place that hadn't before. If you are looking for more mechanical knowledge (grammar, history, etc.), I have really enjoyed the materials from the Koinonia Institute. You can take classes online where you participate in discussion via chat room, or just get the mp3's and do them on your own. FYI, it does skew conservative/evangelical, in case that's an issue for you. Overall, though, I don't think you can beat prayerful reading with the help of the Holy Spirit. :Angel_anim:

Ah! Just saw this -- apparently posted sometime today: http://nche.com/story/dnpe-suspends-homeschool-visits

This one was on one of my listservs this morning. http://nche.com/story/dnpe-renew-homeschool-visitation It's our first year homeschooling, so I don't know how this works exactly. On the one hand, it says I'm *required* to meet with them if they request it. But then it says there's no penalty for not complying. Which is it? We don't have anything to show them at this point, except for immunization records and a few weeks' worth of attendance. DD is only 8, so she wasn't even tested in ps up to this point. I assume they would not want to evaluate us until we have at least a year under our belts? I am kind of curious as to where all these "numerous inquiries regarding the accountability of NC homeschoolers" are coming from... :glare:

DD8 is going as the dish that ran away with the spoon. I picked up some cardboard cake rounds at Hobby Lobby the other day. My mom has a giant metal spoon for her to carry. She wanted to be a full place setting (Nana has a fork, too), but then we figured it would be too hard to carry her candy bucket. DS2 (almost 3!) is going as a boy in a kissing booth. I figured I'd better jump at my chance to do something cute while he still has no real opinon about his costume. Can't wait to slather on some cheap red lipstick and smooch him up! :001_tt1:

Does she draw? You could have her design some notecards, etc. and have them printed up.

Does your doctor's office have a nurse's line or a doctor who's on call during off hours? Usually their voice mail or answering service can give you that number. At least you can get some reassurance about what you're feeling, even if you can't speak to your doctor until the morning. Hope you feel better soon. Ibuprofin is my usual go-to for cramps. :grouphug:

Disclaimer: I have NOT researched this thoroughly, so I'm not claiming that the article you posted is factual (or not). But the bill referenced in the last paragraph apparently was introduced in the SC House. Excerpt: "Section 43-1-300. No agency, department, or other state entity, including, but not limited to, the Department of Social Services and the Department of Health and Human Services, may authorize an employee, contractor, vendor, or any other person acting on behalf of the department to conduct or participate in an involuntary maternal, infant, and early childhood in-home visitation pursuant to Section 2951 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 and any subsequent federal act that amends that section or that may refer to an entity or a process established pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010." (Source: http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess120_2013-2014/bills/3101.htm) And here is the link to the section of the ACA mentioned in the SC bill: http://www.hrsa.gov/grants/apply/assistance/homevisiting/homevisitingsupplemental.pdf I will be reading up on this further. ETA: I would be surprised if it is as ominous as they are making it sound.

I tend to be that way too. Yes, I am that mom who has made her dd re-fold all the shirts in her drawer -- because after I have washed, dried, and folded them all, I don't think it's too much to ask that she neatly place them inside the drawer instead of wadding them up and cramming them in. (And I do account for things like making sure the drawer is not overcrowded, etc. so as not to make her compliance with my expectations unncessarily difficult. Also, this only happened once, so don't assume I am some kind of slave-driving, Mommie-Dearest monster.) I want to be clear that narration is not the issue here. This child has been writing and illustrating her own books (fiction and nonfiction) for years. She writes better than a lot of adults I know (including my dh), both in penmanship and in content. She is perfectly capable of writing her own narrations; we have simply been talking through them beforehand as a way to help her organize her thoughts and understand what is expected of her since neither she nor I have done this before. She bangs out three or four sentences without blinking. Narrations have not given us any trouble up to this point; it just so happened that the history narration was the precursor to the incident the other day. It could easily have been grammar or math or spelling. This has more to do with attitude than ability. There is a difference between "this work is too hard" and "I don't feel like giving the effort that is required for me to do this correctly." As such, the question I was really asking was, "Is it developmentally unrealistic to expect an 8-year-old to care about putting forth her best effort simply because it is the right thing to do?" (I don't want to get into any further debate as to whether or not it is, in fact, the right thing to give your best effort. Suffice it to say that, in our family, it is.) At any rate, it sounds like the answer to my question is, "Yes."

NCIS was good; it will be interesting to see how they get rid of Ziva. I think she'll just go completely off the grid. Hopefully they'll leave room for a return appearance down the line. I sure hope they don't kill her off like they did Kate. Anyone planning to watch MasterChef Junior tonight? I love MasterChef, but I can't decide if I should watch this one. It will either make me feel mad at Gordon Ramsay for yelling at little kids, or guilty that my kids can't cook gourmet meals... :tongue_smilie:

I don't have any great advice, but if it is any consolation, my sister was like that as a kid. Especially in the mornings (she has never been and probably never will be a "morning person"). Sometimes I wondered (usually out loud) if she lived in an alternate universe. But she is now a successful attorney working on Capitol Hill in DC. Hope that helps. :grouphug:

You're not off topic. This is a big "aha" for me too. It never occurred to me how pressure-filled it must be to be the only kid in class. We chose to homeschool precisely BECAUSE we didn't want her to be lost in the sea of papers. But it's important to consider the other side of that, too. Thanks to those who pointed that out. I was the kid who was terrified to make a mistake and cried for 10 minutes when I did. That probably surprises no one who's read this thread. :) And I am truly glad my daughter is not me. I will try (even harder) to be encouraging instead of disparaging.

Barring something catastrophic, putting her back into school isn't an option at this point. We agreed as a family when we took this on that we would give it at least one year. At the end of the year we'll reevaluate to see where we want to go. At any rate, she doesn't *really* want to go back to school; that was just an emotional reaction. She's over it now. I think up to this point I have taken more of a nonchalant approaching to fixing mistakes. I've tried to, anyway. I'm definitely a Type A personality, and I know that I can be overbearing. I try to temper that, although I probably fail more often than I succeed. It helps to know that others have seen similar things at this age. I know in many ways she is very mature and responsible for her age. Sometimes that fools me into thinking she's more mature than she is. I don't think she's bored; she seems to enjoy most of what we do, and overall she seems happier than when she was in school. But, it's possible. Obviously, she is my oldest, and I am struggling because I don't quite know where to set the bar for an 8-year-old. Especially academically. Curriculum-wise, we are following the third-grade guidelines from WTM pretty closely because I had no idea where to begin and it seemed like a good place to start. It seems pretty rigorous to me, much more than she was getting at ps. I hadn't thought of a challenge equalling more mistakes -- that's a good point. Even though they seem to me to be careless mistakes, it may be more that she is still learning to apply the concepts. She is mastering them, I am sure of it, and it doesn't have to be perfect. Now would probably be a good time for a first conversation about what is working and what we need to tweak. I knew that there would be some trial and error this first year especially. Six weeks will be a good benchmark to talk about what she likes/dislikes, etc. Appreciate the feedback!

Is it the "stranded on a island" thing? I can see that appealing to a little boy. Maybe he'd like Robinson Crusoe or The Swiss Family Robinson?

It's pretty intense. I think I read it for the first time in about 7th grade. I would probably hold off another couple of years.

Well, it took us six weeks, but it finally happened. DD had her first meltdown and asked to go back to public school this morning. Now, that in itself is not necessarily an issue. I think she was just feeling frustrated and that's how she expressed it. Most every day up to this point she has gushed about how much she loves homeschooling. So I am not really bent out of shape about one whiny, "I wanna go back to REAL school!" What bothers me is the nagging feeling that this is indicative of a larger problem. Namely, that dd has never been one to "push through" when the going gets tough, IYKWIM. One of the major reasons we decided to take her out of ps is that we felt she was being allowed to coast and was not being challenged. She's bright -- not genius or anything, but she would have been in the gifted program had she stayed in ps. I honestly don't think she worked hard a single day in the three years she went to school. We are not doing anything this year that is above grade level, and certainly nothing that is above her intelligence level. But she balks at the fact that I expect her to put 100% effort into her work. Sometimes her papers are neatly written, and sometimes they look like stuff she wrote at 6. Not illegible, but nowhere close to her best effort. In math and grammar, we have daily issues with careless mistakes -- I know she understands the material and is capable of working the exercises, but she gets lazy or distracted or something and makes errors. It's not even like it's that many -- maybe 2 or 3 on a typical lesson -- but I guess I am bothered more by her attitude that she's okay with being "good enough." I don't expect perfection (honestly!!) but I want to teach her that if a job is worth doing, it's worth doing well. So far, I haven't really imposed any consequences for subpar work, other than going over the errors with her and sometimes having her correct them. I really wanted her to be self-motivated and hoped that encouraging her to take more pride in her work would move us in that direction. The meltdown today ensued because I made her rewrite her history narration. After I'd read the passage and we'd discussed, I had her narrate orally before writing it down (as we usually do, since narration is a new skill for us). Her oral narration was great; her written one was about half a sentence and pathetic. I followed up the do-over with a discussion about why it's important to do our best on our schoolwork. Thus the "I wanna go back to REAL school" because "I don't have to work so hard there!" I don't want to give the wrong impression. She's an awesome kid; she gets up at 6:30 every morning and has started on her independent work by 7:00. She's helpful and easygoing and artistic. I'm really very torn between wanting her to take pride in her work and do her best and NOT wanting to make her feel as though nothing she ever does is good enough for me. I'm just not sure how to strike that balance. Am I expecting too much?

It's not free (for anybody -- ps kids pay too); they have to buy their uniform, etc. but they're run through the school. They're the same teams dd played on when she was in ps. We've played through Upward and through the YMCA too; I know the difference. The school's name is printed on the jerseys. Sign-ups, pictures, etc. are all arranged through the school. They play in school gyms/fields. Maybe since it's elementary level and there is a booster club it's not considered to be part of the school. I don't know what the policies are at the higher levels. But if you ask any kid around here what team they play for, they'll say the name of their school. This is a rural county with lots of homeschoolers so possibly it's just a more homeschool-friendly district than the bigger counties.

No harm, no foul. Perhaps it would. A dear friend of mine struggled greatly with this last year as her mother lay dying and her father persisted in seeking out every possible treatment to keep her alive, even though she was a vegetable. Sometimes, in the midst of great suffering and when death is unavoidable, it might be most loving and compassionate to allow nature to take its course rather than prolong life at all costs. If you take it much farther than that, however, I think you're crossing over into the realm of God's sovereignty, which has been alluded to here already. It's complicated, to say the least. Christians are called to alleviate suffering not because of the suffering itself, but so that God is glorified. When we usurp his authority over life and death, God is not glorified. (And I would argue that prolonging a life that is clearly meant to end is as much a usurpation as ending a life that is clearly meant to continue.) I realize that probably doesn't fully answer your point, but it's the end of the day. And you ask hard questions. :) Just because someone believes that Jesus could (or will) return within his/her lifetime does not mean s/he wants to stir up war in the Middle East to "usher in" that return. The imminent return of Christ has been a theme of Christianity since the beginning. Many of the writers of the New Testament refer to their belief that they lived in the last times. Their take was that they had best be about spreading the gospel, as time was short. Jean answered this better than I could, but I agree with her point that nature, while pointing to the existence of an Intelligent Designer, can not reveal to us who said Designer is. It's only "divine revelation" in the sense that the Designer created it. Human ingenuity and technology can uncover move evidence for the Designer but can never reveal the personality of the Designer; only the Designer can do that. I'm afraid I'm not following your last paragraph, so maybe we're not answering your real question.

See my point above. I said orthodox, not Orthodox. Regardless, what I meant was that I was merely stating a doctrine that has been held by large swaths of the Christian Church throughout its existence and not attempting to cause anyone distress.