Our go-to easy meal is a frittata or crustless quiche or egg bake, depending on the ingredients I have on hand. It's a good way to use up the bits of leftovers, too. My husband HATES eggs so I can't make this for dinner, even though it would save me once a week or so.

Forgot to mention that we also liked these readers from Dr Maggie's program. These are more explicitly phonics-linked. http://www.creativeteaching.com/products/dr-maggies-phonics-readers-variety-pack

Tadpoles makes a series of easy readers that sound like they'd fit your needs. The books are a step up from BOB books and have colorful illustrations. They're still mind-numbing and asinine, but it takes a long time before they can read anything interesting, anyway. http://www.crabtreebooks.com/products/by-subject/early-readers/tadpoles

Ladybug Girl and Bingo is a nice one. There's great imagination in nature that my kids respond to.

My oldest wasn't interested in learning until he was 5.75 years old. Within a few months (6 - 9) he realized he was reading fluently. It was surprise for him when he realized he could "read anything except those foreign words." My next reader wanted to read earlier and is teaching herself through some brute force. It's not as elegant as her brother, who was ready, but she's not discouraged yet. She's not fluent. She makes a lot of guesses and forgets some basic phonics rules at times, but she's happy in her mistakes.

Carolina has a state-centric acceptance policy, so it really matters if you're in state or out of state. When looking at the acceptance data Carolina is an outlier among the colleges included. I'm assuming it's because Carolina the college that best met the algorithm used, some metric looking at acceptance rates and academic reputation. I don't know how other UNC-system schools would fare on this system. State has a ranking around 100, with a higher acceptance rate (around 46 percent). That other "great" school, Duke, clearly, would not have made the cut. (As a Carolina grad, I have to grudgingly admit some good characteristics about Duke.) If I were a great high school student in a mountain or coastal county, though, I'd feel optimistic about getting into Carolina. The article itself says: To make the most out of this strategy, we've partnered with Niche to bring you the top schools in the country with great academics and high acceptance rates. To compile this list, Niche used its data for highest academics rankings, acceptance rates, and in-state population. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/underrated-college-in-every-state-2014-4#ixzz2yj4F0pNa edited for clarity

I seem to attract this kind of behavior, and some well-grained sense of politeness prevents me from brushing it off. (I have a Jehovah's Witness who's been coming by my house for close to a year now, and by now I don't have the heart to tell her that I'm a content Catholic.) I do think experiences like this help me to remember what's worth sharing with others, and why. It reminds me to ask more questions, both of my own experiences ("is this normal? what would you do? how can I help him do XXX?") but also to engage the other person in the conversation. No one likes to be monologued. I'd also try really, really had to have a charitable opinion of someone who needed to share all of this information, but fail.

Similarly, I told my husband that the one thing I'd miss not sending kids to school are the silly "gift" crafts they'd bring home - for Mother's Day or Christmas or whatever. We have all of mine as a child, and they're very sweet. We do crafts at home so we still have macaroni frames, but there's no element of surprise.

Our charter school used to be much more parent-led - co-op with external funding. The program is transitioning to a more formal teacher-led model, although it's not entirely clear what that will look like, since we're constantly reminded that "parents are partners in teaching, in the classroom and at home." We have a few other classes that are fabulous, run by experienced teachers who classroom manage with grace and enforce rules. I'm realizing as I think through the situation that it's really poor skills on the teacher's part. I'm just cranky (thus the "vent" post title) because I'd love to sit with my dog and drink coffee, too, but my little guy is really intent on being with his older siblings and "doing class." (Oh, and the dogs - we live in a part of CA where dogs are everywhere. I've never seen so many pet dogs in restaurants, supermarkets, Target...it's insane, probably not at all legal.) For many of the students, this is the first classroom experience AND the first experience away from parents, so for the first semester the parents would remain in the classroom. That's where the confusion over teacher's role in discipline first entered. Thanks for your feedback. It's really helped me clear my thinking on this issue.

I'm not sure why this is titled "underrated." It's measuring schools with good academics AND high acceptance rates. It should be titled: Good Safety Schools.

Thanks for helping me orient my thinking on this issue. I realize that I need to place more - for lack of a better word - blame on the teacher for not handling the class appropriately. I do like her, but I can see that she's not well equipped to handle this class. It's a very confusing mix of parent-participation/teacher-led instruction. The program is in transition now, and it's not clear what it's supposed to be, or where it's headed. The uncertainty shows in the quality of classes. Two of the families are very much of the limited rules/punishment philosophy. I don't know them very well, but either they don't enforce many rules in general or don't feel comfortable reprimanding/redirecting/removing their children in front of others. That complicates the situation for the teacher, who sees parents laughing at their child's antics while others are distracted or projects are ruined. I do think that most of the above actions are ones I wouldn't allow my children do in a classroom setting. They can go for an hour without a snack, especially right after lunch. They don't need to bring toys to class. They can participate, or quietly abstain. I think that when we're signing up for a classroom experience, there are standards of behavior which enable everyone in the classroom to get the most out of it.

My school-aged children (K and 1) participate in a few enrichment classes through our home-study charter school. My preschooler participates in the classes, when appropriate, with my supervision and assistance. I also have a 9 month old who is with me as well. If my preschooler weren't intent in participating, I'd leave my older kids at class, since the two littles would be better served by spending a few hours at the playground. I leave our science class every week really, really irritated with the other mothers in our group. The teacher needs assistance. There are 8 students, including my own three, and the rest are K4, K, or have some developmental issues that make classroom settings difficult for them. But the other mothers who could help? The mothers of the young children, or the mothers without infants strapped to their chests? They're out in the lobby with their dogs, gossiping. The lobby is just outside our classroom. It's not a secret that the students inside the classroom need help. Every week, the teacher hints that she could use more help. Should she ask? Yes, but I suspect that she feels uncomfortable doing so. She has a difficult time balancing her position as a "teacher" and the parents who are "teachers." She's very careful to not step on any toes pedagogically. She also has observed that when the children act out like this when the mothers ARE in the classroom, the mothers don't intervene or correct behavior, so she has assumed that this type of behavior is OK in the family. (And maybe it is, but it's still classroom inappropriate and distracts from the learning projects at hand.) Here are some things that happen that could use parental help OR a more forceful teacher (which would come with more clear rules from parents): - kids come into class at 1 p.m. and expect to eat snacks/lunch during the hour long class - kids refuse to do projects AND interrupt/disturb others who are on task (they should be taken out by parents, but sometimes the parents go shopping, or as I uncharitably consider it, take advantage of free babysitting) - kids arrive late, interrupting class not with their arrival but by demanding attention/telling stories/showing off belongings - kids come into class with stuffed animals/dolls/toys There have been several occasions where my children have been the only ones to pick up after class. This frustrates my kids, too. Are the above behaviors typical for an enrichment class for young homeschooled children? Are my expectations out of line? Should I just let it go?

Awesome! Thanks!

It doesn't help that I've been pregnant for years and years, so emotions are always high, but: City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems - cry every time We finished Charlotte's Web earlier this year - so much ugly crying, for the last few chapters. Just when you think you're done - bam! something else makes you tear up.

My sensory seekers are big chewers, so I purchased a few heavy-duty pencil toppers for them, plus a teething necklace - the kids that moms wear and babies chew. Much better than gum, in our case.

This is the third time I've come across this phenomenon. It's a real thing: http://www.popsci.com/trypophobia

For a long time, DH and I would use this book to solve pronunciation debates: http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Big_Book_of_Beastly_Mispronunciation.html?id=7iocw3kK9BIC edit: a list of words covered: http://www.pbs.org/speak/speech/beastly/ Love, love, love it. It's brought to like some really common mispronunciations that I now always hear when spoken: - mischievous - it's not mis-cheeev-i-ous - often - NO T I try hard not to, but I find myself judging when someone uses the "T" in often. Also, everyone in my family (and Indiana? or just the more "southern" parts?") pronounces the word "ornery" as "on-ray." This is the same area that gives us "warsh" for "wash" and "ruf" (short u) for "roof." Also, how about "pronounce+iation" for "pronunciation." I hear this one a lot; it gives me the shivers.

For us, a good ratio of fat/fiber as been good in keeping them full. Nuts, fancy cured italian meats, cheeses, hummus - I swear, it's like a cocktail hour for lunch and snacks at our house. We do a lot of beans and potatoes too - easy stuff to get going during the day that are largely hands-off. One of my kids will eat a spoonful of coconut oil. Or two spoonfuls. We also have a bad habit of making bacon for a snack. Also, before we eat snacks/meals, I make them drink 4-6 ounces of water. Sometimes, they're just thirsty, not hungry. Strong tastes help, too. Once we switched from turkey to salami and pepperoni, the kids eat less. I think they get taste sated more easily. This flies against the Dorito theory of taste satiation, though, so I'm probably all wet on this one.

My mom kept SO MUCH STUFF, and when I went through her things after she died, it was overwhelming. I wanted to toss everything. Because she saved so much, nothing seemed special. It's really colored how much and why I save things now. That said, I did keep my kids first Explode the Code workbook. It's fun to see their handwriting change as they progress through the pages. I can imagine it to be something fun for the kids to look back and see when they're older. It's literally the way they learned to read, so there's a lot of memories in there. They're easy enough to store. But the rest- even the cute projects we do for SOTW or science - gets recycled at the end of our year.

It's OK. I hoped for more, given the hype. I think it's the first *good* Disney movie in a while, plus there is a better message than "go get your man!" It's the first real Disney movie my daughter (age 5) has seen, so she's obsessed.

We took my daughter to the local tattoo/piercing parlor. It was...an experience. BUT I had no doubt that the piercer was well trained, and the equipment was all very sanitized. Plus, the piercer explained the differences in the piercing she used versus what you'd get at the mall - less painful, more sanitary, etc. We opted for a titanium stud since we have some history of nickle allergies in our family. If you Google around you'll see some discussion about the evils of mall piercing. I'm not entirely sure how bad they are. We just happen to live in an area where there is no local mall, but lots of tattoo parlors. Gotta love college towns!

I kind of relate to this. We've recently joined a co-op of families that have been meeting for 10 or so years, and in the beginning (and still now, frankly), there's a lot of getting together and planning other activities that we're not party to. It's never done hurtfully, but is an odd little twinge of feeling left out when I see adventures posted on Facebook or people talking about it later. It actually has become more open as I've gotten to know them more - going on this playdate, this class, this Girl Scout troop, this hiking club, etc

I find that the temperature to which I raise the milk isn't as important as making sure the milk has cooled enough so not to kill the yogurt.

When I had to memorize lots for speech/drama, I found doing so right before bed to be very helpful, if only psychologically. Go a paragraph at a time. Hand gestures? Lots and lots and lots of repetition. Together, apart, together again.

We've worked with a few different OTs and SLPs, and I've never felt like I've been pushed into needless therapy or treatment. We thought for sure our son would need speech therapy (hearing issues make him difficult to understand), but she pointed out that hr was well within normal ranges and not needing treatment, and if we waited until he started reading he would be better able to articulate. She was right, and we never did need therapy. You can ask around for locally-recommended OTs if you're concerned. Our OT for our youngest son has been great in helping me identify his triggers and helping me maintain a friendly environment for him. Her assessment was really eye-opening for me, because even though we knew many of his triggers, she helped us to put more pieces of the puzzle together. At a minimum, an assessment would help you understand where your child is and how better to help him. I had a hard time discerning what was just my son's emotional temperature and something else. It turns out that he runs a little emotional, but a good deal of his emotion came from the SPD revving his engine up too high.