This is very cool! I'm excited to see the Core Curriculum Packages. I've eyeballed MP in the past, and have used bits and pieces of their stuff and liked what I've used so far. I am glad to see that they're responding to the growing number of secular homeschoolers looking for just this kind of thing.

In the list of posts/topics in the main Chat Forum, just click the big dot beside the title of the post and it will get you directly to the first unread reply in that post. I'm not liking all the white everywhere, and can't seem to change that in the theme thing at the bottom of the page. I'm also in some weird clubs that I didn't belong to before the switch, but that's not a major problem really.

I just read what sections are appropriate to my kids' ages. For the first time reading, I'd probably read through to the end of the prologue, then jump to the Logic Stage section since your kids are 5th grade.

I move that this thread be pinned. There is some good stuff here! I'm not a very frequent poster, but I've been around for a long while and love to read this forum. And whatever the question is, the answer is: cupcakes.

First, I agree that it sounds like possible anxiety - I have Generalized Anxiety, and it messes with my sleep big time. Also, could it be hormonal? I come from a line of women who've gone through menopause very very early. My mom started her trip through menopause when she was around 40 and was totally finished when she was in her late 40s. Same with my maternal Grandmother and most of my aunts. I'd ask for a sleep study, full blood workup (I have chronic low B12 which ALSO jacks up my sleep if my B12 starts to drop too low), and in the meantime I would try a different sleep med. I started recently taking Zopiclone (I am in Canada so I'm not sure if that's avail. in the US) and it's been amazing. I sleep at night, but wake up easily if the kids need me or if I need to pee or hear a noise, then I'm able to just put my head on the pillow and go BACK to sleep (which was impossible for me before this med) and I wake up naturally and don't feel groggy or tired during the daytime.

I don't remember ever actually defining gay as in homosexuality to my kids. We've always had friends of all different sexual orientations and it was kind of unspoken here. Also I tried to avoid heteronormative terms when I talk to my kids - so it was always just kind of understood that they may grow up to love different gender, same gender, or none at all and all of those would be fine. The first time I had to define gay as in 'happy' was reading one of the Burgess animal books I think - a robin was singing 'gaily' and my daughter (maybe 7 at the time) scoffed and said 'well, gay singing and straight singing would be the same' :lol: So, I had to explain that at one time, the use of 'gay' meant something different than how it's generally used now.

They wouldn't, unless you were to get audited for income taxes. If I shared an address for more than 12 months with someone else, and they found we were listing ourselves as single - instead of common law - we could get in trouble, particularly if I was using my "single" status to access services or subsidies. Those would all have to be repaid.

Yes, it's far too short. So, in Ontario you're automatically considered common-law after three years of living together in a conjugal relationship. BUT - - Canada Revenue Agency considers you common-law after TWELVE MONTHS. So, in terms of family law (separation etc) you're common law after three years. But for taxation reporting purposes, I had to file as common-law after only one year of living with my partner. I think...and this is just my assumption....the reason that our taxation peeps consider a relationship common-law after such a short period is because our child tax benefit (known commonly as 'baby bonus') is based on the household's income as reported to CRA. When I was a single mother with a deadbeat ex-husband, this was no small pocket change - it was the only way I was able to make ends meet even after working 40+ hours a week. So I imagine that the gov't is trying to avoid paying someone the max amount of Child Tax Benefit to someone who has a second income coming into the household. That's what makes sense to me, anyway. For people who are lower income, any subsidy or assistance or help USUALLY requires you to show the income as reported to CRA - so the higher combined household income means you get less (or no) subsidization.

Lol not to mention presumptuous - I mean, yes we shared our rent and bills etc, but we definitely didn't have joint accounts or any shared property (house, car etc). 12 months is a bit speedy for the gov't to decide we're married. IMO anyway. I mean, we've lived together now for just about 6 years so as far as we're concerned, we're fine with now being considered common-law. I was pretty miffed about it at the beginning though.

I'm technically in a common law marriage. Where I live (Ontario), once you've lived as a couple in the same residence for 12 consecutive months you are automatically considered (as far as Canada Revenue Agency is concerned) in a common-law marriage. I actually hate it. I'm divorced, and I didn't want to remarry legally. My partner and I are happy to just cohabitate, and don't plan to ever legally get married. It shouldn't be automatic, IMO. When we moved in together, I was a single mom who worked and had access to subsidized daycare (proportionate to my income) - the second we hit 12 months, CRA (as well as my daycare subsidy peeps) started to take into account my partner's income. Yes, we were living together and yes he was a step-parent to my kids, but it felt like they were overstepping by assuming his income would be now covering all the costs of my kids needs (daycare etc). After only 12 months? I personally think it should be longer before common-law status kicks in. Either way, it is what it is and hasn't been a huge deal really - I call him my hubby/husband occasionally, but we aren't married legally. I do sometimes get a bit cranky about the fact that the government has decided I'm married before my partner and I even had discussed ever getting married lol.

Yes. This is what was bothering me. I couldn't figure out which way to vote because my first instinct was to say "yes this is messy", but it's not actually 'messy' really. Its just...unsettling. The bare walls and no personal effects or decorative items anywhere, that's what would really set off my anxiety - not the untidiness. My house is almost always untidy - we have 4 people, and 4 guinea pigs, living in about 850 sq ft of house. And we have a lot of books! But while my house might be untidy, it's not 'dirty'. And even though it's a bit on the cluttered side, my house has things on the wall, and a bit of a decorative scheme to it. Even my guinea pigs' cage accessories colour coordinate with the decor in my living room lol. A messy or untidy house is fine IMO, but I can't handle a room without any warmth or personal touches.

If all things are functional in the washroom, then yes I'd find it unhygienic to come all the way out of the bathroom and into the kitchen before washing hands. I mean, at least they're washing - so there's that.

I have social anxiety. This sounds like exactly how I feel in most social situations. It can be really disorienting and frustrating. Before I started counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy, being around people would feel like being at a carnival in the mirror house. I'd talk to her doc when you go tomorrow, maybe check into auditory issues. It might not be anxiety, but that's worth looking into.

I think she's skeevy. If that were a male judge doing that to a young female contestant, it would be a much different reaction. The fact that many people have said 'she was just being her', or 'I don't think she meant anything by it' - is exactly the problem. It's hard enough to make people understand what sexual harassment means, or how serious it is, without downplaying a blatant example of it because it was just Katy Being Katy. I am so proud of all the people who've spoken up due to the MeToo movement, all the people who feel brave and supported to tell their stories - - this seems like a slap in the face to those people. Like...Is it "MeTooButNotYou" ? I've seen so many (on social media, not here) saying "ah what guy wouldn't want to get kissed by Katy Perry?" Well...this guy didn't want to be. I think it's gross all around.

I'm kind of okay with this. Our local TRU didn't really have that great of a selection - just LOTS of a few things. A whole aisle full of Littlest Pet Shops? And I don't even want to get started on the "half pink for girls, other half blue/red/black for boys" nonsense. Plus their prices were higher than other places in town. We have another toy store that opened up here in our town around Christmas, and it's wonderful - no gender-specific sections, good prices, amazing selection. Its smaller, but it has a lot of really great toys and games, and my kids love going there.

My 12 yr old is going to be shattered. His bedtime reading this week is Brief History of Time and he's got stars in his eyes everytime he mentions Hawkings' name. RIP. sigh.

Similar day here. I saw DS12 clearly having a hard time with his math, and said to help "you know how to do this - what's 11 minus 6" - - he just stared at me, looked at his page, back at me, and almost burst into tears. I was like "ooooookayyyy I think maybe we should just call it a day". He did end up finishing his whole math lesson, but...it was rough. Time change sucks.

Awkward, but no pain. Having someone grabbing the girls and arranging them how they needed, was a bit weird and I got the nervous-giggles which made it all even more awkward. I had a mammo and then ultrasound right afterwards, and that was WAY more uncomfortable. I have bOOks on the larger side, but after two pregnancies, and nursing, well...when I lay down they just kinda go where they want to go. So the tech had to really manhandle them to get the u/s wand in the right spot :lol: It was....just awkward all around. I'm not normally a shy person or uncomfortable about medical procedures, but this experience brought me to the brink!

Well. I took the leap, and ordered the Homer core, IG, and student text. It just arrived yesterday afternoon and holy smokes - I'm going to have to devote my weekend to getting my head around this. BUT. It looks fantastic. I think this is just what we need. It does look a bit more complicated than the typical writing curriculum but from the reading I've done, it really does look like it will work for my son. Wish me luck lol

We used it at the start of this year, just as a fun ease-in to the school year after summer break. My daughter did the Pet Store and my son did a Sporting Goods store - they really had fun with it. It also got math 'done', but not in a stressful way. It was easy, refresher stuff for my 6th grader but he liked it. I don't think we ever finished it, because doing it as our 'main' math all week resulted in it feeling pretty monotonous. Each 'month' of business has all the same steps, so by the business month of July they were kind of over it and so was I to be honest. I might pull it out for them to finish over the summer though, as a way to keep their math brains working.

Mid-year curric switch: I've tried not to do this, but after a long break over the winter holidays I gained some clarity and got real with myself. And so, this month we've been slowly making a pretty dramatic changeover. And it feels GOOD. I was feeling very weary and a bit burned out, from following a pretty firmly CM path. I know, it's SUPPOSED to bring "smooth and easy days" but it just felt like a LOT for me to keep up with short, varied lessons; finding the resources (we're secular, so we can't just really follow most CM currics as written); getting narrations after lessons; just all of it. It felt like a lot this year on top of some health issues (minor, nothing big or life-threatening) that I've been dealing with. So we have been introducing some new (and so far WONDERFUL) stuff. It feels like the right move, so far. On the schedule: we got a ton of work done this morning, because the kids wanted to meet up with some friends at our Science Center to hang out. Funny how hard they can work and how little they dawdle when there's a really awesome carrot dangling in front of them lol. The weekend: blissssssfully lazy. For the first time in ages, neither my husband or I OR the kids had anywhere pressing we had to be. We had some really poor weather up here, so it was just the perfect weekend for lazing around the house. Which we did like champs :lol:

We're actually about to start WOL today with my 4th grader. I had intended actually to let both do it together (4th and 6th grade) but I've decided this is definitely not going to fly with my older. The pages are a bit busy to the eye, and for my 6th grader it would just be too much of a "wall of text" to read, so he'd really resist something like this. But my 4th grader loooooves Writing & Rhetoric. We put her into Book Two (Narrative I) just recently and she's just over the moon in love with it. I think she'll really enjoy WOL also, and she's coming to it having no real explicit grammar training (she has gotten it from her copywork, narration, dictation, etc but mostly through using some BW products here and there over the last few years). The teacher's guide for WOL could use a re-write, honestly. It's a bit convoluted and I don't like how the teacher pages are sorted. It could be a bit clearer IMO. But, the program looks super thorough and also gentle enough that my kid won't get confused. I like it, but I'll have to report back after I've used it.

Could it be warts/plantar warts? My son had plantar warts last summer, and that's what they sound like. His doc said they can spread from foot to hand if he has a habit of touching his feet a lot. He did get a couple on his hand but they never were quite as severe as the ones on his foot. They seemed to go away quickly, whereas the ones on his foot needed to be treated a few times at the doc's office.

I didn't watch the skating event. But I really think that ALL snowboarding events were like 'exhibition' style events. They all hung out together, high fived each other after a good run, and seemed to really have a low-competitiveness thing going on. I think that's just generally true of snowboarders, across the board. I was just watching a short clip today, on FB, of an interview with Mark McMorris and he was talking about this very thing. He said that in between events, at the cafeteria or whatever, other athletes were all grouped together with their own nation but the snowboarders all hung out together. He said in snowboarding you're not competing against just one guy, but trying to do your own best rides.

So, I think I'm going to pull the trigger on it. He hasn't done Aesop, and by looking at samples and S&S online etc, it seems like I would be able to start him at Homer. Is he missing anything important if I skip the Aesop level? Buying Aesop, Homer, AND the Older Beginner Guide/workbook is a bit cost prohibitive for me. I'd rather buy the Homer core, instructor guide, and workbook. But I also don't want him to be missing something critical in the Aesop level. He's pretty comfortable orally narrating, will give me a written narration if I really push it, he's done the whole MCT Island level, and we're about to start Well Ordered Language together with his sister. I think he'd be really much happier with the Homer level readings and work, if we can just skip Aesop. Thoughts?