Have to clarify... Prior to the FiOS tv/phone/internet, we had: Verizon phone- pretty sure it was already the pay-one-price long distance, but I don't remember Verizon DSL internet- OK fast, but not FiOS/cable fast, so either Comcast or FiOS would have been an improvement in speed Comcast non-digital cable- this was the one that drove me nuts. When they first started offering digital, it was over $60 a month which seemed obscenely high at the time, especially as ours was under $45; furthermore, it didn't offer any channels we really cared about. But over 7 years' time, ours went up about 10% a year, and they kept moving the regular channels to digital. We would have switched at that point, but digital was still more than 50% more than what we were paying, which we already thought was too much. (In hindsight, I think that Comcast was trying to entice people to switch to digital rather than have to force them once the analog-to-digital switch came to pass. Still, it didn't win them any friends in my neighborhood, at least.) So by switching to the FiOS all-3 service, we are now getting phone, cable, and internet for about what any two of those used to cost us. And it has all the channels and the cool on-screen menu that we would have had with Comcast without having to deal with Comcast. Only thing I'm not crazy about is the layout of their bill- we haven't had a lot of billing errors, but the format is almost indecipherable so if the amount billed is different from our normal amount, we have to go through pages and pages with a fine-tooth comb to find the difference.

Love it. We were so, so done with Comcast!

Ukrop's (pronounced YOU-crops) I grew up with Price Chopper- all my friends in HS worked there! :) I still shop there when I'm up that way. I'm not sure, but I think there is. There used to be some kind of grocery-shopper column in my parents' local newspaper, and my mom used to mention it whenever they mentioned Ukrop's. I'll see if I can remember and find it.

I've never watched, but I've heard people talk about the can't-get-through problems with voting in other years. Without knowing much about it, and assuming that the phone lines do stay continuously busy, it seems like the outcome of the voting is determined not by the number of people who want to vote for A or B, but by the number of phone lines available. So if they each have the same number of lines, and all of them stay busy, the voting will be nearly a tie every time.

Another observation about her, prompted by the instructions for the MWIA... She can look at a word and spell it out loud (i.e. reading the letters) and read the individual letters incorrectly. As an example: She has on her paper: "lovley" I say, "read me what's on your paper" She reads, "L-O-V-E-L-Y" I point out the difference, and she argues, "I DID say L-E-Y" (Which, of course, descends into no you didn't/yes I did/she cries, I sigh... ;) ) She finds spelling words easier to do on paper than orally- she doesn't want to do practice them at all and I thought orally would be easier and quicker. But when she spells a word out loud, we run into the same ley/ely debate, with the same result. I have been trying hard to have her spell the words syllable by syllable, and have tried to explain to her that it helps in figuring out the sounds. She tends to read them back to me 3 letters a a time: sub-scr-ipt-ion Whereas in my mind, it's: sub- scrip- tion

Thank you, Elizabeth! I'll probably hold off for a few days- she has major state testing coming up at school this week, and I don't want to throw her off. Also, would going through any of those affect testing by a psychologist a month or so from now? I'm not sure what batteries they use- I know she had the WISC-IV a year and a half ago. One of the "reasons" the school gave for not testing was that different tests have different windows during which they can't be repeated. They suggested that if they gave her one of the tests that the psych would have liked to use, it would prevent him from using it too. It's very interesting to read through the different tests you have there!

If I'd read a little further in WTM, I would have found the part about "starting in the middle." LOL For FLL, at least, it suggested that a second grader just starting FLL could start at the beginning of the 1 & 2 book and move along more quickly or skip some of the memorizations. For a 3rd or 4th grader, it suggested starting with the 3rd or 4th grade book, as those include a repeat/review the information in FLL 1 & 2. I'll have to go back and re-read what it said about WWE now!

My DD is 9, in 3rd grade and is struggling greatly with writing in a public school gifted program- for which she qualified in English, ironically. We're waiting for an appointment for private testing- the school officially doesn't see evidence of a learning disability. I'm not an expert, certainly, but she seems very similar to what I've heard described as a "stealth dyslexic." She seems to be a good reader (reads constantly, finishes books quickly, has enjoyed all 7 of the Chronicles of Narnia, for example.) Still she is reluctant to read aloud, mispronounces unfamiliar words (Hadridge for Hagrid, Mafloy for Malfoy, Dobah-hug for Degobah), is reluctant to retell what she's read (i.e. do even basic narration which I gather is expected of first graders who follow the WTM outline), and struggles to answer anything beyond basic knowledge/comprehension questions. All this, despite the fact that she can talk about the story at great length in a casual setting, and easily can pass the basic did-you-read-the-book computer quizzes. Her handwriting is quite poor at times, below-average at best, and even in cursive she manages to reverse letters. Numbers are inconsistently reversed too- I used to point out the reversals along with a typed-on-the-page correct one, and she didn't see the difference between them. This has improved some, but at 9 1/2 and end of 3rd grade, my understanding is that it's no longer something that is in the range of typical development. I want to work with her this summer, and with her end-of-1st, 6 year old brother. I have Handwriting Without Tears' 1st grade printing book, which we've just started. Based on any experiences you've had or advice you've received, would it be helpful for her to go back and start with FLL 1 & 2, WWE, and work through those? I'm also looking at MCP Spelling Workout B, in the hopes of reinforcing the phonics rules. (She learned very quickly with Hooked on Phonics when she was 5, but moved so quickly to "real reading" that I didn't push through to the end of the program. Mistake in hindsight? Who knows...) Is there something better that I could do with her on our own?

I need something for afterschool/home summerschool lessons for DS (end of 1st grade) and DD (end of 3rd grade.) I'm going to be starting with Handwriting w/o Tears- badly needed for both. But when they're ready to go beyond that, or to go back and fill in the gaps for DD, how might I start out with WWE and/or FLL? I'm reading that part of WTM right now, and I've looked at all the sample pages on the WTM site, but I wonder if anyone has suggestions based on experience? Thanks! :)

Ella Sarah Gets Dressed.

Just picked it out on my daughter's toy keyboard, and surprisingly, it seems to fit into a basic C major, although I guess it's really A minor. E E E midC G-E midC G-E B B B hiC G-E midC G-E hiE E E-hiE hiEb D Db-C-Db That's all I've got so far- off to answer the call of "Mommy!"

My dermatologist had a mantra of, "Dove or Dial, Dove or Dial."

Another thing I gained from public high school Latin (many years ago!) was the Greek and Roman history that we didn't have a lot of time to cover in social studies, the way social studies was organized at that time. If you're already spending a year on the Ancients at each of the three stages, it's just a nice tie-in, but if (like me) you've missed out on the Ancients except for two months in 10th grade, the culture part of a Latin course is a great benefit.

Another vote for lego.

95 is certainly the most-common choice, but if you're in eastern VA, consider going up the Eastern Shore- you could get as far as Baltimore, at least, with not much traffic. From the western part of the state, 81 might be the shorter/easier route, depending on what it is about traffic that bugs you. 81 doesn't have as much stop-and-go, bumper-to-bumper kind of traffic, but it does tend to have high-speed truck traffic.

Maybe that recession isn't something that you have to accept as a matter of faith and principle, or believe in, or live by? i.e. Just because everybody says "recession" doesn't mean you have to join in?

Mine's not fancy, but it's easy and everybody always seems to like it. 1/2 - 1 box tri-color rotini, cooked and cooled 1 or 2 small cans of sliced olives pint or so of grape tomatoes, cut in half green pepper, finely diced diced sweet onion, to taste (not much for me, but it needs a little) 1/2 - 1 bottle of Kraft Italian dressing Mix it all up ahead of time so it has a chance to marinate a little.

That's interesting- I hadn't heard that they were having trouble. (I live under a rock- did I mention? ;) ) I watched it a few times a year or two ago, but there was just something I didn't like about the way they talked to and about each other. :( I'm sorry for their family though- and certainly having your whole life under a microscope can't help the situation at all.

You might start with your pediatrician, since he or she might have some knowledge about how the ps in your area handle things. DD was/is in ps, and we started with our pediatrician, who did recommend starting with the school. In our case, DD's grades were still As & Bs, so the team at her school basically declared her "fine." At that point, our pediatrician referred us to a clinical psychologist for testing... It's kind of a long story from there, and not relevant! :) But I wanted to add that along the way, I read a lot of recommendations for two books in particular, and having found a lot of insight in both of them, I wanted to pass along the recommendations to you: Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children & Adults, James T. Webb, et. al. - this one deals more with traits that are common in gifted kids but which sometimes lead to diagnosis of things like ADHD, OCD, anxiety, Asperger's, etc. The Mislabeled Child, Brock & Fernette Eide- this one deals more with issues related to learning disabilities like dyslexia, and how they sometimes look different in kids who are gifted. (The "mislabeled" in the title refers to the fact that these kids often are told they're just being lazy or careless, when in fact they really are struggling with task A, even though they can do task B just fine.)

I had a college classmate who had a cat like that, but she was a single adult at the time, and lived alone, so the cat was able to have peace and quiet and seemed to do alright. In her case, the cat had a habit of drinking from the toilet if the seat was left up. The woman thought it was gross, and tried to avoid it, but also figured that technically, it's just water. Except she lived in an apartment, and only after she'd been there for some time did she discover that the previous tenants had used one of those in-the-tank toilet water treatments. She attributed the cat's disposition to having been low-level poisoned by the water over a period of time. :(

(I'll say right up front that I haven't read all 13 pages yet but...) I've found that telling them (usually LDS, sometimes Baptist or non-denominational, less frequently JW) that we go to Saint so-and-so's (a Catholic church in the area) puts a quick end to the discussion too. Maybe they figure I'm just a hopelessly lost cause. :lol:

I can think of one off the top of my head. I don't know too many details, because I was young at the time, but it was a young person with a fairly advanced melanoma who wasn't expected to do well and lived quite a few years after that. (She may still be alive; I've never heard otherwise, but I didn't know her well.)

I'm coming to this discussing a little late, but I've always thought of it (as a student, teacher, and parent) as a matter of not closing any doors too soon in life. If you pursue the most rigorous high school education available and appropriate for you (whatever that is), you have a wider variety of choices available to you when you graduate. If you stop taking something (math, in this case) "because I already have enough credits," you may find later that you've limited your choices in ways you regret. Of course, in reality the doors that you keep open are often ones to more competitive colleges, or to a wider variety of majors, but I do think of it as a general educational philosophy too. Eventually you do reach a point where you have to specialize, of course, but the later you can make that decision, the more likely you are to have had the chance to find areas you truly love or at which you excel. (That's my hope, anyway- but this is also coming for a very liberal-artsy person! I have several areas I would probably never have found to be my life's calling, but where I still regret not taking one more class because I didn't want an 8:00 class- what was I thinking!?)

DD always liked the Mommie & Me CDs. DS tended to sleep a lot of the drive, which was great for driving, but not so great if you need to get everyone to sleep in a hotel as soon as you get there, so that you can get up and do it again the next day. If it's going to be hot, crayons wouldn't be a great idea if they're likely to get dropped, thrown, or lost in the car. They'll be fine while you're riding, but if you don't find them all when you unpack, you may be unpleasantly surprised to find melted-crayon lump/stain later on. (Guess how I learned that one. :( )

When I started coloring, I was afraid of how it might turn out, so I chose a semi-permanent (Natural Instincts?) I have a fair bit of gray, and I don't mind (at 42) having a little, but I also have this Bride-of-Frankenstein thing going on where my hair parts. As it grows longer, it blends in with the med.-brown that I still have everywhere else, so it's mostly the roots along my part that I color anyway. Since it's either going to fade back to gray or grow out back to gray and I'll have to do roots every 4 weeks or so anyway, so I've stuck with semi-permanent. HTH at least a little. (My focus seems to be gone for the day. ;) )