But it's a parent-child class. The daughter couldn't be there without the parents, and the parents can't follow the instructions if they can't understand them.

What does Jesus think about bearing false witness? Because upthread I see you claimed, with no backing, that gays are out to get Christians by deliberately targeting Christian businesses and throwing tantrums when they refuse to cater to their weddings. And I can't help but think that if you don't have any proof then this is pretty much baseless slander. I mean, I don't care. But Jesus might. I don't mean to tell you how to practice your own religion, so I'm sure you have a reason for prioritizing "no photography of gay marriage" over "no bearing false witness" or "no failing to do unto others".

Well, if they have trouble reading that makes sense. Say "I don't like to read, reading is boring/stupid/for losers" deflects attention from the fact that they can't read, or at least, they can't read as well as they think they should be able to. Sour grapes, you know? But there has to be something they like to do, or like to watch on TV or movies. Instead of going through a pre-made list looking for suggestions, it might be better to meet them where they are, don't you think? Find something they're interested in first, then pick out the books.

You know, Cushman has written a few other books in that time period - Midwife's Apprentice, Matilda Bone. They're all fairly short.

Meanings can get lost when you aren't immersed in a culture, yes. But if you want answers, maybe it helps not to ask us, but to ask yourself and your son. IS this supposed to mean something? Why would their father turn into the maize god? Why would the final set of people, the ones the Mayans thought we were descended from, be made of corn? Animals were unsuitable, mud was unsuitable, wood was unsuitable, why is corn the right material for thinking beings? What does that suggest about the value of corn? Or of humans, for that matter? These hero twins become the sun and moon. Why twins? Is there something special about twins? And what's the purpose of having a sun and moon, from a human-centric perspective? (Can you grow corn without a sun? Remember, also, that one of the earliest methods we had for marking the passage of seasons was with lunar months.) Of course, if you aren't much enamored with supernatural events, that can make it harder. I feel you. Let's try a secular founding myth. That example is sort of cheating, because if you're American you already know this story. You know why we tell this story to little kids, and there's an even a snappy moral at the end that doesn't take too much thought to figure out. (An ironic moral, given that this story was made up decades after his death, but there's more than one form of truth.) But what if you were a Martian, or even an ancient Mayan? What happens? Some kid cuts down a tree and then fesses up to his dad. Okay, well, then what? Who cares? The meaning isn't just in the bare words. (That's another potential problem. If your source for these myths is stripped down to the bare details, you might be missing all the information that makes the stories interesting and meaningful.)

The trouble is that I've been lurking for a while, getting my ducks in a row *before* we prepared to homeschool for middle school. (Our zoned middle school is pretty bad academically and terrible socially.) I felt silly joining three or four years in advance, but because I've been lurking so long I forgot that you don't all know me :) So, uh - hi! (Trying not to panic at the thought of September. Have to be terse or panic might get me!)

You know, just a few years ago there was a judge in Louisiana who refused to marry an interracial couple because he felt it was a bad thing for their hypothetical future kids to be born biracial. I don't know if religion entered into his decision, but I assure you, in the past there have absolutely been people who used religion to justify bigotry against interracial couples or against non-whites in general. Heck, I say "in the past", but I'm sure there are still some fringe elements out there. Does a baker have a right to refuse service to an interracial couple? What if she's the only baker in town? Should they just suck it up and go without a cake? The analogy about a disabled couple was just right. There have absolutely been people who believed disabled individuals shouldn't reproduce and, ergo, shouldn't get married. Do you have a right to just refuse service to disabled individuals on eugenics grounds? What if the couple hadn't been gay, what if they were each heading on their second marriage after a separation from their previous spouses? Can you refuse service because your religion doesn't recognize divorce? Should I check to make sure my baker or wedding photographer isn't a Catholic? What if they were just atheists, or Hindus, or Muslim, and the baker didn't want to support their solemnization of their marriage using anything other than Christian ceremony? Or what if they *were* Christian, but the baker disagrees with their particular denomination on several key points and thinks they aren't Christian enough? What if they just kinda smelled bad, and the baker didn't want to be associated with stinky people? The last isn't actually any more ridiculous than the first several. When you own and operate a public business, you are expected to be open to the public. Baking a cake for a wedding is not at all tantamount to participating in the wedding, and if you think it is, the simple solution is to no longer do weddings, because there might be hundreds of customers lined up who you, personally, don't think should be allowed to get married.

All-of-a-Kind Family Understood Betsy, which I read to pieces as a child (thank goodness it's free online now!) Bridge to Terebithia, sure. Dave at Night The Wizard of Oz - she might only be familiar with the movie, so that might be fun! The Great Brain Harriet the Spy Dragonwings Bud, Not Buddy Gee, since you primed the pump I keep thinking of older or historical fiction. Um... The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks?