what grade levels is this for? I have this copy on the shelf that I'm thinking of using with my sixth grader but it looks like it might be too hard for him. In the author's letter in front of the book, a fourteen year old is mentioned as a possible student in the author's dream. Sounds like the author intended the book to be for the ninth graders or maybe eighth graders. But Calvert issued this when one of my sons was in seventh grade so...and my son did struggle with it at that time. ETA to add: The book was for seventh grade with Calvert, not sixth. Also, I did some online research and found that the book was written for the high school level so I'll look elsewhere for a textbook.

Get the hernia taken care of as soon as you can. My dh had one which grew to the size of a toilet paper roll. It took four surgeries to repair it and he's still suffering internal pains five years later. Also there was infection inside from the leak.

:grouphug:

Alexandra has a blog on this website...frontier2000.net. She is a small business owner dealing in mortgage loans. Her articles are quite interesting if you are concerned about the relationship between the government and the small business owners.

the difficult decisions you had to make for your dh and ds!

probably the only area where I agree with the fundies is the young earth theory but even there, I don't agree that Satan or God planted the fossils or that if you don't follow all of their teachings about politics like KKK or the Great Depression, then you're not saved. Oh, my. The article was a real eye opener. It's truly ironic that the fundies praise Columbus so highly in spite of his being a Catholic. It just goes to show that we cannot rely on any person, group, religion, whatever to do our thinking for us. At the same time, we cannot let our pride in our self-sufficiency blind us to errors in our thinking. This said, I do use some of the BJU materials just because they are so well done and add structure to our homeschool but I certainly will be much more aware of possible errors in the books than I have been in the past and point them out to my kids to help them learn to think for themselves and developed well-trained minds:)

we were shocked to see young teenagers driving around smoking and drinking alcohol right out in the open. In California, smoking is rarer and so is drinking in the open. When we stayed at a relative's farm, we found that they would allow the teenagers to get drunk twice a week as a way to relax from their chores. Also we saw a lot of tattoos. Then when we moved down to the Midwest, we saw an awful lot of missing teeth and overweight people. This is not a put down. We've grown to love it here in Missouri but it still was a culture shock when we first moved out here. Especially since tattoos were a big part of the gang culture in California. We love our neighborhood. This is the first neighborhood since I was a child where we actually know the neighbors to talk to in the street and we look out for each other. Even the mailman is a friend. And as another poster said, we know where we live according to the names of the subdivisions.

Ouch! Sounds painful and I'm so glad your dd is doing better today.

Thanks for sharing and I want the nature plans too. :001_smile:

You're a good friend. Praying.:grouphug:

Thinking of you and praying for you.

there is anything that you had always wanted to do for your anniversary but never got around to doing it for one reason or another? Might that be a good time to do it?

how is your dd feeling by the way?

plus parvovirus. And didn't your dd have pneumonia recently? And you had a major move just a few weeks ago. That's a lot of stuff to deal with. Good thing there's no school for a few more weeks yet.

My cousin who is an author recommends this book in her blog. She wrote that the authors suggest avoiding anything other than "he said" or "she said." So we should cross out those "he exclaimed" or "she mumbled" or "he whispered" or even "she answered." Why? The reader should know by the diologue itself, and the action surrounding it show how the words are being said. Apparently, using these kinds of "tricks" surrounding dialogue is lazy; it's cheating. She also wrote that adverbs should be limited in writing. Why? Again, because the prose and dialogue itself should convey what an adverb would convey. This really is making me rethink what I should be looking for in a writing curriculum now. I'm going to order that book which is called "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers" to see if I can glean any more tips on what to look for and to avoid in a good writing curriculum for my ds and maybe for myself too.

I've decided that I'll keep this low key and take a break from Sunday School for the rest of the summer. Then our ds can try the sixth grade class this fall hopefully with a different teacher. If not, then he can just come to our SS class which is at around junior high level so he shouldn't have trouble keeping up with it. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one not liking the rewards and exclusion as penalty for not meeting the teacher's requirements.

our ds's being hard of hearing last Sunday and we were planning on checking up on the class every week to make sure things were going smoothly. But the museum trip gives my ds less of a reason for going to the class. The date of the trip can't be changed. ETA to add: We did talk with the SS director but that didn't help. I guess she can't do anything due to the high turnover of the teachers.

My 11 year old ds has been going to SS at our church for the past nine years since he was two and had always enjoyed it a lot. However, this past year, his fifth grade class has had a high turnover of teachers which is unusual. His present teacher is quite strict and almost harsh, so I think. He talks fast, has his kids writing a lot in workbooks while he is talking, and he rewards those who finish early with candy and free time. My son can't write quickly and he's hard of hearing so he can't lipread while he is writing so he's not finishing on time and getting the rewards. But I was willing to try to work w/ the teacher and hope that my ds will get a new teacher next fall for sixth grade. But then he announced that for memorizing so many verses per week and for attendance for the rest of the summer, he will reward the kids with a trip to the museum in the big city. We will be on vacation at that time. So now, I'm feeling like he will be demoralized if you know what I mean. I'm tempted to pull him out of class for the rest of the summer but would that set a bad precedent for the future? Will he as a teenager look back and think that if SS or church in general gets too difficult, he can just leave and become one of those church hoppers? Am I blowing this out of proportion?:)

responded to your post. I have no experience with this kind of problem with your child but you have my sympathy. Maybe you should try another dr. for a second opinion?

having trouble getting the refinance for a house we hate:) But can't move because the house needs a lot of fixing up to be done first but we can't afford to fix it up until and if we get the refinance which if we do, we pretty much have to stay to recoup the cost of the refinance, oh well. ETA: Well, I don't really hate my house but I just don't like not being able to move if we want to and also not being able to do the repairs.

That's entirely possible what Klanamak said about "friends". When my ds got married last summer, the photographer took hundreds of pictures of him, his bride, and his friends and almost none of his family members. There is only one picture of my husband and me, none of ourselves with our son and bride, and one group picture. When I brought it up with him later, he did not understand why we were upset. Friends were more important to him. It's different now but maybe that's part of what your niece is going through now but after she's married, family will become more important to her. ETA: Never mind what I said above. After reading the later posts, I realize my post doesn't apply to your situation. Sorry about the whole thing.

...

keep posting here to talk it out:)

I'm 54 years old but I still have a eleven year old to raise. After having given all my time and energy to homeschooling my five older children who have now graduated and left home, I just looked around and came to a realization that I have almost nothing to show for it financially and in outside achievements. I don't have any official recognition from society for any of my accomplishments as a home school mom and housewife. I do have a B.A. degree in English but that's about it. It's kind of overwhelming to think that by the time my eleven year old graduates, I'll be 61 years old and he will be leaving home too. I'll definitely be too old for most of the careers or jobs by then. I used to happily spend a lot of money on home school for my other kids but I don't feel like doing so for my youngest. I'm not as willing to spend all of my time and energy into homeschooling as I used to. I had made friends with other homeschooling parents with kids same ages as ours only to find that after my kids left home, I don't really have that much in common with them anymore. So I'm not that willing to make friends with the new group of homeschooling parents with kids the same age as my son with the assumption that we'll be friends forever. But I'll be looking around for friendship with people who may or may not have children but that we have things in common. My sister and two of my cousins have written books and many articles. Another cousin is a successful professor in an elite college in D.C. And they get recognition and pay for their work. And so on. I know I have to accept the consequences of my decisions I made when I first began homeschooling my kids and I am so thankful for how my kids have turned out. They are truly amazing people and doing very well but I'm not a big part of their lives which is how it should be but I'm finding it harder than I expected to move on especially since I still have my son at home for seven more years. I have decided on one thing at least. Since I am determined to home school him, I am going to make it as fun and interesting for myself as for him which will mean making some changes in our home school. And keep my eyes open for any opportunities to put myself out there in the community to do whatever I can and to enjoy myself. Maybe write something for publication.

thanks for bringing them up!