We had two families in our co-op start public school last fall. It seemed really odd since it was all online until basically May this year and then only a couple hours a day a couple days a week. It didn’t sound like a good first public school experience, but to each his own. They are staying in public school, so it must have worked out for them.

In my area people are stealing the blue boxes and it has become a real problem. Maybe that will reassure him about your own mailbox.

I would not buy Le Creuset because of the super high lead content and other dangerous metals in their products. Tamara Rubin has lead poisoned children and has spent the last 13 years of her life devoted to consumer safety and making people aware of the dangers of lead. https://tamararubin.com/category/le-creuset/

So we just put up shelving and we used both ikea and The Container Store’s Elfa and I would say the Elfa was much easier to install. They both are very sturdy, but I would go with Elfa if I was going to do more. I’m not sure exactly why my husband got the IKEA for the garage.

We have AC and my brother and sil and kids are staying with us to stay cool. My parents don't have AC but they do have a basement. I wish they would stay with us too but my dad sleeps better in his own bed. Most people I know don't have AC. My kids are camp this weekend though and their is no AC in the gym. It's supposed to be 95 degrees tomorrow so 20 degrees cooler than today.

My son has been using Phonetic Zoo From IEW. It is independent. I just set up the iPod for him at the begining, he listenes to the jingle with the spelling rule, he does a spelling test and the next track is the corrections. When he has gotten 100 percent two days in a row, he moves on. It has worked well for us.

We have white cabinets. They came painted and the one under the sink has chipped. I’m a bit annoyed about it because they are not that old. Further, the woman who lived here before us and put them in had no children and it was just her so I feel like with children using them there will be more chips in the future.

I also thought it was interesting that she had an Indian background and wonder how that plays into her words. The slang she uses on her professional site is also a bit interesting. “Yo... let’s roll.” I’m not sure I would hire her as my psychiatrist or psychoanalysist even if this video hadn’t come out.

Wow! Thanks for sharing this. I have hesitating about doing this in the past but maybe this year I will pull the trigger.

10 and 12 is a great age if you/ they are interested and are able to put in the time. It would give them a chance to get an idea of what they want to work on language wise in high school. The Getting Started books are easy to implement. Duolingo is also easy to implement and it will give you/them a taste of a language and if the kids are motivated and want to learn more, you can go from there. I have more suggestions but they are more expensive require a bit more to implement. Once you have an idea of where you want to go and what language your kids might be interested in pursuing you can go from there.

I have taught my kids cursive first. It “worked” for my oldest in that he still writes in cursive. His handwriting leaves something to be desired but considering his father’s handwriting, I knew it would be an uphill battle. My middle writes in print now and it is legible. I used Handwriting Without Tears after she made it clear the cursive was too much of a struggle for her. We will see how it works with the youngest as he is just learning to write. I think it worked out fairly well for us. ETA: Both my kids got OT and handwriting was something they worked on after addressing some other sensory processing issues.

It has gotten pretty nasty out there and I have seen some, not sure if I should call it borderline anti-semitism, or actual antisemitism. But pretty disturbing stuff. Anyway, there were Jews living in the land during the Ottoman rule, which was basically a colonialist force. It’s also interesting that as Jewish immigration to the area increased so did Arab immigration. Then the British acquired the area in the aftermath of WW1 and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. And the British had made promises both Jews and Arabs before and during WW1.

https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295975504/forest-dreams-forest-nightmares/ This is a very interesting book about it and in no way conservative. There are controlled burns but fire suppression has been the over arching policy for a hundred years. It’s obviously very complicated but I highly recommend that book for a good history and explanation of why we are having this huge fires these days.

I would also second(or third) an induction stove top. It gets hot so fast and when you turn it off, it’s off. I had one for a number of years and we just moved to a house with gas and I definitely prefer induction. As long as your pan is ferromagnetic, it works. So cast iron works. Also, because of how induction works, the stove won’t turn on unless there is a pan on that burner. So no accidentally turning on the stove and melting something or having gas fill your house. The only time I had a small issue was with a cast iron ebelskiver pan, where the bottom wasn’t flat. There was kind of a ridge that circled the pan and it kept the pan from touching the stove.

I think dark blue or other dark colors are pretty and won’t look dated too soon. Our house is purple /eggplant. Black is super trendy in our area and I feel like black houses are going to look super dated pretty quick. Especially ones with orange doors. And I would think it would be hot.

I also don’t have a problem with them asking a 14 year old to do this. Many children would enjoy a cute post card and a short note addressed to them. I also think is is a good skill for a 14 year old to practice calling people. People don’t have to pick up the phone and a check in call saying, how are you doing, we’ve missed you, isn’t really intrusive. Ultimately you are the parent though, so you get to decide. I agree the push back, you must do this attitude is inappropriate.

We have enjoyed Bomb by Steve Sheinkin and The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean. ETA: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind was also good.

Having a breaker box in a bedroom seems odd. They seem to usually be in the basement or garage or closet. I guess I have seen them in hallways in apartments.

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/evidence-based-weight-loss-live-presentation/ Have you heard of Dr. Michael Greger and nutritionfacts.org? He is an MD and has some great information about diet and weight loss. I linked a talk that I went to that I thought was helpful but he also had a podcast and some nice and short videos with lots of great evidence based information.

Wow, I’m so sorry. That is heartbreaking on so many levels.

I don’t think you’re the problem. I think swiftly attributing bad motives to people is a problem and I think othering people is a problem and at the root of racism. Scarcity breeds desire. I think we need to give people the benefit of the doubt and assume the best for one’s own mental health and for the health of society. I hope you have a lovely day.

Did you see the stores when the pandemic started? How many years worth of TP did some people buy? People buy all sorts of things for weird reasons. Thinking dreadful things about people doesn’t help and is far more toxic to society than a book even a truly terrible and even racist book. But I don’t think this is a particularly helpful discussion. I probably shouldn’t have read or commented.

Really?!?? Good grief. I think you are over thinking this. Maybe they are trying to make a quick buck. Or maybe they like Dr. Suess, which actually doesn’t make them racists. Or maybe they want a collectors item. Thinking the worst possible things about total strangers has become a real problem in our society. Who is really trying to validate their superiority here.

Well they are big sellers now. Sold out and $1000 on Amazon. Just kind of funny.

BA and RS are so different. RS has a lot of drawing and hands on geometry. BA is such a different and puzzely way to think about math. It seemed to work out well. He would see the concept presented in RS and then see it again in Beast. Adding the Beast in also slowed us down a bit so we wouldn't get through RS quite so quickly and I feel like he has a deeper and more thorough understanding of the concepts. He tends to rush things and this slowed him down a bit. I was not systematic about how or when he did either program though. It was pretty much how he felt that day or sometimes if I thought we wouldn't have enough time to finish a right start lesson I would suggest he do a couple of pages in Beast.