My high school World Literature teacher. I still feel a bit swoony when I think about him. A few years after I graduated I ran into him at a concert. He was with his equally swoony boyfriend. I like to think that's why he wasn't in love with me. It probably wasn't because of my terrible essay on Zorba the Greek.

I am so sorry. I am thinking of you and your family.

((Hugs)) I would be working towards an amicable separation at the same time you are learning your state laws and finding an advocate. The disparity in your bank accounts and your doubts are red flags to me. I sincerely hope you can end this (or even better, fix it) without being too hurtful to each other, but it's important to protect yourself.

Yes! My ex-husband and I are very good friends. When we first divorced we worked really hard at being extra nice to each other (hold your tongue!). I think we both went the extra mile to be generous with money and stuff (we didn't have much so that part was easy). We never had kids together which also simplified things greatly. Both of us had parents who divorced when we were kids and did an ugly job of it. We were determined not to make the same mistakes. At first it wasn't easy, we were merely amicable, but after time our rancor subsided and we were able to remember what we liked about each other. We are both remarried now and like each other's spouses and recognize how dysfunctional our own union was. There are times when I marvel that I was ever married to him (think Peter Pan), but even though he was a lousy husband he is a great friend. My own parents, recognizing how well we divorced have become friends again (after decades of hating each other). It's the darnedest thing.

I do not think they are mutually exclusive. I feel like I needed to read the Writer's Jungle to become an effective and loving writing teacher. This text was one of the most encouraging homeschooling books I have read. The methods can be applied to every subject. I take it out often and read it for inspiration. It's really about finding ways to encourage your child where they are. Now when my kids hand me a badly spelled, no spaced, illegible list of items they need for a project they are doing, I treat it with the respect it deserves. At the same time, my dd, who is dyslexic, really really likes IEW (which was so hard for me to accept because it didn't exactly jive with my idea of an organic, loving and fun education). She needs heavy scaffolding. She likes to be told exactly what to do and how to do it. The interesting thing is that the papers she has written with IEW have been her most creative writing. It's like she took the IEW formula, chewed it up and then spit it out in a way that makes it, well, Bravewritery. I really am not a good source for reliable information on writing (yet). We are fledglings, but I do feel like the combination of BW and IEW are working for us now.

Ugh! I feel your pain. This is exactly the kind of thing I do constantly. ((hugs))

Yes!

Happy Ramadan!

I haven't had my youngest tested for dyslexia yet, but everyone else in the family is dyslexic (except me) and it seems fairly obvious at this point that he is following the family tradition. We have been using LOE and enjoying it but it is definitely not enough. It took us all year to get through foundations A and it has been increasingly difficult now that we are in B. He really likes how fun it is and I am loathe to change, but I am constantly having to find ways to beef it up. I know I am not helping you at all, just curious why you want to change if it is working for you? I am also wondering if you have had to supplement or if it has been enough on its own? I think it's a fantastic program, especially for wiggly kids. It's just a lot of work for me to add enough so that my son grasps the concepts.

Are we neighbors? I think you might be talking about my husband. I am so sorry. He just thinks everything is better with a power tool. I am glad you understand he is NOT TRYING to win points with Home Depot. He just really believes your life would elevated if you used some of the crap from our garage. He might be a little offended though if he knew you thought he was elderly. :lol:

One of the hardest thing for me to deal with when my brother and my niece died was the well meaning people who told me that, "They are in a better place now," or "They are with God now." I found no comfort in this, and while I completely understand that this is how they may see death, it was offensive to me in my most vulnerable moment. I couldn't imagine how anyone would think there was a better place than right here on earth with our family and friends. I would never dream of saying to a Christian or anyone else of faith (or anyone at all actually), "Now their energy has dispersed and they have begun to biodegrade, " even though this is comforting to me. I don't think anyone is trying to be offensive. In fact, I think they are trying to give comfort in a way that makes sense to them, but it's not always appropriate nor well received. Hugs.

Another YES!

For some reason I am having a hard time using the quote button. I have a question for PlainMom. I want to preface this by saying I am asking it sincerely and not intending to start anything, just trying to understand. When you say that it is a "government that God ordained " what does that mean? How do you know that this is a government that God ordained? Are all governments ordained by God? When a government supports killing (war, capital punishment) can you still support them as a Christian/Pacifist? While I am not a Christian, I strive to be a Pacifist and have been deeply inspired by some Christian Pacifists (Tolstoy, Martin Luther King) and am earnestly interested in how to be a pacifist and still support a government that supports murder (in its many forms). I finished typing this and realized it is waaaayyy off topic. Oops! Thank you.

I wish I could do this, but I just don't understand how I know where we are going to be in a week from now, a month from now, and definitely not in a year from now. Our learning is so-not-linear. We have rabbit trails, things I thought that would so hard and turned out to be so easy, things I thought would be easy and take forever. Sometimes I realize we aren't at all ready for the next thing. Sometimes we decide to take the day off and go to the beach. Sometimes we are sick of a curriculum and ditch it. I often feel like it would be great to be more organized, but it just doesn't match our lifestyle.

I live in a country where the cheek kiss is the norm once you pass the initial handshake phase. It took me a long time to get used to kissing people on the cheek that I barely know. Now it feels completely normal and whenever I am in the US I have to restrain myself from kissing people, and hugs feel way to personal for most hellos. Having said that, it sounds like your guy was totally overstepping boundaries.

I have been reading the book Freeing Your Child From Anxiety and just can't say enough good things about it. This may be way more than you need for this one little anxious moment in your dd's life, but as I am reading it I can't help but feel that almost everyone can use some of these techniques to overcome our overactive imaginations. The very abridged gist of it is this: You help her recognize her worries (falling down, making a fool of herself, not knowing how to stop, being too far away from you...), stop the worry thinking in its tracks, stop the bodies physical responses to worry (fight or flight) and then little by little conquer the fears. The techniques are proactive and the results, in my family, have been positive.

Have you read Project Based Homeschooling or visited the Camp Creek blog? I am very similar to you in the way I teach and learn, but neither of my kids are like me. They are both dyslexic and very hands on. While I am too indoctrinated to be completely project based (yet) , the book has really helped me loosen up and learn how to help facilitate their learning in a more creative and organic way.

Often times she will read a page first, then I will read it to her (to model how it can sound), then she will read it again. Also, I occasionally ask her to stop and count for three seconds at every period and one second for every comma, out loud at first and then to herself as she gets the hang of it. This gets her to notice the punctuation.

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While I disagree with almost everything SKL has said, I think the above needs to be repeated and then repeated again. These girls have had little control over any aspect of their lives and for anyone (other than themselves) to use the language "damaged" just seems to add to the already despicable abuses they have endured. I realize that most people aren't saying they are actually damaged, they are just pointing out how this cult's twisted misogyny encourages this type of language and thinking, but every time I see the word used in context of these victims I feel sick.

I think it's rad! Mazel tov to the forward thinking bride and groom.

The ATI text seems to be a pamphlet on how to forgive women for making you rape them. I am outraged for the victims and hope that they will be able to extricate themselves from this cult of sexual violence against women.

Anyone?

I have a pen pal. We started being pen pals with actual pen an paper, before computers ruled the world. At some point in there the ink dried up and now we only use email. It has been one of the most enduring, lovely, thoughtful relationships of my life. She is someone I didn't know well before we started writing, and we haven't seen each other in almost twenty years. I think it makes it very easy for us to be honest about all of the nitty-gritty of our lives. It helps that she is an excellent writer and very funny. I don't really know how you would go about finding a pen pal, but I highly recommend it.

We will be studying modern history next year and I am having a hard time narrowing down resources. There are just so many! What were your favorite movies (Netflix and Youtube) and read alouds for elementary aged kids? We like biographies and accurate historical fiction.