And FYI, "evangelical" has different connotations. If you look at Lutherans, there's the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America) that's actually more liberal in many respects than Missouri Synod which is much more fundamentalist. ELCA is liturgical and having grown up in it, I've felt very comfortable with the Catholic liturgy. One suggestion would also be to check out the church's website. Some may have information for visitors that would be helpful for you. I've felt more welcomed at some congregations than at others, but as long as you're respectful, I can't imagine any church being offended at your attendance.

If it's standards edition, the HiG does mention the EP book, textbook, and workbook. It does not say anything about IP, but it's really easy to just add that in. I generally complete (or mostly complete) the topics in the text and then do the IP and CWP. Just noticing that you've got the US edition. I don't know about that... and have read that the HiG isn't nearly as good for the US edition as for the standards edition. (You can search for prior threads about the differences & issues with US HiG.) Overall, you'll probably be fine - and it is very easy to see where to add in IP and EP - you won't be able to go wrong with it :)

I've got it in my amazon cart: http://www.amazon.com/My-First-Lab-Duo-Scope-Microscope/dp/B000NOU54O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1278193919&sr=8-1 Price seems a bit better there. I haven't bought it yet, so I'm also interested if anyone's used it and liked it.

I think it would depend on how much we needed the money. One possibility would be to take a part-time/make-ends-meet type of job while waiting on the better opportunity (and looking for it).

I am mainly familiar with college texts. With those, the solutions manuals I've seen only have odd problems worked out. Even problem answers are in the TM and publishers are now putting out a separate book with even solutions. So I'd check before expecting the solutions manual to have more than the odd answers.

I've noticed that myself. I think they should put trackers on the packages so a satellite could read it and we'd know exactly where the package was. We could make it in a geography lesson: "Kids, here's where your new math books are. Watch them move down the interstate. Why isn't the *&$^#*^ driver going any faster??!!!???" (Or maybe that's just what I'd do.) Hope your package arrives today and you're able to stay distracted until then! (Although I'd probably be checking in the morning to be sure I saw the "Out For Delivery" update.) :D

I did get the Teacher's Book for 2nd grade. It was helpful in scheduling and giving organization ideas. I used Write Source for first grade but did not have the teacher's book and think it would have been very helpful. Yes, it is ridiculously expensive and buying used would be the way to go. I still didn't use the materials often enough and we ended up switching to MCT this year for third grade. It's going much better, maybe because it's a lot less planning for me.

Dh is very atheistic and I'm at an agnostic stage. I've been here a while. It's rough on my folks, both of whom are ministers. My sister is either agnostic or atheistic; either way, her son wasn't baptized. OTOH, it'd be nice if there were a clearer split between Christian and fundamentalist. I have liked seeing the people who have posted here and are religious but not using the materials from Apologia or Bob Jones. (I think my folks would speak up and question our choices if we used any of those materials.) We're in the South, so it's definitely been rough finding secular homeschool groups (although we are in one that's nice).

For me it's also about the commitment. Both dh and I wear bands. During my pregnancy I swelled up so much that I couldn't wear my band. It was strange not to have it on.

Student books will generally only have odd answers. Even answers are usable for graded assignments. A teacher's manual will be where you get the even answers.

We haven't seen any dead birds here (South). Is it possible there's a new cat in your neighborhood?

Thanks for posting the response. I think it's a good one. I read Clan when it came out (I was probably in 6th or 7th grade). The rape scene was violent but in my memory at the time, it wasn't too extreme. Valley of the Horses was much worse in terms of sexual issues. I've read romance novels with less explicit sex. :lol: I read that in 7th grade as well.

We're having skin testing done in 1 week. Our information sheet says: "Any antihistamines, axis, pepcid, zantac, tagament, benadryl & allegra/fexofenadine must be stopped three days before skin testing. Atarax (hydroxyzine), claratin (loratadine), clarinex, xyzal and zyrtec must be stopped seven days before skin testing. Astelin, astepro and patanase must be stopped three days before skin testing. Asthma medications & steroid nasal sprays should NOT be stopped." So we're going to stop the allegra (which doesn't seem to be working anyway) on Friday and stay away from Benadryl. My son was on Zyrtec for quite a few years and I didn't notice behavioral changes (although he gets them if he's on albuterol!) but he may be getting tolerant to Zyrtec. You may want to call your allergist's office and confirm the length of time to be medicine free. Good luck with testing!! (And think good thoughts for us on Tuesday! We're also checking to see if we can do an oral challenge with dairy if the skin test is clear.)

We're starting our day this year with 5 min of memory work. As I notice things that I think ds should know, we make a card and put it in his memory box (index box). Right now we've got the numbers 0-10 in Spanish, the 13 colonies, subject pronouns, object pronouns, coordinating conjunctions, and we've just added in "The Tyger" by William Blake. We work for 5 min, reviewing or practicing. I'm about to move the colonies into the "memorized" box and only review occasionally. So I'm pulling from all subjects and making cards as needed (with the occasional poem or later essay).

Fruit Stripe :) Just mentioning it & the smell comes back! The start of arcades (moving into 80s a bit more). My son's playing a tennis game on the XBox right now & I remembered playing Activision's tennis game on the Atari 2600. "Blip. Blip."

When I know I'm spending a lot of time on the computer, I've done two things. (1) Play an album not on random. When the music stops, I'm aware that I should too. (2) Set a kitchen timer. When it goes off, make the decision to stop or reset, but it's a conscious decision then. It can be tough to self-regulate!

I grew up in SC without a drier. My recollection is that even with the humidity, things dried quickly. I don't remember if our line was in direct sun or not. It probably just depended on the time of day. I don't remember clothes fading, but it has been a few decades :)

:lol: It does get costly. On the other hand, from this forum (thanks SWB!) I've found a couple of programs that have worked very well for us and I'm sure I wouldn't have run across them on my own or have thought to try them. See you in a year! ;)

I'd think there'd also be potential liability issues with open wounds. I voted other. I think the policy may be reasonable given the litigious society now. I think it's a stupid policy too. Hope the girl's okay.

Well that explain's Kathleen Parker's latest editorial.

There are risks of false positives and false negatives. There is frustration. My son was 3 months old when we were told he was probably allergic to dairy (through a test of blood in his stool). The pediatrician told me to cut out all dairy products from my diet (only nursing) and then to return in a week or two. They checked his stool then, found no blood, and said to continue to avoid dairy for a couple months, then add it back in (wish we'd seen an allergist then). We were careful with what he ate when he was on solids, learned the signs of allergic reactions (he'd have hives anytime he ate dairy) and got better at reading labels. It was very clear that his dairy allergy was the problem because I didn't think once and eating out had potatoes with gravy and he immediately had a bloody diaper after nursing (very small amounts... like a hair... but definitely blood). Elimination diets are probably the best way to catch which food allergens are a problem. It's a pain. It's also a pain because you can so easily make mistakes (we got regular margarine instead of light - same brand - and it had milk). Lots of bread products contain milk. It's not going to be easy. FAAN has information. Food Allergies for Dummies has great advice for living with food allergies. Have the stool test done because that will tell you if there is blood or if it just looks like there's blood. Go from there. Ask to be referred to an allergist and get information. They may want to do skin testing (or blood testing) or they may want your child's diet cut back severely, then add in foods one at a time. The oral challenges (add in foods one at a time) are how you'd be sure what the allergen is. Meet with an allergist, get their opinion on how severe an allergy it is and whether you'll need an Epi-pen (if you need it, get it). Maybe someone else who's had allergy testing for their child will post... explain how the testing worked for them. :grouphug:

If she has allergies, you need to not be feeding her those allergens. Reactions can get more severe. If you're nursing, you'd need the allergens out of your diet. My son's dairy allergy was very severe (eating a roll that had a milk wash on it gave him hives over his entire body; we got the Epi-pen right after that). My recommendation is to check with a doctor. These are questions you can ask an allergist (get one who is well-versed with allergies with children). You may also find some information on the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis website (FAAN).

It is important to figure out. My son's reactions continued to get worse. I thought I'd gotten dairy out of my diet while nursing, but I apparently wasn't reading labels correctly. We ended up seeing an allergist. It took us a while, but thanks to figuring out the dairy allergy better, we had an Epi-pen which saved his life when he had an anaphylactic reaction to cashews at age 5. Some food allergies aren't as serious as others. Each child is different. Some allergies are tougher to figure out. A food diary can help with that and skin testing or blood testing can help too. We're finally getting skin testing done due to other allergic reactions this spring. Before now, all food reactions were really clear so we were discouraged from further testing. At this point, we've got some environmental allergens that we're trying to figure out. Some kids outgrow allergies, others don't. It is important to figure out because allergies can progress. Our allergist refers to "the allergic march". Definitely give the doctor a call, get the stool checked, and then get a referral to an allergist if needed.

When my son was first diagnosed with a dairy allergy (at 3 months), they tested his stool for blood. I brought him in with a dirty diaper & they were able to check it. I'd definitely mention your dietary concerns and questions about blood in the stool. They can check quickly! Good luck!

You can also find some info on the State Dept website with a list of 3rd option groups listed with them. We're in the Midlands and used Homeward Education Association out of Sumter for the past 2 years and this year are going with PACESC out of the Charleston area. I'm leaning towards using SCAIHS for high school for transcript help, etc, but I've got a while to wait for that :) People who've used SCAIHS seem happy with it (but expensive for now!). You'd want a local support group for get-togethers etc. There are some secular and quite a few religious ones around the area. There are also good courses (monthly) at Riverbanks Zoo, the State Museum, and the Columbia Museum of Art. And as a homeschooler, you have free access to Discovery Streaming Plus through ETV Streamline. :D If you give a bit more info of what you're looking for or looking to avoid, you may be able to get clearer recommendations too.