We have dairy and nut allergies here. We do thanksgiving just us & it's much easier! It's fine not to bring anything - and you definitely shouldn't bring something if requested not to... I'd be horribly anxious if a dish was brought that wasn't safe and it's not safe unless I read the labels of everything that was used as it's being used - and checking for cross-contamination with prior things that were opened (like margarine or spices if a spoon goes in). Allergies are really nasty & milk is really tough to avoid. If there's asthma as well (there is here!), flowers may present an issue. Help cleaning up is wonderful. Another possibility might be an offer of babysitting later so your niece's parents can go out alone for a bit (during a time and at their house where food isn't an issue). My husband and I are rarely out alone since we do have to be very careful with our son's allergies. Thanks for asking about what might help - and it's definitely better to err on the safe side - even if it makes you a bit uncomfortable to just go. You might also ask if there's anything you should be careful about before coming over. Be sure kids hands are washed before leaving the house - and better to avoid anything that might get powder containing milk or nuts on their clothes - so no powdered donuts for breakfast for instance or anything with powdered cheese.

Amazon didn't honor the pricing, so if you'd ordered through them, you'd be out of luck anyway. (If you'd ordered through Oxford, you'd be okay... they honored the price.)

Your Mileage May Vary

Wow. I'm sure I won't be able to watch the movie...but it does look good.

That's a good one!

I'm offended! We've completely missed the kilts!!!! I want kilts!!!! (Hope you feel better... those hormones really throw you for a loop.) :grouphug:

:iagree: I let students call me by my first name or last name. I sign my emails with my full name. Ms. X won't rub me wrong when you're asking for a favor (like skipping prereqs). I'd keep calling him Mr. X until/unless he says, "Call me Y - or starts signing email Y."

Glad he's doing better.

Thanks. I know they weren't shipping until last Monday. If you're waiting too, I'll give another week before checking up :)

Has anyone received their order yet?

Psst... sarcasm :)

You want to know something really sad? I've had a number of students in my cc classes who don't know how many states there are in the US. I've even had students argue with me about the answer. I'm not surprised by the general board poll results - or, unfortunately, the commentary. Sad, but not surprised.

I'm forcing it at my son's age (9). If work isn't shown, he doesn't get full credit on tests. I view it as teaching communication. In English, we write in complete sentences with grammar and mechanic conventions. Math has its own conventions. I want understanding as well so he can derive some of the formulas if he forgets them, but I view memorization as an important step as well.

I think a lot of 6 is prealgebra. I'm thinking of moving to a different program after 5B. Either AoPS prealgebra or another program I have. You may want to look at Art of Problem Solving or read some of the threads here on it.

Well, I guess I just got my Christmas presents :) Thanks for the codes!

I think one of the main differences is that the porn industry generally exploits the participants. No one is harmed in the making of a romance novel (not porn) or erotica (could be porn). That can't always be said for the participants in porn photos or videos. A better question may be whether reading romances or erotica is damaging to a relationship in the same way that porn may be damaging to a relationship.

You didn't get the scorecard when you registered? :001_huh: As you read, you get a feel for who thinks what. When there are some posters who you agree with & whose kids seem to match up with your kids, you "listen" for their posts & get advice. As always, take what works for you & your family and discard (mostly) the rest. Do think about contrary opinions though. Are they things you should be doing (but aren't because it takes time) or do they just not fit your situation? There isn't one right way.

:iagree: I would love to pick one time and stick with it.

:iagree: I double-majored in math and English as an undergrad. The English courses had very few prereqs where an upper-level math course had a significant number of courses you would have to have passed before you could enroll. With a math course, your grade was generally determined by your work. With an English course, your grade really depended on your instructor. The same work would get a different grade depending on who was teaching - but I don't think I ever heard of anyone failing an English course. I'm sure it must have happened... but I don't think it did often as long as papers were turned in. The good English classes definitely made you think. And I had the most amazing Shakespeare professor. But if I fell behind in an English class, I could catch up later. I could take English courses out of order. When I fell behind in Abstract Algebra, that was it for that year.

I bought a couple of the Spectrum workbooks and have my son work problems from those when he needs extra practice on a topic (like the long division) :) I got Extra Practice, but I don't feel it has enough practice and I haven't used it much. The Spectrum books work better for getting more practice - or I'm sure you could find practice worksheets online. For division, we did need to spend about 3 days where we used the base 10 blocks to show each step. I think this idea may have also been mentioned in the Home Instructor's Guide.

They end up in my developmental classes at the cc. Some are fresh out of high school (graduated hs in spring, start at cc in fall, testing into Algebra I or below). I do what I can and some of them really learn a lot, but it's so frustrating to deal with the students who think that the same "study skills" they used in high school will let them pass at the cc. I'm lucky and am at a place where we don't get in trouble for pass rates. I can toss out disruptive students and if most of the class drops or fails, I don't get in any trouble. I would LOVE to see major restructuring done at the high school level. I can't imagine not having tracking, but I also know at the schools in our districts, we do have tracking but parents can override test scores. It's become a form of segregation. :glare: Friends who have taught at the hs say most of the students in the higher courses really shouldn't be there. An English instructor said that in her classes only about 3-4 students in each advanced class were actually advanced students & a friend who taught AB Calculus had such a difficult time with unprepared students, he said he'd never teach it again.

I strongly dislike lattice multiplication. If you look ahead to multiplication of polynomials (algebra I), the traditional algorithm for multiplication can generalize to polynomial multiplication (thus reinforcing place value). You can't do that with lattice.

You don't think of bread as containing dairy. Or I didn't until my son had hives all over his body from a deli roll at 1 year old. There have been a number of threads over the years here about dairy free cooking. If you do a search, you'll likely find a number of recommendations. It is very tough to make the change. It can be done though. Earth Balance is good margarine. Enjoy Life has safe cookies & safe chocolate chips. I have started cooking from scratch. We really can't eat out at any restaurants - the nut allergy is easier to handle out than the dairy allergy. Linda Coss's cookbooks have been useful. Here's the first one. The Milk-Free Kitchen is also one of our mainstays. Good luck.

Enjoy Life has dairy free chocolate chips. Expensive, but it's really nice to be able to have chocolate. We use the Earth Balance margarine. It's okay. One thing I had to watch for was when we learned that the Light version of one margarine was dairy free but the Regular version contained dairy. You have to read labels every time you buy a product. :glare:

:lol: I think it has changed over the years though. Looking back at some romances from the early 90s to now (especially if you can read the same author) you can really see the style changes. And the number of ways to avoid saying certain words is pretty amazing.