I use a program called "startwrite" where you can generate whatever you want with whatever size and number of solid and dotted lines. it was about 35 bucks, but well worth it. http://www.startwrite.com

my son is in third grade math and he is very naturally talented at math, but we struggle with the process. because he can see numbers, as well as do operations (fairly complex ones, for his age) without writing them down, he really hates to compute on paper. when he does this he often makes careless mistakes. we do one lesson and one review page of MUS every day, do not skip problems, and correct all errors--together if there is a lack of understanding, or on his own if i'm making him check for careless errors. i often have him teach me the concept the second day after we have introduced a new chapter. it helps him understand it. when we were learning multiplication facts, we bought the game cinq-o, and played that. it's an amusing dice game that uses both multiplication and addition.

:iagree: A one-week-old cannot learn "independence" and she is likely emotionally scarring her child. it would be very difficult for me to be friends with someone like that, except in the hope that I could help her become more sensitive to her child's needs. She sounds as if she resents the baby. I am a retired La Leche League leader so this kind of info sends me over the edge. thankfully, however, my training helps me to listen and care and help without coming across as judgmental. I would pay attention to her in the next few weeks, keeping an eye out for any signs of ppd. just to be safe...and a good friend.

hands down, jane eyre.

If you were thinking of following along the WEM thread in my blog, I have a new post up about Don Quixote. Please come and visit!

my dh says that if you were really THAT concerned about safety, you wouldn't be publishing anything about yourself on a blog. If someone really wants to find you, they will. i use first names in my blog, but then again, no one reads it.

yes...an hser that i know got into every school to which he applied, all schools that were strong in engineering. he is attending cooper union in ny, one of the top engineering schools in the country.

:iagree: The activities that we choose are based on what we are interested in learning or what we want to do together as a family, not on any concern for our children's "socialization." Back in the days before we institutionalized kids in government-run schools, the family was the primary unit for socialization, followed by the religious community. The socialization "myth" is just that. Haven't you heard people marvel at the fact that homeschoolers seem to be able to get along so well with people from different age groups, and seem better able to have conversations with adults? That is not to say that my kids don't have friends, because they do-- Many friends in fact, but we have about three families with whom we are pretty close and enjoy spending time. Yesterday my son came home from an art class where he had just been with all of these said friends for about two hours. He sat down at the table to eat and said, "It feels good to be home." :001_smile: I love that he knows where his heart and his center are.

civil disobedience. i'd continue to school and fight it...if they put me in jail...hmmm...well, then i'd have a problem, but until that point i'd try to stay undercover. at least from my perspective today that is what i would do.

you could always ask here...i'm thinkin' there are a few readers lurking around who would love to share their best finds with you...for instance my top two at the moment (and i have the same criteria as you) are Same Kind of Different as Me (keep a box of tissues handy) Elegance of the Hedgehog (keep a dictionary handy) nothing similar about these books. they are just awesome.

i have to say that we used the soil recipe in the book with very little success last year. our crop was pathetic. :tongue_smilie: we have been composting now for a year (by next spring it will be two) and our compost should be ready for the soil. I would like more info on how to enrich our soil, as well.

it's a french word. the "ou" in the word is pronounced "oo" in english. it would be like pronouncing "you" "yo" as in yo-yo...then again, some people do say that.

i have never done workboxes in the technical sense...i think there is a proscribed system? but from what i'm seeing here, we do something similar. i got cubby boxes for the kids from ikea, and they each have their cubby with ALL their supplies in them. we work through the day's assignments with no fuss of looking for "stuff" because it stays in each kid's cubby. i even have my own for teacher manuals and answer books.

not even jello? my toddler once had a stomach bug that left him weak and with no appetite, with occasional bouts (after the first big day of everything!) for nearly a week. sometimes it is not just a 24 hour thing. he even lost 2 pounds, which was really troubling. now he's 8. he got over it. :001_smile: but...it was serious enough that i remember it VERY well.

10:54, still in pjs here! we usually do our core lessons, then break to get dressed, have lunch, then head out for afternoon activities or visitors.

:iagree: I thought the same thing when I read your post. My son gets this way when he needs attention from me. Just sitting down with him (by my suggestion) and inviting him to play a game of UNO or something, reading to him, or even better, inviting him out for "coffee" sends him over the moon. He is happy for days. I think our boys are little men, and they need the same kinds of boosts that our dhs need. just as our dhs need "special time ;)" with us to boost their morale and keep them feeling special, our sons need our special attention. If they feel useful, needed, and respected, the whining goes out the window. My ds 8 gets very whiny in much the way you described when he needs a "fill-up" as I call it. When I provide that, he's great for days. I'd also second the suggestions for exercise--my ds does that naturally on his own, but it's true. We have a little trampoline in our basement that he uses all. the. time., especially when it's too cold for the outside one. jumping is some of the best exercise they can get.

yes, however in my opnion, it seemed to undermine her parents' choices in her upbringing, in particular the suggestion to leave her neck of the woods and find a better situation. just because a young woman is 19 does not mean she should or is even ready to just leave. i find that parenting is difficult enough without people subverting what people have spent years trying to build by simply telling a child to do whatever they want. it puts both the young person and the parent in a very difficult situation, and my hope here is that we could be supportive of each other, or say nothing at all. i would hope the same respect would be shown to me or my child. i chose to express that opinion TO the young lady, as well.

I see this comment as being very disrespectful of your parents. Sorry, but it sounds like your parents have done a wonderful job of protecting you...I wouldn't call it sheltering, and if I would, so what? I have a friend with a daughter in very much the same situation as yours, and I'll admit to you there have been times in which she has really struggled with not being part of "that" crowd. However, she is one of the finest young women I know, and her walk with the Lord is not her parents' walk...she has been raised to love the Lord with her whole heart and serve him joyfully, and she does. Even when the kids around her (even Christian friends in ps) just don't "get her." I, too would recommend the short-term missions idea. It is life-changing (I did the same thing as a young woman, and it actually turned into not-so-short term until I met my husband). With your parents' blessing, and in the right circumstances (i.e. accountability and oversight by RESPONSIBLE, LONG-TERM ADULTS), you could have the most fun you've ever had, and change your whole perspective while you're at it. English Language Institute, China comes to mind. They have fantastic summer programs for students your age. In the more immediate, why not try to get together to do other not-church-related things with your girlfriends. Get involved in a volunteer project where you can meet other folks, etc. Mainly...ask the Lord what he would have you do, then expect to hear his answer. He will answer, but I didn't need to say that, did I?

I have a bachelor's and a Master's degree, and I don't regret either of them. I got the MA for employability before I got married, and once I got married, worked in my field until I had children. As soon as I got pregnant, however, i was OUTTA THERE. My student small student loan outlived my career. I would advise my daughter to pursue and education or trade for herself. I think it's important in the event a girl doesn't find a spouse right away, or is widowed or (God forbid) divorced. However...I would not suggest that education take precedence over having children if that is what she desires. I don't care if my kids get married first, have kids, and then get their education or training. I really don't care how they do it, as long as they are content. My daughter can expect us to help her financially and educationally as long as she is unmarried. My son, on the other hand, we will help along until he is out of school and / or earning his own income. I expect him to grow up to be a breadwinner for his family. (of course we'll always be there to help him out and give him cool gifts as long as we can afford it, but we won't be "bank of dad" to a lazy kid.)

In my experience (and i've moved quite a lot), it takes a year to stop feeling homesick, two to get used to living in a place, three to put down roots. we've been where we are for four years and finally I feel like it's "home."

Have you been to historic Williamsburg and Jamestown? They would be on my list.

I have not been to the midwest convention, but HEAV is awesome. Last year we heard Voddie Baucham and others, and were so encouraged and refreshed. It's huge, it's reasonably priced, the children's program is great...Everyone in our family had a blast.

1. God, and knowing him better 2. my children when they are sleeping 3. really well-crafted sentences 4. my vita-mix 5. jigsaw puzzle pieces when they click into place 6. a good book 7. watching birds 8. watching my garden grow 9. soup 10. golf on a good day, and on a bad day, complaining about it.

BRAVO! i felt as if i was right there! Absolutely understood your point. Fun to read, hung with it all the way through. good job!

Technically, you are wrong. The Easter Bunny is pagan, not the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ. We don't do the Easter Bunny. Technically Halloween is Pagan, and we don't celebrate it at all, or even acknowledge it except to disconnect the doorbell. Technically, Christmas is not pagan. Christ - mas is the celebration of the advent of the returning Messiah, and (later) the birth of the Messiah and his first coming. The intent is to prepare our hearts to receive him. Technically, Yoga is Hindu. We don't do it. I think it is very fuzzy logic to say that because folk religion has become mixed with Christianity, that it's okay to take that a little further and include other things as well. Christians make (IMHO) the mistake of allowing their worship of God to be distracted by peripheral things such as Easter bunnies and Santa. Easter is timed as it is because it coincides with Jewish Passover. Christmas happens when it does because of the Christian calendar, not because it started as a pagan celebration. That the two ever became mixed is not okay (IMO), and I seek to keep my worship wholly and completely centered on the truth and the One True God. Anything that proves to be a peripheral or a distraction is tossed. Is this a "hard line"? Yes. Is it hard to live by? No--the more we do this the easier it becomes and the more rewarding my faith becomes. Do I expect everyone to keep the same standard? No...I don't judge those who are not on the same journey as I. This is between me and my God. Should Christians be offended that a non-believer suggested a yoga class? NO WAY. The OP can just release herself from worrying that she's offended a Christian. If she did, that is their problem. If a Christian suggested it, I'd politely back out, explain why I thought they needed to reconsider, and then leave the rest up to them and God. This is not a hill worth dying on, but as a Christian, I avoid things that open my soul up to anything other than the Spirit of Christ.