This is my husband and I, though I wouldn't go as far as saying we don't like "stuff", more just that we prioritize the kids' experiences over any stuff we could by and in the end, something has to give (and it's always the "stuff").

If they mentioned the item at all, then I wouldn't think it's odd. If the email only said "please call me at [number]." with no other text, then yes, I would think that is odd. You could search the phone number on the internet and see if it matches up with the person's name. (Of course, I don't know if this will work with a cell #.)

I'm in the midwest and people use it here!

If the student were in public school, it would be the grade the student would be entering in the fall. The same goes for homeschoolers whom assign a grade to their child.

We've done two now and I've never had a taste/smell problem. However, I filled the pinata the day of the event, so the candy didn't sit inside it very long. Also, we made the pinatas well in advance, so it was thoroughly dry.

The ones that immediately come to my mind are: Virginia has UVA and William and Mary, North Caronlina has UNC Chapel Hill, Georgia has Georgia Tech and UGA, Michigan has UofM, and I know California has several excellent schools.

"Say it without whining" "Stop yelling" "Indoor voices" or some variation of the theme. I think my kids only have to volumes - loud and louder.

My district has half day, but you can pay extra for full day. On the one hand, it seems fair to me, but I do think that the kids in full day probably come out of their kindergarten with better reading and writing skills because there is more time during the day to dedicate to those activities.

Get a cup of coffee if I remembered to get it ready and flip the automatic switch the night before. Otherwise, I grumble and prepare the coffee while I get on the computer and wait for it to brew.

Zero at the moment! We had a bunch until I realized that every single one of them had expired - some by 3 years.

No, they are not saying it to me, it's to my children. The main reason I worry is because of my daughter's personality. I tend to think she believes what her friends say even when she shouldn't. Thank you for the suggestions so far. Honestly, it never occurred to me to just say "gloating isn't nice." It's quite possible that this bothers me more than it does my dd.

I need the collective wisdom of the Hive on this: My kids (mostly the 5 year old) have a few friends that always need to be "better," "faster" or "smarter" than my kids are. For example, "I can ride a bike faster than you." "I can read better than you" "I'm a better swimmer than you." The problem is a) so what if they are better at something, gloating about it isn't nice and b) they claims are not even true quite often! How do I handle this without telling another kid, "as a matter a fact, dd is better at reading than you" or something along those lines. I don't want to put another child down, but at the same time, I don't like them trying to put my child down. Also, how do I get my kids to understand that just because they are better at something, they don't need to tell others. I really want them to have the self confidence to KNOW they are good at things, but not feel need to proclaim it to the world. (At this point, my 5 year old doesn't, it's not her personality, but I can see the 3 year old eventually copying what he is hearing.)

I would not let her practice without it, but I would let her do the copetition without it. Head injuries may not be common, but with her already recovering from one injury, I wouldn't want to take an unecessary chance.

No, he gets up to workout, so it's not like he would be hanging out with me anyway. When he's done working out, I head out for a run before he leaves for work and we might have 5 minutes to chat before he leaves the house.

I'm in MO and while my district does nothing for homeschoolers, in the district next door, they do allow homeschoolers to qualify for their gifted program and they can attend the gifted learning center 1 day a week, just like the public school kids can. I suspect it's going to vary a lot by state and school system.

Nope, it doesn't bother me at all. I would rather accept that germs are a part of life rather than constantly stressing about the germs to which my kids are exposed and trying to figure out ways to avoid them.

Some people may not consider it a hobby, but do you like to exercise? You could go for a jog or a walk while your dds take their classes. I am always happier when I can exercise on a regular basis.

I knew this board would have some great suggestions! I've started researching some of the ideas already and I think I can find some challenging books for her. It is definitely an issue of the amount of white space on the page, plus the size of the font. Thanks again!

My daughter can currently pick up pretty much any level 2 reader and read it with ease (level 2.0-2.8) in one sitting in under 20 mins., depending on length. She also has read a Cam Jansen chapter book, but didn't enjoy it because it was too long for her (~60 pages, mostly type, but some pictures). Could anyone offer suggestions in the late second grade range that are about twice as long as a typical level 2 book (such as Henry and Mudge, Frog & Toad, etc)? Also, I've looked for level 3 books, but they are not nearly as plentiful as level 2 readers. Thanks for any help!

BikeBookBread is right - I totally forgot to mention cycling shorts. They are definitely helfpul.

As a long time cyclist, I can say that less is more when it comes to bicycle saddles if you're on it for any length of time. That said, it does take some time to get used to it and different saddles work better for different people. There are plenty of aftermarket soft, cushy saddles out there if it doesn't work for you in the long run. Good luck and have fun!

This has been a great discussion to read. If giftedness is only identified by IQ testing, then what about people (kids) whose IQ falls into the gifted range (>98%), but they don't have any of the other gifted traits--they're not quirky, passionate, begging for school work or any of the other often listed traits on gifted lists. Are such people still gifted or is there more to it than an IQ? If it's just IQ, then only 2% of the population is truly gifted and if there is more to it than just IQ, then it would be ever fewer people. I wonder if part of the problem is that gifted programs throughout the country have different criteria for acceptance. My district is 98% IQ & 96% acheivement standard, a neighboring district is 95%, 95%, respectively. My sister got her son in a gifted program in FL qualifying at the 90% because he was hispanic. I think some districts only require for one subtest to be in the 98/99th%, not the full scale number, which again would lead to more kids qualifying. So, gifted should be rare (2%), but it turns at that because of all of the different ways of getting it different programs, it really ends up being much greater. (In my district with the 98% cut off, they claim to have 7% of the kids in the district involved in some sort of gifted programming.)

That's great! I've been following your other post since my daughter is in the same boat as yours with regard to cut offs (although we have a more accomodating school district!). My dh wants to try PS, but if he doesnt' like what he sees, I think he will be more willing to consider HS as an alternative.

Trains, action figures (army men or pirates) and Automoblox are great. My son also loves his erector sets and probably his favoriate toys right now are his Fisher Price pirate ship and his knight dress up stuff. Honestly, my I think the best educational gift for a 3 year old is one that is going to let him use his imagination!

We try to let the kids watch tv no more often than every other day-ish. During the week that usually consists of a couple of PBS kids shows and on the weekends, that's a full-length move.