I'm a cradle Catholic and an INTJ as well. The older I get the more "into" my faith I get and the more I understand it. My experiences and feelings all point to this being the right path for me.

The only thing that stands out to me is that your homemade detergent doesn't contain any soap. I always used Fels Naptha in mine and I heard others used Ivory. Just grate a bar, melt it on the stove in some water, and add it to all the powdered stuff with an additional 3 gallons of water. Let it set overnight and by morning it should be more of a gel (snot?) like consistency. I never used anything else on ds's cloth diapers and they never smelled after he peed. The other thing i was thinking about is to look for reviews on the brand you purchased and see if others are having that problem. It may be the diaper.

No schoolroom here. Almost all books and supplies are in the china cabinet on glass shelves behind glass/wood doors. It looks nice in the dining room. The books we use daily are in one shelf of an Ikea Expedit cubby bookshelf in the living room. Whiteboard and globe are also in the living room. Daily academics (2-3 hrs of some combo of math, lit, hist, sci, and geog) is done on the couch or at the dining room table.

Wow. My university required 126 credit hours total. Ds is looking to be a computer science major. Thanks for the info. I will certainly be checking out the college requirements for ds and I'm pretty sure we will increase formal lesson time throughout high school. If ds goes to the same college I went to, the requirements are still 126. No double major, no minor. But it's interesting to see what other colleges are doing.

I did a 15 hour week in college and graduated on time (bachelor's). I'm not counting homework, papers, and studying as part of the scheduled day. I definitely didn't spend 2 hours for every class hour on anything school related, nor did anyone I knew - not even close. Is that the norm nowadays? Dd didn't do more than I did. 3 hours a day of class time is all I did in freshman and soph years of college. I was a Psych major, dd was a business major. Does that have relevance to the amount of class hours? Hardly anyone I knew took 6 classes a week.

The only subjects that I schedule (stagger?) throughout the week are Math, Lit, Science, History, and Geography (well, I will starting in the fall, but it's similar now). And that's what takes us about 2-3 hours/day. I can't see us at home for 6-8 hrs/day with formal curriculum. Ds would turn off completely and have no long-term retention. I mean, college is only 3 hours/day of instruction. Instead we do minimal daily seatwork (done before noon) and a whole bunch of self-study and outside stuff (chosen by ds). Religion and PE are outside classes. Technology is something ds does on his own or with friends (he is teaching himself coding and basic programming and this year he will do some online courses). The "miscellaneous" subjects are mainly through outside classes/trips, discussions, documentaries, performances, daily news programs, self-study, and as a by-product of his day. And the field trips and homeschool group classes are so engaging, interesting, and fun, that he does 1 or 2 of them each week. It all counts.

I was hesitant to post since our daily scheduled academic seatwork takes about 2-3 hrs/day. Ds is going into 7th grade and is on grade level. Then I thought about comparing his week to what a week looks like in public/parochial school and came up with a new breakdown of a real week for ds: Math: 5 hrs/week Lit: 5 hrs/week Hist: 1.5 hrs/week Geog: 1 hr/week Sci: 2-3 hrs/week Trip or Outside class: 2-3 hrs/week (often more) PE: 4 hrs/week Religion: 1.25 hrs/week Technology: 5 hrs/week Misc (Art, Music, Health, Language Arts, Current Events): 3 hrs/week

New York (specifically NYC) We have it all. I think it's the most incredible place to homeschool. The regulations are not an issue. Ds has done classes at all the major museums, art galleries, science centers, parks, gardens, zoos, nature preserves, etc. Within an hour I can drive to the beach, mountains, farms, lakes, and vineyards. In any NYC neighborhood it's less than a 20-minute walk to several libraries, stores, playgrounds, movie theaters, and farmers markets. It's wonderful.

Yes. I've always said it that way - but I will admit that it's odd, lol.

We get 30/5 "wideband" with Time Warner Cable. It seems to be always true to speed - even going over sometimes (I use speedtest.net). We have a lot of devices.

The map was dead-on for me. I never realized how many NY words are not popular in the rest of the country. Are we the only ones who call one of those sandwiches a "hero"? I can only liken my accent/word choice to Fran Drescher's (she's from my neighborhood and I figure most of you know what she sounds like, lol). Chalk and chock are completely different. Marry, Mary, and merry are also completely different and I'm a big fan of crullers. I say soda, sneakers, garbage can, highway, car-a-mel, and I stand ON line. :tongue_smilie: Here's more: http://spark-1590165977.us-west-2.elb.amazonaws.com/jkatz/SurveyMaps/

Everyone gave some great idea for places to visit. I think you will love any Broadway show (musical) you choose. I would probably just do the boat ride past the Statue of Liberty rather than visit it (and since it's going to re-open in July after 9 months of being closed to the public, it will probably be very unpleasantly crowded) - I found Ellis Island much more interesting. Times Square and Central park are fun to walk around. The whole lower Manhattan area: South Street Seaport, Little Italy, Chinatown, Wall Street area, and Ground Zero memorial are great to make a day of. The Museum of Natural History is wonderful and so is the Metropolitan Museum of Art (both are across Central Park from each other). Expensive, it depends. Many museums are suggested donation, walking around is free, the ferry is cheap, food can be real cheap if you do your homework first. The only expensive things are Broadway shows, a few museums and restaurants, and souvenirs. Also, there aren't many long lines in August - except maybe for the Empire State Bldg and the Statue of Liberty. Christmastime is when it gets a bit crazy.

Our schedule is kind of unique. We spend only 1.5-2 hours a day on academic seatwork. We make sure afternoons are free and we do lots of field trips and hands-on classes. Here's how our week is broken up (ds is moderately dyslexic, so we spend more time on spelling): MON: Math, Spelling, History, Science class (nature preserve) TUE: Math, Spelling, Vocab, Field trip (Manhattan) WED: Spelling, History, Writing THU: Math, Spanish, Science, Parkour class (gymnasium) FRI: Math, Spelling, Poetry study, Science class (sci. museum)

We used it this year. Ds (12) said spelling is now his favorite subject. We started with book 1. We use a whiteboard with different colored markers and he does the daily spelling test - on the whiteboard. It's fun and I can really see a marked improvement in his reading and spelling. We'll be using it next year, too.

My daughter will also be a senior next year and is pursuing dance. She was homeschooled until 8th grade and then went to a performing arts high school. She has a career management class next year and every month there is a parent meeting on various colleges, conservatories, and careers. It's great, but I still feel a bit lost and overwhelmed like you do. Dd wants to do it all - audition for companies, Broadway, and other shows, she wants to teach, be a major choreographer, be in music videos & stage concerts, and eventually own her own studio. She is more contemporary, jazz, & hip-hop rather than ballet. College is not in the cards for her, but she'll still audition for Juilliard and AMDA. She dreams big, but you have to in this field. We live in NYC so it's a bit easier to be a part of it all. The only advice I have is to be on constant lookout for programs, schools, companies, and other opportunities. Just getting out there in the dance world can lead to many connections. The BalletTalk site has a lot of ideas, too.

Tuna Casserole: Boil up a pound of ditalini, drain, pour into huge bowl. Cut up and saute a whole onion til soft. Put in bowl with ditalini. Add these to bowl as well: 2 cans of drained solid or chunk white tuna (in water or oil, doesn't matter). Chop it up a bit. 3 cans of cream of mushroom soup (Campbell's tastes best) 1 whole bag of crushed Wise potato chips (the ~ $1.49 to $2 bag) Stir this up and transfer to a baking pan. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes. Plate up and add sprinkle on some black pepper.

I have no problem with it. I find it more educational than many other things. Ds (12) even built his own Minecraft server, which I think is so cool. I make sure moderation is the key here and that he does lots of other things.

I had 3 C-sections and the recoveries weren't bad. None of them were very painful afterward. It takes a good week or 2 to be somewhat back to normal. Just walk a lot and don't lift anything heavy. I would advise you ask for absorbable sutures rather than staples. Also, car rides are rough the first week - brace yourself for any bumps. Wearing a stretchy, tight band around your surgery area helps a lot.

I remember early man being taught as part of Social Studies (in public school). Java Man, Peking Man, etc. Maybe 5th or 6th grade? Earth Science in 8th grade (in Catholic school) discussed Earth being millions of years old and how old certain stars are based on their color and brightness.

Pepito!

I just got the Nutribullet - $80 after 20% Bed, Bath, & Beyond coupon. I love it. it pulverizes everything. it makes the best green smoothies. My regular (~$50) blender wasn't good with ice, kale, or almonds.

There's a new middle school writing curriculum coming out in July: http://www.coverstorywriting.com/lessons.html. Not sure what I think yet.

On just curriculum, I'll be spending around $300 on my rising 7th grader: Math - $54 English - $92 (lit); $10 (vocab); $17 (spelling); $33 (grammar & writing) History/Geog - $65 (including a carryover) Science - $0 - carrying over Supplies, classes, field trips, scouts, theater, & sports are another story...

I live in Queens, NY Estimated median household income in 2009: $55,120 Estimated median house or condo value in 2009: $475,600

Taboo is a great one.