Thanks for the tips! We found a friend of a friend who is starting some cuttings for us. In the meantime, he's put one Adams and one Johns in his cart at an online nursery, both 3 years old already. And a mulberry tree. Not sure how that's going to work here! Gotta love his passion to try it all!

Yes. When I asked him why he wants the expensive bushes online instead of the more economical ones, he matter of factly stated, "The little ones will take 3 years to get berries and I'll be moving out around then, so that would be a waste." The friends we know with the bushes harvest them every year, then make and sell the syrup locally.

My son wants to plant elderberry bushes. I know they get huge and we have a sunny spot for them, but I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with different varieties in zone 6b. We've checked the local nurseries and they do not carry them or know much about them. We do know one family with thriving bushes, so the area should be good for them, but their bushes came with their house originally, so they don't know the variety. My son's goal is to learn how to make the syrup, make a bunch, and share it with friend's families. Thanks for any suggestions or tips!

My oldest graduated from a b&m school, so making the grad announcements was easy. My next will be graduating from homeschool this year. Do you list a name of the school on the grad announcements? Simply write Home Educated, or something else? Omit the name? Thanks!

Peter Pan - Wow! That's exactly what I needed to think through! Definitely no scraps of paper! I use Google calendar extensively - on my big phone for exactly the reasons you stated! No tech meant I don't want to have to figure out EverNote or similar plans. I'm just more old school. I hadn't thought about the planner needing to fit my purse, which it must, of course. Great tip! I've used a 3 ring binder in the past, but loose paper, too many dividers, and sticky pads that fall out just make it messy after awhile. With kids jobs, sports schedules, and a new part time job with 'make your own hours' I just need to revamp. Thanks for the great suggestions!

Any ADHD mommas in the hive who can vouch for a printed planner that has worked well? Not for the ADHD kiddos - they have theirs! I'm just trying to figure out a better system for me than 'flying by the seat of my pants!' 😂

We don't have track here, but we do have a couple of homeschool team sports that are still pretty young. After deciding that there were enough kids for a team, finding a parent willing to coach, and finding a place to play, a mom with a vision called all of the local private schools within a 1.5 hour radius and asked if they would be willing to scrimmage this new team for practice. They agreed. After seeing that the team was serious, every school agreed to add the homeschool team to their regular schedule the following year. This was middle school level when it started, but has continued into high school. Another team sport has been added in exactly the same way. The same name was used for both teams, and will be for any future homeschool teams in our area in order to add credibility. When a school agrees to a scrimmage or game with a team with this name, they know who they are dealing with and the type of people they are dealing with. They are willing to make space for us since there have been positive past experiences. Hope that helps with some implementation ideas! Good luck!

8FilltheHeart... Thank you! Good tips!

Just for fun... I looked at Unigo the other night and found a 2K scholarship for a 250 word essay about how you would respond in a zombie attack. My kids aren't into zombies, but thought this would be a fun (and short) essay for a creative writer who likes all things zombie. ?? A question... How do get your kids to prioritize scholarship searches and requirements? I don't mind researching to weed some out, but making the actual application and writing the essays is not his priority list. Would love suggestions!

Thank you so much for your response. It is very helpful to know which type of student enjoyed the book more than the other. Still deciding!

Has anyone here used Write with World that is published by World Magazine? If so, what age(s) did you use it? Did you and your kids like it? How teacher intensive is it? Thanks!

Saddlemomma, I'm so sorry for the delay! I don't get on here often! Hopefully you found something suitable, but if not, this author's page has several options to choose from. http://www.patriotshistoryusa.com/teaching-materials/secondary-homeschool/

Thank you. I did some more digging and found an outline page with the highlights for each chapter in Patriot's History. For this semester, I think I'll go ahead and make some notes on topics I expect him to take notes on, then work on the skimming skills over break and let him try out those skills on his own in the spring semester. He is definitely not a skimmer, but a contemplative reader. Good in its own right, but makes it tough to get through thick texts. Thanks again.

My son is currently a junior in Classical Conversation Challenge 3 and is struggling to keep up with the workload. The assigned text for US History is A Patriot's History by Schweikart and Allen. It is and excellent and comprehensive book, starting with Columbus and going through the War on Terror. However, it is a TON of reading on top of the research papers and speeches that correspond to this subject (not to mention the heavy workload in every other subject as well). I'm considering using this book as a guide to the subject matter being discussed in class, but instead of having my son read the book, having him watch the Hip Hughes YouTube videos that correspond to the chapter topics and use that information for his research papers and speeches. Is there anyone out there with experience in both resources that might be able to share some pros and cons with this idea? Just trying to figure out a way to make this manageable! Thanks!!

Thank you. Perhaps using that reasoning with him will be helpful. I truly appreciate the help. Maybe I just needed to vent some frustrations. Thanks for the safe spot to do that & be real.