Bunco? It's, like, a go-to for the churches in my area :) Charades / Pictionary Scavenger hunt around the property/room

We just switched to DirecTV. First, I'd ban the decisions of husbands who feel the need to switch providers every six months, leaving me no time to watch the months of DVR shows I've lovingly hoarded for some imaginary time in the future that I'm able to sit and watch such shows. I will sell my kidney to pay the extra for you to have your spendy sports package with our current provider. It's like the automatic computer updates that close my 57 open internet tabs. I ban all of the people and things that mess with my hoarded stashes! Next, still re: DirecTV, I'm banning its remote. I like that some of the buttons click. I don't like that every single button clicks every single time I press it. Also, it doesn't have a button that lights up the keys but it DOES have a thousand buttons that are tiny and similarly sized. So at night, I have to hit 13 different wrong buttons just to find the DVR list and volume/mute. This leads to lots of unnecessary clicks. It makes me twitch and sometimes wakes up the baby sleeping with me. I think we used to have Dish. I liked their remote better. I should probably give up TV for Lent next year. :huh: I'm also going to ban drive thru lanes where you're locked in by curbs or shrubs. I like me an exit strategy. LOL

:hurray: Sometimes just putting it out into the universe does the trick!

:iagree: I'm like your child. I've just taken to rolling a die - odds, I take Side A and evens, I take Side B. It's easier for me to write these essays as "fiction" or as though a character has ___ opinion than it is for me to formulate one of my own - especially if the topic is unfamiliar or uninteresting to me. Not much help, either, sorry.

Hopefully your "prescription" had the desired effect and he's lost in his "zone" - completely ignorant of how long he's been gone. :grouphug: I've done the same with my kids, and sometimes they'll just sit on a corner for a bit, still angry that I've made them go for a run/ride before they actually GO for that run/ride. That may account for his being long longer than a usual bike ride. If it makes you feel better to go look, DO IT. Peace of mind is no small matter. If you can manage to take it down a notch from that, send a harmless text like: "Hey, thinking about __ for dinner, lmk when you plan to be back" (or something.) It's easy to say "chill out" but that's not so easy to do! So cross that one off of your list. I might set a mental time clock - say 30 more minutes - at which point I'd begin to address my worries. I'd start with a text, give it 5-10 minutes. If I hadn't heard back, or if it began to get dark, I might go looking. If I did find him, I'd drive home without even letting him know I was out searching. Then I'd go home and drink a tall glass of wine! LOL

I've never heard of closed doors for fire safety. That's good information to know! But we sleep with doors open. It's what I grew up with - windows open, doors opened to help air pass through the home. I have one kid who sleeps with a closed door on warmer nights due to sleeping nude. This child's bedroom has an en suite bathroom. When the kids were younger I'd shut the bedroom doors if i was staying up late to watch t.v. or to work, but I'd still always open them before retiring to bed.

I stopped falling prey to the pressure (expectations?) of being the brain for our family. By that, I mean that I started to re-direct people when they would ask me something that they could easily enough (though less easy than just asking me) figure out for themselves. Example: "Do we have soccer practice today?" Instead of answering, I now re-direct them to the 24" x 36" calendar that's hanging on the wall - usually no more than two steps away from us. Example 2: "Do I have to do ___ assignment for history? Really?" Instead of getting annoyed, I now re-direct them to the syllabus I spent the summer working on - outlining every assignment and due date and even an addendum that YES you REALLY have to do all of this work even if you don't want to. Example 3: "What's there to snack on?" Instead of dropping what I'm doing to look in the cupboards of able-bodied teenagers, I now ignore the question completely. If I'm in a decent mood I'll re-direct them with "I don't know, why don't you look in the pantry?" Things that were small and easy enough to answer when they were younger grew into a mental laziness on their parts, and was beginning to wear on me. I couldn't get through a single thought of my own for the constant interruptions of things they didn't actually need me to THINK for them. I was growing resentful, but it's all good now ... and getting better! Something I've started doing since having my last baby is to attend Mass by myself. My older kids are 12-adult and do a great job of managing the baby and chores so that I can have that hour to really participate fully in the Mass and to meet up with friends for brunch afterwards. I couldn't do that when they were younger because they were all so close in age. Also I'd have felt more guilty back then. I'm liking this larger age gap and being a more 'mature' mother; my caboose baby is bound to be my easiest yet. :D

I don't know who WILL care for me, but I sure as heck hope it's one of my children! My sister and FIL are in the life insurance business, so we're all set up financially for any possibility. One thing we've done, that I don't pretend to fully understand because I'm not clever enough to understand their jargon, is set it up so that we can withdraw without penalty while we're living to pay for any associated expenses such as facility care or in-home care. When I was talking to my sister about setting up a policy, I let her know that what was most important to me was that a relative could be paid to help with our care if need be. Like, if my daughter has her own family and stays home but could draw some income for doing what (I hope) she'd be doing anyway in terms of caring for us. Currently, my cousin gets a stipend from Medicare (I think that's it?) to stay and help her mother out three days each week. It's not a lot, but it's enough that she could step up and do it without financially affecting her own little family. My plan - which I've already begun, so maybe I should more appropriately call it a CAMPAIGN? - is to plant seeds now. Guilt-tripping is kosher in our culture. LOL I let the kids know now that I had as many as I did so no one or two would be overburdened. :) But I didn't have so many so as to affect their childhoods by spreading us too thin financially or emotionally. And to show appreciation for my wonderful accounting skills and nailing that sweet spot, it's up to them to work out how to spread out caring for me in my golden years! I honestly feel like I'll never live on my own. It's just a hunch that I'll have one kid who stays single, or marries late in life and our home just goes from being "ours" (parents) to "theirs" (child/couple). That's pretty much how it goes in my family for many generations now. My ex-husband and my husband both come from families with long-lived women, but men who die before 80. The women in my family have all hit 90, with a few living upwards of 100. Stinks for my kids because my ex and my husband are likely to be nice in their old age. I'm probably going to get more cranky with age. And I'm pretty darn cranky to begin with! ETA: we are Catholic, so euthanasia (assisted or otherwise) is not an option for us. But I loved reading Hornblower's post below mine about how she might like to spend her final moments. May we both be so fortunate to have that experience as our last memory, however we choose to go. :001_wub:

One of mine loved Louis L'Amour. A librarian recommended it, and we were all kind of weary because it's not a genre any of us would normally gravitate towards, but he LOVED them. They were so easy to find at libraries and used book stores, too. He also liked the guy who wrote The Firm a million years ago ... mind blank ... southern guy, I think, easy adult reading. Another one liked Dean Koontz, but he's sitting right here and says they're hit or miss - some are great, some are really out there and weird. He think someone who likes Stephen King would find Dean Koontz to be worth a try. My daughter is only 12, but she really enjoys alternate history books by Harry Turtledove. I just have to remind her that it's ALTERNATE history! I'm paranoid she's going to get confused and really think some of the plot lines are real history. LOL All of my kids could lose themselves for hours in a Far Side or Garfield comic book, too. And they often do :) I used to object, but Calvin & Hobbes is actually kind of clever and smart as well so we have several copies of those books around.

We are a baker's dozen, and two of us live within 10 miles of our parents. The bulk of the work will fall to us two. Of us two, my brother is single and a high wage earner. His help will largely be financial and respite. I don't work outside of the home, and will not return to work once my last homeschooler graduates (current youngest is in 7th but I have a caboose who's nearly 1 ... not sure if I'll homeschool that one, I'm ready to "retire" from that job.) In part, the decision to stay home will be so that I'm 100% available for the day-to-day of our parents. My husband is completely on board with this decision. Our brothers and sisters who are not local will help however they're able to - financial, respite, doctors stuff. I have two brothers who are physicians, a sister who is an accountant, a sister who sells life insurance, a sister who is a lawyer (she's not estate planning, but dates a guy who is!), and a sister-in-law who does worker's comp (and is able to help navigate health insurance issues for us) - lots of them are in a position to help in their own way. Our parents are in their early 60s, and very active and healthy. They currently help with day-to-day care for their parents - my grandmother who is 94 and my other grandmother who is 88. Both are very active and still living in their own homes. Their "own homes" are homes shared with one of their children, each grandmother having moved in more than 20 years ago to help care for grandchildren. My in-laws are in their late 70s. One is in great physical health, the other is showing signs of early dementia/suspected Alzheimers (runs in her family). They still live in their 5000 sq ft house, master upstairs, but are looking to downsize in the next year. They're trying to decide between a townhouse in the same area, or a move into a residential living facility (the kind that starts with an apartment and goes all the way to hospice care.) They have five kids, all very involved in their lives and all who will pitch in to help anyway necessary. He sells life insurance, so they've planned for these years for any contingency. "Help" will be things like driving to appointments and making sure spiritual needs are met. They'll probably hire a chef to prepare food on a weekly basis, and already have a live-in housekeeper. My ex's parents are in their mid 60s in mediocre health - not super healthy, nor sick; just "normal". They only have two children, including a strained relationship with my ex and a hot/cold relationship with his sister. I'm still close to them and worry that some of their care will fall to me and my children. Their kids are too self-absorbed and busy with their own lives. My ex-MIL juggled a business of her own while being the sole caretaker for her own mother, father, and FIL (all died of cancer) in their final years/months. Her siblings offered no help, just criticism for how ex-MIL managed their care. I won't uproot my life for them (they live in another state) but I will be sure my kids and I do what we're able to in assistance to them. They own a home near me that they use when they visit. If they end up moving here, I'll help with the day-to-day if they allow it. MIL will; ex-FIL likely won't.

1. I think "essay" is a broad term. I assign some which are open-ended opinion essays, some which are read-this-and-extrapolate essays, and some which are WTM-style persuasive essays. 2. My current high schooler writes 1-2 per week outside of "writing class" plus he is using a writing curriculum. How many should be done would depend (IMO) on the student's strengths, needs, academic future, and potential career. 3. I think different types are important to know, so I do attempt to rotate the assignments. I don't have a set number in mind, again because it depends on the student. A weaker writer I'll want to assign more; a stronger writer won't need to spend the time improving on this particular skill. One of my sons is a natural debater. He didn't need practice writing persuasive essays, but his ability to summarize wasn't as strong so he wrote more of those. Another son couldn't persuade his own self out of a paper bag, so we spent a lot of time on those. My goal is to practice what needs practicing without wasting time on what's been (mostly) mastered. 4. No, I do not. I require an outline/planning method in the beginning when we're focused on learning those skills. Once the student demonstrates the ability to write a paper well without my scaffolding of these skills, they are no longer required. For some students I offer an incentive to do them, if I think they'd benefit more from doing it but it's not a hill I'm dying on for that particular kid. I don't require a rough draft, but 99% of the time they turn one in to me. Our approach is that the final grade is for the final draft. I will look at and assist with any rough drafts that are turned into me THE DAY BEFORE a paper is due. They've learned the importance of doing one :) 5. I write out a syllabus for the entire semester or year ahead of time. All writing assignments have due dates known well in advance. They are responsible for ekeing out enough time to complete their process. I'd say it takes my son a week or so to complete the process, if he works on one part a day for about 45-60 minutes or so. 6. We never did timed essays. It never occurred to me to! Fortunately, my kids so far have all managed to finish the timed SAT essay with decent scores. If I had a kid that needed help with this, I might work on one a month or so - depending on what my end goal was. 7. Some of both. Most of our assigned essays are for cross-curricular subjects so there is some level of pre-knowledge but also a need for accumulating more knowledge. Research is a very important skill IMO, so I try to ensure there is some level of it for most of our assignments - even if it's just researching within a textbook or book used for class (e.g., character studies for literature). 8. We use the progymnasmata (Classical Composition) in addition to cross-curricular writing. Later this year we'll also do some creative writing with One Year Adventure Novel, but only because one son wants to do it with his friends. I'll probably have my upcoming students do some sort of creative writing, if not OYAN perhaps NaNoMiWro (?is that it?) or something similar. You may just want to pick a program and run with it :lol: I finally had to, else my head was going to explode!

I'm fortunate to find this in my family. Debate and discourse has always been encouraged and is common around the kitchen table. Typical of a large family, a variety of opinions are represented. It's never dull. I think what is central to the success of it: 1. an underlying respect for each other 2. an ability to not take disagreement personally 3. an appreciation for where the knowledge comes from. I've noticed that an important factor in friends debating with each other is that they take it personally when someone disagrees with them, and will often boil conversations down to WHERE the other person has gotten their information: "Oh, that's just what you heard on Fox news" or "damn liberal media" kind of thinking. They see their opponent as merely regurgitating soundbites and not as informed people capable of debate. Naturally, this seems to affect the level of respect for each other. I wonder if there might be a MeetUp group or something similar where you could find a group who appreciate the art of discourse and verbal sparring. It reminds me of a book I read awhile back called something like Socrates Cafe. I can't remember exactly, but I think he tried to start up a group of what you're looking for ... reminiscent of an ancient courtyard debate. LOL

Well, the title alludes to a thread about a specific group that has been excluded, and not general exclusionary policies or a different specific and excluded group. Okay, "party after the bar mitzvah" then. I'm guessing what I actually meant is worth pointing out despite you getting the point. LOL I don't follow the logic of opening a separate thread to discuss what this thread was designed to discuss. I mean, what would I say in the OP to keep the thread "pure"? Something along the lines of what Sandwalker is quoted to have requested above? :confused1: But that is neither here, nor there. As was predicted a few pages ago, this thread will derail into a few voices convincing nobody to see things their ways about a topic unrelated to the original intent of the thread. And I include myself in that now that I've dedicated more posts to this side conversation with you, than I have the original topic. :glare: Time for me to go play somewhere else. LOL

I struggle with focus, and chaos feels more comfortable to me than rigid structure does. My son is the complete opposite. He was my first home school student, and once he hit 10-11, it started to become a problem. At that point I abandoned the DIY/family approach with him, and began to use textbook style curricula for a few subjects. It gave him the order he craved, especially on days when the younger kids were sick or just big into interrupting us. It gave him concrete deadlines ("this chapter" or "these questions") which he thrived with because no deadlines or loose deadlines just screwed up his brain. It didn't look like the home school I had dreamed of, but I had to put those ideals and philosophies aside to meet my student where he was. We still did family history and science, but he had some subjects he could work on independently and orderly. It was an amazing change. I know some kids do well with headphones - noiseblocking kind, ear muff style. My son did better just to have music playing softly as a sort of white noise to cover the kiddie babble and crying and noise (no headphones). I'm relieved my other kids are more like me, and do fine with our brand of chaos. :tongue_smilie: I'm also so glad you got great feedback from their tests. I know how stressful it is to worry about that stuff, and it's great you can get a little breathing room now!

I mean, sure, they could have. But that's, like, ... silly. :lol: "Hey! Thanks for crashing my bar mitzvah! Please stay with my guests while I run next door to get a party of your own set up for you !" It's a reasonable request given that this issue will pop up for months/years to come and it'd be great to search for the thread "Boy Scouts open up to girls" to keep an on going conversation. And the issue of atheism and BSA is equally important and deserving of its own thread. Certainly the BSA is in an era of change, and who knows what population is next to make their "cut" - a thread titled appropriate to that line of debate would be equally great to find. Look, it's a free country. That's why I chose to move here! :D And also why I expressed a shared opinion on the direction of this thread. We can agree to disagree on that, but I hope we can agree that both conversations are deserving of their own threads under relevant titles to make sure the conversations can be easily found in the future because both warrant on going dialogue on both sides.

I'm pretty much a "do what you will" kind of parent and am very hands-off about vanity anything or costume/dress-up. My kids have unnaturally colored dyed hair, oddly placed piercings, and tattoos. I think she's doing a good thing by researching what she can. She found FDA-approved, so it shows she's willing to do the leg work to find something "mom-approved" and safe®. What a responsible thing to do, and something to encourage! But the eye thing scares me. With someone under 14, I'd say no. With someone 15+ I'd let them make the decision, but I'd make them research the idea more thoroughly so they could make a more informed decision beyond "I want to." Someone who is 14 though is at that tender age where she's part kid, part young adult. It's hard to say what I'd do. If she had a birthday coming up or some income of her own, I'd cover or split the cost of an exam for her to get real zero degree lenses - this being the most safe option, with the benefit of lenses that could be safely re-used. It might also be a financial point where she decides it's not worth it, thereby she gets to make the decision on her own without me being the Bad Guy. Or, depending on her personality, if I was pretty certain she couldn't get past the part about putting them in ... I'd let her purchase them and decide (again) on her own that it's not worth it for her costume. Lots of people need assistance learning how to put on contacts, and these are ones that are actually fitted to the user. A generic pair of contacts would be like trying on a pair of shoes - not all size 7s are created equally, nor are size 7 feet. If it's just a "good enough" fit, some of us will put up with the discomfort but some of us will end up taking off our shoes in the middle of the event. But anything to do with the eyes makes me nervous. I'd go with my gut after seeing the pair she found online. My gut is likely to say no to generic contacts.

Me, too. :thumbdown: This is especially unfortunate given that this was predicted a few pages ago, and respectfully requested be taken to a separate thread.

I don't get this either. I fell into homeschooling because (as a Catholic) I could not sign the profession of faith required by our local, Classical school. I mean, I could ... and I know Catholics who did ... and the registrar suggested that our faiths weren't really "all that apart" on the matter that I was most balking at ... but, like, in my heart I could not deny who I was and what I believed. (Or in the case you present, who I am and what I do not believe.) I have a great deal of respect for those families who fight for what they believe in by first opting out. I understand why some families instead choose to fight from within. It's a difficult decision to make either way. I don't judge any of them for the choices they've made. I'm just glad I haven't been in the position to choose that for scouting, the way I had to for education.

I know nothing about the history of scouting, or the origins of the movement. I'm not interested in knowing, and I recognize that this is a luxury afforded me because it's never been an issue for me. I don't know why spirituality is part of scouting, either, but to answer your question about it looks like at meetings ... We've been a part of three scouting troops. Each had a leadership position of Chaplain, which was a six-month commitment at the boy level for which he was nominated and voted in. This role looked different at each troop, as most things will. Troop A is chartered by the public school. The Chaplain's role was to act as a clearing house for religious emblems (along with the Committee's help.) Interested scouts would contact the chaplain for information on how to earn the religious emblems. The chaplain was also responsible for ensuring religious needs were met on camp outs. This was most notable for dietary needs such as keeping kosher, vegetarian options, meatless Fridays for Catholics, etc.; and for prayer needs such as for practicing Muslims. Troop B is chartered by the Catholic Church. The Chaplain's role was to lead prayer before and after the meetings and meals (these were always optional), to assist with Mass on camp outs (also optional), and to be "shepherd" his fellow scouts. That meant praying with them upon their request, sending out prayer requests and keeping other families in the loop when serious situations arose (deaths, births, surgeries) so that meal trains, cards, etc. could be set up. He also ran the service event attached to All Souls' Day, which was cleaning up abandoned grave sites at our local cemetery. Troop C is chartered by a Protestant Church. I think it's Episcapalian? Maybe Methodist? We're in the Bible Belt. The Chaplain's role is to be a liason with the charter organization. He ensures we're good stewards of the space we're allowed to use, and that we do at least one service event per year to give back to the church. This is our current troop, and when my son was in this position he added the task of being the clearinghouse for religious emblems - no one in the troop was aware that these were even options. He promoted the program and helped interested scouts get in touch with area groups. This troop ends all of its meetings with a short prayer. It's probably optional, because our troop is low key, but nobody has ever opted out or to consider making it known that it's optional.

I wish that book were more commonly known. I pulled it off of the shelf for two friends who were running a Schola Rosa co-op but didn't find it to be rigorous enough. They hadn't heard of the book before, nor of the author!! They had been to IHM conferences, and had at least passing familiarity with MODG. They also got most of their homeschool research and information from the internet - Pinterest and FB. Maybe that's the difference? So now when I see the book cheap at used bookstores, I buy it. I've passed out about six copies in the past two years. The group that started out doing Schola Rosa has now disbanded, with half of the families doing their own style of the DYOCC at home and meeting up for field trips ... while the other half still meets weekly for CM style classes. It was so interesting to see it pan out. I'm glad there is a product to fill the need for families who (for whatever reason can't or won't DYO) but like you, I'm surprised at how many families equate classical with co-op or university models.

I stopped teaching catechism at our parish because of this. The kids didn't want to be there, the parents got upset if we collected phones, and it was all just a waste of everyone's time (especially mine.) So now I treat myself to a nice brunch after Mass instead of an hour of looking at the tops of kids' heads as they try to hide their phones in their laps. It'd be different if the phones were used as tools, as Jean points out. I led a high school theology class that made appropriate use of phones. And although I'm sure some kids were off-task, at least it wasn't blatant. I appreciated the effort to at least LOOK like they were involved! LOL But I think of this less as a phone issue and more of issues about kids not wanting to be there and parents don't want to collect phones. Both are legitimate issues in their own right, with the phone use being a passive and indirect result of those things. That said, yes. I'd be bothered.

My boy scouts are waiting to see how this pans out before they form an official opinion. They think it can be a great thing, or an awful thing, depending on how it all rolls out at the local level. My youngest is 12. She grew up attending most of her brothers' cub scout meetings because I led them. She was so disappointed when she learned her only local option was Girl Scouts (she wasn't disappointed until she attended a meeting and found it was all crafts.) A friend started an AHG troop so that is where we ended up. My daughter will stay there until she's old enough for a venture crew. She's not thrilled with AHG. Neither am I, especially at the PI/PA levels. Our boys are glad that their sister may end up with this option, especially to follow in their steps to earn Eagle. Right now they are the ones who take her camping, teach her canoeing, helped her earn the shooting badge, showed her how to whittle, take her hiking, etc. Our local AHG troop is very anti-BSA so they won't allow my sons to contribute to the troop with these things but nobody at the charter's Trail Life group is stepping up to do so. The girls like my daughter who want more of those offerings in their troop, suffer. My boys are also worried that this may turn away some boys from joining or staying in scouts (at the local level.) They've seen it happen in other areas where once girls are invited in, it becomes girl-focused and eventually girl-dominated. It's too early for us to know where we come down on this decision. We feel like there are pros and cons, and the way it plays out in our local troop will most color our opinion on the change.

We had to leave one troop because of the number of mother scoutmasters. They came as a group when one pack moved up to scouts, there were four of them who had been very involved at the cub scout level (which isn't my preference, but doesn't bother me; in fact, when no dads stepped up, I led my sons den for three years until my dad retired and took over for me.) It really did change the flavor of the campouts, and the troop in general. I mean, it was way more efficient and communication was great for the first time in forever! But it came at the expense of being the boys' troop, run by the boys, for the boys, and how the boys wanted it. My oldest son said it felt like co-op - "Yay. More moms with strong personalities who won't let us do anything." :thumbdown: We left that troop, as did a number of other boys after us. Our current troop has two mother scoutmasters. They run true to the scout model, though, and fully believe it should be boy led. I don't know if it is a matter of personalities, or what, but true to your experience they do no mothering on the campouts. The boys love these two moms. From my perspective, they seem to want the same thing the boys do - a boy led troop with a mostly male presence, and a few "cool" moms as needed. "Cool" meaning 'doesn't step in to mother us' LOL.

I am so grateful to the true pioneers of the homeschooling movement. Someone posted earlier about having to hide the kids from the postman*, because homeschooling was illegal. It's INSANE how far the movement has come since those early days, and how much the face of homeschooling has changed. It's CRAZY to think how fast the movement has continued to evolve to this very day. It's like many people on this thread remember a sweet spot in the timeline where homeschooling was accepted but still not fully on the mainstream radar. That was probably around the time I began homeschooling (2003). I feel like the poster who said that even though I've been at this for 14 years, and even when local people ask me for advice, I'm confused and flattered because I, too, feel like I just wing it every day of every year. I'm uncomfortable when newer homeschoolers approach me because I have no clue how we've made it this far, and even less of a clue on how to mentor them. All I can offer is emotional support and a standing park date! *Sidenote - not to make light of the very real challenges and risks taken by those homeschooling pioneers, but can you imagine if homeschooling was still illegal in the States now that we have Amazon Prime??! I swear my kids would have to do school in the bathtubs, hidden in the bathrooms, with me sliding meals under the door, considering how many deliveries we get throughout any given school day! :willy_nilly:

I don't currently follow national public education news, and I only hear about state homeschool news when the moms at co-op or scouts are talking about it within earshot. I live in a low regulation state, but don't give it any real thought. I am not very involved in the homeschool community now. I like to do my own thing and be by my own self. :lol: I will have to modify that some for my caboose baby. I forced myself to be social during my oldest's 1st-5th grade years but then I retreated to a group of 2-3 other families who become my "community." I've been lucky that these families I met with my oldest had kids that lined up with all of mine. Our youngest kids are still friends at 12-13, and have been since they were all 1 year old. The problem is that now I have a caboose kid so I imagine I'll have to eventually find a new group. I'm already dreading it and he's barely a year old. LOL I will homeschool my grandkids, if asked. My son is engaged to a homeschooler and they've discussed homeschooling their children. My parents have helped homeschool my children, too. They take the toddlers to story time so the olders can focus one-on-one with me, they've taken on elementary science, middle school math, many life skills "classes" and lots of field trips for those very necessary Teacher Planning Days. They've been a constant presence and bonus to our homeschool, and I'd love the opportunity to do the same for my kids and grandkids. So I guess I'll stay involved to the extent that it benefits my own family. Basically the same as now.