Tell her parents that their dd needs more guidance than you can give her at church and one of them has to come. Surely they can put on a clean shirt once a week and not foist this on you. If they ask you why, tell them point blank that their dd is exhibiting a great deal of normal interest in boys and you feel strongly that one of her parents should be very involved.

I feel like a weirdo in this thread. I have never felt a need for children. I had my first child (27) when it seemed appropriate intellectually. I raised her and never thought about more children. When I remarried 11 years ago, I was not planning to have children. Nonetheless, I had an accident and became pregnant. I was married to a good man who had never had biological children (he has an adopted daughter), and we decided, "What the heck -- let's go for it." I was 43. I love my children more than I can begin to describe. I can't imagine my life without either one of them, and in fact, I loved them so much I couldn't bear to send them to school with strangers when I was sitting home doing exactly nothing with several degrees. But I have never felt I needed to have them before I had them. Now, of course, I need to have them because I can't live without them! (I guess the good news is that one's ability to fall madly and hopelessly in love with one's baby is not related to how much one craved the baby in the first place.) Interestingly, after menopause a year or two ago, I finally felt a pang, so I sort of know what you're talking about. For the first year or two I actually grieved never having my own baby in my arms again. It wasn't any kind of all-encompassing grief and it didn't affect my life in any way -- it was just these fleeting moments when I felt that a very important part of me was gone forever. These days I'm mostly over it. I'm looking forward to grandchildren!

You need to leave these people in your wake. In your place, I'd tell my MIL to take her $7000 vacation and stuff it. The crazy SIL can stuff it too. I'd continue a normal relationship with the SIL that speaks to me and pretend everybody else was dead. It's tough, but they clearly don't want any part of you and have been harboring real or perceived slights for years. You need that kind of neurotic relationship like you need a nice, neat hole drilled between your eyes. Don't beat yourself up over this. If you did something wrong, you should apologize. If you did and they're still acting like children, blow them off and leave them behind you. I've had several friends spend their entire lives trying to mediate crazy people because they're "family." I don't allow crazies in my life -- even if there is a blood relationship.

I think it's wonderful for you to get ideas from other people as to why they're homeschooling. It's probably also expedient to borrow one of these arguments and present it to your MIL to calm her fears. That being said, you have to homeschool your kids for your very own reasons, and when your MIL asks you why you're doing that, presenting arguments will never be the end of it. She will always find something to challenge. Instead, when she asks you why you're homeschooling, gently and respectfully tell her you are doing so because you are their mother and that is the decision you have made. When you get into trying to justify your decision, you will never convince her. The more you justify, the more she will challenge. I'm all for helping others come to terms with my decisions, but I allow no challenges. I'm doing it because it's what I decided. End of story.

Hmmm... I don't think geothermal energy comes from the sun, and obviously, nuclear power does not. Geothermal energy comes from heat inside the earth left over from its formation. Or does it? Some geothermal energy probably comes from tidal forces (from the sun, not the moon), but how much? Probably not enough to make a difference. Nuclear energy is definitely not something we get from the sun, except to the extent that everything on our planet was formed out of the leftovers of the sun when the original ball of gas collapsed and ignited. So... it comes from the sun originally, but... Very interesting conversation. I'd love to hear from others.

Mom jeans and Hawaiian muumuus for us!

Sure. There is a teacher in our co-op who lost her job in the public school system and is now teaching homeschooled kids at home. I haven't used her services except for our evaluation last year, but some of the moms love the morning off! Because I am a fiend at lesson planning, anyone can come in and teach my son just from my notes, so from time to time I've had my daughter take over several subjects on a day when I really needed to be out of the house. Dd is 27 and was homeschooled herself, so she is very well qualified. Frankly, the job we do as home educators, and the number of hours we spend preparing, would earn us six figure incomes if we were getting paid for it. Taking a day a week off and having someone who is qualified teach is a liberating experience. One of the things we're doing this year is teaching science together. That means people buy their own books (RS4K) and I teach them all on alternate Fridays. They take assignments home (reading, activities, etc.) and bring them back to me on the following Friday for grading and comments. Effective, I am teaching science to my co-op's kids and the moms are just making sure the kids do at home whatever I assigned. This seems to be working very well for everyone. This is not really about art, but I just wanted you to know that the concept in general works.

These are all amazing replies and I appreciate all the insight. My worry stems mainly from the fact that I consider math and science equally as important as language and history -- I want it to be rigorous without completely turning him off. It's a fine line we have to walk. ;) I'd love to hear more points of view. Thanks!

We love the CD's. In fact, ds has never read out of the book and this is our third year doing SOTW. I skim the book to prepare the lessons, but now that I'm using it with History Odyssey I don't even have to do that. We listen to SOTW in the car, while playing Legos, in the evening, whenever. By the time we're ready for a formal lesson, he already knows the stories backward and forward.

My ds is doing well with TT. He's doing TT5, two lessons per day, and we hope to complete TT6 by the end of fifth grade. Is he going to get all the material he needs, or should I scrap this and go back to Singapore Math? The reason I switched is because he was becoming bored of workbooks and asked for something he could do at his computer. Should we be supplementing? I'd appreciate any comments, advise or opinions. Thanks.

I use these. I have level 4 and 5. http://www.mhschool.com/science/2002/student/unitlist.php3?vGrade=5 I love the content and the way it's laid out. I'm hoping to find out how other people use it other than just reading the text. How do you attain mastery of the material?

We're using Real Science-4-Kids Biology this year, but it just isn't meaty enough. I've bought McGraw Hill Science books 4 and 5. How do you use them? Are there tests available? I see that each lesson includes several items including vocabulary, explore activity, read to learn, process skill builder, lesson review, and the math/literature/writing/technology links. How do you work these items in your daily science lesson?

We've used it with very good results. Ds likes it a lot also -- he likes that he can do an assignment in five minutes! We've also used Daily Paragraph Editing from Evan-Moore with success.

I buy my science supplies at Home Science Tools also. By the way, you know you can make agar at home from unflavored gelatin, sugar and water.

Thank you. Your post was very helpful. One more question. In the end, do you feel that either program makes a better writer?

I use Audible. I generally buy the gold or platinum package which brings my purchases down to under $10 each.

Vaccines arrive in South Florida on October 19. They will have FluMist first. I'm leaning towards FluMist for my son because he doesn't like shots. (Nor do I, for that matter.)

I had a dismal education from the public school system in South Florida. Of the dozens of teachers who taught me, I remember one or two as good teachers. I didn't actually have a good education until I started college and have been self-educating ever since then. When it was time to educate my children it was a no-brainer. I wouldn't send a dead dog to public school in Miami. (Although if I sent a live dog, it might be dead soon enough. Children kill each other with breathtaking regularity in Miami schools.)

I make French Toast casserole for Sunday brunch. Or I throw all my leftover ends in the processor, make breadcrumbs and freeze it.

Hmmm, thanks. I never thought to look there.

I buy pants and shorts for my string bean son at Penney's. He's size 12 tall, but size 8 wide, which conforms to 12 slim. This year I even got him 12 slim shorts -- look specifically at the school uniform pants and shorts. They all come in slim sizes and they last forever. Ds loves his new duds.

You made me giggle this morning. Thank you.:001_smile:

I'm so sorry. :grouphug:

I wouldn't worry about it. Those of us who have had mothers who were bad for our mental health are uniquely equipped to act very differently. My mother was often very difficult to deal with, particularly after she became a born again Christian and began forcing us to go to church to listen to interminable, irrelevant and in many cases just plain wrong sermons. For her efforts, both her daughters became atheists, and both of us are raising our children as atheists as well. My daughter and I have a wonderful relationship. She comes to me and tells me everything because I'm not going to invoke God to smite her down or react in any of the annoying ways my mother did. You already know how not to be a mother -- you're way ahead of the general population.

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: I'm so glad he has turned up. The thought of not knowing where one of my children is makes me feel sick. I am very happy for you.