Games that went over big with Cub Scouts of that age- Telephone (stand in a circle and send a message down the line to see what it ends up as with the last person) Color Tag- without them looking, tape a square of colored paper to the backs of two kids. They stand in the middle while the others cheer them on. The first one to spot the color on the back of their opponent and say it out loud, wins. Lego Race- each team gets a container with a bunch of legos (they should be the same legos in each). Players take turns placing legos in a stack to build a tower. The first team that uses up all their legos without the tower falling over wins.

The Enormous Egg Farmer Boy The Trumpet of the Swan Smells Like Dog

I've lowered my household standards quite a bit. It's just impossible to do it all. I'd rather spend time with my kids before they're grown and gone than worry about the state of my house.

Money. If you're not Jewish, I wouldn't worry about the multiple of 18 thing. Since it's a very close friend I'd give somewhere between $50-$100. And if there is a request for a tzedakah project, I'd do that as well. For our nieces and nephews, we give $108 and a small gift, like a frame for a bar mitzvah picture or jewelry or something.

I haven't read all the responses, but it took a while for my kids to make friends and enjoy going to co-op. I'd make her go a little while longer and see if it improves.

Quantum physics? Hang gliding? Film school?

I'm not defending how I blog, just explaining. I think the reason that many blogs seem whitewashed and fake is that they seem to filter out the negative. I think that is understandable from the point of view of the author. That's all I meant. I'm sorry your adult child is making it difficult for you to homeschool the other kids. I hope you can find an arrangement that works for everyone. One of my biggest fears is how my son is going to manage as an adult. Anyway, my point was that we all have challenges, every day, and it's not so much fun to write about those things.

It may be that some of the things I write sound like homeschooling is all sunshine and roses, but quite frankly, compared to the nightmare that our lives were when my kids attended public school, homeschooling is the bomb! I also have an Aspie, so I could write lengthy articles about his meltdowns and his refusal to see another side to a matter or his perseverating and on and on. He would do those things no matter what type of schooling he had. I know this from the multiple telephone calls I had from his schools. Yes, we have struggles almost daily in our homeschool. But, overall, I wouldn't trade this life for any other one. I'm keeping the end goal in mind, and that's what I write about. I write about striving for the joy, love, and peace we have in our pursuit of a classical education. That's a much more interesting topic for me to write about than why ds' math paper has holes in it from tears or why they are fighting over the "good" pencil, or why after reading something 20 times, they don't understand. I'd much rather celebrate what's going right in our homeschool than focus on the bad. And part of what is right in our particular homeschool is that we are teaching from a state of rest, if you want to go with a catch phrase. In our homeschool, I feel at peace and at ease, because I plan and prepare, and go with the flow when things don't go according to plan. I'd much rather write about preparation and being flexible than why the curriculum I thought was going to be great is a big, giant flop. My 2¢

Some of my favorite authors, of whose books I would recommend any: Barbara Kingsolver Ken Follett Tracy Chevalier Amy Tan Adriana Trigiani (based on the books you listed, I'd highly recommend her) Chaim Potok Isabelle Allende Naomi Ragan Leon Uris Philippa Gregory All great story tellers

I'm also in the camp that believes that all the antibacterial wipes and gels and cleaners are actually working against our immune systems. I don't use them. I do wash my hands frequently with regular soap and wash my sink, counters, toilets, etc. with vinegar and Seventh Generation dish soap. As for boosting my own immunity, I drink green smoothies, eat veggies I've fermented myself, drink kombucha, and have some raw, local honey from time to time. I used to get sick all the time. Since I quit smoking 12 years ago, stopped eating gluten 4 years ago, and have tried to limit dairy, I almost never get colds or flu. My kids rarely get sick, either. They've had the flu once in their lives and maybe get a small cold every couple of years or so.

:grouphug: Hope this time is soon past.

Pick a TV series and binge watch it on Netflix. That's how I distracted myself from my surgery pain this summer. Lots of hugs, and hope you feel better soon.

I go on Amazon sprees. I've been on one for about a week. I ordered supplies for co-op, bedding and food for our guinea pigs, and Halloween costumes so far. Today, I put two timers in my cart, but haven't pushed purchase yet, in case I think of something else.

I'm very sorry. :grouphug:

I voted other. I would have cared about my academics and grades if high school had been at all challenging or interesting. I had a 3.9, but didn't really apply myself and skipped a lot of school.

I voted other, because for the kids, it's a main dish. For adults, I'd serve it as a side.

I have mixed feelings about Minecraft. The addiction, from which both my kids suffer terribly, is extremely annoying. But, some of their creations are pretty cool. And I bought them an online class about how to make mods in Java, so we're all learning a little about programming, which is kind of cool, too.

I kind of summed up my homeschool philosophy in this article I wrote: http://sandboxtosocrates.com/2014/08/27/making-connections-by-lynne/

I do buy the ones I know they'll read over and over, like all the Rick Riordan books for my 10 year old. My sister also worked at B&N for 6 years, so every Christmas and birthday and sometimes for no reason at all, she'd load us up with a bunch of kid books. Mostly, though, we get our books from the library.

Hmm. If I do it in the food processor, I use the shredding disc. If I do it by hand, I grate it.

Haven't read any responses, but I do think it's rude to recline your seat on an airplane. There is just not enough room in coach. It's kind of necessary to do it on a long flight, but it is really, really awful for my family members who are mostly over 6 feet tall when someone slams their seat back into their legs.

Thanks. We'll check it out.

She's currently staying at my BIL and SIL's house. She's coming over on Thursday to discuss all of this and do some research. She is not in university, yet. She has two more years of her "high school" program left. It's totally different from here, and I can't remember what she called it. Thanks for the help. I don't think she's interested in being an au pair. I'll check into the suggestions.

We have friends in Germany, and the teen daughter has stayed with us for two summers. She wanted to come to the States as a college TA in German for a year, which was a thing, when I was in college in the olden days. It doesn't appear that colleges do that anymore. She doesn't want to enroll in a 4 year program, but I was wondering if anybody knew of anything she could do for a year or two here in the States.

We have friends in Germany, and the teen daughter has stayed with us for two summers. She wanted to come to the States as a college TA in German for a year, which was a thing, when I was in college in the olden days. It doesn't appear that colleges do that anymore. She doesn't want to enroll in a 4 year program, but I was wondering if anybody knew of anything she could do for a year or two here in the States.