...where would you recommend we live? Background: I'm new to posting here, hi! I've got sons aged 12, 10, and 8. We've lived overseas since before they were born, and currently homeschool in a somewhat classical style. Kids are thriving academically but enrichment and social options are pretty limited, plus we'd like to be closer to family in the US. Hubs has a pretty portable job, and we're all US citizens; we're looking at Florida because of weather, taxes, and the hope of finding like-minded neighbors. These are our top considerations - do you live in a community that you think might be a good fit for us? we're Catholic - a vibrant parish would be wonderful; we're fairly conservative - but happy to just not talk politics if possible; we're interested in a homeschooling community that offers lots of extracurriculars other than sports; boys are currently interested in Dungeons and Dragons, robotics, history, fencing, piano; we're considering sending kids to a brick-and-mortar high school, if there was a really excellent one available, especially a rigorous Catholic or classical option; boys are all gifted, two highly, so acceleration/dual enrollment/enrichment options would be great; welcoming community where you don't have to have lived there for 4 generations to make friends; we're well enough off but not at all social climbers - I'd like to avoid a social scene where kids worry about their brand of sneakers and moms worry about their brand of purses; kind of prefer suburbs over city or rural - a walkable neighborhood with sidewalks or cart paths would be ideal; we've lived in hurricane zones before, and know about bugs and humidity, so no concerns there; being within an hour of a beach would be a plus. Keeping this a bit vague as we're not ready to announce a move, just starting to look into options. There was an older thread that was super helpful, and I'd love to hear some contemporary opinions. Thanks for any advice!

What a difficult situation! I went through a similar but less severe situation with a younger child, and the only way we managed was to put school on the back burner while we worked on health and relationship. It sounds like you understand that getting your daughter into a stable state could well take a long time, and that she will need supervision while trialing new medicines and waiting to see the right psychiatrist. I would take it as easy as possible on the schooling until then; when parents first pull their kids from traditional school, it's very common to incorporate a month or more of de-stressing (some call it de-schooling) where you work on your child's mental and emotional resources. Especially for kids who have had bad experiences in school, they need to know their parents are on their side and listening. If you're worried about the school or DCS coming after you for not putting her right into a formal school program, you should start by looking at the actual laws of your state (https://hslda.org/legal). It sounds like what you're looking for is a live online school, where your daughter will be supervised and held accountable by a live teacher, right? Most full curriculum schools are going to be in wrapping up a term right now. As a short-term substitute, I'd go with Outschool, and put together a few options that include some necessary subjects and some that might appeal to her interests (for instance, my kids do both science and Dungeons & Dragons through Outschool). But in 8th grade, you could also homeschool by teaching her yourself in the morning or evening, and leaving her a list of independent work and reading to do throughout the day. I have an 11yo, and we do history/literature together as a family, then he goes of and is pretty independent working from a list for the rest of his day. There are lots of subjects that can be learned independently from a decent workbook, especially in the short term, if you want to keep her off of screens while you're deciding what your long-term schooling will look like. We also use apps and textbooks and interactive online programs and a few live online classes - but it takes a while to put together what makes sense for your kid, and I wouldn't rush those decisions. Wishing you the best as you walk this difficult road with your precious girl!