Public school would be cheaper hands down for us. Lost wages blows the whole equation out of the water. Private school on the other hand would depend on which one I pick and how far away it is.

I agree with the counseling. If a therapist isn't going to happen, then an adult outside your family somewhat trained (or just really good) in talking to people. That helped me process hard stuff that happened in my teens. Sometimes it's just hard to talk to your parents and family about really hard stuff. I wanted to say for teens, but that's not true because it is still hard sometimes as an adult. It might have been hard for my parents that I never talked to them about the hard stuff that happened in my teens. In hindsight I'm pretty sure my mom asked my youth pastor to talk to me about it (because seriously how else did he know and it never dawned on me back then that this happened because I was so relieved to have an adult to talk to). Talking to my family about it would have not worked because 1) I needed to process all my feelings ("right" and "wrong") and 2) I needed to speak with someone who's completely outside the situation so that halfway through the conversation the adult I'm talking to doesn't also breakdown. Since she sounds like a smart sweet girl, she can't put you in that position, because she loves and cares about you.

So, I'm a fixer type person so I tend to look at everything and find all the issues. Sometimes I get hyper-focused on the issues, especially ones I have not found a solution for. This part of my personality usually makes me a person who takes on a lot and gets things done, but sometimes it reeks havoc on my moral. I've found a useful practice I do in my homeschool to keep me from spiraling into "education is awful in my home" thinking. I just observe what happens during our homeschool time. I pick a day and I just write down what happens (without judging good or bad). DS did 5 math problems today. DD wrote a 10 sentence story. (Sorry my kids are little.) etc. Then I go back and make my judgements and how I feel about each thing. Lastly I go back and decide if any of them require action. It sounds like it doesn't help fix anything, but it clears my head a bit and helps me see the good parts of the school day. Then the bad stuff it has helped me get a clearer picture of what I need to do to make things run more smoothly. Like your son may always have a bad attitude toward math and that may never be a subject that he does independently, but on the other hand maybe his reading is fantastic. Or that yes everyday you all get to math and it's a total drag but in reality you all have great time doing read-alouds. Or your children never provide good narration during your read aloud time but later in the day you find them incorporating parts of your history read aloud in their pretend play or conversation. I can't tell you how but seeing these tells me how to teach the children I have and less on the children I wish I had.

Downton Abbey The Expanse Star Trek TNG, Enterprise, DS9, Picard, and even Voyager. I haven't watched all of them but I'm sure I'd find a way to like them all. (A reason that I haven't watched all of them.) Firefly Battlestar Galactica Reading this list I suppose you could just put whatever idea you have in space and I'll love it. (Except horror I hate horror so I may not like that, thriller is OK just wouldn't be a repeat watch.)

If cereal with milk is soup does that make it a complete meal for dinner? That's the more important question. DH had a sausage sandwich once and my kids asked isn't that just a hotdog.

Yes, I'm just lucky I'm not related to them so I don't have to hang out with them. I absolutely feel for you.

We really liked All About Reading. My kids really like it, I'm OK with it. It seems like a bit much for a normal/smart child but it's fun so they don't mind doing it. It definitely works though. Basically my children can just read whatever they want after level 2. (They can just kind of figure out how to figure out words after that.) My only suggestion (which goes against TWTM) is I would do some written and spelling work even in All About Reading level 1.

I'm looking at Cottage Press Primer 1. I didn't use this for my eldest... I have to remember why. Right now I just think it was because the copy work seemed too much, in which case it won't be a problem for DD5.

FYI the first thing I see when I look at the page with my phone is how to donate right in the center of my screen. The icons about what is important to your church is above that and if I scroll other things are below, but front and center is "Donate". (I'm not sure you want that) It also probably looks better on a computer, but a lot of people use their phones for looking up stuff.

If you don't plan on doing the makeup thing past the one day, I highly suggest hiring a makeup artist to do your makeup that day. They can just do it for the day (I mean you could hire them to follow you around but I don't think that's necessary). Look for someone who you like the way their make up looks (some may even post pictures of their past projects). For the one time deal it can be much cheaper to do this than to buy all the products you need for that day (even inexpensive products).

Per their "admissions requirements", they really believe you wouldn't be happy with their curriculum if you are not a practicing catholic. They also think you wouldn't be happy with their curriculum if you have any extracurricular activities. If you are curious on why you "failed" their questionaire. https://classicalliberalarts.com/admission-requirements/

An hour can't be enough for high school. At least an hour is what it takes for me to just cover math, reading and writing with my kindergartener and first grader. Homework for college was also more than an hour a day.

Isn't that the same with arts and humanities? Some are making money in arts and humanities. Some in those fields make A LOT of money. I thought the argument is that the majority can't make ends meet with it, which I would say is the same for sports, even the sports that bring in lots of money for some people. For reference here's an article talking about a recent contract for minor league players in baseball. https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/minor-league-baseball-players-ratify-historic-first-cba-deal-includes-salary-increases-more/According to it a triple A player (which is the level right before the Major Leagues) makes $17,500-$35,800 annually. Although apparently housing is offered. Then there are plenty of people who don't even make it to that level.

Yes the container store and hardware stores has made me sick to my stomach. Generally not other stores.

I did for 10 years until DD came along. DH works in the career that he got a college major in. The majority of people who work in my field do have degrees in my field, some are happy with their jobs and others the job pays the bills. There's also a lot of people with "practical" degrees whose jobs fund their passions and plenty of people who go back to college later in life (30's, 40's 50's+) to further their education in their passions. No matter the passionate degree is a job is still a job. So when you get that degree and are in that career in the field that you love and the stars are completely aligned there are parts of that job that is a grind. Sometimes the whole job in the field that you love is still an awful job. On the flipside, some parents fully cheered on their kids to pursue their dreams to have them completely "fail" as is the norm with certain dreams. Now their kids aren't in a good place, the parents also have regrets. So I don't think there is a right or a better answer as to how to handle this. Just a decision a parent has to make and consequences they have to deal with.

As the child of parents who questioned her choice of college majors, in hindsight I'm not mad/upset that they doubted me. Was I bummed and upset that they weren't celebrating my decision at the time, yes of course. Ultimately though it made me really think about my decision from a practical stand point rather than just the idealist rainbows and puppies standpoint some people in their teens and twenties tend to take about their decisions. Also having gone through the experience of my life I'm glad my parents pushed back on my decision. They pushed back on my decision because they cared about me, and my future happiness. In doing so they did a lot more for me than the people who stood around just cheering me on, never asking me to consider the downsides to my decision.

Kiziks. They are tennis shoes but the heels are reinforced and the tie laces are a stretchier so they are slip on.

I joined a math curriculum Facebook group because we are using the math curriculum. I dislike the fact that the math curriculum offers video lessons and online because a lot of the posts are can my 5 year old do the video/online option independently. Mixed with the occasional my student has been doing this independently for a while and I've realized they have a few gaps or they don't really know how to do the math. What do I do? I think Facebook groups sometimes just attracts certain people.

A few years ago I had kids hit me up for a "donation" to their ski vacation. I was confused an inquired no it's not for school, no they weren't on some ski team, they were just going door to door asking for money for a family vacation. I didn't recognize them as living near me either and mom was in the car as her kids asked for money to fund their family vacation... I guess in my case at least they understood what they were doing? I find having kids go door to door doing these sorts of things inappropriate. I realize some people think these things build character or teaches kids important life lessons, but I don't understand it at all. Yes I do find it weird that we make little girls sell cookies which are made by a large corporation.

Netflix has a show "Life on Our Planet". It just tells you the information in an entertaining documentary; it doesn't tell you how we know or why one may believe it. It gives the mainstream view big picture view of evolution.

BA level 1 combines the comic book with the workbook., but it separates level 1 into 4 books (a,b,c and d). You just use 1 book at a time.

I don't know what my DD would have done if I had to work. She never took a bottle. Basically didn't leave my side until she was solidly on solids (7months). She was in the room with me for my Mastitis/clogged duct surprise surgery. So, no help just commiserating.

I don't know why but for a while Facebook thought I wanted to get a programming certificate so I can do data entry work. This is all while knowing I have a BS in Electrical Engineering and was working in the industry...

And this. Quite frankly too as much as I can figure out things, when I see someone struggling I don't say "figure it out" because they don't need to walk down the path I already walked down. I can just help them out. Also how to deal with people stuff I think shouldn't be "figure it out" because there is all sorts of wrong that makes life OK for one party but not the other party.

I tend to be a "figure it out" kind of person. I also don't care about "looking stupid," because I'm pretty comfortable with myself. As I get older I know more and more people who can't figure stuff out. Some, when I try to give them directions or teach them how they'll shut down and be overwhelmed. I don't understand, but I suppose that's who they are... I also think math in general is easy compared to many other subjects in life and I don't understand why people think otherwise. So, I just chalk it up to one of those things I don't understand because of who I am and how I'm wired. Although I will also have to say I have the luck/privilege of having certain experiences in my life that boosted my self-worth and self-confidence (including having supportive people around me who love me). I realize not everyone gets those experiences. I have seen for some without those experiences it's extra hard for them to go out on a limb like I do. For me if I don't know how to do something it's just about not knowing how to do it, for others it seems there is a lot more baggage involved.