What about trying to start a homeschooling moms' discussion group? I'm part of one that meets one evening per month, and we leave our kids home with the dads (except babies). We spend some time discussing a particular topic related to homeschooling and then just talk about whatever. We have about 4-8 moms there each month. It's not a big time commitment, but it's nice.

When considering your middle school student's workload (maybe using the general guideline of an hour of school work per grade), do you count musical instrument practice? What about family read-alouds and lighter "morning time" subjects (poetry, hymn singing, etc.) that don't require a lot of focused effort from your child but still take up some time? After academic work, music practice (if that applies to your child), chores, meal times, any exercise, and whatever outside activities, how much self-directed free time does your middle schooler have?

Yes, co-ops never appealed to me, but the reason my kids ended up joining one was that I couldn't find a social/support group that had consistent enough attendance for my kids to make good friends. It seems like if people aren't paying for it, there's no commitment. We tried a lot of groups that would meet a couple of times a month for a nature walk or social time, and we met a lot of nice families, but between us getting sick, friends getting sick, and people not being able to make it for some other reason, it seemed like we were only seeing the same families once a month or every couple of months. My kids also have not made friends at extracurriculars because there is no down time. But they made friends at their co-op because they have breaks between classes to play board games. Now I feel stuck because the co-op is not really what I want to be spending our time and money on long-term, but I don't want my kids to lose the friendships they've made. Playdates are hard to schedule when everyone is busy and friends don't live nearby.

I agree with your definition of homeschooling starting at actual school age, but when my oldest was two all the other moms in my mainstream meet-up group started picking out preschools. I realized I was going to have to start finding other families who planned to homeschool soon because I didn't want my kid to feel left out if all his friends went off to school, and it was also easier to find like-minded mom friends if I sought out homeschoolers.

Wow, I looked into this after I read your post and just bought it. It looks great--I'm so excited! Thank you!

I've found a lot of posts here through the years mentioning Ray's Arithmetic, but I haven't found a discussion of the actual scope and sequence laid out for it in The Eclectic Manual of Methods, the teacher guide. I usually see references to using Ray's Intellectual in 3rd and 4th grades and Ray's Practical in 5th and 6th, which isn't what the Manual of Methods suggests at all. What really interests me is that the first year moves so slowly, but then the second year covers A LOT, and the rest of the grades seem pretty advanced as far as arithmetic is concerned. I've typed out a summary of what is covered each year, and I'm curious what others think. The Eclectic Manual of Methods can be found here: http://pineywoodshs.blogspot.com/2009/06/rays-arithmetic-teacher-guide_15.html, but here's my summary:

I want to start Latin with my 5th grade son in the fall, and I'd love to hear from anyone who combines Latin programs for middle school kids, especially those who combine a grammar/translation curriculum with a reading/immersion one. How do you balance them, and what is the weekly work like? How do you pace the courses, and how much time is your child spending per day/week? I myself used Artes Latinae in middle school, followed by Wheelock in high school and an online AP Latin class, and then majored in Latin and Greek (and English) in college. My mom has the old Artes Latinae books (but I'd want to find CD's to use instead of cassettes!), Wheelock text, guide, and workbook, Henle Book I, and Lingua Latina that she can give me. I bought all the components of First Form Latin a year ago, but now I'm not sure if I want to go that route (definitely not FFL by itself). At a used homeschool curriculum store, I picked up cheap copies of the Cambridge Unit 1 student text, the entire four-part Oxford program, Ecce Romani IA and 2A books plus the activity book, and Getting Started with Latin. My son just started both Cambridge and GSWL because they were lying around, and now he's asking if he can do ALL the programs! They do all look great in their own way . . . I'm thinking about picking one of the reading programs to use as a spine, supplementing with Henle or Wheelock and using the stories in other two reading programs for extra reading since I have them . . . I think I like the look of Cambridge a little better than Oxford, but I already have all of Oxford, and I don't have the Cambridge teacher's manual, workbook, or activity book. (I'm looking at them on Rainbow Resource and trying to tell myself it would be crazy to buy more Latin curriculum!) Or maybe I should consider Wheelock or Henle the spine and supplement with the stories in one or more reading programs. Then there is my daughter going into third grade who now says she wants to learn Latin because her brother will. She picks things up quickly (she is a kid who taught herself to read) but also gets bored easily. She's very sanguine and likes things to be new and exciting all the time, but she doesn't mind a workbook style since she can usually zip through it. I'm thinking about GSWL followed by Ecce Romani for her. But, come to think of it, I also own the teacher's manuals for Latina Christiana I and II. I definitely don't want to combine her with her brother for Latin, since they are very competitive, and I wouldn't want to expect them to progress at the same speed. Does anyone have suggestions?