What boggles my mind is that men like this can find women to date them! What woman would want to date a man who is so horrible to his former wife and current children?!?! As if he's going to be different with a new woman? It's not like he's playing the pity card about having to pay so much to his ex-wife. He's just showing how mean he can be and I'm surprised any woman would date him! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So, my son took the SAT as a Sophomore because I thought we were going a different way for dual enrollment and he needed to take that test. He got a 660 English and a 730 math for a total of 1390. That seems like a good score? I didn't have him do the Essay portion because he didn't need it for the program. Should this be something he should take again? Also, I am having him take the PSAT in the fall for scholarship opportunities. Also, should he be taking the ACT? When should he take those tests his Junior year? The spring? We're not really looking at ivy league schools for him and he has no desire to go that direction anyway.

I'm just going off of an article on taxes 6 years ago with Leigh Bortin's saying how if she didn't have to pay such high tax rates for her company who's profits were $1-2 million, she could afford to hire more people. Based on how CC has grown, I'm still assuming multi-million. http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/27/pf/taxes/warren_buffett_tax_millionaires/index.htm Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Also, I never understood how their motto is "To know God and to make Him known". There is not an emphasis on the Bible or evangelism at all at the foundation level unless the director chooses to make it an extra priority. Also, that motto has been a Youth With A Mission motto since the 1960s. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You can look it up. Go to Facebook and look in the classical conversations posts. It was part of their marketing to the Facebook crowd. This was not a sarcastic post. CC is a multi-million dollar business at the corporate level and is marketed as a low paying ministry at the community level. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's not just a hobby, it's a ministry. I just saw an ad for CC that said, "God slowly revealed to me that directing was my mission field." Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My youngest is going to school so just the list of school supplies for her. My #2 is doing dual enrollment with his books paid for, and my #3 has his very small list of books provided by the charter school homeschool hybrid he attends one day a week. The rest that I need, I already own. It is weird! I have no back to school packages arriving at my home. I have no decisions to make. I fee very much like this homeschooling train is coming to an end. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The above is why I'm very hesitant to join at the upper levels. My ds needs people interaction. It's just such a gamble every year. The Challenge tutor could be a dud and even if they're great, there is no guarantee that they will be able to provide the next level because #1- the job is hard! It's very hard to be knowledgeable in all those subjects enough to teach them well WHILE trying to homeschool the rest of your kids. #2- the tutor restrictions are limiting so the pool of available applicants is even smaller. As I go into the junior high/high school years, if I'm going to join a community, I want to know it's still going to be there for the high school years. I know I don't "need" a co-op, but ds needs to get out of the house and have some consistent friends. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

These tutors mostly had a last child who moved into other educational options or their last one graduated. I guess personally, if we ever considered this program at the upper levels, I would much rather have a tutor who wasn't actively homeschooling a bunch of children. The good tutors spend 20 hours a week preparing for a class. I wouldn't want someone equally burnt out on homeschooling as I am trying to also learn all of that material well. More power to the ones that can do it well. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

From what I understand, it is a corporate policy. I know of several tutors who were excellent excellent well loved challenge tutors who loved the kids and loved what they were teaching. They all had kids who didn't fit into the high school CC model and did other things (dual enrollment or public school mostly). They had to stop tutoring due to that reason alone. They were very missed because they were so good at what they did. They actually drew people into the program because of their ability to teach this program. So sad.

We have tended to buy cars from places that have inspected the car and have some sort of warranty. Our last two used cars had warranties on them.

Thank you for saying this. I was thinking similarly. When you have new homeschoolers who buy into the thought that you're only homeschooling if you do it ALL yourself, then you're going to get what we see a lot of - people quitting in the junior high and high school years because it becomes quickly obvious that one person cannot do it all. I outsourced all of ds -16 classes this year. I had no idea how to give him a good quality high school course. And no, he didn't have the motivation to learn a subject at that level himself. There's not a lot of support for the high school level and homeschool conventions are useless for that age group since the seminars are filled up with things like "How to train your boys to be knights" or "How to be the best homemaker/homeschool/super mom that you can be". :glare: I have done what was best for my children's education - not what matches up to my own ideals. My ideal would have been a child who was self motivated in high school to learn subjects on his own and do it well - or at least find mentors to learn from. My next best was that he would have mentors through online Christian classes. What we are winding up with is dual enrollment because he is zoning out with online classes, and I can't find a mentor/tutor who will meet with him weekly to give him the education ds wants. He needs live classes with real in person teachers. My ideals for what things would look like as a homeschooler have changed radically as I have figured out what each of my children needs. I'm glad to have choices and I really don't care if someone says I'm not a "true" homeschooler. I'm not. I'm just doing the best education for each of my children with each of their need.

My former neighbor who is greek orthodox had Vacation Church School growing up. That was the time they had many lessons on the basics of their faith. It sounded really meaty and she remembers it fondly.

Didn't announce it on Facebook. Was replying to the over-eager homeschooler who responded to a person's question about available Christian schools in the area suggesting that not everyone could homeschool (basically).

DH is a stable guy. He won't be swayed even if his friend thinks DH is wrong. This decision has been a long time coming. We moved in part to have other options than just homeschooling without any support. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here's the rub. I have many many many examples of people who have homeschooled despite very difficult situations. And they all lived in a school district with high ranking schools. I was no different. I felt at the time that homeschooling was superior to public school regardless of the situation. After all, I had all these examples. Mom had cancer and was so tired she slept a lot? Still homeschooled. Tons and tons of kids - 2nd grader still not reading because there was not enough of mom to go around - no learning issues? Still homeschool. Mom working full time so family doesn't starve. 11 year old watches younger siblings. Still homeschool. Marriage on the rocks because mom is totally burnt out from homeschooling. Still homeschool. Mom has mental health issues? Still homeschool. Child in hospital due to cancer - always at the hospital? Still homeschool. But then, I had a friend who sent her homeschooled children to the high school. I kept my mouth shut thinking she was doing the wrong thing. Of course I didn't have kids that age and didn't understand the challenges of homeschooling high school. One of her daughters is a very talented artist. She was able to really learn a lot from some great art teachers at the local high school. Homeschooling could not have given her that. So far, both of the children that graduated from the high school are strong strong Christians - something which I was told could never happen if you didn't homeschool. My whole school worldview has been blown up because we really feel like God has lead us to send our dd to school. It's one of those moments where you start to question everything you've believed for a long long time. I haven't gone to a homeschool convention since we moved because all I saw was a lot of fear talking. A lot of seminars on how to keep your children basically away from worldly ideas. I don't need that! I have yet to meet a homeschooler who has attended that convention. In our new location, I have many friends who jump in and out of the public/charter school system for various reasons and various children. They know what we're doing and they support it.

Also, I knew a change was in the works when we were watching a family that adopted a lot of kids - some with medical problems that didn't affect learning. I didn't get the bug to adopt any more and was watching with a "good for them" attitude. Then, they showed them all getting ready for school in the morning. The snarky comment that came out of my mouth was, "That's how they can adopt all those kids! They all go to school!"

Yuck...I would be bribing my boys with cookies or candy to do that job for me.

Well, this was the friend who also told him he was making a mistake to make sure I didn't get pregnant again. Taking care of an older disabled child who needs full assistance is really hard on a body that is in it's 3rd trimester. I did that when my son was 5 and that was hard enough. Doing that when he was twice the size was just not going to happen and not permanently hurt my back. We already had 4 kids including Miss Spirit who was in the throws of having a very hard time adjusting to our family (adopted at 2 1/2). DH just ignored him. Dh loves me.

In fact, my dh's closest friend doesn't know we're sending dd to school. He would be reprimanded greatly. I've only told one friend in my previous home town. She understands my life. No one else will know and there will be no first day of school pictures in Facebook. Sad really Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I never said that I was sending my dd to public school. I simply said when the homeschool mom is thinking she needs medication in order to continue homeschooling, something needs to change. That's when I got the "don't do school at home-just read books" thing. I've been slogging through tough for two years. I need a break. Nope not going to reply. Just vent here. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks...When I went away fro 3 days to look at houses in our new location, it took 6 people to replace me. I didn't want any one person to be overwhelmed and I didn't want there person taking care of my son to hurt her back giving him showers. And that was without the homeschooling gig.

I think the other poster was trying to be encouraging? She can have 6 children, special needs (whatever that means), her own health problems, a small business, and a child with health problems (again - ongoing or on slow burn?). So if she can homeschool, surely I can too if I can just escape the "public school at home" mindset and just let my children read books. I am not that person. I'm pretty type A and do not go with the flow well. My job is to educate my children to be prepared for life beyond our home. I want my children to be as prepared as they can be to accomplish what they want. My 16 year old wants an associate's degree by the time he graduates high school. Math and writing skills played into that. Sure, he can read really well, but I had to do much more with homeschooling in order to prepare him for the path he wanted. So, if I have a child who is not learning well with my instruction and would do better with another teacher, I need to pursue that for her. She has done great with self teaching and loves to read books on a variety of subjects. I let her do that for some subjects. She still needs math and writing at a minimum. She needs me to be her mom and I need to have enough emotional energy to give to her. Right now, I don't.

I did send my SN child to public school. I never got judgement from that (actually only one person whose opinion was always judgmental regardless of the situation - didn't take her comments into any consideration) because my son was never going to corrupted by the public school mindset. Having him in school was how I was able to homeschool for so long. He graduated and came home in January. The delicate balance I had going on was pretty much demolished. The child I am sending is pretty opinionated about what is right and wrong. A little too much IMO and I'm not quite sure how she got to that point. She won't even read Harriet the Spy because Harriet was writing negative things in her journal about people. I'm not too worried she's going to be steered wrongly. The school she is going to is two blocks from our house and I have heard very little negative things about it. Most people I've talked to LOVE it. I know it doesn't have to be forever. If I don't like it and don't want to homeschool, there are a few university model schools around that work and hybrid public/private schools once junior high sets in.

My original reply was trying to deflect the "everyone can homeschool" comment from a question about what Christian schools were available in the area. I didn't want the original poster to feel like she was making a lousy high cost decision. So yes, I set myself up for it, but the intention was to deflect from "you should be homeschooling". Usually, I don't and haven't shared our public school decision I know with people I know IRL. I know what their response will be so I keep it to myself. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk