I guess this is my main beef. I guess I see more so than not the push for everyone especially in education to believe a certain way and if you don't, you obviously need sensitivity training. I want my ds to be able to get beyond all the junk that has been brought in - testing testing testing, multiculturalism (let's divide the children by race! and then teach them how much more special one race is over another!), sexual orientation, etc, etc...Stuff that has creeped into the school that more often than not, has nothing to do with educating a thinking population. I want him to learn how to teach children effectively and be a part of changing the educational landscape to bring back the main thing - actually teaching children how to think and reason without constantly telling them how they should be thinking. This goes for both public and private Christian schools. I know most colleges and universities have a fairly liberal thought pattern that is taught. I'm not so much concerned about that aspect. My concern is that he will be learning a career based on that thought pattern and not have any other mindset to counteract that.

Ds is thinking about becoming an elementary teacher. Yes, he can get that degree through our local university in town, but I'm concerned about the very slanted bias he could get during his learning. Let's just say, I am less than impressed with the direction public schools in general are headed and if I can, I would like to have a child entering this field be part of change for the better instead of doing what the teacher's union says is correct. I know I'm being biased and judgmental. All this to say, what would be a good way for him to get a teacher's license? Are there affordable colleges that are better than others? DH and I make too much money for decent financial aid (I think - I have no idea what is considered financial aid/scholarship levels). We do not feel like we can be paying for his college - we can help a little - since we have to think of his very disabled brother for whom we have to provide a lifetime of financial care. So, the college would have to be very affordable or give ds the ability to work his way through college paying as he goes.

I like ebooks for myself because I tend to do the majority of my reading when I'm blow drying my hair, brushing my teeth, or doing the dishes. I love being able to stick my kindle down and not have to put a weight on it to keep my page open. Anything that I can't read straight through and require a bit of jumping around, I prefer a real book. It's so much easier to jump to the section you need rather than having to scroll through ebook pages.

Dianne craft supplement regimen. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I had a weird side effect (felt like UTI but wasn't) with an anti-depressant once. It went away when I stopped taking the drug. All that to say-if it doesn't go away, your body might be reacting weird and you'll have to try something else Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I went to visit my family 1000 miles away for 5 days. It was wonderful. Next February, my sisters, mom, and I are planning a girl's trip to Disney World. I have a great husband though I do get jealous of him. He sprained his ankle pretty badly three weeks ago. So, especially the first week, he just took off a couple of days from work and laid around and read books and watched netflix. Even when I was in such hip pain (due to gluten ironically)where I could barely walk, I still slugged through and took care of my disabled son and just sucked it up because I had to. Or the times I had the flu and still watched children because my husband couldn't take off work or the time I twisted my ankle pretty badly and still wheeled ds into school until the teacher saw me limping and came and took over...So, I'm glad I do get the longer breaks every year, but sometimes, I do get jealous of the freedom to call in sick and the freedom to not have to still do his job even when sick that dh has.

My friend has a ranch with 3 bedrooms on top and one in the basement. She remodeled her upstairs bathroom and took it from 50s pink to a really nice spa like bathroom. So, I guess all that to say, I too would just remodel the bathrooms and just make them really nice. If you are in a lower home price point, new home buyers with small children won't see not having a master as a big deal. I didn't for the first 10 years of my marriage with two small children and I didn't feel like I was lacking. That was before HGTV though when everyone feels like they should be able to buy a model home.

I would get monthly mail to you science kits. There's a very cool chemistry one: https://melscience.com/en/ and a electronics one: http://www.eeme.co. There are also crafty mail to you kits. My kids would LOVE getting these!

I would go with Dive and Saxon because at the Pre-Algebra level, it's good to start showing your work properly. With Teaching Textbooks, the emphasis is on the correct answer. Even if my children can do the answer in their heads, I still make them write out all the steps because it becomes a good habit that will help them later in math. eta: If you get the solutions manual for Saxon pre-algebra, it will show you how their work is supposed to look.

I do this also. It takes me 10 minutes to put my grocery list into the computer and I have my DH pick it up. I also do two huge Costco runs per month. That takes care of food. When we moved, we also found a house with a smaller yard. We went from 1 1/2 hours of mowing plus extra for weed removal to 15 minutes of lawn mowing and rocks. It helped a ton with time constraints. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I always find this sentiment annoying also. The guilt trip about the daily Starbucks or the eating out thing. "You could fund a child in Africa!" or "You can save $200 extra a month!" The thing is, my Starbucks habit was once every other month if that. If we ever went out to eat as a family, it was once or twice a year. This doesn't work for everyone.

We have a teacher that does this also. I really don't care if my child does a recital. Personally, I'd rather skip it, yet there is the required fee.

Yes! I was going to suggest this. I always wish there was this type of community for my son.

For maps, MapTrek by knowledgequestmaps.com has an integration guide. http://www.knowledgequestmaps.com/HistoryofUS.pdf

I would go here: https://www.broadmoor.com/cloud-camp/ REALLY expensive and I live only 30 minutes away, but it is such a pretty place.

I briefly looked into a private school for two of my children. First there was the tuition. That was enough of a shock. Then, when you get into the extra fees, there was a registration fee, locker fees, book fees, activity fees, if your kid did a sport fee, and any after school club fee. THEN, on top of everything, every family was expected to fundraise and earn $1000 or just pay it up front if you didn't want to fundraise. So, with all the real world problems where money would be a big help, I'm going to fundraise additional funds and hit up friends and family to excess so that my children can go to a private school??!?!?!? No way. Also, I agree with PP about how expectations for time and money should be stated up front. I had a friend who invited my son to join civil air patrol. She said she would be happy to drive him to the weekly meetings since she was going anyway. My son wasn't interested so we didn't join. What they didn't tell you was that the weekly meetings were just the start. There were multiple camping type stuff and a lot of additional activities during the weekend that the group participated in. I am SOOO glad we didn't join because the time commitment along would have driven us over the edge.

When ds was in boy scouts, he sold popcorn door to door and earned enough for a couple of summer camps. We didn't have the money at the time to pay outright for them. If I was in a position of needing money for my kids to attend activities, I would have my kids doing yard work for others, clean houses, or even babysit (it would have been me). In my neighborhood, there are people who are always wanting babysitters for last minute things, watching a child after school for a day or two - lots of random things. Churches sometimes pay for childcare on Sundays. I figured if I needed the money badly, I would offer myself. Not the best of paying gigs and something I wouldn't necessarily like, but flexible.

Then it does boil down to choices. If the parents has the priority on extracurriculars and can't afford them, then maybe homeschooling isn't the best option for them. If homeschooling is the priority, then they have to be aware that there may be restrictions since money and time are most likely not unlimited. Everything has a cost of some sort, one just has to figure out where the priorities are.

YES! Right now, we have the money to afford all sorts of extra activities but I don't have the volunteer time most groups require of me. For example, a speech club that would be good for ds#3 requires bi-monthly weekends at hotels for competitions among other time requirements. Yes, I have a great excuse with my special needs son, but I don't want to put the extra responsibility on other parents. My kids don't need all these extras to grow up into successful adults. We have found other opportunities that will work well enough. If it was important enough, we would figure it out. Our small town had a scholarship fund for low income parents to afford the activities. All scholarships went through a central hub. People had to provide proof of income and the central hub would help pay for the activity - youth choir, swim team...The individual activities didn't have to figure out how to give scholarships. The scholarship fund was paid for by donations.

Here are my criteria for a co-op class. I ask up front if the teachers are actually qualified to teach the class (this even means a teacher who may not be trained in the actual subject but is passionate about it...I don't want a "we needed a warm body so we picked random person). Then I ask if homework is assigned and graded. If I have all of the above, $50 per month, especially for a lab class is good. I've looked at co-ops around here with qualified teachers in their field who assign and grade student work for that price and was happy with it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My dh and I intended our fist kiss to be at the altar because that is what we wanted. We had a few slip ups along the way, but every time we got together did not involve kissing (or other things). We have never had problems in that area and are still going strong after 22 years of marriage. I don't think it odd that people choose this. Now, to announce it to everyone that this is the couples first kiss at the altar is a little strange. There are plenty of people who try to follow what the Duggars are doing because of various reasons. As a pp mentioned, there are people all over the world who do this and it doesn't make them demented or repressed.

If the homeschooling thing along with opportunities is the only thing that makes you want to move, I too would stay. There are many many of us who live or have lived in small rural locations where homeschool opportunities are non-existent not to mention having to drive over an hour for anything like a museum. I used to be in this position and it worked just fine. Now, I'm living in an area where there are tons of homeschooling options. Yes, it's nice, but not necessary. Where I live has most things on your list except the cost of housing. Average housing here is over $200k. I've seen gut job houses for over $100k easily and they go fast. They are in bad parts of town though. Average rent here is over $900 a month for a basic two bedroom near public transportation. Our guitar teacher was living in a home that cost her $700/ month in a downtown location. The only problem was the toxic mold... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Writing -- although I agree with a pp about it may not take a lot off your plate depending on the student. My 2nd ds was great. He took charge and without much guidance was good to go. My 3rd ds - not so much. He needs help with everything! It's become more work for me. I'm thinking the class is a bit much for him so we will go with another writing provider next year. I'm determined to make it work because he needs to not depend upon me for his ability to learn. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I always tell new homeschoolers to pick something based on their personality rather than their children's perceived learning styles. For example, if you hate doing crafts don't pick a curriculum that has a ton of crafts. Also, I am highly destractable also, so I know that even though I've been doing this for 12 years, I need a schedule written down for me otherwise come October, I've already dropped all my wonderful plans. Some can be more random and be fine. I am not one of them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We've hosted many many families the first year and a half since we moved here. We've told/begged them to invite themselves over since we know us getting a wheelchair into their homes is hard. We've targeted families with kids the same age as my youngest two. Now we're in a season where life is just exhausting (it doesn't help the DH sprained his ankle badly so I can only leave the house for two hours at a time until he heals). We don't have the energy to invite people over (I never feel the need to have my home perfect for company. I go for "not gross") so as a result, our social time with others has vanished. I don't mind hosting, but sometimes the coordinating and inviting gets a little much for my introverted self especially when I'm already overwhelmed. Yes, ds 12 and myself are just lonely for friendship. We're the introverts of the family. Also, yes we are able to access respite for my son when he turns 18 in April. I'm looking into that minimally as time allows. He will also have access to a day program at that time which will help. He's a social guy and would like it. Still, he would still be with me in the afternoons and nights most of the time which is the norm around here which is also the lack of balance. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk