Thanks a lot. I'm now dumber for the loss of brain cells that this site sucked away. :willy_nilly:

I think you've answered your own question. It sounds like a great opportunity to me.

I own and love all of these books. I also recommend The Ginseng Conspiracy. Incidentally, I was an editor on this book, too. :D

Thanks for the suggestion, but no. He doesn't have any trouble reading. He just doesn't enjoy it. But, Eragon is a big hit! He's choosing to read that for his bedtime reading in addition to his school reading, so YAY!!!

Oooh, that sounds promising!

Just an FYI, MLA has actually revised their guidelines and are putting out a new version of their handbook. It's a really big deal, and textbook publishers are scrambling to update their books and everything. Even the Purdue OWL is updating their website with the new guidelines. You might want to consider getting your daughter the 8th edition.

I guess we're not even at the point of literary analysis. At this point, I'll just be happy if I can get him to not hate reading. Eragon, by the way, is working. He's enjoying reading. Yay!

Thanks so much for all the suggestions, everyone. Rest assured, I'm not going to let him just stop reading. He will still read something of his choice before bed each night, and I will still assign a book for literature. I'm just going to focus more on books he'll enjoy rather than "literature study." First up starting tomorrow, Eragon. Once I've got him happier about reading, then I'll include some (very) short stories about which we can discuss plot, character development, etc. But I'll keep those short and sweet rather than trying to get him to read classic novels. I've always hated the idea of teaching "excerpts from" novels rather than the novels themselves, but maybe that's just what this kiddo needs. I'll figure that out for high school, I suppose.

I have a logic puzzle app on my phone that I'm liking a lot. It's called Real Einstein Riddles.

I don't think he's a kid at all (to me, no one over 25 is a "kid"), and I don't really think he's "approaching middle age," either. However, he is an adult, and he is an adult who is representing the US while overseas, and he has zero excuses for not behaving accordingly.

As some others have said, I think it depends on the "level" of finger-licking. I have no problem licking a couple of crumbs or a dab or catsup off my fingers rather than go through a ton of napkins. But no, I would not be sluping and shoving whole fingers in my mouth anywhere. Now, if I'm having a snack while watching TV, all bets are off. :D

Nope. He has no interest in those kinds of things at all.

Thank you so much! Excellent advice and suggestions!

He likes precious little besides the few I mentioned, Harry, Fudge, and My Side of the Mountain. Oh, and Where the Red Fern Grows. I've been trying to get him to read Eragon for ages but he's resisting for some reason. He'd really just rather not read at all if he had his way.

I'm not familiar with much of anything that you've listed here except Wrinkle in Time (which he didn't like) and The Giver (which he did). Do you have author's names or book titles that I could look up? Thanks so much, everybody, for the suggestions and encouragement! He does read before bed every night, but I've always just let him choose whatever for that. He always chooses Harry Potter, one of Judy Blume's Fudge books, or My Side of the Mountain. LOL... Maybe I could just insist that he pick something new to read and leave it at that. We can always do small bits of literary analysis using short stories or poems or something in high school. Oh, I feel so much better now! Thank you!!

DS (8th grade) is a total math/science guy. He does not like to read except for a select few books (I'm looking at you, Harry Potter!). He won't even read books or magazines about things he's interested in (he loves fishing, asked for a fishing magazine subscription for his birthday, never read a single issue). He likes animals, so I thought he'd love The Jungle Book. He hated it. Cheaper By the Dozen is funny! He hated it. Treasure Island! Surely pirates and treasure hunting would be fun! He hates it. I'm about to just throw my hands up in frustration and not care if he reads or not. We work on grammar and writing separately, so he is getting those things, but I have no idea how to find literature that keeps him engaged. Then again, he wants to be some type of engineer, so perhaps reading great literature isn't all that important for him anyway. Not everybody is born to read. Is there a way to teach him what he needs to know for a math/science career without forcing him to read novel after novel that he hates? Could we skip literature altogether, or would that be doing him a tremendous disservice? Is there a way to teach the necessary skills without using literature to do it? Help!!

According to the TCSG: Degree: a two-year Associate Degree conferred on students by a postsecondary institution upon completion of a unified program of study in academic discipline at the Undergraduate level. Diploma: a credential indicating satisfactory completion of training in an academic program of study offered by a postsecondary institution that is not an Associate Degree.

I have only recently discovered dollar store shopping, so here's what's worked so far: small dishpan (works great for bunny's litter box) binders hand soap baby wipes (great for wiping dirty feet) *some* make up (ELF brand) German chocolate bars (yummy!) sunglasses candy

Thanks for all your responses. I'm not sure I'm up for the challenge of weeding through the riff raff of online dating as it is, so I'm not really willing to pay so much for the privilege. I maybe just be destined to be single for the rest of my life. Might not be such a bad thing.

If you met your spouse or significant other online, where/how did you meet? I've been looking at the various dating sites, but they are so expensive!

This still requires cremation, but it's what I want when it's my time. https://urnabios.com/urn/

I don't know how to define my son as introvert or extrovert. He has never met a stranger and is not remotely shy, but he is SUCH a homebody. He never wants to go anywhere and is quite content to just hang out at home. As for the EF issues, I think you're probably right that there is something going on there. I'm going to check out your book suggestions. Thank you.

I don't guess I was very clear in my original post as a lot of the focus has been on taking my son to campus with me, which is not an option. Most of my work will be done online from home, so I will only be gone for part of two days each week. My not being home is not the problem. My concern is the amount of work I am going to have and adding him into the mix. I really appreciate everyone's suggestions, though. Thank you all so much for your advice and suggestions.

katilac, thank you so much for your post. Very helpful and informative. I'll definitely check into some of your suggestions.

:lol: :lol: :lol: Well, there is that. Demonic mythical dragon and faerie TATTOOS no less! :lol: :lol: :lol: