I love your entire post. I do say frequently that the very nature of work is changing, that our kids and theirs will have multiple lives/"careers". I see this with some of my DH's MBA friends. Basically by the mid 30s they have done more than most people get to do in a lifetime... DS wants to be a chef, writer, roller coaster designer and film director. Maybe he will do all! (since this is a dream thread ;))

Well, friends don't let friends pay full freight for a 4th tier school (that has no regional cache either). I know people hate on law school and lawyers, but if we are talking purely economics, of you have a chance to be even mediocre at a top 10 or even 20 school, you know what the starting salaries in BigLaw are-- in my view that is not an irrational choice. I hated law school but I liked being a lawyer well enough (yes, even in BigLaw).

I guess I don't understand why my post is making you sad, because I never said I would not support such an endeavor, it's just that I would have hesitations to spend 100k for it when everyone and their cat is taking creative writing classes in NYC now...I'd still fund it, but are we not allowed some hesitation?

I guess I don't view my job as discouraging my kids because I think life will do that on its own. Unless we shield a little. DH is convinced DS is an English type major who will collect languages and stamps on his passport. I cannot see an inclination yet and I resist the pigeonholing. On the other hand, in my internal monologue, I wonder: We will have to pay for his degrees no matter what as we do not qualify for any aid: It will be hard for me to shell 100K to have my kid publish one story every 10 years in magazine no one has heard of. On the other hand, what a sad world for all to be bankers and lawyers and engineers...

Ha, I already emailed you yesterday :) Thank you!!

So the French program for this is for high school only. Thanks all the same for the link, it's good to know of these programs.

Thank you!!

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I guess my question was more on the programs versus a referendum on my family readiness, but FWIW, he has lived abroad before without his parents (relatives), has travelled internationally every year since the age of 2 months, and regularly flies unaccompanied (though not internationally yet).

Yes. We did one for one week last summer. Frankly it is only immersion for the time you are in class (3 hours a day). We could not find local kids to play with or whatever (we went from rural America to rural France, LOL).

We are clearly worse parents :) I am not ruling out myself going along, that is the default plan. My question is purely technical, actually. These programs exist (local middle schools have them) and I was simply asking if anyone had made a survey, that's all.

French, one semester.

Would love to hear from you if you have! Many thanks

Have you seen an Italian movie or TV show?

Ravic in Arch of Triumph

Do they go for a walk/ run by themselves? My DS doesn't need a ton of daily exercise, but he has an organized sport twice weekly for 1.5 hours and then goes for at least a 5k run on the weekend with dad. It really needs to be more but we are lazy parents. Getting a treadmill soon. He also runs a 5k race every other month or so.

I have Fred Prealgebra with Biology and DS consistently asks for that one. Ugh.

We moved over the summer, registered child with new school district, submitted letter of intent and IHIP, etc. in the new district. He simply never went back to his old school. In the fall, that school called DH and asked him where our son was (which I thought interesting since 1. we never registered him for 4th grade and 2. they did not pay any sort of attention to us when we actually attended. DH said we had moved, were homeschooling, and DS would not be back. They responded that they would mark him absent (!!!)

No, I do not. I just ordered the original two. Do you assign chapters/sections then? many thanks

Elegance of the Hedgehog The rain before it falls Jane Gardam's Filth triology I like the Elena Ferrante books as well, but some can be too emotionally tasking for your current purposes... ETA: The Shadow of the Wind The History of Love. Also, to echo a previous post, I have zero luck with National Book award winners. I universally disliked the ones I tried. I have amazing luck with Man Booker Prize winners.

team bus. If not that, Bolt or megabus, we take them NYC to Philly very frequently and have rarely had issues. Dress appropriately for a cold, windy line :) I use Penn station quite a bit for commuting and also to go to DC and actually hate it. I hate Port Authority too. Yes, I'd rather wait outside for Megabus. I would not drive to NYC. yes, people do it regularly and with ease (including my DH), but it is a different sort of driving, and unless you are up for learning that skill on this trip, I would not do it. I know it would stress me out and cause me and everyone around to not enjoy the trip!

Math has been fairly joyless here this semester. We're also busier that I anticipated--bad calibration on my part as a homeschool newbie. I wonder if I can do the first two Murderous Math as a read-aloud. Do I need to be very mathy in order to explain along? That's not what I want for sure. How do you do them? Thank you

if you decide to go it yourself with Spanish, I am barely functional in French and have had great luck with Galore Park's curriculum: So you really want to learn French. They seem to have a Spanish version. I think the teacher needs to know some of the language, but only some :) to facilitate learning. Other hive members recommend this program as well.

Agree with Hunter on how much work it is, and also with previous poster who said you do not need to be the teacher. At 6, duolingo is a gentle entry point. I also don't think, like with most things homeschooling at that age, that the child has to be interested, just the parent.

No solution manual for this, correct? Lawyer mom is going to have to stick with Lial's for that reason (though I do love your schedules and thank you for posting!)

(butting in)--There is no solution manual available for Dolciani Pre-A, is there? We are using Lial;s to supplement MM6/7, and yes, it's cluttered but I like that I have a manual for it. So far, I've only had to assign selected review problems and do the end of chapter test, it's not horrible.