My husband was active duty Marine infantry and did 8 military deployments before he retired a few years ago, and really there's no right thing to say. I hated people feeling sorry for me or saying things that emphasize how different my experience is from the norm: "Wow, I can hardly manage my husband being gone a week, I don't know *how* you do it for a whole year!" or "I can't believe you had a baby by yourself!" Gee, thanks, it's not like I had a choice. During a deployment I just kind of want to get on with my life, and drawing attention to something uncomfortable, difficult, and unusual doesn't help. The best friends were the ones who didn't make a big deal out of it but just made an effort to keep me included in things. Asking how a service member is after their return is also a sticky. Not every service member had a difficult time or a combat related job, and even plenty who did see tough things return home just fine and without PTSD. So it can be kind of insulting to assume there is a problem or someone's spouse is wreck. And if there IS a problem its not something that's going to be discussed casually. So there's just no way to win. Don't get me wrong, that woman was rude, but sounds like she had reached the breaking point a long time ago. I think the best thing to do is just treat it like a normal job. If they want to talk about it they will.

That's exactly his point. If you have money to buy your way out of a situation then its not much of a problem for you. As someone who also grew up in poverty its easy for me to forget that things which were real problems growing up (lack of food, car breakdowns) are now either nonexistent or just inconveniences. I don't think money is a guarantee of happiness but it definitely gives you a much better shot.

A friend of mine has a saying "If it's a problem money can solve, then its not a real problem." What having money does is reduce the number of "problems" (under this definition) to a few things like serious illness, death, divorce, job loss, etc. that are traumatic but thankfully not that common. Without money the list of potential problems grows to include everyday events like car failure, loose fillings, all the way down to not enough food. From what I've read more money buys more happiness up until about 70k a year. That's about the level at which money can solve every day problems. After that other factors come into play.

Two old-fashioned books we enjoyed recently that I don't often see on lists: Baby Island - Two plucky shipwrecked girls get stranded on a desert island with a group of babies to take care of. Not sure what era, but definitely not set in modern times. Lots of humor. From the author of Caddie Woodlawn. Summer of the Monkeys - Set in late 1800s. Pioneer boy tried to capture a troop of monkeys that escaped from a traveling circus with the help of his grandfather. Funny and heart warming. From the author of Where the Red Ferns Grow.

My son is an avid reader but during the day he will only read light non-fiction, picture heavy books, and graphic novels. So we designate 30-60 minutes the morning and before bed as quality reading time. It *must* be from a chapter book, but other than that its his choice. I do spend a fair amount of time making suggestions, and usually bring home a stack from the library that he can pick from. Or we look at Kindle books online together to choose.

The article lost me in the opening sentence as I don't consider Huck Finn to be children's literature.

My son was homeschooled for K and 1st and then we moved to a major city with a self-contained accelerated program. A whole huge elementary school with kids in the top 2% on the CogAt and and supposedly 2 grades ahead in all subjects, using Singapore math, etc. My son easily qualified for the program, we tried it for 6 months, and then went back to homeschooling. Was not even remotely enough. He was the top reader in his class and in the highest math group and the work was not challenging except for maybe writing because they focused on quantity over quality. DS was either bored and acting out or stressed out from the endless "assessments." He liked being around other kids, but had turned into a class clown and a bit of a bully because of the boredom. The only time he was engaged and focused was in art and his after school math circle. Many of the kids were into nerdy things like Minecraft, but few seemed to have academic interests so he had friends but didn't really have a peer group on that level. I don't see any way we could have made it work. DS does best when he has a lot of physical and intellectual stimulation. School did not have either of those and he was actually becoming less mature in that environment. So we do school at home, give him a ton of physical activity, and work to get social opportunities for him. The YMCA has been great for us as he gets to play there in both structured and unstructured ways, with a variety of kids from different ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, and ages.

I think regentrude pretty much summed it up. Personally I don't see any need for a formal science curriculum at that age. And the idea of graded tests in home education baffles me. We have done no formal science and DS has a pretty impressive background of science knowledge just doing the following: -Reading science books -Watching Magic School Bus and NOVA documentaries -Listening to NPR's Science Friday casually -Visiting Science Museums and other field trips -Going to Ranger talks in State and National Parks when we're camping -Bird watching and nature studies -Answering questions, using the internet as a resource when we don't know Read, think, talk. That's pretty much it. I don't see how memorizing vocabulary and taking a test builds the kind of connections that are going to lead to long term retention and a mindset of curiosity and inquiry. Maybe it's because I have an unschooly streak, but IMHO there are only a few critical skills that need to be pushed in the elementary years regardless of the child's inclinations: reading, writing, basic math. Everything else is just a nice to have and I can't think of any content subject that is worth killing a child's natural love of learning at that age.

Story Cubes Voyages as a stocking stuffer. My son was so thrilled that he wanted to keep playing rather than open the presents under the tree.

I am definitely an INTJ and I do not do homeschool groups. Have tried a few times, but have not lived in an area with a really well-run one. The thing that drives me batty in general about being a mother is trying to make small talk with people I have nothing in common with other than the fact that we both have kids the same age (goes all the way back to toddler play groups). Drives me insane! I love connecting with people I have chemistry or common interest with, but with most people I have to grit my teeth and really work at it. For socialization I rely on the YMCA for my son (2 hours a day), drop-off events, or DH who is a super strong extrovert with a flexible schedule. I homeschool for a lot of reasons - my DH is retired military and were not in a good school area until after he retired, we like to travel, I want a superior education for my child, and he is accelerated/gifted/whatever to the point where school is a tough fit (we tried for 6 months). I enjoy the homeschooling life immensely. Learning together with my son is so much fun.

I don't have a high schooler but DS9 is half way through WWE3 AND did a short 6 month stint in a public school gifted program. I totally agree with Colleen about the nature of public school writing. My son had the most ridiculous journal assignments that included topics like "Pretend you are a piece of playground equipment and write about your day" or completely abstract things like "Write about the nature of kindness." He struggled coming up with the mandatory 7 sentences. *I* would have had trouble writing on some of the topics they were given. And seeing the other students work as well, I was definitely not impressed with the quality. The prolific writers had pages of simple sentences in bad handwriting. There was virtually no writing instruction or feedback. Recently I asked DS to do some independent writing since I wanted to see how he did outside of WWE. I asked him to tell me about an animal he knew a lot about. He said "Octopus!" I said "What's the most interesting thing about them." He said "The fact that they can change color." I asked him to come up with a topic sentence, then afterwards for a few more detail sentences WWE style. This is the paragraph (with spelling help) that he came up with: "Octopuses can change color with parts of their skin called chromatophores. Chromatophores work by stretching and showing different pigments. Octopuses can also change texture as well as color. The reason they do these things is to hide from predators and make themselves look like sand, rock, coral, and other things." It's not the most amazing piece of writing ever, but a solid simple paragraph for a 3rd grader to sit down and write on their own. I'm just fine with where WWE is taking us. At 6 I wouldn't even be concerned unless she has handwriting struggles and isn't able to complete copy work.

On the whole I think I'm doing a pretty good job. My patience wasn't always there, in fact it was pretty bad for a while. However I worked on it a lot, changed my perspective, and it's definitely there now. I focus on the relationship and am willing to shut the books when things aren't productive. I try to keep things fun, use humor, or find multiple ways to explain difficult concepts. I honestly think anyone looking at our homeschool on a given day would be pretty impressed. Well, most days...

In general I think learning should be fun for elementary aged students. Not necessarily over-the-top circus clown and balloon fun, but interesting, engaging, and creative. I think 2nd grade is definitely too young to be overly serious about work that MUST be done, especially if they are working 2 grades ahead in math. When we hit a rough patch I back off, try a different approach, crack a few jokes, break out some cookies, go for some exercise, collaborate on problems, and/or take it in very small doses. Learning at this age should not be effortless because then nothing is retained, but it should not be painful or a chore either. Fun things I have done recently: -Ordered joke a day cursive practice book -Made "Wanted" posters for Greek Gods to practice writing, drawing, and prep for National Mythology Exam -Taken a break from Pre-Algebra to do BA 5A when it came out, because the monsters rock! -Practice narration with fun science videos instead of usual WWE -Work at Starbucks and get a treat while working through a difficult problem set Nothing crazy or over the top as I'm a pretty serious kind of mom, but it's really important to me that I have a good relationship with my son if we are going to homeschool for the long haul. Also that he looks back on his homeschooling years fondly.

We get salmon burgers from Costco and eat it almost every day with salad instead of a bun. I think its only $1.50 per patty or something like that. Or we get a rotisserie chicken for $5 and eat off that for several days. I wanted to add that for breakfast we eat a small amount of bulk sausage stir fried with a ton of kale, cabbage, onions, peppers, or whatever random veggies we have on hand. The small amount of sausage adds a ton of flavor and would work well for a lunch instead of breakfast.

That the best thing about homeschooling is giving my child the gift of time. We just had the loveliest day today! DS did math in the morning and then spent 2 hours drawing with a Mark Kistler lesson and some new art supplies he got for his birthday. We ran a few errands right before lunch and came back from the library with a boat load of new books. It's cold out and a box of premium Christmas cookies arrived from a friend so we just decided to scrap the rest of school and nestle into comfy chairs with our books and goodies for the afternoon. DS has been reading for 2 hours straight, just stopping to share a bit here and there. Some days I just love the fact that we can spend a WHOLE day reading and drawing and enjoying a plate of treats. Sure we can't do this every day, but I have a few friends whose kids are so over scheduled that I can't imagine they *ever* get this kind of leisure, and I often wonder if every book is read in 10 minute snatches on the bus. And here we are able to do this pretty much whenever we want. Sorry, but sometimes I just marvel at it sometimes. Days like these are part of what I love about homeschooling.

Umm.. no. I don't believe in the concept of "naughty children" just children who need more guidance in particular areas. I wouldn't withhold Christmas presents for needing to learn more emotional regulation/impulse control/social skills, etc. anymore than I would for a child doing poorly in math or reading.

Following. I have this one and its no longer made, but I LOVE it. Can't find anything similar.

I only drink heavy cream so have no idea which creamers taste good, but I think Hazelnut flavor would go well with the coffee you describe. If you're not sure about creamers, a small bottle of Torani flavored syrup might be an alternative. They can add their "milk" of choice for creaminess.

My perfect playroom would have to be a room off the living room with a door that could stay open or be shut. I know so many people who build fantastic playrooms but the kids never want to be in them. Most little kids want to be close with mom so room location would be as important to me as room layout and toys.

I have a 9 year-old in Chapter 3 of AOPS Pre-Algebra (taking a break for Beast 5a) and the only problems I've been tempted to give him a calculator on have been the few problems where you have to test larger numbers for divisibility by multiple primes where there are no easy divisibility rules - 7, 11, 13, etc. It gets a bit tedious but figure its good practice for long division even if we get fewer problems done in AOPS. He's also developed enough number sense to test more quickly in most cases (ex. 840 is divisible by 7 because 700+140 is divisible by 7) Not knowing multiplication tables would be a show stopper for me. I'd be tempted to spend 15-20 minutes playing multiplication card games daily (RightStart has some really great ones) rather than turn to a calculator.

Maybe a really nice fruit/nut basket or something from hickory farms.

We have had my MIL stay with us for as long as 3 months at a stretch. My husband simply had a conversation with her before she came out: "Hey, just to let you know RoundAbout homeschools at the kitchen table in the morning so even though we're in a public part of the house its really important not to start conversations with her or kiddo until after they are done." This was when DS was a lot younger and school was short though. If I had multiple kids and was schooling longer I might have a little sign or flag or something on the table to let her know school was in session. Even though my MIL is extremely extroverted and a talker, I think she appreciated time to herself without having to be "on." Mostly she used the time to read internet news in her room or would take herself out for a cup of coffee.

I think its very normal to be temporarily depressed by a difficult situation. I have a family member who was under intense financial pressure for years (IRS after them, unemployed, lawsuits against contractors, etc.). As soon as they sold their house and got a well paid job it was like they were a new person. Seriously have never seen this person happier than they are now because its the first time in their life they have been completely free from financial stress.

Definitely look at city or county rec departments. My son participated in track for $15 for the whole season last year (2 workouts a week) and there were no uniforms or equipment to buy. If you have a YMCA nearby look into that as they offer scholarships and so much is included with a monthly membership including access to the pool. Our Y has a "cardio blast" class for kids twice a week where they run the kids through an hour of really hardcore but fun gym games.

Our current favorite game is Camel Up. The fact that it's a betting game makes it a good mix of strategy and luck. That's important for us to make it interesting to both adults and kids: too much luck and its boring for adults, all strategy makes it difficult for kids to have a chance to win. This game is perfect. It also has a really nice board and components and fun mechanics of play. Also it plays relatively quick - about 20 minutes for 3 of us though you can keep going with different rounds of racing if you want. It was 2014 German Game of the Year.