my dh is a high school social studies teacher. He teaches a mix of AP classes, college-track classes and non-college track classes. Other than the AP classes he comes home completely frustrated from the others. There are kids who failed for the year half way through the year. It's not because they do poorly on tests or don't do their homework. He gives them classwork to do that is graded and they just won't do it. Short of physically holding their hand and forcing them to write, what else can you do? Apathy plays a huge part in it, I think. Teaching to the test is also a large part. So much time is spent on the tests, pre-tests, post-tests, etc. Extra classes are given to those who aren't "proficient". It's crazy.

They used to have a deal where you could buy tickets for the next day and then go in 3 hours before the park closed the night before. So you could go in for free at 7 pm with your next day's tickets. The other park that they own still does this so I'm sure they probably do too. Have fun!

Wow-I didn't know that. It was my understanding that the law was changed a few years ago (maybe more than a few) and they had to provide everything for homeschoolers. Maybe if you pushed them they'd allow it--I don't know. I know there have been some pretty active advocates for homeschooling in our district that have sort of paved the way in the past few years. My knowledge on heating systems is pretty limited but I think the oil/hot air thing means that it runs on oil and is forced up to the rest of the house by a hot air system. This is what we have--an oil burner in the basement and radiators along the walls throughout the house to actually heat the upstairs. I'm not sure though--we use the oil very little and our coal burner has a fan that kicks on and blows the heat up through floor vents. Drilling for natural gas is highly debated right now. I asked dh why we couldn't have a gas stove and he said that because of all the coal mines they couldn't run gas lines. I think he was just telling me anything, though, so that he wouldn't have to buy me a new stove :tongue_smilie:The neighbors who do have gas appliances have propane to run them, but then you have to get propane delivered and it always seems like there's a smell with propane.

I sent you a pm but thought I'd write here too. Winters can get cold. We usually have at least 1 or 2 good snowfalls, but some winters we don't get anything major. Last year we got a good 2 feet or so in one storm and this year our biggest at one time was around 8 inches. I agree with the others about the heat. Oil can get very expensive and if you're renting then you're probably responsible for oil. We have an oil heater but we also have a coal burner that we use more. We were able to get 2 tons of coal for around $400 and that lasted us most of the winter. Summers can get hot. Usually we have a few weeks of high 80's-90's. We only have a window unit and we're fine with it. We probably only use it maybe a dozen times over the summer. The rest is bearable. Like I said in your pm, schools are required to allow homeschoolers to participate in every extracurricular they offer. I know of homeschoolers who go to the school for science labs, too. Sports, clubs, school plays, etc. all have to be open to homeschoolers. As for piano/violin/horseback riding, etc. I know there's a music school in Pottsville and there are local people who teach things out of their homes. I don't think it's too difficult to find somewhere to go. Good luck!

My kids recently each had a birthday and we had a joint family party for them. My SIL bought 2 gift cards, one to Toys R Us and one to Barnes & Noble and told us we could split them up however we wanted. I, of course, envisioned WW3 over who got to use the toy card. I showed them both to the kids and right away dd7 said "Cool! Thank you! Can I have the Barnes & Noble one?" She wants to go pick out her own books! Now, we might have WW3 anyway over what books she wants, but for now I'm happy!!!

I live in Schuylkill County as well. This is our first year homeschooling and our daughter is only 7 so we haven't had to report anything to the state yet. There is a larger network of homeschoolers here than I ever realized. In a city (Pottsville) there doesn't seem to be as many but the smaller towns (Bethel) have a lot of Amish/Mennonite homeschoolers. As a result the Bethel library has a good hs selection even though it is tiny whereas the Pottsville library is much much larger with almost no hs info. Like the others said, pm me if you want more specific info on where we live. I know a couple realtors, too, if you need a recommendation. Good luck!

where in Amish country? I'm probably in the same general area so maybe I can help you a little. If you want to throw out some names of restaurants I can tell you if there's one around here. As far as I know, there's no Whole Foods, though.

Thanks everyone. You made me feel better when I felt like I was going crazy. Apparently the kids must keep their toys with them behind their backs while everyone else talks about their toy. I know my son isn't the best-behaved little boy, but he's certainly not "hostile". Ds knew the teachers were talking to me about him and he came up and wrapped his arms around my legs and looked at me with this sad pout and the teacher said "see, that's the look we get". I clarified that he wasn't sticking his tongue out, spitting, biting, pinching, hitting, etc. I think that for whatever reason my son doesn't fit their mold and they don't like it. Next year he will be going where my dd went (they were full this year) and we love it there. It is run by 2 women who just have a calling for working with young kids and they are fabulous. My problem is this: while he's in school I have the chance to take dd to the library to study. She's been doing really well with it and loves that we sometimes go to dunkin' donuts to do our work, too. The one-on-one attention is why we homeschool and she doesn't get it when we're all home because of the attention that ds ends up needing. Sometimes I can find projects to entertain them both and it's fine, but not always. I feel like I'm choosing between what's best for him and what's best for her. I guess for 2 more months it will be fine if he's home. Once he goes to school again in the fall I'll have the time with her. Thanks for listening. Just talking about it makes me feel better. I know that dh will support me in pulling me out, but it's always nice to know that I'm not just overreacting.

I posted a few months ago about problems with my ds and his preschool. (His teacher told me he was "hostile" and didn't want to share. When another child had a toy that he wanted he would go tell the teacher that he wanted it. I was just happy he wasn't pulling it out of the kids hands. Don't we want them to use words rather than actions?) Anyway, I thought we had a system where they would write us a note if he misbehaved in school. Thursday the teacher had a talk with me again. He's not sitting still during show & tell time. He just turned 4 this past week. The teachers are so difficult to work with. When I asked them if they had any suggestions on what we could do at home (2 weeks after a behavior, btw. What can I do 2 weeks later?!) she didn't have any other than that he needs to learn respect. I agree, but that's not something that you tell a 4 year old and expect to change overnight. Neither is sitting still for 20 minutes for show & tell. He doesn't get up and walk around, and he's quiet, he just wants to play with his toy behind his back while he waits. Yes, he should sit quietly, but again--it takes time to learn that. He's an energetic little boy. Help!! I want to yank him out of school (he's going somewhere else next year already) but my dh says to let him finish out the year. I'm worried about them doing more harm than good. Oh, and while they're talking with me ds is standing with me quietly. 2 older boys (maybe 7) are pushing each other, being loud, falling down the steps, etc. Turns out they were the sons of the 2 teachers.

My dad was a nondenominational minister my whole life and he was considered self-employed. I remember the headaches my mom used to get trying to do their taxes every year--not fun!!

Maybe this should go in the "confessions" thread from yesterday! Today is 4/14 and I haven't even gotten all of our paperwork together yet. I know I have until the 18th this year, but I've never been this late before! Fortunately ours aren't that difficult but it still takes time that I don't have this year. I guess it will be a day of cartoon-watching for the kids!

Great site! Thanks! Every time I visit my parents we hit up Ikea. There are some great ideas here!

My dh is a public school teacher and that's a big part of why we homeschool--we know too much. My ds's preschool teacher once looked at my daughter and said very rudely "you homeschool your daughter???" This is as my dd is explaining to another teacher the significance of the pyramids in Egypt and why the Nile was important to life in Ancient Egypt. What other 6 year old knows that (Except for those of you on these boards, of course!) I usually respond with "because it's what works for us and that's what's most important". Then I go home and complain to dh while consuming large amounts of wine :)

My dd is almost 7. We have pattern blocks and a Critical Thinking book with simple analogies using the blocks. I find myself having a hard time explaining them to her. Any ideas? I tell her to try to find the changes between the first set and make the same changes in the second set. Sometimes she get it but other times she looks at me like I'm speaking Greek.

I know that there is no tax credit/deduction for homeschooling supplies, etc. My question is this: does the school district in which you reside still receive the state & local portion of your property tax even though your child does not attend school there? I guess it would be the same question if you sent your child to a private school. (We're in PA where schools are funded by property taxes). Thanks!

We homeschool dd6 and just started ds3 in preschool in January because we felt it would be a good experience for him to be around other kids his age and because he doesn't always respond well to me trying to teach him. We don't know what we'll do when he's older. We homeschool because we feel that it works best for our daughter and we'd love to homeschool our son but we just don't know yet. Each child is different and he might do better in school. The other day his teacher told me that he is "hostile" and "defiant". Now, to me hostile is a very strong word and one that I wouldn't use easily to describe someone, especially a 3-year old who's only been in school for 2 months, 2 times a week for 2 hours. He doesn't hit, push, bite, etc. He just doesn't like to share. I get it--he's 3. Yes, we have to work on sharing, and we are. If another boy has a toy he wants, he apparently goes and tells the teacher that he wants it. I'm just glad he's not pulling it out of the kids hand! He's far from hostile. He's a happy, snuggly, imaginative child. I'm worried about how they're treating him when I'm not around. He's enrolled in a different school for next year, where our dd went and we love. They have no openings for the rest of this year. I go back and forth with whether sending him for the remaining 3 months of this year would do more harm than good for him. My dh talked to the teacher yesterday and questioned the "hostile" comment, and she didn't apologize. She said that maybe she used it too quickly. WWYD?

Thanks! How did I not know this place existed? It's only about 45 minutes away from us! Thanks again!

That's it!! Thanks so much!!

I hear people talking about them and I've googled it but I can't find anything solid about what they are. My dd is 6 and my ds is 3. Is this something they can do?

My dh wears a tie every day and he has a great way to organize them: he throws them on the floor and I pick them up. It works for him, but not so much for me. After many many "discussions" about this method they are finally making their way into the closet, where we just use a plain old regular hanger to hang them on. Not the greatest invention, but it's cheap and it works.

Hello- There was a website mentioned at one point by someone that I tried and loved. I want to say it was shepherd-something.com. Does this sound familiar to anyone? I thought I would remember it but now I'm at a loss. Thanks!!

I can't think of anything smart-aleck to say, but I just had to tell you all that this post is just what I needed today!! Thanks for all of your hilarious answers!!

I haven't had a chance to read all of the replies, so forgive me if I'm repeating what's already been said. First, I always felt that every child learns differently and if a virtual school works for you then that's all that matters. I just wanted to give you a quick heads-up on something that might be coming down the road. We live in PA and there is currently a bill working its way through our state House that would require anyone using a virtual charter school who's home district has their own virtual school to pay for the charter tuition. I don't know if other states have this already or are considering it, but I don't want you to get stuck with a huge tuition bill unexpectedly. Just something to be aware of--good luck with whatever you decide!

We used it for dd6 and it didn't go well. I think RS is great if you're traveling to a country and need to speak the language. For us, the whole point of learning Latin is for the vocab and roots and RS teaches conversational Latin. Pretty impractical :) We never got past lesson 2, though. It's possible that we quit too early and it would have gotten better, but it was making her discouraged and hate Latin so we didn't want to push it. We'll start something else maybe next year. Good luck!

I cook everything from frozen in a crock pot. For a roast, I'd initially roast it with some seasoning (salt, pepper, maybe seasoned salt or even steak seasoning) with either beef broth or coffee. (strange, I know. There is no coffee taste once it's cooked, though. I use it as a base for my BBQ pork chops too). It takes longer, obviously, but can be done.