This list has tons of suggestions: https://www.nsta.org/outstanding-science-trade-books-students-k-12 Gail Gibbons has lots of books that my kids have enjoyed at around kindergarten: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=gail+gibbons&crid=1AI7OBCPKEJWR&sprefix=gail+gibb%2Caps%2C103&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_9 One year when my middle guys were about 2, 4, and 6, we ran through some of the stuff from Wee Folk Art, and that had some fun ideas. It helped ME not gloss over my smaller boys in favor of my tweens. https://weefolkart.com/homeschool/ We also have a lot of the journals from NaturExplorers from Our Journey Westward, and while I think they are better for older elementary and middle school, they also have ideas for younger kids. She has other nature study stuff too (and is all around just a nice and encouraging person): https://ourjourneywestward.com/nature-study-3/ I use a lot of DK Definitive Visual Guides with my tweens because they love art, and so the pictures draw them in to the text, but my four-year-old adores the pictures as well.

Khan, and I would also look at Study.com as well as Coursera.

This. I may or may not be interested at a lower price, but I am definitely not interested at that price. I live a couple of hours from DC, and we keep talking about doing a day trip. Our problem is that we want to do the Zoo, Cathedral, Art Gallery, and several other museums, so narrowing down is hard. ETA: I do identify as Christian, so the prospect of a museum of the Bible is somewhat interesting to me. I did not know a lot about it, so based on what people here are saying, even at a lower price, it would probably be a hard sell.

Our homework was not checked in college math classes. If you had a question, you could ask, of course. Homework was for practice, but I don't recall that it was graded. In high school, I was in a program where we would have math classes once a week for two hours, and then we would have homework. Homework was not graded, but we would go over it first thing each class, and the teacher would explain anything. Their way of checking that we did the homework was to give a short quiz most weeks, and in addition to some new problems, the quizzes would also say, "Please copy the answer to homework problem 9 from p. 47." It didn't mean you couldn't game the system, but it was harder to slack completely. But this was an accelerated program, and we understood that if we needed the practice and didn't do it, we were the ones who would hurt.

Yes, same. How was that even remotely okay?

Agreed!! I found it very much not okay that our school threw the football players in the same gym class as me, who was tiny and not athletic. They had us tracked for academics, why not athletics? And while everyone would have jumped down my throat if I'd ever teased someone for a lesser grade, nobody cared that I got teased for not being able to run fast or whatever. Congratulations, schools, I'm mid 40s and hate exercise, so how'd that work out? The one saving grace was that we also had written tests each sports unit on rules and terms, which also counted as part of our grade, so at least my lack of athletic ability did not kill my GPA. In college, we had to do two PE classes. For one, I took fitness for life, where we learned about nutrition, sneakers, and such, and we also had to do some sort of activity of our choice and record it, and the other was similar. So we could work on the weight machines or take a hike in the woods, and it was all good. We had square dancing in middle school, which was terrible. Middle school kids do not want to link arms because ew, cooties, LOL. I am so, so sorry for that family and that child. That should absolutely never have happened.

My almost 5 year old (he's almost five, can you believe it?!) loves anything Paw Patrol, anything having to do with whatever characters his older siblings like (so, light sabers, sigh), Lego and Duplos fairly equally (I probably wouldn't buy more Duplo at this point, but he plays with what we have extensively), and play dough. He spends hours playing with Play Dough. He also loves anything he can draw with and things like notebooks.

I agree with Rosie. He is not ready for that much independence. My 12yo needs reminders from me as well. Executive function is often not strong in 12yos.

I will still vote for Getting Started With Latin. It's what my 21-year-old started with when she wanted to learn Latin because she thought that Susan from Narnia would know Latin, and it's what I've used for the four boys after her and will probably use for the little one when he's ready. At this point I can practically quote it. I am slightly disappointed that none of my boys wanted to go on to do more Latin after that because Linney has a next step Latin book now. Also my daughter and I did try Latin Alive as the next step, and I liked it and liked the way it looked and its approach, but it does move very quickly.

That is so heartbreakingly sad.

Depending on what you're creating, hospitals, children's hospitals, and NICUs may appreciate the items, as may charities that care for bereaved families. But also, I have no problem creating things because they are fun for me to look at.

Agreed!! When people talk about reasons they homeschool, I have many, and the importance of them varies from day to day. Sometimes it's for the flexibility, sometimes it's so my children can attend to their bodily functions on their own timetables, sometimes it's for academics. . . Honestly, though, the real reason I homeschool: I want to, I like it, and I can. And my children want to be here, like being here, and can learn here. That's really about all I truly have to say about it.

Also, I likely have undiagnosed ADHD myself, and regardless of what I use for planning (I like Artful Agenda), I have to have a standing alarm pop up on my phone at a certain time every day that says, "Check agenda," or I will forget.

I create them for him. Asking him to create the tasks on his own would be too much at this point. Most of his subjects are just "do the next thing," so it is pretty easy.

I use Trello for my 7th grader with ADHD. There is a list for each week, and each week's list has a card for each day, and each day's card has a checklist. He can check the boxes as he completes his subjects.

This. The big community college around here has made a point to have certain courses transfer to the big flagship state university. Dual enrollment is not free for us, and my older kids were not interested, but that *would* be a selling point for me for our younger kids, that we could have them do DE at the CC, knowing that they could transfer to the big university easily. Why pay for the big uni right away if I don't have to? (It's also an easier commute to the CC.) It would also depend on the student. Long story, but I did take 4-credit calculus, such as for engineers, even though the 3-credit community college calculus would have sufficed, because I knew even early in high school that I did not want to do anything related to science or engineering in college. So what I would advise my own students to do would depend on the student's needs and plans. This thread is interesting to me. I did workboxes for my older kids for a bit, not quite to the extent that some did, but it was helpful for a while. Categorizing subjects has helped *me* as the teacher not to overwhelm my students with those smaller things while also making sure they did not get skipped. I just use Trello now instead of a physical box. I had my oldest kids in my 20s, so I have some homeschooling friends around my age (although I was usually younger by a bit) who also have kids the same ages as my older kids, so done or in high school, but most do not also have younger kids. And I was heavily pregnant with our sweet littlest baby on our 20th wedding anniversary; he is almost five, and all the moms with five year olds are way younger than I am, closer to my oldest's age than mine, since we have a 17 year gap between our oldest and youngest. One trend that I see that is kind of annoying is people who do not read the law for themselves. We're in PA, so the laws are very specific in some areas and yet very vague in others, and our school districts vary in how much they know, so it is really important that WE know and read the law for ourselves. I know Google is sometimes a bit sus, as my big kids say, but I feel like a lot of people have not even tried to read it for themselves. I've been homeschooling since 2007, when my oldest would have gone to K, and I still read through the law yearly to make sure I am doing everything right. I do feel like current new homeschooling parents are kind of. . . overwhelmed? There is SO much available now, and that's wonderful on the one hand but also way overwhelming. People will ask, "What's the best math curriculum?" because they have no idea where to begin, and they'll get fifty answers. I'm kind of glad there weren't so many things so readily available when I was starting out, although I tried a fair number of things.

I don't know, I usually have the van, and I don't do the windows in it myself because I can't reach the windshield very well since I am very short and it is very tall (full-size van). But also, it costs a fortune to fill, so I usually can't afford to put in a lot at once since I don't drive it often, so I do need to watch it.

I don't like pumping gas because it requires standing still, so if I can luck out and have my husband do it, great, but I definitely know how and do it frequently. Both of my kids who are old enough to drive know how to pump their own gas and do it frequently also.

I much prefer single stall bathrooms, family style. To be truly accessible they need to have step stools included, and a second, shorter toilet certainly wouldn't hurt. But what I've really appreciated are the ones that have a seat for a toddler. I would also like to have an enclosed stall that means toddlers can't crawl under the walls, and it would be pretty cool if they had a second, optional lock that was higher than a toddler can reach. I don't have much experience with disability needs so I can't really comment there. But I agree with another poster who said there ought to be more than one family style stall to accommodate both families with young children and families with disabled people.

Well, yes, of course I mean at the government level.

This, and what so many others have said as well. Who determines? Is a white flour, white sugar muffin really that much better than a coke? I have a friend who compared the nutritional content of ice cream and yogurt (not frozen) when her kid was little. Similar sugar profiles, and the yogurt really did not have much, if any, more protein. But one is a socially acceptable breakfast food and the other is not. I don't think prohibiting minors from buying "junk" foods is really the thing. And in some instances, I would rather my kid be able to purchase what they need, or even what they want. What if my active, healthy kid wanted a coke and a chocolate bar on their way home from practice? Maybe that was the only "junk" food they'd eaten all week, and maybe I'd okayed it. It's silly to police food.

My homeschooled young adult lives at home, but she texts me all the time when she's not at home. Sometimes she just texts me cute selfies because she likes her makeup that day. Sometimes she wants to complain about something and knows I'll be sympathetic. Sometimes she had a good, fun, or new experience and wants to share with me. Sometimes she needs help navigating something. Sometimes she has a funny meme to share with me because we have similar senses of humor. When she's not at work, she does hang out with her friends, but she and I also just hang out after all the boys are in bed sometimes. I will take it all! I would fully expect that if she were at college, especially in the first few weeks, she would text or call me a lot, even if "just" to share her experiences, and I would be all about it. My other homeschooled young adult who also lives at home texts me some. More often if he needs something, less often just to chat, but occasionally just to say hi. I probably would not expect to hear from him as often as I do his sister if he were at college, though he would if he needed anything -- but I also expect he would have a lower threshold for needing something than his sister, if that makes sense. I think some of it is generation and some of it is personality. Is your young adult needing some scaffolding and reassuring in handling grown-up situations, perhaps? Does she "just" want to tell her favorite people about all the cool stuff she's experiencing? I would consider "too much" to be if she was not making friends or doing things with other students or expressing extreme homesickness to the point where she was anxiously counting the days until break or was showing signs of depression/anxiety like isolating in her room or not going to meals/classes. But just to talk and seek advice? I think that will drop off when she is ready.

I do have hobbies I enjoy, but when I have free time, it usually goes to my volunteer gig as a patient educator for families affected by hypertensive disorders of pregnancy because it is a cause that is near and dear to my own heart. I do get enormous satisfaction from helping to make things a little easier for other parents. So maybe you should find a cause or charity that is important to you and volunteer with it! Can you help other homeschool families by teaching classes or other support? And for me, if someone asked for gift ideas, I'd suggest donations to my favorite charities like the one I volunteer for, our local library, our local NICU, or local food bank. Or I would ask for experiences like really fancy restaurants, because my husband and I do enjoy trying local higher end restaurants a few times a year and would do so more often if they weren't so expensive.

I generally like to cover health topics organically, just as the need arises, but we have also found a few materials here and there that help cover things that we hadn't hit. I found an elementary/middle school workbook that covered some concepts like understanding a medicine label, and we used a few of those in different years. They made really quick and easy things to tuck in our portfolios in case anyone else ever complains. We live in a high regulation state, and we also have to teach fire safety, so that hits health as well. Last year, I found a page for our 14 year old that talked about avoiding burn situations while babysitting, and I thought it was pretty good, a lot of common sense info. I did find this worktext online, and I will be assigning it to 14 year old this year. It should take him no more than about 15 minutes once a week and will hit topics like sugar, sleep, drugs, alcohol, sex, etc. Yes, we talk about those things, but hitting from another angle that is not a parent might be good too. https://www.ck12.org/book/teen-health-literacy/

Censor is a strong word. If a child were asking about a book, I would discuss with them my concerns. It has not really been an issue. There are some books I have purposely not suggested for various reasons, but if kids found them themselves, eh, okay. I'm sure there are a few I'd veto completely. Probably would not be thrilled and would quite possibly veto a young teen reading Clan of the Cave Bear, for instance. I will not require certain books. "The Giver" made me feel ill when I read it as an older teen/young adult (I don't remember), and I determined then that I would never require it for my kids. (Years later, I understand why. My children lost a very real baby sibling that they all met and touched. They don't need to read "The Giver" as kids if they aren't asking to.)