That's kind of where we are right now. I talked to my mom this morning and what she said was pretty close to what you just said. But since my oldest so graciously offered to share custody, I thought it might be a nice gesture to make it legal and official. Sort of a psychological boost to show that we trusted her in the event something happened, KWIM? Barb

When I lived in OK, I didn't even bother keeping track of days since the law doesn't require any records, but I accept that my way may make others squeamish. Here's some information I dug up that may help: A "School Day" In assessing "equivalent to that afforded by the state," it is also helpful to know what the public school system considers a "school day." Regulations pertaining to homeschooling are quoted previously and are not so specific. The Constitution has this to say about the definition of a public "school day." (70 O.S. 1-111) "A school day for any group of pupils shall consist of not less than six (6) hours devoted to school activities...." "...not more than one (1) school day shall be counted for attendance purposes in any 24-hour period." "Pupils absent from school in which they are regularly enrolled may be considered as being in attendance if the reason for such absence is to participate in scheduled school activities under the direction and supervision of a regular member of the faculty." Though it has never been defined in terms of homeschooling, this might be interpreted to mean any day in which the homeschooled "pupil" is under the supervision of their parent or guardian (who believes learning is taking place) may be considered a day of attendance for legal purposes. In fact, what is "compulsory" for public school students is "attendance," not "education." The Department of Education has acknowledged that for students who are enrolled in public-school "homebound" programs (for long-term illness that prevents regular public school attendance), three hours of one-on-one instruction per week is considered to be "equivalent" for their purposes. Most homeschoolers find that it doesn't take nearly as much time to cover subjects as it does in a formal school, since the parents are able to provide individualized attention without many distractions. Younger homeschooled children typically spend very little time in formalized studies; older children will spend more time. While there is no reporting system in Oklahoma for homeschoolers, it is sometimes recommended that Oklahoma families keep some kind of record of the type of education being provided and each child's progress for at least 175 days of the year. Keeping formal records is not specifically required of homeschoolers (defined in the Constitution as providing "other means of education") according to Oklahoma law 70 O.S. 10-106, but in the rare event that a family is contacted by a truant officer, proof of meeting the minimum requirements of the law (i.e. "in good faith," and "equivalency") may be helpful to avoid conflicts. For various ways to do this, please see HERO's FAQ on record-keeping. And the link: http://oklahomahomeschooling.org/oklahoma.htm#A%20%22School%20Day%22 Barb

Yeah, my 17yo and I have had the same experience but I think it's because when we're alone I tend to goof off and act like an idiot. She looks 22 and I probably act like I am :tongue_smilie: Oh, and related to that...Meghan flew from Philly to Phoenix with our cats and her younger sister who's 11 but looks 8 or 9 (she's very petite). Everyone kept referring to her as Em's mom. Boy did that make her crazy, LOL Barb

Ha! I know exactly what you mean. I started my family when I was 21, so I was always the baby of my peer crowd (don't we always hang out with families who have children our kids' ages?). Since moving into our new neighborhood, dh and I have become the senior parents and it has been a little disconcerting. I haven't completely adjusted yet. Barb

I don't think you need become obsessive about keeping their work just because they've entered the high school years. An artist or musician will need an extensive portfolio, but not your garden-variety high schooler. Save anything that is particularly good, particularly pieces of writing, but this should amount to no more than say 10 samples over the course of the four years. I'll tell you what I did. Every time we began a course, I jotted down the names of the books we used. At the end of the course, I wrote a course description. That was so much easier than trying to reconstruct everything at the end. As it was, my daughter decided to apply just to our state school because it's 45 minutes away and they offered her a full ride for her NMS finalist status. She decided she didn't want to go all the way back East with so many younger siblings still at home, so she didn't even bother applying to her top choices. She said she didn't have to face the pain of turning them down :). So as it turned out, all I needed was a simple transcript list of courses and grades. But my time wasn't wasted. Now I have a plan for my younger kids that I will only need to tweak. There's something to be said for having to invent the wheel only once. Barb

Arwen A's recent posts about assuming guardianship of her friends' children made me think. My parents are still listed as the guardians of my children, but they turned 60 this year. They aren't young 60's, either. My dad battles dangerously high blood pressure, diabetes, and had a quadruple bypass 10 years ago. My mom is having just about all her joints replaced this year. So they aren't in the best of health. My brother is a late bloomer and although he's 37, he doesn't have the maturity to absorb a family of 5 kids. We've moved around a lot and as a result have no close friends. My oldest daughter is turning 18 next month and when I mentioned my conundrum she insisted that if the worst ever happened, she would move back home and commute to school before she would ever allow her siblings to be separated. As much as that pleased me, 18 or 19 is very young to have sole responsibility for 5 other children. Makes me think of Party of Five. My mom said that until they are 70 or so, they should be willing and able to move in and help homeschool the little guys and hold down the fort as long as my daughter was around to help with the driving, heavy lifting, and physical work of raising children. So I feel better about our plans, but I wonder if I can list them all as guardians in our will? Is appointing 3 guardians even a possibility? Does anyone have a law background? I'd like to go in and have our will changed after Meg is 18, but it would be nice to know if it's legal first. Barb

My oldest daughter tells me she thinks I look young for my age (39 in a couple of weeks), so I won't argue with her. Listening to your comments makes me wonder if as a whole we simply take better care of ourselves than the general population. It seems we're more likely to get the sleep we need (or sneak a nap if necessary), do daily devotions or meditation, eat whole foods, limit the processed icky stuff, take vitamins and/or EFAs, and avoid the daily stressors of traffic, rushing out the door, and working for a doofus. Oh, my day can be highly pressured at times, but it's only pressure I put on myself. I think those things can go a long way toward keeping crows' feet at bay. Barb

:grouphug: Mom of 7

ALEKS. I know I'm sounding like a broken record (or scratched CD), but it's so efficient for reviewing concepts. I like to order just one month and give them a break from their regular text to scoot through the old material again. It usually doesn't take that long. Then it's back to the regularly scheduled program. Barb

Well, I'm familiar with all of these professors except for Timothy Spurgin. I have to say that Vandiver and Fears are my two favorite professors. There are others who are absolutely excellent (Peter Saccio is one), but these two not only teach, they fully capture your attention. Some courses can be exhausting to sit through even though you are enjoying the learning, but Vandiver and Fears perform their courses. They draw you in like storytellers. I think your best money would be spent on them. We own the Shakespeare lectures and we enjoyed them very much. We have them on audio, but since he actually has performances threaded throughout, I would rather have had the DVD's, I think. Barb

If you aren't looking for an AP text but an intro Bio course, I suggest you take a look at Exploring Life by Campbell. I used to be a Holt girl but we used the Campbell text with a virtual charter a few years ago, and I really liked it. I own both this text and Visualizing Life, so I recently gave my newest 9th grader the choice between the two and she preferred the style of Exploring Life. Here's a link to the page: http://www.usingexploringlife.com/takealook.html ~Edited to add: we are also using the Thinkwell Bio lectures to beef up the textbook and add some of the meat of the AP level course. That way when she retakes Biology at the AP level or at the local college, it won't be her first exposure to the higher level concepts. Barb

I hope you both post and let us know how your students did on the exam. My 13yo wanted to take it this year but we forgot about it until 2 days past the deadline. She was so disappointed. Barb

I suppose the sanction is to deter other states from changing their primary dates willy-nilly to earlier dates. The earlier the primary, the more weight your vote often has becuase things are usually pretty well decided before now. This year was an exception for the Democrats. Barb

I think you've answered your own question. It really doesn't matter what we think about it. For your son, it's a no-brainer. More harm than good. If you were to give into pressure to have him take this test in spite of your misgivings, it would defeat the purpose of homeschooling. Barb

Ahhh....I thought they were making fun of my husband (who resembles dopey after he's had his hair cut--in a cute way!) Barb

Favorite: Cooking lets me indulge my creative side. After cooking comes delegating. I simply adore delegating. Least Favorite: Probably bathrooms. I'm squeamish, even after so many kids. I don't mind cleaning vomit if it's fresh and I know where it came from, but crusty old mystery stains in the bathroom make me want to retch. Barb

Someone on another board listed a bunch of questions about homeschooling, and since I was having trouble sleeping last night I wrote a long post in response. Experienced homeschoolers will nod in recognition at most of my answers, but I thought I'd post it here anyway since I don't have a blog to keep things on. Maybe it'll help a lurker newbie somewhere :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hi there! I teach our 6 and have been doing so since I taught my 17yo to read and add at age 4. Here are some answers to your questions: What is a typical day like? This question always makes me giggle. You mean the day that my 2yo woke up early, peed in his potty and then proceeded to pour it all over the bedroom carpet? Or the day that we decided to sleep in and then have donuts while reading History read alouds all day? Or maybe it was today when my 17yo and my 11yo cleaned out all the landscaping while I taught the 8 and 6yo's and the 13yo took the 2yo to the park to keep him out of trouble. Then the older girls did their schoolwork over bundt cake before bed. A lot of our schoolwork tends to take place where food is involved. My day involves a lot of rolling with the punches and feeling thankful for all I've managed to accomplish with the assorted setbacks of the day. Pretty much just parenting on steroids. What, in your opinion, are the pros and cons? If I have to be honest, the cons include never having a quiet moment to think. Those toddler years where you're never alone, even in the bathroom will last until they graduate. But really, in its own way, that's a pro too. The major pro for me is being there to see *all* my kids' firsts. Not just the first step or word, but reading the first sentence, writing the first coherent paragraph and seeing the light go on after wrestling a tough trig concept. Knowing that all of it is because of me. It's also pretty great that they are growing up unencumbered by anyone's preconceived notions of who they are. No peers or teachers breathing down their necks or lording a repuation (good or bad) over them that they must live up to or live down. They are free to follow their interests, create their own moral compass, and develop their ability to form a logical argument before being thrown feet first into the deep end of society. I am so proud to see the strong young women my 17 and 13yo girls are becoming. I'm a smart girl, but do you ever question your ability to teach your kids? No. We just do the next thing. I would question my ability to teach 30 kids of varying abilities, but luckily teaching my own is nothing like that. My education is so much better now that I've gone through the first 8 years with my kids a few times. I've filled in the holes. Things I'd forgotten or never learned to begin with, I learned right along with them. How cool is that? Once they hit high school and begin to outgrow me as a teacher, my role becomes one of facilitator and partner. My high schoolers study much as college kids do...pulling a lot of the information for themselves. If they hit a snag and I can't help, then we can find almost anything on google, from lit discussions to any math topic you want. We muddle through it together. My oldest started taking college classes for some things at 14 and is now taking 17 hours a semester her senior year in HS, so outsourcing helps a lot too. Do you "school" all year around or go with the conventional school year? Oh we totally do the year round thing. We used to go with school-lite in the summer...a little math, lots of reading...but now that we're in AZ, summer is prime school time. It's too hot to do much else but swim and that gets old. Schooling year round means we take trips and head to the museums and other fun places when everyone else is in school. We never have to fight crowds. It's nice to have the flexibility to take time off whenever life gets in the way--unexpected illness, baby, death in the family, a move, etc What about extracurricular activities (the ones usually only available to schools)? Kids don't *need* extracurricular activities. These are a nice extra if you are already in the school system, but not necessary for a full life. Try the YMCA or do martial arts, gymnastics, dance, or sports through local youth leagues. There are many opportunities out there if you choose to take advantage of them. We don't and are happier for it. We have more time and money than if we were dedicated to organized sports. Each family has to decide for themselves, but don't take it as a given that formal extracurriculars are a necessity. Also, depending on your state, homeschoolers may be welcome to participate in extracurriculars at the local school. Do your grow children want to homeschool their own children? My 17yo, 13yo and 11yo girls say that although they want to go to college and start careers, they also want to homeschool their kids. Don't ask me how they are going to manage all that, but LOL more power to them. The fact that it is important enough to them that they already have goals to make it work speaks volumes, I think.

\ I know, we have the same issues. I'm European mutt and my husband's family moved here from Ecuador right before he was born. My kids don't identify with being hispanic at all, although I usually check both boxes when that's an option. My oldest was invited to a hispanic scholar weekend at Scripps college last fall and we both felt so weird and out of place. Everyone was very nice and no one said anything, but here I am with my Irish German heritage and her with her blue eyes and reddish brown hair. I've never felt so out of place. None of my kids look South American at all. Even my husband looks more Italian than anything. So I suppose I should have checked 'white' since homeschooling was my idea and my undertaking, but I checked Hispanic because I wanted to see one of the minorities choices rise. :tongue_smilie: On that note, I usually have the kids check 'hispanic' on the standardized tests they take because they test well and I want their scores to count on the Hispanic side. Hispanic scores are always depressed, probably due to the facts that their families are recent immigrants, some aren't as familiar with the language, and of course the socio-economic links to lower scores that are a given. So I figure since they're half and half I want to do my part to show that low test scores are not a genetic thing but a cultural thing. I know that that all by ourselves, our family isn't having that much of an effect, but it's the principle of the thing, y'know? Barb

No, but my husband does. He lost 2 jobs in two years due to his compulsions...nothing icky or sinister, mainly his anxiety was such a distraction that he found it impossible to prioritize or play the social game that is so important for executives to be skilled in. After moving to AZ and getting into a car accident, again indirectly related to his OCD behaviors, he agreed to therapy. After a few months of behavioral therapy and a low dosage of Zoloft I have the husband I always knew he was capable of being. His whole life has become less of a struggle. If I had known what a dramatic improvement he was going to experience, I would have encouraged (okay, begged) him to go in years ago. He feels the same. He's 40, not a teen, so he has the maturity to make huge strides, but I can imagine your son having a similar experience. Knowing how you're supposed to act doesn't help when you are incapable of following through. Barb

:iagree: Not nearly enough practice to cement the concepts. ALEKS works much better as reinforcement during a break from the textbook. Barb

Possibly the Algebra II topics were lumped in with Trig. Trig isn't usually a year-long course on its own, and Algebra I and II is a lot of math to cram into one Freshman year. When I was in HS (graduated in 87), it went Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II/Trig, then Calculus. I own some math texts from the late 60's and early 70's and they are just Algebra I, nothing resembling Algebra II topics in there. We need a shrug icon. Barb

Debra, what are you still doing up?? Isn't it like 2am in TX? Barb

Oh LOL Amy! My dh has refers to wet wipes as "moist toweletts" which always makes me howl. I wasn't aware there was anyone else besides me (and now my daughters) who finds that word so funny. Barb

I think it would be far less likely for a guy to be in this position in the first place. Somehow I can't see a police officer reaming a guy his size in the same situation. There are certain petty tyrant types that enjoy pushing smaller people around. Barb

Why is that okay for a girl and not a boy? To live at home and contribute to family and others? A young person's first responsibility in his or her 20's is to work toward personal security and independence. Starting a family, going to college, finding a job, starting a business...these are all good steps toward that goal. But waiting around at home, working for minimum wage and contributing to her family of origin is a waste of a life while waiting 5, 10, or 15 years for the right guy to show up. It's one thing not to be immediately employable after college and land back at home for a couple of years while trying to break into a field, but another thing entirely to be dissuaded from attending college because you aren't expected to be a breadwinner. Conservative belief or no, I think it's dead wrong to set up that double standard. Barb