I started reading this today. Ugh. Not that I'm shocked at the censorship, but I am disgusted at how extensive it is. I don't understand with these restrictions in place how our students manage to get any kind of education at all. Thanks for the book suggestion:).

We used to homeschool when the kids were younger. They have been in PS the past 4 years and we are planning to return to HS this fall. I had the same fantasies that you do... the kids would be gone all day, I would have a clean house, I would have time to prepare wonderful, delicious meals, I'd have time to volunteer, learn things, run errands in peace, and get so many more things done. In reality the kids are gone all day and it's very quiet. Sometimes that is nice, but I do miss them. A LOT. I have to drive them to and from school, and now with oldest ds in middle school that is 2 different locations and 2 different times. Both schools are close, but it is many trips in and out of the car and I do use more gas. My house is not any cleaner. Because I'm not as busy most of the time I feel largely unmotivated and very little gets done. I do not cook wonderful, delicious meals because I hate to cook and I suck at it. Plus, meal preparation comes at the busiest time of day when the kids are home and I have to unpack backpacks and afterschool them in all the subjects the school is not teaching. Before I took my current part time job at a local school I volunteered a lot, which was fun, but on the other hand I found myself often thinking that all that time could be spent teaching my own. I can run errands in peace, but with one exception, I haven't really learned any great new things or gotten much done. I did fulfill my lifelong dream of learning to play piano, which I could never have done when I was homeschooling. Overall, school has had its place in our lives and we've made wonderful friendships and gotten some great memories from it. But I am ready to close that book and dive into the freedom we will have learning at home again. I feel that the quality of my childrens' education and the freedom to learn how we want are more important to me than the benefits of having them in school.

My shoe is on the other foot. I have an 11 year old boy who is in PS and it is his first year of middle school. We are planning to homeschool from this fall. I have to tell you that no matter how they are educated, you will have the same problems because I'm pretty sure it comes with the age. In fact, I would think in some ways HS would be easier because the intensity of peer pressure, the negativity of middle school, and wanting to conform to everyone else isn't as strong. We've had a horrible time with these issues this year (not so much before when he was still in elementary school) and it is hard to swim against the tide since we apparantly are the only parents who actually have restrictions on video games, movies, bedtime, etc. around here. It gets exhausting, but we just set firm and consistent rules and expectations for ds and if we have problems, he loses his priveledges. Good luck!

My oldest ds, almost 12, is gifted in music and math. Actually, we knew he was a math whiz, but it wasn't until he started piano lessons that we found out how phenominal he is at music as well. I would say that piano lessons with a great teacher are an absolute must. I would start with piano as it is a basis for other instruments and your child will learn a lot of theory in the lessons. Then I would expose him to lots of classical music and composers (Classical Kids CDs are wonderful). I don't know much about the music classes you mentioned and mine have been in ps the past 4 years, but I would suggest starting smaller and building if he chooses to prevent burnout.

As the OP, I'm glad that I wasn't the only one bothered by this. I had previously been told by my son that they read whatever they like, so that is why I asked the same question to the teacher. While I would like some of the classics to be covered in this 2 hour advanced language arts class, I would have settled for some sort of book list. But to allow anything (in addition to the classic literature "exerts" in the textbooks) is just unacceptable to me. Considering that very little grammar and writing seem to be taught, I'm not sure what the class time is spent on. According to my son, they do a lot of this self chosen readingin class. This mirrors the experience of my 2 younger children in elementary school. There seems to be this prevailing attitude around here that "it doesn't matter what they are reading as long as they are reading" with which I strongly disagree. My experience in the past 4 years of having my children in school is that expectations are extremely low. For example, I volunteer to work with the 4th graders in my ds's class each week testing fluency. This teacher goes above anything I've ever seen in my 3 years of testing fluency; she actually has the children read pieces at their reading level (instead of the standard one size fits all model). Once they finish all the pieces they are supposed to move on to memorizing poetry (I don't know of any other teacher who requires poetry memorization so hats off to her). When the children find out they must memorize, they insist they can't do it. It can take several months for a child to memorize a half page poem. Yet they can memorize their favorite song in an afternoon. I tell them that song lyrics are poetry, so turn their poetry into a song, but it still takes and excruciatingly long time for them to master it. Yet my 7 year old daughter can memorize a twelve stanza poem in a half hour. She isn't extraordinary; we have always had high expectations for our children. I believe there are many wonderful teachers. They are just bound by their district's curriculum choices and there is very little wiggle room in our test happy culture.

I'm very impressed with some of the lists here. I have come to the conclusion that my education was pretty pathetic because I really had to think long and hard to come up with any, but then I remembered reading these: The Scarlet Letter To Kill a Mockingbird Jane Eyre Animal Farm And that's all I remember. This was suburban Minneapolis area high school in the late 1980s. I did go Post Secondary Enrollment in 11th grade and took my English courses at the college, so I read more from that point on and on my own as well.

We have done a ton of home improvement, including gutting two kitchens, removing walls, flooring, remodeling baths, and so on. Almost all of it we do ourselves, which keeps the cost down tremendously. I am extremely frugals, so I find it great fun to be always thinking of ways to do nice things for less. I am addicted to home improvement shows and that is how I get a lot of my ideas. If nothing else, you get to see what people are doing right now and how it is done. You find out what you like. I watch these shows online for free at Hulu, HGTV or DIY. You may want to start small and as you gain confidence, get larger. Even little things like new paint and flooring really make a room look completely different. Good luck!

JZMom, I LOVE your space!

Thanks! I have lived in Korea and know some limited Korean. Because the pronunciation is so different from English, it is hard for older people to learn to pronounce the words correctly. Because of this, I'd recommend starting your kids younger if you really want them to learn Korean.

It's actually considered a family sedan, so it isn't as light or small as it appears. I believe safety ratings are excellent. My dh was rearended at a stoplight and damage was very minimal, but since we've had nothing bigger than that (thankfully) so I can't say for sure.

Our piano teacher uses Alfred and we've been very happy with it.

:seeya:Yep, we have a 2009 Toyota Prius. We like it. It's reliable and fun to drive. The gas mileage can't be beat. We have gotten over 50 mpg in the summer. Winter mileage is considerably less in our cold climate, but still better than other cars. Handling and driving is great. There isn't much horsepower, so if you live in a mountainous region it may not be your best choice. Winter driving is just so-so. Overall, I would recommend the Prius without hesitation.

With Homeschool Buyer's Coop having their sale on Rosetta Stone right now, I am considering buying a level or two to have for this fall when we start homeschooling full time. I'm on the fence about which language to choose though. Part of me wants Spanish because it's practical and relatively easy to learn. We do not have access to many native speakers though, so I'm not sure we'd get much practice in daily life. My dh is Korean and Korean is his native language. His entire family lives in Korea. It would be useful for my children to learn Korean to be able to communicate with their extended family and they could practice it whenever they want with various native Korean speakers. It isn't as useful as Spanish, though, and it is a lot harder to learn. I'm interested in opinions, please:).

I honestly don't know how much she really knows about what is or isn't taught at the high school level since she teaches 6th grade ILA and our middle and high schools are separate. It's very difficult to find any detail in scope and sequence. Of course, I think I'm the only parent in the district that actually scours the district website looking for this:tongue_smilie:. Since we do have AP classes at the high school level you'd think there would be some classic literature taught somewhere, but after this conversation I guess I'm not sure.

After looking at both the Kindle and the Nook, I chose the Nook. I actually liked the Kindle better because it seemed lighter and more user friendly, but I chose the Nook because I could check out library e-books with it, whereas the Kindle didn't offer that option. I don't know if I'm happy with my decision yet. I actually don't use my Nook very much because I keep finding real books on my shelf to read. Nor have I actually checked out a library e-book yet. Now it looks like there is a new Kindle that is even lighter and Epub compatible, allowing for library use. Jen

Thanks! We are looking forward to it!:) Jen

This teacher's response also covered the remainder of middle school as well as high school level, not just 6th grade. This school district as a whole was pretty much disposing of classic literature in favor of newer books and student choice. I don't know how many 6th graders are in the school, but it is large. Our district is the largest in our state and has struggled with funding for a long time. By struggle I mean double digit million dollar deficits annually, not just slight funding issues. Our elementary class sizes are large, in the 30s per class, so I would imagine that the middle school is the same or larger. I agree with your comment on textbooks. I wanted to gag when she said that; as if reading and excerpt is the same as reading an entire book. Ugh. And the reading level point mentioned earlier is a good one. In this day of Captain Underpants and Junie B. Jones, many students have never been exposed to language contained in classic pieces. My son, who has always been considered advanced, started this year in his Advanced Language Arts class unable to write a complete sentence or name parts of speech. This was acceptable somehow to the teacher, maybe even considered normal. It was then I discovered that grammar is no longer taught in our elementary school so I had to start adding that into to our already extensive afterschooling schedule. Any questions as to why we are planning to homeschool next year:glare:? Jen

I have been lurking here for a long time, and since we don't homeschool yet (will be starting this fall) I don't post much, but I just have to get opinions on this. My oldest is in middle school, grade 6. We had conferences a few weeks back and I was asking his Language Arts teacher some questions about what is taught during this 2 hour advanced class block. I specifically asked about what the kids were reading. She said they pretty much read whatever they wanted. I asked if they read any classics and she said that there were some excerpts (she pronounced exerts) in their textbooks, but that the school district is redefining what are considered classics. She went on to say that what we consider classics weren't being taught anymore because of racial references to which they don't want to expose the students. For me, while I agree that there are derogatory words in certain classic literature that I certainly don't want my children to use, I do want them to try to understand the full impact of what life was like during the past and the suffering certain ethnic groups have had to endure throughout history and, unfortunately, these ugly words are part of that truth. I think it's hard to get the full impact without them. I do think that facing our past mistakes is the best way to prevent history from repeating itself. What do you think about this?? Jen ds 11 ds 9 dd 7

Well, we'd automatically go to South Korea because that is where dh is from and where I lived for 2 years so we have lots of family & history there. It's a beautiful country with lots to do and see. In Seoul are several wonderful palaces, gates and markets. Pusan, where we are from, has beaches. There are are many historic sites in Kyong-ju, and Cheju and Koje Islands are absolutely beautiful. Lots of mountains and scenery all around. Besides Korea, I'd go to Japan. I'd love to go to Kyoto and Tokyo. I would visit China and Hong Kong, and I'd also love to go to Malaysia and Indonesia. I know many people who have gone to Thailand and everyone has loved it. Jen

Laundry is my favorite chore (I know, I'm weird:001_smile:), and I line dry as much as possible. Since I live in a cold weather state, outside drying is only possible about half the year. I LOVE hanging my clothing outside; I find it very relaxing. It takes a little more time than popping the clothing into the dryer, but since I enjoy hanging my laundry I find it worth it. Besides that the only downside is that you do have to keep your eye on the weather. I can't tell you how many times I've had to run out and grab laundry off the line before a sudden rainstorm, and sometimes I can't get it in time. For colder months, I have two rods that my husband hung from my laundry room ceiling using bike hooks and long closet rods. I hang the shirts from hangers and pants from those clippy hangers (can get all these free from Walmart). I do have a rack that I occasionally use for smaller stuff, but since I do like to dry my whites, which are usually rags, socks, etc. in the dryer, I don't often use it. Even by just hanging shirts on the rods, I can cut the loads I dry in the dryer by half. If you have pollen allergies, spring drying outside can be problematic. You can either inside dry during this time or try it and see how it goes. Jen

We are completely debt free. We paid off our house (purchase price $177K in 2001) two years ago and we have a 2009 Toyota Sienna and a 2009 Toyota Prius that are also paid off. We owe nothing to anyone and it feels great. We both worked very hard to get to this place. We didn't start out with much; I brought about $11K to our marriage (saved from living and working in South Korea) and my dh brought nothing. We had no help from family and I had paid all of my college expenses myself. Most of what we earned was spent paying off debt. I had a small college loan to pay off (I worked during college and went PSEO in high school, then community college and on to an inexpensive state university) and then I paid off my car. Everything else I saved. Granted, our early married life was not glamorous. We did not travel, we rarely ate out, and we were very frugal. We rented for a year before we purchased our first home, and a year later we had our oldest child. We both worked full time throughout this time and then my dh, who was still in night school for a computer programming diploma, quit his low paying factory job to stay home with the baby. I wanted nothing more than to be a stay at home mom, but for a while we couldn't do it. When our oldest was 10 months, we got very lucky and he got a job offer with just the bare minimum we'd need for me to quit and stay home. We took the leap of faith and actually we have never had to struggle, thankfully. We moved to our current house in 2001 and at that time had a $122K mortgage. In 2003 (and two more children later) we refinanced to a 15 year mortgage at a 4.25 percent interest rate and then we just put all extra money we had into our principal with the goal of paying off the mortgage. We did have an emergency savings fund and we contributed to his 401K, but everything else went toward our mortgage. My dh makes a comfortable, but not grand salary (well under six figures). It took 7 years to pay it off. It was a combination of luck, hard work, and frugality. We are not religious people; we just don't like debt and we don't want to owe anything to anyone. Without the mortgage, we were able to pay off both car loans very quickly. It's a great place to be and well worth adjusting your lifestyle to achieve it. Jen

All three of my children learned to read using The Reading Lesson. It was incredibly easy to teach and highly effective. While it may not have been their *favorite* activity ever, they are all extremely strong readers who read well above grade level. Jenny

We shop at Aldi's several times per week. Most of their products are very good. Their prices are often, but not always, better than competitors. Do shop around and compare. After a while you will have a regular list of items you purchase there. Things I normally purchase at Aldi's are: -Chips and snacky stuff ( I know we shouldn't buy these at all really:tongue_smilie:). My kids actually prefer Aldi chips to other brands. -Baking products -Mayo and salad dressing -syrup and jelly -coffee creamer (I prefer brand name, but when I don't have a coupon I get the Aldi) -yogurt (we buy the 32 oz. light and fit vanilla) and sour cream -cheese, hot dogs, cheddar brats, and ready to bake pizza -produce (I do look these over carefully. They are usually fine, but sometimes not. I do feel that their produce isn't as fresh as that I buy elsewhere, but we eat it so quickly that it works for us) -canned tomato and chicken noodle soups -ramen -buns -sometimes frozen meat -tortillas -canned beans - I used to buy their canned tomatoes but don't anymore because they changed brands and the new stuff is smaller and has a funky aftertaste -macaroni and cheese (my kids love the Aldi brand) and spaghetti sauce if I'm desperate (I don't think it's a great price either) -frozen fish The only thing I've tried and haven't liked are: -canned ground coffee -the new brand of canned tomatoes -cottage cheese (turns moldy quickly - yuck!) Most of their other stuff we have tried at some point. Jen

I am here looking for support and advice. I have 3 dc ages 11, 9, and 7 who are all currently in the public schools. This is their 4th year attending; prior to that we homeschooled. My philosophy has always been that as long as it's working we'll go with it and if not we could homeschool again. The scales are tipping and I'm strongly considering homeschooling from this fall again. Just some background on us... My oldest is a dynamic, brilliant boy who has always been a challenge to parent. He is very spirited, stubborn, strong-willed, argumentative, yet he is funny, energetic and incredibly smart. He is in middle school and the education there is textbookish, but fine. He wants to come home part time next year (taking electives and math at school, the rest here) and I'm considering it, but am unsure just because I know my life and his siblings life could be misery dealing with his personality. My middle boy is shy, quiet, introverted, but sweet and smart. He is bored in school and wants to homeschool. I think for him it would be ideal. My daughter is compliant, sociable, and smart. She absolutely loves school, and is the only one who has never been homeschooled. She is a year ahead in school and is doing extremely well. She does not want to homeschool at all. She says she would miss her friends and learning with other kids. We do really like the elementary school our youngest 2 attend. The staff is wonderful and there is a very close community of parents with lots of parent volunteers. Since we open enroll, once I remove my kids from this school they cannot go back due to space issues. I've always felt that the academics at the school were only so-so. It is one of the best performing schools in our very large district, with strong test scores. However, history and science are light, they use the horrible Everyday Math, and there is virtually no grammar being taught. So, we afterschool math, grammar, and writing with some SOTW thrown in once or twice a week. Quite honestly, I'm exhausted and I worry about burning out my kids. Yet, what do we drop - math, grammar, writing?? These are all critical skills, IMO. It isn't the life I want for us. All of my kids are high performing and there isn't a lot for them at the elementary level (my dd has a pull out class once a week for reading). In addition, class sizes are running between 30-34 kids per class. I read everything available to keep myself up to speed on what is happening in our district and it isn't good. Cuts of around $15 million are expected every year and there is a levy of $48 million that voters will either renew or reject. If they reject it (likely given the current economy and levy trends), it will cut 25% of our district's current meager budget. I know a number of families who have moved out of the district or gone to homeschooling already due to the issues in the district. I feel bad that my dd is upset about the possibility of homeschooling and I've told her about all the great opportunities we'd have that we can't do now. I know it's hard for her to picture since she's only 7. If you are still with me (thank you!) I guess I am just looking for support and advice from anyone who has brought home a child who doesn't want to be homeschooled. Thanks, Jen

My son is in ps 6th grade and is also 11 years old. He is mathematically talented, scoring in the 99th percentile on our state's standardized tests. We have always afterschooled in math with MUS. He is currently in Algebra 1 in ps and was finding it way too easy, so he has been moved up into a self study math class where he can work at his own pace. It is conceivable that before the school year is done he will likely be starting Geometry, which is a high school class. So, yes, it is completely possible that your ds is ready for pre-algebra and algebraic concepts at his age. Let him go at his own pace. Just keep monitoring his work to make sure he continues to understand the concepts. Jennifer