That's fair. The situation reads differently to me and to my kids because neither we nor the receiving institutions see the kid as ONLY a test score; they see the kids as interesting individuals AND able to compete in *their test format. (I'm not wording this well.) (Edit: I mostly view any CB changes at this stage of the game as a desperate bid to retain relevancy.)

^Our kids all take CLEPs at home now; wondering if SAT will switch to a similar format sooner than later? Well, yes and no; some of my students actually do review / learn skills in advance of taking the SAT. And for my home schooled children (mine) and students (others'), that SAT score is very much a "ticket" in to places they would not otherwise be granted access. It isn't right, and it's not a true reflection of their abilities, but - it IS how the game is played, at least in my area.

Mostly parties. We pick a theme, and then the kids each think of something they'd like to do related to that time period / theme - food, games, activities like simple crafts or instruments (or weapons, within reason), music, maybe dance, show and tell, and (nearly always) a Special Guest. We work on our preparations / read up / plan things out, and then have the party to celebrate. Then pick a new time period (or just move forward in time). Special favorite memories include Erik the Viking (a firewood log) that we made a (cardboard) long-ship for (with extremely-carefully-researched shield designs) and had Very Serious Funeral Fire & Watery Send-Off for, complete with music and feasting. We also enjoyed burning down London (SOTW activity book idea, I think), throwing a homecoming party for Odysseus (again, games from SOTW activity book + local friend who had traveled widely who brought SLIDES of Greece & the Mediterranean), an ancient Egyptian "Fashion Show." Also field trips (as often and as far as we can afford), Really Good Documentaries, more historical fiction than is probably rational, and a decent pile of narrative non-fiction, too (Story of the World, etc.). We also spent a few years mailing "Flat Rangers" to several of the far-away National Parks, and then getting WAY SO EXCITED when their info came back (in super-huge manila envelopes sometimes from the "Department of the Interior" which may or may not have driven a sweet nosy neighbor lady CRAZY when it got mis-delivered to her house hahahaha!). We did try a few different "curricula" over the years (because all our friends were doing it), but we never got past Chapter 2 in any of them.

I have tutored kids in 2 local school districts for a few years, and when they are working on SAT prep, they take practice tests online OR on paper. Most of my students (and ESPECIALLY my "average" students) lose almost 100 points on average when they take it digitally (on Khan or on CB website) vs taking it on paper. Argh. (A similar effect is in play with their digital textbooks; when I bring my ancient regular-old-ps-algebra-texts, the kids often improve *just by using a book vs a computer.* I know that's not universal, but it's VERY common among my tutoring kids. More than one have wished out loud that their schools would "be willing to pay for books like this one" vs. their online textbook. I never have the heart to tell them that these books are the ones their schools threw away for the far-more-expensive digital ones.)

Hope springs eternal. I wish to be more valiant than I am in real life, so - yes, still aiming for Lucy.

$350 cord delivered here in New England - sometimes $300 if you pick it up yourself. Big jump this year in prices. Pine is much cheaper, but we don't burn pine indoors. With DH working from home, we will run out this year, and probably dip into next year's supply. Argh. I'm impressed, too, Faith-manor - all our friends around here convert to pellets when the teenagers move out. 😉 (We also have the ban on transporting across state lines, which has cost us more than one good deal on firewood, but I do fully understand and respect the law. We can typically bring wood south but not north.)

There are other kids in the chorus, but I know that several of their families are really-super-tight on $ this year, so I kinda hate to ask. BUT! That is a really fun idea! And the cards could be whatever amount, so they would all go together - I like that! Thank you!

We have a couple of special teachers who have invested significantly in our kids over the last couple of years, and I'd like to do something "big-ish" to say thank you. I do NOT have very much money for this project, but I DO have time and creative / motivated / silly-but-grateful teens to help. I thought I would also seek ideas from the hive . . . 1. Youth Chorus Director & Wife - maybe the kids (teens) put together a funny song-thank-you? (They could pull this off quite humorously at the spring concert, I think.) We will also do a group gift card (but that seems . . . boring / average). Other ideas? Funny musical skit presentation? 2. Java Teacher - last year we gave her "java for the Java teacher" and she thought it was very clever & fun; . . . repeat? Something different? You people have the best ideas.

So in previous years we have read "real" (aka classic) literature, history, biographies, and some narrative-style science books. THIS year, we have read Premeditated Myrtle, Summer of the Woods, The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane, Framed!, The Clockwork Sparrow. None of them are destined for a classics list, but they were all lighthearted & fun. I pulled them off a "read these new middle school books" list back in early September. No characters died a miserable death, were ruined by greed or hate or violence, lost the one true love of their life, or came excruciatingly of age. If you asked them today what were the 2 best books we've EVER read out loud, they would all agree on the Lord of the Rings trilogy (yes, it took forever) and The War with Mr. Wizzle. --> This one I remembered fondly from my own childhood as being the first book that made me laugh so hard I wept, and (it may have been the mood we were in at the time) it did not disappoint when I read it to my own kids. We screeched in laughter, and had. to. keep. reading. so that we read the whole thing in one day. (I live where winters are long, LOL. We don't read out loud in summer.) Every year, I choose 1 book for each kid that becomes "their" book for that year; I read the book to ALL the kids, but then that ONE kid gets to own that book when I'm done as "Fred's 2nd grade book" or "Susie's 10th grade book". When each kid has received a book, I just choose for fun / whim / personal choice for the remainder of the year. ❤️ It's become a "thing" for our family.

And yet, when we refinanced last year, the mortgage lady INSISTED that I sign IN CURSIVE every single mortgage form. (She accepted DH's illegible scrawl without comment.) I argued, but then figured the excellent rate was worth the hassle so just re-signed every. single. page.

I often tutor high school kids whose parents have given them a blank check; the students OFTEN offer me the check to fill out for myself, because they don't know how to do it. (They do know how to Venmo, which I agree is more important for their generation, but still.) I NEVER write myself a check, and ALWAYS walk them through how to do it, and then congratulate them on picking up a new life skill. 😉

I'm not sure of the Charlotte Mason crossover, and I'm not Catholic (but Sarah McKenzie is). She does home school, but her podcast is called the Read-Aloud Revival, and is targeted at all families, not just home schoolers. She has a fresh, widely appealing, can-do approach that has been an encouragement to me off and on through the years - I often forget just how much kids really do take in and learn from simply listening to a good read-aloud. (Spoken as a mom who still reads to the teenagers, because yes, they beg for it. This year we have read NOTHING serious - our light, frivolous, just-for-the-joy-of-it push-back to the misery in the headlines; we've made zero "educational progress" but we have laughed together, chuckled at some good characters, considered new-to-us ideas, and just enjoyed some slightly-above-average middle school books. Even the college kids.)

I would do just about anything to keep a young teen's trust / heart. That trust is a treasure, and medicine to BOTH of your souls, especially in hard times. If there are rules / schedules she doesn't like, does she have an alternative suggestion? As long as she meets some mutually-agreed-upon baselines (1 shared bathroom so keep it quick, school work done to this particular time & quality standard, helping around house) - can she decide all the rest?

If you run over to Heart's house, she'll make you a good cup with her new press. 😉

Next you're going to look out your front window and see a whole huge line of WTM Boardies lined up with coffee mugs in hand! Hahaha! ❤️

^ Dolciani is known locally in my home school circles as "Houghton math" - it's the exact same Structure & Method course, but that might widen your search a bit? We were able to find a solutions manual that way "back in the day".

(Adding: A French press is basically a container with a filter built-in; you put grounds in the bottom, pour the water on, wait a bit, and then "press" the filter to the bottom slowly. To clean it, you dump the grounds into your trash / compost, and rinse the rest out. So yes, slightly messier than just dumping grounds + paper filter, but - it's a 30-second or less process, not an all-morning chore. 😉 )

It's common practice in my area to have coffee / offer coffee - that said, in a situation where you'd only use it sparingly, I would vote for a very low-tech French press, too (to me, it does taste better than a simple pour-over because it's stronger --> that could just be me, though). I do have someone that I visit regularly, though, who doesn't have coffee b/c nobody there drinks it; I just bring some caffeine with me for the morning and it's no big deal. Knowing my people, if I were in your shoes, I'd probably turn it into some kind of cute "order ahead on the app, please" little joke or something. When we have a larger coffee-drinking crew over, I try to accommodate preferences in advance (because I consider it fun / a treat), but if you surprise me with a stop-by, you're drinking what I have on hand. 🙂

My teenagers sing together. ❤️

You may enjoy Sarah McKenzie's open-ended question style of talking with kids about books. (I just now checked - her 11/4/20 podcast talks about this and has a handy list - though I'm sure she discusses it in other places as well.) Very enjoyable, sets a kid up for success, connects well to other fields/ areas, and Sarah convinces you you can teach a kiddo this way even if you didn't learn this way. No reading curriculum needed.

If it's any comfort, it will probably come back; that has happened to several people in my area, men and women alike.

Our grocery store has started stacking bagged ice in the freezers along the bottom row to distract from the empty shelves.

Definitely.

You could try it for 2 weeks! "Good plan" = delight-directed reading with him telling you something cool about each book and then (maybe) doing 1 fun thing connected to the books (Lego model, watch a documentary, feed local bird species). And then you write THAT down as if it were the plan all along!

Haha! (Is there a reason he CAN'T do that?)