Yes please! We are using your BB1 schedule right now, and we'd love the BB2. Thank you for doing that!

My DH isn't willing to compromise on the "no back and forth" thing. He believes it's hard on the kids, and also leaves a bad taste in the mouth of the school and other parents. This is a really small community, and our taking them out to homeschool already raised eyebrows. My kids aren't that thrilled on the co-op idea. They are just really set on going back to school. My issues is figuring out how to think about all of this for myself, ways to feel ok that this decision is being made when it's not what I thought we'd be doing.

My son has an ongoing friendship with a couple of boys he would see at school. My DD does not. She knows one boy, but not any of the girls, and I am hoping there might be at least a couple of other girls who are new, and a few others who are nice. She's a very sweet, even keeled kid. It's a small school: only 2 classes per grade, and parents are very involved/know each other. But I do fear the "new kid" issue for them, and I worry about the 10/11 year old girls in particular.

Backstory: DD (10) went to PS for 1 and 2nd grade. Was happy there but I felt we were supposed to be homeschooling, so we took her out and HS'ed her 3rd and are finishing her 4th grade years. My DS (8) went to Kinder, and we did his 1st and now 2nd at home. There have been times we all love homeschooling, and times it's been hard for me (I struggle with anxiety and depression at times). We live in a semi-rural area with no homeschoolers around. All the area kids go to our small local elementary school, which is a good one, as public schools go. We still have some friends from our time there whom we've kept in touch with. In our two years of hs, we haven't made very many hs friends. There is one co-op I know of, and it meets once a week on Fridays. It's families from our parish (we're catholic), and while that might provide some interactions, my kids are clambering to go to school. Last night, my son (8) told me, "Mama, I'm feeling depressed. I don't have any friends." Broke my heart. And he's right. Acquaintances, yes. Plenty of friends to bounce of off on a regular basis, no. Both of my children are introverts, but they are expressing a need for more kids, friends, the social stuff. We live about 30 minutes from town, and the few hs'ers we know are running to activities every day to meet those social needs. It's not practical for me to do that, and the lack of it is apparently really weighing on my kids. I've prayed and prayed for more close friendships for them and us, and but it has not manifested. And both of them have experienced school and want to go back. My fears are less about the educational aspects than the general issues they have not had to experience, being homeschooled: teasing, the cattiness of girls as they get older, any inkling (for my DD) that there is a world out there of "being fat" or "needing to go on a diet," "boyfriends." And honestly, things that are just counter to my faith. I can't keep them in a bubble forever, but I'd like to:) But they want out, want what they perceive as a world of fun social interaction. My DH is on board with sending them back, but he will not allow them to choose hs again: he's not ok with back and forth, into school and out of it. He feels that we moved to this area partly bc of the small, good school, and that they will have to learn sooner or later about the hard aspects of life. My mama heart really hurts: I want them to have great friends and be happy. I have not been able in the two years we've homeschooled to find community for them, try as I might. We don't live in a hs-abundant area. I will miss having them here, but I want to honor their needs. And I worry about what might await them. FWIW, we will need to sign out of our charter school in a month or so, have our records sent, return supplies, and fill out paperwork at the school. Not happening today, but it's soon.

It might be the death of me. LOL. Not really. I love my kids and their sense of humor. I love that they love to make each other laugh. But it is taking over school-work time, and making it difficult to get work done. The real culprit is my 7 almost 8 year old son. I think I'm figuring out that boys at that age are all about silly. Correct me if I'm wrong;) He will make everything into a joke, and suddenly, he's in hysterics, he's dragged his sister (10) into it, and we are no longer talking about Ferdinand and Isabella. All morning long I've been trying to drag everyone back from the brink to work on math, copywork, etc. Often my daughter is actually attemping to work and my son is trying to engage her from across the room. It's a bad, bad habit we're in, and it's making every day harder than it needs to be. I don't want to crush the fun, but it does need to be able to be reigned in from time to time. Things I've tried: snacks, breaks, outside time, putting the kids in seperate areas. I don't love having to split us all up, especially because they both need my help, and I can't be running from sides of the house to meet everyone's needs. I'm trying not to yell. I don't want to make everyone miserable. But of my goodness: stop giggling and lets get some things done. Advice?

No allergies (now or in my history), and no post-nasal drip.

Ok, I am so frustrated. I need some other brains to think about this and give me some advice/thoughts/commiseration :confused1: I have had a sore throat for almost 2 months now. It is only on the left side of my throat. It hurts when I swallow, like it does before you get a cold. When it began, my dr gave me antibiotics, thinking it was bacterial, if not strep. We did the strep test. Negative. Antibiotics had no effect. I also went to an Ear/Nose/Throat, who did an exam and also did the light/tube thingie down the back of my nose. Tonsils, adenoids, throat itself all looked fine. He was stumped. Dr. sent me for MRI on soft tissue of my throat. Did that, including contrast dye. Nada. No lumps, growths, or anything suspicious. But my throat still hurts. Dr. having me do two weeks of omeprozole, in case it's acid irritating my throat. I'm a week in: no change. I don't feel acid, in any case, so I'm skeptical, but I'll finish the round. Her next move is to send me to a Gastroenterologist for a scope. I have had one before (actually more than one in my life), the last one about a year ago, which showed some stomach irritation, but nothing else (this was for stomach pain, not throat pain, but it's data). But what will he see that the ENT and MRI failed to see? It's not deep down in my esophagus, but just down the left side of my throat. I've tried vitamins, essential oils, tons of water, rest, etc. I went to acupuncture too, which did help, if only for a couple of days. Then the pain returned. The only thing I can think of is that I began an anti-anxiety med in November. My dr thinks it's highly unlikely that is causing the sore throat. The pain popped up 2 months after I began taking it, not right away. I'd prefer to stay on it, but I guess I could step down off of it to see if that's it. Sigh. Any ideas? Hideous virus with long life? I have NO other symptoms of illness at all. I am so over this!

My dd will be in 5th grade this fall, and I'm starting to think about next year's plans. Wondering how you all think about 5th grade. Is it still elementary school/grammar stage for you, and do you carry on with the general plan of work you've been doing thus far? Or do you (as in TWTM) consider it as part of the Logic stage, a new set of 4 years with more challenging work and assignments? Our grammar stage work has definitely been more relaxed than deeply challenging, and I'm seeing the need to bump things up a bit for DD. But I'm concerned that if I jump forward too much, it will be discouraging for her. So, how do you handle 5th grade?

We began our hs using CM methods: so, not much writing, since the kids were very young when we began. For the past 2 years, we've used Brave Writer. Love BW and what it stands for. BUT. I'm starting to plan for next year, and my DD will be in 5th grade and my DS in 3rd. I'm starting to wonder if we should give WWE a try to solidify writing. BW is wonderful, and I do like the literature choices and some of the writing projects, but my concern is that it can be a bit scattered and random, and the kids aren't picking up on writing mechanics, putting grammar in to practice, and growing in ability to do longer dictations. Would love some feedback on beginning WWE at this stage in the game, the "lightness" or not of BW, and any other thoughts you might have. FWIW, we do use FFL, and the kids are doing well with that. Thanks!

I've been praying for you, and am happy to see this update. Medication shifts can really help.

Yup. Nausea is a flu side effect, and for me, the nausea tips over into throwing up very easily. I'm sure I'm in the minority, but there you have it! If I get nauseous, you'll find me in the bathroom. Lol. My only protection against the stomach virus is to stay home as much as possible and wash hands like crazy. Which I do!

Yes, I do understand that. But when I've had the flu in previous winters, it always involved a stomach component. I was just explaining that any stomach thing messes me up, flu or stomach virus.

Absolutely, yes. I have an issue with the flu and any sort of dehydration: if I begin throwing up, I can't stop, and will end up in the E.R. needing iv fluids and anti-nausea meds. Happens every single time, and costs us big $$. So, I avoid the flu at all costs, and try to keep my immune system up and wash hands constantly to avoid stomach viruses. It's just not pretty.

So, we don't' do all the subjects every day. Math and copy work, yes. And Latin for my 4th grader. Spelling and grammar are 2-3 times per week. History is once. And by reading, I only mean that we all (me too) read good books every day for a chunk of time. Science for us, so far, is simply reading good books on a topic. We've done a few experiments, and for astronomy, which is our topic now, going outside at night IS the tangible work. I guess my worry was whether I need to ALSO be doing art/music/geography or if those could simply be by osmosis.

This is helpful. I just re-wrote our schedule and did Monday-Thursday as our core work, the essentials, and Friday as a day for everything else (art, music, science, etc.). I have a feeling we'll all look forward to Fridays:) I do like keeping lessons shorter, yes, especially for my 2nd grader, who is a boy. He can't do writing for more than 10 minutes, tops:) I have been trying to keep things loose and not have a schedule, but rather a routine, and while I love that in theory, in reality we sort of float through, hitting whatever subject seems best next, who's in the room, who's walking the dog, etc. I think more of a specific schedule actually would help. Not sure what that looks like yet…it's home, not school, so there's no need to be on a bell schedule, but structure helps me to function better.