Almost never where I live. I'm pretty sure indoor smoking in public place is banned here, but I feel like other than maybe the rare person at a park or standing at the side of a building, I don't see it very often. DH and I started watching a TV series recently where many characters smoke...it's just so weird seeing it!

This!!! My oldest is a girl, followed by three boys. I think even if DD17 and DS14 had been born closer together, she would never have gotten along super well with her brothers - they are pleasant to each other but even when they were younger she didn't share many interests with them. DS14 and DS10 are my two closest buddies, even though they are 4.5 years apart in age. It has been so hard on my youngest with DS14 gone at school this year, because DS10 and DS12 are like oil and water and can never think of anything to do together, and if they do it dissolves into arguing quickly. In terms of homeschooling, I feel like the gaps I had between kids worked out well for me, especially when my older ones wanted to go to school....I was never formally schooling all 4 at once because when youngest was in K, oldest went to a brick and mortar school for 8th grade. But we were always able to find books to read all together for read aloud time with whichever kids I was formally schooling (this included literature, history, and some science), and I never really tried to combine other subjects together,

There are still rural areas where broadband is non existent. Until about a year ago, the only option my MIL had for internet was a satellite internet service that was "metered" so if she watched streaming videos it would use up her whole allotment for the month in an hour or two. I think DVD by mail would still be useful in underserved areas like that.

I taught my middle two kids to read using Logic of English primarily. I was a beta tester for Foundations when DS14 was in K, but we didn't start with it until a few months into the school year (as I recall, I was in a late batch of beta testers). We did a few months of another program before I got LOE Foundations. Level D had not yet been completed at this time, so he went through what became A-C after some changes were incorporated from feedback. I wouldn't say he was a fluent reader after C at the end of Kindy, but he was a decent reader and just needed more practice. DS12 went through A-C by the end of K as well, and then did D in 1st grade. He was a more skilled reader than DS14 was at the same age, and we did D more because it was fun than because he needed it to improve in reading. DS10 was another story all together. He didn't progress very much after level A, despite going through level B twice and the first part of C at least twice. He was diagnosed with dyslexia (after this time of using LOE for 2+ years) and LOE was just too fast paced for him and not explicit enough. Learning all the phonogram sounds all at once for each phonogram did not work at all for him, and he needed to practice each sound one at a time to learn all the sounds. I think some of the people you see in the facebook user group with struggling kids probably have students who are dyslexic or have other learning difficulties (whether they realize it or not) and these kids probably need more intense intervention. (Some people make LOE work with mildly dyslexic kids, but for kids with more moderate to severe dyslexia, it's probably not going to be a good fit.) Also, like everything, not every program is a good fit for every kid. And some parents don't implement it will or are inconsistent in actually doing the program. I think it's a great program that people should consider, as it definitely provides solid instructions and is fun for kids! If you are already doing it and liking it, I wouldn't say that other people having kids that struggle despite using it is a reason to quit. See how your child does...especially once you get into Level B, when the reading instruction really takes off.

My gut feeling is that Lial is easier than Dolciani (at least in the editions I have -- I have an older Dolciani and a newer Lial). They are both definitely easier than AoPs pre-algebra. Dolciani (again, in the edition I have) has three "levels" of problems in each lesson, and the C level problems are supposed to be somewhat more challenging. I think it's hard to say if Lial/Dolciani will be TOO easy...some of it may depend on what he loves/hates about BA. If the thing he hates is the visual/"puzzle-y" problems in BA, then you might be good to go with AOPS because there are none of those specific types of puzzles. My youngest has grown to hate the sorts of puzzles where the hard part is not the math, the hard part is deciding how to connect matching items together without the lines crossing, etc. However, if he doesn't like some of the "discovery" nature of BA or the focus on novel methods, then AOPS might not be a good fit because it is highly discovery oriented. I am in a similar boat, though a somewhat different set of circumstances. My youngest (just turned 10) started BA5D last week. He actually likes the discovery method, and likes the most difficult word problems, generally speaking. However, even the more "wordy" explanations in the BA guide cause him to zone out sometimes, and AOPS pre-Alg is super wordy... And to top it off my DS10 is dyslexic, and can't read it for himself. His reading is improving a lot, but if he gets one or two words wrong in a word problem, it changes the whole meaning and he can't understand the problem, so I have to read it to him. I def. think Lial and Dolciani are "too easy" for my DS, but AOPS text is far to wordy, so I haven't come up with an adequate solution yet. We also have the problem that I have a hard time being patient with him as he "wrestles" with harder problems. My older two boys were both totally on their own starting in BA5 (unless they got stuck on a problem), so I didn't sit through the wrestling with the hard problems. When I see DS10 going down a totally wrong path, I feel like MY time is getting wasted, so I am sorely tempted, and sometimes give in to the temptation, to tell him right off that he is going about it wrong. But, this short circuits the process that I am sure the other two boys went through of finding out for themselves that a particular path is not the right way. I also give too many "hints" in the process of reading the problems...I don't mean to, but I often tend to add extra explanations while I read, then DS10 gets mad that I "gave too much away". So I think I would be terrible at helping him with AOPS...LOL. Many of the harder problems in AOPS are math contest problems (AMC8/10, Mathcounts, etc). One thing you could do is pick an easier text and then supplement with math contest problems. That is one path I am considering -- doing the lesson and the basic problems in Dolciani (I prefer that one of the two), and then adding in other harder problems. We lose some of the discovery approach but I think there will be plenty to discover by doing math contest problems too. But don't hold me to that...I have been changing my mind regularly as the time ticks down until we finish BA. 😉

No appointments available from the big chains here yet, even for next week (we are in a small-ish city). Either that or they are going so fast I'm not seeing them. One larger clinic network is scheduling patients locally, but we go to the smaller clinic/network and they don't have doses yet it seems or at least aren't scheduling yet.

Here's a few ideas...some of these might not apply at all, but it's kind of a brainstorming list: Local library -- our library used to offer a lot of "teen hangout" type activities before COVID. Ours has not yet started offering these activities again, but maybe yours has? Is there a local community college? Even if he isn't seriously interested in DE classes right now, could he register for one easy class (PE or something like that) to get access to student activities at the community college level? Many community college students would be high school age or just older (here I think at least a third of the CC enrollment is high school students). Private school -- I am assuming the public school doesn't allow homeschoolers to participate in activities...(ours does, so if you haven't checked, I would check). But a private school may allow your son to participate in a club, maybe paying a small fee. I know homeschoolers who have played on private school sports teams If some of the "18 and up" clubs have young adults that would feel like peers, you could ask privately if they would allow a 16 year old to participate, even if they advertise that it is for adults. If it is a liability issue, you could offer to stay on the premises. Be open to a longer drive -- my 17 year old often drives to a bigger city 1.5 hrs away where we used to live to see friends. I would absolutely let her drive that far, even weekly if she wanted to, to participate in an activity if she wanted to do that. Another area within a reasonable drive might have more options. If your 16 year old doesn't have his drivers license yet, you could prioritize that so it is his time spent driving, not yours. Get a job at a place that hires lots of teenagers. We moved to our current city when my oldest was 14, and she has a lot of hobbies that don't lend themselves to group pursuits (art, cooking, etc). She is in public school but wasn't really finding a lot of clubs at school that interested her or other opportunities to really get to know her classmates. She got a job at an ice cream shop that mostly hires teenagers, and she found that over time this was a great way to make friends because she spent a lot of time with her co-workers and they often had time to chat during slow periods. She definitely didn't hit it off with everyone at work, but has made a few friends that way. Or in a similar vein, if there are places that allow teenagers to volunteer, even if it is not a preferred type of volunteer work related to one of his interests (like, it could be putting together food parcels at the food bank), he might be able to volunteer and meet other teens that way.

I would definitely do a Shakespeare play at both grade levels if they won't read them in school. My kids did/will read A Separate Peace in their Freshman English class, which I also read in my freshman English class eons ago. I know there are mixed feelings about that book, but I loved it in 9th grade and I was happy that it is assigned in 9th grade at my kids' school too. I think To Kill a Mockingbird can be a good choice for 9th grade if it hasn't been read before. Maybe Night by Elie Weisel? (I think I read that older than 9th grade, but I am pretty sure my DD read that one in 9th grade). My DD read Frankenstein and 1984 in AP lit last spring and I thought those were good 11th grade choices. In 2019 I read both Heart of Darkness by Conrad and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. I remember thinking that it would be a super interesting study for an older high schooler to read those books as a compare/contrast. I read Frankenstein this year this year too, and really enjoyed it with this edition (she has a editions like this for a few other books too, including Heart of Darkness): https://www.bhpublishinggroup.com/products/frankenstein/

I have two in public school for high school. My DD17 is less of a "joiner" and wasn't interested in as many activities at school. She has a job that runs April to early October each year, so for the several weeks that this overlaps school in the fall and spring, we do feel like we don't see her all that much since she would typically be working several shifts per week. During the rest of the year, she would stay after school for a club maybe once or twice a week, and have plenty of time in the evening for homework and hobbies. She has taken a mid-level load of classes with some honors/AP classes each year and some "regular" classes. She isn't a super fast worker, so she didn't want to overload too heavily. Despite having a decent amount of time when it isn't the work season, she still often stays up late because she's a night owl and procrastinates homework in favor of hobbies more often than she should. DS14 is very different, and so far besides the activity he already did (Mountain Bike team, not through school) he has joined the debate team and the math team. In October all three activities have overlapped. He had 2 nights per week where he went from one activity to the next (2 in the same night) and two nights with only one activity, plus weekend meets/tournaments for biking and debate. I can't wait for biking to be over! All these are fall/early winter activities, but I have a suspicion that he will join more clubs when these end. So far even though he has as challenging of a class load as a freshman could take, he has very little homework. He is a fast worker and has a study hall (9th graders are required to have a study hall unless they are in a music ensemble), so he still seems to have a bit of free time and rarely stays up past 10pm. I'm sure the class load will get more difficult as he goes.

Yeah, I thought about doing that. I've been trying to avoid side loading google play on my kids' kindle fires, since I am not sure how that will impact parental controls (their ability to install apps is currently blocked when it is through the amazon store directly). I side loaded an app once that I could install directly from a website that provided the app, but side loading the play store just seems like something that would potentially be more of a headache.

Libby is a newer app. Overdrive app is being phased out. However Libby is not available for Kindle Fire as of the last time I checked, so I hope the Overdrive app keeps being supported at least on that platform a little longer.

My DD17 was slow to get started making friends at school in high school. Ninth grade was her second year in public school, but her 8th grade year was in a different district. Despite it being a large school, many kids already knew each other from middle school classes and outside of school activities. She too sat alone most her first year at school because despite being outgoing, she found it a difficult dynamic. She wasn't super interested in extracurriculars, but she got a job a place that mostly had other teenagers working, and she really enjoys the friends she made there. Honestly, she still rarely "hangs out" with school friends or work friends outside of school/work though. And she seems fine with that -- she is happy to go to school/work, see people there, and then come home for homework, time with family, and chatting on Facetime with a couple close friends from the city where we use to live (we move over 3 years ago, but she has stayed close with friends there). I don't think the social dynamic has to look the same for everyone. My DS14 also seems to not care that he is close with his brothers, and one best friend from our former city, and doesn't have any close friends locally. He loves interacting with people at a class or activity, but has little interest in making social plans outside of that.

Another possibility - could a doctor or practice you've visited in the past merged, changed names, switched networks, got bought out, etc? For example, one clinic we used to visit was affiliated with a hospital and had the name of that hospital as a part of the clinic name. That hospital sold its network of standalone clinics to a different hospital network, so now I occasionally get emails stating i could visit "x hospital clinics" for a service, even though I've never actually been seen at "x hospital" or it's clinics in the past. We moved and are in a different city now, but had I not seen a news article about the sale, it might have seemed odd to be receiving emails from a type of clinic i wasn't visiting by that name when I lived there.

And I'm sure it varies by University as well - where I went to school all majors took the same "Freshman English" class, no options offered. I do think there was some variation by instructor, as it didn't seem like all students were reading the same thing. I haven't had a college student yet, so I haven't had any recent exposure or knowledge of what options are offered elsewhere.

I'm a little surprised that Lit Analysis is not a required skill for most freshman college English classes! Perhaps my experience was unusual, but my required freshman English class at a large public university was essentially a lit class. We read several novels and were required to write lit analysis papers for each. I think a student showing up to that class not having done lit analysis papers in high school would have a steep learning curve. This was 25+ years ago, so maybe this is less common now for freshman English.

Does it have to be a surprise or are you able to go to music store to try it out? I have three guitar players, and when the older two upgraded from a 3/4 size to a full size (one acoustic player, one switching to electric after starting on acoustic), and trying out the guitars for feel and sound was really important to them. For a sizing opinion too, someone in the store could give you their advice - it's hard to know what is going to work without seeing the kid since there's a lot of size variability.

My 4th grade boy is 9, turning 10 at the end of October. He's got dyslexia and dysgraphia going on, so that causes challenges in what we are doing. He listens to 45 minutes - an hour a day of read alouds along with DS12. This is Bible, literature, and world cultures/geography this year. about 45 minutes/day of math, with me scribing about 75% of the time, and reading it all aloud to him. This is usually his favorite subject and he is ahead of grade level (He's in Beast Academy 5C). He's been a little frustrated with some of the puzzles in BA this year, so we are also mixing in some Zaccaro word problem work and I need to decide on something to pull in to review fractions, because it's pretty clear he needs some review in that area. 15 minutes-ish of him reading aloud from a book 5-10 minutes of typing with Touch Type Read Spell (I would like it to be longer, but he is pretty much hating it, so I ask for one lesson a day right now and rarely he does more) 30-45 minutes of Orton-Gillingham work (So this is phonics/reading instruction and drills, spelling, grammar, handwriting, some very basic sentence-level writing). 2x per week science (usually just 15 minutes or so of me reading aloud to him. We're reading an Apologia book right now) 2x per week Writing and Rhetoric book 1, all done orally or me typing what he composes aloud. (15-20 minutes/day) This is the "required" subjects -- we take lots of breaks between subjects, and his favorite thing to do is go run laps around our cul-de-sac between subjects. He also does 2-3 hrs a day of audiobook listening, plays a lot of board games (with me, his brothers, or with himself if no one is available), does the Chess Kid app, often tags along with DS12 for an online science class 2x per week, sometimes does other educational apps or videos.

For Zeus on the Loose, when I did a math games class a couple years ago, I let the youngest kids use a hundreds chart to help with the adding. Some kids were able to do it in their head in 1st/2nd grade, but the hundreds chart helps if that's a bit out of reach.

Dragonwood. Zeus on the Loose. Alien Hotshots (out of print, but fun if you can find it) Skyjo

Have any of you done the "Rooted in Language" training courses? https://www.rootedinlanguage.com/online-classes I'm super curious about the grammar and word study classes. I've taken Orton-Gillingham training, but I don't feel like either of these topics were covered in depth in the training I took, and I am intrigued by the way that Rooted in Language approaches these topics. But I also have a degree in English and have certainly taught grammar to my older kids, so I don't want to pay $129/class to listen to content that will seem obvious. I guess I am looking for feedback on how helpful or inspiring these classes might be. (x-posted on Learning Challenges board).

Have any of you done the "Rooted in Language" training courses? https://www.rootedinlanguage.com/online-classes I'm super curious about the grammar and word study classes. I've taken OG training, but I don't feel like either of these topics were covered in depth in the training I took, and I am intrigued by the way that Rooted in Language approaches these topics. But I also have a degree in English and have certainly taught grammar to my older kids, so I don't want to pay $129/class to listen to content that will seem obvious. I guess I am looking for feedback on how helpful or inspiring these classes might be. (Will x-post on the general board as well).

I was going to time myself in Aldi today, but I ended up going to a location I don't shop at as often, but forgot that I would be shopping at that location and wrote my list for the order of the items in the other Aldi. The layout is nearly 100% different except for the frozen section, so my list was a mess. 😁 I think the thing that adds up to extra time for me in Aldi that actually doesn't happen in stores with more selection is that when Aldi is out of something, I might spend a while hunting to see if I am just not seeing it...or digging around to see if they have any left of the 1 flavor/variety I need of something that comes mixed in a tray of different varieties...Or trying to decide what flavor is the best of what's remaining when things are picked over. All three of those things happened to me today. There were no lasagna noodles despite my time spent gazing back and forth over the pasta section (I know I've bought them at Aldi before...but maybe it was a special purchase?). I did find one last container of plain full-fat yogurt hiding behind three flats of vanilla (but it took a lot of digging on the top shelf, over my head, to get it). I picked out a flavor of granola I think the kids will like, when their top two favorites were out of stock (but I did have to stand there for a while thinking about it). At the "big" grocery store, I can get a different brand if the brand I prefer is out of stock, and they tend not to run out of favorite flavors of products as often as Aldi seems to. I like the huge price savings of shopping at Aldi, but it doesn't always feel faster. I did time myself bagging. Today's order felt a bit smaller than normal, and the cart was maybe 3/4 full. I was surprised that it only took me 9 minutes to bag, because i am pretty particular about how I bag my groceries, and it always feels like it is taking forever to get it done.

For my normal Aldi shopping (1 week's worth of food for 6 people), it's probably 45 minutes, including bagging. Unless they are super busy and I have to wait in line a while. Maybe a bit longer if I don't do a good job writing my list and have to criss cross the store a few times. Then if I have other stops (items I forgot at Aldi, restock on produce, stopping for things Aldi doesn't carry) -- it's 15-20 minutes in and out of another store. Target...forget getting out of there in less than an hour because I get sidetracked so easily. Hence, I almost always do drive-up/pick-up at Target. I started doing that pre-pandemic because it saved so much money. If I have to go to walmart for something, it also usually takes me a long time because I can never find anything there! I don't go often enough and the arrangement of the store never makes sense, so I end up retracing my steps a lot.

DS14 is taking a year long "engineering design" class at public school that counts as his required fine arts requirement for graduation. They are going to be doing a lot of that sort of thing - CAD, engineering/architectural drawing, 3D printing, etc. This is the curriculum they use: https://www.pltw.org/our-programs/pltw-engineering-curriculum#curriculum-2

Yes, I think this article explains it well. The choice of Murder 3 was talked about quite as bit as being unusual in this case, and then something similar was IIRC used in Derek Chauvin's trial, though he also got a conviction on Unintentional 2nd Degree murder, so I don't think Noor's getting overturned will really affect that one, since I assume even unintentional Murder 2 is a higher conviction than Murder 3.