OP, I think you are making the right choice to not allow the driving part. Distracted driving is a huge concern with teen drivers. My DD is 17 (a rising senior) and at this point she is still only allowed to drive 1 friend at a time, and at this point I would not allow her to drive after midnight (I'm not even sure if driving after midnight is allowed here for minor aged drivers unless it is for work or a school sanctioned event)! Nor would I allow my rising freshman to ride with teen drivers that late at night.

I'm guessing this is their busy season with people getting ready in the summer for the new school year, so an order placed at another time may be faster. But if you need it asap, local printing may be the way to go. Check with small local printing shops too, not just the big chains. I made a printing order last year at a small local printer that mostly does commercial stuff, and it was cheaper than the office supply store's print service.

I'll hopefully know soon. I placed an order through them a month ago, and their wait was 4-5 weeks to get in the printing queue when I ordered. So my order should be printed soon and they are geographically located close to me, so even the mailing time shouldn't be long. I did it for something that I can theoretically teach from a pdf on my tablet if my order is late or I don't like the results, but we aren't starting school for two more weeks so I have time still!

No...the best we did was in the Living Room, my husband matched the custom bookcases he built to the trim in that room. Otherwise, all kinds of different shades of wood all over the house. 😁

This is the video/recipe DD17 used...they turned out pretty well! https://youtu.be/vWdjqdmFHxw

I had one that was termed a chalazion by the ophthalmologist but it got huge and I did have to have it "removed" (maybe it was lanced..I'm not sure exactly what they were doing, other than it was traumatic to be poked at with sharp objects near my eye....LOL). It was sooooo big though and kind of got in the way of normal eyelid function. It's weird, I had trouble with them for a few years culminating in the huge one. Then none for about a decade, and now I have one again that is stubborn but not too huge or painful. I can't figure out why I started having trouble again, and the regular eye dr I see for my contacts prescription had no idea either! I am wary of going back to the ophthalmologist since I DID have to have it removed the last time I went. I have only tried hot compresses on it, so I need to try some other things.

I never had a pair of left handed scissors until last year when I treated myself to a pair of left-handed fabric scissors. I used to scoff at the need for left handed scissors, but now I repent of the error of my ways. 😁 I always thought I was just "bad at cutting" that my cuts were often jagged. I can cut perfectly well with the left-handed fabric scissors so I do now believe they make a great deal of difference to a left-handed person being able to cut with greater skill and precision.

Thanks for the clarification. We've had two different families leading the homeschool team over the past three years, and I got the impression from them you needed 4+ to compete as homeschoolers, but I probably misunderstood that what they needed was 4+ students to be able to dodo the team round. Both the families that led the team had high school age kids who did most of the coaching, with the parents helping oversee the paperwork, etc for the team. But both of the high school students who did the actual coaching have graduated, so I'm not sure what the team status is. The boys enjoyed meeting together as a team to practice (or meeting together online as the case was last year), but maybe we could still get a group together at least for the competition even if we don't have anyone willing to meet with them on an ongoing basis for coaching. I think my older DS would be able to grow into a role as a coach for the middle schoolers, but I am not sure how it would work schedule-wise with him heading to public school in the fall. I'm not sure if the other homeschool families would be willing to meet at a time that is conducive to his availability.

Homeschoolers (at least in our state, I don't know if it's the same in every state?) can also form their own homeschool team if they have a enough homeschoolers to form one. DS14 competed on a homeschool team the past 3 years. We had to sign an affidavit form that the students on the team were truly homeschooled as their legal form of education. DS12 also competed this past year on the homeschool team, but I am not sure if the team will continue this year....so I am glad he can register as a non-school competitor if the team doesn't continue.

I'm sure this varies district to district, but at least here, credit-by-exam and acceleration are two different things. There's a lot of review in late elementary and early middle school math and probably some overlap with Pre-Algebra. So when students "grade skip" in math at least in the districts I've been familiar with, it's to essentially skip over some of that review in late elementary (not a lot new is necessarily covered in 6th grade, so many strong students are ready for Pre-Alg) or to enter a program that is more accelerated in going through those late-elementary/early middle school/Pre-Algebra topics. Unless you have a student who is truly bored in math, there's not a ton of advantage in starting Pre-Algebra in 6th (if that's what the grade skip means). A student can start Pre-Algebra in 7th, Algebra in 8th, and still get a year of Calculus in during their 12th grade year. A student doing high school calculus in 11th can maybe take a 2nd year of high school calculus in 12th if their school offers it, can take a DE math class, or can take AP Stats w/o doubling up on math. So, the benefit seems small to the typical student. Now, if the only way to get to Algebra in 8th in your district is to take the test-out or grade in skip in either 6th or 7th, that might be more worthwhile since if a student can't take Algebra until 9th, that means it is a lot more challenging to take Calc while still in high school (though even this may not matter if your student isn't aiming for a competitive STEM major at a more selective university). At least where I am, Credit by Examination is a totally different thing. Here this is for high school level classes, and is usually intended for strong students who study material outside of the normal school day or are taking outside-of-school classes that prepare them to test out of the material. My DS14 is entering public school full time for the first time this fall. He took Geometry at the public school (as his only public school class) in 8th grade, while finishing up studying Algebra 2 at home. He had completed about half of the typical Alg 2 curriculum at home in 7th grade, so he only had to continue studying the other "half" of what was expected over the course of the year. He then took an exam for credit last week and we are waiting at the edge of our seats to find out if he passed or not! He only needs 80% for credit, but he finished a 107 question multiple choice test in just over 2 hrs, so I am nervous he rushed. 😳 He'll be so bored if he has to take Alg 2 again, so I really hope he passed. (Due to how our state laws are worded he MUST have Alg 2 on his official high school transcript, and the only way to have that happen is to either take it at school, take it from a state-approved online school, or pass this test, which he can only take once...which is why he'll have to take it "again" officially if he doesn't pass).

I think all of these you may need to preview episodes for appropriateness depending on your family's level of comfort with topics like violence, etc....These are all podcasts that I subscribe to and pick individual episodes to listen to as a whole family on car rides: Sidedoor (by the Smithsonian) -- a mix of topics, some might be more like science/world affairs Stuff the British Stole -- more history, but it really gets into dealing with how the complexities of history spill over into the modern age as we wrestle with how to potentially return looted/stolen objects to places they came from Radiolab (there's also a "Radiolab for kids" feed that probably requires less previewing) -- again, a mix of topics but some would be what you are looking for 99% Invisible -- some of their topics are kind of world affairs/science oriented. The big theme is "design" but in the broadest sense possible. It's really all over the map in terms of the types of topics they cover This is mostly history, but we recently discovered "Stuff You Missed in History Class" and there are sooo many interesting episodes in their back catalog.

Better World Books? They have an email address for "large donations" - you could contact them to see if they can help you out and find a way for you to get them the books without paying to ship them: https://www.betterworldbooks.com/go/donate

I think in your case I might wait and see if it becomes an issue that he really needs it? I have found that until my kids were either the oldest kid home alone (or alone with younger siblings) or transporting themselves via bike to activities/jobs they weren't really needing a phone per se. Most "drop off" activities have a clear end time, so they didn't need to call me to let me know something was over. They all had my number memorized so that in the rare case of something ending unexpectedly, they could borrow a phone to call or text. But that being said, my oldest had a limited use phone at 12 because she was babysitting her siblings and occasionally neighbor kids. Then DS14 was about 12 when he needed to start babysitting his younger siblings and also needed a phone. In both cases they started out with a phone that had wi-fi only (still works for 911, and we used a non-texting chat app), and then went to a limited pre-paid plan, then went to a full plan with data once they were older and actually biking somewhere where they might need to access google maps if lost. There are other ways for kids to communicate other than just sms texting -- Google Hangouts is going away, but I think it is being replaced by Google Chat, and there are other free "chat" apps too -- kids can connect to other kids via those apps. My 14 year old rarely texts anyone besides family members and one friend. But he may be the exception because he doesn't have a very full social life right now. He does also use Discord with a couple of friends. My 12 year old will get some kind of call-capable device this fall when DS14 goes to school because then HE will be the oldest kid still at home (sometimes alone, sometimes responsible for DS9). But I can't see him (yet) really wanting to text with other kids and make social plans. I figure he is still young enough to not be able to get anywhere by himself (He doesn't really bike around town by himself yet), so there's still some amount of coordination with me and potentially another parent that would have to happen anyway if he wants to make social plans.

I think the good thing about younger kids is that they are pretty resilient (generally)...if she asks for social outlets and you provide them, but it doesn't work out the way she expects...or if you have to say "no" due to the pandemic or other reasons...she'll be learning more about herself and be more prepared to make different choices or to take advantage of future opportunities. I'm definitely an extrovert, but at times my social situation growing up wasn't conducive to positive social interactions. I was an only child, I experienced some teasing/bullying in school, didn't always live in places where there were any neighborhood friends, and was sometimes a bit awkward socially. I'm not sure if my mom would have set up more playdates for me or enrolled me in any more activities if it would have made all that much difference, because I often didn't feel like I was connecting with most kids I was meeting in school or at the activities I did go to (or maybe I just didn't know how to connect with them). Eventually, as a teen, I was able to navigate social situations a bit better, find "my people", and make choices for myself like getting people-oriented jobs that made me feel refreshed as an extrovert. If your DD can't get all the social time she wants now, she still has many years of experiences ahead of her. If you provide her more social time and she doesn't really make the kind of friends she wants to have, as she gets older that may help her ask for something different. I too sometimes stress about different ones of my kids and how they are or aren't getting the friendships I wish they had...and I try to remind myself that my mom (who was working full time, and was a single mom for half my childhood) had very little time/energy to think about my friendships at all! If I am able to help my kids a bit in finding and maintaining friendships, they are already getting some help that I didn't have.

Here's a page with information about your state's laws: https://hslda.org/post/how-to-comply-with-north-carolinas-homeschool-law You'll have to read that and then find out specifically what the testing requirements are. Unless someone else from the same state happens to see this and comment, it won't necessarily help for someone from another state to tell you what test they use, because it may not meet your state's requirements. You might also have better luck with the testing question specifically by joining a Facebook group or email list specific to your state, as they will have a lot more experience knowing what tests you can use. Once you figure out what tests work in your state, you can typically find a number of different places to purchase tests in both paper and online formats. There are a lot of old threads in General Education and K-8 sections on this board about standardized tests, but it will help to know what your options are in your state.

I've found my kids are "happiest" socially when they have at least 1 or 2 good friends that they see regularly and outside of organized activities, at least when they were middle school age and younger. The absolute best fit has been when the kids have had a friend like that within our immediate neighborhood so that get-togethers could be impromptu. But never have all 4 of my kids had that kind of friend all at the same time. I feel fortunate that my boys have each other, and my DD had best friends in the neighborhood we lived in from age 3 to age 14 (until we moved to a different city), and by then she was old enough to be independent socially. When at various points one of my boys didn't have a conveniently accessible "good friend", it seemed like no amount of attempting to set up social gatherings, playdates, etc could fix it. I would still enroll them in classes/activities, take them to general park days, etc...and that did help. But I notice that whomever doesn't have a convenient friend tends to really rely on his brothers to be a friend in their place. Right now DS9 has a good friend in the neighborhood and DS12 has a good friend at church (who doesn't live super conveniently to us, but hanging out every week at church seems to help). DS14 has no one locally, but has made the best of it with his brothers since we moved away from his best friend 3 years ago. He is getting to that age now where he really needs to take his own initiative socially anyway, so I am hoping that through school and the many activities he hopes to join that he'll make some new friends.

I'm seeing a mix of things -- families who were homeschooling putting their kids in school (of various ages) because locally there are fewer social opportunities still remaining for homeschoolers. A couple large co-ops closed down (not completely due to covid, but it may have been a factor). Other activities still haven't restarted since covid. But we have a high vaccination rate so it seems like it pretty likely school will continue in-person rather than online. On the other hand, families that are extremely concerned about covid are still pulling kids to homeschool. Or they are joining our district's new virtual option, but hoping to connect with homeschoolers for advice or social opportunities. I have a rising Freshman entering school for the first time, but this was a long-planned transition. We planned from the beginning to send our kids to public school for high school (unless it was really obvious they didn't want to do this or it was a bad fit for a particular child).

I'd say things are pretty much back to "normal" for my vaccinated teen DD too - Job, in-person school, socializing with friends, etc. We have quite high vax% locally and until this week extremely case low numbers. Masking at her job is required and I'm guessing by the time school starts masking will be required at school too (just "highly recommended" right now). Second-oldest teen will also start in person school in the fall. We only have 1 too-young-to-be-vaccinated kid -- And TBH when our whole family had COVID last fall, DS9's case was so, so, so mild (fever and fatigue for 24 hrs, and that was it, but he tested positive) that we aren't necessarily concerned in the situation where one of us potentially manages to spread it to him again. I know that one super mild case is not a guarantee it will be mild again, but it doesn't seem like he has any unknown reasons that it would be terribly severe if he got it again.

I was able to teach the themed IEW books after listening to the two hour "overview" lecture (I think this costs $6 or so on their website). They also have a lot of free videos on their YouTube channel. I have a degree in English and writing comes naturally to me, but I don't always come up with the best methods of teaching writing on my own. However, once I got the gist of what IEW was doing, I certainly didn't think I needed many hours of training to implement it.

DS9 is about halfway through BA5. I'm in no rush to move on to Pre-Algebra with him (and he needs some review and a bit more maturity before a textbook style program of any kind will work for him), so I've been thinking of adding additional interesting word problems to our math rotation. We've tried Singapore Challenging Word Problems, and it was not a good fit. So many problems assumed the use of bar model solving, and neither he nor I really "get" that method. He likes the challenging/starred word problems in BA (more than he likes the puzzles, actually). Where else should I be looking for interesting problems for him?

My day works at a (chain) ice cream place and they get tips somewhat regularly but make above minimum wage. She finds the tips are usually either the "keep the change" type that net her a quarter or fifty cents on a given order, or they are given by people who had large, complicated orders and they are given in thanks for keeping track and dealing with all of it. More like tipping your barista at the coffee shop for making your fancy latte. It's definitely not an expectation by the employees to be tipped - more like a nice little "extra" if it happens.

I just talked to my first personal friend who was vaccinated with an mRNA vaccine and just tested positive (caught from a younger kid who caught it at camp). We haven't seen each other since pre-covid and just had to cancel plans we had to meet next week. ☹️

In another crazy variation on the theme of the type of propaganda in the OP, I saw a friend of a friend (whom I have met in person and would barely call an acquaintance) comment on FB in all seriousness that COVID was engineered as a conspiracy to sell vaccines and make profits for vaccine manufacturers. 😳 Maybe that one has been going around a while too, but it was the first time I had seen anyone say it. This lady is definitely anti-vax in general, but even my other anti-vax friends don't seem to be claiming that.

A lot of large/flagship public universities that have Engineering are likely to have many, many other options. I went to college as a Civil Engineering major and quickly realized it was not for me, then made a 180 to become an English major. 😁 They weren't known so much for their English department, but it was a decent degree without transferring (and had I wanted to continue with what I originally thought I wanted to do, I would have had to go to grad school most likely anyway). My DD is interested in Food Science, but she picked that without a ton of research. It ticked a few boxes of her interests, and she decided to head that direction. I think there's a decent chance that she'll decide that's not really for her once she gets there, and I'm thankful that all the places she's seriously interested in are large and have many other options if that one doesn't work out.

Yes, I think it's a "mind your own business" because that seems pretty reasonable, as long as no one is actually alone, even for an 11 year old. That family may have a different rule about it, but since it isn't life threatening or really all that dangerous, I would just leave it alone.