I've been reading through the NCDNPE handbook (again) to make sure I'm keeping my ducks in a row and I'm confused on one topic. I thought I read somewhere on there that I (as the administrator) need to establish a minimum score on a standardized test for graduation. But reading further I don't think that applies to homeschool but just a regular non-public school. Do any NC homeschooling families on here know?

Thank you ladies!

We are thinking about moving to Arizona next year. I've been perusing the internet to get as much info on homeschooling in Arizona as I can but I'm not finding answers to a couple of things. DS will be 16 next January and we wouldn't be moving until next summer. The law states if the child is between the ages of 6-16 then you fill out the forms and submit them. So does that mean I wouldn't need to fill out anything for DS since he will be 16 before we move? Would he need to take the GED in order to get into community college since he wouldn't have a "real" diploma? I cannot find anything on the community college websites about accepting a homeschool diploma/transcripts? Thanks

I'm so glad I saw this post! I told DH last month that we were going to try to do a no spend January. So far so good, we haven't spent a dime. We do have DS's birthday this month but we already have his presents and we are going to put cash aside for his birthday dinner. I need to get the dog vaccinated next week so I'm hoping to use my cash for that but we'll see how it goes. Tomorrow night is pizza night, but we're going to make homemade instead of takeout.

Well I'm glad to know I'm not alone, lol. I won't force him to go anywhere then. I just wish he would at least make ONE friend his own age.

I cannot get DS14 to get out and try to make friends. In our area there is a homeschool group that meets once a month and it's specifically for teens to get together. I've been trying to talk DS into giving it a try for the past few months but he's refusing to go. He says the kids will be annoying and he doesn't want to make friends. He basically spends all his time either with his dog, reading or writing a series of stories he's been working on since the beginning of summer. He kind of lives in the fantasy in his head. ALL he talks about are his stories or what his characters are going to do. I"ve tried to tell him that maybe there would be other kids there who are interested in the same kinds of things but he is convinced that there will not be and even if there were, the kids would be annoying. He's always been the kind of kid who prefers adults to other kids. The only people he socializes with, besides us, are older ladies who volunteer at the shelter with him or older ladies who go to flyball with him. He even used to talk to the older ladies who were our neighbors in our old neighborhood. When he would see them outside he'd go out and chat their ears off. Should I worry about this? Should I just take him to the meeting and drop him off? I think that he would just sit there and be grumpy the whole time because he's convinced himself it will be no fun. Should I just let him be and hope snaps out of this?

DS loves the Dragonlance and Forgotton Realms books. Anything by RA Salvatore, Tracy Hickman, Margaret Weiss.

double post, sorry

A few years ago my oldest DS (not homeschooled) came out with our house phone looking confused. I asked what the problem was and he said he couldn't figure out how to text from it. After laughing hysterically, I asked why he thought he could text from it. He said that was what the letters above the numbers were for.

Please don't write meds off just yet if your child does have ADHD. By all means try other methods such as changing diet or adding supplements but don't go in with a closed mind about meds. I was never diagnosed with ADHD, but when I was a kid the only kids being diagnosed with it were the kids who were bouncing off the walls. My parents had never even heard of ADHD. I suffered tremendously in school. I had horrible self esteem because I couldn't pay attention and I felt dumb because all the other kids knew answers to questions but I didn't even know what the questions were. If I had been officially diagnosed and taken meds I would have had a much better time in school and I wouldn't have had to struggle so much. When I first had my oldest I always said that I would never medicate him but watching him struggle like I did, there was no other choice.

Cat for sure! While I love our dog, having a dog is too much like having another child. Cats are waaaayyyyy easier.

Ok, thank you all! The definitions are very wordy and I think that's where he's having the trouble. I hadn't thought of shortening them on the proofs to where I know that he has the general idea of what he means. So he will use these theorems again in algebra 2 and precalculus?

Disclaimer: Ok, I never took geometry in school so this is totally foreign to me. DS is doing TT geometry. He seems to be getting it pretty well except when it comes to the proofs. In the back of the book all of the theorems and definitions are listed and there are a lot. DS is having a hard time remembering which definition is which and which theorem is which. Is he not supposed to look at the definitions and theorems listed in the back during a test? My oldest is in PS and is taking geometry and I asked him if he can look at the definitions and he said no. So I guess here's my question: Is DS supposed to memorize all the theorems and definitions? If so, is there an easy way to do that?

As far as using the GI bill, keep in mind that it pays for a public school's in state resident's tuition. If your child wants to go to a private school or a school where he would not have resident status, the whole tuition might not be covered. I think it's up to $17,000 per year for tuition for private/out of state tuition. My DH will be going to PA school when he gets out in two years and we are well aware that the whole cost will not be covered and we will have to pay for some of it out of pocket.

I know this has been brought up before and I did a search but I was unable to find what I'm looking for. I'm looking for free virtual biology labs. We're using the dragonfly book and we have the "Illustrated guide to home biology experiments" for labs but I want to mix it up and do some "real" labs and some virtual labs.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I'll see what I can do to find some male role models for him. Up until recently he was like my little buddy. He was very helpful whenever my DH was gone and loved to have random conversations about stuff. Now I have to nag him to get stuff done and when I try to converse with him I get eye rolling and sighing:(. I know this is just a lovely teenager phase but I hope it passes soon.

I started homeschooling DS last year for 8th grade. After he finished 7th grade at the public school he was home all summer and all year for 8th grade and all summer this year. Home with me. All day.:banghead: Every day.:banghead: My DH is away a lot and was deployed for 7months last year so it's just DS and I a lot of the time. My oldest DS goes to public school and then hangs out with friends and whatever a lot so he's not home much. DS is 14 and he's starting that teenage phase of "leave me alone" and "I already know everything":mad:. I don't know what to do with him anymore. I'm starting to get really frustrated with him and it's making it where it's not fun to be around him anymore. Tomorrow starts the first day of 9th grade and I'm not at all looking forward to it. He's an independent learner and likes to do things on his own but there are a few subjects that I need to work with him on. I have a feeling we are going to be conflicting a lot this year. I know we're getting on each other's nerves by being around each other so much but I don't know what to do. Any suggestions on how to handle him this year? :bigear:

We use Worlds Best cat litter. It's expensive but well worth it IMO. It is great at clumping and absorbs the odor. We dont' have a basement so the litter boxes are upstairs and the only time I can smell anything is if the cat forgets to cover up the pee/poo.

I'm not planning on my DS taking any AP classes. He is going to do dual enrollment once he gets to 11th grade though. Once he graduates from my homeschool, he's going to finish his degree at the community college and then apply to a four year program nearby wherever we move to (DH is military). It will probably be a state school, no fancy private colleges. He wants to be a vet and I'm not worried at all that his lack of AP classes and his time at a community college and state school will hinder his chances at getting into vet school.

My husband is a 68Whiskey (medic) in the army, so I am a whiskey wife:tongue_smilie:.

I used to have a website when I had a family child care business. I used a free website that lets you make your own website. They had different templates to choose from and you could download your own photos if you wanted to. The only thing I had to pay for was the annual fee for the domain name. I think that was around $15 a year. I honestly cannot remember the name but if you do a google search for free website maker there are plenty to choose from.

My DS is going to be using Miller/Levine Biology book and we are going to be roughly following the kolbe syllabus. I'm lost on the lab component though. I'd rather not buy a lab kit or lab-in-a-box type thing. I'd like to be able to customize our labs. First- where do I get the lab ideas from? I know there are some in his bio book but where can I find others if we don't want to do those particular ones? Second- Do you have your child do a formal lab report for every lab or just certain ones? Third- I've heard of a "lab notebook" where they keep rough sketches/ideas. What does that "look" like per se? Fourth- How many labs should he do throughout the year? One a week? One a month? I've always loved biology so I don't know why I'm having such a hard time with this. I guess I'm just afraid I'm going to miss something and DS will be shortchanged, kwim? Any other advice will be greatly appreciated:).

I'm slightly embarassed to admit this, but DS who is 14 still likes to play with action figure type guys. Not action figures, but miniatures. He got the LOTR Risk game last year and he just uses the figures to have battles and whatever. Anyway, he wants to build "sets" or scenery for his guys to battle on and we've been looking at the kinds of things used by model railroad collectors. He wants to build things similar to this: DS is very resistant to an art program so I thought we could use this for an art component but I don't know what to call it. I guess I could just call it art, but I'd like to be a little more specific. Any suggestions?:bigear:

DS turned 14 in January and will be starting 9th grade next month.

Congrats to him! My DH is airborne and loves it.