You know, the public schools have been trying to figure out how to get the attention of homeschoolers for a long time. Looks like this one finally hit on a successful strategy: send a registered letter, let the recipient know it is out there, and then don't deliver it. Must've bribed the post office... :d

Depends on the situation. If I ask a child to please bring me a book and they bring it, then walk away as I say Thanks, I don't consider them rude. If they make a card for Grandma and she tells them Thank You, I would expect them to respond with You're Welcome.

My room sharing kids are 10g, 8b, 6g, they are perfectly comfortable being in there together. They mostly go in the bathroom to change clothes (their bedroom actually doesn't have a door at the moment because the hinges stripped out and I haven't got it fixed). I shared a bedroom with a sister and two brothers when I was 10. My brothers were 12 and 5 and my sister was 8, sharing a room didn't bother us. I imagine we also went in the bathroom when we wanted privacy, though I don't specifically remember.

Library book sales. We have a 2001 World book set we bought that way a few years back, my kids read it all the time.

Clearly the mail carrier has been replaced by a snail. Federal budget cuts, ya know...

I went to the local high school today, researching future options. It's a big school, I wasn't sure where the main entrance was so I asked someone in the parking lot who looked like a teacher. He said the doors are kept locked except for one that he pointed out, I asked if that was where the main office was and he said no, that's at the other end of the building, I could go around to it if I wanted as there was another unlocked door at that end or I could just walk through the building. I thought it was kind of funny that he kind of made a big deal about the doors being locked but then pointed me to the unlocked door at the far end of the building from the office. I decided to go around to the door by the office and check in before walking through the building... Really I think it is sad that there have to be rules in place to keep people out of schools, but I guess some sad things are just reality. I do think common sense should prevail over letter of the law!

You know, you DO get the chance to make those grandparenting dreams a reality--when you have your own grandkids :)

We didnt watch TV at home, I have happy memories of watching TV and eating junk at grandmas house. Enjoy what you do have and dont let idealized wishes get in the way.

I like Tell Me More, we had access through a library at one point. Of all the computer based programs I have tried though I have liked Fluenz the best.

The student is 19.

It has been hard for me to find the right balance between encouraging/supporting and requiring. My eight year old is very musical, he plays a bit of several instruments and really enjoys playing by ear, but doing the hard work to gain new skills doesn't usually happen unless I require it. I think kids with good executive function skills can take the lead in practicing, but those without may need more external scaffolding or they really struggle to get the practicing done even when they have internal motivation to play.

Does anyone know if a student can continue to claim in state residency if their parents move out of state? I'm asking for a friend, the student will be attending a Florida university, the family has lived in Florida for two years but the parents are moving this summer after the student graduates from high school.

I also wasn't impressed with the bit about kids sitting in straight rows of desks while teacher lectures at the front. I really don't think that retaining good things from the past means we have to throw away everything we have learned about education and learning in the last fifty years.

Does anyone know how to buy ABRSM materials in the States?

We mostly use it as a reading list and ignore any book that doesn't seem interesting.

Maybe this one? http://www.amazon.com/Behind-Bedroom-Historical-Fiction-Readers/dp/1571316582/ref=pd_sim_b_29?ie=UTF8&refRID=1PJAFV7HRDW8M5G920RC ETA Woops, didn't see it had been referenced already.

Play to the Angel is set in Austria... Not quite what you asked for, but a good book.

Amazon has demonstrated amazing customer service here as well. I tend to dislike massive companies but they just keep giving me reasons not to dislike them...

I just tried to send a PM but I think the computer ate it. Trying again...

It helps to acknowledge that none of us is superhuman, and that learning to live and work within the parameters of the life we are living is part of the process of gaining humility and faith. We cannot do or be everything, we cannot give our children every good opportunity, ideal is never more than an idea, we must work within the confines of what is practical. You have a large family of young children. That can be a great blessing--your children have the chance to grow up close to one another, to laugh and cry together, to learn about resolving conflicts and being understanding of individual differences. It is also a challenge, you and you husband have a lot of little people depending on you for everything from food to guidance to hugs. Finances are tight--that can be a struggle but may also prove a blessing as your children have the chance to learn to weigh costs and opportunities, to not take anything for granted, to see what it means to live within your means and make the best of what you do have. A child who misses out on extra art classes or summer camps or academic enrichment classes but grows up with a realistic concept of budgeting and an understanding of the differences between wants and needs may well have attained something of greater than value than a child who had every opportunity but developed a sense of entitlement. From a practical standpoint, does your husbands work need to be done from home? Rather than you leaving the house with all the children (exhausting for sure) could he take a laptop and work at the library? Or go in with someone else to share rented office space? None of us can do the impossible, I think somehow you need to find ways to simplify what is on your plate until possible is achieved. Substitute audiobooks for read alouds, or let the kids watch an hour of PBS in the morning, or put your twelve year old in charge of lunch every day or...(I don't actually know what would be most helpful for or acceptable to your family, these are just examples) (((Hugs)))

Though Greenwich is not the date line, that crosses the Pacific Ocean.

I have a dd who plays violin and wants to do Celtic fiddling, but I have not been able to find any local teachers, groups, sessions, etc.. I wonder if there are fiddlers who teach online? She would still take classical lessons locally. She has taught herself some songs, but I imagine there are techniques and musical traditions specific to fiddling that she could best learn from someone familiar with the genre.

Is this the kind of program that works best with a teacher who is trained and familiar with it? I checked the ABRSM website for the US but there doesn't seem to be anything in my state--no exams offered or local contact.

We used to own a rental home, we always went month to month with tenants after the first year. You want a year lease the first year because you would lose money getting the house ready for new tenants every few months, but renters like to have flexibility after that first year. I've been both landlord and renter and that arrangement seems entirely reasonable to me.

The traditional Saxon sequence doesn't have a separate geometry text, the geometry is split between the algebra and advanced math texts. If you are considering brick and mortar school for high school you may want to stick with the standard sequence with geometry separated out--unless of course the high school is transitioning to integrated math as many public schools are. Saxon does publish a geometry text now, I think in their fourth edition series? AOPS is supposed to be good for kids who really like math, and they have a full series of texts. The standard geometry text I hear about most often is Jacobs, and while there is also a Jacobs algebra text it doesn't seem to be as popular. Dolciani seems to be a popular choice for prealgebra and algebra, but I'm not sure there is a geometry text.