We don't do baskets, but we do have an egg hunt with real dyed eggs, plastic eggs stuffed with candy, Cadbury eggs, etc. Neither my family nor DH's did Easter baskets when we were growing up, and we think the hunt is more fun. Easter doesn't really come during spring, here in Vermont. So it's much too early for outdoor toys.

My DH also talked a bit about moving there after our vacation.

I know Mormons who have this attitude, but I have never heard about it an another context. Does it exist among non-Mormon Christians as well?

It sounds from what you have posted here that your husband might have a point. I don't know that his wanting to send the kids to public school is a sign that he is not supporting you. He may just be trying to find a way to meet his goals for the kids' education without putting pressure on you. (Has he brought up concerns with their education before? If he has, and not much has changed, maybe he feels this is the only way to get what he feels the kids need.) I know kids learn at different speeds and have different issues. But there is a difference between kids who are behind because they haven't bloomed yet and kids who are behind because the work needed to be done to educate them isn't being done. You know your son, and I may be mis-reading this, but I don't get the impression your oldest son is a late bloomer. I get the impression he has learned that fighting with you about school means he doesn't have to do the work. It sounds like you and your 5yo have a good homeschooling relationship where learning is occurring. But it sounds like that relaxed method isn't working for your oldest son. To be honest, even if you put your oldest son in school, you will have issues with making sure his homework gets done. And if he fights you about homeschooling work, he will likely fight you on homework too. But I think he might learn more in school, even without doing his homework. Ideally, you and your oldest would work out a way for him to continue to learn while being homeschooled. But if he isn't learning, then I think you owe it to him to put him in a situation where he will.

There was a link somewhere to the other court case involving the other family issues, and if I read that right, the third minor child ran away from home and is no longer living with the parents. So the homeschooling issue is being raised for the only minor children still living at home.

I can sympathize. We are in the same boat, and I'm starting to let him have more freedom in the adult section. Here are a few classic suggestions, but your son might have read all of these already: Science fiction--Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card Fantasy--The Belgariad (Pawn of Prophecy is the first one) by David Eddings The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

What helped me the year I homeschooled (a crazy year during which we moved, bought a business, and ran it with no employees) was to get curriculum that only required me to do the next thing. And then I stayed off the curriculum board so I wouldn't second-guess myself. :o So, we had (for 2nd grade): Saxon math Spelling Workout First Language Lessons SOTW and a Science Encyclopedia I could open Saxon math to the next lesson and, with no preparation, read the lesson, work the sample problems, and assign my son his math work. For Spelling Workout, we just turned to the next page. For history and science, we just read the next section. No mummified chickens for us, lol, but it was no-stress, it got done, and he learned. When we were able to get to the library and get supplemental books, that was great. But I owned the spines, so if we didn't get to the library, that was ok. My son was reading fluently, so I'd just have him read to me periodically and he did a lot of independent reading. If you need phonics work, I'd recommend something packaged (like Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, which I used successfully with my twins when they were in preschool). The point is to make it as easy as possible for you to get the basics done. Forget the pie-in-the-sky plans. Once you are all into a routine, then you can supplement and expand your plans. But don't get so caught up in planning for the ideal that you don't implement the reality. Good luck! We had a great time homeschooling and consider our homeschooling year a wonderful success.

This is what I would do, in this order: Try to find a CSA that is closer (sounds like you've already tried this) Try to recruit one or more families to sign up also in order to either convince the farm to drop off in my town or to have someone to split the driving with Call the farm and make sure they don't have a closer pick-up point (maybe at a weekly farmer's market?) Combine the trip to the farm with other necessary errands Bite the bullet and drive up just for the CSA pickup, in hopes that next year there would be a pick-up point closer to me Can you tell I'm dreaming of spring and of my CSA? Of course, we have to wait until June for our first pickup. Darn short Vermont growing season.

In footnote 4, on page 12, the ruling states: "In support of the parents’ home schooling, Terry Neven, Sunland Christian School’s administrator, submitted a letter in which he stated the school is a private school and the two younger children are enrolled there. The letter fails to mention that the children do not actually receive education instruction at the school." [emphasis in the original] On page 14, it also refers to "the ruse of enrolling them in a private school and then letting them stay home and be taught by a non-credentialed parent." Continuing on page 14, "Although Mr. Neven reported to the Lynwood Unified School District that he makes visits to the parents’ home about four times a year, and although some of the children in the family reported to the Department of Children and Family Services social worker that they were given tests at the end of some school years and they took the tests at the Sunland Christian School, the fact remains that the children are taught at home by a non-credentialed person." So, I think the ruling does potentially call into question the legality of homeschooling even if you file an R-4. Disclaimer: Not a lawyer, not homeschooling, not in CA--although my sister fits those last two.

In my case, though, it was user error. (I took it out of the oven and put it on top of the stove so I could finish raking leaves before dinner. Didn't realize that I had stupidly left the stove burner on and it had been on with nothing on it for 20 minutes. When I realized that, I tried to move the casserole off the burner, and that is when it exploded.) I'm glad you are ok. Do you have a link to an article about Pyrex exploding? It never occurred to me it could do that without a mistake on my part.

*This* court ruling was only about the schooling issue. The footnote on page 18 mentions a separate, unpublished ruling on the non-homeschooling issues.

I was unclear from reading the court ruling if the kids want to go to public school or if their attorneys (court appointed?) were acting in what they thought was the best interest of the children in spite of what the children wanted.

I thought that the key thing they were focusing on was the group aspect of it. the court found that the Amish traditional way of life does not rest on personal preferences but rather on “deep religious conviction, shared by an organized group, and intimately related to daily living†I think had the CA family belonged to a church that taught separation from society in other ways, or that formally promoted homeschooling as a key tenet of their religion, the judges might have given more weight to a comparison to the Amish. At least, that's how I read it.

Yes, it's inconsiderate. It's also really easy to fall into. I coach my kids on this constantly, but who knows what they say when I'm not there!:o I would cut the other mom some slack. If she was talking to you and the kids interrupted to ask about getting together, she might have thought they had already talked to your son and he had a conflict or something. I know I don't always think of all the question I should ask when my kids interrupt me at a social gathering.

I think a senior in high school is old enough to have some significant input on her education. What does she think?

It's been about 7 years since we stayed there, but the rooms were decent and the price and location were great.

The part that I thought was bad was where the court emphasized that students had to be educated in the school or be taught by a licensed tutor. That would seem to rule out even those homeschoolers who are enrolled in schools that do file R-4s. Right?

I read it, and it does sound bad.

Don't complain about the roses!! Did that once when we were engaged and I was stressing about money for the wedding. Didn't get flowers for years, even when we could easily afford it. As for your list, I would enlist the kids to clean up and fold the laundry, if they're old enough. I'd throw something together for dinner. (It sounds like you feel you need to make it up to them for last night. You can do that another day.) Forget about the muffins for now. You can freeze the bananas to use later, if you would feel guilty about wasting them. Do the church thing, and the school thing if you still have energy. (If not, get up early on Monday and do it.) Hugs. I hope tomorrow is a better day.

I am cooking challenged, so when I am in charge of dinner, I plan and shop weekly. In our current lifestyle, DH is in charge of dinner, and he likes to plan for 2-4 days and shop several times a week. I do think it is more expensive than my way at the grocery store, but we eat out a lot less when he is the cook, so overall I don't know that it's any more expensive. I do cook one night a week, on the evening DH has French class, and I do have to plan ahead for that.

Empire of the Sun is a great movie about WWII in China.

My two year old has been known to kick the dog out of the crate so he can play in it. He's also managed to lock himself in. :eek:

I use tampons, but I've been thinking of switching to one of the cup things for environmental reasons. So far, my fear of accidents has kept me from making a change.:o

My oldest got everything right on schedule. The twins got very few vaccines until they were two, and then we caught them up. We planned to follow that same course with #4, but we took a trip to Costa Rica when he was 6 months old, so we gave him some vaccines earlier than we would have otherwise. (And I'm glad we did, as he spent 2 days in Costa Rican hospitals with me and his injured brother.) He's delayed somewhat, but not as much. He just got shots today (he's 2yrs 5 months), and I think the only one we are missing is the second Hep A. For me, vaccinating on a delayed schedule is a good way to uphold my responsibility to both public health and my child's health.

The crafts the kids are doing don't sound religious at all to me. I would definitely say they are cultural. I was in Mexico during November several years ago, and one of the art museums had an exhibit of the Day of the Dead family trees (my term, I can't remember what they called them). They were very elaborate. All the people were represented by little skeletons with props that expressed their personality (instruments, books, cooking spoons, garden tools, etc.). Not at all scary or macabre, although I thought before we went that it might be.