My mom started homeschooling us in 1994 and even back then the nearby homeschool groups were all somewhat structured. There were no weekly co-ops in the area until I hit high school several years later, but the homeschool groups were always a monthly gathering with some sort of theme/activity all planned out. I don't remember any park days, even back then. Now that I have young children I can't find anything like the homeschool groups from back then, just co-ops and I'm not the least bit interested in any of them. I don't know many homeschoolers with time to just hang out at a park, their lives are very full.

Filling that out reminds me of how much I hate multiple choice questions. I never like any of the options and in this case I really don't like the conclusions they are jumping to based on the answer I choose. Maybe my opinion on CPS has nothing to do with having been homeschooled/currently homeschooling and has everything to do with being a foster parent, for example. And is it educational neglect by my parents that I had no clue what the BDSM thing means until this survey made me look it up? What does that have to do with homeschooling? I don't get it. It got to the point that I just started responding that I don't understand the question for some of that. So, is it a regional thing? Where do you find these sorts of homeschoolers they seem to be implying are out there? It is definitely not representative of the homeschoolers I grew up with (I was homeschooled 1994-2002 and most of the homeschool families were Christian and are just very normal people then and now, maybe with a few unusual hobbies/interests/skills that homeschooling allowed them to pursue, but nothing about any of them that would imply abuse or neglect).

My parents delivered newspapers for 25 years (most of my childhood was spent riding along every night until I was old enough to drive around myself). There were years they would print up a page with some snowmen and "happy holidays" or something on it and their first names, never last or our address (though for some of the local routes people did know who we were). Some people leave tips, some don't and it is usually the same people every year that tip whether my parents sent one out or not. Some people do leave some really nice tips for their paper carriers. Some would even be standing outside waiting for us in the middle of the night.

My (bio) sons both say it freely and frequently. My current foster daughter, only age 3, (as well as one my former foster daughters who was a bit older) says it to the point that it is sad. Every few minutes I'll hear her saying "I love you" but it feels more like a question when she says it, like she is just looking for me to say it back because she doesn't believe it and wants to hear it again and again. It makes me sad. My 3 year old can just come up to me and hug me and say it and is is so simple compared to what this little girl has going on when she says it. I don't know what it would be like years after being adopted, but already at age 3 that phase is just such a complex one for the poor kid.

My son is only 6, but he dances and the boys are definitely treated like royalty and get free class and every decision revolves around them. It is rather fun being the mom of one of the few boys there :) There is also a lot of dad involvement and considering how few boys there are, the teachers rarely lets girl-only comments slip out and always corrects herself if she does. This isn't in a very large area though, so I don't know how that affects things… mostly I just wanted to get in on the boy dancer thread to see what it is like for those of you with older boys.

There is so much variety in PA school districts. I don't have to turn anything in yet, but from what I hear my school district is pretty easy. One friend only checks off days on one page calendar and turns it in with a stack of papers thin enough to staple together easily and another friend never even bothered to turn her portfolios in last year. She got a reminder phone call and then they dropped it. I also know several unschoolers here. I don't know what they turn in, but I know there are a lot of them. None of that would have happened in the school district I grew up in, my mom still has annoying interactions with them over my younger siblings.

My son seems to forget that the things he enjoys are part of school. He only considers the things he doesn't like to be schoolwork and everything else just isn't in his mind. So he would probably answer the same way. And some days he doesn't even realize he did school if we just do the things he enjoys, even though it is things that seem so obviously school related to me, things with flashcards, and textbooks. If there are things you see her enjoying, does she realize you consider them part of her schooling?

I was homeschooled and always looked forward to having my own children to homeschool, so I have always considered us a homeschooling family even though I never would have said to anyone that my son is homeschooled until we actually started actively homeschooling him and everyone else his age started pre-k. It really bothers me though that we can't be part of the homeschooling community here until the oldest is compulsory age - 8. My son is first grade, we are very clearly homeschooling, but we are not welcome in either of the homeschool groups. It makes it challenging to find friends :(

Around me everyone doing the online public school option seems to prefer to refer to what they are doing as "cyber schooling". I've never even heard any of the moms I know call it homeschooling. My son's friend's mom is even quite opposed to homeschooling based on things she posts online, all the while she does cyber school with her daughter. So not everyone who cyber schools even wants to be included in the label "homeschool".

A carseat is more comfortable for a little one to fall asleep in than just buckled with the lapbelt and nothing to lean on. We bring ours with us. Once we tried renting them and they were junk and more expensive than if we had just gone out and bought a new seat for the week.

We liked the Mead Preschool Workbook you can get at places like Wal-Mart. It was inexpensive and was a good way to start the habit of sitting down and doing schoolwork for us. It has a little bit of everything so you don't have to buy a whole bunch of different workbooks. The only section we didn't like was the pre-writing shapes because we are still far from being ready for caring what his handwriting looks like. He liked it a lot better than any of the workbooks we have now, like the Kumon ones and other more expensive stuff. He still asks for it.