Somehow, having white parents doesn't protect my kids from racism. They experience it regularly.

So do I, but I wasn't raised that way, so maybe I would think differently if I was. My dad kept the house at 78 when I was a kid, and I was always too warm. Now he keeps his house at 83, and I have to change into shorts in the middle of winter when I visit him. I don't think everything sounds hunky-dory with this family, but 50 degrees in the house wouldn't be the thing that made me run to CPS calling "abuse!"

Yet that is not what the OP described. She said the woman in question didn't turn her heat on until it gets to 50 degrees outside. She's not punishing her children with cold. She's just not turning the heat on until she thinks she has to. That is not abuse. I said, "Having a chilly house really isn't abuse." I didn't say, "Keeping your house at freezing temperatures to punish the snotties isn't abuse." I didn't say, "Dousing your kids with a hose and shutting them in the walk-in freezer isn't abuse." I didn't say, "Forcing your children to sleep outside in the snow isn't abuse." I said having a chilly house isn't abuse. Can people really not draw a distinction? If the woman's house is like most people's houses and comes equipped with insulation, a temperature of 50 degrees outside will yield in internal temperature of 56 or 58 degrees. Chilly, but not unhealthful or abusive. I often keep my house at 62 or 63 in the winter. My oldest dd used to walk around in shorts and a tank top and complain she was cold. I, in my jeans, long-sleeved shirt, and sweater, did not feel abusive of my cold child.

So this whole thread was not real? Gee, how funny. Ha ha. What a good time. :glare:

People camp, play sports, walk around, ride bicycles, and do numerous other things in 50-degree temperatures. If you dress for the weather, it's not really all that cold. Not long ago, people lived without heat in their homes. They may have heated one room with a coal or wood fire, but the rest of the house was cold. My great-grandmother told me about waking up with snow on her bed and breaking the ice in the washbasin so she could wash her face before going to school. Having a chilly house really isn't abuse.

If you feel like you should call, then call. It doesn't sound to me like CPS will get involved, but you will feel like you followed your conscience. FWIW, I know multiple people who don't turn on their heat until it gets very cold. They bundle up, drink warm drinks, and are physically active to stay warm. I don't find that abusive at all. The hot sauce and and the extreme times of sitting, well, I wouldn't do that but I don't think CPS would call it abuse, either. But if you call, maybe they can make sure there's nothing even more extreme going on that the mom doesn't admit to publicly.

inexplicable dp

This. A thousand times this. I have always been pretty blissful about homeschooling. This year (9th and 8th grades) my dad has terminal cancer, my son's educational psych eval was not encouraging, my always-chill dd has turned into a hormonal mess, and I'm kinda over it. Every day I wake up with a tight feeling in my chest and ask myself "Do I have to do this again today?" I have no advice for you, but I do empathize.

I would not use the Prentice Hall algebra book ("Foerster") with a kid who is not a strong math student. It is a very rigorous book. My son, who struggles with math, is currently using Teaching Textbooks (pre-algebra). We have used TT since starting with TT3, and we like it, but I may switch next year for Algebra. I would like a program that is "adaptive" or whatever they call it, the type where students see more of the types of problems they are having difficulty with. Two I have considered are CTC and ALEKS. You may also be interested in trying TabletClass. My dd is using TC Geometry and really enjoys it. Key To books are a good supplement but are not a full course.

When my oldest was in school, I never donated money to the school. I pay taxes to support the schools. I am not going to give the lawmakers a break by subsidizing their strangling of school budgets. Also, I don't think that every school needs some sort of electronic whiteboard or other glitzy technology.

Reading is a skill. But like most skills, not everyone can learn it at the same time, or ever, really. People who say that any kid can learn to read as a toddler are guilty of trying to squash all kids into the same box that any public school who says all kids should be reading at five are. My dd started learning to read when she was three but didn't really care to put much effort into it until she was nearly 6. She's very bright and academically advanced. My ds was still struggling to read at 9 or 10 and now, at 13, still doesn't read on grade level or with comfortable fluency despite tutoring for dyslexia and an intense focus on reading skills. My ds is a gifted hockey goalie. Being a hockey goalie is a skill that, supposedly, anyone could learn, but few will ever really excel at it (to point of being elite level, like my son). Most people can learn to read, but few will be gifted, early, or precocious readers.

We had the textbook, the MWB lessons, and the solutions manual. The version of MWB that we bought did not have video solutions, but it does now for the problem sets Mr. Chandler assigns. However, I wanted the solutions to all the problems so that I could assign extras and review and also have the solutions for the chapter reviews and chapter tests.

Ding ding ding! Winner, winner, tofu-chicken dinner!

I think it is unprofessional, but I'm also not willing to completely dismiss someone over a photo like that. If I were hiring someone to care for my children, I would be most concerned with how well they worked with my children and whether they were a kind, loving, warm, compassionate, and reliable person and less concerned with whether they had a sober-looking photo (and by sober I mean staid, not non-inebriated). I'm not really a one-issue kind of voter, iykwim.

You can tell your son that I have a visible tattoo and an eyebrow ring. I have been known to sport mohawks of varying colors and have frequently shaved my head. My husband has multiple visible tattoos and hoops in his ears. Our children have/had varying degrees of unconventional styles of hair/piercings/tattoos. There is little about our diet, religion, lifestyle, and family composition that is conventional. I am all for unconventionality and non-conformism. If he wants to be a vampire, be a vampire and be proud about it. But don't pretend that he is too naive and unworldly to know that there will be consequences to being a vampire, and one of the main consequences will be a tiny, tiny pool of willing employers. If you're still railing about the likely consequences of your actions, you're not, imo, mature enough to take those actions. Do what you do, be proud of it, and accept the consequences like a grown-up.

Good to know that he's planning ahead!

Clowns are icky. Just sayin'. If she has 7 years experience, she may very well be a good choice for you. Again, you are under no obligation to interview anyone you don't want to, but it sounds like you are willing to pass by a potentially good employee because of a difference in stylistic preference for photos. MLP and clowns are no more professional than the picture this person (may have unintentionally) used.

Yep. It very much screams "I'm a teen rebel." If he wants to go through with this, he needs to understand that people will take it as a sign of immaturity. I watched a tv show last night in which a group of kids was doing their very best to be as uncool as possible. They chose to do this by dressing up in elaborate period costumes and having formal dinners (which I admit that I think is cool). In the end it got them killed. ;) I certainly understand your son's desire to show the world he is different. I was the same way when I was a teen. My mother was unimpressed, but that was ok, because she was, like, old and stuff, and she just didn't get it, iykwim, Now I am my mother, and I see my teen self for what I was: inexperienced and clumsy.

in that case, I do think it's unprofessional, and if you feel uncomfortable, then you shouldn't feel like you have to interview her. Were it me, I would interview her anyway. She my be a really fantastic person who didn't present herself well in this situation. Nobody is perfect.

What, because a silly photo with her boyfriend that's not of anything scandalous, illegal, or unsafe means she's a person of poor quality?

Well, I disagree. If someone throws out an employment opportunity on their personal FB page, then it's a pretty relaxed interaction. My neighbor down the street asked for someone to weed his front flower beds. Should I have changed my profile picture (it's of a My Little Pony character) before responding that my kids would be interested? I don't know how the OP handled this, so I am not speaking specifically to her, but if you want a professional response, advertise on a professional platform. If you're relying on FB for casual networking, expect a casual response.

Where did she send you this message? Through an employment website? Through Facebook? Via email? If she sent you a FB message, then her profile picture will show, and it doesn't really matter. If she sent it through Linked In or similar, then that's not professional. I might send her a note back and tell her I find the picture unprofessional when she's seeking employment (if it's not her FB profile picture) and see what she says.

And he is a member of the adolescent special interest group, which explains his desire to do whatever he wants with no consequences and his lack of foresight.

Yes, and if your son claims not to understand this, he is being disingenuous. His feelings on whether the individual should find it harder to get a job are not at issue.

If you don't like it, don't bother using it. I've learned my lesson about trying to plod through stuff we didn't like. Honestly, in 6th grade, you don't need a Grand Plan for history. If your son has developed a passion for history, just let him follow it. Let him choose what he's interested in, and assist him in finding interesting resources to complement the subject. At one point my son read read an entire series of graphic novels about the Greek myths. He learned more about them than if I'd had a Curriculum for Learning About Greek Myths.