Did anyone else besides your daughter witness the parents yelling at her and cornering her in the room? I ask because one of my kiddos has anxiety issues that often lead him to report that people were yelling at him (and I am sure he feels like they are!) when people are just talking to him in a normal tone of voice but saying things that he has anxiety about. If your dd is very sensitive, she might be better off with a single room at the small school than an unknown room at a larger school after missing a semester to boot. I don't think missing orientation 'getting to know you' activities is really a great loss, especially compared to missing a whole semester. I think so many kids are nervous or overly excited by being away from home, very little of their real personalities are revealed. I remember both of my freshman year roommates introducing themselves with little speeches about purity, and being very prim. Three months later, they needed a revolving door for all the drunk frat boys they brought home. If I'd chosen them as friends based on how they presented themselves the first few weeks of school, I'd have been in for a real let down by Christmas.

My kids' favorites at those ages were Teddy Robinson, Mrs. Piggle-Wigge, Dr. Doolittle, The Enormous Egg, Mr. Popper's Penguins, and Avi's Poppy, Poppy and Rye kind of books. We also had a lot of fairy-tale collections, and those were well loved.

Wondering whether my kids are sleepier than average, or not? My neighbor's kids are up much later than mine.

I read a lot of pure trash from elementary school on: true crime novels, Judy Blume, Judith Krantz, you name it. Never spent time on things like Babysitters Club, I went straight for the bodice-rippers. At the same time, I read anything else I could get my hands on, and that included books I still love to this day: The Good Earth, I Capture the Castle, Rebecca, all the Austen novels, Gone With the Wind. Also, tons and tons of non-fiction. I think that having the experience of being deeply moved by a good book (The Good Earth, Nectar in a Sieve) helped put the "trash" in perspective--some of it fun, some of it worthless. Who could be satisfied with Danielle Steele when Du Maurier was around? Why read Stephen King when Stephen Jay Gould was available? I don't feel that I was led astray by the trash I read. Rather, I think it taught me the value of a really good read--the depth of feeling and the increased knowledge of the breadth of human experience that come from reading good books is the very best defense against the shallower end of the reading world. At the same time, nothing would have pushed me further away from reading classics as a teen than being told I HAD to. And if my parents had set limits like "No Judy Blume" you can bet I would have been out in the barn with my Judy Blume, reading it behind their backs anyway!

I think sounding upset or defensive about it gives people more grist for their mills, thinking that it is weird or anti-social to homeschool. So I usually just joke about it--hairdressers, orthodontists, the neighbors, whatever. They can think I am crazy or stupid, but they aren't going to end up thinking I owe them an explanation. Now, if someone wants to really ask, and really hear all the advantages, that's fine and I will explain them. But that brings us to the real reason I suspect so many people question--they take you homeschooling your kid as a judgment that they are settling for second best for their own kid. Or see you as better than they are as a parent b/c you can stand to be around your children all day. How many times did I hear "You must be a saint!" because I was homeschooling 3 kids? No, not a saint--my kids are actually pleasant people! But if I say that, then they start to wonder why their children aren't so pleasant.....

Both now that we are after-schooling and during the years where we homeschooled exclusively and with multiple kids at different grade levels, most of our days were smooth and none of them were "yowza". So I don't feel like the poll represents our experience. The primary way our homeschooling experience of 10+ years is different from our vision for it is that when our fourth child rolled in, it was overload and we "outsourced" his pre-K to the nursery school down the street. There really wasn't any way for me personally to span high school and pre-K and middle school and elementary school all at once. (Hats off to those of you who do!). The way it has been better than expected is that even with somewhat sporadic efforts in certain areas (math!) and definite lopsided-ness in favor of history and literature before high school, my kids have been successful in transitioning to college (the older set) and public school (the younger set). So, we loved the years we did it, and that's why we're after-schoolers now.

I felt totally over my head with planning high school but our oldest daughter is now a college freshman. So, we survived, and it is definitely do-able. My top suggestion would be these forums and we also got help from also Homeschool Success. Barbara is encouraging and really knows her stuff. My DD seemed to take some suggestions better because they weren't coming from mom, but from someone who knows what college admissions people are really looking at. I think that helped her buy into what she was doing. And it paid off, scholarship-wise, once she was actually applying and admitted.

My favorites this year have been The Crimson Rooms, by Katharine McMahon and Cold Comfort Farm, by Stella Gibbons. I also liked The Seance by John Harwood.

I am glad I asked--we do eat all our meals in there, and while spills are not an everyday thing now that the kids are older--the crafts (DD's painting) is still a risk... I'll have to think about it. Good to know about the all-four-legs-on-the-rug rule.

I think it's a great list and which parts are picked up along the way vs. specifically taught should probably be different for different children. I have one Dd who needs some of those "rapport" skills spelled out for her, and others who have picked it up from daily life. #10, Self-awareness, I think is often overlooked--teaching kids to think about how THEY function instead of what does and doesn't work for generic "people". I've got one kid who has always needed 10 hours of sleep and can eat well or eat poorly and still run smoothly. Another one only needs 7 or 8 hours of sleep, but heaven help us all if she doesn't eat right. They need to know how to run themselves instead of just listening to what "experts" say about "people".

The Black Warriors have been my favorite since the 1980's. Shortly after meeting DH, I learned that he loved them, too, and I took it as a sign!

We have hardwoods throughout, and have never had a dining room rug. I guess I always thought that between the kids and the dogs, it would be a mess. But I know other people have them, and my kids are getting older... If you've got one, can you tell me what kind, whether you like having it, and how often you have to have it cleaned? Also, how far past the table does it extend-- do all four chair legs sit on the rug, or just the front two or what?

Really cute!

I can't get past that part about how you're only allowed to do things both partners can enthusiastically support.... I've been with DH for 20+ years and we each do plenty of things the other person is entirely neutral about, and a few things the other person wishes flat out we would not do....I think learning how to compromise and allowing your partner to be who they really are is just as important to 'compatibility' as shared culture, values, etc.

My guy doesn't complain. He's not itching to do handwriting, but has never questioned it. Geography and history, mythology, etc. he loves to do, but then again we do it in pleasant ways--reading together, making a game of finding things on the globe, making maps, etc. instead of 'lesson, lesson, lesson, test'.