I remember asking the dr. if it was a parental IQ test, since all the "correct" / desired answers were in just one column, whether they were yes or no. Nor do I think it's their business about guns or helmets...these things are already legally mandated.

Comparisons are odious. Comparing at-home to school is soooo tempting, but comparing an individual child to an abstract standard isn't all that helpful. Sort of like when the statisticians said that a woman over 30 had more chance of being hit by a car than getting happily married. (I am living proof that one's not true.) Please try to focus on what your child *can* do, what she *will* do, what she *wants* to explore. Don't be disappointed with her in all these areas because she isn't a magically enthusiastic, perfect student. That's unrealistic for both of you...after all, you're not a magically enthusiastic perfect teacher/mom either. Get healthy yourself. Take her to the library every week, read together, do stuff. Have a simple checklist for the schoolwork & once it's done, let her do whatever ... read, build, play, clean house, crochet, sing, dance. And give yourselves time....it's one of the great gifts of homeschooling, time to mature, time to try different paths, time to make mistakes and move past them.

My bro used to come "home" from W. Africa about every 3-4 years for several months of travel and getting back in touch with supporting churches. I remember one time they came back and in their absence everyone had shifted to using plastic cards for debits instead of checks. The next time it was entering your club card # for a discount at the grocery store. (They still use my # when they're stateside.) They didn't take their kids to the supermarket or the mall...it was just too overwhelming for them, but then I don't think I'd do very well in a street bazaar shopping for food at open stalls. They always put their kids in public school here for at least a few months, to give them a taste of US culture, even tho' they were group homeschooled in their residence country. They had to learn new slang/pop culture references every time they came, too. Kindle, with free classic books to read in ENGLISH, was their overseas library resource. Since they travel most of the summers when they're stateside, US relationships are very hard for their kids to establish and keep up; they feel closest to other expats who share their more diverse lifestyle & cultural experience. The family is now living in Spain, but this summer my sil is looking for community service opportunities for my high school age nephew so he can get to know some teens wherever they stay for a few weeks and not be sitting around with nothing but video games to do.

We have a Belgian Malinois mix, somebody's pound puppy that they didn't want to keep; we got him at about 1yo. He is short-haired, some shedding, but the only grooming he needs is a bath every few months and his toenails done, although a brushing is *quite* welcome. He is an inside dog but loves walks and looks quite intimidating. This breed is often trained for police/military work. They are not big cuddlers, which is just as well as they run 40-75 lbs--but he'll come & put his head in my lap to be petted and is lying @ my feet right now. Some people say they tend to be 1-person dogs, but he is happy to go with anybody in the family. When we moved he had to stay with someone else for a few weeks and he *really* missed us...wouldn't eat, was nearly hysterical when we came to get him.

My nephew has grown up as an expat and is spending this summer in the US before starting college in Canada this fall. Here's an article his mom sent him about re-entry. http://www.thecultureblend.com/?p=1444 I hope it helps. I know the transition is really hard and often us at-homers don't understand the changes. I hope you find someone who can just listen and help you process and understand changes. Their lives haven't stood still either, and they're not necessarily the same people you left. May you have grace and peace in yourself and toward each other.

Did you know that there's a bill now before the CA state senate that would mandate kindergarten completion *before* a child is permitted to enter 1st grade? Kindergarten, BTW, is not mandatory in CA, but this bill would require it be completed *and* accredited before your child could enter 1st grade in a public school here. No idea how this would affect students coming from other states, from non-accredited private schools (including homeschools), etc. BAD, BAD plan.

Ha, if you find out, tell me!! I'd love to get back into it freelance.

DS, my challenging student who got kicked out of homeschool and into community college at 16, just graduated with his AA, highest honors, at age 19. He's debating work or transfer to a 4-year right now.

Warm clothes & galoshes. My sis lives on Whidbey Island and they come into Everett for specialist medical stuff.

Pathways Charter, Sonoma County.

We've used charters and are now *very* happy to homeschool independently in CA. Posters are quite right to tell you that different charters have *very* different rules & personalities & even recordkeeping/testing requirements. So the first thing to do might be to check out other charters that serve your area and see what their rules are for both retention and grade advancement, as well as teaching at/below/above grade level. We very briefly participated in one charter that refused to order math for the level at which my dd was performing because it was 1 semester ahead of grade level. Others have been willing to order multiple levels of math for the same child in the same year. Recordkeeping and even testing requirements may vary by charter. That is, most will ask you for a daily learning log and some samples as well as participating in yearly statewide testing. But they may also ask you for WEEKLY or MONTHLY versus by-semester samples from each subject. This can get to be a real PITB because, of course, they also have rules about what is an acceptable sample for a given subject area and some want you to log your PE hours or write something for every single subject, including PE every single week. Often "we did the next 5 lessons in phonics" is NOT ok; you have to put down what phonemes you studied and sample spelling words, for ex. And some charters require testing via online computer programs for math & english at the beginning and end of every semester *in addition* to statewide testing. You never get the state test results until August, right before the new school year starts, so they are basically worthless as a diagnostic. Some charters require you to submit monthly lesson plans (or follow theirs) and then track whether you achieved those objectives, tied, of course, to the state objectives for each subject, so you have to learn educationalese to comply. Some require you to sign an agreement not to use any sectarian (religious) materials in your homeschooling, while some allow you to purchase your own materials but a religious word/publisher/topic better never show up in your samples. Charters allowed us to keep homeschooling when dh was laid off for months at a time; they're not all bad. However, I wouldn't do it unless I had to. And you don't have to do it for kindergarten, let alone transitional kindergarten if that's the path you choose.

DS graduated from community college this past weekend with his AA in Speech/Communications, highest honors, fully transferrable to state college, age 19. However, he is taking a gap year, for sure, and does not know if he will return to finish a 4-year degree or what degree he might want. He is just done with school, wants to save enough to buy his own car, and isn't sure of the next step. No, he really hasn't done any career testing, tho' I've suggested it and sent him web sites and gotten him books. He does love public speaking, debate (tho' he was working every weekend so didn't get to be in debate club @ CC), presenting information to people. In his job he talks to people from all over the world, presenting information and making them laugh while taking them on an outdoor zipline adventure. He's not exactly sure where this leads him, though, and is pretty sure he doesn't want to work in an office all day. His favorite classes at the CC were in speech and business marketing, which he approaches rather like winning a video game. He is really sure he doesn't want to go to school for awhile and he never wants to take another online class...he hates the format. Anyway, my question is, how much "help" should I offer -- college hunting, scholarship hunting, types of job suggestions, etc.? On the one hand, I have confidence ds will succeed in what he tries...and so does he. I don't think he *has to have* a 4-year degree to make forward progress. On the other hand, it's really hard for me not to push him to get a 4-year degree, as I still see that as a passport to the future, and something he could do affordably while living at home (we have a state college in town that offers communications and business degrees) and still working his zipline job. If you don't have another direction, why not take this one? Right now, I'm just waiting to see what the summer brings. He has a pretty physically demanding job, and maybe after a full summer of it he'll have a different perspective on continuing school. Or maybe he'll find himself an internship; he's mentioned that idea but done nothing about it. I appreciate being able to think this thru out loud here, and I would love to hear your feedback.

OK, so she has a few years, LOL. Oldest dd had art skills through a local business called The Art House from the time she was 5th grade (paid for by our charter). In high school this was a 1.5 hour class once/week. We made it a full credit with art appreciation, museum visits, leading a 4-H art project, competing in fairs, etc. So, 4 credits of art in high school. The summer of her junior year she took a portfolio class thru the same business, which involved bringing in and reviewing all her work, including private sketchbooks, choosing the best in the different media, mounting and photographing it, writing an artist's statement, etc. We debated over that class, but it was very, very much worth it. That portfolio went with her to National Portfolio Day and went in with her college applications. It got her a scholarship to art college that amounts to about $5K/year off of tuition, so the $300 for the class paid off, not to mention the skills to do her own future portfolios & present them. She took the portfolio to her first (and only) job interview, where it turns out she was one of the people hired not just because of her art skills but because she could pass the basic math test, altho' it did take her awhile to figure out balancing the cash register. (Teach your kids the values of rolled coins.) She's been working for Kaaman's Art Co. (they subcontract out to amusement parks around the US.) all 4 years of her college career, starting with "hanimals" (pictures made from handprints) and working her way thru henna art, face painting, cartooning, and now pastel portraits. The pay is partly commission, so she only makes the higher dollars when the park is busy, but she's also gotten to go to private parties, charity events, etc. She has a range of skills that would allow her to do this as a weekend business if she wanted to. And some of her in-park clients have asked her to do portraits for them. It's been great for learning to talk to and deal with all kinds of people. FYI, art colleges often offer weekend drawing sessions and/or portfolio classes for high schoolers in the local area. Some of these are life drawing (nudes) and some are focused on other skills. I wish I'd known more about this when dd was in high school.

I'd use Fallacy Detective to add some humor to art of argument. You can follow AoA with either Discovery of Deduction (formal logic, supplement with thinking toolbox) or Argument Builder. I think Argument Builder would help buttress writing skills...that's why I'm having my high schooler use it, anyway.

Are you talking about the people who do the street art - portraits, etc. - or artisans? Because my oldest works at Knotts but for a company that subcontracts out the portrait artists, face painters, cartoonists, etc. at both amusement parks. If your dd has a portfolio, I know who she can contact!

DD-21 is working full-time at her amusement park artist job, where she's a shift manager now and helps train new staff as well as schedule and order inventory. DS-19 (with his newly minted AA) is working almost full-time at his summer job as a zipline tour lead guide in the redwoods. He's also investigating a next step, either 4-year school or business marketing internship. Both are taking off the week for family reunion in late July. My 17yo dd also has her *first* job this summer, as a p/t lifeguard for a local pool...I am her chauffeur, but she is learning to ride the bus also.

You have a *lot* of items under English. Sometimes I do that because I haven't figured out what will work yet, or I want to try different things with dd and see what works best. If you want to keep both grammar and vocab, you might consider assigning one to each semester, not both simultaneously. In our experience, Creative Writing is a *separate* and elective class. In our experience, Physical Science is considered a middle school class/8th grade. Charter schools here won't count it for a science in high school, even if you have a lab with it; it's counted as an elective if you do it in high school. You might consider Astronomy/Earth Science as an alternative if the two of you aren't quite ready to tackle biology. I have had my kids do a study skills semester, which could include some test prep, some vocab, some note-taking, some time management/planning. How soon are you planning for your dd to take ACT/SAT? Just a few questions to consider.

Our 4H wildlife project had a booth at last year's NSF day, talking about the butterfly life cycle and showing off lots of "please touch me" bones & rocks & stuff. It was great fun. The local CC had a booth where they were showing sick/well body parts, dissecting livestock organs, and showing microscope slides on a big monitor. There was info on pest issues, water issues, cool science experiments, and a paramedic section where they would bandage your "broken" arm for free. AND it was free to attend. If you have a chance to go, don't miss it!

Our AHG troop just finished our first Camporee WITH another troop. This year we did badges; next year they do badgework....and we may add in another troop as well. The explorers did a scat/tracks/bugs hike and made paper - so zoology and creative crafts stuff. Luckily I found $1 bug nets @ Target! And we made "track socks" with tracks from our favorite animal...and then held them up at campfire and gave clues so that everyone could guess. We did OK, but I think I should have restricted them to animals from north america, LOL. The Pi/Pa group made stepping stones (also creative crafts) and did a bunch of other stuff that I didn't see, since I was so busy pulping tissue paper for the paper work. And the Tenderhearts had a guy come whose kids have all aged out of BSA and teach them Outdoor Skills. He was GREAT!! Our court of honor is next week so I am sorting and counting badges out for my Explorers. DD and I will be working on the Feathered Friends and Ancestor Detector badges this summer, and quite possibly finish up Sewing.

Yep, two weeks to graduation. Today he confirmed that he had the day off.

DS told me *yesterday* that he petitioned last week to graduate *this semester* with his AA. Previously, we had assumed he'd take an extra semester of classes to expand his major, but I guess NOT. So, one week and he will have the degree (Speech/communications) and I suppose we need to do something special for him @ last minute. He plans to work the summer in the redwoods, buy himself a car, and then do a business internship, while considering whether/where to pursue a BA, probably in business. The good part is that this has really motivated him to start studying to keep his GPA above 3.75 for future scholarship opportunities. It will also give him a break from school, which he has really been needing, and time to research and dream on the future. Oh, and since he'll be out of school, he'll be paying his OWN car insurance, which will be a big financial relief.

I bought my kid's college backpack from LL Bean - great warranty. I told him it's the last backpack I'll ever get him, so if it breaks Bean will replace.

You might add in Edith Hamilton's Mythology - it's a classic that I read in high school but it's not "hard" for someone who loves mythology. See if you can find a larger print edition or on kindle where you can adjust type size. I also got, but hadn't time to use, this (it's more high school level), which we'll probably do some over the summer and some next year: http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Mythology-More-Reader-Workbook/dp/0865165734/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399140966&sr=8-1&keywords=classical+mythology+and+more

Yep, yep, yep. Premarin helps a lot, reduces pain and makes everything easier. If dh is willing to take the initiative, we usually have fun, but I am very seldom, ever, the one to take the first step anymore. (What a reversal!) We've had to talk more than a bit to find a new pattern that works for both of us.

I like this. A few weeks for your kiddo and you to decompress - without screen time but with lots of books and activities. Try to go someplace fun & educational at least one day/week, someplace you never could get to when classroom school was a requirement. Try to go to the library on the same day every week and check out lots of books - at least 1/2 non-fiction on topics/people/skills that interest your child. Try to do something together one day a week - make dinner or bread, make a bird house, shop at the thrift store for a new "at home" wardrobe - ours is mostly repurposed PJ's - even redecorate. Have leisurely breakfasts and homemade lunches...or lunches OUT. Try to have a playdate with a friend once/twice a week, keeping up those associations your child wants to keep from school. Look for a park day near you, where homeschoolers and their moms meet and hang out; try several, as each has its own personality. And brainstorm with your kid. --Make a list of topics in each subject area they'd like to read about for the rest of the "school year." --Make a schedule and post it --Discuss the family calendar and give the kiddo input --Talk about activities your kid would like to be involved in that you've had no time for before this. Maybe look into something new to both of you. After a few weeks of just reading and doing, start with some placement tests. You can find a lot of stuff online, free. This is not to prove what they've learned but to find out how *smart* they are and where special attention might be needed. I second the idea of figuring out what kind of learning style is most appropriate to your kid. But also pay attention to how you like to learn/teach. The plan, after all, has to work for both of you. Since kiddo is home, put him/her to work around the house as well. The more people are home, the more mess they need to clean up after, so make that part of your routine as well.