We had a rough year this last year. After pulling my boys from public school, it became very obvious that my eldest was quite a bit "behind" where I anticipated him to be although he was considered "ahead" in math in his class. When he went into school, we were using the same math curriculum I began using on pulling him out and he placed at Math Mammoth 3A although he was almost finished with 4th grade in PS. We've been working through that while also juggling selling a house, buying a house, and a big move and hit a wall in MM4B that threw things off quite a bit. After briefly trying a different approach (MUS), working through some Key to... guides, and switching back to Singapore (Dimensions, this time) we have had some success and so my plan is to continue through that and be ready for pre-algebra by 7th. Likewise, we're devoting more focus on grammar and writing as he had no formal grammar instruction at school and writing instruction tended to be more of the "answer the writing prompt question on the board" variety. Grammar: Rod & Staff Hake Grammar 6, Fix it! Grammar, and we sometimes run through some FLL 3 since he didn't use it when he was younger. Writing: IEW SSS and Treasured Conversations, as above we run through some WWE 3 for additional skill building. Also scheduled for a creative writing course of interest to him via Outschool. Leaning toward replacing IEW with WTMA Prep for Expository Writing. Literature: Mosdos Press Coral, Fishtank Learning units, classes/round tables with The Bookish Society, and books from the BYL 5/6, and Oh! Freedom booklists. Spelling/Vocab: Phonetic Zoo and maybe some Caesar's English but we'll see. Handwriting: The Good and The Beautiful if I can handle the religiosity. Otherwise its back to Getty-Dubay. Math: This has been the biggest headache of all in the last year and right now, I'm planning a return to Singapore Math (either Dimensions or Primary 2022) with supplemental videos via Jessica Kaminski and some Zaccaro added in as well as some math apps. I'm going to be scheduling more one-on-one time to teach him and sit with him through the lesson until I'm sure he's off running. If we finish that, I'm leaning toward Jousting Armadillos or Jacobs Math: A Human Endeavor for pre-algebra. Going to give Saxon 7/6 a try (with Zaccaro added in) and Nicole the Math Lady videos. Science: Science Mom Bio + RSO Bio 2 and some interest-led books. He's going to do a weekly paleontology club via Outschool. American History (M/W/F): Oh! Freedom and BYL 5/6 combo. Ancient History (T/TH, not every week) : The boys were in PS for a few years and neither has done Ancients so we're doing a slower SOTW run through in the form of civilization-units because they have a lot of interest and I wanted my 6th grader to have some general exposure prior to a HS world history cycling. "Social Studies": We do what I call a "social studies" or "social justice" block which just covers relevant social issues and I piece it together using multiple sources. This son covered LGBTQ+ inclusivity, civil rights movements from the Civil Rights Era to the modern day, living as an Autistic person in a society built around NT minds...etc. I pull from multiple sources and often use Fishtank Learning units here too. I have some more units planned utilizing Fishtank's 5th grade with the upgraded membership, a unit about women's rights around the world -- particularly in the area that we're from, immigration, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I really wanted to put in Bookish Society's Women's Studies for Jr. High class here but I think this child would benefit from waiting til 7th or 8th for that one :) . We've just finished a family reading of "Stamped" (I read the adult one, 6th grader read the middle-grade one, and 3rd grader read "Stamped for Kids" and we listened to the audiobook reading of the middle-grade one). Latin: QP I Can Speak Latin + Minimus Foreign Language: Working on getting a tutor for Arabic and/or French for him. Mythology: MP D'Aulaires, possibly beginning MP Famous Men of Rome, The Bookish Society Modern Mythology, lots of Rick Riordan Presents books. Art: I think I'm going to use Glitterbomb for both of them this year. Art is always my struggle to figure out as I'm not skilled in the subject at all myself. Music: SQUILT + trying to set up piano lessons per his request. Extras: Typing, Coding, and karate.

This is my mathy/science-y kid, outdoorsy kid with major interests in herpetology and zoology and veterinary medicine. He has ADHD and some vision issues, and was very good at fooling the teacher into thinking he understood things he didn't. He hated PS and begged me to not have to go but then complained so relentlessly about having to do school at all as soon as we started at home again that I finally gave in and scaled way back, just asking that he do math, some oral grammar with FLL and MCT, freewrite fridays with me scribing, and that he listen to lots of books (went very CM in book choices from Ambleside and CMEC and had him narrate most of them), and read a book of his choice a designated amount of time daily, and over the course of the year, he became more and more cooperative and enthusiastic. My plans changed A LOT over the course of the summer and still may change further but right now, I'm planning: Writing: Treasured Conversations and WWE. Grammar: R&S 3 and FLL. I actually have Beowulf Grammar that I intended to start last year but never did so I'm not sure if that will ever get used at this point. We will finish MCT Island, which we started last year, if we feel like it. Lit: ELTL Level C Mosdos Press Opal and (partially combined with his older brother) literature from the history booklists (BYL 3/5/OF). He'll be doing an advanced reader children's book club with the Bookish Society. Spelling: Phonetic Zoo Handwriting: The Good and The Beautiful if I can handle the religiosity. Otherwise its back to Getty-Dubay. Math: Leaning toward Singapore Primary 2022 Grade 3 or potentially Dimensions. He often supplements with BA. Science (partially combined): Science Mom Biology + tagging along on a few experiments with his big brother + some interest led units American History (combined): Tagging along with his big brother on US History via blending BYL 3, BYL 5, and Oh! Freedom. Ancient History (T/TH, not every week) : The boys were in PS for a few years and neither has done Ancients so we're doing a slower SOTW run through in the form of civilization-units because they have a lot of interest and I wanted my 6th grader to have some general exposure prior to a HS world history cycling. "Social Studies": We do what I call a "social studies" or "social justice" block which just covers relevant social issues and I piece it together using multiple sources. I pull from multiple sources and often use Fishtank Learning units. I have some of this year's units planned including a unit about women's rights around the world -- particularly in the area that we're from, immigration, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We've just finished a family reading of "Stamped" (I read the adult one, 6th grader read the middle-grade one, and 3rd grader read "Stamped for Kids" and we listened to the audiobook reading of the middle-grade one). Foreign Language (combined): I Speak Latin from Quidnam Press + Minimus I am working on getting someone to do in-person tutoring for Arabic and/or French but have not been successful yet. Typing: typing.com Health: my own mix of inclusive, secular books Music/Art: SQUILT, guitar with the Loog app, and I haven't figured out something for art yet leaning toward Glitterbomb. We use a book from BYL for art history. Electives: Intro to Veterinary Science (Outschool), possibly Legends of Druidawn class (Outschool) or a coding "create your own video game" class, and Zoology/Herpetology 101. He also does gymnastics 1x week and will likely start martial arts with his brother.

I agree. I am sorry you had to live through such a nightmare. But there is a significant difference between you and Anna because, while she has known of her husband's crimes for 6 years and chose to bury her head in the sand and keep her children within his reach, you acted once the truth was laid before you. I don't think it's unusual to have some doubt or denial when you've been married to someone for decades and did not believe them capable of such monstrous things though I would expect one to do due diligence in finding the truth under such accusations, especially when the likelihood of them being false is so low. However, in her case, there was no debate over the assault of his sisters and the other girl, he acknowledged it, so she was aware of what he was capable of and the risk he posed to their children this whole time. "Sources" say that she is supporting him and that she went with him to turn himself in and that she has no intention to leave him in his time of need, for whatever those sources are worth (IMO, probably not much). I hope you realize that when people are discussing Anna's culpability in this unique scenario, that does not mean they think you or a person like you is blame worthy in some way. There are some pretty key differences between the two of you and your situations and a person who is blindsided by such a thing deserves a great deal of empathy and support. But she wasn't blindsided, she has had 5 years to remove herself and her children from a dangerous situation and continues to make poor decisions.

I agree, strongly with what you wrote here. Additionally, in terms of the massive amount of sympathy directed toward Anna in this thread, as someone who escaped out of a similar religious setting myself, I can't fully get down with that. I think the line of one's victimhood begins to diminish as one crosses into the territory of perpetrator/facilitator. If we were having this conversation back in 2015, I would absolutely have a lot more sympathy for her. However, IMO, there are multiple factors in this particular situation that make it stand out from other abuse situations where the victimhood of the mother somewhat absolves some of the blame for not extracting her children from the situation: - Anna already knew she was married to a pedophile because, 6 years ago, we all were alerted to that fact. He sexually assaulted his pre-pubescent sisters and paid no consequences and received no meaningful intervention or therapy and then returned to the house to live with said victims and to pretend nothing happened. Its fine if she was cool with praying on and forgiving him for being a slimy, hypocritical, cheating, d-bag with the Ashley Madison/solicitation of sex workers stuff (although it probably should have been a concern with regards to the violence aspect of that) but once she found out that he had assaulted his sisters (who were *also* under 12 -- between 7 and 12 if IIRC -- clearly he has a predilection for young girls and that is not something that tends to just go away) and then CHOSE to remain with him and keep her daughters in the house with a pedophile who they'd trust and who would also have complete access to them, she knowingly and willingly put them at a pretty grave and imminent risk. If Josh did anything to them in those interim years, IMO she absolutely carries responsibility for that and deserves to be dealing with CPS intervention, the way many people would if they knowingly put their children in the care of a sexual predator after being repeatedly alerted to the fact that said person was a sexual predator. And it isn't as though she was in denial because Josh and his sisters admitted the sexual assault situation publicly so there was no question that he had done it, the only question was related to whether the consequences for it were appropriate. She wasn't just "having trouble believing he would to that," she KNEW he did that to his sisters and still thought it was okay to return her daughters into his care. - Anna has far more resources than most of us coming from extreme religious backgrounds who are locked into abusive marriages. She is part of a major TV show franchise, is often around people who do not subscribe to her insular religious beliefs (most of the casts of these reality shows talk about how much time they spend with the producers and camerapeople and how close they usually get). Her brother offered her an out. There was talk of her family being upset about the Josh-sister news coming out. She has a huge social media following and if she left would have options for her own show, interviews with major talk shows....etc. She is literally a phone call away from freedom. - Additionally, the more exposure you get to "outsiders" when you're in this kind of community, the greater the effect on your isolation. For example, even when I first joined this forum many years ago, the things I learned and the online friendships I formed with some of the members here began to influence me and the way I saw the world because I was no longer in an echo chamber. I actually think a lot of my own personal change took place as a result to exposure that began here. I had a very polished way I presented myself to the outside to portray a good view of my orthodox version of faith and yet just hearing other perspectives often broke through in a way I would never have acknowledged at the time. I don't think she is as sheltered and restricted as we think or that she cannot fathom any other view but the one she has been brainwashed to believe. She may continue to hold the drilled in view, as I did at the time, but that doesn't mean the exposure doesn't offer other perspectives and give her the chance to see that there are other options. - Its a kind thought that every person who is a victim of abuse is a sympathetic figure in how they interact with those they have power over but it is often not the case. I have seen quite often with others who were in the same situation as myself and who remained in those situations that one often forms a coping mechanism in which they tend to either become very manipulative or to throw others under the bus in the name of self preservation. An example of this I repeatedly witnessed in my old community would come in the form of an abusive husband causing significant harm to the child or making a decision that could have a huge, life-altering consequence for the child and the mother opting not to do anything to protect said child because they "didn't want to hear it/didn't want to deal with his anger/couldn't do anything". Because these people had become so accustomed to trying to avoid confrontation with their abuser, the idea of entering one even for the sake of the protection of their children was more off-putting than their child being harmed severely OR perhaps them losing their child altogether. Does that make them less of a victim? No. But does it make them less sympathetic when they can exert a reasonable effort to try and protect the child who they are responsible for protecting and caring for and choose not to to avoid even the possibility of an argument? Absolutely IMO. - Anna may be a member of a cult but she is still in the USA. She may recognize her in-laws power over her and headship but the law is not going to prioritize placing grandkids with the Duggar parents or children with their admitted-pedo criminal father over their mother. I can definitely understand the perspective of her as primarily trapped by her own mind. There are many women, women I have known personally, who have had to fight to protect their kids from similar situations in places where the general law and general public opinion is not on their side, where they very much could lose their kids if they divorced, and where they could even face penalties and prosecution for leaving or trying to obstruct their husband. Anna has a lot of privilege that comes with being in a country where the views the Duggars hold are an outlier and, as a result, she has a lot of practical advantages if she wants to, for example, not return her children to living in a house with a pedophile predator father and stop bringing more children into an already awful situation. For reference, I am not and have never been a member of the Duggar's particular brand of religion BUT I was raised to be a very conservative Muslim in a very conservative/traditional cultural household. I was arranged married at 16 to a man I barely knew. I had a GED I got after spotty homeschooling, no degree, no work experience ever. I had never done even practical thinks regarding money management or basic tasks of living, my husband did everything, handled all the money...etc. I was perhaps even worse off than Anna in many ways. I absolutely bought in to many of the same views the Duggars hold regarding marriage and subservience and women, I was so completely brainwashed that I couldn't even consider leaving an abusive marriage because I was petrified of the idea of being disowned by my father and family who would never forgive me if I left. In the end, I left because, even if I felt all those ways, even if I was sure I was going to hell and doing all the wrong things and I would lose everything and everyone, I couldn't stomach my children growing up seeing that abuse and thinking that was normal or healthy or okay. And my husband wouldn't have ever hurt them, he adored them, he directed all his anger toward me. There is absolutely zero question in my mind that had there been a situation where my children were at risk regarding their physical safety or if I'd learned he was a pedophile, I would have been out even sooner, the moment that information came to light because, for many of us, we instinctually draw the line at our children's physical well-being/major safety. I didn't have TLC to call and I didn't have a brother who publicly said he'd have my back and I, too, didn't have work experience or anything to fall back on. I didn't even have friends as I'd been quite isolated and everyone was gone once they realized I was leaving my husband anyway. In fact, one of the biggest helps that happened once I shared my departure was that a group of amazing women from this site who I kept in touch with on social media pooled together and surprised me by sending me an incredibly generous amount of money that allowed me to secure a place of my own while I waited to receive my first paycheck from my first ever job (and one who lived near me even offered to watch my children while I interviewed for that job as well -- just freaking amazing). It took many years of therapy for me to get to a healthier place spiritually and emotionally and I'm still working on it (especially spiritually). But even those of us who are victims are not so weak that we deserve a pass for consciously choosing to put our children in the clutches of a predator. Even now, she has given the impression she will be supporting him. As a side note, am I remembering right that last time, in 2015, when the pedophilia/sister assault stuff came out, she also announced her pregnancy right before it? Just made me side eye things a little because today when I tried to do a search, only about 40% of the articles were on the arrest vs 60% about her pregnancy announcement she made a few days ago. Makes me wonder whether they have a heads up about when this stuff is about to hit the fan and she is "helping" try to bury it by announcing her pregnancies around the same time the news will hit.

Homeschool Printing takes a long time, typically 3-6 weeks. It is cheaper than any other option I have seen though. I usually use Hard Copy HQ and usually receive those materials in 5-10 days. I usually decide based on how quickly I need the materials vs how much I want to save money.

Perfect! Dragonology for my eldest boy and Intro to Herp for my middle sounds like a perfect addition to our planned schedule.

I usually have a lot of luck April - June. All the spring sales for curriculum mean that people selling used curriculum tend to drop the prices a bit to compete and also that all the people buying curriculum that they end up not liking during the spring sales end up selling it on the tail end of those months.

Thank you, this was extremely helpful and reassuring. I've tried to figure out why he hates school so much for two years now and my conclusion is partially that b&m public school just isn't the right fit for him or his learning style (he is the kid who would answer the first page of questions correctly, then start drawing pictures all over the standardized test and not finish, and thus test as though he was "behind") and then partially that he had to deal with a lot of emotionally difficult stuff in the last several years that were peaking at the time he entered school as a young K'er. Short version: I divorced and left an abusive marriage (father is still in the picture and involved and still very much a part of their life so that is good at least but I do think the toxicity of the living situation prior affected them more than I thought it did in the thick of it), I left my religion (Islam), stopped covering, stopped any practice. I went from being a SAHM for their whole lives to working full-time plus overtime to support us and was in nursing school full-time (that is all done now but it was 0 to 100 at the time). Their father remarried someone from Jordan 1 month after our divorce finalized. So, a lot going on in that time period and being forced into school when he probably wasn't emotionally ready for it has not been the best for him. He is doing better now, with time, and I feel like he is not resistant to school when I am teaching him at home but he very much needs a gentler approach and I've had to fight my instinct to be more academic and think that I shouldn't have him "lag" behind what he would be doing if he was in school. He has always been a very sensitive kid who is easily affected by the things going on around him. Once the pandemic is on the down slope, I do have plans to have him evaluated though.

To be clear, I don't think of it as remediating him, I was using the word in the sense of how the school and district would view it. He's 7, he's young, and he is sensitive and shy. Honestly, he probably started K in public school too early but circumstances at the time forced it. I do not see him as behind. I see him as 7 year old who was pushed into dry, intensive, busywork before he was ready for it. I've heard homeschoolers in my area mention that once you send your homeschool notification letter with a child, if they're under the age of requirement, you've essentially tripped a timer and the district is now concerned with whether or not your child is progressing in the way they expect. The reason I asked is not because I think it is problematic to do something that is marketed as second-grade work with a child who would go into third-grade in public school if the material is appropriate for the child, but because I want to make sure I am not missing something about doing so that would cause problems when it came to an evaluation later in the year. Would they look at his work and say, "well, he would be in third grade in public school and he was on track a year ago according to his school and now it doesn't look like he is "on track" anymore?" Would they consider his age or just assume that he needs to meet their listed third-grade standards? Or would I have some wiggle room to de-school and use my own discretion about where he is and where we should focus our efforts? This is not a kid who needed to be sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day doing worksheets and it has really ruined the way he views school (and I realize that this isn't the case for everyone, my eldest loved that stuff but he is a very different child.) The 25% standard for testing makes sense and clarifies that. I planned to go with a narrative and portfolio this time but it was unclear to me as to which standards they would use to evaluate that and whether they, too, would be comparing him to public school progress. The fact that it is "according to [his] abilities" both clarifies the issue and takes the burden of comparison away.

This is a really good point. He's actually reading fairly well (he can read a Magic Tree House reader, for example) and he's still getting fairly on-level instruction with Dancing Bears/ Apples and Pears, and Right Start. Ultimately, that is likely what they'd be evaluating a grade level from, not the level of a general curriculum I use or what level of history and science he is doing. I just needed some reassurance that it is okay to slow it down to where he actually is and not overwhelm him by trying to meet him where the school claimed he was.

Thanks all! I think I'm going to do prehistory and then combine them for Ancients next year. In the meantime, I'm gonna let my eldest do SOTW4 though because he's really in to it and wants to keep going but its definitely too much for my younger son.

DS turns 8 in July. He was in 2nd grade until COVID19 put a stop to public school and I decided to take this as my opportunity to withdraw him and homeschool him again. For years, he has told me that he hates school. He's been in two different schools plus an awesome nursery program. He's had teachers he adored. He's had many friends. He's super quiet and withdrawn in school, always. We expected it would improve with time but this aspect hasn't changed over the years. So, I would like to take a more holistic approach to his school and slow it down so he can discover at least a little love of learning. He is super artsy and loves animals. If this upcoming year, instead of going forward into "third grade curriculum", I had him do something a bit less intensive (like Oak Meadow 2 or more Blossom & Root for example), but that would only meet second grade standards likely instead of third, would that be crazy? My major concern is that I live in Ohio, and I have to prove that he's keeping up with grade level at the end of the year, but is that based off of the last grade he was in school? At 7-8 years old, he would have been a young third grader anyway and easily could still be in second grade. I'm also concerned because having worked with him 1:1 now, I can tell that the objectives he was supposedly meeting in school are not actually met and he's been able to slide by in a large class of students. I understand that homeschooling isn't subject to the same grade level labels that schools use but I'm just wondering if this would be more inadvisable because he's already been in public school second grade (although he obviously did not finish it there due to the pandemic).

I haven't used their history curriculum yet but there is a FB group for families using Blossom & Root that may have more info and there are some users on Instagram who used it. The user homeschooler_by_design has a review and flip-through on her IGTV: All of her curriculum is new enough that not many people have discussed it or reviewed it on these forums. If you do end up using it, please update after you are done about how you liked it!

Those are fantastic ideas! His father (my ex-husband) took him to the Alligator Attraction and Wildlife Learning Center (aka kissagator.com) when they went to Florida last (we both grew up in FL and have family there) and that is what really sparked his desire to be a herpetologist and his love of alligators and crocs, thereby winning the divorced parent bribe battle for the year 😅 so I bet this would be right up his alley. We live in Ohio but I grew up down the road from Gatorland and somehow have never been. Time to change that. School of Croc has been an awesome addition to our morning time routine.

So, as a little background, I used to homeschool (pre-K, K and 1st) with my eldest and then both of my children went to PS when I started working a lot. We ended up withdrawing them when school was canceled due to COVID19 and I am leaning toward keeping them home from now because homeschooling has become doable and we are enjoying it. We began using BYL (levels 4 and 1) as the foundation of our curriculum and I added other things to supplement. Very quickly, it became apparent that we are really only using BYL as a booklist but the two levels use two different levels of SOTW (Ancients and 4). We are continuing to use SOTW even though we aren't implementing much of the actual BYL day-to-day and really like it but I am wondering whether it is a good idea to run two different levels simultaneously because it seems like I am making extra work for myself rather than focusing on going deep on one or the other? My sons are 10.5 and 7 (soon to be 8 ) and the eldest is really enjoying SOTW 4. Would you recommend: a) Continue doing both kids separately in 2 different levels. b) Combine both kids in Ancients and continue up together (stop SOTW 4) c) Go through SOTW 4 with my older son, stop SOTW1 with the 7 year old or do prehistory with him, and then have them together in ancients next year as history for both. Thanks in advance!

There is no conspiracy. Our COVID19 ICU is hell. These people are incredibly sick and our resources are limited and we don't even have N95s to wear into their rooms. Some units are cleared out, this is not because we are not overwhelmed. Its because many non-critical patients and non-COVID patients are being diverted to the other hospitals, those that can't handle patients this critical. Any patient who doesn't absolutely need a bed is being discharged and sent out. My husband's unit is one of the ones that has been diverted/shut down. I am an ICU nurse (and the MICU where I began my career is now the COVID ICU for all critical patients in my region). The hospitals that have been ghost towns are purposely being cleared for the expected peak that is about to hit. They've also waived NCLEX requirements to let graduating nursing students be trained to work without it (which is crazy!). When I began training, I had 16 weeks of orientation, during which I had classes, demonstrations, and took patients on my unit with a preceptor to supervise and teach. These patients would be the sickest ones on the unit so that once I was on my own, I would know how to handle everyone. They are training the nurses on my husband's unit with ONE day of training on vents and drips so that they can take ICU assignments. None of us are getting crisis or hazard pay but we are threatened with administrative action if we refuse anything. We aren't allowed to wear N95s in the COVID + rooms unless we're intubating. We aren't allowed to wear regular ear loop masks in the hallways or procedure rooms. We're putting our lives, our family's lives, and our children's lives on the line for 27 bucks an hour.

Yay! And thank you so much for the info! He will be extremely excited about the "School of Croc" stuff. Alligators and crocodiles, in particular, are his primary love.

I don't have an exact recipe because I just kind of throw things in but its kind of a blend of a few methods I've been doing for ages and then adapted for the InstantPot. Basically I season my brisket with salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, ground coriander, and some crushed up coriander seeds, melt some butter and caramelize a ton of onions in there, then remove the onions and sear off the brisket in that onion-infused butter. Then I mix up a really generous rub of brown sugar, dijon, and a bit more ground coriander, and layer it with the caramelized onion and some smashed garlic in the instant pot, throw in a bit of beef stock and some worcestershire, close it up and cook in the IP. When it is done with the initial NPR, I slice up the brisket and get the sauce/juice mix boiling/sauteeing in my IP, adjust the seasoning to taste, and then throw the slices of brisket back in and give it a stir to make sure it is all coated up, seal it again and let it go for a little longer. I usually serve with plenty of the sauce and onions, garlic mashed potatoes, and some crispy roasted broccoli.

I know this is old but will another Intro to Herp class be coming soon and do you think that would be doable for a 8 year old? My son wants to be a herpetologist and I'm kind of at a loss for indulging his interests on it but fortunately, I remembered this one lady I used to be on a homeschool forum and a FB group with who also had a child obsessed with herps LOL! The class is icing on that cake.

If you ever want to do brisket in the IP, I adapted my oven recipe to it and now it makes the best brisket I've ever had at 1.5 hours in the IP.

I'm in a similar situation. We struggled a lot with doing the teacher's lesson plan and assignments at home independently. I felt like it was much harder for me to teach her material her way than it was when I homeschooled according to my own strengths and my children's interests. We do love our PS teachers but, really, we sent them to public school for the child care aspect (since I was working) and the teachers (who are amazing), not the curriculum (which is IMO weak in our district). We decided to go ahead and "withdraw" them (I use parentheses because everything is closed and I haven't gotten any confirmation yet from their side) and I am homeschooling again fully the way I want to. It is going very well, for the most part, and has definitely exposed some things with regard to my kids and their learning that were likely masked to the teachers because of how many children were in class with them. I think the others here have offered a ton of good advice about the materials. I would like to continue keeping them home after this (or at very least, my younger son because he hates public school and wants to be home), but I'm not worried about them getting behind because all the kids are in the same boat and while the schools differ in their expectations, I guarantee you that even the schools expecting full work done will have students with working parents who did not get it done. I speak from experience! They will end up reviewing at the start of next school year.

I'm reading Better Together by Pam Barnhill in the mornings with my coffee for advise on improving morning time with my kids and then the book A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum (it came in one of my book subscription boxes) in the evening to unwind. I threw a chuck roast in the slow cooker and made it into french dip au jus sandwiches. Topped them with caramelized onions, provolone, and arugula and they were awesome.

Hi all, Not sure how many people here will remember me but I was an active member here up until 2015, I have kept up with some members through Facebook :). A lot of things have changed. I finished nursing school and am now a nurse (I work both ICU and community women's health). I am divorced and have since remarried and had a third child, a baby girl, with my now-husband. I am no longer Muslim. And although I previously quit homeschooling when I separated and started working full-time, I am now at it again and balancing it with a part-time job and a toddler underfoot. Hope all of you have been well and are holding up in these tough times!

They should not have had a gun in their house then if they didn't have the means to keep it secure and be responsible for it. If someone tells you they want to buy a puppy but they don't have any room for a dog, can't afford food, immunizations, and vet expenses, and won't be around to take it for a walk multiple times per day, they'd be told not to get a dog or try to bring one into their home. Why on earth should someone get a pass on having a loaded gun not in a safe or locked cabinet because there wasn't room for it? And if they left it out for cleaning, they hold responsibility too.

I do but I doubt I'm much help. My doctors are a bit torn on the cause at the moment and I had one abnormal EKG among the other regular (sinus tachycardia) ones. They've been saying it is dysautonomia because my HR goes up by a lot when I stand up but they're also thinking SVT on top of that because sometimes it randomly jumps crazy high (often when I'm asleep and it will wake me up from sleep). I have an appointment for some more testing and they want to put me on the event monitor as well and then decide about medication. I hope your daughter feels better!