We haven't used the series for older kids, but we like the books from Nomad press. Planetary Science is for middle school level.

I think my dh would prefer I not hold any more babies for a while--while he knew that I was thinking about bringing home "a kitten," the second was a bit of a surprise for him. 😉

We have really enjoyed building unit studies around the Nomad Press books. Geology of the Pacific Northwest was a big hit. Explore the Solar System has some fun, easy projects. We plan on using the Evolution book alongside the BYL evolution unit study. We did the BYL prehistory unit study last year and my kids loved, loved, loved it, so we're looking forward to the evolution study when they are a bit older. ACS has some chemistry units that we haven't used yet, but we will integrate into our non-secular chemistry choice for this year. lol

On Tuesday I bring home these cuties. I'm sure it was just a coincidence.

I agree with some of the previous posters that with the restrictions you have, it will be very difficult to have the kind of commitment that you want from this group. I'm not terribly experienced with this type of thing, being more of a wallflower than a leader, but in my experience free and committed only works if the families already have strong relationships. Starting something like this from scratch with random families seems difficult. I would complain about flakey homeschoolers, but honestly, I'm one of them. 😕

Lots of the SNL stars aren't conventionally beautiful. I guess you get a pass if you're funny?

Do you have allergies? Postnasal drip? Tonsil stones? I get a funky taste in my mouth when I don’t treat my allergies.

How about flounder while watching The Little Mermaid? 🤪 Tomato soup, roast beef, and blueberry pie for Willy Wonka? Frozen TV dinners for Frozen? Wiener Schnitzel for Sound of Music? Snacky circus food for Dumbo?

In elementary school we played a game called "squashball" (dodgeball played with a flat ball so instead of the ball bouncing off it hit with a sickening thud and left a bruise) that I didn't realize was different than "squash" the racquet game until fairly recently. I wondered why adults wanted to play a game that was so painful. I'm pretty sure PE teachers today couldn't get away with requiring that game. This particular teacher also drove a beat-up car with a "die yuppie scum" bumper sticker, which would probably also be frowned upon. 😄

Interesting. I wonder if maybe it depends on what circles you run in--I think that Childhood's End comes up a lot. Not as often as the Bible or Don Quixote or random Greek myths, but it pops up a lot in pop culture.

They could do mammograms and colonoscopies and play the T and A song frim A Chorus Line.

Well, it makes sense. Every time I eat a calzone, I think, "this looks just like a bunch of food stuffed into a pair of underwear!" 😄

It sounds like Arthur C. Clarke’s novel Childhood’s End. Maybe there’s also a movie?

I agree with this. My kiddo with asd is only 10, but as he gets older I know that we will be looking hard at balancing his gifts and deficits as far as employment. I even have it in the back of my mind that there might be a family business started at some point based around his gifts. And maybe I'm reading more into the article than is really there. I see With the publication of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5th edition in 2013, professionals made the spectrum concept official. It’s now autism spectrum disorder for everyone who qualifies for a diagnosis. No more modifiers or alternative labels. And that’s as it should be. as meaning that high functioning autistic people should be eligible for appropriate services, rather than being seen as extra special quirky or automatically steered toward IT. I guess I'm reading my own optimism into it. lol

I didn't think it was doom and gloom. The employment statistics for autistic adults are pretty bleak, and I think that as a parent of an autistic child, it is important to keep that in mind. The general public seems to think that Aspergers is a one way ticket to a plush coding job. Many autistic kids with level 1 support needs are not even receiving services in public school. They graduate, and then what? I think that it is beneficial to take a realistic look at what happens to "high functioning" autistic adults so that we can provide our autistic kids with what they really need to succeed, because the usual method is obviously not working.