My DH and I have talked about getting an awning and some propane heaters for the back deck. Our winters tend toward the chilly and drizzly (PNW) so some type of cover will be necessary to make it pleasant. My parents have a large covered deck overlooking a lake, and a propane "fire pit" and I think that they have the perfect setup for winter. Tons of interesting birds winter on their lake, so they get a nice show with their fresh air. lol

I would be curious to see if dyslexia diagnoses in the US show the same kind pattern in socioeconomic status as in the UK. I can imagine that parents who are working several jobs, or who don't speak English, or who haven't had an adequate education themselves, wouldn't be requesting IEP evaluations at the same rate as middle/upper class parent, and their kids' reading issues would be attributed to social rather than intrinsic causes.

I had no problem reading it, but my dyslexic 12 y/o found it difficult. He read the first couple of lines, slowly, then told me he was done. Then I got curious, and typed the passage with normal spelling and had him try it again. He read it fluently. I gave the scrambled passage to my 9 y/o. He read the whole passage, more slowly than he normally reads, but he got through it. He even read scrambled Cambridge, which surprised me because I thought that would be more context-dependent, and he's not familiar with the names of universities.

I started using the framework of The Writing Revolution last year with my dyslexic/dysgraphic 6th grader, and the improvement I've seen in his writing is beyond what I could have imagined. The timing coincided with him deciding that if he wants to be a historian, he needs to be able to write well, and he went from complaining bitterly about writing a couple of sentences to happily outlining and drafting paragraphs and short compositions. The information in TWR wasn't really new to me, but I was having trouble with the basic pedagogy of writing and needed the hand-holding and the explicit instructions for exactly the kinds of practice that a student needs for each aspect of writing.

The Red Badge of Courage. The Old Man and the Sea. I found myself wishing the old man would just fall in and get eaten by sharks so the book would be over. The Death of Ivan Ilyich. I should read this one again, though--I suspect I'd appreciate it more in middle age than I did as a teen. There was a meme floating around facebook/twitter a while back asking for the titles of books that made you cry. The meme'd answer was the organic chem textbook my college used. 🙂 I can attest to the truthfulness of that meme. I spent many evenings crying over that book and stacks of NMR printouts. lol

We had the rat in the toilet issue once at our old house. DH closed the lid and flushed. And flushed. And flushed. And opened the lid carefully to peek, and all was well again. 🙂 The Puget Sound area is known among pest control people for having tons of rats, even in the "nice" areas. Local magazines even write about it.

When I was trying to cheap out on dissection materials for a co-op, I bought a bunch of brownie pans and big black candles from the dollar store. I melted the candle wax and poured it into the pans, and they worked fine.

MEP has great teacher support materials, and you don't even have to buy a manual!

A Literary Education: Adapting Charlotte Mason for Modern Secular Homeschooling by Emily Cook might be a good one for her, if she's interested in lit-based curriculum.

With the number of people who tell me "I don't get the flu shot because it gives me the flu" when they have minor side effects of flu vax, I don't want to imagine the uproar when a bunch of people are claiming "Covid vax gave me covid!!!!"

My kids have liked the science books from Nomad Press. They include a few activities after each chapter, using common materials, and are easy to build on to create a unit study if that's the direction you want to go.

My kids have enjoyed the Who Was/What Was series. You'd probably know them if you saw them--my kids call them the "big head books." My son liked Who Was Winston Churchill, Who was FDR, What was Pearl Harbor, What was D-Day, and others.

My kids have been enjoying the activities from How to Teach Nature Journaling by John Muir Laws. It's currently free in pdf form. If they really get into a particular topic we get out the field guides and learn more. Incidentally, I recently realized that while we have several comprehensive insect guides, we have only one paltry elementary bird guide. I guess we fail at birds.

Yeah, we asked if our rates would be less this year since we’re virtual. They said no. 😞

Exactly this. I am a volunteer with a small nonprofit arts organization that works with homeschoolers, and one requirement for the organization’s liability insurance is that all independent contractors carry their own personal liability insurance.

I don't understand how anyone thinks summer camps are a great idea. I'm feeling annoyed that an organization with which I volunteer is planning on holding day camps later in the summer. Our county numbers are rising steadily, and I don't know how they think they can meet when our current guidelines are for groups of five or fewer people. They just sent out an urgent call for volunteers to work at the camps. I am sitting this one out.

That's good. I was wondering if "suitcase toilet" was going to be on the official packing list for freshmen this year!

We watched the first half last night, and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I hadn't listened to the music before, but we watched with subtitles and that helped with processing the lyrics. My 12 year old who has just finished studying U.S. history enjoyed seeing what he had learned in a different form. I'm happy to see that Amazon music has the clean version of the soundtrack, so I think we'll be listening to that in the car in the future. 🙂

Here is a clip of Benjamin Bagby performing part of Beowulf. It's pretty fun.

I feel the same way. Usually I am happily and busily planning for the next year by the end of June, and this year I'm just blah. We're finishing up our current school year this week and I'm hoping that my motivation picks up again by mid-July. I blame covid too. Everything has just felt like it's been on hold for months now and there's no sign of it letting up.

I'm too chicken to hike by myself. I don't even like to go with just myself and my kids. People worry me more than animals. My kids are loud enough that we will never take a bear or cougar by surprise. lol. The possibility of injury is the major factor. There's no cell service in many of the places we hike and stuck in the woods with a hurt mom is not a situation I'd like my kids to experience.

All-in-one (-math): Build Your Library (K-12 plus unit studies), Blossom and Root (prek-3rd or 4th as of now), Torchlight (K-3rd or 4th as of now), Wee Folk Art (K-early elementary) LA: Brave Writer Science: ACS Middle School Chemistry

Wee Folk Art has a variety of country studies called Cultural Connections. They are really meant for early elementary, but the recipes, crafts, and picture books are engaging for older kids too, and it's high on the "fun" side. My 12 y/o still looks at some of the books that we used for those units, especially the Lonely Planet Travel Book. WFA also has a US state study. Have you ever looked at the Beautiful Feet geography guide that goes with the Holling C. Holling books? I'm planning on using it this year and my kids are excited about it. The maps are really nice and my kiddos can't wait to attack them with their Prismacolors. lol

Our church governing body recently sent out a letter suggesting that congregations prepare for being closed to in-person large gatherings through the end of the year at least, and possibly well into 2021. I'm sad about the situation, but understand where they're coming from. We had been changing some of our practices starting in February--no more joining hands to sing--but this is tough.

I am interested! Most of the homeschool groups on fb seem to center around specific curricula or philosophies, so I think that your anticipated page would fill an open niche.