Yes, it's normal. I've been homeschooling since 1996, and I still feel that homeschooling, if you're doing it right, is HARD WORK. I work at least as hard now as I did during my career as a PS teacher. There are days when I feel completely overwhelmed, but I've mostly learned to live with the fact that the work is never done.

:iagree:

I wash kitchen & bathroom towels together (includes dish-drying towels, hand towels, bathcloths, bath towels) in hot water (no Clorox)& then dry them in the dryer. I wash dishcloths (aka dishrags), handkerchiefs, and cleaning rags together in hot water with Clorox & then dry them in the dryer.

Good for you for standing your ground. If she's going to resort to saying that your friendship with her hangs in the balance, she's being immature and you're probably better off without her.

:iagree: ABeka's math and grammar is drill, and kids get overwhelmed. When I was a new homeschooler 16 years ago, I briefly tried ABeka and found that the stress just wasn't worth it. Why does a kindergartener need to mark vowels??? As one reviewer put it: ABeka is great if your goal is to impress the neighbors or the grandparents. Some people think ABeka is "advanced", but the more accurate term is "rushed". It isn't fun for anybody, and it's going to make your kid hate school. Personally, I think ABeka is fine for a subject or two--the grammar is good if your kid is okay with drill, and I do hear good things about the science. The history is criticized because it tends to be quite critical of Catholicism and because it takes the slant that America is God's chosen nation.

I hope you do better with that than I did! It was my mantra too, but I was crying even before we left home! It does get easier, but boy, was it hard at first!!!

:iagree:

I've been a PB Swap member for some time now, and always had good experiences. But yesterday, something weird happened. First, I got an e-mail notificiation that one of the books on my wishlist had been added to another member's bookshelf, so I responded that I did want the book. Soon afterward, I got a "Cannot Mail" message from the member who had posted the book: "Sorry I don't mail to people with any conditions." What??? I went back and checked my requestor conditions, and all I have there is "books from a non-smoking home only, please." It's not like it's a long list of picky conditions. I don't think she even read it. Otherwise, she would have responded with, "I can't send the book because ours is a smoking home." Right? JAWM, I guess. Maybe I'm just miffed because I'm not going to get the book, and I feel like I was slighted. Has this ever happened to you?

I recently noticed that on our homeschool group's website it says (in HUGE red letters): We can no longer accept cyber academy or K12 students. Students in these programs are considered by state law to be public schooled students and as such fall under state guidelines and rules. I know that's what the law says, but still, it seems that it should count for something if the parent is the one doing the teaching.

Our engagement was about a week shy of 6 months. We met August 20, 1978, and began dating pretty much immediately. Dh was 18 years old & I was still 17. We got engaged December 28, 1979 (1 year, 4 months, 1 week, 1 day after we met). We were married June 20, 1980 (1 year, 10 months after we met & 5 months, 3 weeks, 2 days after we got engaged). We were both 19 years old. We were just kids, but we're still together; we celebrated our 32nd anniversary in June of this year. Today is dh's 52nd birthday. :)

I only buy meat when it's sale. I stock up and plan my menu according to what's in the freezer. I also shop at Aldi and Save-A-Lot for canned goods, crackers, chips, etc. My in-laws have a garden, and they also alert us to deals at the farmer's market, so every summer we stock our freezer with produce.

Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson and her family live in McIntyre, Georgia. That's just a stone's throw from where I live. :glare:

:iagree:

See, this is why some people think Southerners are ignorant! We do NOT all act this way! These people live near me. But most people I know do NOT behave like this. >[ If you thought “Toddlers and Tiaras,” the reality series about little girls on the beauty pageant circuit and their horrifying stage mothers, was the lowest that reality programming could possibly get — you would be wrong. “Toddlers and Tiaras” is so successful that TLC (which formerly stood for The Learning Channel, mind you) gave one of its stars, Honey Boo Boo Child and her family, their own series called, natch, “Here Come Honey Boo Boo.” If you are unfamiliar, Honey Boo Boo (real name Alana Thompson) is a six-year-old beauty pageant contestant who, when she isn’t dancing on stage in pounds of makeup and fake tanner, drinks “go-go juice,” a blend of Mountain Dew and Red Bull given to her by her mother. After watching the 30-second “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” trailer, a dose of “Toddlers and Tiaras” might actually serve as a palate cleanser. Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/07/23/here-comes-honey-boo-boo-trailer-signifies-end-of-civilization-video/#ixzz22o8HnHre

:eek: I was only kidding about you're living around here, but I really do hear things like that in my area of the country. Astonishing but true.

Yes, she did, in 2004 when he was elected senator. She caught quite a bit of flak over it at the time because many people consider the term a racial slur and were appalled that she used it.

Do you live around here?!?!? Because this is what I hear a LOT in this area. Sad, isn't it? Well, it's worse than sad, but I don't really have an adjective that is appropriate.

Sounds a lot like me! I am also a choir member, and we also have two concerts per year in May & December. Our weekly rehearsals are on Monday evenings. I also enjoy my flower garden, and I'd like to do more with it, but it's just so HOT during our growing season that I hate to go outside except for brief periods in the early morning and just before dusk. In winter, I like to sew and do crafts and bake. I enjoy making gifts for my family and friends.

I almost included KY & VA, but they seem northern to me--couldn't get sweet tea at the restaurants where we stopped. :D I didn't include LA because, to me, the South doesn't include anything west of the Mississippi River. West of the Mississippi River = West. :D

:lol:

:iagree:

Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, north Florida

Same here.

bump :)

Would this be a good informal geometry course for a non-mathy high school student who does not plan to go to college?