We've been around a lot of homeschoolers, mainly secular but a few faith-based. This sounds awful, but generally the local homeschoolers have much lower educational standards than us. This past year my kids took a couple of classes at a public school enrichment program for homeschoolers, mainly because my eldest is planning to start college early and he wanted a classroom algebra course. Our advisor, who spends all day every day working with homeschoolers, was floored at our schedule and curriculum materials. His math and Chinese teachers have both told me he is their only student this year to keep up with the work and manage his time well. Generally, I think people that take the time to research and chat on a forum are trying to give better academics, where as those who don't are homeschooling for completely different reasons. The locals I have met generally give their kids workbooks from Costco or follow a faith-based program from start to end (sometimes doing the bare minimum, sometimes doing well). Most aren't interested in a rigorous education, just the bare minimum so the kids can get into the local CC if they want. There's probably a huge group of secular, academics-focused homeschoolers in my area I'd fit in perfectly with.Problem is, like me, they aren't rushing out to every park day and semi-educational field trip "for socialization," so we will probably never meet each other!

I've never even thought about it, beyond that school hours are the best times to run errands because the stores are less crowded! My kids play out front, ride bikes, and my oldest even walks up to the local Starbucks on occasion. What with early dismissals, inservice days, private schools, alternative learning option schools, charter schools, and virtual schools most people don't even think to ask. Oldest, when out on his own, did get stopped by a truancy officer once. Son said he was homeschooled, officer asked his name and punched it into his little computer, said "yep, you don't show up on my list" and that was that.

The only warning I can give is someday you will may become a bitter, distrustful person with few meaningful relationships if you don't start looking for the best in people. After many years the distrust grows to paranoia. Someone I love is becoming a person like this. It's painful to watch, but if I say anything then I am judging her and end up on the list of entitled, no good, not-to-be trusted individuals. As for how to give the benefit of the doubt? Become more mindful of the way you may come across to others and realize some days we are the entitled, rude jerk-faces, too. Examples from my experience -- either decide that no one knows how to drive anymore, or become more mindful of every time I make a mistake when behind the wheel (we all do, a lot), like straying over the line, turning out in front of someone, etc. How many phone calls or emails have I forgotten to return, or were late returning. Of course my reason was acceptable to me, but what if the other person doubted it? I've complained about the cost of cheese, only to later learn the friend I was complaining to was going through a major financial hardship -- man, I must have sounded like an entitled brat complaining that only medium cheddar was on sale and not all the other fancy flavors I wanted! I've thought evil thoughts about a call center, until I worked at one and realized just how much the company failed to give the phone people all the info they needed to properly solve problems or answer question. I'm not perfect, I've let people down, I've made mistakes. But most times I try to be a better person, so I also believe most other people are trying, too, even if I never see it.

We have "be in your rooms and be quiet time," lol. It's always been 9:00 since the kids were little, otherwise I would have had toddlers waking me up at 4:00 am! The kids are 9 and 13 now. Bedtime is loosely 9 pm for the 9 yo -- he has to be in his room and in bed, but if he stays up and reads that's no concern of mine. 13 year old is banished to his room by 9:30. I don't care if he's even in bed, but he better be reading or playing quietly. I assume he usually goes to sleep. He's my morning person and he's usually up by 6 am. After bed time, you only leave for bathroom or emergencies. As for evening demands, it's never been an issue. After dinner (or getting home from activities) the kids do any evening cleanup chores and then everyone is supposed to wind down and relax. No high energy play, hardcore projects that need a lot of adult input, or bugging mom and dad just because you are bored. We are all people that like our own space and need our own personal time, so it's never really been an issue. I don't know if our kids were born this way, or if we subconsciously taught them to be this way.

We have "be in your rooms and be quiet time," lol. It's always been 9:00 since the kids were little, otherwise I would have had toddlers waking me up at 4:00 am! The kids are 9 and 13 now. Bedtime is loosely 9 pm for the 9 yo -- he has to be in his room and in bed, but if he stays up and reads that's no concern of mine. 13 year old is banished to his room by 9:30. I don't care if he's even in bed, but he better be reading or playing quietly. I assume he usually goes to sleep. He's my morning person and he's usually up by 6 am. After bed time, you only leave for bathroom or emergencies. As for evening demands, it's never been an issue. After dinner (or getting home from activities) the kids do any evening cleanup chores and then everyone is supposed to wind down and relax. No high energy play, hardcore projects that need a lot of adult input, or bugging mom and dad just because you are bored. We are all people that like our own space and need our own personal time, so it's never really been an issue. I don't know if our kids were born this way, or if we subconsciously taught them to be this way.

I just want to comment on this for anyone not familiar with telescopes that stumbles into this thread :) Images through a refracting telescope (the type with lenses where you look through the end) will always be backwards, while images through a reflector (mirror telescope with eyepiece at the front) will be upside down. This is just the ways lenses, mirrors and our eyes work. Although things like cameras or spotting scopes have mirrors in them to fix the image for our eyes, telescopes don't because that would make the image less clear because of the distance we are looking when we look at the sky. Just be aware of the type of telescope and how it flips the image before using it so you can adjust your reading of star/moon maps when using the scope.

Astronomy is our passion around here. I don't recommend the DIY telescope building kits above if actual viewing is the goal. You will be lucky to get a good view of a moon crater and the frustration can kill a budding interest in astronomy. My advise is to contact a local astronomy club and visit one of their star parties instead of making an ineffective scope. Astronomy Day is coming up so clubs will be doing public events all over the country. If you do an inexpensive kit to just illustrate the basics of how a scope works, then please, please find a way for your child to look through a real telescope first and make sure they know the limitations of the DIY version. When my son does outreach, he gets so many kids that won't look through his scope because of past disappointment looking through these kit scopes or badly made department store scopes. He spends half his time convincing people just to walk up to the eyepiece. If he really gets into it and you do decide to build a scope worthy of space viewing, I recommend a Newtonian reflector (instead of the refractors above with lenses, reflectors use mirrors). Here's a pop-sci link on DIYing one: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/space/telescopes/4286700 Some astronomy clubs also have ATM clubs (amateur telescope makers), which can give helpful pointers and help.

My eldest is planning for early admit through the community college in two years. We're lucky to live in a state that is very pro-high school/college dual enrollment and where the state colleges work closely with the CCs to come up with transfer programs. The program he's interested in has a transfer agreement with the Design Institute at the state college, where he can complete 2 or 3 years at a specific CC (two of them as a high school student instead of normal high school course work), and 1 to 2.5 years at the state uni. CC's differ in quality and target different student bodies. Some are primarily for trades and certificates, others are more rigorous and mainly in the business of teaching transfer students. You have to shop around carefully for a CC, just like you would for a Uni, and it's pretty important to have some clear goals about future education choices. We've been advised he should work with both a counsellor at the CC and at the Uni each year as he plans his course schedule so he can keep abreast of any changes in the program from both institutions.

I've used a similar method to the bullet journal for years, but now I'm in love with the symbols so I am integrating that into my method! As for a pen holder on Moleskine and similar journals, this is my method. I made a loop out of 1-inch wide elastic long enough to fit around the cover lengthwise (similar to the original elastic closure, but just for the front cover), and sewed the ends together. I then cut two slits about 2 inches apart in the front of the elastic and scorched the edges with a flame so it didn't unravel, similar to what you do with nylon rope or paracord. Simply slip the elastic over the cover and and slide the pen through the two holes. Quick, simple and you can move it to the next journal instead of having to modify each new journal you buy. I'm weird. I'm an office supply junkie and a post-it snob (Blue, lined square post-its are my absolute favorite). I'm picky about notebooks, journals and paper. I can spend hours looking for the perfect binder or folder. But when it comes to pens, the only ones I like are the cheapie black Bics that are clear with a black cap. People are always gifting me fancy, expensive pens and I always return to my trusty Bic. I stock up every time they go on sale for $1 for a 10 pack because I have a fear they will one day discontinue them or change the ink or pen tip so they don't write so smoothly or smear!

Thanks for the feedback! Yes, our plan is to start with AOPs pre-algebra before jumping into algebra, and I was thinking of using the CK12 text as the first introduction to the concepts. Saxon is a definite no-go with this boy, even though I have all the texts because my older son used them. DS outright despises Saxon from when we briefly tried to use it with him. I'm trying to find an option for the initial introduction of concepts before we move on to AOPs.

We've been kind of blase about math with my 9 year old this year. We knew he was way ahead and we couldn't really find a curriculum fit. He wanted to just play around on Khan Academy for most of the year so we let him do his own thing there along with an outside the home, twice weekly fractions class he wanted to try. I decided we needed to get a bit more formal with math for next year, so I bought a couple of 4th and 5th grade math workbooks (the type to make sure your child knows all the topics they should know after summer break) a couple of weeks ago to check for knowledge holes. Well, he just finished them and except for a few topics he needed to review, they were pretty simple for him. We've been planning AOPS for Algebra for him, but I'm not quite sure he's ready for it maturity-wise. I want to get him used to doing math more traditionally rather than just exploring and following his whims. He has also requested a textbook approach ("Moooooom, I want to get serious about math!"), but he prefers to work online. I'm thinking the CK12 Flexbook for 6th grade looks just right, with the text and problems both presented online but in textbook format. Maybe work through it over the summer and reassess his readiness to move on in the fall? Has anyone used these with a kid that enjoys math and understands math concepts quickly, but gets bored with repetition? Maybe I just fail at searching, but I'm not finding much info from anyone that's actually used these. Thanks!

We put as much into the passion as he does. My 9 year old has been obsessed with space since birth, it seems. He goes through phases -- sometimes it's the history of space travel, sometimes astronomy, sometimes the engineering. They all circle back and forth to the forefront of his consciousness. At first we watched free documentaries, went stargazing with binoculars, that sort of thing. Then, we joined our local astronomy club even though it's aimed more at adults. When he flourished there, we realized he had found his tribe, even though he's the only kid. He began taking notes at astronomy lectures and doing public astronomy outreach at 6, so we bought him a telescope and signed him up for a few classes. Alternative energy sources then grabbed his interest, mainly as a means for powering spaceflight and colonies on other planets. When he set up his own "field trip" to a local solar panel manufacturer by talking to the guy at a garden show, we decided to invest in some solar science kits. He meddled in solar power all last summer, but that interest waned in winter. It's picked up again slightly as the weather has warmed. His latest craze on the space theme is radio astronomy. At first we just let him have free rein of Google to research. Then we let him talk about it nonstop to anyone and everyone. He then built his own radio telescope with a cast-off satellite dish and a trip to Radioshack. He decided to give a talk about it to his astronomy club and help some of the older gentlemen put their own telescopes together. This was the point where we decided he had put enough of his own time and energy into it that it was truly something he was interested in, so we decided we'd invest a few more dollars to help him get it wired up to his computer so he can actually track the data accurately. We're planning on taking him to a radio observatory this summer. He has big goals, and as long as he is actively pursuing them we will follow in his wake and help him where we can, but we won't do it for him or jump the gun and decide where the next aspect of his passion should lead. Most importantly, don't show disappointment if a passion seems to wane. One passion is often a stepping stone to the next. My boy's passion started off with dreams of being an astronaut. I was a little heartbroken when he declared he no longer wanted to be an astronaut, but he would rather be an astronautics engineer. But this isn't my passion or my life. I don't bat an eye or feel a twinge of despair anymore when he changes his mind. This week he is going to be an astrophysicist, next week he may be designing fighter jets. I am pretty sure though that where ever he ends up, that his passion as a kid will have served him well and helped prepare him.

Empire Strikes Back. I was 4 or 5. I know I went to movies before that, but I think I slept through them because Empire is the first one I remember.

Depends on the path not taken, really. Some paths are gone for ever if you don't take them, others you can rejoin again at a later time. Some paths seem great in retrospect, but we know it wouldn't be good to get back on them. If it's possible, constructive and will improve your life to jump paths, then it can be very useful to think about it and find the short cut to get back on it.

Been to movies and restaurants alone, but I don't go to church ever so that one doesn't apply. There used to be a bar I'd go to after work to watch the hockey game back in college because I was too poor for cable. I've travelled overseas alone and gone backpacking/camping alone. The best was in a little Scottish town at a pub. There were two pubs in town -- the tourist one and the locals one. I got tired of a group of Aussie men hitting on me at the first pub but wasn't ready to head back to the hostel, so I wandered over to the locals pub. Met some cool people, closed the place down, and was given a tour of the area the next day by an older local couple I met at the pub. It was a small enough town that most of it had been at the pub that night, so it was neat experience being greeted by name by everyone as I explored the area over the next few days. I'm an extrovert and will talk to anybody, though, so I usually end up meeting new people to hang out with by the end of my adventures. DH is a shy and cautious introvert by nature, so he sometimes thinks I'm crazy but he doesn't begrudge me doing things on my own that he's not comfortable joining in on.

Squash, summer or winter, provides a starchy feel without the starch. I like to toss roasted or sauteed veggies with pesto, usually a spinach or kale pesto. Our meals tend to be a protein, salad, and a veggie side. Salad may be a normal garden salad, a warm cabbage salad, a fruit salad, coleslaw, or spinach and strawberries with a balsamic vinaigrette (my favorite). I also tend to add caramelized onions and garlic to plain veggies, because they impart a lot of flavor.

Bell peppers are evil incarnate, but hot peppers are lovely. I can tolerate wine, but I much prefer beer. Dark, bitter beer is the absolute best. I do not like children until they are old enough to talk and share their opinions in even a basic discussion, say around age two or three. I loved, held and cuddled my babies, but I could only handle them in small doses. Fortunately, DH loves babies and handled much of the early childcare. I think most people are lazy or have poor time management skills when they constantly complain about messy homes, messy lives, inability to cook, or being broke when all they do is spend, spend, spend on convenience items and waste their time on Facebook. Saying "happy holidays" is not some evil satanic or secular plot against Christians. The reason for the season predates Christianity. Scientific theory and law is not an opinion or a belief. Elf on the shelf is evil and I am convinced it will kill me in my sleep if I ever allow the abomination into my home. I feel the same way about stuffed animals in general, and adults that collect stuffed animals creep me out.

We limit, but only because DS13 literally becomes addicted to the screen. We're talking all loss of the ability to function, physical withdrawal once it's gone, depression, the whole 9 yards. We haven't tested it in years, but at 8 he would pee his pants because he couldn't force himself to walk away and use the bathroom. DS8 has never had these issues and he isn't big on TV, although he does like to have NASATV on as background noise when he's puttering around. I've never been big on TV, and DH rarely watches anything beyond movies or a documentary. We don't have cable and only have one tv, which depends on Xbox/Netflix or an hdmi cable hooked up to the computer to show anything. We used to have strict limits -- two hours a week. This accounted for TV, video games, and non-school computer time. As DS13 as gotten older and learned his own limits, we have loosened up. DS8 is pretty much unrestricted because he just doesn't need to be. He'd rather be on the computer than watching TV, and he mainly wants the computer to look stuff up and research. He just needs to ask permission before turning on a screen. DS13 also has to ask permission and set a timer. No more than 1 hour at a time, then he must take a break for at least a couple of hours. He doesn't need to ask for educational (non-game, in other words) computer time, but he is expected to take a break after an hour. I'm actually very proud of him. He got a smart phone a couple months ago, and he was having issues regulating his time on app games. So now he only keeps one game on his phone and uses the timer function on the phone each time he decides to play. Since he self regulated well, we do not monitor his phone screen time.

Oh, sibling resentment over this sort of stuff is very real. Kids are quick to notice parental favoritism, and often it results in the kids blaming the sibling and not the parent. Right now, three out five people in the household are feeling resentment. This is no small thing. In a loving family, there should be no "suck it up and deal with it." A family is a different aspect of the real world. Out there, life is often unfair and harsh. In a family, it should be nurturing, loving, and with some semblance of balance of fairness. For us, we do have a time limits on "free" screen time, with family screen time exempt. Family means both adults present and kids if they would like to be. Sports sounds like only one adult is present, so it would not count as exempt time in our home. That means it would cut into that one child's free screen time. Either go whole hog on limiting screen time and issue limits. An alternative is to tell DH if he does one-on-one sports time with one child, then he needs to come up with a one-on-one weekly activity for the other two -- of their choosing. As for how to approach it, I would come up with two or three options I could live with and offer them to my husband. Or, we would have a family meeting with each person allowed to air their grievances with the current situation uninterrupted, then a group confab to brainstorm solutions. THAT"S how the real world works -- discussion and compromise, not executive orders.

I work full time, but it's from home and DH also works fulltime from home, so our situation is different than many. We keep a pretty strict schedule between work and school to make it all doable. I wake up at 5:30 and work until 9:30. The boys come into the office and start school. I continue to work off and on throughout the day, while taking breaks as needed to help the boys or get them started on their next task. DH has his studio in the basement and his work isn't on a strict schedule with deadlines, so he takes over when I am too slammed with work to help with school work. I have high expectations of my kids and DH to help me keep everything running smoothly, so we have routines for everything from cleaning the house to finishing school work on time every day. I keep a detailed daily list, and at least one kid is in my office looking it over each evening so they can see what is expected of everyone the following day.

Society is constantly evolving, so the rules need to evolve. At every wedding I've been to, the gifts are brought to the reception. The gift table is right next to the guest book. Friends and family are more far-flung, with people having more social circles that don't overlap, so hunting down addresses or gift lists is more complicated. Many young couples get married later so they already have a fully stocked home, and may even own a home at marriage, so the registry isn't necessary but cash is more welcome. Society has changed, as must the rules. The question we need to ask, as logical, thinking people, is why is there an outcry when rules are broken? Are we really offended on a deep level, or are we offended because it has been ingrained into us to be offended? I've seen some people get their knickers in such a twist over these little lapses in etiquette that friendships have ended or family ties are broken. (Not saying this in the case of the OP, at all!) Why isn't it okay to question them? Because it's always been that way? Well, that's a bad reason for doing anything, IMHO.

I know it's supposed to be an etiquette thing, but really, so many etiquette things are just plain silly to me. Everyone follows them because everyone always has, where's the logic in that? I would much prefer everyone be upfront on what they want, saving me time and energy when it comes to shopping. I'm supposed to call someone close to the bride to find out where they're registered, really? I might be close to the bride but have no contact info for her family. Although it may be proper, it feels pretty rude that I'm supposed to do all this legwork and research to figure out a gift. I know as a wedding guest it's rude to show up without a gift or card. Everyone involved knows I'm going to bring something, so just tell me what already. Etiquette be damned! I can't remember what we did at our wedding, but all we got was cash which I'm thankful for. I know we didn't register anywhere. I do know we slaughtered a lot of other wedding etiquette rules. Fortunately, the people that love me are used to the fact I'm either inept or don't care about expected social norms, so no one seemed upset or called us out on anything. Benefit of being considered "creatives," you can get away with pretty much anything!

Ours is easy because my mom does most of the food prep, and I supply most of the food items except the meat. There's just six of us -- we four and my parents. Shopping is done (well, most comes from my garden). Ham (because none of us are turkey fans) Mashed potatoes Sweet potatoes (yuck, this is all on my mom!) Garlicky green beans Roasted brussels sprouts Homemade rolls (I do make these) We'll have an apple pie and a peach pie. We pick fruit during the summer from an orchard, and mom always processes a ton into premade pies which she simply has to take from the freezer and bake, so those have been ready for months. Quick, easy, but different enough to feel like a holiday meal. Oh, and I picked up wine and sparkling cider today for the added festivity.

I second (third) the Orion Starblast series for the beginner and they don't break the bank. They come with two eyepieces, a collimator, a copy of the Starry Night planetarium software, and a red dot finder scope. Select the ones on a dobsonian mount. Younger son and myself by default are both amateur astronomers and active in astronomy outreach.. The Starblast 4.5 is pretty good, but it is a tabletop model so you need a sturdy outdoor table to set it on. The Starblast 6 is better, comes on a full size mount, and even has a go-to option (so it's computerized and can find the stars for you). You can see the moon, the planets, double stars, the rings of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter, nebulas and galaxies (AKA the "faint fuzzies") quite well. Good quality eye pieces are the key to seeing finer details. Start with the eye pieces that come with the scope, and maybe invest in a barlow eye piece (it doubles the power of your existing eye pieces). A telescope is only as good as the person driving it. A visit to a college astronomy department or local astronomy club is your best bet. Failing that, the cloudynights.com forum is an excellent place to find scope reviews and learn the basics of using a scope and finding your targets. Bookwise, I recommend "Turn Left at Orion" for getting started.

DS13 has always been neat, while DS8 is a slob. He's an inventor at heart, and can't bear to part with anything that he envisions to be useful one day. To be fair, most of his hoarded goodies do get turned into whatever he is envisioning eventually. We do an evening room inspection. It doesn't have to be clean, but dirty clothes must be in hamper, there must be a clear path from door to bed to window for emergencies, and there can't be any stray water glasses or dishes that have wandered in. We don't usually bother to inspect DS13 because his room is rarely an issues, but DS8 gets a quick peek every evening. On Saturdays, rooms must be cleaned and swept. DS8 can keep his creations if he finds a "home" for them. He has a bookshelf just for creations. Usually older, less favorite ones get tossed into the recycle bin so he can replace them with his new ones. Often, he takes a picture of his creation before disposing of it, or mines it for parts for a future creation -- especially if it involves any electronic additions. He has a storage place for his wiring supplies. Encouraging him to take pictures and to mine for reusable parts was what it enabled him to finally part with stuff without becoming upset.