I started with contacts when I was 11 with no issues. I would start with single-wear disposables and use a good eye doctor that can walk him through putting them in and removal. Removal was the hardest thing for me at first.

I just spent the last four days with a couple thousand kids ages 7 to 18. Most of these kids are public schooled. Not having a lot of experience with a group of kids this large, I was actually shocked at how polite they were. Yes ma'am, no ma'am, thank you, please, and let me help were the rule rather than the exception. This was for a competition, and all I saw was good sportsmanship. Kids we had never met were wishing my team good luck. When kids found out it was our first time there, they were rushing to help my kids fit in and find their way around. Personally, I think adults are around kids more often these days than they used to be. When I was a kid it was rare for an adult chaperone to be nearby. We could be rude to each other and rarely would an adult hear or notice. Also, rude kids and adults stand out more because they are the exception and not the rule. We remember the rude kid/adult while forgetting the 20 other perfectly polite people we interacted with before them.

I occasionally use dad, but not often. More often my sis and I refer to him as Papa or Papa-san. Rarely Daddy, although sometimes I use it if it fits the moment, but not when referring to him around other people. My youngest son calls him "gramps" or "nemesis," but that's an ongoing joke between the two of them. I never called my mom mommy, though. She's always been mom or momma. In my dad's extended family it seems everyone use daddy for their father's, regardless of gender or age. But they are a tightknit group of Texans so it may just be the culture down there.

As I stated in the other thread, yes I have. This was a case where the children where stealing, had not responded to warnings to stop, and the parents were nowhere to be found. The outcome was the police deferred to CPS because of other circumstances I was not aware of at the time of my call. Young kids playing outside with minimal supervision does not bother me in most cases, as long as the kids are aware of general outside of rules -- you don't climb fences to get into others' yards uninvited, you don't destroy property, you don't play in the street, etc. When children are unwilling or unable to respect these basic rules and the parents are unresponsive, then I have and will call the police not just to protect the child, but to protect myself if something bad does happen.

We use personal size white boards, mainly for math. They are about 11x17 in size and slide onto our bookcase when not in use. Each kid has one and so do I. We use them flat on the table. I might lean one against the wall if I am showing something to both boys, but with a five year spread in ages they are rarely working on the same thing. One option I have considered is painting the closet door in our homeschool room with whtieboard paint. The doors in our house are already white, so it probably wouldn't be too obvious, just more glossy. The only thing stopping me is I'm worried about the marker getting spread onto the wall around the door.

"I'm sorry, we don't tolerate swearing or lying. You will have to go home now. You can return tomorrow if you can control your behavior." Every single time. Neighbor kids are just like any other kids, they are testing boundaries. Lay them down hard and fast, and usually the problem solves itself. The kid straightens up or doesn't come back.

We had a similar situation at our old house. The boys were brothers and both were school age, but I would guess both under the age of 7. From 3 pm to 7 pm they ran wild through the neighborhood. I banned them from my property because they were notorious for breaking things. Then they stole my son's bike. I ran out and stopped them, and they were completely clueless that you couldn't just take something from someone else's yard. I thought I got through to them, but they did it again the next day when DS left the bike on our porch. I called the cops on them this time, figuring one of the neighborhood resource officers could get through to them. Turns out, mom and dad didn't want to pay for childcare, so the kids came home from school, left their backpacks on the porch, then ran around the neighborhood until a parent got home to collect them. The parents figured it was safer for the kids to be running around outside where the neighborhood could keep an eye on them, so locked them out of the house. CPS got involved, and statements were taken from us and all our neighbors. We moved right after this happened, so I don't know the outcome. I would at the very least call the police on the trespassing and destruction of property. Children drown all the time in backyard ponds. The police can decide from there whether these are parents just needing a wake-up call or if it's a CPS-worthy issue.

If you want them to expand their horizons, I would recommend DIY.org. This is a really neat site where kids can earn virtual badges for exploring different hobbies. My kids love it, especially my 8 year old. There's a ton of options, including tutorials to get the kids started on the hobby. It's also free, which is a nice bonus. As for my kids, DS8's hobbies include astronomy, model rocketry, and Legos. DS12 is into Legos, stop-motion movies, and collecting Pokemon cards.

We only allow screen time on weekends, and we only allow two hours per day. The kids can use their time to watch a movie, play games (console or computer), or watch TV. Some things are exempt from the limitations with permission. Movies watched as a family don't count. Some educational pursuits, such as watching a rocket launch on NASA TV or looking up info to complete a hobby project, are allowed without limit. We also allow computer time to my oldest fairly freely if he is doing film editing. Our limits are mainly on games/tv entertainment for my oldest son because my he has struggled with media addiction in the past.

You're right! Third to fifth grade for Apprentice. I saw the reference to LLATL purple and completely forgot about the blue reference in the original post.

I have all the levels sitting right here in my pile to send to consignment. I picked them up at the thrift store and thought I'd look through them to see if they would work. The first several levels aren't too bad, but the religious content slowly gets more in your face as you progress through the series. My older son tried to use tan this year because he thought it looked easy, but there were way too many biblical references and he didn't feel comfortable with it. I can't remember them off hand, but there are some sections where it's really heavy, and the correct answers or just the verbiage assumes you are coming at it from a Christian perspective. If I had the time to screen ahead and come up with alternate work, we could have probably made it work, but it just wasn't worth it to me because LLATL is just such a light program as it is. I'm also not a fan of many of the literature selections throughout the series. They seem young for the grade level or they are overly heavy-handed in the religion department for our taste. For the skills you are trying to teach, I recommend Wordsmith Apprentice. It also has some Christian content but it's very light and easily omitted or approached from a different perspective. In the text, the student is a new reporter and learning all the skills of a reporter. It specifically teaches research and dictionary skills, writing technique, creative writing, and other necessary writing and comprehension skills. DS used it last year and absolutely loved it. He's not big on writing, but he would willingly spend all day turning a simple exercise from the book into a full blown project.

Congrats, everyone! I just can't bring myself to do year-round school, but I respect and maybe even envy a bit those that do. My goal each year is to have a solid three months off, so I push, push, push through the school year. Our summer's are just too short and I want to be outside in the garden, tending our ducks, or swimming in the lake! The kids could probably do better with a shorter summer, but I'd lose my mind. The downtime is more for me than for them!

I do it, but it's easy because we only have five monthly bills and about four annual/semi-annual bills. I pay everything online, I haven't written a check in ages. To be fair, I am a naturally very, very organized person. DH is very bad with money, and he is well aware of this. He was raised with money and never learned to manage it, which bit him as a young adult when he wasn't earning money. He had a lot of debt to pay before we wed. When we got married, he requested that I handle all finances and only allow him to spend with permission. He knows his limitations. At first it was odd having a grown man ask if it was okay to buy a soda, but I've gotten used to it over the years. I do insist on reviewing our budget and net worth together each month, and I do have a household binder with all the bill info in it if something happens to me and DH knows how to use it. He has access to our accounts, but he chooses not to use them without permission.

Although I wouldn't say anything, I might raise my eyebrow a bit if the child was older than 10. My oldest was probably 6 or 7 when I let him go, and then it was limited to small venues. Big stores, malls, amusement parks -- he still went in with me until he was 8 or 9. Mainly because he just didn't have the maturity. I still worry about him because he doesn't know how to say no, especially to adults. I don't know how to explain it other than my younger son has more street smarts than my older. My younger son began going on his own in small venues when he was about 5, and now at 8 he only goes in with me in exceptionally crowded or sketchy venues. For example, one big box store near us is well known for bathroom issues. Although the store tries to prevent it, homeless men still sneak in and use the restroom for cleaning up, which means men with sketchy backgrounds bathing in the sink. There has been issues there with these men in the past. If the family restroom is unavailable at this store, DS8 goes in with me. When possible, I send both boys together. I have also been known to be more paranoid leaving younger outside the bathroom while I go, and I have had him stand right inside the women's restroom door, away from the stalls. Generally though, I don't worry about it too much. I remember going into men's rooms with my dad as a kid (probably ages 8 and below). My dad would always enter first and make an announcement that his daughter was coming in. There was never any negativity that I remember, I mainly remember the other men laughing and joking with my dad. As an adult, it strikes me that the communal feeling in the men's room was that of a right of passage for a young dad to clear the way for his daughter.

Not tacky. Potluck weddings are common where I have lived (Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Washington), and they are common at all income levels. My social circle is comprised of people that value resources (lots of crunchy granola types). The dish is in lieu of a gift. Bridal showers are uncommon in my family and circle of friends. It could be the bride is not planning her shower and someone else decided to do so for her. In the end, what matters is how you feel about your cousin. For me, familial love would outweigh any personal judgements I could make. I would view it as his special day and would do my part to share the joy with him. In the end, that is all that's important. The rest is just silly cultural expectations mainly thrust upon us by an overzealous wedding industry. I had a lovely semi-potluck wedding, with close family members and very close friends supplying food in lieu of gifts, and my MIL doing the cake. I received many compliments, not just on the ceremony and reception, but also for being wise to avoid the wedding money trap.

You have two options. You can let them climb down the other side of the trellis, or you can pinch them off at the top. Don't cut them, because that can cause the vine to die back and leaves an opening for disease organisms. Instead, pinch off the growing tip of each stem just above a leaf. Pinching seals the cut and it signals the vine to stop upward growth. You will likely get some lateral vines just below the pinch point.

Bowie did tweet it and shared it on his Facebook, so he seems completely behind it. Plus, a former band member helped do the editing work back on Earth. From his FB feed: CHRIS HADFIELD SINGS SPACE ODDITY IN SPACE! “Hallo Spaceboy...†Commander Chris Hadfield, currently on board the International Space Station, has just tweeted his version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity. A revised version of David Bowie's Space Oddity, recorded by Commander Chris Hadfield on board the International Space Station. With thanks to Emm Gryner, Joe Corcoran, Andrew Tidby and Evan Hadfield for all their hard work. It’s possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created and you may recognise the name of one of those involved in its creation. We’re talking about Chris's fellow Canadian, the lovely Emm Gryner, who was a part of the Bowie live band in 1999/2000. Here’s what she said on her blog (http://smarturl.it/EmmBlog) regarding her involvement: “The task was in front of me. I came up with a piano part. i then enlisted my friend, producer and fellow Canadian Joe Corcoran to take my piano idea and Chris' vocal and blow it up into a fully produced song. Drums! mellotrons! fuzz bass! We also incorporated into the track ambient space station noises which Chris had put on his Soundcloud. I was mostly blown away by how pure and earnest Chris' singing is on this track. Like weightlessness and his voice agreed to agree. And voila! And astronaut sings Space Oddity in space! I was so honoured to be asked to be a part of this. You wouldn't get too many chances to make a recording like this and not only that, to make music with someone who - through his vibrant communications with kids in schools to his breathtaking photos to his always patient and good-humoured demeanour - has done more for science and space than anyone else this generation. Planet earth IS blue, and there's nothing left for Chris Hadfield to do. Right. Safe travels home Commander! â€

This video is awesome. ISS Commander Hadfield recorded his own version of Bowie's "Space Oddity," making a few minor changes: Bowie is DS8's favorite singer, this is his favorite song, and his main goal in life since he was three is to be an astronaut or build the ship that takes people to another planet. He has been watching this on repeat for the last 15 minutes, and I expect he will continue to do so until bedtime!

I'm a bit excited! I pulled out all the kids' work after DS12 told me he had finished all of his writing assignments. We usually school from 9/1-6/1, but it looks like we're going to call it quits in a week! DS12 has finished his writing, grammar and history work. He still has two chapters and an essay left for literature, and we have one more week of science. DS8 has finished his phonics, grammar and history. He also has one more week of science. We finished our art program two weeks ago, and DS12 finished French a few weeks ago and has just been working on review exercises online. We never finish math, we just start the next level, so we can stop it at any time. We do a light summer school. They each have a folder containing a summer reading list and they need to log a certain amount of work on Khan academy. We used to do a nature journal, but neither kid was that into it last year so we are going to set some DIY.org goals. I don't push summer school, but if they log and reach all their summer folder work they get a prize. This year it's a basic Kindle for each (I've been saving up my Swagbucks)! I'm just shocked we are done. When we added DS8 into the mix a few years ago our nice, organized school days flew out the window and I was wondering if I could keep it up. Our years seemed to drag on and we rarely finished anything. This year we seemed to finally catch our stride and I really feel like we got so much done. I've already got most of next year planned and all my curricula, just because I wanted to do it now while our successes were fresh in my mind. I can't wait to start dismantling the school room in a couple of weeks so I can start getting it prepped for fall! We're doing chemistry next year and my mom gave me an old cabinet. I'm going to stock it with dedicated chemistry supplies so we have everything on hand and there's no last minute scrambling. I have my list already so I can start scouring yard sales for old measuring spoons, glass bowls, and other everyday items that will work well! I've never felt this good in May before!!

I thought it was cute and made me a bit nostalgic for my kids' "little kid" art days. The different things you choose changes the look of the final card. Here's what the designer says about the design process, which I found a bit interesting: http://www.google.com/doodles/mothers-day-2013

I have many, many reasons that I homeschool. I worked in the public school system (at a "good" school) and it left me unimpressed academically and emotionally. I like the freedom of our schedule as homeschoolers, and the freedom it gives my children as they get older to pursue their interests in a quality manner. I prefer to provide a rigorous education that fits both mine and my children's lifelong learning and career goals. Our school's have a very poor gifted program, and it doesn't officially start until third grade and peters out by middle school. I want my children to have a truly secular, factual education, which frankly doesn't happen in PS because the curriculum must gloss over key points to keep everyone appeased. I want to be free of school politics, and I want my children free of classroom politics. I want them to have time to be kids and develop their own personalities and passions before peer pressure can mold them. Most of all, I want the ability to say yes more than no -- yes, you can stay up late to watch the rocket launch on NASA tv. Yes, we can fly to Michigan for this tournament. Yes, you can join this club that only has meetings during the day. If they were in school, I would have to say no more often to fit things in with school schedules. In the end, for me and my family, homeschooling is synonymous with freedom. I loosely follow the WTM. I like how it divides Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric. I like the basic schedules -- the four year science/history rotations and when to introduce what subject. I follow some of the curriculum advice, such as narrations, timelines, and summaries. I don't really use any of the recommended curricula. They just don't work for us, and that's fine. I use WTM as a philosophy and as a roadmap, at most. Our homeschool is more math and science focused with much less history. Best of all, WTM gave me permission to mix and match, if that makes sense. In the beginning I felt like it was all or nothing -- use a curriculum for everything or build your own from scratch for everything. After I read WTM it clicked for me. I can use what ever curricula I want and discard the rest. I can come up with my own for some subjects and buy a complete curriculum for others. For some reason, I just couldn't see that on my own.

DS8 has his own fashion sense. Socks cannot match under any circumstances. He only wears shorts or one of three space-themed pajama bottoms as pants, and he only wears t-shirts that reflect his passions (NASA, astronomy club, science-themed). If his favorite t-shirts are dirty he turns a shirt he doesn't care for inside out and wears that. I quit dressing my children once they are old enough to put on clothes themselves, so I'm used to creative outfit choices so his fashion sense doesn't bother me at all, even when he decides to wear mismatched socks with sandals. He despises haircuts so we have a deal that he gets one every six months. His hair grows super fast so he usually has wild, long hair. If I comb it he messes it up promptly. Fortunately, his hair is thick and doesn't tend to tangle. He prefers to lay or sit on the floor to do school work. If I force him to sit at a desk or table, such as for group work, he prefers to sit on top the table. He also starts his morning and finishes his day by running 10 to 15 laps around our dining room table, followed by 10 push-ups. He has done this since we was a toddler. He says it helps him wake up and helps him sleep. Considering the kid only sleeps about six hours a night, anything to help is fine. Most of the time his quirkiness doesn't stand out, other than his fashion choices. In public he comes across as a friendly but slightly reserved child that likes to hyperfocus on things. But, he has memorized all the Gemini, Mercury and Apollo missions and the astronauts on each. He has also memorized the shuttle missions and astronauts up to the Hubble repair mission. He likes to recite them in a robotic voice when he is bored, such as standing in line at the grocery store. That draws odd looks sometimes, but he has also met some interesting people that way. I was a quirky kid that grew up to be a quirky adult, and I married a quirky man. DS12 works very hard not to be quirky, but I think that is his way of rebelling -- be the most normal person in the family.

In all the activities that I lead we have done behavior contracts for both the kids and adults. I always require that an adult stays for the first two or three meetings with a new child. This gives me a chance to gauge behavior and group integration with the parent nearby if needed. The adult contract basically states my discipline policy and behavior expectations. It also includes info a parent must always be reachable by phone if they do leave their child, that they cannot be late to pick up the child, any volunteer expectations of the parent. I include, in big, bold letters, that I am not a paid employee but a parent volunteer. A lot of parents just don't seem to get that. I mainly use sitting out as the primary discipline with other people's children, although I sometimes use peer discipline (earn something by everyone behaving) with especially rowdy groups. The kids and I come up with our own contract. We brainstorm together on expected behaviors (with me leading them to the correct answers if necessary). We draw up our "Rules" on a big posterboard we hang in meetings. Each kid signs it. This helps with that positive peer pressure and the kids take more ownership of rules they come up with. I have found the more responsibility and the higher your expectations, the better the kids behave. My biggest issue isn't the kids, but the misguided "mama bears." There child breaks a rule and gets in minor trouble (such as 2 minutes sitting out), tells mom after the meeting, them mom comes storming in to yell at me about her snowflake being mistreated. I've found the best way to handle that is to become a stone wall. I usually make eye contact, tell the parent I do not respond to yelling or disrespect but I will review the behavioral rules with them when they calm down, and walk away. My final ruling is if a parent doesn't like their child being disciplined, then they must be present in all meetings and take charge of their child the second I say so. Most parents use clubs as babysitting services, so even the loudest mama bear tends to back off when they hear that.

Math was our most frustrating and most successful. Miquon was interesting at the beginning of the year, but he quickly worked through it. We spent the rest of the year trying one curriculum after another, but he quickly grew bored with them. We've settled on CSMP for now, although I think the spiral will get boring after a bit, but for now he is enamored with it and Khan Academy. Visiting our new science museum often was an excellent idea. The science educator there has become a real mentor to DS, and his influence finally helped my boy get over his stubbornness and learn to read because he finally accepted that a scientist has to read. DS really came out of his shell this year. He is making friends easily and his shyness around his age peers has disappeared. He's become very self confident. I think some of this is because his older brother really models confidence well. I think our highlight is yet to come. Both my boys are on an Odyssey of the Mind team (our first year as a team), and they won in the state competition! We're on our way to Michigan State University in a couple of weeks to compete in World Finals. Both boys are excited, but DS8 is especially excited because NASA is a sponsor of the competition and they are hosting some activities for the competitors.

May 31st is our last day, so we technically have 20 more school days. But, three of those days we'll be in Michigan for the Odyssey of the Mind world finals (our first year homeschool team made it, yay)! We also have a couple of field trip days in there, too. So we really have only 12 or so actual school days left all together.