:lol: My son was working on a scout badge, can't remember which, but he had to track our family spending for a month. Our groceries that month were something like $100, and literally that was buying toilet paper, cat food, and bottled water. That month just happened to coincide with us selling our home, so we were exclusively eating out and mooching off of relatives' meals. He was 12 then and is 17 now. Last year in Econ they did a budgeting project and he shared with the class that our grocery bill was "about $100/month." We have 9 people living in this house now, 12 when he worked on that badge LOL. The teacher emailed me to see if I'd come talk to the class and share my amazing budgeting skills. This kid will forever think we spend $25/week on groceries. This is the same kid who can spend close to that much feeding HIMSELF ALONE at a fast food place. I tell him it's a good thing he's cute, and he should marry young.

I've had to physically describe my brother to someone who didn't know him. He was the coach for my sons' baseball team and I was the manager. When it came time to place the uniform order our first year, I had to ask the uniform people how the fit of their shirts were. Because he has such broad shoulders, it's often necessary for my brother to size up if they shirts are athletic-fit or are a certain brands that we know to run more narrow. I described his build (non-PC, I said he was built like a linebacker) so they could help me select the best size. I imagine this might also be true of anyone clothes shopping for someone and wanting a salesperson's help to determine fit. I think there are times when it's legitimate to a conversation, without any negative attachment to it - purely descriptive - especially true for a parent describing a child.

My kids are all strong readers, and half of them are atrocious spellers. I laughed at the "State Meat" because I could totally see mine writing that! And they're teens ... Anyway, I sucked it up and did AAS with them after resisting it for years. With the younger ones I used the tiles and all of the other soul-sucking that went with the program, but with my older kids I just read the book with them and gave them the spelling tests. We moved through the first five levels super quickly, and best of all IT STUCK! So my suggestion would be to use the AAS as an open-and-go ... or to find a phonics program that is (even if it's aimed for readers, not spellers). I'm sure there are even apps you can find that would work. And for review, try Junior Scrabble or Boggle - always a hit here, especially when the older kids felt babied by the ease of AAS. We have an old phonics book by the McCrackens. This is what the elementary school used for my younger siblings' ESL classes when we immigrated. I don't know if it's still in print but I know there are options out there!

I'm not familiar with TC, but I did start W&R with a 4th grader. Here's how: Fall Semester: W&R 1 - Fable Spring Semester: W&R 2 - Narrative 1 We do a 3-day school week with block scheduling. Day 4 is a make-up and field trip day. Day 5 is co-op. Day 1: 30-40 minutes (teacher-intensive; we did it orally) I read the passage aloud, which she then narrated. She re-read the passage aloud, and we discussed. We did the Go Deeper section. We started the Writing Time section, steps #1-3, sometimes #4. Day 2: 20-30 minutes (independent work, mostly) She finished the Writing Time section, steps #4+. We reviewed her rough draft together. She re-wrote or typed her final draft. She bribed a brother into dramatizing her final draft for the family. Day 3: (as needed) - a few lessons were more challenging for her, so Day 2 was all about the rough draft and we used Day 3 for final drafting.

V-shaped torso (That's what my brother suggests. He has that build and we just say he's built like a linebacker, or a swimmer, but he prefers "V-shaped torso" LOL.)

The beauty of this (IMO) is that it doesn't have to be a specific field or industry, though those certainly exist. It's more about financial and lifestyle choices than it is career choices (though, again, some careers make an easier go of it), with a touch each of forward planning and fortunate timing. I think some people are naturally pre-disposed to live this way, but others of us require some instruction and discipline to make it work. All of my teenagers work. I encourage them to avoid typical teen jobs (retailers, restaurants), instead finding work that will net them more money in less time and with greater flexibility. So far, all have managed to find niches where that's possible. I still have two to go (11 and infant) so we'll see how the odds hold up LOL. To give one example of a son who lets someone else's money work for him - he's a soccer player. He's on full scholarship so it costs him no money to play, but he's required to maintain a level of talent; this means daily personal training. One way he accomplishes that is to offer private training to younger players. He receives his training for free and transmits that training knowledge onto others for fee, while simultaneously completing a large portion of his own daily training. My friend is a boxer and does the same thing. His daily training is essentially paid for (and guaranteed to happen, no taking the day off!) by the students taking his class. IMO they're both working smart because they've found a way to generate income doing something they'd be doing anyway for their own personal benefit. Small scale, but shared to show that it can happen on any level and with a variety of jobs or careers.

:grouphug: I'm like an emotional chameleon. I tend to pick up whatever MOOD is floating about me. It can be a real challenge to manage that. So WRT negativity in my life: I drink. Really, I go to the local pub LOL. I watch some sports, play some trivia, knock back apps and drinks with friends. It's my version of walking into Cheers and I make a point to go regularly. My best friend has the same idea but she goes for mani/pedis. Really it's just having a little, but regular escape. It could be a standing Starbucks date, even if you only do it in the car in between kids' practices or appointments. Or a weekly/monthly dinner with a great friend or group of moms. And WRT negativity in the world: I find a rock. Then I hide under it. I don't follow the news. Everyone who knows me also knows this about me, so they make sure I hear about stuff that's important - and at that point I can choose to read about it online or via the newspaper. Like other posters, I don't do live news feeds or ongoing reports. I tend to wait a few days until the dust has started to settle and speculative reports have waned. Mostly though I live in relative ignorance of the daily drudge going on in the world. I tune in to the biggies, like politics, but I avoid the lead-up nonsense. E.g., I'll watch the political debates but ignore the "whose going to win" and "who won" feeds. Also, I laugh. There is something to be said about the therapeutic value of laughing. We all have something that triggers a laughing fit, right? I find mine and I indulge it without shame - even if dishes need doing, even if we're behind on school, even if I'm late for book club. I sit and assign myself the task of at least one good belly laugh. This could mean a watching a silly movie, ridiculous kitten videos online, a round of charades with my kids, or some bad karaoke with friends. I pause life until I've gotten my laugh in. My association with the word HAPPINESS is that it can feel unattainable; or at best, unsustainable. It's a high-pressure word (for me!) But when I set my mind to finding PEACE with a situation, or ACCEPTANCE of the dark side of human nature, or CONTENTEDNESS in my life ... it feels more do-able. It seems like such a silly thing, but words carry power. So when I'm experiencing or exposed to negativity on any level, I do my best to re-frame it in words that make me feel more in control, empowered even. It's not always easy, especially with negativity on the world level, but I try.

:blush: I tell my kids a version of this. "Don't waste your life working for money. You're smart; find a way to let your money (or someone else's!) work for YOU!"

:iagree: I was approached by a mom at co-op last year who was just completely overwhelmed. And she said that she didn't know how I did it and made it look so easy. She was very down on herself, and worse - I think her husband was also. But our situations are as different as night and day, there's no basis for any kind of comparison. We both have large families, but hers is 5 kids under the age of 10. My youngest is 11 and the rest are teens-adults! Big difference! We both come from large families, too, but hers is half a country away. Mine is within spitting distance of my house. Huge difference! She has a husband who comes home every night. My ex-husband doesn't. It's easier to not have his needs to plan/account for! She is a full-time SAHM mom. I'm retired but spent decades earning and saving. Plus I'm 15 years older. Giant difference! You hit the nail on the head: It doesn't mean they manage better than me, just that they have different things to manage. I manage because I have self-sufficient kids and an active, nearby extended family. I do what I want, without needing to factor in the desires and needs of a spouse. I never had to budget to stay home with the kids, or to figure out how to stretch a single income, because I worked and again - had the support of extended family. If I were trying to juggle everything she is, I'd feel overwhelmed also! It's a very different life, even though it may appear similar from the outside. I think people on both sides forget that. It's easy to think we're failing at something if we're not living up to what we see as someone else's standard. It's also to think we're doing everything right when we fail to consider all of the factors that make each person's situation individual.

We have a large family so we've always taken advantage of that. We've listed the house (staged) and do our primary living at the relative's home - that's all sleeping and cooking and schooling. We still stop by the house-for-sale daily to check in and get it ready for any showings (a/c on, lights on, toilets flushed!) Barring that, I would have budgeted the cost of an apartment - ideally a short-term lease (3 months), but a longer one (6-12 months) if necessary. My ex-husband refused to do this a few years ago when he was moving. He kept insisting it was a waste of money. But then he lost two potential sales - the first, because the house he was buying fell through due to a contingency on those sellers' end; the second, because he couldn't find a house he liked in time to meet his buyers' contingency. So he finally relented and found a 3 month lease. He sold his home without any contingencies on his part, and a month later found the perfect house for himself to buy - also without contingencies on his part. He was unfortunately stuck with a two month lease on the apartment but ... whatever LOL. I found him a family to sublet it to for one of those months and he ended up only one month in the hole on the deal ... but with one home sold and one home bought. But lots of people manage to put contingencies on their sales without much issue. I just don't like the stress of that so it's worthwhile to me to avoid it at all costs. The last house I bought I got for a steal. The sellers were desperate because just like my ex-husband, they had lost several homes while waiting to sell theirs - the timing was just always off for them! They contacted me seven months after our first interaction to offer me their home at my original offer (the one I used as a starting point. I would have gone up another $20K but they weren't willing to negotiate at all after my initial offer.)

I live in the Bible Belt. Electric averages out to about $80/month over the year, depending how mild summer and winter are. Water averages out to $50/month. Our well broke last year and I haven't prioritized fixing it, but should. Trash and recycling are $14/month for twice weekly curb service. Sewer fees average out to $15/month. Gas averages out to about $10/month. Internet with landline runs us $80/month - very high speed, no problems with multiple streaming devices. Cable TV runs us $90/month. My cell phone is $55/month for AT&T unlimited everything, on a family plan with my brothers. I wouldn't pay for a smartphone. I only keep one because my ex-husband pays for it per our decree. I know people whose family cell phone bills are their largest monthly expense! My kids don't have cell phones because they don't want the expense of one at this point. And they know I sure as shiznit am not paying for it!

"So soddy, I no speek da Engrish." :leaving:

I feel like I have to count my blessings because a lot of these things I was told and they turned out completely true for me - especially Hypnobabies! A lie I've been told? "You have to be perfect." That's buried deep within my ethnic culture, so it wasn't explicitly said. But it is implied and expected - STILL, even though I'm about to turn 40. LOL Another lie: "You HAVE to see [tv show or movie], you'll LOVE it!" No, no. That's an hour of my life, or more, that I'll never get back. (I'm looking at you How I Met Your Mother and Big Bang Theory!)

:grouphug: Whatever it is causing this, I hope you feel better soon and get the answer you're hoping for.

Thank you, everyone. You've given me the support I need to better flesh out this course. The class is 11th-12th graders, with one 10th grader. We're doing a six week mini-unit on elections up through Election Day. That's what prompted this mom to suggest the project, she wanted to use it as a platform to do exactly what Kinsa pointed out - as a lead in to conversations about propaganda, rhetoric, and all of that. I need to channel my inner Momto5inIN and offer to hand her the reins to the class if she wants it taught a certain way. I just feel insecure because this isn't a class I've ever taken and am uncomfortable planning without input from people who have taken it. The replies here have definitely helped with that. Lady Sebastian, we're going to spend the rest of the Fall semester arguing Supreme Court cases. I was going to let the kids research and select a case, but I like your idea of ME picking ones (using your same parameters) - thanks for that, and also for the idea of assigning each kid a district and doing a mock congress. That's something that would go over so well with this group of kids! MariaT, I also love your idea of a mock election. When I teach co-op I actually pull ideas from my boys' BSA merit badge books LOL but since the Citizenship badges are Eagle-required, several of the boys in my class have already done the work from those badges. I didn't consider going back farther to get some ideas! I'm clicking through the links you provided now, thank you! Regentrude, I've heard others share your sentiment. For our first day of co-op, I'm planning to give the kids the naturalization test to see how they do. Maybe I'll have them take it again at the end of the year also, make it their final exam LOL. :patriot: Thank you again, everyone!

Well, we have a "school room" but we don't sit in there and use it public-school style so I'm not sure how helpful this will be. I also have some kids attending public school who use the school room for homework. The homeschoolers do a quick clean around 4pm before the public schoolers get home. Weekly chores are done by all kids, on rotation. Every day we sweep the floors - not because it's super messy but because it's easier for us as a daily, rather than weekly, habit. I tell the kids to figure it out amongst themselves, and if nobody does it ... I don't take them, or allow them to go to, their extra curricular stuff. Every day we wipe the whiteboards - it's clean up after yourself; homeschoolers do it at 4pm (at minimum) and everyone knows to do it anytime they use the whiteboards, even if it's after 4pm. I play the librarian. I'm particular and nobody else does it right LOL. I do this once a week or four, when I get around to it. Trash is emptied twice a week with the rest of our household trash. My public schoolers share this chore; the kids are all on a rotation. We have a big "pencil sharpening and marker checking" event the first week of school every year. We plop in front of a movie to sharpen all 3000 pencils and to check the 20 million pens and markers for quality (weeding out the bad ones). I buy a 24-set of pencils for each kid at the start of school. And they all have a different pen preference, so I buy 12 of those then also (plus they have any left over from the year before that are still good.) Markers I buy as needed, but we test each marker and highlighter during our movie. Markers are the domain of my youngest, but everyone else sharpens their own pencils and tests their own pens. I think the idea of energy guy is awesome :lol: you might add in a snack/lunch guy, too!

Yeah, I just have them shove their own art into sheet protectors. It's not something I wanted to do either LOL. I will say that my teenagers still love pawing through their art binders, so even though it takes up precious real estate in my schoolroom for now ... it's worthwhile! They like to compare how each of them did at the same ages. It's fun. I see the appeal to digitally saving the art, but the truth is we'd never look at them again if that's how they were stored. And while that's mostly tempting, there are few sweeter moments than seeing my competitive kids argue lovingly over who was the better artist at 7! The only other suggestion I have is one of those plastic hanging file containers with airtight lids. They make some that are smaller, and depending on your kids' out put you could have one container per year or every few years. They'd be small enough to store in the home during the year, and then could go up in an attic out of the way at the end of each school year (stacked, no less). Some oversize stuff would fit; no tears, no holes, no sheet protectors ...

I'm an immigrant so U.S. Government is a weird subject for me to be teaching, but it was assigned to me for co-op. One mom mentioned a project SHE did as a kid at public school, but she couldn't elaborate enough to help. I'm hoping this project sounds familiar to someone. She'd like to incorporate it from a U.S. perspective: 1. Students are given 3+ handouts to read over. They choose the handout they most identify with or support. 2. The handouts are GENERIC, and the kids don't know it but each handout represents the beliefs and words of a famous politician. 3. The students are split into groups based on which handout they chose to identify with or support. 4. It's revealed that they chose either: Hitler, (someone), or (someone) ... She chose Hitler so that's the only name she remembers.. If I were doing this for U.S. GOV'T, which American politicians (through history) should I include? If I were doing this for HISTORY, whom else should I include? This is my Plan B if I can't figure out the U.S. stuff. Has anyone done this? Does anyone have excellent Google skills that can help me find someone who has done the prep work already? This is such unfamiliar territory for me and I'm stressing about it because they have me teaching it to other people's kids. :willy_nilly:

Are you tying literature into history at all? That's where I've pulled my homeschool high school booklists from. I also have public schooled high school kids. I find their literature to be light, so I supplement at home. Mostly it's Socratic discussion, book club style, with me. This year we signed up for an actual book club (with other teens, not just with me!) that will be facilitated by a friend who is using Teaching the Classics. I've heard good things about it. If that's not your style, I had several veteran homeschool moms suggest I try LLATL. They said it was a lighter program, which would be appropriate as a supplement to an outside class. I bought the Gold books (one is US Lit, the other is British Lit). It's definitely not a discussion-based program, but that's a plus for some people. I do a lot of our discussions in the car between the kids' extracurricular activities, so the approach didn't appeal to me as much but it looked easy enough to implement and to use. That's another possible option. Just the other day I googled "top recommendations American Literature high school" or something like it. I found several lists, printed them out, cross-referenced them, and came up with about 50 books I want the kids to have read before they graduate. Many of them we've already read. I'm not one to care too much about the literary analysis business, mostly I like to read and discuss so I printed a copy for each boy with instructions to cross off each book as they read it. I'll pick and choose which ones I want to discuss with them, but primarily I want them to read for the sake of cultural literacy (and to maintain exposure to quality writing).

:hurray: Agree! Verbatim, this is what I tell my brothers. They insist on frying spring rolls. I'm not sure where my mom went wrong with them ....

I couldn't read the title without stopping in to say how sorry I am that your sweet girl has been diagnosed with cancer. :grouphug: I know you're not optimistic, but I do hope the oncologist appointment is helpful for all of you. We spend so many years loving on these guys, yet it takes a mere moment to feel our hearts rip out of our chests when we get news like this.

Depends on if your spring rolls are fried or not :) (This is a heavily debated topic in my family!) Either way, we normally just eat spring rolls with steamed rice and soup. Hope you feel better soon!

When is the wedding (which season)? Lovely dress! Disclaimer: I'm not a matchy-matchy person. I'm not a fan of the old school "accessories must match" thing so my advice would be to find a hat that accentuates your existing shoe choice rather than matches them. I like your neutral shoes because I think that makes for a more sophisticated look. I think you have a perfect outfit here to have some fun with the hat. A neutral hat wouldn't be BAD, but this is a rare celebration and a great opportunity to be playful with your look. I'd keep the jewelry neutral/metallic and simple (e.g., gold and diamonds). I like Caraway's suggestion of a magenta hat, while keeping in mind Seasider's suggestion that the hat keeps in line with the wedding colors. This doesn't mean match the wedding colors necessarily, but to coordinate rather than clash. You can coordinate using basic color theory from art LOL. If you find a reasonably priced purse in the same color family as your hat, you're set! I'm with your friend in thinking a black hat wouldn't be the best choice if it's a true "cover your head" hat, and not one of those British mini-hat things that look more like elaborate headbands. I wouldn't do white, either. If you're not comfortable going brighter with the hat, I'd look at navy or cream. Congrats on the upcoming nuptials, very exciting!

We do states and presidents as a separate subject. And not a true subject, more of a supplementary thing using a lot of the ideas mentioned here: Scrambled States (book, audio book, game) Sequence (US States edition - game) Flashcard quizzes at the kitchen table How the States Got Their Shapes (tv show) ... and some random DVD from a conference 12 years ago that teaches by region using songs to memorize. I spend two years on states (2nd - 3rd) and then two years on Presidents (4th - 5th). It boils down to about one per week and we forget weeks sometimes. Years ago I bought a program that has book lists for States and also for Presidents. It's no longer in print. But on our weekly-ish trip to the library we pull a few books from those lists and the kids read. From those the kids do a page for their "scrapbook" - for the states, it's basic info (capital, major cities, points of interest) and an illustration of the state bird/flower/flag or a scene from their library book; for the presidents, it's basic info (name, number, party) and a coloring page or illustration of something relating to the president taken from their library book. Mostly busy work that they can do on their own, while I'm teaching a sibling or hiding in the shower LOL. I do a re-cap of states and presidents over one year in middle school, again as a separate subject. I get a boring workbook for the states and make them do a project on their "home" state (they can pick anyone we've lived in). Same for presidents - workbook and an oral exam on a president they choose. I also make them learn the First Ladies, and pick one to write a research paper about. I have them compare their chosen First Lady to whomever is the current First Lady.

There are some free or inexpensive public-school-online options that might be an easier bite for your ex to swallow. I totally understand the financial pinch and knowing that your kid's education needs to be funded by you alone. My friend found a free one offered by a school district in Texas that is one of that state's top districts. She's signed up to use it with her 8th grader next year. Like you, I would have been disappointed but understanding if my kids ended up in public school had my ex-husband engaged in an honest, thoughtful dialogue with me re: the kids' education ... each of us brainstorming and being open to the other's case. As the years wore on, I realized that it was almost a silver lining that he never did. It freed me up to homeschool the way I wanted to, which didn't look like "school at home" the way he would have wanted it to. I hope there's a silver lining to your ex's lack of input, too; if not now, then eventually! To get my ex-husband to take our one child to story time I manipulated him. Bad, I know, but I had a higher cause to focus on LOL. First I had my child ASK my husband directly to take him. Yes, I used the child as a pawn. But for his own ultimate good (is what I still tell myself). My husband said no. So I set up music lessons for three of our other boys at the same time as story time. Then I gave my husband the choice: music lessons or story time? He fought me on it saying story time wasn't necessary and to put that child into music lessons also. So I threatened to call his mother and tattle. Ridiculous, huh? But effective. She's obnoxious and he tries to avoid her at all costs. She would have flown out and camped out at his base for weeks if I had called her. And he knew it, because I had done it before. (And then she made him mental health appointments, called his commanding officer, and all sorts of embarrassing things that aren't appropriate for a grown man's mommy to be doing LOL.) So he picked story time, and saw firsthand what I had been telling him. My ex-husband's image is very important to him. I keep him abreast of what's going on enough that he can carry on a conversation (with others) about what's going on in his kids' lives. He gets to project an image of the involved, caring father to people who don't know our family - that's enough for him, that's what he cares about. (He's always been a geographical bachelor so it's easy to do.) That's my key. So long as I allow him to do so, he's generally hands-off about what I do with school (and the kids in general). If your ex is like mine, then it's just a matter of sucking "it" up and allowing him that ... it's what keeps mine from becoming overly involved and screwing up the good (academic) thing I have going. Good luck to you! Definitely ask, massage his ego, and appeal to his concerns before he can voice them. Sell him on the idea :grouphug: .