We did not do the approach papers or author profile papers, and we did not do a book a month. My kids just aren't that fast of readers and the other papers seemed like busywork. They did go through the context resources, which I felt were very worthwhile. When they were done with that they read for an hour or so per day til they were done with the book, then we discussed with questions I got online as a guide, then they took a week to write/edit a paper on it. We have been able to get through 6 or 7 a year this way.

I think I remember reading somewhwre on here about a website named You Science? Or something like that?

Ok so I tried Walmart pickup today. My.Life.Will.Never.Be.The.Same. On the list of world's greatest inventions this is right up there with menstrual cups, you guys! What on earth would I do without the Hive????

My 3 older kids didn't learn to read early but once they did learn they did it quickly and what I soon realized is that their phonics knowledge was not all that great because their reading was so intuitive. So they actually needed the explicit phonics instruction of AAS to be able to spell well without guessing.

I don't do pickup at Wal-Mart but may try that now! I go to Wal-Mart once a month and stock up on nonperishables. Then I go weekly to Meijer, which is more expensive but has great produce, for milk/eggs/produce. I don't know what the difference is, lighting or acoustics or clientele or a combination of those, but Wal-Mart makes me jittery and raises my blood pressure while Meijer I keeps me calm.

We keep bees and several days is not unusual for the swelling to subside. Benadryl will be his friend. DH hates taking medication of any kind and Benadryl knocks him out, but he gives in and takes it when he gets stung because it helps a lot and he was so miserable.

Depends on what era you're studying. MOH 1 is super duper easy and primarily Bible stories, which is great for a 3rd grader but not so much for a 9th and 6th grader. The other volumes of MOH are more appropriate for older kids - each one more sophisticated as you go on.

I read SWB's Ancient History and while it was fascinating and is a great option, it was definitely a higher reading ability than my middle schoolers would have been capable of.

I wish I could, there are friends in different worlds that I think would really like each other and I would love to hang out with them both together, but it never works and there are all kinds of awkward things to take into consideration when I contemplate it like which ones from which circles to include. So instead I have my church friends, my drama friends, my speech and debate friends, my old college friends, my book club friends, and 2 circles of random friends that somehow don't intersect with each other very well even though we live in a very small community. There is some overlap between the drama and the speech and debate friends since they are both homeschool related so some of the same people rotate in and out of those circles. The only time people from different circles were all in the same place was for DS's graduation party last year.

DS took it. He thought it was easier than he expected and felt he did well. We'll see ...

My DS is registered to go to IN Boys State here in a couple weeks. It's definitely right up his alley - public speaking, politics, and lots of social interaction LOL If I remember, I'll try to post when he gets back about what he thought about it. The American Legion had a booth at our state homeschool convention and so I assumed they were actively recruiting homeschool students, which I thought was pretty cool.

My 2nd DS was a horrible speller. He literally once spelled the same simple word wrong in 3 different ways in the same paragraph ... in middle school (insert head banging emoji here). Now he's a senior and while he doesn't have perfect spelling, he does fine in his essays and written work. My DD who is going into 6th still doesn't have great crossover into her writing. My DD who is a sophomore almost always spells everything correctly. Both DDs used AAS. All that to say, sometimes it takes a while for all the skills (handwriting, thinking, spelling, grammar, organization) to all come together.

We love AG and while I wouldn't call it particularly fun, it isn't drudgery either. And you can't get much more independent. I spend about 10 min on Monday teaching the lesson and going over the first few sentences, then almost no time the rest of the week.

This is huge. My MIL has been the same way, and I so so so SO appreciate it. I know it will be hard, but I hope to give the same gift to my future DILs and SILs.

Yup. I'm real with my kids about the annoyances that kids in general visit upon their parents, and they all know how much I'm looking forward to seeing them grow up and follow their own path in life, but that's a whole different attitude than telling a kid over and over again how much of a pain in the rear they are and how much you can't wait to have your life back again. I also hate hate hate hate HATE those awful pictures on Facebook of the mom celebrating when her kids go back to school each fall. Even when my kids were in public school I hated those things. Because nothing says "I love you" better than your mother shouting to the World how much she prefers her life with you gone for most of it 😝