We've enjoyed going back and binge watching old series: Frazier, Designing Women, Monk A newer show we like is Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist

That group has been the topic of some discussion here in the past. While their experiences are certainly worthy of consideration, I would have hoped that most reasonable people would have agreed that they are unlikely to be the common homeschool experience. I am a bit dismayed to see that the conference appears to be extremely biased in one direction. I am not opposed to some regulation of homeschoolers.

So I am seeing a ton of angst on Facebook over this homeschooling conference coming up at Harvard in June: Homeschooling Summit: Problems, Politics, and Prospects for Reform And frankly, I'm desperate to talk/think about pretty much anything that isn't virus-related at this point. So what's your take? Is this something to keep on our collective homeschooling radar? Cause for hue and cry and organized protest? A big, juicy nothingburger? Distract me with your opinion.

I have seen a lot of unsolicited advice, most of which I think is extremely unhelpful. I have also seen a few requests for help, especially in state and local groups. I respond to those if I think I have something helpful to say, but most of the time I simply advise the asker to continue following the assignments set out for them by the school. At the end of the day, these kids are still public school students, and they need to do what their teachers are telling them to do. I don't feel like generalized advice about schedules and stuff is that helpful because situations vary so much. I don't know any homeschooling families that follow the same schedule as another family, much less one dictated by assignments coming from an outside source. I'm kind of floored by the number of people who jump in on those threads touting the free, online all-in-one curricula. How is that even applicable right now? I have in more than one case advised a parent not to make a decision about continuing with homeschooling after the crisis based on their current experiences. IMO, well-planned and intentional homeschooling isn't in any way comparable to the crisis-schooling going on right now.

DD14 is a competitive rower. She just started last year and really got into it over the winter. She worked so hard in the off season to train for spring. And we just got word this afternoon that the spring season is canceled. It had been postponed but now there is no hope of getting things going again. She is completely bummed of course, but so are we because through this outlet she had just begun in the past month or so to overcome her anxiety, build confidence, and make friends. Her coach is allowing team members who can to borrow an erg for the remainder of the season, and he is working on setting up some virtual workouts. So at least that's something. DD has made up her own workouts the past couple of weeks and is being very diligent about training daily. She is keeping a positive attitude despite her disappointment. At least she is a freshman and has three more years ahead of her. I feel especially sorry for the poor seniors. I am trying to encourage her to stay in touch with teammates via social media, which is very hard for her. I'm working on convincing her to see if she can get the quarantine game Fairfarmhand's dd came up with going!

I didn't sleep well last night. Woke up at 4 and finally dozed back off around 5:30, got up for good at 7:30 but couldn't seem to get moving at all. School was bare minimum. I'm getting ready to take dd to her therapy appointment. We debated, but as there is never any other person there besides us and the therapist, we feel it's relatively low-risk. And very important for her continued mental health. So here we go. I haven't left the house since last Thursday. DH made one trip to the grocery store on Saturday. We've already got a pick-up order queued up so we don't have to do that anymore. It seems like the more we are at home with literally nothing but school and housework to do, the less I get done. Anybody else in a funk? The weather is not helping -- rain the past two days, but supposed to be clearing and warming up later in the week. I'm going to try to get outside for a few this afternoon if the rain holds off.

Yep.

My dh is a former Charter Communications employee. He just got off the phone with a friend who is still there and was telling me about this story: https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/16/charter-coronavirus-work-home/ Ridiculous. His friend says that they have been told explicitly, "We are not a work-from-home company." Granted, their technicians must be on-site, but even their engineers, sales, and customer service people (whose jobs can be done 100% remotely) are being told to come into the office or use their one week of paid sick leave. No exceptions. Employees at two offices in our state have already been exposed and tested for COVID-19. None at his branch, thankfully. Yet.

Cabin fever is setting in around here. DD is moody and the quarantine has not been good for her anxiety, which she was just starting to make major headway against. Today we are going to ds' piano lesson, the only activity still running. His teacher is a friend with only a handful of students so we've decided that we will continue for the time being. I'm dragging dd with us even though she is balking because the timing messes with her school "schedule" (self-imposed -- there's the anxiety again) but she has to get out. After piano we are going to stop by to see my mom for a few minutes at least. I have debated this all week because she is in her 60's and also recovering from having had the flu (tested positive so we are sure) last week. She sounds good but still has a cough. But my dad is still going to work every day, and not at the kind of job where he sits alone behind a desk, so if she's going to get exposed to anything, it's more likely to come from him. It occurred to me last night that dd is probably not going to finish driver's ed this spring and get her permit in May as planned. Which is a bummer. I haven't said anything to her. Hopefully the weather will be nice for part of the weekend and we can go hiking at the state park. My weather app shows nothing but clouds for the next 10 days. It's so depressing; some sunshine would do us a world of good. But with nothing else to do, we are getting lots of work done in our yard!

Our pastor posted on Facebook last night that he is rethinking his position based on the most recent recommendations from the CDC and the president (by which I assume he means the 10-person rule). He says that we will continue to have services but that there will be more adjustments to how we conduct ourselves. Not sure what that means but I guess it's encouraging after the previous statements about obeying God and not man. I know that some in our denomination have gone to service sign-ups, offering multiple services with limited attendance each. I am not sure that really does it though, given that we know the virus survives on surfaces for much longer than we'd like and that the pastor is obviously present for all services (not to mention visiting the hospitals, etc.). The first official case in the city my church is in was announced today, so I am hopeful that will spark some changes.

I'm sorry your brother is being such a pain. I suppose it's normal for conspiracy theories to abound over something like this, but I just don't get it. In my religious community I keep hearing about how the big, scary government has banned church services and we have to refuse. No, the government has asked people to refrain from gathering in large groups in order to flatten the curve and protect the vulnerable. Big difference. And then there's people like my parents, who aren't conspiracy theorists but just think the whole thing is blown out of proportion and have no plans to alter anything. Despite the fact that they just returned from traveling last weekend and promptly became sick. My mother at least went to the doctor and was diagnosed with flu A but my father "just has a mild cold" and has been out and about all day every day this week. Sigh.

Okay, I know I am harping here, so y'all feel free to put me on Ignore (temporarily or otherwise 😄 ). I just don't have anywhere else I feel I can say these things right now. Now the argument I'm seeing everywhere is "we have to obey God rather than man." Which I don't get AT. ALL. In my state at least, we haven't been ordered not to worship God, or to do or not do anything else. The governor has ASKED us to refrain from gathering in large groups in order to protect the most vulnerable among us. It's called a ban, but I mean really, it's not like the SWAT team is going to bust through the church doors tomorrow morning and start counting heads. Even though I belong to a denomination that is highly liturgical, and emphasizes the importance of meeting together and receiving God's gifts of Word and sacrament regularly, and even though I believe in all those things AND am also a pretty staunch libertarian, I can't for the life of me figure out how a temporary, voluntary hiatus is so egregious as to constitute sinful disobedience to God. Especially when technology allows for us to continue to do a lot (not all) of the things we currently do. The more I read, the more it appears that a certain subset of people seem to view this virus and its attendant response as some kind of conspiracy to stir up panic for... some reason I can't name? So I guess I shouldn't be surprised they react this way if they see a power grab lurking around every corner. I need the old /rant off/ emoji back!

The governor of NC has just closed public schools for at least two weeks. Measures being taken to help families with childcare and students who need food.

I think I'm being over-sensitive. I am sure our pastor meant to comforting, not judgmental. But I do think there is a lot of this going on too. I suppose it's human nature to want to be the one who is strong and brave and bold. And sometimes that is the right thing to do. I think of the stories of clergy and people of faith in past pandemics who nursed the sick and cared for the dying and bereaved spiritually without a thought for their own well-being. And that is truly admirable. But those were times when people did not have the knowledge and capacity to prevent those people from becoming sick in the first place. Saving someone from a burning building is brave; lighting the house on fire in an attempt to keep the inhabitants warm is just reckless. ETA: But I'm still frustrated because it seems like our staying home for a Sunday or two will do nothing to keep others safe when everybody else is going about business as usual. But I suppose I can only be responsible for my own actions and answer to my own conscience.

Our services are definitely still on. Not sure how I feel about that. We are 100% on board with self-isolating in the interest of protecting those around us. But what good does that do if a large percentage of the community isn't participating? It's the same with things like the TP shortage: we purposely didn't buy TP early in the week when we shopped because we didn't need any at the moment and didn't want to contribute to causing a shortage. But now, although we are still fine for the time being, there isn't a square to spare in our town. Hopefully a shipment arrives before we run out. When dh asked about services, our pastor (whom I dearly love, don't get me wrong) quoted the commandment about the Sabbath to him. But what about the commandment against murder? Our catechism interprets that as a prohibition against doing anything that will hurt or harm our neighbor's body. Christians have historically been known as those who are willing to rush in to aid others in a crisis, even at risk to their own life and limb. But what happens when the best possible way we can help is to STAY AWAY? I don't like the insinuation that those of us who are trying to help by self-isolating (or as one of the memes in the other thread put it, being exiled for the good of the realm 😆) are just giving in to panic and fear. I am not afraid for myself or even my kids; I just want to protect my neighbor. How does that make me a bad Christian?

Charter/Spectrum is offering free internet service and wifi as well.

Good idea. Ours is still showing on the school calendar, with no indication there's been a change, so fingers crossed. Of course, all the athletic events are still up too, and those were suspended yesterday by the state athletic association so...

The president of our synod just put out a message basically encouraging folks to proceed with caution, not fear, and with love for their neighbors and respect and prayer for local government. All of which I agree with. I'm not sure how this plays out in our individual congregation. On the one hand, my family is all currently well, with no reason to think we have been exposed to anything. And we are scheduled on Sunday for roles others will have to fill if we are absent. OTOH, we have a LOT of vulnerable elderly folks in our congregation and I honestly think it would be best for them to take a hiatus for a weekend or two. But I seriously doubt that will happen. Like others have mentioned, I'm seeing a lot of scoffing in my denomination and equating caution with "giving in to fear" and lacking faith. It makes me sad.

I'll say. Our testing center isn't showing as cancelled, and of course it's too late to call the school now. Guess we'll just show up in the morning and see. Schools around here are still operating so hopefully the test is still on. Fortunately I have a freshman so it isn't the end of the world, but we can't register her for DE classes until we get these scores.

Thanks. I didn't know that was even a thing. Schools around here don't do it as far as I know.

The page with the listings of cancellations for tomorrow's SAT indicates that make-up dates will be scheduled. I would assume the same would be true in April.

Not sure what, if anything, our church will do. I will be surprised if services are cancelled. I am torn because our pastor is an elderly diabetic who is already stretched thin by holding down the fort after the departure of our senior pastor last summer. I have been worried for him for awhile, and now this. We are fairly new so I am not sure what we can do. Don't know if it's better to try to help somehow or to stay away.

Honestly, I don't. I sometimes refer to her site if I am looking for new ideas, and that's about it. I might read the review of something if I am not familiar with it and want a quick overview of what it's like. But I don't really pay much attention to whether it's made her top 100 or whatever it is. When I consider a curriculum, I am only looking for one thing: Is it a good fit for MY kid? Somebody else's opinion may or may not be helpful. I am regularly involved in conversations here and elsewhere online, so I generally have a pretty good feel for what the pros and cons of various curricula are and that helps me narrow down the things I look more closely at. But in the end, I'm going to evaluate everything for my own purposes, whether I get a recommendation from Cathy Duffy or a WTM boardie or a random Facebook group. I will say, though, that the boardies are excellent at covering every conceivable angle of any given curriculum! If you have a question about something specific, chances are it's been covered here ad nauseum!