Jean, Yes, I'm in this boat with you and everyone else. If we didn't stress about our dc education, we wouldn't be homeschoolers. That being said, Tension Tamer Tea has helped me a lot. 2 cups before bed or anytime you feel you need it. For me, it takes the edge off so I can focus. Hang in there. We'll all get through this together. Denise

I'll pm you where I live. Honestly, when we were moving here from the Washington, DC region, I thought it would have less of an international population. We were pleasantly surprised to move in and find such a large, international community. I do agree that we all have to assess the intent behind the way someone is communicating with us, even with people from our own culture. It is all too easy to be offended when no insult was meant. In many instances, it is even best to not take offense when one is actually intended. This happened to me on a crowded elevator once. A lady from another country made a very snide remark to me, which went over my head. I smiled warmly at her. She looked surprised and taken aback. When she left the elevator, everyone smiled at me. I saw her again one day and held the elevator door for her. Though not friendly, she was never snide to me again. Back to your point though, if a person can quickly draw from a wide range of experiences, they are more able to navigate interactions with others. Also, I think the skills learned from being immersed, or at least exposed, to different language and culture, transfer to so many areas of life. Problem-solving, flexibility, empathy and the sparking of new ideas come to mind. There are countless other benefits, too. I do envy Europeans because it is much easier for you to have cross-cultural exchanges than it is for us. Many people come here from other countries but, they still speak English (or they try to struggle through it). We are not often forced to struggle through someone else's language and culture. Hopefully, costs can come down and more students will have the opportunity to work and study abroad. Denise

Joan, Without even reading the article I say Yes, it is important. Countries are so tied together now. Of course, it's been that way for the big corporations for many years now. More recently though, I see the importance in the small business community. An example is where I live now. It's a small area mostly populated by people who run small businesses or are involved in tourism, or both. The people who are the most successful are the ones who know how to conduct business internationally. Not just for customers but, for supplies, shipping and so forth. The network is impressive. I'm not on the inside of this or I would give you more details. We also have an international crowd here that is very business savvy. I think about 10 yrs. ago or so, some business owners began networking internationally and as they made contacts, some of those contacts decided to move here and open up their own businesses. This created an even bigger network. Again, it's mostly small businesses but, they are pretty successful. And, they influence the area a lot. We have had an international port for some time but, there was a push for a bigger airport that could handle the international shipping. Now, we have that airport built with lots of room for expansion. And, it all just keeps growing. So, yes, the more experience the student gains in doing business internationally, the more valuable they will be to a hiring company or to themselves if they want to start their own business. At least, this is what I am seeing in my little community. I am interested in hearing your thoughts and those of others on the board. HTH Denise

Don't be sorry, this is good information. I never thought of starting a study group online so, I'm all ears. Please, highjack away! Denise P.S. We lived in Fairfax county for almost 20 yrs. We like where we are now but, we still miss VA. Hope you all enjoy it there, too.

This is nice to hear. A few months ago, a ps kid told ds and another homeschool boy that they are homeschooled because they are losers. Thankfully, it happened on dh's watch. Otherwise, I would have given that kid a piece of my mind (and probably heard from his mother later that night). These positive comments are so nice, let's just dwell on them and forget the other ones. Maybe attitudes are changing. Let's hope. Denise

He said it because that is his perception of homeschool students. After saying hello and introductions, the conversation went to where each of them went to school. I could understand the comment if ds had discussed his AP Physics class. But, that topic never came up, even after the young man's comment. It really surprised all of us, especially ds who has had several ps kids and parents say negative things about homeschooled students. It is just a really nice and welcome surprise. Denise

Thank you, MrsMeunier. This is helpful info. It does give me some pause. We may go on a campus tour in early fall to get a better feel for the school. I may pm you at a later date to ask more specific questions, if that's ok. For now, we're still doing a lot of research on our list of schools. I appreciate your input! Denise

Ds took the AP Physics B exam today. While the students were waiting to go into the classroom, a ps boy asked ds where he attended school. When ds said "homeschool," the boy said, "Oh, you're over prepared!" Ds was surprised and just said, "Oh, um, ok." Dh heard the whole exchange and told me when he came home. Anyway, it was a nice compliment from a ps student. Thought you all would enjoy hearing what some public schoolers think of us. Denise

Creekland, Thanks for the bump and the tip. I'll go look at College Confidential and see what comments have been made about Tulane. It's one of the schools ds is looking into because it's a small, research school that is fairly close to home. The physics program looks good on their site but, we'd like to know more from people who actually attended or had kids attend. Thanks again! Denise

Congratulations on his hard work! I think preparing and taking these tests is worth something even if they don't perform as well as they'd like. The Just Knight takes his first on Monday. He's studied very hard all semester but, now he's dragging his feet. He wants to play MineCraft all evening every evening. I think he's nervous about the test. We'll see how he does. Good luck to your ds tomorrow! Denise

Can anyone tell me about this school? Ds wants to major in physics. Thanks for your help. Denise

What part of FL will you move into? Like many have already said, homeschooling is pretty easy here in FL. Just an FYI - I've never heard of anyone taking classes part-time in the ps in my part of the state, the Panama City area. Both the local high school and the homeschoolers I spoke with told me it wasn't allowed (??). We decided not to push it too much since we had other options. But, it seems like it's not done in this part of the state. Homeschoolers here do participate in band, sports teams and ROTC. You have to be registered under the homeschool option though, not under an umbrella school (we're in an umbrella school). I hope you enjoy it here. We also moved to FL from VA. While we miss all the activities in VA, we really like living here in FL. Denise

These look wonderful. Thank you!

Thank you, Jane. Those are good ideas. With my oldest, I didn't think too much about this type of thing. He was in school until the middle of 1st grade. When I began homeschooling, well, it was a big learning curve for me. My own education, while it looks good on paper, is lacking. Ds#1 has done well in math despite me, not because of me. Younger ds came to us at age 4 1/2 and is only lately showing interest in anything other than running around and being wild. He's a good boy, just had a different background. I want things to be different w/dd. Thanks again for the help. Denise

If I can hijack a little bit here -What types of games do you play with the young children? Dd is in kindergarten and has a beginning interest in chess. What else would you all recommend to play with her? Denise

Until last week, I was fine w/the hw. The spelling is the only area that was too advanced. Everything else was easy for her. It's the volume of work that I was most upset about. Although, the readers had lots of words like "expressway" in them, which is too advanced for the beginning of kindergarten, too. Everything is sightword heavy. They are also adding SuccessMakerPlus for social studies, which is online work. I don't yet know whether that will be done at school, home or a combo. Soon, there will also be an online science program. Again, I'm not sure how that will be handled. The good news is that this week, the schedule is 1 math pg., 1 reader and the 7 spelling words per night. Journal and Chinese over the weekend. That is very doable. Again, the spelling is too advanced, imo, with words like "come" and "back." Dd is able to spell these words, I just don't think that she should. But, the hw is more in line w/kindergarten level. I will continue teaching phonics and handwriting at home (she's getting no handwriting instruction at school-weird to me). Thank you all for responding and helping me w/this issue. I really appreciate it. Denise

Well, the teacher responded. She said that if I feel this way, other parents probably do too. Then she said, essentially, that nothing will change. She suggested I use the little reader she sends home each night in place of the literature reading for the log. :001_huh: Why on earth I would want to replace good literature of my choosing for those fluff readers is beyond me. At the end, she thanked me for my patience while they work out a balanced schedule of work for the children. So, is there hope? I'm skeptical. The problem is, dd loves this school. It is filled with bright, interesting kids who are from or have been exposed to cultures from all over the world. Plus, dd loves learning Chinese. Oh, and Chinese homework came home this weekend, along with the journal and another reader book. I don't mind the Chinese but, the other stuff is unnecessary, imo. Dh said we either decide to pull her out and deal w/the lack of homeschool playmates or leave her there and tolerate the homework. I guess we'll see how things progress and hope other parents complain enough that the homework reduces. Wish me luck. Other than this homework issue, it's a really good school. Denise

It's all homework. I could understand if dd was goofing off and not getting her work done but, no, this is all homework. I wrote to the teacher. Hopefully, I'll get a positive response. No other parents are complaining yet. Denise

The funny thing is, during orientation and again the first week of school we were all told there would be very little homework and none over the weekend. I'm pretty frustrated at this point. Denise

No, it's not a gifted charter. Dd does complain about the volume of work. Some of it is fluff, she rolled her eyes at certain assignments. Other things, like the spelling, is difficult. Ok, I'll contact her teacher. I'm the only homeschooler there and I'm sure I'll be seen as the troublemaker. :glare: Denise

I put my dd, age 5, in a new charter school that opened near us. This is the 3rd wk. of school and she is in kindergarten. We've had 14 pages of homework (10-math, 3-ss, 1-letter writing), 7 spelling words to practice (including quack, sock, little), 2 books to read ea. night and we are to read a book of our choosing to her ea. night. We've been reading to her since she was an infant so, this last part is already in our routine. There will be a few more pages of hw tonight plus 2 new books for her to read. Then, a journal comes home for the weekend. She is to write in her journal ea. weekend. We just got info. on logging into SucessNet, which will be social studies work. Soon, there will be Chinese practice coming home. So, is this a lot for a kindergartener or am I complaining too much? Also, am I crazy or is giving a spelling test ea. week on words like "quack" and "little" to children who haven't yet learned to read putting the cart before the horse? To my knowledge, no other parents are complaining. Maybe I've just homeschooled too long and am not used to all this? Help. Denise

Since you've used a Waldorf style, maybe Oak Meadow would be a good fit. It's Waldorf like, though not considered a true Waldorf school. The high school classes are very good and contain a lot of discussion/explain your answer type of material. They also have some really fun electives. Imho, they are a school that balances enough traditional coursework and rigor with slightly unique and interesting classes. http://www.oakmeadow.com HTH Denise P.S. Welcome to the WTM boards. :001_smile:

Your post made me cry. Sports are supposed to be fun for kids, not make them feel bad. In addition to what has already been posted, I have a couple of ideas for you. Tae Kwon Do. It's a great sport, individual and great for helping with coordination. It also one of the best activities for core strength. Scouts, though not a sport, involves lots of hiking, camping, canoeing activities. There are merit badges that work on individual fitness goals but no competitive, team sport stuff. Oh, my dh says running and building up to a 5k could be fun. You or your dh would need to run with him every other day. He could start with some 1 mile fun runs/walks as a goal. Once he built up to the 1 mile level, he could then set the goal of running a 5k. There is no pressure to be fast and, if he sticks with it, there are running clubs to join. It's a good, lifelong sport. http://www.runnersworld.com has charts for kids and many good suggestions. HTH Give him a big hug and tell him that he's a great kid. Denise

I am saving this in my "how to homeschool high school" folder. It will work on my boys - one of whom often tells me how dumb certain assignments are and that he won't ever need these skills in his career field. :glare: Thank you so very much! Denise

Yes, Denise, I am the same way. Like you and Cassy, I don't know if it's my age, also 48, or exhaustion/depression. About 3 yrs. ago I started feeling, I don't know, defeated, discouraged, unmotivated? Tons to do, no desire to get any of it done. I am also impatient w/people. Do people ever grow up and become mature behaving adults or is it jr. high forever? I try to smile and be forgiving but, my stars! Whatever it is, I want to get back to my old, highly motivated and patient self. If you find the cure, please let me know. Denise