Whew, I am. We've always been "accidental" homeschoolers and we did it for 10 years, but kiddo graduates next Thursday. We've worked while we homeschooled, too; DH is an artist and works at home, I am an architect and I can work from home (and mostly do, going out to the office or jobsites 1-2x a week). I am the main breadwinner, provider of health care, yadda. I will tell you...third grade was LOADS harder than 9th grade, and 12th grade is easier still. I am glad she wanted to dual enroll, even though it was the pandemic and she had to do online classes junior year, but DE was supplemental (science, art) to the main big guns of math, lit, foreign language, and history with us. I am immensely glad we did choose to homeschool her, even though there were *those days* which drove us all crazy. We are not religious and did not venture into co-ops etc. for that reason, and we're also fairly rural too (i.e., we have a small farm) so there weren't a lot of other secular types around us anyway, so it was pretty much a solo trip for kiddo (which was just fine by her as she has lifelong friends from pre-homeschooling days). But I am really proud of what she's accomplished. We made sure she used our community to seek out other teachers and volunteer efforts (and she could set her own schedule for the most part with her dad driving her hither and yon). She's confident. She's empathetic. She makes big-picture leaps and can think creatively on her feet. And she'll be attending a liberal arts college this fall that suits her to a T. I'm glad we could help her to do that! Because...it was never about me, or my husband. It was about our dd.

Yay! My kiddo got in all three schools that she applied to, then got merit for all three, then got two competitive scholarships for two of the three, and this week made her decision. All three schools were very similar (Midwestern LACs, all CTCL schools too) but the one she chose has her second major as a major (not a minor). With all three, the money shook out to be about the same, whew, which means they're cheaper than the public Us would be for us. And so...we can handle the next 4 years, financially, without resorting to loans or rice and beans. Thanks to everyone here who (knowingly or not, as I'm more of a lurker than a poster) helped me navigate these tricky waters!! I am really glad we dual-enrolled (this proved to her that she could handle non-parental coursework).

Kiddo has heard from two of three schools, both with nice scholarships, a nice financial aid package for one and waiting to see if she gets an additional competitive scholarship at the other (but haven't received the FA pkg. from the other). All three were CTCL schools because my kid screams "liberal arts student." (In fact, that is what one of her admissions counselors told us after interviewing her: "We talked about Homer vs Virgil, and Latin, and goat-raising, studio art, and history. She's a liberal arts kid for sure," he said.) Kalamazoo College and the College of Wooster so far. If she has a preference she's keeping it to herself, hah!

ME TOO. I kept thinking if I got all my other writing ducks in a row, it would ease the process of writing the counselor letter (mainly my thoughts were the counselor letter should summarize/underline what is in the other documents). So now the other paperwork is completed (transcript, course descriptions, school profile) and I am staring at a blank Word page...again. Sigh. So you're so not alone. It doesn't mean my laundry is folded though. lol

I'm in. One and only, homeschooled since 3rd grade. She's arty. Looking into tiny LACs and the flagship U, all within 6+ hours' drive. She is a glassblower and teaches at the nature center, and she'll probably land somewhere to teach. We've schooled eclectic but have leaned heavily in lit/history/science. She'll have ~30 CC/DE credits by the time she graduates next spring.

I would suggest Denison U in Ohio. They have an earth sciences department and a geosciences department and environmental studies AND its own nature preserve. The school leans preppy but not too... We are in a similar boat, financially, and I know they can be quite generous. And my rock hound kiddo ADORES going to Ohio because dang everywhere you turn there's a vein of fossils just lying around. And I know Wooster supports its nonbinary students.

I thought of 4 because they should be read as a group: the Neapolitan novels by Elena Ferrante. I could.not.wait for each new one to come out...and waited as long as I could to start the last, knowing it was the last. Sigh.

We did it in 8th. There is a schedule that is fairly easy to follow, but IIRC it is not by week but you could make it that way. There is lots of vocabulary study. You can go deep with writing what it asks you to write about, but in my humble opinion, 9th has a need for more writing (and different kinds of analytical writing) than LLoLOTR requires. Don't get me wrong, we loved it, but...having her read and analyze stuff she doesn't particularly love (unlike anything Tolkein!) over a broad series of books, poems, essays, etc. has been better for us, school-wise, for 9th (so far). Her writing/analytical skills have improved because she's had to really stretch herself with some of the reading she's had to do. Not that LOTR isn't hard...it's just her love for the adventure made it such a pleasure to do this curriculum, whereas uh Heart of Darkness and Walden, not so much (rotfl).

One and only is a 9th grader this year. Really looking forward to it! 2nd semester and summer will see her doing classes at the community college. English: EIL Lit&Comp (EIL2?) Science: Conceptual Physics with labs Social studies: Holt McDougal Geography Math: finish Jacobs Algebra, start Jacobs Geometry PE: Oak Meadow Foreign Language: German, tbd, may start at CC if this semester is too busy Electives, art, 1 sem/each: glassblowing/fusing then Art History at CC Electives, social studies, 1 sem/each: world religions (combo books/Great Courses) then rhetoric (TBD, could be co-op)

I am in southwest Michigan. I agree with the above that Grand Rapids is very religious, homeschooling-wise and non-homeschooling-wise. But the majority of people homeschooling are religious so I don't know, if you look for religiosity you'll find it. Three Rivers and Newaygo are both pretty darned rural, so in all likelihood you won't necessarily find parent partnerships with local public schools. (It's a thing in certain parts of the state, that some public school districts reach out to homeschoolers in their general area and offer classes for homeschoolers in non-core classes. It's a way for the school districts to get some money that's hah "wasted" on kids not going to their schools. Actually our experience is it's a win-win, as our kid has gone on lots of interesting school trips, and has had things like foreign languages, art classes and swimming lessons paid for by someone who's not me!) So in general if you're closer to some of the bigger cities, like GR, Kalamazoo, Lansing, AA, Detroit...you'll find lots of homeschooling groups. But yes it's very easy to homeschool here. And it's fairly well accepted, too, at least in my neck of the woods.

Have you considered community classes at all? Because the CC classes are one semester, our daughter says she'd also like to take classes beyond the usual bio/chem labs there, so we're looking into other classes offered like Nutrition/Diet Therapy or Physical Geography. I mention this because my husband took nutrition as his college science credit and absolutely loved the class, remembers the stuff to this day; apparently, the student becomes the guinea pig in a lot of the labs...this may appeal to some (if not all) students.

WEIRD I bookmarked our dear Lit Hub from the 2nd Topics tab, all the better to see what's new. Having just wandered over to my saved bookmark, tapping it, I see that we're now... the Essential Oils group! Yay us.

I understand from a LIW fan friend of mine that Prairie Fires is also a pretty long book, chiguirre. I have not done the proper vetting at all to see if the back third etc of the book is notes, but... Sometimes we have to have limits! I have a few in my stack (looking at you, Dark Money) which guilt me daily, as I know I should finish them...

Hah, this made me LOL this morning. I still am giggling about the last cat https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/cat-profiles-from-haruki-murakami-animal-shelter

Rose! look what is coming out soon! The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America by Timothy Snyder. He's the author of Bloodlands, which a few of you have read, and On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. (I am a fan. He's a frequent contributor to NYRB.)