Which is just not the case. Dh and I went to a Liberal Arts University. He went on to get a masters in his field, is a VP and makes an excellent living. I never used my degree, but before I quit working (after dd was born) I was already earning the median national income in a low cost of living area. I am a firm believer in a Liberal Arts education. I don't think sciences equal money or job security any more than I think LA = poverty. Both are possibilities, but neither are guarantees. ETA: While I never used my degree, I had multiple jobs that required a degree and didn't care that mine was in an unrelated field.

My dd didn't gain weight going vegetarian, but I gained weight when she did. The reason was, I used more pastas and cheeses instead of lean meats. It took a little time to find more meals that didn't require me to binge on carbs or fat. You are probably right about her weight gain being about going off meds. However, you might also look at what she quit eating v what she is eating now and see if that is part of the issue.

This isn't necessarily true either. My mom got a college degree over 50 years ago. Her family was dirt poor. She got a teaching degree. After 2 years progress on the degree she was able to start teaching during the school year and finished college during the summers. Her first job teaching in a one room school house paid $2500 a year. She supported her mom, dad (who had emphysema) and two younger brothers on that. The IRS audited her because she claimed her family as dependents, saying there was no way they could all be living on her income. When the audit was over, the auditor wrote her a personal letter of apology. She was after a career to raise her out of poverty, not an education, although she believed in education. There have always been people going to college for a variety of reasons, from a variety of income levels and family support levels. It has always been true and it will always be true. There is no one right answer. There never was and there never will be.

This was what dd started of with when she first went vegetarian (16 mos ago). She also likes some of the pre-made fake meat things like spicy chick'n patties and chick'n strips. I keep buns on hand and these are convenient when she doesn't want to cook. Things that have been winners for easy family vegetarian meals are soups (bean and vegetable), pastas, and mexican (she just uses refried beans &/or cheese in place of meat).

Congratulations! We are an all laptop family. It is a transition, but once we made it, we could never go back.

This. We saved. Our kids got scholarships. They will graduate debt free with the degree of their choice. Even in our family that looks very different for each child though. Ds is pursuing a double major in writing and philosophy. I have no concern about what job he will get, just that he grows up, gains some experience, meets and deals with people, gets broadened. He needs the time. He isn't ready for life outside college yet. He likes to pursue learning and the college environment is ideal for him. What will he do when he finishes? I don't know. He is exploring that as he goes. It'll work out. Dd is going to be a nursing major (already accepted). She wants a degree that will get her a solid job and make her financially independent. She also doesn't want to have to pursue an advanced degree. She wants no college debt so that the need to pay off debt won't keep her from staying home with kids at some point. She is all about practical get a job stuff. She cares nothing about education for the sake of education, broadening, etc. I think there is plenty of room for both philosophies and both types of students. Higher ed doesn't have to cost a fortune. In my state public universities are very affordable. Ds is going to a private university with a bigger scholarship to make that affordable. We're not rich, but a college education is a priority in our family and so is living debt free. We're able to make both of those things possible for our kids and I'm glad about that. My own philosophy about college is that you go to become an educated person. That doesn't mean that I won't support my dd who is going to get a good job. I don't think as a parent it is my job to tell my young adults what they will get out of college. Either I can afford to help them or I can't. The decision as to what they will do with that help is up to them.

I'd add to this they would be neat freaks who love watching sport and are public school zealots. I think we're pretty middle of the road on most issues, so I don't think it is easy to find our opposite. The people on that show are polar. We just aren't. Our political, educational, discipline, cleanliness, animal, and financial attitudes are all moderate. They just wouldn't take us, we're too hard to offend and not very offensive to others. :lol:

I'm glad you're feeling better. I have a couple of thoughts I thought I'd throw in the mix. First, I'm assuming he was in a B&M school K-4 since last year was your first homeschooling, I pulled my youngest at that age, my oldest was a year older. Both wanted to homeschool and frankly neither complained much, but particularly my youngest never loved school or learning either. My oldest never loved school, but did love learning. After being in school all that time, their attitude about trying to fit their interests into school was "Don't ruin what I love by making it part of school." They couldn't get the concept of, following interests and learning along the way. We had to stick with more structured curriculum that got done and they learned what they needed to learn. Second, I would consider the complaining and attitude a behavior issue. I would just let him know that whining, complaining, and telling you he hates school are not acceptable. If there is a problem learning, you want to know. If something is too hard or too boring, please mention it - politely. If the curriculum is a bad fit, you'll try something else next time. But if he is just being grumpy and complaining, there is going to be a consequence. A marble jar would be a suggestion here. For example, he starts with 6 marbles each day. Each marble represents 10 min of MineCraft time. Each attitude issue removes a marble. You might want to make there be something he can do to earn back or earn extra marbles - set a maximum. This would give him incentive to stop the attitude and maybe even add some positive behavior. Good luck. You can do this. If your kids both want to homeschool, don't give up. Give them and yourself grace as you adjust to this new normal. You'll find your way and it will work. 12 really is hard, and in a few years it will get better - probably. :)

We used Excellence in Literature for all non-outsourced high school English. There is no explicit writing instruction though. They do write papers and there are examples and grading rubrics. My oldest went from that to AP English and from there to college with no problems. My youngest went from there to Blue Tent Honors English 2 (which we didn't like) and then to College Composition at the CC.

Our high school has PE every day. No block scheduling. The next closest high school does block scheduling, but semester blocks, 95 min every day for a semester, so they would be meeting every day for PE too. Most of the kids I know in that district do PE in summer school so they don't have to give it that much time.

I wouldn't hesitate to take a 10 yo to the current Star Wars movie. I wouldn't hesitate to let them see the original trilogy. Episode 3 was harsh and gory and was rated PG-13 with good cause. There are 10 yo that would be fine with it, but I wouldn't give a blanket recommendation on that one.

The AP Bio exam covers some topics that M/L doesn't, particularly chemistry. It has more depth in cellular biology/chemistry. I don't think the AP exam covers human anatomy, which Miller Levine spends quite a bit of time on (someone correct me if I'm wrong). In my opinion, having done a solid Biology course and a Chemistry course (hopefully), AP Biology will be different but not harder than the honors Biology he is doing now.

This is us too. Routine helps everyone in my family be their best. I get more done, have more fun, feel better, etc when I am in my routine. At the same time, my "routine" is flexible and none of us exactly follow a routine. A routine that is a guide is a good description. I do love vacations and other times when routine gets to go completely out the window too. It is nice to forget the routine, but I really can't accomplish life without it most of the time.

I did the same thing and shocked my whole family. I don't know why. It just seemed like the thing to do and now it seems sad. I'm glad to have the living room back to it's treeless more spacious state, but really, it feels like I prematurely put an end to Christmas. Dd has another week before her CC classes start and ds has 2 before he heads back. :grouphug:

I haven't used them. I used Wordsmith apprentice and Jump In. From that history and from looking at both, I'd use The Power is in Your Hands. We loved Jump In too. I really wanted to use it with dd, but I outsourced and she did CC composition class instead. Not the voice of experience, just a wistful voice that wanted to get the choice. :)

Last year was our first and we filed an estimate, then did a revision later. No problems.

The US History course that used to be listed for 9th grade is now listed for 8th. Even SL agrees :). We used it for 7th and liked it, but for the OP if English is your weak subject, I really don't recommend SL. I consider it to be their weak subject too! I'm not sure why your are opposed to MFW, but I have heard it's writing instruction is much better. We used Excellence in Lit for high school English and were very happy with it. She gives sample papers and grading help, but doesn't teach writing. SL with Write at Home would be a good option. We've had some issues with WAH this year, but overall, I think it has been a good experience.

Ds was accepted with 3 lab sciences. He is an English major. If she is looking at business, IS or marketing 3 science classes and Pre-Calc shouldn't be an issue. In fact, I would let her do the Environmental Science instead of Chemistry and I'd be more concerned about her math level than the sciences. Dh frequently points out to my children that he has never had a chemistry class in his life and he has a BS in CS and a MS in CIS.

Missouri We have a cut tree, but we don't do the cutting. I think we are pretty typical in our traditions, gift exchange, santa, stockings. We go to my in-laws on Christmas Eve. I make and we eat a lot of Christmas candy and treats, but we don't necessarily do a big traditional meal, although we probably have more times than we haven't. This year, we're having fondue as suggested here :)

It doesn't matter at all which you do first. Take them as you have access to the best course options. The only way I would do both in a year is if you do one each semester, either DE or just spending a couple hours a day to accomplish it in a semester. You might consider online APs for him if there isn't a CC to do DE, although there is no reason you can't do a solid pass at both subjects at home.

If you spread those 30 hours across 4-6 semesters, its just a couple classes at a time. Dd took 2 classes per semester including summer school, and will take 3 her final semester. Both of my kids have found most college classes taken at CC, local state U, and ds's LAC have been less work than APs and many of the classes we did at home. They have found a few classes that are higher intensity, but not the majority. Ds was very pleasantly surprised at how much lighter his workload was taking his first semester of full time college classes than it had been at home doing AP and classes created by me. I don't know if this has changed. There weren't that many classes that I took in college that I spent 10+ hours/week on. I always tried to make sure I didn't have more than one of those per semester.

Welcome. Creek said it all. I'm not in CA so I can't comment on a-g, but you can find plenty of threads about it here. There is no reason to be sad about having high schoolers. It is a wonderful time to homeschool. My oldest is in college and my youngest is finishing high school this year and doing all DE this spring. Enjoy these last 4 years. They will fly by.

Our state just began offering the ACT to every Junior for free last year. I'm surprised to hear about the switch only because most states are firmly entrench in one test or the other. That would be annoying for those who had planned one and now have to take the other. Testing is such a money game. It is sad.

I probably don't have anything of value to add to this thread, but I'm going to share a little of our experience anyway. There have been many good points already made, but I'm going to emphasize just a few. First, design you child's high school experience around two things, their goals, and a realistic assessment of their abilities. If they aren't interested in a highly selective school or have a career goal in mind that will not be helped by a highly selective school, there is no need to push 140 hours/week of school on them. Most who do 8 credits 5+ of which are APs each year, have kids who WANT to do that. They love the challenge. They thrive on the schedule. Some do it because the parents believe in it, but these students rarely make it unless they have taken on that belief for themselves. For the rest of us, a good solid 6-7 credits/semester with or without AP and DE will be just fine. My kids both did some DE, my oldest took two APs his senior year and dropped one (he was getting an A, but was totally burning out). You control your homeschool. You will not destroy your child's future by making school fit them. You will prepare them for a future that also fits them. Next, college admission isn't really that hard. ACT/SAT scores are ridiculously important for most schools and scholarships. The only place admissions is a huge crazy game is the highly selective colleges. I live in the midwest. There is only one highly selective college in my state and at $40,000/year and an urban setting, neither of my kids were vaguely interested. My oldest is attending a small, slightly selective, private LAC with a great scholarship (based on a great ACT). He has multiple LDs and worked very hard in high school, but couldn't handle the kind of rigorous schedule that some kids do. He's double majoring in Writing and Philosophy and doing just fine. My youngest will attend a small/medium sized State U, that takes almost everyone, but has an excellent reputation for the program she desires with a 100% job placement rate. They'll take all her DE credits and she got a scholarship even with mediocre ACT scores. She is a competitive gymnast and has a job. She cares nothing about school except as a means to an end. The path we chose for her was heavy in classes that will help her in her future career (science) and light in classes she cares nothing about (history & English). The only demanding online class we tried for her was Bluetent English 2 and it was an epic fail. She gets all A's in her DE classes though and is graduating a year early with 24 college credits. My big advice is look less at what others are doing. Choose your own path. Don't be afraid to follow it. It will be ok. Pick the education and future that fits your child and your family, not someone else's child or someone else's family. Stand bravely in that path and don't be lured off by the plans of others.

I don't know anything better than that list for making a person feel incompetent and panicked. There are a lot of highly gifted kids trying to get into Ivy's and anything less seems to be scorned. I hung out there for years and I learned a lot, but make sure you have a thick skin and recognize when their advice does or doesn't fit your child's goals.