They're releasing BA Online later spring. I think that will address the problem of needing more practice.

It's a nonprofit distance learning private school, so technically you aren't homeschooling when you enroll. But for all practical purposes you are. You just have to submit some work samples twice a year, track attendance, and do end of year testing. We won't open until next year (it will take about eight more months of paperwork to get approved). The biggest drawback is that the specific voucher rules make it so only kindergarten and first grade students can apply, unless your student attended public school the year previous. But once they receive a voucher, they can then get it in subsequent years (first grader who received the voucher can then apply in second, third, etc.). Although, we will have a scholarship program in place for students who weren't eligible for the voucher because of their starting age. If you mean how do we do it financially, it goes like this. We charge $4,200 in yearly tuition. A student applies for a voucher, which covers that amount. The state transfers that money to us. About half of it is used to cover all our expenses, while the remaining $2,000 is allocated as Instructional Funds for the student. The parent fills out a form making requests for curricula, music lessons, co-op fees, etc. and the school purchases those things for them. It's pretty straightforward. I just worry that people will automatically think there's some kind of catch, when we're honestly just trying to give kids resources that they wouldn't otherwise have.

I'm setting up a distance learning private school that gives homeschool parents $2k per year to spend on curriculum, music lessons, etc. using vouchers in NC. Unfortunately, I'm afraid the deal will seem too good to be true to a lot of people. It's a weird problem to have when you're trying to convince someone.

Great ideas! Thanks for the suggestions so far.

We're putting together a class with hands-on activities for Story of the World: Ancients. The AG has so many ideas, but we can only cover 36. What are your absolute favorites? Obviously, the mummified chicken. What else would you absolutely want your kids to do from the Activity Guide if they were in a class like this?

The Awakening of Miss Prim is just delightful.

Professors only work 9 months out of the year. So they earn 15% less per year, but they're working 25% less time. My DH teaches math at a community college. He could make three times as much if he became a data analyst, but that would require moving near a large city and commuting, dealing with the high COL of that area, working in a competitive field, and possibly losing benefits if he had to switch companies or was let go. Being a teacher offers security, the ability to live basically wherever we want, a low stress work environment, and so, so much time off throughout the year.

Thanks for the replies so far! We've been calling them enrichment classes, no idea why I reverted to co-op when I wrote this (maybe because it's shorter for the thread title?). But you're definitely right, they're classes, not co-ops. Doh.

We're organizing some enrichment classes, and we're having trouble deciding when to schedule them. The classes are aimed at K-5 and take place in two classrooms, over a period of two hours. What day and time would be ideal for you? I was thinking Friday from 10:00 to 12:00, but my DH pointed out that kids would start to get hungry for lunch and may not be at their best. He suggested early afternoon, but I know a lot of families with toddlers have nap time then. What do you think? Also, while I have your attention, let me ask about parents in the classroom. Do you prefer being able to attend? Would you be offended if you were not allowed? We have one geography class where kids taste food from around the world, and if parents are allowed in, I get the feeling that the 20 kids we prepared for when buying exotic snacks will turn into 20 kids + 20 adults. Also, if parents are allowed into the classrooms, I think there will be at least some who bring their babies and toddlers along, which can be a distraction for the older students. This is not a co-op of parent volunteers, if it matters. Teachers are paid for heir work by our organization, we pay for a bunch of materials and stuff, and kids are only charged $50/year per class. What would you do? Edited to correct the use of the term co-op to classes. :)

I know the answer to this is probably no, but I thought I'd investigate on the small chance it's possible. My state (NC) has private school vouchers for $4200 per year per student. Could a group of homeschoolers form a private school that gains access to the funds? Then the "school" would charge $4200 tuition, and reimburse families for materials like charter schools in CA do, as well as offer co-op type classes. Some of the funds would have to go to overhead for administration, a few co-op teachers and rent for a building, so parents obviously wouldn't see a 100% return, but it could still be pretty substantial. I'm looking at the private school requirements and the only things that stand out to me are that you might need a physical building (which is difficult but doable), log attendance and immunizations (parents could be required to submit it to the school), teach drivers ed (we can have that available from one or two parents), and do grade 3, 6, and 9 testing (unfortunate but it could be done). Is this crazy talk?

I think it's too early to speculate. However, based on your predictions, that adds up to about $10 per month per student. That is entirely reasonable, imho.

I love Nags Head. Small town, state parks, the Wright Brothers Museum, the dunes... I checked Airbnb and there are a few of the larger houses that can accommodate you for $200 per night that weekend.

Drinking alcohol during pregnancy is not nearly as harmful as many Americans believe. The idea that FAS is a concern for mothers who drink moderately is not really supported by science. All the studies hat supposedly show how bad drinking is for the fetus come from self-reported surveys in America where the mothers often also reported using cocaine and other drugs (if you're he type of mother to openly admit to drinking while pregnant in America, you are much more likely to drink to excess and have other behaviors that put the fetus at risk). In cultures where drinking during pregnancy isn't as stigmatized, like Australia, they haven't found a link between FAS and moderate drinking. If I remember correctly, that study found that drinking the equivalent of 2 - 3 beers a day had no effect.

One reason a lot of attention is drawn to it is that so many people don't vaccinate. To the scientific community, it really is a crisis akin to people refusing to wear seat belts. Even when the strains mutate and you end us getting the flu anyway, the vaccination still helps your immunity by making the illness less severe, resulting in less hospitalizations and deaths.

I want to paint my bathroom this color, but I'm having trouble finding a match: https://m.imgur.com/a/Op7x4 We live in a cabin style house with lots of warm wood. Most of it is logs, but there's some drywall upstairs in the two bathrooms and three bedrooms. Currently they're all an off-white...I call it cigarette smoker white, since it reminds me of the slightly yellow residue in smokers' houses. I'd be much happier with White Dove or Simply White by Benjamin Moore, but my DH thinks it's crazy to repaint a wall that's already white. I know it's done a lot, but I'm also tempted to do Revere Pewter because I think that particular gray works great with wood tones. If money was no object, we'd do the accent wall in the nursery with peel and stick wallpaper like this: https://www.etsy.com/listing/533030865/oh-deer-mural-forest-bunny-scene?ref=shop_home_active_14 Oh yeah, and there is one single wall downstairs in the dining room that the previous owners put bright red garish wallpaper on. It's even textured. We're debating whether to make that wall a giant chalkboard, since we'll be homeschooling there, or to buy peel and stick reclaimed wood from Stikwood.

I will say that there there are things that I think Tiger Moms get right, like focusing on music over sports, giving their kids responsibility at a young age, and challenging their kids instead of letting them coast by.

My DH teaches math, and he was talking to an Indian guy we met. The guy's mother taught math at university, so everyone expected him to excel at math. But his mom would drill him and rap his knuckles with a cane, and the pressure to perform was so intense that he actually wet his pants a few times under her scrutiny. When he went to college, he completely avoided anything that required math. "You are so lucky your parents are white," he said. "Indian parents believe that children are pieces of iron that must be forged with a hammer."

NM I need sleep.

I didn't know about Arkansas (too bad that's pretty far away from me). But it gives me hope!

It's illegal to bring back marijuana with you. If they catch you, they get you for transporting illicit drugs across state lines.

That is not an option for most people. I called all four pain clinics within a 200 mile radius. The lowest amount they charge for a first consultation is $600 (up to $800). And most of them said explicitly that hey do NOT prescribe narcotics (I know, the irony). They focus on "non-opioid forms of rehabilitation" like steroid shots and physical therapy despite being pain clinics.

We're considering moving across the country to have access to medical marijuana for this reason. I have a very cut and dry, obvious condition that causes chronic pain, ie I'm not someone just claiming I have a vague pain somewhere for some unknown reason. My doctors acknowledge that I'm in a lot of pain, that they should be giving me opioids, but they can't risk doing it. Especially as a long term treatment with no other solution. So I'm in constant pain. Last night, I was sobbing on the floor for half an hour, unable to move. I love our home. DH loves his job. We don't want to move. But medical marijuana may be our only recourse. We're going on a trip this summer to a recreational state to try it (I'm so boring, I've never smoked marijuana). If it makes a big difference, we might just have to move for that reason alone. (We live in the South, in a state that still has dry counties. We'll be the last to legalize it.)

I need to file a healthcare exemption. The tax form says I can just put PENDING if I haven't received the confirmation number yet, but I'm not sure about sending it in without it. Ugh.

They have some new videos out for younger kids, so I've signed up for the free trial for my four year old. I'll report back once we've had a chance to use it. It's worth noting that the price seems to have gone down to $69 per year. That's $5.75 per month. That seems pretty reasonable.

You can burn the MP3 to CD using iTunes or the windows music player (I only use Apple so I don't know the name). The only catch is that you can only burn an audiobook to one set of CDs (they do this to ensure people aren't distributing the audiobooks illegally). If you use the MP3, you can use it on as many devices as you want.