This is brilliant. Do you have marketing experience? :D It's comforting to read that others have had similar experiences. I should have gotten some feedback on my idea BEFORE I went forward with it. Ya'll could have warned me ahead of time. :lol: Pegasus

Ok, I needed to clear my shelves to make room for new materials. I didn't want to hassle with trying to post things for sale, package, drive to post office, ship, etc. I also really didn't want to make the effort to sell locally as it can be a hassle to time when/where to meet. I wanted to make it easy on ME. :) So, I decided to help out other local homeschooling families and offer everything for free. I posted what I had available on a local homeschool e-mail loop, gave a general location of where I lived, and asked folks to please plan to come by during a 3-hour window on the one morning that I could be home to pass things out. This was all spelled out in the original posting. Everything was "claimed" via e-mail very quickly. However, not a single person came by during my 3-hour availability. A few folks asked to come by sooner so I had their items wrapped in plastic or placed in a cooler to protect from the weather (lots of rain here recently) and placed them outside the door when I wasn't home. Most folks haven't bothered to come by at all or let me know that they weren't coming. I won't be doing this again. I'll either throw things away or send them to Goodwill. I still can't figure out why someone would e-mail that they wanted something (for FREE) and then inconvenience the person offering it by not coming to get it. Pegasus

I finally got a reply from HLA and wanted to update the thread with the additional information: Dear Family, Thank you for your inquiry regarding immunizations. We are working on updating our website to reflect this policy change. Immunization records are for your student’s file ONLY. This information is kept CONFIDENTIAL and only released upon your authorization. We apologize for any stress this may have caused you. As a church-related “umbrella†school in Tennessee, we are required to keep immunization records or exemption forms on file for each student. We are working toward complying with all state requirements to keep our status as a qualified church-related non-public school in the State of Tennessee. Below are the statutes for church-related schools in Tennessee. There are five (5) requirements for us to be able to “cover†you, the homeschooler. The first three(3) relate to a brick and mortar school that your child would physically attend. The last two apply to us as an “umbrella†school. Church-related schools Tennessee Code Annotated § 49-50-801 (b) states: “The state board of education and local boards of education are prohibited from regulating the selection of faculty or textbooks or the establishment of a curriculum in church-related schools.†The only regulations that church-related schools must follow are listed in State Board of Education Rule 0520-7-2-.05(2). This rule states that church-related schools must: · “Comply with all rules and regulations and codes of the city, county, and state regarding planning of new buildings, alterations and safety.†· “Comply with all rules and regulations of the Tennessee Department of Health regarding construction, maintenance and operation of the school plant.†· Observe “all fire safety regulations and procedures promulgated by the Tennessee Fire Marshal’s Office. · “Comply with the requirement of TCA § 49-6-5001 that each child in the school be vaccinated against disease.â€* · “Comply with the requirement of TCA § 49-6-3007 that the names, ages, and addresses of all pupils in attendance be reported to the superintendent of the public school system in which the school is located. Please note that a child without proof of immunization may comply with Tennessee Code Annotated Section 49-6-5001, by meeting one of the exceptions under subsection (b) (medical exemption) and/or (e) (religious exemption) of the statute. Students attending church-related schools that do not meet the State Board of Education requirements for church-related schools are not in compliance with the compulsory school attendance law in Tennessee and must be considered truant. The sole responsibility and authority for the enforcement of the compulsory attendance laws is placed with the local board of education and its designated employees and officers. Thus, when working with associations, accrediting agencies and parents, attendance officers should rely on Tennessee Code Annotated § 49-50-801 and State Board of Education Rule 0520-7-2-.05 to determine whether a church-related school exists for purposes of enforcing the compulsory attendance laws. They may also require the organization operating the church-related school to provide assurance that they are meeting the requirements of the statute and rule.

:iagree: Now that is the scariest suggestion yet!

I haven't thought about hummus - I bet she'd like that! She doesn't use any kind of dressing or dip but hummus may really be well received. Thanks. I'll check out your blog as well! Pegasus

Thanks for the list. I will definitely have her try these. We'll have to experiment with sauteed veggies as well. Pegasus

Ok, I've been thinking that I'm avoiding buying her the vegetables that *I* don't like. That's not right and I need to let her try them, including the cauliflower and peppers. How do you eat avocado? Just slice, peal, and eat? I usually see it as guacamole. :001_huh: Oh, and I've thought of a few things that she WILL eat cooked, like sweet potatoes and acorn squash. How do you cook the eggplant? She drinks milk and calcium fortified orange juice and eats cheese. I think she's ok for calcium. I'll need to look into the B vitamins though.

Good ideas. I love that summer is coming and I can start buying and letting her try things when they will be fresh. Yes, she sounds very similar. She often passes on the meat dish entirely but will sometimes take about 1-2 ounces of chicken or fish, if that is what we are having. She does like eggs (whites only if boiled or fried), peanut butter, beans, cheese, nuts, seeds, etc. Pegasus

DD12 will likely become vegetarian. Never a big meat eater, she is eating less and less meat. We are quite the carnivore family but I want to respect her choices. She loves lots of fresh fruit, especially berries, and I haven't really found a fruit that she doesn't like. The problem is that she will only eat raw vegetables. It's boring to offer her carrots and broccoli over and over. What else is good to eat raw? Are there certain vegetables that you should NOT eat raw? Here's what she likes so far that I can think of: carrots, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, cabbage, peas I'd love some more ideas. Pegasus

This is based on my experience as an undergrad lab assistant: #1) Safety - hopefully there will be some formal orientation to the lab and the safety procedures. they should be followed all the time, even when not convenient #2) Reliability - show up on time, every time, no excuses. #3) Ask questions - make sure your DD is confident enough to ask questions and not try to pretend she understands. If she's told to do something, she needs to be able to say "I haven't been trained on that yet. Can you show me how to do it?" The flip side of this, of course, is to listen and pay close attention. Congrats to your DD on this wonderful opportunity! Pegasus

The important thing will be to meet your son where he is rather than where you think he should be and just work from there. There are SO MANY choices in curriculum and I'm sure you'll get lots of suggestions. I find it helpful to search the high school board for one subject at a time and just read several threads to glean ideas for what to use. You may get some more targeted suggestions if you share a little more about what you are looking for: Is secular materials preferred or Christian or either? What level math does your son need to start at? Does he need a quick review of earlier levels first? Unless you are very comfortable teaching math, a couple popular programs include Math U See (lessons are on DVD) or Teaching Textbooks (lessons are on computer). If you want to teach it yourself, Lial's textbooks are very solid and inexpensive for earlier editions. For writing, I'd like to plug a program that I think is highly under-recognized. Writing Skills by EPS. It starts at the beginning and breaks down the writing process into very small steps. It is what finally broke through my DDs reluctance to write and we've had a LOT more success with writing since we used it. Congrats on your decision to homeschool and good luck! Pegasus

Personally, for us, I don't think it matters. I'm only using whole grades, no pluses or minuses. The colleges and scholarships that we've been looking at will be much more influenced by test scores (ACT, SAT) for homeschoolers, as well as outside courses/grades. Pegasus

We've been using Rosetta Stone for Spanish for exposure to the language but I won't be giving any high school credit for it. We've decided to use an outside class through dual enrollment at a community college. Best of luck in finding something that works for your family. Pegasus

No, we use none of that. We started out with the white board and colored markers and I guess we'd go back to that if we thought a student needed it. We just run through the day's word list one word at a time, immediately correct if wrong, and then keep going. A similar word will pop up again the next day and the next day to "cement" the spelling pattern. We use regular paper, nothing fancy. I don't know anything about a new DVD. Pegasus

We are big fans of Sequential Spelling. The method just makes so much sense to us and requires no studying of word lists. It only takes a few minutes each day. Pegasus

Since your DC is in another theater troupe, I'd feel free to quit this one, even this late in the year. DD is in dance. We pay $45-60 per costume and then have to buy tickets to the recital for $10-15 each. DH complains bitterly at the cost but the monthly rates for the dance lessons are very reasonable, IMHO, at $83 per month for 4 dance classes a week. Pegasus

Yes, I have one DD who runs a fever with every little cold or other mild virus. I've come to accept that it is just how her body reacts. It is usually just for a day or two. On the other hand, she is also the one that usually manages to dodge illness when the rest of us in the family come down with something. Maybe her body knows what it is doing! Pegasus

The plot thickens. I checked the HLA website to see if I could find any additional information and came across this FAQ: Q: Do I need to provide immunization records for my child? A: No, we do not require immunization records. Basically, that is a rule for the public school because of the liability of the kids being all in one place together. We are happy to keep them in the file if you have them or if the previous school sends them to us with the records. But there is no law that says we have to require them from you. It's your choice. Interesting! Pegasus

The request came via e-mail and I replied, asking for an explanation. When I get a response, I'll post it here. This is interesting as they only named my younger DD in the e-mail; my older DD went to public K. They stated that they were requesting records for ALL students but only named one of my two students. You may be on to something with the transferred records being enough, even though older DD is now in high school. The e-mail offered a "religious exemption" form in lieu of the immunization records but we have no religious objections to immunizations. I haven't heard of a personal exemption. Thanks for the replies so far. Pegasus

immunization records for our students. We've been with HomeLife Academy for over 9 years now and this is the first time they've requested this. Is anyone aware of a new requirement that they are trying to meet? Has anyone else received this request - maybe from a different Tennessee umbrella school? Thanks, Pegasus Edited to add the actual text of the e-mail. Subject line: IMMUNIZATION RECORDS To Mr. and Mrs. XXXX, We are requesting that all student(s) have their immunization records or religious exemption on file. Please fax or email a copy of XXX's record to the information at the bottom of this email, or you can mail it to PO BOX 11688, Jackson, TN 38305. If you need a religious exemption form, let me know and I will gladly mail you one.

I'd be interested in hearing what sorts of paying jobs your teens hold or have held in the past. I'm especially interested to see what sorts of things pop up beyond the usual yard work, babysitting, or fast food gig. Thanks! Pegasus

I would estimate that my DD12 does about 80% of her schoolwork independently. I give her a two-week schedule (broken out by day) and she checks off things as she completes them. If she desires a light day later, she works ahead in some subjects. We are very relaxed in the early years too but I start expecting more independence in middle school. My DD15 is almost completely independent her her studies. Pegasus

We've used Exploration Education Physical Science, Snap Circuits Electronics, Power House, Milestones in Science, and a couple of the Little Professor Science Kits (Ecology and Seeds), and a weather station kit. What else have you and your DC have enjoyed? :bigear: Pegasus

That's a good age for using Joy Hakim's History of US. Pegasus

My BIL sounds a lot like your DH. For example, Thursday was day he assigned for clipping the children's fingernails. If he comes home on Thursday and the nails aren't clipped yet, he gets angry. It blows my mind. Sorry I don't have a solution for you. :grouphug: Pegasus