I've had a few homeschooling articles published in "Secular Homeschooling Magazine," does that count? LOL- it doesn't pay much at all, but I LOVE that publication, and it was fun seeing something I wrote in print. I've enjoyed writing since I was a little kid. Stories, essays, poems, etc. But I never tried to submit anything for publication until I started homeschooling and decided, just for fun, to submit something to SHM. It was accepted, so I submitted a few more things. I think I have had 3 articles already published and 1 that will appear in an upcoming issue.

Congrats, 10 lbs in 3 weeks is great!

I just say "my kids are homeschooled." If they have polite/friendly/interested questions, I'll answer them. I've never gotten a negative response yet. They've ranged from neutral to very positive. My favorite was an older, retired school teacher who now gives Native American presentations and demonstrations for school groups, libraries, etc, who told me, "Oh, I REALLY approve of homeschooling!" :)

see, I just think it's the kind of thing a kid outgrows and that it's best not to push them or make them uncomfortable in the meanwhile.

I have the first two but we haven't read them yet. I'll have to get the third! Another fun series that features a homeschooled character, which my 9 y/o daughter loved, was the "Monster Of The Month Club" series.

I plan to have the kids make a "back to school wreath"- I saw the idea in a magazine. So I bought a plain wreath and things to decorate it with that say "school" to us. And we're going to do that and hang it on our front door. We'll take first day of school pictures with the kids holding something saying their grades and the year or something, maybe their height and weight and stuff like that. Maybe we'll have them add their handprints somewhere (using fingerpaint). We'll do our first day of schoolwork (which will include setting up a "fall seasonal table" for my Kindergartener), and then we'll have ice cream cake after lunch. I think I'm going to get a "Happy First Day Of School" Dairy Queen ice cream cake or something for a treat :D

I only did "part 1." But from what I could tell, my daughter (9) could easily remember the stories. But then when it was time to just show her the flash card with just the numbers on them, it would take a bit to put those numbers to the stories and to come up with the answer. She could do it eventually. But it wasn't like an instant translation or anything. For the amount of time it would take to think it over and give the answer, she could have just figured out the problem without the story. I don't know.

Good luck! I started a diet today, too. Not that one. But it feels good to be making healthy changes!

No bells! Did you ever read John Taylor Gatto? One thing he says about public schools is this: "The fourth lesson schools teach is indifference. By bells and other concentration-destroying technology, schools teach that nothing is worth finishing because some arbitrary power intervenes both periodically and aperiodically. If nothing is worth finishing, nothing is worth starting. Don’t you see how one follows the other? Love of learning can’t survive this steady drill." We do not work on a time schedule, ever. I have a list I go by of things I want to get done in a given day, and I often let my daughter pick which she wants to do first, and we work on it until it's done. And then we move on to the next thing or take a break or however it works out. If we don't get to something on the list, it gets tacked on to the next day's list, which doesn't happen often, but which works out fine when it does happen. I'd rather we just take our time, go with the flow, and learn more for learning's sake than for the sake of a schedule- or a bell!

Me, too. Then it would only really be two numbers. I'd repeat them to myself several times and I'm sure it would just "stick."

Do you have a homeschool liason at your state's Department of Education? If so, you could give them a call and see what they have to say on the subject. Sometimes districts ask for more than they are entitled to by law, and I think it's perfectly acceptable to stand up for yourself when that happens. Case in point: My first year submitting an end-of-the-year homeschooling portfolio, I included 3-5 samples from each required subject. The law says to submit "samples;" it doesn't specify how many. I read that people often give a sample or two from the beginning,the middle, and the end of the year, so that's what I did. Imagine my surprise when my district called telling me I hadn't submitted enough and I should just "bring in everything you have, he wants to see all of your work." According to them, that's what everyone else around here does. So apparently "everyone else" likes to over-comply, which doesn't make it easy for the people who want to just submit what they are required to by law and call it good. As a new homeschooler, I contacted the homeschool liason at the PA Dept. of Ed to confirm that I did NOT have to submit "everything," and after speaking to her, I called the district back and said that I had submitted samples as required by law, they had my evaluator's letter stating that an appropriate education was being received, and that if they felt one wasn't, they could send me a certified letter saying so and detailing what they felt they needed to see more of, and that once I received that, I'd get them a few more samples, but that I was not going to bring in "everything." They never did send the certified letter, once they knew that I knew the law, they backed off. And I haven't received any complaints about my portfolio this year (I included with it a page of excerpts from the law, and highlighted the word "samples" in yellow highlighter lol). But then again from what someone else posted, it sounds like in NY maybe they ARE within their rights to request more than what you gave... so I'd see what the dept. of ed. or the HSLDA has to say. Then go with it, providing the minimum you are allowed to by law.

I thought it would be nice to keep an ongoing journal, with pictures and details and so on, of what our day to day homeschooling lives are like. This meets a few purposes. 1. I will have it as a keepsake/memory to look back on our homeschool years without having to open up a bunch of boxes- it's all right there on the website. And my kids will have that memory, too. 2. Interested friends and family who want to keep up with what our homeschooling lives are like can do so. 3. Homeschoolers who might want to read about the particular curriculum I use or the way we put it into practice in a relaxed style of homeschooling can do so, and if it helps somebody, great! I've even added in things like reviews and sample schedules and so on. 4. I'll always have a detailed record if the district or anybody were ever to give me a hassle about whether I'm doing enough. I'll also be able to look through and see that yes, I am "doing enough." :) 5. It helps keep me motivated to do fun, creative things with my kids- cause I know I'm going to go journal about my day, so it's nice to try to always have something worth journaling about :D 6. It's a good creative outlet, I've always enjoyed writing.

You're going to love Oak Meadow!! :D I used OM 4 last year with my daughter (and also blogged about it plenty; I've also got reviews and sample schedules (breaking a weekly lesson down into a daily one etc) on the sidebar of my site if you want to take a peek. So if you have any OM4 specific questions, let me know! I'm really looking forward to doing OM 5 with my daughter this year and to starting OMK with my son. (we're starting on Labor Day). Definitely check out the group Audrey linked you to, great group of OM HS'ers there! :)

Have you read this yet? This might give you a pretty good idea of what it's like: http://www.oakmeadow.com/curriculum/fifth-grade.php

What's Angry Birds??? I like Traffic Rush, Boggle, Sunday Lawn, Scramble 2, The Impossible Test, and Yield. Oregon Trail was fun too, the whole family played that one! I love the Diner Dash games too but I prefer those on my big computer screen rather than my tiny iphone screen :D ETA: Oh wait you said ipad, I'm talking about my iphone lol.

I used OM's math for my daughter last year for 4th grade. This year we're doing OM5 and I decided to use Teaching Textbooks for math. The only reason I decided this is because I have an older, used version of OM and in the version I had, they didn't used to have their own math curriculum in 5th grade. They wanted me to use Saxon which I can't stand. So I decided to go with TT instead. Of course, I subsequently found out that OM nowadays does use its own math curriculum in 5th grade and up, whereas it didn't used to. If I had the newer version of OM, I'd have just gone with their math program, yes.

Well if this were a regular occurrence, of course I would find it ridiculous. But as a once in a while kind of thing for a special occasion like taking a child to watch his uncle's band play? Fun! No, that wouldn't bother me.

The child support I always received for my oldest daughter, agreed upon between us, was $200.00 a month. My ex did contribute toward certain other things. 1) toward her braces (we split the cost). 2) chipped in toward her private special needs school tuition when she attended there. 3) he pays for her summer camp because he chooses to send her there when she visits him for the summer. 4) he buys her new glasses every summer (I don't ask him to, he just does). As the braces haven't been an issue in a long time and either is the private school tuition, there's nothing else I ask for extra money toward anymore.

If you're familiar with the Waldorfy "math gnomes" story for introducing the four math processes to little ones, you might find these absolutely adorable! http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/131676.html I think they're so sweet! (And thanks, Cindie, for letting me know about them)!

I found something I love. Really love. I'm REALLY HAPPY with the curriculum I chose- I enjoyed doing it last year, I look forward to doing it this year, and so do the kids. Therefore, I usually don't even bother reading threads about other curricula. I have no interest in switching, being tempted by something else, spending money I don't need to spend, piling one curriculum on top of another, wondering if the grass is greener on the other side, or anything of the sort. :)

Yes, I have seen it in person, and yes, I think it is good quality. I think ALL the Cracker Barrel costumes are good quality; I bought my daughter's there recently for the third year in a row. This was the first time I saw a BOY'S costume there and I so wanted to get it! But unfortunately, the store I was at had a size that was just too small for my son, and a size that was just WAY too big, nothing in between. So I skipped it. But I would have bought it!

I'm lucky, I get along well with all of mine!

Congrats!!! :)

I am starting K with my son in a couple of weeks (we use Oak Meadow which is really more of a hands-on "preschool" curriculum- I like that about it, I want Kindergarten to be artsy and gentle, and not overly academic!), and I expect it to take no more than 1 to 1 1/2 hours per day. I definitely don't think you have to worry that you aren't doing enough!

LOL good for you for trying! Next time, be sure to go with one of those friends who told you about it and has been there before... you know, someone who can play trail guide!