lumabean

Thanks for the idea He's really shy and tends to be a wallflower at homeschool events we go to. But, I saw that a community library nearby has a bunch of classes going for kids in the evening - I was able to get him to join (albeit begrudgingly) a couple - hopefully that may get a renewed spark going.

Thoughts and lots of prayers for your grandma and family.

I am determined to learn now, the booklet I have is sort of tricky to understand, so I am going to ask around to see if I can maybe find a class. Either way, I am set on at least getting beyond the chain i can do now I cannot tell you just how much your post stuck with me. Yesterday was esp. rough for assorted reasons, but I kept reminding myself of "don't waste tomorrow..." thanks :hug: gun-totin', shoot-first, snake-eatin' hermits that are a little crazy and might go psycho in a heartbeat I think that may be my husband's perspective, maybe I should assure him I won't make that transformation LOL I hope so :hug: Oh, I have a feeling I will need to put certain items I store in inconveniently reached areas .. I tend to nibble a bit too much on certain things ... we had a small store of candy bars once ... emphasis on the 'had' Thank you esp.the reminder " He can do all that I can not. Let Him open the doors you need open. Let Him show you that you can trust Him and let Him fill your heart with His hope and peace that He desires for each of us." I've been having a bit of a struggle lately with trust, even with the Lord, often only going as far as saying I will trust to a degree or under certain circumstances, so this really touched home for me! (the other words did as well, this esp. so) ~~~ My sincere thanks to everyone for the care and insights :hug:

when I saw the title, I thought you'd discovered a new way to can on the go LOL

That's so neat I bet kids would have fun with it too when helping.

pm-ed you I like the sound of the essays I know my son wouldn't be thrilled with it either, but I think it sounds like a benefit for the participants.

I just didnt' want you to be thinking "who is this weirdo pm-ing me out of nowwhere" LOL.

Thanks, everyone, I truly appreciate the kindness and helpfulness, finding a site with a wealth of information is a positive in itself, a place to share thoughts and ideas with real people makes it even better Thanks again

I have not used that program - but my son loves photography too, and takes a course through an online co-op for free (the woman who runs the site does it as her ministry, and it's all free). There are two photography teachers this year - they are both professional photographers and they have a class each week per teacher. I am not sure if there are more seats - but it can't hurt to check if you feel your daughter would enjoy it, I do know that the lady who runs it does maintain a waiting list for classes that are filled. This will be my son's second year in the photography class - the teacher gives assignments, teaches terms and techniques, offers critiques, etc. There are also other classes offered. For example, the first class my son took there was an Apologia biology course - the same sort of class is offered by another site for over $500, so the free co-op is a blessing being free. Then after that we saw the other classes offered, and it has been a continued blessing for my family - my son loves the classes. I hope you don't mind, but I will pm you the director's contact info in case you're interested in finding out more.

Yikes, the more I read and jot things down in my ever-so-quickly-being-filled notebook and internet bookmarks (my printer is getting a real workout!), the more I wish I had started sooner! I'll confess that I've been tempted to toss the notebook (and computer!)way more than once and put my head back in the sand ... but then I realize that would just lead to more issues in the long term, so being determined and plugging along is where I am at now. I've lost count of how many times during my reading/planning that I've asked myself "Why didn't you do something, anything, sooner?" I don't really have an answer - just got caught up in the day to day never thinking about what could happen, and honestly, not even thinking about the responsibility I feel now. When I look back, I feel really ashamed, and confused - in general, I am a very independent person; but yet there I was for all those years making myself dependent. On a more selfish level, I also really don't want to end up being one of those people that when disaster strikes just stands there looking dazed and being picked off...and even more so, i don't want to see my own child have that happen. For a minute, I even started to play the blame game ... "why doesn't society educate people to be self-sufficient," I pondered - I had to laugh at myself when I actually thought about that for a second, because it sort of defeats the point of being self-reliant to 'blame' someone else for not making it happen When I think of the hours (dare I say months, years if it's all totaled up?! scary thought!!) wasted being idle, watching tv, not learning any real skills that would be of benefit - I want to smack myself silly. It's not as though I never had the opportunity - a memory that I keep having come in to my mind is of my great-aunt, Helen. When I was still in the single digits, Helen was staying with my grandmother (as was I), and she tried to teach me to crochet, tell me stories about things that looking back now would have made a world of difference, for both of us (she would have been shown the respect and love she deserved and had the joy of sharing things that were important to her, and I would have had some practical skill set now and fond memories of her rather than being ashamed of the brat that I was!). But sadly, I was a brat, and an unappreciative one at that - I'd run off to do nothing rather than listen to her stories, refused to learn to crochet, turned my rotten little nose up at the afghan she made me for my birthday (I cannot explain how badly I wish I had that today!) in lieu of the plastic whatever was the 'in' thing at the time. If I could turn back time, I would change that - I wish adult me could make up for the things that child me did. Funny how trying to 'prep' for the future keeps carrying me back to my past. Hmmm...so now I've resorted to rambling I suppose I just needed to get it out. I tried to talk to my husband about it, but he just rolls his eyes, and thinks I am being 'dramatic', esp. when I mention that we need to do more in the line of prepping and self-protection. My son thinks I am totally 'un-cool' My mother seems to show an interest in prepping, but it's an extremely limited interest I am quickly seeing. I am not about to mention it to anyone else I know - in some respects that would be like wearing a big target on my forehead if something bad does happen, and in others, well, I just know they wouldn't understand, and I don't want to deal with that. Onward to being a silent prepper I suppose, plugging along one manageable step at a time - I keep telling myself that any progress is better than where I used to be at, something is better than nothing, and the little things will all add up eventually. One thing I can be fairly certain of though - I am determined that I am not going back to the way things were, not now, not ever. Well, time to stop rambling...

My unnecessary product (I have four lol) are those little molds to shape hard-boiled eggs -- I bought bunnies and bears. Why I thought this was an item I couldn't live without is beyond me .. hard boil the egg, take the shell off while still hot, place in the mold, close it up, pop it in to cold water til chilled, and voila, a hard cooked egg in the shape of a bunny or bear head. May be cute for little kids, but my almost 50 husband and teenage son just looked at me with a 'what were you thinking' stare. My love of all things 'bunny' may have reached a natural stopping point LOL

The more I read about things, the more concerned I become. I am definitely going to be making more of an effort to curb how freely my information is gleaned - the first thought I had when I read the article was about what I heard about stocking up (something like having more than a week's worth of food?) being a sign of a suspected terrorist I pay for almost all of my groceries, gas, etc with a credit card (I pay it off each month) - I did it for the reward points, but I am seeing I may need to rethink that now that I see just how easy it would be for all these reward cards and tracking methods to pinpoint exactly who is buying what in which quantities and being used as something against people It's crazy.

geneology is a topic I usually avoided like the plague, until my son wanted to learn more about family history. From my husband's perspective, it's a piece of cake, his family has a long history that can be traced, right down to pictures and all of that. Mine is vastly different. I suppose what I am trying to do is make my 'cactus' blend in with the real 'tree' that my husband has so that my son can have a bit more of a balance. Awhile back, I was really grasping, and did that National Geographic genographic program and I was thinking it would be more than it was. It pretty much just traced the maternal dna back - it didn't give much info though, very general (boils down to golly gee my people hail from planet Earth LOL). I wish I could think of a way to integrate even that little bit of info (pretty much just the general migration) in to a tree somehow. (???) I am wondering if there's a way to get something together. I know I will never have the robust history that my husband has, but I am holding out hope for something. Or even just a different way of looking at it ..

My son (16) is slacking with things, esp. homeschooling. I was wondering if other moms of teenagers have any ideas for sparking interest - when I think back to how eager and dedicated he was when he was younger and we first started homeschooling, it's sort of depressing now. When he hit 15 and 16, he went from being enthusiastic to doing bare minimum. I would be appreciative of any tips He's an only child, so I don't have to divide my attention with other kids.

Chiming in really late ... when my son was younger, he was hooked on German - everything from Hogan's Heroes to the pavilion at Epcot Center At the time, I found that the Power Glide set worked pretty well. He lost interest in German though (mostly he got lazy .... ) Last year I tried to get him interested in a foreign language again, but he was not cooperating -- what we ended up using was Destinos for Spanish. He took live classes through an online co-op. It was a good program, but for the price, and his total lack of interest (and effort) it wasn't our best choice (I think it would be great for a child/teen/adult who has a desire to learn though). The online co-op (completely free, which is a blessing) now offers Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese. It's a great resource for those who want to learn a foreign language. This year I believe they have two different curriculum options for Spanish since the volunteer teachers each had a different preference. Just putting it out there on the chance that someone may be interested in that route. Now if there was just a way for me to spark the interest in my son, I'd be a thrilled.

This city is 30 minutes away from where I live :/ I cannot say I am surprised in the slightest that this is took place or that the city is in such dire straights. I am just waiting to hear the surrounding towns/cities being in a similar situation, quite honestly.

We've been having a lot of coupon thefts in the area - even when we go in to the local gas station to get a Sunday paper, we have to look to make sure there are coupons inside; the clerk said many people will come in and pretend to look through the papers and what they're doing is taking several coupon packets out of other papers to put in the one they end up buying, which is frustrating for those who get the 'lighter' papers. Most places in my area will not accept internet printed coupons, so I stopped getting excited over seeing them offered. Again it may just be a regional thing, and probably driven by fraud, but clerks are getting a bit weird with coupons, i had one for free crackers (from MyCokeRewards redemption) and it had a picture of Wheat Thins on the box, but in print it said it was good on 3 specific products (including Wheat Thins) - clerk insisted the coupon was only valid on pictured item. I'd have thought it was just her, if another didn't insist as well. Why do they print 'valid on..." if it's only the pictured item I inquired, to be told 'that's how it is' LOL. I guess if there's no picture, by golly, there is no item a coupon is valid on

: I couldn't sleep, and this thread piqued my interest -- oh my, I am not sure which is funnier, some of the things posted, or the reality that I have purchased most of these things. A lot of the pre-packaged food, esp. - I come from a long line of people who can't cook (well, can't is probably not the best word - more like never learned) ... so that stuff may not make a lot of sense to those who can cook or who weren't raised on pre-packaged. *shrug* that stuff was just a way of life. It wasn't until I was married before I realized that Gee, I can make this stuff much cheaper myself. Sad, but all too true, I never knew you could make pudding without one of those little boxes of powder. Most will find that bizarre, but at least I am honest about it lol. I've been told that if you can read, you can cook (just follow recipe) - I am living proof that's not true :hangs head in shame: Still trying my best though Exercise equipment is something I don't see me ever not having - we live along a major highway, trying to bike (or even walk!) would be like asking to be run over by a semi. The tweezers scared me though, they are one thing I have not even thought of trying out ... regular ole ones hurt enough, plus, I'd be afraid I'd lose an eye with the others. Love this thread

Hi I am so happy that I found the site, it was exactly what I needed I am very interested in learning how to be prepared - it's overwhelming, but I am determined to start taking small steps. Storage is a huge obstacle - we rent and have very, very limited room, so that's going to take some creativity. Ideally we would be able to move to a lovely little place with land and a lot of storage, but short of a miracle, I think I just need to focus on making due with what I have now. Lots of info here to read and apply

Just a quick suggestion for just starting out and sampling curriculum - if you go to your local library they may have some options for you by way of connecting you with local support groups or homeschoolers in the area. The library is a good meeting place; it's where the group in my area meets. The group (or other random homeschoolers that the librarian may be able to connect you with) would be a great way to see different resources and if you'd like to give them a whirl - you may even be able to borrow some for free from others in the area. You can also check out online co-ops - my son is in one, and it's amazing, they have languages, math courses, English, etc. It's great for the classes like chemistry that I am clueless about; as well as for younger grades too. I was over-whelmed when we first started out, but it gets easier as you go along and become more confident ~ this is our 8th year homeschooling (my son is in 11thgrade this year), and I promise, you will feel a lot more confident as time goes by

In Pennsylvania, the deadline for current homeschoolers is August 1st. First time homeschoolers can begin at any time during the year, just notify the school, submit the affidavit and objectives. I try to get my paperwork for the new year submitted when I hand in my son's portfolio for the ending year, so I can begin to log days any time starting July 1st. (The homeschool year in Pa. can begin July 1 and must be completed and paperwork submitted no later than June 30th.)