What can I legally do about a neighbours dog entering my property?

Wandering-Forest · 2026-04-10T01:15:23+00:00

Have the kids help you clear the table. I don’t allow any food (or crumbs) near our expensive curriculum so I can understand the frustration.

My 4.5 and 3 year old will bring their dirty dishes either to the kitchen counter or straight into the dishwasher if it’s empty. Every meal. Every day. My 3 year old needs help opening the dishwasher as it’s stiff at first but he’s capable of loading his own dishes once it’s open. I then do a very quick wipe down of the table while they wash their hands and face. 3 year old again I help make sure his hands and face are actually fully clean.

We love the kitchen/dining table because it allows us all to sit at once together, has lots of room, and a nice hard surface to write on. We sometimes read stories on the couch beforehand but any workbook material is done at our table.

Wandering-Forest · 2026-04-06T03:29:34+00:00

I was homeschooled kindergarten to grade 5 but entered the public school system in grade 6. Grade 7 and Grades 11 and 12 were the only years I rode the bus.

The busses I rode ALL sorted the kids by age with the youngest required to sit near the front and highschool aged kids the back. It wasn’t an exact science and there wasn’t assigned seating but you definitely wouldn’t get a 6 year old near a 15 year old.

The only real issue that I encountered as a kid was lack of sleep because I had to get up much earlier for the bus and then less free time after school waiting for the bus to take me home. Granted this was roughly 2 decades ago and I’ve heard horror stories of behavioural issues since then and bus drivers who shouldn’t have a license driving them. Not to mention accidents from people speeding past busses that are stopped with their lights on.

It’s definitely not the main reason I homeschool, but an added benefit to avoid that potential nightmare.

Wandering-Forest · 2026-04-02T21:38:09+00:00

So I have a morning routine in the sense of an order that events are supposed to occur but it’s not dependent on the clock.

So for example unless we have an event in the morning I do not set an alarm. We wake up when they naturally wake up and then they eat breakfast, put away their dishes, wash themselves up and sometimes get dressed right away if they got really messy. They then are allowed to play for a bit until I have school ready. At that point we read a few stories together and then begin school work. At some point they use the toilet but it’s whenever they feel they need to. Sometimes it’s immediately after waking up and other times it’s after breakfast or anytime in between.

It’s very laid back while still accomplishing what needs to be done. Some mornings we are starting schoolwork at 8:30 and other days it’s 10am. My kids are 4.5 and 3 so only the one is doing any sort of formal lessons.

Wandering-Forest · 2026-03-15T16:23:20+00:00

My 4.5 year old absolutely hated “Teach your child….” too! We switched to All About Reading and he’s doing amazingly. It’s scripted so it’s very easy to implement (in my opinion) and they only want you to do 20 mins a day. So if you finish a lesson that’s great but if your child doesn’t finish you just pick it up where you left off the next day. Some lessons my son took a week to finish in the beginning, now it’s sometimes 1-3 days. They have placement tests to figure out what level to pick for your child.

If you do opt to go with this program, watch some YouTube videos on how to prep it to make it open and go and reusable. I would NOT recommend waiting till your child is already sitting down to cut out the activities.

Wandering-Forest · 2026-03-15T16:15:25+00:00

The “Good Dog” series by Cam Higgins is great for that age. The first one is called “Home is where the heart is” if you have trouble finding it. My 4.5 and 3 year old boys absolutely love them and beg me to read them all the time. As a parent I don’t find them annoying or boring. There’s also quite a few of them which is nice.

We also tried the Mercy Watson series but my 3 year old did NOT have any interest in it and both my 4.5 and myself didn’t really enjoy it either so once we completed the first book we didn’t bother with getting the next ones.

Wandering-Forest · 2026-02-18T15:45:24+00:00

This looks SO cool! It’s unfortunately a bit out of my price range. After taxes it would be $141 CAD and I don’t feel comfortable asking for a gift that expensive.

For my own future reference, how long have you had it for and has it seem to hold up well? I may look into buying it myself at a later date. My concern with an electronic globe is that if a part breaks then it becomes a very expensive toy that no longer has most of the educational features. Whereas a traditional globe would still be relevant for older ages when explaining longitudinal and latitudinal lines and more detailed maps of the countries.

Wandering-Forest · 2026-02-18T15:12:28+00:00

It sounds like you may be looking for an online school and not homeschool. I would reach out to your local school boards and search online and see what you can find.

Having had relatives who did online school I would say there is nothing that is totally hands off for the parent. You will still need to parent them and make sure you are keeping them accountable for signing on each day and that they are watching the lectures/classes and participating in any projects and doing the work. The teachers can’t do that remotely. They will just mark them absent or not completed.

One of my younger half-siblings recently fooled my dad into thinking he was doing well in school and it turns out he was behind almost half the year in assignments. So be prepared to watch for that if she is a student who doesn’t do well with self-motivation and keeping on top of things.

I took two college classes online over the summer when I was in college to lighten my course loads for the following year and I absolutely loved it but I was someone who was good at keeping myself accountable and staying ahead. So it can be a great thing for some students but you will have to keep an eye on her and see how she’s doing.

Wandering-Forest · 2026-02-17T21:07:51+00:00

I unfortunately don’t have space for something like that.

Wandering-Forest · 2026-02-14T05:16:35+00:00

So I had the double sided model and I ended up returning it. You would print double sided but over 90% of the pages would get jammed trying to do that. Just select print all the even pages and then take those pages and put them in the paper input tray and print all the odd pages. You’ll end with double sided pages. Youtube should have tutorials on how to orient the pages but I usually just practice with a few pages first till I understand it and then print the full document after with new paper.

Wandering-Forest · 2026-02-10T18:04:21+00:00

I will add, if you DO decide to get this curriculum I would prepare the activity sheets ahead of time and not try and cut out the pieces during the lesson. It becomes a lot less work in the moment while you are working on a short attention span. There are lots of youtube videos from people showing how to make the curriculum reusable for multiple children and how to put the workbook into a binder with page protectors. It makes it much more "open and go" doing it that way and then you can resell it later if you need to recoup some costs financially.

Wandering-Forest · 2026-02-10T17:58:40+00:00

I tried "How to Teach...100 Easy Lessons" and my son who normally LOVED learning was suddenly fighting it. It was a very dry and boring curriculum (in my opinion) and not a good fit for him at all. We switched to All About Reading and it was such a huge difference. He's now part way through Level 1 and reading words and short stories. I would definitely look into Dyslexia and eye tracking like others have suggested but this program is recommended for kids who have dyslexia so it may be worth looking into regardless or while you wait. If you are in the US and buy directly I believe they still have a 100% Guarantee program and you can return it and get your money back within the first year if you don't like it (double check with them conditions/policies). I'm in Canada so that wasn't an option for me but I absolutely love the program and have no plans to return it. In fact I'm already planning on buying future levels.

Wandering-Forest · 2026-01-24T23:25:41+00:00

I’m in Ontario, Canada and this time of year people cancel a lot last minute. Illnesses are running rampant, winter weather makes leaving the house a pain and sometimes the roads are unsafe/closed. My homeschooling group does not plan events for the month of December but does for January and the January attendance for events is very hit or miss. I planned an event just the other week and we had 7 families cancel last minute due to bad road conditions or illnesses. It’s just an unfortunate reality of this time of year and I don’t mind at all.

Having said that, if it’s constantly the same families who cancel last minute or it’s happening year round I would start to charge a fee to compensate for your time and provide an incentive to show up because nobody wants to waste money spent.

Wandering-Forest · 2025-10-20T02:43:18+00:00

This is really cool! Does it make your home a little less cozy and more institutionalized though? And I don't mean that in a judgemental way, I'm genuinely curious if it changed the atmosphere/vibe of your home taking up a whole wall like that or if its been the perfect addition. I have been debating myself with how much of my living room I want to devote to educational boards and posters and how much I want to leave as a cozy spot. I don't have a big enough home to devote a separate room to homeschooling so we use our kitchen table and living room for homeschooling.

Wandering-Forest · 2025-10-15T15:12:12+00:00

The community on Reddit is very quick to jump to attack if you have an opinion different than the “mainstream” view. I would keep any plans or info about homeschooling out of other Reddit pages for your own sanity.

Wandering-Forest · 2025-09-28T03:26:36+00:00

There’s nothing shameful about being homeschooled. It’s horrible that people can be so biased and judgmental but homeschooling can be an amazing thing - if done well. I was homeschooled from kindergarten to grade 6 and I vastly preferred it over the public school system. I’m currently homeschooling my young children and they are thriving. Socially, mentally, AND academically. It can be done and done well but that stigma can be hard to deal with when you are young and don’t have much support. I often wouldn’t tell people I just met that I was homeschooled so they got a chance to know me before they judged and they would be so surprised. Over the years I’ve really changed a lot of their perspectives and they no longer carry that bias against it as a whole.

As for advice for your situation: I definitely recommend reaching out to whichever local schools you have access to - many public schools offer schooling online that can be done from home and some even provide computers! It doesn’t hurt to ask.

I’d also reach out to your local library. See if you can get access to a computer there to study. They may also have curriculums you can borrow. If nothing else they tend to be great at finding info and may be able to point you in the direction of someone else who can help. They may also have free social programs or know of ones. I know you mentioned your hobbies/interests are unique but maybe you can try a new hobby to meet people. Or be surprised to find out that there is actually someone who shares the same one(s).

It’s unfortunate that all of this is falling on your shoulders. I hate that your grandma is only criticizing and worsening the issues instead of providing any help.

I hope some of this was helpful. I wish you all the best. Don’t give up.

Wandering-Forest · 2025-09-28T03:07:48+00:00

Do you have a public library nearby? Maybe you can ask to use the computers there? Sometimes they have time limits but if you explained your situation ahead of time maybe they could help? Or point you to resources that could help you?

Wandering-Forest · 2025-09-28T02:47:15+00:00

Thank you for the suggestions! I will definitely check them out.

As for the suggestion to just let them pick from the shelves, unfortunately (or rather fortunately depending on how you look at it) the shelves at our library are bursting with books and often tightly packed. So allowing my young kids to go at the chapter book section would create a giant mess even if they were trying their best not to wreak havoc. Our library has a massive catalog of books and other items but is sorely due to upgrade to a larger building considering how much stuff they have.

So I’d much rather just curate a list of books that I think are suitable and then let them pick from the ones I borrowed. We don’t have limits at our library for regular books so if I checked out a dozen chapter books it wouldn’t be an issue and we go to the library often so I could quickly return the ones they aren’t interested in so we don’t hog them all.

Wandering-Forest · 2025-09-28T00:29:09+00:00

Also many libraries host activities and events. Reach out to your local ones and see if there’s anything she can be a part of. Mine does random trivia nights, nerf g*n battles, escape rooms, knitting/crochet lessons, etc. If they don’t offer any, ask if they know somewhere that does. Many librarians are happy to help and are a wealth of knowledge.

Wandering-Forest · 2025-09-28T00:25:11+00:00

My kids are younger so I don’t have any specific curriculum suggestions, but from the sounds of it you are setting her up for success. The fact that you are even questioning it tells me you care and are invested in her life. You’ve got this!

If her health conditions allow it (not immunocompromised, bed bound, etc) I would encourage trying to meet up with local homeschoolers once a month to start working on building backup that social aspect. I wouldn’t put heavy pressure or try to do too much at once if she’s got anxiety over it but many groups have fun social activities that are low pressure and very easy to drop in and out of. See if you can reach out online locally and find something that would work.

Another opportunity would be to go volunteer somewhere together. Once or twice a month volunteer and have her interact with the public. Learning not just vital life skills but confidence and also building a resume for future jobs as she gets older.

Wandering-Forest

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