And there I was thinking that I was the worst mother in the world. My many heinous crimes include such shocking things as: Not letting the kids eat ice cream for morning tea, when they had ice cream for breakfast 2 hours previously Not agreeing to purchase a house and land that my daughter likes the look of Asking the kids to write anything, ever What sin did you commit to earn the title? Today we haz a Playdate! A week or two ago I met a woman with a 6yo daughter, and my Ms. 8 got on really well with the little girl, so today we are getting together at an indoor play center. I'm excited because this would be about the third time in my daughter's life that she has actually requested to see another child again (normally staying home and reading a book would win hands down), so I have high hopes of Social Stuff happening. Also, new (old) violin will be arriving this week. So an exciting week for us. Funny (ish) conversation of the last week: Dd - "I made a ... um ... something like a scab ... or a wart ... with balls ...?" Me - "It was a ballista." (There was a contest to throw tennis balls with a siege machine made from dowling and elastic bands) Dd - "Yeah that's right, a blister!"

I just discovered that nibling means niece or nephew. Can anybody tell me whether this is a recently developed word (cause we are modern people who want to sometimes opt out of gender labelling), an old but little used word, or simply a word that everybody except me is familiar with?

Mine would be internet connection and library card. Because hooray for free resources. I did not mention coffee, because that goes without saying. Wait, I just did mention coffee.

Have you read this book by the same author?

AFAIK, NZ is on the edge of the Pacific plate, sitting on the same fault line as Japan, while Australia is more or less in the middle, hence we get far less activity. According to the boffins, we do experience earthquakes from time to time, however I have never personally felt one. Also remember that Australia is 70% desert, so most of the population is bunched up in a few small areas, and I am guessing that would mean that some earthquake tremors happen in places where nobody is around to notice them.

We have sort of a system to deal with the clutter of kids' art and crafts (and they do produce a surprising amount, considering I'm not arty or crafty and don't often encourage it). Flat items - drawings, paintings or light collages - get examined and admired, then we select a few to display on the wall and the rest go into the Finished Art box. Once the wall space is full, every time something new goes up, an older item comes down and gets thrown in the box. At the end of the year or when the box is stuffed full, we sit down for an hour or so and look through everything. Most of it then gets used to light the fire, but any special favorite pieces (maybe 1/10 of the total) get filed into that kid's folio. The folios go into long-term storage, so the kids can have the opportunity to keep them when they eventually move out. Anything that is too heavy or 3D - sculptures, models, textiles, etc. - gets displayed either on our Seasonal Table or in History Corner. When it's cleared off from there, we usually photograph it and discard it, although if a kid is very attached to something I will let them keep it in their bedroom for longer.

Good morning :) It's almost 10.30 and so far we have watched a movie, breakfasted, washed up, cleaned the kitchen, done a couple loads of laundry, tidied and swept the floor, cleaned out the fishtank and fed the critters. Now it's time for school; today is a circuit of math, language, and music activities followed by our study of famous landmarks (Statue of Liberty today).

That is exactly why I am a little bit pushy when it comes to music. I have heard so many adults of all ages and all walks of life saying variations of "Oh, I did a bit of piano [or other instrument] as a kid. I really wish I'd kept it up," whereas I have never yet met even one person who is a competent musician and regrets learning. Ha! I thought I was the only person who took pictures at music lesson ;)

The article makes some great points, but I thought this bit seems a bit negative: Sometimes practice can be tedious and tiring, but it can be fun and satisfying too. And although there can be some disagreements and frustration, I personally have a lot of fun practising with my kids, whether I'm accompanying, grabbing another instrument to play along, or just listening and giving feedback. Either working hard or occasionally just playing something together for the fun of it (you would not want to hear us massacring my arrangement of Pachelbel for piano, violin, trombone and clarinet). I hope we'll still do plenty of jamming even when the kids are grown up and don't want me interfering with their practice!

My 2c worth: I think you're both right, to an extent, but you're probably 'more right' ;) If your kid absolutely hated practising the guitar altogether (ie he cried or had a tantrum every time you suggested it), I'd say you've given it a decent go and it might be time to let him change instruments. But if it's just that he won't practice regularly and well independent of you, or he sometimes complains because he doesn't feel like making the effort, or he's engaged in something fun he doesn't want to stop doing (always try to avoid that scenario)? In that case I'd say that is totally normal, as it would be very rare for a 7yo to consistently manage his own music practice. Even kids that age who really enjoy and look forward to their practice will usually work pretty inefficiently if the parents don't encourage better habits (eg it is common for them to repeatedly choose things they can already play for their 'practice', avoiding the things they find difficult, which are what they really need to work on; or they will play things randomly with no particular order or objective). What we need to remember is that practising is its own distinct skill set, and your son is learning to practice music at the same time as he is learning skills in guitar playing. Expecting him to manage the practice with no support is like expecting him to master the guitar with no lessons: maybe a few kids could do it, but the majority need explicit teaching and lots of encouragement to get past the early frustration and into the 'auspicious circle' (practice well - play well - feel internal sense of mastery + receive external praise - be motivated to practice more). If you are interested in a resource to help him learn more about how to practice (because teachers don't always spend much time on it, having so much other material to cover in the lesson), I can recommend Practiceopedia by Philip Johnston. I have found it useful for all my kids to dip into when they need suggestions or inspiration, including lots of ideas for what to do if you don't feel like practising!

@ Mary, hope the 'gallbladder' turns out to be nothing worse @ Jean, that reminded me of the old 'Latin' Caesar adsum jam forte, Brutus aderat

My girls are both working on MM5 and we have never used the end of chapter tests, as I can tell from the review lessons whether they understand all the material. We do use the end of year tests to measure whether they are ready to move to the next level. But I would agree that for a student who is going to be attending school, it might be helpful to get her used to being tested more frequently.

Group B Parents is one reason why we don't do a lot of field trips with other home schoolers. Although to be honest school students can be just as bad. Recently we went to a small zoo / animal park during school hours, and unfortunately there was a school class there during our visit. The kids were, theoretically, walking around in groups of 5-6 with an adult supervising each group, however we saw quite a few children running around screaming, frightening the animals, entering areas they should not have been in, and so on. It seemed like some of them had never been in any sort of wildlife park and had no idea about how to behave safely and appropriately, let alone any interest or desire to learn.

Finally, the mystery is solved: my 11yo is a lamprey.

Funny you should mention that, because I find that contemporary children's / youth fiction really irritates me with the constant use of short sentences, as if the authors aren't confident that anyone under 15 can manage a sentence with more than about half a dozen words in it. When reading aloud, I have actually found myself periodically combining two or three sentences into one longer sentence, just for a bit of variety.

I have to confess that although book burning is anathema to me as a general rule, I actually allowed the kids to burn OPGTR once they were all done with it. In my defence, it was in such a poor state that it honestly wasn't good enough to give away for anybody else to use, so there wasn't really anything else we could do with it. And we do actually need paper to start our wood heater. And I am truly remorseful and will reciting 10 Hail Susans help? ;)

Was that an Academic Booya?

When one of our kids finishes a math book (half a year's worth of lessons), dh and I take that kid out to a local cafe for lunch. I didn't think it happened very often until last time we walked in and the business owner commented on how well dd must be doing with her school work! Then we let the kid have a couple of math free days before starting the next book (they think this is a treat, but in the girls' case it's really just to give me time to get the next MM book printed out ;) )

Ha! Well at least your dc managed to film their toys. The first I knew when mine started videoing things on my phone was that there were videos of kids' feet walking around, and mysterious giggling sounds. :D

Have fun voting everyone. (Or not.) Normally I disapprove of Christmas music being played outside of December (I like to get all my Xmas in one month-long binge) but I think they get a free pass if it is in aid of avoiding election coverage. I am moneying at the moment. Have got all our tax return documentation finished and submitted (WOOHOO!) and now am busily spending our refund before I have it. I thought I nearly had the budget under control until yesterday when Ms. 8's teacher dropped the bombshell that she needs a new violin and absolutely must have it by the end of the year. (I think I was deluding myself that she could stay on her current one for another 6 months despite that fact that she has grown about 20cm lol.) I have put in an offer on EBay. I am half hoping I'll get it, and half hoping I won't, so I don't have to pay for it ROFL.

My elder kids are taking turns being the Right Royal Pain in the Armpit. Ds was abominable last night, and it took about an hour for me to figure out that he needed more food (stupid me, I thought that two large helpings of dinner would be enough, but the Beanpole Teenrager needed another snack before he could become functional again). Then this morning he is fine but Ms. 11 is being the Female Dog from Heck. Ms. 8 is being her usual angelic self, but I know it's only because she hasn't reached puberty yet!

My kids do this all the time. We might have read something 100 times and a couple years later they will claim complete ignorance of the story / topic. Of course, their prime time to do this is when I'm trying to subtly get them to show off their knowledge in front of home ed skeptics :lol: And it's reflexive isn't it, as in "Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down"? What about tap? I think that is seen as less uncool than ballet for boys.

Once the phrase 'educational neglect' has been introduced, it is likely that the thread can only go downhill.

Now do I dare read any threads other than ITT?

Remind me never to loiter under a rose arbor. And people say Aussie animals are dangerous!