I actually felt unspeakably angry the first time I read wtm. Then I gave it to my friend to read and she bombarded me with angry ranting too lol. Dh and I both feel like our education from school was 90% wasted time.

A lot of the kids around here use musical.ly I have no idea what it is and feel very old. (None of my kids are old enough for social media)

Thanks Homeschool Mom in AZ, I didn't mean extreme with negative connotations, I meant extreme as the farthest end you can go. I can see how extreme carries some extra weight and may be a poor word choice. I know that we have developed some good birth control options, but I believe that culturally we rely on them to a higher extent than they promise. Jmo, you're welcome to ignore me. The inability to conceive naturally came as a huge shock to me at 19/20. My 29 year old sister thought she had plenty of time, until the breast cancer and related chemo. Life is so much less controlled and predictable than we like to think. Again, just trying to make it clear that this is what informs my opinion, not what should be chiselled in stone.

My 9 year old son is very distractable. He has a daily checklist to work through, but I am constantly checking and redirecting. He just doesn't have the skills yet to stay on task - because he's 9. We tend to all be in the same area for school so I know when someone disappears. I gently agree with happiduck, can you schedule even a couple of 15min meetings with him to help him with momentum? One at the beginning - something together and a talk through his list. One meeting nearer the end - see how far he's gotten, any questions, boost for the last part.

We have come to the understanding that these things are much less in our control than we like to assume - barring extreme measures like sterilisation or termination. Finances too, to an extent. My youngest turns 3 next week, I'm 32. I've been married for 13.5 years, never used birth control, and have only had one surprise baby. The other 3 took many months of drugs and stress and loss. We're not going down that path again but if we're blessed with another surprise then we'll be happy.

Pretty bad. Our school system goes k-6 & 7-12. I changed schools in 2nd, 8th & 10th, always the new kid. I didn't have any friends in 5th, a couple/group in 6th/7th - as I desperately tried to escape my home life. But it was not comfortable or healthy, constant competition and bad behaviour. I didn't learn much of anything and nearly failed a few subjects. We did some things like drinking, shoplifting and kissing boys. 8th was the same drama with making friends and fitting in at a new school, lots of competition which drove us to bad behaviour. Then my friends turned on me and used the competitive behaviour against me, I was badly bullied all through 9th. I did make one friend who stood up for me and wagged with me (skipped school). We are still best friends. I started sleeping with boys by then too, desperately seeking acceptance. I changed school in 10th and it was better. The education was so so but I wasn't bullied. Most of my friends were proximity friends, apart from my future dh! Eta- it is so important to me that dd is comfortable in her own skin before I throw her to the wolves. Her relationships with her friends are like night and day from mine...

Spelling bingo - ridiculous not rediculous. Say it with a french accent to remember the correct spelling!

It is froth, not throff - looking at you dh & fil.

Private violin lessons ($60 an hour) from around age 5. Regular and consistent practice. They start to get really good at about 10... A bit of piano at home by me, fun and casual and supports the violin. Eta - dd self taught guitar from books, but she had plenty of music background (above) to draw on.

My friend, a year 12 English teacher by trade (and an excellent one), ordered this based solely on the title, having no idea of the suggested grade level. She worked through it herself, was challenged and inspired. When I explained the mct sequence, she was shocked. She had assumed that it was a high school level text (at least) and immediately jumped in to island level with her 3rd grade daughter.

Sounds great! I admire your tenacity in doing what works consistently for 5 years! Were you tempted to switch? I enjoyed reading how your lessons ran, thank you for sharing.

Schedule the day for him and get him helping with chores! So, finish school at 10, pack everything up, go for a walk - it doesn't matter if you don't go anywhere fabulous, come home, get him to help you fix lunch. Get him to help you clean up after lunch. Then have half an hour to read stories together. Then it's quiet time - audiobook and lego. Then pack up together. Run around outside. Set up a craft activity, pack up. Chores together - teach him to fold laundry, sweep floors etc. Teach him to make a favourite drink/snack for dad. Or get him a pet

Reading. We can read books about math, history, science or anything. If they can read well, and have the stamina to read difficult things, then they can at least begin to learn anything. It also offers rich food for critical thinking, experience and philosophy. #2 would be free/unstructured time - especially outside. Dh is much more unschooly than me, he always says that once they can read, do long division and know their times tables then they'll have been better educated by their schooling experience than he was...

Sadie, yes it is kinda a new thing. With Karen glass's book there's been a fair bit of rumbling about whether cm is a kind of classical education.

Miss Peregrine books?

Sooooooo much this...

Yep, the 'what's the point of learning this?' questions are annoying. They don't want a real answer, they just want to gripe because thinking is hard. Boo-freaking-hoo. I'm mean. I actually do give answers, and I get eye rolls in return.

I know b&m schooled kids in the same situation. 15 year olds who's 'book list' consists of one craptastic, 190pg novel and a movie. I don't think the teacher knows what 'list' means. Same kid is having to self learn math on khan academy because the gaps are horrendous. This kid is lucky, his parents pay for a tutor who makes him read! 5 year olds who use 'apps across the curriculum' on their compulsory, parent supplied ipad, in their 'community classrooms'. Aka 60 kids aged 5-9 in one room with 2-3 teachers and almost completely unfettered ipad access. Great idea. As for standards in the homeschooling world, I think that we can be intentional about encouraging a culture of high standards. We organise high quality events - for example my kids will be performing Shakespeare with some friends next month. We talk about education at meetups, answer questions honestly, share resources and make it clear that education is a priority. I bluntly answer that, yes you need to teach all the way to and including algebra - then I encourage with resources. I have given away many resources and much time to help people struggling. I haven't encountered a really neglectful situation yet though... We also have plenty of students discussion/bouncing ideas off each other here in my homeschool. I can't teach anything to one without another butting in ;)

Runny egg (in an egg cup) with soldiers was a favourite of ours growing up. My kids love it too. I still prefer runny yolks however the egg is cooked, in fact I made dh a soft boiled poached egg for breakfast this morning. Aaaaand now I have to make some. Mmmmm.

We do 90mins each way once a week, a great teacher, right around the corner from my best friend's house. We take the day to visit friends and do excursions. Our other activity is <30 mins, but everything is about that far from our place

I sometimes even do simple rewards for every attempt/incorrect answer. Every unsuccessful attempt is a clue, giving us directions to the correct answer. What I'm more interested in is fostering the concepts and thought process, rather than just a series of right answers. Reframing what we're doing and why makes it a more positive experience imo.

I say that yes it's hard, most worthwhile things are. I don't say that homeschooling is easy anymore, but there are certainly some aspects that are easier than traditional school.

So dd is getting pretty good at outlining from our history and science texts. Our science 'text' this week is a documentary. Do you think that I can still have her outline it? Each segment = paragraph, so finding the main point etc? Or should I just ask for a narration? Wdyt?

I always let them use real knives. My aug 2010 kid sliced bacon with a big, sharp butchers knife last week - he was making quiche. I just make sure to show him the technique again each time and supervise.

My little one did that, it was a plastic ball that had a light inside it. Sometimes you still get a little plastic smell from the oven...