OK, this makes me feel better. My kids are still in the elementary range, so perhaps that quote won't come to fruition. What I see a lot in our circle are kids that move from Legos to video games (with little to no school thrown in), and now they are 18 and have no skills to provide for themselves, let alone a future family. Their parents don't even want them to go to college, and don't ask them to look for a trade. I'm really worried about them. They are really, really nice kids, and I think they have some great family values, which is most important. But my kids start talking to their younger siblings about their favorite books, what they are playing on their instruments, and they are starting to realize that it's their mom who is the "Tiger mom" (and I'm not even a Tiger mom). No one else has to read an hour every day and practice scales all night. I guess it would be easier if others around us were doing the same. But this isn't about being easier, now is it? :) I remember when I was in college, and how I was surrounded by people I found truly inspiring. They had goals to attain their master's degrees at Ivy League schools, to play in top symphonies, to write compositions, to become surgeons. They practiced for hours, spent weeks camped in the library, debated until the wee hours in the morning about atonal music...It was motivating to be around other people with goals and aspirations. I loved talking with them. Most of them are extremely successful, both in their personal and professional lives. Writing this post, I'm starting to realize that it's more about me wanting to be in this community. My kids could care less at their ages. Still sleep deprived, so I'll stop with my lack of clarity now.

I'm a Lone Classical Homeschooling Ranger, too, and it makes me sad. It would be nice to have one friend IRL who is doing this too. I feel like I have to hide a lot of the stuff my kids are doing, as to not seem boastful or proud. I worry about my kids, though. The older they get, the more of a difference I see in them and their friends. They have friends who cannot read or do math, and they are fully capable of doing so...it's horrible. I also think about a quote I heard a while back...sleep deprived here, so I can't remember it completely. But it was along the lines of "Your kids will become like the people they are around." So if their friends spend all day playing Legos and their parents call that school, what will my children aspire to be like? Should I just keep them home with me all day, every day? I was thinking of looking into Classical Conversations in hopes of finding some like-minded families, but I'm starting to realize that even in CC there are non-schoolers...they are non-schoolers who go to CC. Why can't it be easy? This is when I need to go write down what I'm thankful for. (This board is on my thankful list!!)

I would encourage your daughter to track her food intake on fitday.com. It will let her know what vitamins she may be missing (or hopefully exceeding!) in her diet. Also, make sure that she is not eating any franken-foods (Tofurky, etc.). Packaged, processed foods, even vegetarian ones, are not healthy, especially on a limited diet. Make sure she is healthy. I know that sounds like a no-brainer, but does she sleep well? Does she poop easily? How are the periods? Regular with minimal hormone-related issues? Is she on any prescription drugs? Does she get sick easily? How is her skin and hair? Is her hair thick and shiny, or is it falling out? Any dark circles under the eyes? I wish I had a parent who was concerned about my diet. Blessings to you, mama. I was a vegetarian (and vegan) for over 13 years and it did not serve me well. I think it made my first pregnancy especially difficult (sigh, if I had only known). I also had a slew of health related problems that could have been fixed with a more balanced diet. But I'm making up for all of those lost years now in as many steaks as I can consume! :) Good luck to you and your daughter.

I'm a newbie here. I just wanted to give a huge hug and say "THANK YOU!!!!!!" for this thread. To everyone who has posted, your advice has been such a blessing to me, and probably to many others reading the responses. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to share some wisdom. :)

I vote not debunked, either. Coming from 13 years of vegetarian eating, a good year at a vegan diet, attending the second largest macrobiotic cooking school in the nation, then attempting a Nourishing Traditions diet for a few years, then coming to Paleo (with lots of carbohydrates!!) for the last 5 years, I can say that it's all about your body. Do what works for you. There is no doubt that you will be healthier if you eat whole foods, whether that is a whole foods vegan diet or whole foods Paleo diet...you're going to be healthier eating whole foods. I wish the two camps would stop fighting and just focus on getting people to eat whole foods. But I must say that I feel like I can fly after eating my breakfast of rare steak and pastured eggs, sauteed spinach and onions, avocado, sauerkraut, big bowl of cherries and herbal tea for breakfast this morning!! Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I'm two weeks post partum and I'm eating like a horse to keep up with my nursing baby. And I'm already so skinny and sexy!! I love Paleo!!

Huh?? Really? I just had a baby last week and I'm pumping enough milk to feed a small country. Should I be selling this stuff? It's even gluten/dairy free!!!!!

My 7 year old son just won a first prize ribbon for his "Raising Chickens for Eggs" science fair project! :) Our city-wide homeschool group puts on a project fair/science fair each year with judges, ribbons, etc. It was a great experience for him. He had a tri panel with several different categories on it: How to get baby chicks (where to buy, etc.), Chicks from 2-4 months old, The anatomy of a laying hen (he drew a picture of a hen and labled the parts, What do chickens eat, Housing (he drew a picture of their mobile coop and labeled it), Health and safety, and Frequently asked questions (do you need a rooster to make an egg? When do hens begin to lay and stop laying? etc.)...there was something else, but I'm too sleep deprived to remember. He took photos of the chickens from day 1 up to now, and also posted photos of him and his favorite chickens. For his display, he had a bucket of his beautiful brown eggs and some cracked eggs to display the colorful, dark orange yolks, and a 1/2 dozen of store bought (factory eggs) and some cracked to show their pale yellow yolks. His looked so much nicer...I think that was what got him his first prize...and his nice handwriting! He now sells eggs to some church members and is saving his money to buy a horse. He'll have enough cash when he's about 40! Have fun with your chickens! They are a blast, and the eggs are fantastic!!

VERY sad, indeed.

Can someone please offer an excuse for the 9 year old that was sitting next to me at a fantastic piano recital, dodging and jerking around (elbowing me!) while playing a video game during the performances? He didn't even turn it off for his sister's performance. His parents didn't ask him to. Let's say he had ADHD or something...could one of the parents have brought him to the back of the recital hall (it was a huge place) and let him move around during the performances? As a classically trained musician, spending 5-8 hours a day practicing during my college years, this made my blood boil at the lack of respect on both the child and parents' behalf. It was very hard for me not to give an evil, judgemental eye to his parents. I just looked forward and tried to enjoy the music. These kids worked their tails off to learn their pieces, and he couldn't take an hour to listen to their hard work? What about 4 minutes to listen to his sister's piece? What kind of manners is he learning? Someone, please, take me down a notch and give me an excuse for the game playing during the recital. I really would like to humble myself here.

We don't use the AO history list, but have substituted the AO history for Beautiful Feet American History. Beautiful Feet has an article discussing "Why American History?". It helped me make a decision about which way to go with history: http://bfbooks.com/Is-there-a-suggested-study-sequence-I-should-follow-with-BFB We read the AO Year 1 list last year and my son and I actually enjoyed most of the books and stories. We're working through Year 2 this year, but it's slow going (my fault). We also enjoy the nature study, art and composer study. We use Right Start for math, FLL for grammar and AAS for spelling. I guess you can say that we follow AO very loosely, but it works for us.

I have a gifted child, too. Here is what is working for us: My husband and I both are in agreement that what matters most is our child's character. You can be gifted, but not have any work ethic. No one is going to want to hire you, no matter your abilities. It is the parents' responsibility to train their child to be discipline and to have a good work ethic. So, that is our goal. We make sure our gifted child is well fed. Lots of good protein, quality fats and no sugar...all whole foods. Feed that brain to work well and to be in balance. Let the child get good sleep. Have a consistent routine. Downtime in the afternoon to pursue interests, read, etc. Now, the good stuff: We make this child WORK, and we mean it. We live on some land, so we have a garden, chickens, other animals. He is in charge of taking care of the chickens. He wakes in the morning and lets them out, checks their feed, etc. In the afternoon, he collects eggs, cleans them, puts chickens back. He sells his eggs for $$. We have him in two extra-curriculars, and he has to work his tail off at both. He is in horseback riding, English (harder than Western!), and his teacher is a Princeton graduate. She has quite a work ethic. He has to WORK at his lessons, clean the horse, clean the girths, then pay me a portion of each lesson. It helps that he loves horses, but riding is not easy, whatsoever. He's playing piano. Old school, traditional piano (Hanon, scales with the metronome). I teach him, and I'm a classically trained pianist. He has to WORK to get his practice done, and it better be done well, or we don't stop. Then he has theory assignments to complete afterward. I can tell you that my son is truly proud of himself. I call him "The Good Cowboy" when he does his work well. He loves that. He still is innately lazy, but by no means is he NOT being challenged. The bar is high and he has to work for that goal. Although he loves riding and loves the piano, these are certainly not his gifts, and he has to work HARD for that good fuzzy feeling on the inside. If there is any complaining, there is more work. Simple as that. He knows that his life can be beautiful, or it can be a horror...it's his choice, I just implement. Our family is a family of hard workers, no exceptions. We tolerate no laziness or self-centeredness. We are hard working, kind, honest, respectful, patient and obedient people. I don't care how fast you can read or how quickly you can memorize something. We work and we are not lazy or self-centered people. We sing this in our house a lot: "Do everything without complaining. Do everything without arguing. So that you may become, blameless and pure, children of God." It's our theme song! :) Think about what character traits you want to instill in your child. Read Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder (to your child) and think about if his parents were concerned about giftedness. And then think of how far your child can take his gifts if he had a good work ethic... Read Raising Godly Tomatoes. I highly recommend some tomato staking. It works! Let your child know you love him and you want what is best for him. Make your child work, and hard. Blessings to you!

I called GPB today and asked them why they took it down...the woman was really rude and said I could buy it if I really wanted it. Anyway, not worth arguing with, but they don't plan to make it accessible to anyone outside of Georgia. Has anyone found another program that is appropriate (and fun like Salsa) for my 3.5 year old?