Some of our dc did this program and enjoyed it: http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/search/1053445993?author=Matt%20Whitling&detailed_search=1&action=Search I'm living proof that a person can hate writing poetry - and even loathe most poetry, esp. modern poetry - and produce dc who love to write poetry and even do basic analyzing. The most traumatic experience of my K-12 ps education was in 9th grade English class. On Friday, the teacher explained some format for some poem, told us to write one, and be ready to read it to the class :scared: on Monday morning. I think that must have been the loooongest weekend of my life. And, yes, my 'poem' STANK and I had to read it aloud in front of the entire class, just like all the other kids. I couldn't even get words to rhyme, I was so bad at it. Fortunately, I haven't passed this on to our dc. All 5 hs'ed dc write poetry off and on. Dd's even send their poems in to our hs newletter and they publish them - complete with illustrations. Although, not all enjoy analyzing poetry. Just the few who did the above book.

Lisa, when I read that (red highlighted) I stopped dead in my tracks. That must be one of the best rewards a child could ever have ... and same for the grandfather. Your children are sooooo blessed. :)

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When they were little, I suppose the reward was 'As soon as you finish this thing (school, chore, etc.) you can go play'. Free time. But now that I think about it, free time has always been a great motivator for our dc. Although, I do have vivid memories of bribing them with ice cream and cookies for "energy" to do their chores or some work around the house - on occassion. :D That never worked for long with our dc, however. I always wound up back where I started - when we're finished doing x, you will be free to go do whatever you want to do.

I asked him. We've known each other since we were 14yo. We had a lot of classes together in high school, dated a little, and talked about marriage - like kids talk. But he went off to college at 16yo and I eloped with someone else, which lasted all of 6 months. We didn't see each other for about 6 years. One day I just decided to write to him, out of the blue. We arranged to meet, where he asked me why I came to see him, and I blurted out 'To ask you if you wanted to get married'. I've never really been good with words.:tongue_smilie: Several months later we were married.

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Our dc worked up to correcting some of their own work. And it definitely depended on the subject and the child for us. I corrected their grammar when they were young; but as they caught on and became comfortable with the books and the subject, and I could see they were absorbing it well - I let them take over their own corrections for grammar. Dh or I still correct their science work. I just corrected 17yod's answers to the end-of-chapter questions for her chemistry. I read their science papers and sometimes pass them on to dh if it's a subject I'm weak in. Dh corrects another dd's Conceptual Physics, gives it to her to look over, and then sits down with her to explain and discuss the errors. Dh also meets weekly with grown ds's to go over their asigned physics (Halliday) and calculus problems. For math, one dd corrects her own. This particular dd is good at math, works fast, and will actually sit and mull over any missed problems until she understands it - or ask dh to explain it. Another dd asked me to correct them as she does them on a small whiteboard. As I ride the exercise bike, she does the problems and calls out the answers to me. I tell her if the answer is correct, and if it's wrong, she works it again. If she can't get it, I begin asking her questions about her work, etc., until she figures it out. This dd seems to need that instant feedback for math. Third dd corrects some on her own and I correct some for her math. I go over any missed problems with her which she can't get after several tries. We also do some group corrections of various things - harder logic books not in WTM, math, Russian circles problems, grammar diagramming. I've found our dc can often explain things to each other faster and more efficiently than I can. And I see them making connections between the various subjects when they work as a group this way. They always corrected their own logic work for the books they did listed in WTM. I'm thinking I should have corrected one ds's logic work in particular, in hindsight, however. I think he rushed through the books and didn't retain as much as our other dc have. So, I guess I'd say that in hindsight, it helps to pay attention to each dc's work and assess constantly when they're making that transition to correcting their own work, to make sure they're actually retaining the material - or rushing through just to say they've done it, etc. HTH

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I've always done just like you do. As did my mother. No allergies here. Unless you count the cats - if I pet them and then rub my eyes, my eyes swell. We sweep vs vacuum daily, too. We're rarely sick, except for dh who catches things at work when people go to work sick. :glare:

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Sometimes those chest pains can be angina. My dh's father had a hard time with those between his first heart attack and his bypass operation. He said it felt like a bad case of indigestion. FWIW

The younger years (birth to ~12yo) were physically draining; but as long as I kept a fairly structured home, they weren't nearly as draining for me as those later years are/were. Each child was different personality-wise; but, generally, I'd say late teens to early 20's have been the hardest - even with my calmest, most laid-back dd. Those years require a lot of talking and I'm not a talker. Thus, I find those years exhausting.

We lived in a house which had a formal living room. I put all our dc's toys in it and called it the playroom. (I never put any toys in dc's bedrooms, because it was easier to get them to go to sleep at night that way.) I loved it. They were downstairs near the kitchen where I could hear and see to head off any potential fights and such. It was at the front of the house where the sandbox and the hose were right outside the front door. (tiny backyard and huge front yard) It was easy to pick up since there was no furniture in it. I sorted things into laundry baskets which I lined up around the edges of the room, leaving the center of the room open for physical play, building big things, etc. Our living room was carpeted, though, so they had to do messy things in the kitchen or outside - play doh, paint, eat, etc. But that was OK because I could watch them and make sure none of these things wound up on the walls. :) I'm also not much of an entertainer and have never really cared what the neighbors or relatives thought about how I arranged my house ... especially since I was the one living in it and not them .... with 5 kids, ages newborn to 10yo ... I just did what it took to keep me sane. :D

A couple of things to add to the others. An inexpensive keyboard that she can carry around with her wherever she goes might spark an interest in playing piano or something down the road. That's how one of our ds's started out. Classical music on NPR (or online at http://theclassicalstation.org/ ). I accidentally discovered that if I played good music off and on during the day,and occassionally quizzed dc by asking them if they could name the composer of the piece currently playing ... they would learn them - both the pieces and the composers. Then, buy CD's of anything she says she likes and let her play them over and over and over..... Also, I used to pick up any musical instruments I happened across at yard sales and thrift stores. They were cheap and dc could play them any way they wanted to play them. (ie. they could bang and sing to their heart's content without my worrying about their damaging an expensive instrument) They loved that. HTH

We just buy them. You did know you could buy them?? I tried roasting my own once. Too much trouble.

Just off the top of my head ... lots of oral work and lots of books on tape.

I usually skip those threads about this. But I read your blog (OP) and it's pretty much how we view things here. We read all the myths and such from the WTM grammar and logic stage lists, too. Thoroughly enjoyed those ... wonderful insight into other cultures. We compared the stories from the different cultures - themes, characters, etc. We even tried to figure out which culture WE would most likely fit into. All very fun for all of us. I was the first one to read HP's years ago and told dc about it. Some of them read them and some of them don't. But the ones who don't, say it's just a matter of not having the time - no big deal. For those who read them, we've had impromptu discussions about the writing itself (ie. I still think the first book was the best, and the rest just so-so, etc.). I didn't realize it was so annoying amongst IRL people; I suppose because we never go to hs events anymore. Actually, we never even see hs'ers anymore except by accident. And the last thing we'd probably be discussing is HP and our dc's tastes in books. :)

Also, it's nice to be able to discuss some of the things they're learning with them - if you are able to keep up.

We've never had starting or ending times. We just keep going until something comes up or we need a break. At some point, as our dc have gotten older, schedules have naturally morphed into their deciding their own schedules (except for group times, which we all decide together), and their deciding for themselves when they need a break. You know ... like we (supposedly??) do as adults. I also told them to take a break from a subject when they finished a book in that particular subject. One week off that particular subject and then on to the next level book for that subject. For us, I found that more than a week or two off at a time makes it hard, sometimes, to get motivated to resume school. Especially when they were little.

Same here, only NH and southwest VA. Also, ID had low taxes. NH was gorgeous ... but regulated to death. And even though they didn't have an income tax (I think that's right - been a while.), they make up for it in property taxes. (I DO remember those.) I'm happy here in SW Virginia ... where I can shoot my rifle out my upstairs slider, keep 5 LOUD peacocks and a zillion chickens running loose in my yard, burn my own trash in my yard, and get some Krispy Kreme Donuts once in a blue moon. I prefer that 'wild' feeling. :D

No, because we have moved so much that I've learned to enjoy where we're living at the moment and take advantage of what's around us ... it could all be totally different tomorrow. :tongue_smilie:

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