I think people probably often over stress the 4 year history cycle and getting it perfect. In the end....it most likely actually wont really matter which way you go with it. What is important to you? For me, it was important that I do modern history with my dd before she leaves for college next year to do journalism...it felt important to both her and I that she be familiar with modern history, especially Australian history, because of what she is going into. So we sped through Rennaissance to get here. Ds came for the ride, which means he and I can luxuriate in a year of Ancients next year, which he will enjoy. Don't overthink it. There will always be gaps.

That's pretty much my thoughts. I would actually presume the words of many songs in a Hip Hop class would be inappropriate if one looked too deeply...and I would either just accept it...or not let my kids do Hip Hop. In my case...I probably wouldn't be allowing younger kids do Hip Hop because I would find the music inappropriate...but I would allow my teens to and just accept the issue and not make too big a deal of it. I do not restrict my teen's access to that kind of music now, but when they were younger, I did.

Sure, if I felt moved to. We are here for educational purposes and I for one have learnt a lot coming here that I may not otherwise have been exposed to. I would have no problem seeing a link like that UNLESS it was linking to a religious site. However...science is hardly beyond repoach nowadays. What is passed off as science is often based on all sorts of previous presumptions...so I don't put "myth" and "science" at two ends of the spectrum. Sometimes myth is based in truth and sometimes science just isn't. With a lot of stuff, its just best to listen to all sides and keep an open mind without necessarily drawing conclusions and jumping on a bandwagon. As for issues close to my heart...I also don't share them with everyone who has an opposing viewpoint, unless my opinion is asked or I am part of a discussion that invites my input, and I feel it will be warmly received. I don't see it as my mission to change everyone's opinion about breastfeeding or homeschooling or organic food, evne though I am passionate about those issues. I live my life and I walk my talk and that is enough for me.

Not especially anal here, but I do get rather obsessive about feeding my family healthy foods and have been known to roll my eyes and make snide remarks when dh sculls down iced coffee for breakfast or spearmint milkshakes or a whole block of camembert cheese. I guess I am a bit anal about being healthy altogether. Dh did comment at the number of vitamin etc supplements I have in the cupboard the other day and how much of my independent income goes on health related stuff. I am a bit anal about making sure the family has good....bowel habits. I guess that goes along with the health theme, doesnt it? OK, I think I will have to admit to dh he has a point.

I cant answer because I have tried many and they work well for a while, then don't, or I pick them up later, and they do. My kids are both thriving on the Wordsmith series this year, yet the first book was a flop- yet thats the one most people love! Curricula is quite personal to each child, as well as each teacher, in many cases. What works for me may not work for you. Our favourite curricula have been Story of the World, Classical Writing Aesop and Homer, Cambridge and Latin Prep for Latin, Singapore Math, and Wordsmith...off the top of my head. Never found a science program we loved.

I dont tend to waste much time on Facebook- I dont play games, Farmville or anything like that. Mostly, I am on it to keep an eye on my two teens, and also to stay in touch with lots of friends and relatives, especially via photos. I am not really hooked into the extras and I probably spend a max of 5 minutes a day on there, several days a week. SO, its not a time waster, and it fills in a useful function. These boards however...I do find them addictive.

Thanks for linking to this....very useful fo rme and I hadn't noticed it before. I started today, straight after seeing it! For my ds14, I will check in at the beginning and end of the school day. He needs that. For dd15, I will check in at the beginning and end of the week. She likes that idea. Sometimes simple concepts make a difference! This frees up my time immensely, as I have been mooching around all day with barely anything to do! I say...try it and see if it works for you.

My kids find other homeschoolers boring if they are nerdy or academic or too protected or micromanaged by their parents so they cant have a private "kids world" with them. They are pretty typical kids who fit in quite well with the mainstream socially. At the same time, they are quite capable of reading at a high level, and dd is bright academically. They have mixed with a variety of homeschoolers and never had a problem when they were younger, whether anyone could read or not- not an issue really. We dropped out of some activities because my kids were finding other homeschooled kids too nerdy. But mine are teens now. Their main socialising is with mainstream kids through Scouts/Venturers and in the street.

Yes, I dont talk about homeschooling much at all to my other friends who have school aged children, because I find they just dont understand. I do talk about it a little to friends without children or people whose kids have left home, or people whose children are not yet at school age because they seem to be able to handle it and are often curious. But people with kids at school often get immediately defensive, even if they try not to show it and are polite.

People dont realise that receiving is the other half of giving, and if you don't receive graciously, you deprive the giver their joy and satisfaction of giving. So receiving is just as important as giving.

I dont consider us rigorous, however the fact that we did Latin, Classical Writing for Aesop and Homer, lots of history, and read books like the Iliad and Ivanhoe...made us rigorous in many people's eyes. But I have been hanging out on these boards way too long to think we are at the rigorous end of the homeschooling spectrum, especially the classical spectrum. When I look at those booklists people are doing with their highschool students, I really wonder if they are very fast readers, or have no life other than school, because my quite competent but average readers could not possibly get through all that. My 14 and 15yo do about 5 hours of school a day including reading. Many here are doing 6-8 hours at the same age. My kids have a lot going on in their lives other than school, and much of it is just as important, in my opinion, as the time they spend on academics.

How I would respnd at the time would generally not be to call the police, for a one off, unless I felt I needed to protect myself or others, such as if the anger became very violent and was going on for quite a while, or involved weapons. A simply one off shove or hit would not warrant it, generally speaking. If there was true remorse after the event, (whether that is an outright apology or obvious shame) I would also not take any further action for a one off offence. If there wasn't true remorse...then chances are the event would repeat and then the behaviour is becoming a pattern. I still wouldn't resort to outside help until I had tried- with dh- to deal with what is underlying, as well as coping mechanisms- and maybe asked for help myself in how to deal with it, as well as self examination (if I was the parent involved). But after a point..yes, I would get help. See, I dont even know if the adult or sibling warranted firm behaviour and the 17yo just went a little too far. By 17, a teenager might get very frustrated if being over protected, over restricted, controlled, moralised, or bullied in some way. So, it's not a black and white situation to me- I would need to know both sides including the teen's perspective.

Yes, we are big fruit eaters, and we dont eat sweets or cakes. We eat fruit. This week, going into winter season here, I have bought 2 papaya; about 4 kgs apples (green and red); I bought 4kgs oranges and was given another 5kgs (orange juice season-also ds will sit and eat 6 at a time); about a kg bananas; 4 persimmon; 2 young thai coconuts; about a kg plums, plus some limes and lemons. There are 2.2 lbs in a kg. If we pass a bargain we will stop- a tray of mangoes or other summer fruit; we picked up guavas recently; we love nectarines and fresh figs are a treat we all fight over. I try and buy organic but will often pick up local fruit as well, and just wash it well. I buy frozen berries- we love berries. Tinned fruit is dead and cooked- very little nutritonal value. We have some dried fruit but it's too concentrated and bad for the teeth to snack on. We eat fresh fruit for snacks and often for breakfast. I buy fruit as treats for my kids- always have done. When they used to get only $2 a weekpocket money, they were often known to spend it on something like a custard apple or a dragon fruit. I think fruit is nature's natural body cleanser.

I agree with the others and thats not what I would call not sticking with something. He gives it a fair go. For us though, we consider Scouts to be a part of our kids' curriculum, and we didn't let ds quit when he wanted to, around age 12/13. He went through a rough time with a leader there- but it was partly him, partly her, and we felt it was character building that even though she was over the top with him, he learn how to handle it. A year later- he is thriving there and very glad he stayed. We consider Scouts to be part of the kids' curriculum because of the way the kids learn to work in teams and together, take leadership positions, as well as do camps and volunteer work. Also, it covers sport and they learn how to sail! It is co-ed here in Australia too. It is our kids' main social outlet and teaches them many incidental skills. So...not optional until mid teens at least. Ds did recorder for many years, and then piano for one year. He has now quit both. Sad..but he is old enough to have some say.

Dd has a queen sized bed in her bedroom, so she has to give up her room when we have guests- which isn't very often. ETA- we bought a small motorhome recently, which is parked in the front yard...we havent used it as a guest room yet, but I think either a guest, or a child, would use it next time we had guests.

The peel is nutritious and just under it is a lot of good stuff. I dont throw away peel. I try and buy organic, but even if its not organic, we just wash well in a fruit and veg wash, and always eat the peel. But then, we also eat potato peel. I dont even peel apples for apple pie.

I picked up a cheap A4 laminator and some pouches and for quite a while I was obsessed with laminating everything! It's really fun and very satisfying! The cheapy hasnt been a problem- I recommend just buying a cheap one, whatever pouches the store clerk recommends, and laminate to your heart's content! If one day you become a laminator extraordinaire, you can upgrade your laminator.

As a mother of teens, I do find the thread relevant- far more relevant than many other threads! I also have a sense that the OPs are sincere people who are simply ignorant of this unique message board environment. They were advised to come here because of our reputation :) You go to a counsellor, you get one opinion- you come here - you get dozens! I think it has it's place and it can be useful! I don't see an unsual amount of drama here. And if they are trolls...there are people here who can still benefit from this thread..I know I have. Anyone is free not to open this thread.

Thankyou- I really appreciate this information. Sometimes its hard to justify some subjects to my teens...you have given me ammunition! And...it makes sense, too.

I still do it with my ds14. It's not much different from when he was younger. First he does do it as copywork and handwriting practice. He still does handwriting practice and it is proving worthwhile. Then a few days later we do the dictation. I read it in phrases- as much as his brain can handle and remember at a time. Sometimes a whole sentence, sometimes in parts if it's long. For a long time, I would also help him with punctuation and speak it directly- he would still get it wrong. I have just started having him work out the punctuation himself, and if your friend's student is ok with grammar she could start with that. The most important thing is to start where she is at- don't expect too much. But then, once you find her level, make it harder, use longer passages, say longer passages at a time to train her memory and ability to hold the visualisation of the words in her mind. I have used Shakespeare with my dd. I think you know when dictation is still useful or not, when your student just finds it all too easy. My dd was like that, so I stopped doing it with her. However, I think ds14 still gets a lot out of it- his memory is not good, and his dyslexic brain doesn't visualise well...so I think it is still beneficial. I was brought up on dictation at school even through early highschool, so it seems natural to me and maybe I do it differently from others, but its not rocket science and there are various ways to do it, apparently. I do it the way I was taught at school.

I would suggest you might all be being a bit too nice, and your relationship with the grandparents is not so healthy as it seems. They are manipulative, and no one is being really direct for fear of upsetting someone- yet you are upset. I would get more real, and worry less about trying not to hurt anyone's feelings. I have a 21yo stepdd who was a bit of a nightmare, and would manipulate anyone she could. It was a rough few years until she went her own way. She seems to need to learn the hard way about everything, but I trust she will come through ok eventually. My ddalmost16 wants her freedom very badly and even though we have always had a great relationship, she is not above being manipulative and downright dishonest to get her own way. I find parenting my teens not so easy as I had hoped...but its one day at a time and one foot in front of the other. Not very rewarding at times, but you still have to do the right thing, even if they dont appear to love you any more for it. I am about to confiscate my kids' ipods because they keep listening to them during schooltime. They will have to earn them back. My dd is not getting computer time tonight because she just leaves her computer on even when she goes to work and she has been warned many times. Its hard...I don't like it. But what to do. I am a bit of a softy and they tend to take advantage of it. I try and use natural consequences as much as possible. But I agree with Jean- build your relationship. If you punish without doing that as well...she will distance herself from you more.

2903. I beat Bill :) I don't manually subscribe to anything- its automatic when I respond to a thread. So, I have responded to 2903 threads. No wonder my family miss me!

Having kids- especially a son who was very demanding- being married, and my spiritual path which has included buddhist philosophy about compassion. One of my meditations is called metta. It involves feeling love by focusing on someone I love, then sending that love feeling toward someone I am having problems with. In other words, opening my heart to my enemies. I learned everyone has their battles and everyone deserves compassion. Also I think it is hard to feel empathy for others when you are not in touch with your own feelings. I know I didnt know what I felt for my first 25 years. Once I felt my own feelings and was no longer so frozen, I could feel for others. Mostly though...having kids.

I stay off the phone, off the computer out of the shower, and as much as I LOVE thunderstorms, I tend to stay away from windows as well! We unplug our modem and the computers, TV and phones as well, if the lightning is hitting close. We had a hail storm here a few weeks ago with hail stones as big as golf balls (never happened here before). You should see all the cars around town with hail damage. The storm was soooooo amzing though. It was so loud, we all went and stood in our carport to watch it. I love storms!

I tend to agree that one is better with a real life education and less academia , (particularly if "real life" included gaining many skills that could be used to make money), than vice versa, however one wonders whether some kids get either, and I don't know in the OP's situation. Education is at least education...whether it is "real life", gaining practical skills such as trades or apprenticeships or just setting up a business, or higher academic skills (I honestly havent used most of the higher math I learned at school)- we are all better off for having learned more rather than less, especially during our teen years. I am not saying all educations are equal- just that neglect is different from helping your kids get a different type of education than the mainstream one. In some cases, it is neglect rather than simply an alternative and equally valid pathway. Of course...kids are resourceful and in the end, they can do what they need to do to catch up. Whether they find themselves in a psychological or financial position to do so is another question.