I do get feedback from various sources, so I am not really looking for it for myself. I think it is great when my kids (teens) get feedback for themselves that doesn't come from Mum. Last year our education department moderator, of all people, gave my dd15 feedback and enthusiastic encouragement for going for a career that was more extroverted than the ones we had been thinking. She is an extrovert, but very artistically talented, so she kept thinking careers that were quite alone, since art is often done "alone". The moderator, who has seen her work over a few years, even though only once a year, said she saw her as a journalist on TV! Perfect- it sparked dd's interest and that is actually the direction she is now heading. Media studies,journalism etc I honestly would never have thought of it. So, while I could have done with more objective help when they were younger, in the end I am not sure it was all that important- I can only do what I can do. What has been important is that the kids see themselves through other people's eyes, and not just mine. They have a wide circle of friends, including adults, and certainly not all are in my circle of friends...but it's interesting where inspiration can come from. I feel they- at least my kids- need that interaction with the wider world and not to have their world revolve around mum, after a certain point. I am sitting here on the computer at 8am with my morning cup of tea- dd15 has gone to a young women's meeting that she has been invited to be a part of, at a coffee shop (she loves coffee!), and dh has gone surfing with some young men. They will both be back by 9am or so to start their school work. But this is what I was hoping for them. I have heard it called Worldschooling, in contract to Homeschooling.

I admire your courageous and gung ho attitude toward new food. 5 nights a week is a lot to cook new meals. I think tossing some chicken or beef into a salad is fine, as is cooking a fairly 'normal' meal, but a smaller than normal serve, and adding a more exotic soup or salad as a significant part of the meal.A bit of the familiar along with the new helps. I am not eating dairy nowadays (or very little) but when I make a dish like pasta or even a large salad I will add cheese because it makes it more palatable to the rest of the family. I am sitting here eating home made pesto sauce on top of a mixture of raw kelp noodles and zucchini noodles, along with red capsicum strips. For my kids I made the same pesto sauce on top of normal pasta, with parmeson cheese and the red capsicum strips. It sounds like you have a wonderful food adventure ahead of you! I love trying new foods. We joke here that dh is a meat and potatoes man- except that he is a vegetarian (for ethical reasons) who is wheat intolerant, doesn't like vegetables and can't eat beans. Hes not much fun to cook for, exept that amazingly on my new raw food adventure, he can eat a lot of it and enjoys it too, because he does like most of his vegies raw (if he HAS to eat them, and there isnt much else he can eat!), and the soaking and dehydrating to make pizza bases etc I do helps his digestion. And as you say with your husband....if he doesn't like it or isnt full, he will just go and fill up on his favourite unhealthy food and feel satisfied!

OOOhh, that's my dream. We rent in suburbia. I still have a vegie garden, even chickens and I am going to start planting tree seeds in pots soon. In preparation for the land I intend to get one day! If anyone here loves to vegie garden and is at the more...mmm, crunchy end of the spectrum...check out the Anastasia books. Too esoteric for most here (and not Christian although in a way she is Christian, just not traditional), but someone might be interested. I love them. My library had the first in the series- I went out and bought the whole set after reading the first. http://www.anastasiasgarden.com/aboutthebooks/

Gluten is by no means an essential part of the diet as others have said. Wheat has been hybridized to such an extent that the gluten content is way higher than what it was 100 years ago. Since humanity survived so long with much lower gluten levels in the diet, I think we can safely say that it's not gluten we need! My breadshop guy was telling me the other day about spelt. Dh is wheat sensitive but can handle spelt bread (which is lower in gluten). The bread shop guy said spelt doesnt need pesticides (as much anyway) because insects arent attracted to it the same way as the huge fields of mono cropping of hybridized wheat. He also said that the nutrition in a spelt grain is fairly well distributed through the grain- so that white spelt flour is actually still very high in nutrition. Wheras the hybridized wheat has most of its nutrition in the outer husk which is taken off to make white flour- hence white flour products are very low in nutrition. That made me feel better about making white bread (from spelt) for my white bread loving son. The information about food nowadays comes from so many prejudiced sources. The meat companies make out that we can't live without red meat. The dairy companies make out that dairy is viritually the only and certainly best source of calcium yet a smal amount of research will uncover the fact that only high meat and dairy consuming countries have high rates of osteoporosis. So much false and misleading information is published as science, and it just isnt science- its about twisting information to make money. Just because you read it or see it somewhere, even if it comes from some sort of authority, check with other sources and your own common sense first.

I have heard that apple juice in particular can cause troubles for many kids. I would be careful with grape juice though- very high sugar content. I agree with the thought of not giving much juice- dh loves juice so we always have it in the house, and it has been difficult to get my kids to drink water over teh years. They were always limited to one juice a day and that was a compromise just because it was there for dh. I think he would probably grow out of it, and in the meantime you could buy the plastic boxes with lids and put your own very diluted juice or herbal tea in it. A 2year old still has a very sensitive and young digestive system. But if something is upsetting it, I wouldn't keep giving it because you will be doing damage to the lining of the gut and then he may end up reacting to other things too and you end up with a mess of food sensitivities.

My preference when it comes to consequences/punishments is to make them immediate, even with my teens. So, I wouldn't withdraw phone priveleges for a month- I would make her do something NOW, at least today. That's just the way we have always parented- it means we can forgive and move on quickly. Its just as much for us parents as for the kid-if we have to hold on to a punishment and administer it for a week or a month...it feels bad, particularly if the child has felt remorse and moved on as well. We love to give to our kids and could not stand not driving them to the bus stop if that was what we actually wanted to do- and if it wasnt, we wouldn't use it a a punishment. We would just get them to walk anyway. Our 14yo son definitely tends towards the kind of disrespectful behaviour you are talking about, and we do punish him and deal with it etc. However, it would breed bitterness to give him long term punishments. Having them over and done with on the same day means we can start fresh each day. It keeps things light and loving rather than heavy, for us.

I honestly think that it depends on the kid, the friends, the mall, and the area. Yes, I would and have allowed my now teens to go to movies with their friends and sometimes shopping at the mall, from about age 12 or so- perhaps earlier if with their older sibling. At 14 and 15, I have no problem with my kids riding their pushbikes to the mall to go shopping with friends. But these are my particular kids, their particular friends, and our particular mall in our particular area. My dd15 loves to shop and loves to go with her girlfriends- ds14 loves to actually go with the girls and just hang out!

SWB's Writing without Fear talk inspired me many times. The Teenage Liberation Handbook was and is an inspiration to me, even though it tends toward a more unschooly or letting the teen take charge approach...it has helped me to "let go" of my control somewhat with my teens and allow their lives to unfold. It doesn't have to look a certain way...each teen can have a very unique path and calling, and homeschooling can give the freedom to follow that without feeling the need to cover all bases all the way through.

I prefer superfoods to isolated vitamins/minerals, but still take vitamins/ minerals at times. Daily: 1 tbs bee pollen. 10 grams of spirulina (20 tablets) 1 tsp wheat grass powder stirred into a fresh juice ginseng homeopathic iron MSM powder http://www.mfcd.net/depot/downloads/msm.pdf goji berries http://www.benefitsofgojiberries.com/ maca powder- 1 tbs or so http://www.raw-chocolate.net/superfoods.php?ancient-superfood=maca I also like to consume plenty of (guilt free, highly nutritional) raw cacao powder in the form of my own raw home made chocolate, or I put it in smoothies. http://www.raw-chocolate.net/raw-chocolate.php Along with vegetable juices and smoothies with LOTS of greens, and daily salads, I feel that I am probably covering most of my bases nutritionally. If I am sick, or for certain periods of time when I feel susceptible to viruses, I wll take echinacea and astragalus, and camu camu berry powder (high in Vit C). I have a lot of other vitamins and minerals in my cupboard but tend to only take them for short periods now and then. Magnesium is something I will take for a while if I am feeling stressed, or getting cramps or tight muscles. And zinc is another mineral I take sometimes.

Congratulations- I lvoe my ipod too! I don't listen to a lot of music on it, though. I listen to various talks and lectures as I walk- often things i download from the internet. The music I do listen to, is just the CDs I have at home anyway- I put them on my ipod. We bought a speaker for the kitchen so I can put my ipod in it while I am cooking and bop way.

I have a corgi cross siting at my feet right now. She has the most beautiful, placid nature. She is fed minimally yet tends to plump. People think we overfeed her- we definitely don't. I would switch to (and research ) a raw diet- whch is a dog's natural diet. Our dogs live on chicken necks, smaller cow and lamb meaty bones, kangaroo mince (cheap here!)mixed with various supplements, and sometimes scraps from the table. And....believe it or not, dogs do not need to be fed every day- that is a human thing. A fast day once or twice a week is good for ther digestion. My dh cant do it- he feeds the dogs (we have 2) and cant bear their longing puppy eyes when they get hungry. But when dh goes away for a weekend or week, I will often fast the corgi for a day. http://rawmeatybones.com/

Yes, I can relate. I am watching two young adults blossom and develop and find themselves. I find it humbling. And no, I am not finding these years to be anything like what I expected. I really thought we would be followng a more academic path than we are. But I am finding that we are heading in more "practical "directions- which is plenty to get into higher education- but also lots of time for other things, such as dd15 taking leadership positions in Venturer committees, and both kids' social lives really taking off, and part time jobs.

I would expand on your "plain salad" skills. Here is a salad for me: Various leafy greens (not iceberg lettuce) such as cos lettuce, or baby spinach greens. Carrot sticks Grated beetroot cucumber slices various sprouts (I especially love sunflower sprouts) sliced capsicum (only red and yellow- green isn't ripe) herbs such as basil and mint sliced or baby tomatoes dried tomatoes olives (so many types!) celery corn scraped fresh off the cob avocado radishes seaweed sometimes some cabbage (red or green) various nuts (sunflower seeds, almonds, macadamias) Covered with a dressing. My current favourite dressing is mango dressing, made from mango, lemon juice, garlic olive oil, salt. You can toss all the salad ingredients together, or place them separately on a platter. I like to toss them in a big bowl and sit for half an hour in front of the TV and munch away. Ds and dh prefer theirs in separate pieces on a plate so they dont get all mixed together. They also liketo eat while watching tv- eat this sort of thing. Because it can take a lot to get through a big bowl of salad. But especially if you add avacado and a good dressing- it is very filling.

I think both juices and smoothies are wonderful, and each have their place. I use vegetable juices to alkalise and get a lot of nutrition at once. I would never sit and eat 5 stalks of celery, but I will happily drink them (minus fibre) along with a few carrots, a bunch of parsley, various other greens,a cucumber and an apple. There are a lot of books on the benefits of juicing for all sorts of conditions. Smoothies are a great way to have a tasty nutritional drink and can incorporate all sorts of things- superfoods, nuts, fruits...some people use dairy. You can make a smoothie from a handful of berries and a banana and some water. But it takes a lot more than that to make a juice. A juice is a very concentrated food- which is why I dont tend to juice fruits much- more vegetables. Fruits are too high in sugar. However I did just make a very yummy drink by juicing one pineapple, and one lime (skin and all) and then putting the juice into my blender and blending it with the water and meat of one young Thai coconut. That was sooooooo yummy and there was plenty for everyone (4 of us) plus I got 2nds :).

City- small city though, and a beautiful one. We cant afford to buy here (we have 2 investment properties in the country though). We rent. We live in a wealthy suburb, lots of nature reserves, a river 3 minutes walk away, quiet street, other kids around. We have 4 chickens, 2 dogs, a snake, and a rabbit. No, we do not have permission to have anything but one outside dog, but so far they havent seem to notice when they come to inspect. I feel in many ways we have the best of both worlds because of all the nature around here. We dont want to move to the country with our two teenagers, because they are established here, and we feel that especially as homeschoolers, but probably anyway, their social networks are very important and it would actualyl be traumatic to them to uproot them and move to the country- although we could havedone it when they were younger. We actually feel it woudl be selfish for dh and I to do that now. However, dh and I would like to move to the country- within an hour of here- once the kids have moved out. Meanwhile, I bring as much of a country lifestyle as I can to our city existence.

Where I live, in an Australian city near beautiful walking paths a long a river, yes, I let both my kids exercise alone. But, it is probably influenced by the fact that where we all exercise is fairly open area, and frequented by people- you would not often be out of sight. Also, dd tends to take a dog with her. I think it would depend a lot on the area. If we lived near a lot of secluded bushland and thats where we exercised- and we could, there is plenty around in our area- I would have dd15 take a personal alarm, the dog, or pepper spray. Ds14- I would be less concerned. Both kids frequently go off on bike rides a fair way away. I dont restrict that. I think its an important part of teenagerhood to have that sort of freedom. And there are risks involved. I hope they have enough common sense not to get into an difficulties. I do talk to them both about "trusting their gut feelings" about people and situations.

I don't use yoghurt. I don't think it's really a healthy food, sweetened or not, generally speaking. I use fruit (bananas for sweetness, berries for nutrition), greens and water. Tastes great.

:hurray::hurray::hurray: Thats what I reckon when I go through my pantries and clean out old food- if it has too many ingredients that are respresented by numbers, I figure its not food at all and so its not wasteful to bin it! Good on you.

That is so far out! My dh did the same ! :party::party::party:

I dont like using strong chemicals. I will use a strong bleach based chemical about 2 or 3 times a year in the shower. The rest of the time, I have a good scrubbing cloth and sponge, and an old toothbrush, in my shower. I wipe and scrub here and there as the whim takes me, fairly regularly. It stops the build up. It's a Flylady thing. For the toilet, I scrub it with a toilet brush about once or twice a week, and splash about a cup of white vinegar after flushing, and let it sit till the next person uses it. I wipe down the toilet about once a week, and the basin every 2 or 3 days, with an orange oil based spray cleaner- smells nice, pretty environmentally friendly. It was Flylady that got me onto how to keep my bathrooms clean. A little regularly stops the need to spend an hour scrubbing every few months. It takes 20 seconds to wipe the sink, or brush the toilet- they dont actualyl have to get dirty before you clean them. It takes a half a minute every now and then to wipe and toothbrush the grout in the shower, while I am in there escaping the world.

"Have you done all your chores? " "Please clean up the mess you made...." "You won't find it by standing here talking about it" When they were little and attention seeking: "I have enough love for both of you"

I like him, but I am not Christian. He has some good stuff. I think you would have to be a rather liberally minded Christian to get into his stuff though, rather than a conservative one.

I think the key is to take responsibility for your own health- and use the doctor for their area of expertise, which isn't actually health, it's medication. I personally would go off the drugs, but not without making sure I had educated myself fully...maybe a naturopathic doctor or a more alternatively minded doctor would be more compliant with your wishes.

Would you define TWTM approach "school at home"? Or Ambleside/ CM approach? Or any of the many other various structured programs that do require actual sitting down and doing work? How they are implemented around here is pretty structured- morning and early afternoon studies, but no strict break times, no homework, and plenty of free time. No text books either. So, it doesnt feel like "school at home" but might look like it to an unschooler. But on the spectrum represented on these boards, I think we are pretty relaxed.

I dont really want to be treated like a teacher. Teaching is just an extension of my job as mum. I want to be respected no matter what. Its a discipline and respect issue, and you teach them how to treat you by how you respond. Demand respect, and you will eventually get it. Give consequences. But don't split yourself between "mum" and "teacher". You are mum, and you need to be respected, all the time. I don't personally have too much of a problem with yelling. I do it sometimes. Whatever works. Sometimes it takes a yell to get their attention.If I am yelling a lot, I know I have lost my power and need to find another way. Find your power, your voice, your authority, or you will not be able to homeschool for long- kids will walk all over you. I think that is one of the main reasons mothers give up homeschooling- their kids don't respect them and they can't handle the battles. It's an important issue to deal with effectively.