My kids are Venturers (well, ds is about to go up). As Sandra says, all Scouts is co-ed here. The only issues we have with Venturers is that it is from ages 14.5 to 18, and well, its co-ed, and well, I have actually had to demand adult supervision at some camps. I even heard tonight that the adult supervisor told my daughter and her friend that she wasonly sleeping in the same room as them (at the last camp) because of my dd, who is 15, not dd's friend, because she is 16...and therefore the legal age! What a thing to say! However, I am not too worried about it...its more protecting all their reputations...and overall, my kids LIVE for Scouts and Venturers. It has given them so many amazing experiences.

Yes, it's common. My dh didn't come on board until a particular set of circumstances made him consider it. Dsthen7 was in 2nd grade and really struggling at school and basically falling between the cracks, and he was becoming so angry and unhappy. I realised homeschooling was what he needed...I needed dh on board...I printed out lots of articles on the benefits of homescholing...and I kept talking to dh about it, unrelentlessly...answering all his doubts...he eventually agreed to a 6 month trial. He didnt kn w I was capable of it. He thought I might be flakey. He was conditioned that school is the only way, jsut like most people. BUt he had a leap of faith and let me try...and within 2 weeks, literally, he insisted we take our daughter out of school too!

Not so much homeschool advice aymore (though years ago that would have been applicable), but I print useful things often, and now that I have a laminator, if they are really good, they get laminated too! I have quotes all over the place, especially in the toilet (they go along with the huge timeline, the map of the world and the moon calendar and the poster of local wildflowers...just to make sure my kids get some education while in there).:lol: My desk is in our schoolroom and I have all sorts of things aeound it- Flylady Zones, a Goals for this year chart (for me), photos, calendar, basic menu plan...I have pin boards and white boards and blue tac...I love sticking stuff up.

Dh and I lived apart for 18 months a few years back and I LOVED it, absolutely. But living apart empowered me to demand changes and he did change and when I agreed to move back in with him, it was definitely different. I feel I can be myself much more. I don't feel so stifled. I did love being a sort of single mum, but I have done it and so am fairly content to be married. But there are certainly days and sometimes more than days, when I crave my own home where I can do things MY way, not put the air con on when the weather is mild, live in an unclttered space, that sort of thing. In my case, dh knows how I feel and tries to make sure things work for me and I am not doing all the compromising. He does make sure he tells me he cherishes me, frequently. It doesnt help sometimes, but overall it does. I get a lot of alone time, so I dont crave it much. I go away when I want to, even go overseas. Dh also. We both have a philosophy that its important that we support each other's independence and freedom. However, he usually resists at first whenever I say I m going to do something like a retreat...he doesnt like it, but after a bit he accepts it and supports it. If I wasn't strong about it and adament, it wouldnt happen though.

I dont think I qualify, but I made the yummiest pudding yesterday from young coconut water and meat, pistachios, dates and...avocado. The avocado taste doesnt come through but makes it creamy. It was sooooooo yummy.

Our main living area is off the kitchen upstairs, and it is a combined schoolroom and daily living area, with couches and TV, 3 large desks and computers. It's a fairly large room. It also has the piano and an art table. Our dining room has two armchairs in it (as well as dining chair and tables), and we often use that for just hanging out, socialising and for dh and I to have communication time when the kids are watching TV. I have found having the schoolroom combined with living area to work well for us, but dh doesnt use the room much- he watches TV in his own room. Its more where the kids and I hang out most of the time.

Yes- if it is stress related, which it usually is, lots of magnesium, and find a way to deal with the stress. Vitamins B and C are good too. Boost the immune system with echinacea or olive leaf extract (good quality). It's ultimately your immune system that needs to deal with it. Oatmeal, soaked, can be used topically- it is soothing and healing.

It gradually gets later over the years. Now that they are teens bedtime is 9pm, but they will read until they are tired after that. 9pm may seem early, but I find that enough sleep is essential and I expect them up by 7am. I want them to get a full 9 hours sleep. If I put their bedtime at 10pm...by the time they got to bed, and read, they wouldnt get 9 hours.

I would like to grow echinacea. I have planted seeds several times and they haven't sprouted. I would make fresh root tincture (great for immunse system, both prevettive and when sick). You can make it with glycerine too, which tastes sweet, for kids. I wish I hadnt let my mullein plant die, now that I have a cough. Garlic and onions, strangely enough. Garlic infused oive oil is good for ear infectons. Onion infused honey is good for coughs (I just found out from recent experience- it helped my cough immensely to go from dry and painful, to productive). Definitely aloe vera for all skin stuff. Mmm,. just realise I havent said anythng others didnt already...except for echinacea.

Yes. I am struggling with this with my 14yo ds at the moment. Actally, its not so much that I dont love him. Its thatI dont want to homeschool him if he is going to continue to fight me. I dont want to spend all day with someone who resists me. When he was younger, I was obviously the more powerful. Now, he is getting too powerful and I just dont want to do it any more. I would rather he fight the school system than me.

I am 43 in a couple of months too. My symptoms vary, though. I wouldnt presume depression just because your symptoms change from weepy to angry. I think PMS is often a time of the month when what is under the surface, that we can normally manage and control to just get on with things, comes up and we cant necessarily control it any more. It rises to the surface. But I dont think its anything but what is going on under the surface anyway. So if you are stressed and need a holiday, PMS time is going to express those symptoms. It doesnt actually CAUSE the symptoms- so we are not really victims to our hormones. I thik its wort taking note of teh symptoms that come u at that time and gently wrk wth the underying issues the rest of the month. At the same time...there are herbs and things you can do....progesterone cream helped smooth things out for me for a couple of years, and now I dont seem to need it. Changing my diet is helping.

My son has always been difficult, but now he is 14, I am really struggling. He is getting very powerful and he constantly wants to test it out on me, and theres a limit to how much want to match him to prove who is boss here.

You can make water kefir using the milk kefir grains, but they wont grow. I bought some proper water kefir grains off ebay and they work well and are growing like crazy! With water kefir, you add water, sugar ( I am using coconut palm sugar and it is working) , a piece of lemon (to acidify the water), and a few sultanas or raisin(for the yeasts or bacteria on their skin I think). I ferment mine for 2 days and it's not very sweet, so I figure most of the sugar is converted. It is very slightly alcoholic- gives me a slight rush, but I dont drink normally so am probably quite sensitive to it.

I dont do kombucha but I do make water kefir. I used to make milk kefir but I stopped drinking milk. The water kefir is great, and I am having fun doing secondary fermentations with various other flavours. I also make saeurkraut and in particular, I love Kimchi, which is basially like saeurkraut but with different vegetables.

It sounds like my son too, except that my son has never been into Lego, strangely. His strength is verbal, he is a leader- he is the leader of the kids in the street. I finally had him tested and he was diagnosed dyslexic at age 12, which seems very obvious in retrospect, since his dad and half sister are dyslexic, but I never thought to get him tested before a couple of years ago. The test made him feel he wasnt stupid The approach I have taken with him I am very happy with, even though his memory is terrible in the way your son's is- and his attitude is not so good either- he is not interested. I used copywork, dictation and narration- and I still do, for periods of time. I think it is the best method for building visual memory. We did repeat dictations for a long time- the same dictation every day until he made no mistakes on it. I read to him every day, and I made him read aloud every day, then read silently. His reading took off at age 9.5. I made him write small amounts each day, rotating it through different subjects. We did a lot of work orally. Nowadays he can work much more independently and we do less together, but I still read aloud daily. History we have always done together- usually I read aloud. We discuss. However I find that what he remembers most are the movies we watch related to our history. We spent 6 months studying the Iliad when he was 11. But what he remembers is the movie Troy. We studied Ancient Greece and Rome, and he remembers the movie 300. I guess they work as memory pegs for him. I also looked right into the Moore's method, unschooling, you name it. I am glad I didnt go with those methods because ds has a learning difference and I think the slow and steady approach over years, with lots of repetition, has been best for him (even if he still forgets things). I only used OM Environmental Science for my dd when she was 9/10, and I think it was quite igorous rather than gentle. It involved a lot of reading and too much writing for my son. CTT has been good for him. It appeals to his quirky mind. Ds is heading towards doing some community college courses and now at 14 has a part time job doing gardening and reticulation. I am just trying to wrk with who heis, and mke sure his basic communication skills and general knowledge are good enough for him to not come across as uneducated. Difficult..but like your son, he is brilliant in some areas. My son is well read and has at least ben exposed to history, even if he doesnt remember much! It is a bit disillusioning when your kids arent enthusiastic for learning, or dont learn well...but its pretty normal, and the challenge is to work with the kids weve got. I wouldnt put all my hopes in a particular curriculum...I did that for years, jumping from one to he next, hoping for something to click for my son....in the end we always use a bit of this and bit of that and each subject is individual, depending on how it is presented. I do wish I had tried Math U See before now though- it seems to work well for him.

There are limitations everywhere and anywhere. I live in the most isolated city on the planet- lots of opportunities, but none of the wonderful lifestyle influences of living in the country, and limited opportunities in some other ways. Its not especially cheap to go visit the relatives, thats for sure .Dh and I would like to live in the country but the kids would freak. I wouldnt mind moving to the other side of Australia where I come from, but I couldn't do that to my kids- they are settled. Limitations are ok. I often wonder how I ended up here and if I would have chosen to bring my kids up here if it hadn't just kind of happened before we felt it was too late to move anywhere else (we feel strongly about not uprooting our teenagers from their friends)..and maybe I wouldnt have...but then, maybe I would. It all depends on how you look at it.

The prices people on these boards are quoting, and your grocery bills on other threads...you guys over there definitely get food cheaper than we do. A free range dozen could easily be $6 in th supermarket and I have seen organi eggs for$9 a dozen. Our dollars are almost comparable. I easily spend $300 a week on groceries, and thats not buying all organic. True Iam on teh more expensive side of Australia, but a kg of supermarket tomatoes here is something like $5 a kg normally. A supermarket celery is $3 at this time of year- an organic one- well, I bought one for $9 yesterday, and another for $7 at a different store. I base our juices on celery so I try to get them organic. So..its all relative. And the more organic we buy, the cheaper it should be. But those organic growers need to make a livingtoo...it's more work farming organic than monofarming. And more expensive. One thing I am trying to do is waste less food. Its quie common for me to throw away old vegetables I havent used... well the compost or chickens get them, but still it feels like waste. I am trying tbe more diligent about using what we have rather than going out and buying more.

I also dislike that a lot of our organic produce comes from China, here in Australia. Not so much the fresh food, but the nuts and dried fruits in particular. I also dont like buying organic food that is processed and shipped from overseas very often- sometimes it's just practical, like buying raw chocolate ingredients from South America where they grow them...but there are a lot of canned goods I won't buy. I honestly think it is better to base our diet on fresh, local foods than processed organic foods . And it's better to eat fresh local foods than organic food that has been imported- generally speaking. Of course, we have the benefit of international cuisine and I certainly buy some...but I don't subscribe to organic always being better compared to non organic. I would prefer a non-organic fresh apple froma local farm, washed, to a can of organic apples imported from overseas. In our area we have a lot of Italian farmers who produce what is called "B grade" produce and it is cheaper than the supermarket- and sometimes blemished or very ripe, ready to eat. I frequently buy in bulk, in season, from the local Italian delis, and just wash the fruit and veg well- I am sure it is sprayed but my understanding is that the Italian farmers like to farm "old school", use minimal sprays, and feed their soil manures .(The Asian farmers tend to use the more modern farming methods and it is more polluted). That way, we can eat an abundance of seasonal fruit and veg, affordably. I also get a box of organic produce delivered weekly. For dairy and meat...well, we don't eat that much of either that its too much of an issue. I have stopped drinking milk, although I used to get raw. I buy organic and supermarket mlk, depending on how much shopping money I want to spend. For meat- I suggest cutting right back and making a little go a long way. I found 2 organic chicken carcasses in our health food store the other day, for less than $3 for both- I will be making chicken/veg soup with them. I buy cheaper cuts and make stew, and I buy only free range chicken rather than organic for a couple of chicken meals a week for the kids. I just do what I can. I believe in organic, but I believe in fresh food more, and I just do what I can within our bdget, and I don't feel guilty. I do spend a lot on food, though.

I bought my Excalibur 9 days ago now! I love it. I used to have one of those round dehydrators and I just found it annoying. I think I'm going to get plenty of use from my Excalibur. I have only heard good things about it. I got the 9 tray with the timer- I sold my moped which I never used, and just used the money to buy my Excalibur.

It's hard to measure greens and fruits accurately...my stand-by is 2-3 large bananas (often frozen but not necessarly), 2 handfuls of baby spinach, and water- for the family. I wouldnt use juice- too much sugar. You could use kale insead of spinach- it would be healthier but a stronger flavour so I migt back of on the quantity until I knew people would drink it. YOu can use all sorts of things for greens. If I have mangoes, i will use mangoes. I have used freshly squeezed orange juice too. In fact an instant green smoothie is freshly squeezed orange juice with a tsp of barley or whatgrass powder added per glass. I just had one and it was yum. For pretty colours and extra nutrition I add various berries. But often the colour ends up a cacky brown or something unappealing- but sometimes it is very pretty! Blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, rasberries..whatever I have on hand. I dont think you can dogreen smoothies "wrongly", but I guess its generally about 2/3 fruit, 1/3 greens, and enough water to make it liquid.

Looks fascinating- its something I would certainly have been interested in pursuing if it had been more developed earlier (as in, support for mums not already brought up with the method). . I think future generations of homeschoolers are really going to have some wonderful resources.

We start at 8.30 am, after chores and piano practice, and we usually finish by around 2pm ish. This is teens. And we are not as rigorous as many, obviously. The kids do around 5 hours school a day. I feel its enough, but I am not pushing for kids to go to top colleges- we just cruise and have lots of different activties and a varied life. Both kids work part time too.

I am one of those who already knew Susannah means Lily (because my IRL name is Susan) but I don't think it matters- it's a very pretty name combination. I have a friend whose daughters are caled Rose and Liy and I think its sch a lovely idea.

That has been discussed many times and ultimately, it doesnt matter too much....not worth stressing over...but there is an advantage to leaving Ancients till later, because the books tend to be heavier going.

I have bought and used several CTT courses and intend to use more. I like them but I tweak everything. I do like the way they talk directly to the child an ask them what they think. I did find the extra courses like Manners were good for a bit, but then I felt they were busywork, even for my ds14 who really could do with a course on Manners :) But that's me. I like the history, and it would be easy to add TWTM methods to it and do some outlining or extra ssignments. We did Medieval and will do Modern soon, using CTT. I have had to squish in Renaissance in a shorter time due to my dd15 goind to college next year and wanting to do Modern...so I havent used CTT in between. I find CTT very tweakable. As for parent prep- very little. You do need to check ahead for movies though, because quite a few are integrated into th curriculum, which I actually like.