:lol::lol::lol: My family took me to Bendigo when I was a kid- it was a most memorable holiday, panning for gold and learning all about the Eureka Stockade. And yes, that sure is one **** impressive rock stuck in the middle like that. :lol::lol::lol:

Curriculum : Story of the World Activity: Sea Scouts Routine: Start early, finish early, lots of free time

I like Zoey too. As one who has changed her name three times now (and is back to her birth name although I havent changed it on message boards yet) I suggest you simply ask that she be called the new name and not worry about the legal aspect for now. Rarely did I have anyone upset about my name changes except immediate family who found it difficult (the first time) so after a point I didnt push it with them- (but in your daughter's case, I would push it with them and even explain why). Anyone else just apologised in advance for forgetting sometimes, then made the adjustment. I woudl let your daughter choose her name and you just support it. I did change my name my deed poll because I wanted my newer name on my marriage certificate. Then I stopped using that name a few years later....and apparently legally (this is Australia, dont know about the U.S.) I am fine to just go back and use my birth name. It feels wierd at first, but then it normalises. My dh found it harder to adjust this time even though I went back to my birth name- he never knew me by that! it has sounded very odd having him speak it. But it is becoming normal and he is finding ways to say it affectionately.

What keeps me going in purging is the great feeling I get from having a neat and tidy cupboard, being able to see everything, clean surfaces etc. It just feels good to me, so I find purging rather addictive. I learned to do it with Flylady, who encourages 15 minutes a day of purging. I find it hard to stop at 15 minutes once I get started.

I think its probably got to the point that so many people have unusual names, its less of an issue that it would have been years ago. Still, yes, there are some wierd ones out there, for sure. Of course I considered how the names we gave our children would impact on them. But perhaps many people are living in a bubble and dont really see the bigger picture, or think it wont matter- I am sure they do actually have teh best intentions.

I work Saturdays, but its cooking for 15-20 people at home, so I also do housework while things are cooking. As far as I am concerned I am not an entertainment committee for my kids. They entertain themselves, always have. On weekends and holidays I take time to do what I want, whether its extra cooking and cleaning, or reading a book, or visiting MY girlfriends. I also am in a band and when its happening, practice is on Saturday afternoons. Naturally, there are outings that include the kids, but its not every weekend and they love their independence to create their own lives. And that was the case years ago, too. Sundays we spend the morning together as a family, but we spend plenty of time together during the week. Dh works from home. I do drive kids to various social or school functions during teh week and the kids often have Scout activities on the weekend. I do not EVER spend a whole day cleaning. And my kids do have plenty of chores- they are teens now though. I would not even consider doing schoolwork on weekends to lessen the load during the week. Free time- learning to entertain themselves and find their own interests- is just as important as academic learning. Eve more so as they get older, I feel. My son has just developed a passion for snakes and spends all his spare time researching them, convincing his parents to let him buy one, and once that was done :), working out where to get an inexpensive one that will handle our conditions. Having said all that, I remember going through a stage where I felt I was only the teacher, and then I just wanted my space (chronic interovert here), so I didnt have so much time with the kids as just a "mum". That was a stage I went through, but it passed and isnt an issue any more. My kids come and seek me out when they want to talk to me. Other than that, we all enjoy following our own interests. SOmetimes they match up.

Some people have money to spare and enjoy to give, so let them. I wouldnt give to something like that- it doesn't feel right to me, especially when my kids want to go on expensive camps and even at ages 13 and 14 are earning the money themselves. But then, i am fussy where I give my charity money- I wont buy chocolates either! Cant stand to be asked to buy chocolates. Cant stand fund raising in general, actually. I will gladly put money in a busker's coffer though, if I like the music- they are earning it, and to a couple of charities I know really are charities. I even give to Greenpeace sometimes. Dont like the japanese killing our whales down here at all. But a personal holiday- even if veiled in the cloak of service- is not something I would donate toward unless the special curcumstances pulled on my heartstrings.

Psychotropic drugs have been around a lot longer than Joan of Arc- though perhaps not commonly in medieval France :) I guess I just believe it- the story- until I am convinced otherwise. It doesnt disturb me to believe that someone heard voices and acted on them, but then, I have been known to listen to channelers, psychics and the like at times. Sometimes they are spot on, sometimes not. In Joan of Arc's case, it seems there was some force beyond our normal senses that wanted her to act and she listened. And I do believe many people in psychiatric care have had profound spiritual experiences they then can't integrate. I know of some people who had deep experiences of love or light and spent some time in the wards till they balanced out again. Believe what you like, none of that disturbs me, God is mysterious and far, far beyond what we can see and hear with our senses. I am happy with "I dont know" and "maybe" rather than "no, that couldn't happen because it's not my experience". My kids, however, are far more cynical than me :)

I just think its more about our society being selfish and self centred. I dont think "work" or a work ethic is a solution to the problem of shallow, 2 second attention spans, addiction to pleasure and entertainment, lack of self discipline, an inability to step up to normal levels of responsibility, etc etc. We as a culture (Australia being just a slightly less extreme version of the U.S.) dont grow emotionally past the age of about 12. But pushing a heavier work ethic is just a bandaid because the issue is just so much deeper. I actually prefer the vision of people working only about 4 or 5 hours a day paid work (no unemployment then), then getting on with other parts of their life, like community service, growing a garden, playing with their children, having fun etc etc. Life isnt all about paid work and there are plenty of workaholics out there who are not balanced people, who dont spend time playing with their children, who work for companies which simply exploit resources or people or 3rd world countries etc. It's just that we value having "stuff" so much that we sacrifice our kids to the altar of consumerism and then wonder why they don't jump at it. Why work 60 hours a week? For what? Just so that we have a roof over our head? Just so that we can buy more stuff, or a bigger house to keep it all in? Our values are wrong from the ground up, and more work isnt going to change that. If we consumed less, were happy with a modest home, a modest income, our imprint on the planet would be healthier, we could spend more time with our kids, in nature, forming healthier communities, etc. We could volunteer our time for projects and spend time with our elders. As long as we only think in terms of ourselves and our immediate family, what is best for us, what we want, society as a whole can't change. My dh works maybe 25 hours a week and supports us well. I work maybe 5 hours. He mentors young men and he has set up several in businesses where they literally earn a decent income (gardening and landscaping in a wealthy suburban area) on a couple of days work a week. One guy I know works one day a week and supports his wife- they all have employees and most are under 25! Why do they need to work more if they can live on that? I think it takes creativity, initiative, imagination, thinking outside the box, not just more work hours. Doing more hours of the same won't change things for the better. I also think it matters very much, what type of work people do. It has to be ethical. Why any child would aspire to sitting in an office for the next 50 years, I cant imagine.

Not Christian here but I have no problem with her hearing voices. I let my kids work it out for themselves. I love the story of Joan of Arc and I feel her hearing voices is an important, in fact, essential, part of the story. My dd14 loves Joan of Arc. There is a book called The Dove and the Sword, a children's ficitonalised account about Joan of Arc, that first whet her interest years ago. Then we watched a telly drama of her. She is an amazing character. History is history. If we edit and change it to suit our beliefs, we are not teaching history, we are teaching something else. Not sure what that is though. The story of Joan of Arc involves her hearing voices. She is one of hundreds of people who have heard voices that we know about. If we disagree with that...we are imposing our limited knowledge onto the vast possibilities of life. Mark Twain, a rather non religious person for his times I think, wrote an amazing book on Joan of Arc- he said it was his most important work, although it isnt as well known as some of his others- and it definitely involves her hearing voices. There are apparently records of Joan's life still in existence in France, and that is where the information comes from.

Careful what you wish for! I am in week 3 of our new year here. I started off so enthusiastically. Now I am wondering how on earth I have stood the tedium and boredom of the last 5.5 years of homeschooling without groing crazy! Thats new for me. I think I enjoyed the summer holidays too much. I guess I will get over it! But I don't wear white knickers, I guess, unless I am wearing white clothes. I try and match my knickers to my clothes and my clothes to my mood. Today it's a long hot orangey pink summer dress with red knickers. Not sure what that says about my mood :) but I am feeling a bit better than I did yesterday when I wore sweats.

I havent had too many people from my distant past contact me, however I wont accept anyone I dont actually know in real life, however briefly, and feel reasonable about seeing my profile. I have refused many people because I only know them online and have never met them IRL. I am not too keep onFacebook however I have found it amusing when I do write something and my SIL or cousin respond- they live a long way from me and its kind of sweet that they notice when I put something up. Also, some other friends put up some photos of me I might otherwise never have seen. I dont mind. Overall, I oculd easily live without Facebook.

I dont live in the U.S. where the crime rate is much higher than here in Australia, but I wouldn't have a problem doing that with 5 and 6 years olds, myself. Or when they were awake. Dh and I often went for walks alone leaving the kids home alone watching a video, when they were quite young. However I have a step dd I would never have left alone at that age. My kids are very down to earth and not "naughty" or the sort that got into trouble, or drank poison or anything. My step dd is 20 and still cant be trusted (she is ADD though)!. I think you have a gut feeling about your own kids and whether they might get into mishief when you were away or not. I am often surprised by these threads as dh and I would even go for a couple of hours when the kids were 9 or 10.

My kids are teens now (how did that happen?) and while yes, I do feel homeschooling has been wonderufully beneficial for our relationship, I also find that at this point they need to form strong connections with people and teachers outside of me and the family dynamic. I might even go to the point of saying I think it might be unhealthy for me to be their only and primary teacher from this point onwards- the more they interact with other "mentors" in whatever areas, the better for them. Dd14 has an art teacher she is virtually an apprentice to, she is doing a "community college" course, she has done writing courses to get feedback from others, she has a Science teacher, a debating teacher etc. My son has less outside mentors, and seems to need less than dd, but he thrives in his science class with a male teacher, and has just started, at age 13, to learn the piano- because he wants to. I can even say at this stage I can really see the benefit of highschool in that each teacher is teaching in their area of speciality, and if they are a good teacher, they will inspire and pass on wonderuful knowledge. Of course that is idealistic- although it does happen- and I am acutely aware of the negative socialisation aspect of highschool (and the positive socialisation aspect of homeschooling is clear in my family as my kids are very involved in Scouts and are very socially competent). Just to say, I think teenage years are time for kids to move beyond the family, although it can certainly be done well in the homeschooling context.

Yes, I like the idea. Except I dont relaly want another woman in my home. And I like to be in control. But apart from that :). At this stage, I would put my kids in school though- they are highschool age. If they were younger and i know what I know now, I would rather they by homescholed by someone else than go to school. I think. Depend on the person I guess. But, I am sure there would be a market for it. Probably not so much in Australia, but surely over there.

I have given up. There are thousands of wonderful books in print, 2nd hand and in the library. I stick to them, because I learned I simply don't like ebooks (after saving and bookmarking dozens of them).

Spaghetti Bolognaise.

I have a reluctant writer- now aged 13. At 9, a couple of lines a day was all he could manage. I would: eliminate creative writing for the most part, for now- unless you want to try freewriting, which was good for my son. (its on the Bravewriter website- you dont need to buy the program). Back up and work on copywork, dictation, and narration. Do daily writing, but keep it minimal. Cover other work orally. We have kept him up to date in all areas by covering a LOT orally. Dont expect him to enjoy it, just have him to the minimum- daily. My son STILL gets an aching hand from handwriting. He did a one paragraph dictation yesterday, after 7 weeks of summer holidays, and he had to stop 3 times for me to massage his hand. It relaly hurt him. Teach him to type- it solves a lot of problems- but keep him handwriting as well, so that he builds those muscles. I highly recommed Writing Without Fear- a lecture by SWB available through Peacehill Press. It is excellent. At 9, I would still have to write up my son's narrations at times. Slowly slowly he learned to do part, then all of it himself. Give LOTS of encouragement, be firm but gentle. It is still my son's weakest area. He was diagnosed dyslexic a year ago, which helped give me even more compassion for his difficulties. My aim is progress, not comparing him to other students or his age level- he jsut needs to keep improving, slowly, and he is. Me getting frustrated that he is not where I tihnk he should be, doesnt help. I have tried several of the programs others have mentioned, and they havent worked for us. Right now, IEW History writing lessons (Medieval) is working well. Classical Writing Aesop was very successful- imitative writing helped my son a lot. Having to think of what to write was so hard for him when teh physical act of writing was difficult. Now however he loves his weekly freewrite because I dont help him "fix it"- I jsut encourage him to let it flow. Its a journey, and I havent found a quick fix.

I would have given LIVE Education a go. Since you have to buy a whole year at a time, I didnt want to risk it. I also might have tried K12 or even Calvert. Other than that, funds havent limited my choices that I can think of. It might have been nice to buy packages of new books rather than scrounge around finding things 2nd hand, but I kind of enjoy the bargain hunting anyway. I would have had a French tutor though- come to my house, probably- and maybe other tutors for highschool. And a chef and a housekeepr would be nice too. I am not convinced that expensive programs are needed. For younger kids, its not hard to put together a basic program for your own child that is equivalent or much better than any package. But for some of us hanging out here, we become curriculum junkies. In the end, I am not sure the program is quite so important as other factors like one on one with the child and simple stratgies. I am all for copywork, dictation and narration for younger children- I have seen it work with mine- and there are all sorts of expensive and fancy programs to help with that now- at a cost- but its not rocket science and its not hard to put together yourself (and I have bought the fancy programs too).

Yes, I so far havent found anything I am concerned about my teen reading in the first 2 books, but I hear it gets more...adult. Too late here. She has read adult books before. I did tell her before she started that I only wanted her to read the first 2 books since my friend told me it changes- but I am not going to stop her. I handed her Clan of the Cave Bear last year while we were doing Ancients, since I loved that series, and she just told me, mum, that was one s*x scene after another. Oops. I had forgotten that. She reckons she skips over them anyway :).

I would preread them yourself. I would say 11 is young. My dd is 14 and a half but she is a bit of a later maturer. It is all about falling in love, obsessing, emotions etc. She was ready, it's where she is at, but I wouldn't have wanted to stimulate that at 11, ifkwim.

Well, what can you do, after all? You just love her as best you can. Making her feel guilty is pointless.

A friends daughter started. Then my friend. They insisted my dd read it, and I was still scoffing and rolling my eyes and wondering if I wanted my teen to read it, but I am fairly liberal and allowed it. Then dd told me I HAD to read it. So I thought ok, just so I can discuss it with her and see what the fuss is about. I am completely addicted. I feel like a teenager. I am in love with Edward. I know it's not good literature. Its fluff. I dont read fluff. I dont even read novels and I most absolutely definitely never ever read romantic fluffy novels. But this is.....well, I am just going to leave it there. Anyone else read it? I am onto book 2.

Lol. It really happened for my dd about a year ago, she was 13. But the change was sudden and extreme :) Now it's hit my ds13. I really feel we are in a whole new phase, which not only includes interest in the opposite sex- it includes moodiness, locking oneself in the bedroom for a long time (or the bathroom!), loud music, more interest in friends and less in family, and a loss of ability to remember to do basic chores. However, I have two very interesting people on my hands which makes up for it all. Actually I had a yell at them a couple of days ago because i was finding their attitudes infuriating. Later I borrowed a "how to parent your teenagers" book from the library (desperate, I was feelin') and after a few chapters I went and apologised to my kids and told them I had been reading about parenting teens and my dd said to me, you know mum, its ok, we deserved it (the yelling) but you know we are normal, right? She was being cheeky but I realised, after reading just a small part of this book, that my kids are not just normal but I am blessed. Enjoy the roller coaster!

Yes, I am testiment to the fact that the chronically disorganised can change. I lived in overwhelm and chaos for years both before and after I had children- and my dh was born organised so he could not relate and it was the cause of many an argument. So eventually I really wanted to change. A cousin told me about Flylady (flylady.net) and I never looked back. It has taken years. I am not perfect. But I am mostly fairly on top of things, I know where my stuff is, I am fairly organised and I like it this way- its truthfully a much nicer way to live. Not super control freaky organised and neat, just basically organised. I think it takes a basic desire to change, then you will find the tools you need. Babysteps. Flylady was the ticket for me, and the most useful part for me was learning to prioritise and form some basic routines, so that I wasnt spending hours on the bathroom grout when there was no food on the table.