Thats the right age for starting. Take it slowly. It does makes sense. And it is humorous.

I was just reading in TWTM about this last night- SWB suggests writing the words on index cards and learning them that way. Monday- read the words, put them on flash cards. Tue-Thu- drill with the flash cards. Fri- review flash cards and complete exercises. Pams way looks good though.

Someone told me they would suit me as a secular person, for some church history- I can say, that is very far from the truth and I do not find them at all suitable. But I am sure Christians would enjoy them.

I usually start off with high doses- then I naturally cut back as I lose my enthusiasm, but also , I think its good for the body, if it is lacking something, to get a good hit of it, then fall back to a more sustainable maintenance dose. So I would start with the dose you are given, then just be happy if you remember to take them once a day after a while :) No, it wont hurt your son.

I go to bed really early if I need to catch up on sleep. I tend to wake up early- last week it was 3am one morning though, and I got up and had a warm milk and checked my email (and the boards of course) and went back to sleep at 4.30. I drink warm milk. I try to be asleep before 10pm. I have a warm bath. I take magnesium. I have also surrendered to needing afternoon naps, and I thoroughly enjoy the ritual. If I don't need sleep, I rest and read. If I need sleep my body just crashes.

I have a similar distance but I very much distance myself from the family for many years. I keep in contact through emails now, mostly. Sometimes I wish my brother would make more contact. He is always too busy. I am lucky to speak to him once a year. If I send presents, its like sending off to a black hole- you never hear anything back, even whether they received them. But they are like that with everyone. I accept it. I do feel loved though by them all. I have a grandmother i have been close to in a nursing home now with Alzheimers. I love her but I dread phoning her- she is deaf, and not an easy woman to communicate with at the best of times. So I don't contact her- but I do think of her every day. So i know that no contact doesnt necessarily mean no love. I think the only way to bridge a gap like that is to make the effort yourself to be interested in them, to make the phonecalls. Dont wait for them to do it. People's lives get so busy.

Nan that is very funny and I can so relate!

That is very funny!

Here in Australia they don't so much teach that every paragraph needs a topic sentence,, or that a basic essay has 5 paragraphs. I do find the American way to teaching writing a little contrived- but also useful. To me, they're rules we learn, and then learn that it's ok to break them too. However, when you say WTM/SWB teaches writing more naturally than R&S- I am not sure what you mean. SWB very clearly states the need for a writing program in the middle school years, whether it's the one in R&S, or another. Writing programs teach all these things in quite a structured way. I have been reading what SWB says about writing lately. She doesn't feel the imitative technique, or narrations, go far enough for the middle school years.(at least, that is my understanding of what she has said).

I started Latin for all the normal reasons...but we have continued, and failed at a modern language, because Latin is quite easy to do for us...at least, its easy to keep going after doign it for several years now....but picking up a modern language- I find that hard to do at home.

I think "grass" immediately, so I picked the spring, nature in general" answer. And I am a greenie, enviromentalist type- but I still think "grass".

He didn't start homeschooling till he was 7, and I already felt "behind" when we started, because he was behind at school already, and then I discovered TWTM and I felt even more behind. So I spent ages playing catch up instead of enjoying those years. In retrospect, if I had homeschooled him from the beginning, I would have just read to him a lot, done a bit of formal work, and slowly formed the habit of doing school, and we would have avoided many of the issues we ended up with which were largely self esteem issues. If he didnt think he was stupid, which he learned at school, he could have grown into reading and writing at his own level, without comparing himself so much. Any other reasons? Its all theoretical...if I had read TWTM when they were little and decided to homeschool earlier, I might have just gone that path, which involves a small amount of schoolwork when they are young, includng "content" subjects like history. The reason I have seen given are to capitalise on those early years when it is easy to memorise things, and to develop those hand muscles by practicing writing, a little a day, instead of waiting till they are mature. Another thing I have read here and taken to heart from a couple of years ago, is that kids who have real learning difficulties often do NOT sudennly click when they are older, and need serious remediation by then. If you just wait, presuming they need time to mature, you can miss that window of opportunity when they are younger to help and develop skills. Its ahrd to know, if they are doing no formal work, if they really need help or just time. If you read TWTM, SWB in there somewhere make s a comment about all the mothers who she has spoken to who wish they HADNT waited and put off academics till later, because it doesn't always just click. Sometimes it just takes practice. And I have a homeschooling friend who warned me also to keep my son writing because she waited with her son and by the time he was 15 and still not writing she just couldn't do anything with him- and she has had to send him to school. However...your child is 5, not yet 6? I dont think you need to panic!

Yeah, I find different people have very different ideas of what is basic, and what is essential, and what is luxury. For us, having a big house is virtually essential- for dh's work form home, homeschooling, and the sanity of our marriage. So that's a priority for us. Not that we pay a high rent, but we do have a high eletricity bill. Yet we rarely buy anything new- clothes, kitchen wear, furniture, stuff for the kids, bikes, cars- its all 2nd hand. We are experts at 2nd hand stuff. Dh has cable tv, but the rest of us barely watch any. Yet we all have a laptop. We live in a wealthy suburb, and compared to our neighbours we are poor. Yet we feel we live really well. Partly because we are surrounded by nice houses and we dont want for anything. And partly because we live in a city and yet are a few hundred metres from the river and miles of nature. It's so beautiful. I truly feel "abundance" is what most people are looking for, and most dont really feel they have enough. I know a family who are far more wealthy than us yet the dad compares himself to a brother in law who has far more money..so he feels poor and has anxiety around money. It's all in the mind. there is no objective standard. My spare spending cash is going to buying organic moisturiser and shampoo, organic meat and milk...these are luxury items to many yet I watch where I put my money, and I choose to support specific people and companies that are heading the world in a better direction, IMO.

Introvert here married to an extrovert. However I am no longer socially anxious and can hold my own quite well. I jsut need a LOT of alone time to regenrate after socialising, or even most of the time :) Dh however socialises a lot with his work and I am just. not. interested. most of the time. It does hurt him...but he makes little effort to come to child events like concerts, or to mix with my friends in any reasonable way....so I dont sacrifice too much. However to the OP- it concerns me a little that you dont feel good about yourself and the way you look, and that is a factor in your not wanting to socialise with your dh. I have felt like that at times and recently went through a bit of a change in that regard. Dont do it for others...but it is very empowering to make some steps to make yourself feel better about your appearance....some nice clothes, whatever it takes...rather than using that as an excuse to hide at home. Take care of yourself.

I just never started the tradition in the first place so I dont do it. However, I have thought about doing a Christmas letter- my dad did it a couple of times- telling all about his year. But I never have.

I always thought rap was pretty dodgy until I was at a music festival and some really cool young people got up on the teenage stage and rapped out some amazing, very wise lyrics. So it is out there...but not sure where. Good luck!

Yeah, thats why I commented...cause no one else did, but it was way cool for me, thanks :)

Oh, I remember- you are awesome. Well done. Congratulations.

I checked out the CDs from the library but must admit I havent been that impressed either. Just play some good classical music! Doesn't have to be Mozart either. I like to play Baroque because that has been shown to help kids' brains.

Well do you subscribe to the philosophy of Classical education, such as in TWTM? Or, the Moores? The Bluedorns, who are Classical, suggest starting later with formal work, the same as the Moores. Much is done in those years, much is learned, but not formally. I think it depends on your philosophy. WIll you feel bad if your daughter doesn't want to do sit down work for another 3 years, or will that be ok with you because you see her learning in other areas anyway? I think my son may have benefitted more from the Moores philosophy, but my dd has been fine with academics all along. But if I were to start again...I might well just make my son sit down for a few minutes a day to do some formal work. It might help to "get into the habit" so to speak.

Right from the beginning of homeschooling (she was 9 when she came home from school) I knew it was important she have homeschooled friends if it was going to work with her. It took 6 months to find them, but she clicked in with a beautiful group of girls that she is still friends with. We went on lots of field trips, such as monthly zoo days, with other homeschooled kids. Then we joined a co-op situation especially for homeschooled kids to bond with each other- and for 3 years we went there and did sport and drama once a week. And, she joined Sea Scouts, which here in Australia is open to boys and girls. She immediately clicked even as the only girl at first in the then small group. She just loved it and has been very active in Scouts ever since, with some other homeschooled friends joining her group after a while, and many girls. She has been on some amazing Scout camps, where she gets to be away from her parents. This year she did a sponsored trip to a desert aboriginal town 1000kms away. She is still in contact with all the other kids who went from all over our state, and also some of the kids up there. For her, homeschooling gives her freedom to be involved in lots of social, extra curricula activities. She also has a job now- she got that because she wanted to go on a $1000 Scout camp in January (our summer holidays) and I said I wasn't going to pay for it so forget it (just too much money for me). She asked if she could go if she could raise the money and within 6 months- she was 13 and only just 14- she had the money. I was amazed. So I worked hard at first to keep her happy socially- and now she does it all herself, basically. I am just the taxi! Texting and My Space and emails keep her in daily contact with friends. We do live in a good city for homeschooling- lots of activities, even for teenagers, though we cant possible do it all.

But many people recommend starting Saxon in 54 once the maths facts are learned. Books 1, 2 and 3 are notorious for being boring. I think all maths can be pretty boring though. And I dont use Saxon because it doesn't suit my kids.

My dh is hard, but I paint him a t-shirt every Christmas and b'day. I used to paint a lot years ago- nowadays, this is the only painting I do all year, but its fun and he wears them. I just do a simple picture of something on a white t-shirt. For Fathers day this year though, for the first time ever in our marriage (normaly I dont get him anything!) he sked me for a particular shaver, and I was happy to oblige.

It can be hard to fit it all in, for sure. At least your older kids can work somewhat independently- mine do too, but I know what you mean about them not working so well when you are not around. I know a mum who simply has her daughters take their work everywhere. When one child has a music lesson, the other is sitting outside doing her Saxon maths or whatever. Hardly ideal, but it's their solution to the issue. Other than that, you can only do what you can do. I am pretty defensive of our time at home- I often don't even answer the phone.

Electric kettle,boil water, pour water into cup with tea bag inside, steep a minute or two, take tea bag out, add milk and or sweetener. Isn't that how everyone does it, or is this another Aussie quirk?