I don't know precisely but it was when Colleen was pregnant with her youngest- maybe 7 months pregnant? I remember being fairly new when he was born.

Lol, those first months of homeschooling can be full of disillionment! It takes a while to work out what is you, what is the kid, what is pretty normal. I find most homeschoolers of the more academic pursuasion often feel that their child is behind, or should be doing better (me included). And we tend to often feel that our child should be better than average, too. I have an "average" child and a "bright" child- academically speaking. It has been hard to accept that average is still ok! But your dd is only 5- the worst thing you can do is to burn her out on her school work- then you will have resistance for years, possibly. Relax and have fun. Things like reading need some work, but they click in the child's own sweet time, and there isnt anything you can do to rush it if the child is not ready- however you can set up a resistance in the child.

We loved it. We just carried on from the grammar stage to the logic stage and did the maps, narrations, and then we learned outlining using another book (our Australian history book, mostly). We didn't find SOTW good for outlining. Sometimes I would choose a research assignment or essay on one of the week's topics. We didnt read many other books from the library, however we did read a fair amount of historical fiction, and thats what gives joy to this family!

:iagree: My husband has got the flu shot for years, and still gets sick. I never have had a flu shot and only even had the flu once, 12 years ago. The real flu that is. This year, dh decided not to do the flu shot. He got sick, just like other years. So many viruses are floating around- the flu shot only protects against a couple. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical companies rake in billions of $.

Ever since I read in a Feng Shui book that it is important for a relationship, or if you want a relationship, to have both sides open and inviting and not cluttered- I have made sure I do that to some extent.

I feel that is so unique to each family. We don't have a modesty gene here, although dd14 seems to have inherited one from somewhere- not her dad or I. There is no magic age. Ds12 found it a real challenge to turn on the shower until he was about 11- so he would jump in the shower as I got out. I would wash his hair until about age 11 too, and often that was easier to do while I was still in there! He still walks in on me while I am in the shower, to talk to me. I guess he has me cornered! Dd14 is very private. Locks the bathroom door. Both shared a bedroom until dd was 12, ds was 10 or so. Both shared a bed, actually, until they were about 6. Although ds happily wanders in and out of the bathroom- there is no wierd vibe, no wandering eyes- its perfectly natural to him and us as a family. I can imagine if there was a wierd vibe, or if the child was staring at my chest, it might be different. If it feels icky or a little off, don't do it. If its natural in your family, I wouldnt make a deal out of it at all.

I was a vego for many years....dh is one now, he hasnt eaten meat in maybe 10 years, the kids and I are not. I do not thrive on vegetarianism, however I do know how to be a fairly healthy one. My dh is not a healthy vego though. The danger is getting sugar addicted- if you dont eat enough protein, and eat healthily, you start getting sugar cravings. So get enough protein- beans and rice, dhal and rice, tofu/tempeh, cheese, eggs, whole milk,yoghurt and nuts are all good protein sources- even good bread has a fair amount. If you have protein with every meal, and an abundance of whatever else (salad, vegies), and healthy fats, you wil be fine. I like Indian food a lot and cook curries most weeks, and dhals. Once you get the hang of that, it opens up a whole world- since a large % of Indians are vego their whole lives so there is an amazing array of dishes there. Mexican food I find is also easy to adapt to vegetarian style- we use tinned mexi-beans instead of meat for tacos, quite often. We use TVP as a substitute for mince meat sometimes, such as for spagghetti bolognaise- no one can tell its not meat- but dh's system reacts violently to it. I suspect TVP is not that healthy. I make smoothies often- based on an Indian lassi. It has plain yoghurt, juice, fruit (berries, mangoes, bananas, whatever is in season or in my freezer), protein powder, an egg or two if no one is watching (no one can taste the egg, it adds extra protein, but they wont drink it if they know its in there!), and a green powder. I have many vegetarian cookbooks. My favourite is called Meals Without Meat but I dont know if its still in print. I would just go to the library and get some out browse through them and try some of the recipes. When I do that, I usually only find one or two recipes that appeal to me from any one book, but I have a file I keep my favourites in. Soups are a good place to start. The Hare Krishna cookbooks have some great recipes. Enjoy the vegetarian adventure. I cook a vegetarian meal for for between 15 and 20 people twice a week for income. I just browse the internet and cookbooks for recipes I can cook in one pot plus rice or bread. I have favourites- Thai Green Curry is an easy standby. So are various soups- minestrone, pumpkin, Thai sweet potato, cauliflower cheese soup. One they really like is Bean Stroganoff- made with beans instead of beef.

I suggest reading TWTM about this. I am having my kids do a reading comprehension program this year but only so that they are familiar with the format, which threw them on recent national testing. Most of the time, we just read, and do oral and/or written narrations, and this has shown me that my kids have good comprehension and understanding- and when they dont, I can see it. For me, the thing is that we can cover a lot of books if we "just" read and discuss here and there. If we were to do "work" as in workbooks, worksheets, comprehension exercises etc, we wouldn't have time to read anywhere near as much, and to me, reading and enjoying more books is more important than producing something tangible.

Hi Bill, if I were you I would do a Google on it, because when I did yesterday there were many websites to peruse. And I think its good to have an open mind. I do think much information on things is taken out of context though- people who eat tropical oils generally have low cholesterol- but they live in the tropics, they eat different foods- they have many lifestyle differences to westerners in temperate zones. It's the same wit the soy debate- but Asian people on a traditional diet also have many other lifestyle and diet differences, and I often wonder why people don't consider all that- instead they talk about the latest miracle food. Its all about money of course. Still, it's worth reading and working it all out for yourself and I think the case against coconut oil is outdated. Neither is it a miracle food, however. It is just what it is, and compared to the toxic, highly processed substances that pass for cooking oil in the supermarket, its a good thing.

We have been for 3 years and we just quit. The kids have other social avenues and so do I. We weren't there for the academics- we were there for the social, I was clear about that, although the drama was good for them and the team sport was also good. But enough is enough and it has felt good to let go. I feel something fresh and new will come in to take its place, when it's time.

Hi Sandra, I have had a great school year until now....I am burned out too. I just came back from a week's retreat away from my family, in a beautiful, loving environment. You would think I would be rejuvenated but I can barely move. I dont feel like doing anything. I just want to blob around doing nothing important. Nothing even seems very important. So the kids dont get an education? Oh well. They can read, write and count, can't they? But seriously, what I did yesterday was sit down with them and had a half hour conversation about what they enjoyed, what was working for them, what they really disliked. I was a bit surprised actually. My older likes her Latin program and wants to continue with it- even if given the opportunity to go back to a Latin teacher she enjoyed before. She wants more creative writing. She doesnt like maths but she likes the maths course she is using more than any other so wants to stick with it. My younger, who complains a lot, just loves all the reading he is doing. He doesnt like writing, doesnt like grammar, doesnt like his maths. His dislike of maths though was very intense, and he wants to do something different. So we looked at an online course (mathematics.com.au) and did the trial- and he really wants to change to that. So I realised that not only do I get burned out, but so do the kids, and a change can be refreshing. I talked to them about doing more independently. They can- on days I just cant do it (read aloud, discuss, explain), they can do it all, now. This is the first year that has been possible. We dropped French- dd14 wants to use Rosetta Stone and do it independently. Yay. Just more bucks to spend, but if it means it gets done, I am willing. I told ds12 I cant fight him. I cant debate every asignment with him. He will just have to go to school if he won't work for me. He understood. It won't stop him, but I didnt get angry, so thats a plus. I just told him calmly. I have felt so enthusiastic for homeschooling all year- and now, zilch. I want to lay in bed, read, go for walks, play in my garden, meditate, and start my own business. It's wierd. I presume it will pass! Last year, I burned out at the same time of year- 4th term. I had such a change of heart, we changed over to using Ambleside and CM, reading more, writing less but still consistently, we finished by early afternoon each day so I could have a NAP :) Which has helped me immensely and the kids have enjoyed the year much better too. But on Monday- I had a nap at 10.30am! I think I am anaemic, I am unreasonably tired. Planning ahead- having photocopies already done, maps printed, answer books on my desk, and keeping it all as simple as possible, has helped a lot. Trimming back to essentials, not trying to cover every subject every year- we have done no logic this year at all, it was jsut one thing too many. We have done it for 2 years previous though and probably will again. I think burn out is a time to trust your intuition to guide you to where you need to go. I take it as a sign that what I am doing is unsustainable in the long term, and look to see what what can I tweak to make it all work more effortlessly. I also dont mind chaning programs, changing approach, every year or so. My moderator even commented that she thought it was a good idea and I hadnt thought about it before- using the same program year after year (eg R&S grammar) just doesnt work for us- we would have no joy at all (except with SOTW- we loved that for 4 years!) . What would bring you joy at the moment? Art? gardening? the beach? reading?

I'm in the "canola oil is toxic, don't touch the stuff" camp, although sometimes I buy processed foods, like ready made chips, that have canola oil- not often though and if I have a choice, I wont. I use olive oil, butter, ghee (clarified butter) and sometimes coconut oil for cooking. If I had to really watch my pennies with oil- I would still use olive oil, butter, ghee or coconut oil, because its pretty important to me that I dont eat or feed my fmaily oils that are basically not good to consume. I like to look at what traditional cultures used to eat, because the recent inventions (polyunsaturated oils for example) havent been around long enough, and people have lost touch with their inner knowing and given up their authority to food manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies. It takes work and time to soft through and find what is true and what is lies amongst the information spread through the general media.

Its healthy, but like all things, should only be taken in proportion and with a healthy diet. I have read about people taking coconut oil to lose weight, but if I eat too much of any oil, I put on weight- even coconut oil. We eat a lot of coconut oil but it is in the form of coconut milk or cream, rather than for frying. I like to use ghee (another healthy saturated fat) or extra virgin olive oil for frying. There is a lot of information on it on teh internet, and I haven't seen much/any credible disputations of the positive information. Here are a couple of sites worth reading that came up with a quick google: http://www.heall.com/body/healthupdates/food/coconutoil.html http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/coconut_oil.html The so called health industry- the pharmaceutical funded one- has harped on about unsaturated fats for a long time, and the public is well conditioned away from saturated fats- but ultimately, there are problems with unsaturated fats that are worth learning about, and many so called saturated fats are important parts of a healthy diet. Don't believe what the advertisements tell you when it comes to food and health. A lot of it is crock.

I am not sure how you should handle it- I have a picky eater too and I vary between letting him eat cereal and insisting he eats what is put in front of him. Nowadays he is better- and he does eat raw vegetables- not muc cooked- so I can put carrot sticks and celery on his plate and at least he gets some vegetables. He is 12- almost 13. Your dd is 6 and you thougt she would grow out of it- I would say, bepatient and keep trying new foods without too much fuss- make it seem fun. One thing I used to do, and still do, is buy them something special from the markets- like chocolate coated strawberries, a dragon fruit or custard apple. Something wierd and different- they will use their own pocket money to buy such things now. However I just wanted to suggest to you that you give her a multivitamin and especially some zinc. Lack of zinc is common and affects the ability to taste. It can really help with appetite. The other thing is, have you tried green smoothies? You make a smoothie with fruit juice, good quality plain yoghurt, and fruit (I like to use frozen berries, bananas, and mangoes when they are in season), and protein powder. Then I add some green powder- like spirulina, wheat grass powder, or something like that- and it turns the smoothie green. However, I know that teh drink while the sweetness is sppelaing to kids, are getting a whole pile of antioxidants and nutrients as well as the benefits of green food. If she wont eat liquids, you could make the smoothy very thick and eat it with a spoon! On the other hand, my brother as we were growing up would only eat a very limited range of food. He would eat potatoes, and tomato soup. He lived on carbs (bread, cereal, sugary foods) and meat. My mother gave up. I doubt multivitamins were ever considered. He was healthy, he ended up being a chiropractor and becoming interested in health. When he got a girlfriend he started to broaden his range of foods and nowadays eats a wider variety. Many kids live on a limited diet for much of their childhood and I wonder myself why that is, and I don't really know. I find it frustrating as a mother, yet I am not willing to not take it into consideration and force my fussy child to eat everything, as some people seem to be.

No, not particularly, although we do keep it in mind. Both kids earn money as well as get presents throughout the year, both are spoilt rotten in one sense, so if one wants something more expensive than the other at christmas, its no big deal. However, I think it depends on the child, the overall situation and the family dynamics as to whether it is important to keep it balanced in any particular family.

Yes, very much so. It's one of the things I have loved about homeschooling- no stigma about having opposite sex friends. Both my kids have many. A few months ago dd14 told me she didn't want a boyfriend (some of her public schooled friends were wondering why she didn't have one yet!) because she didn't want to choose just one boy when she could have so many friends who are boys. Once you choose one, they will get jealous and you wont be able to be so free with all the others. Wise child, although i do think there might be a boyfriend on the horizon.

I think you will never know...and you need to grieve and make your peace with that not knowing. It is just beyond our knowing why some babies don't make it- millions have survived much worse than mother getting flu, and millions die for no apparent reason. The doctor may have been following very standard procedure. Miscarriages are very common. I have had 3 miscarriages, one at 14 weeks, and 2 children. And yes, I think it would be good for you to make sure that doctor knows you did miscarry. That kind of communication is surely important. Maybe she might handle a similar situation more skillfully next time. And maybe not. :grouphug:

We have 2 dogs- a 4 year old medium sized mix, and a 12 week old Jack Russell/Maltese (very cute but a nervous bundle of energy compared to our older, very placid dog. The older dog is well trained and sits in the school room most days- well, until recently when we got the puppy. Now we need her to "babysit" the puppy in the yard because the pup is not toilet trained yet so we cant let her run around. Pup sometimes sits with my dh and watches tv- in bed :) Pup needs lots of handling. Mostly though the dogs are outside and come in for part of the day for affection and loving and just hanging out with us. They generally do not come into the bedrooms. We rent and are not really supposed to have the dog inside, let alone two, but they are very loved and there doesn't seem much point having a dog if they are going to be outside all day, to me, unless we also spent a lot of time out there with them, which we dont.

Yeah, I don't buy Nestle either, since my SIL told me about that years ago. Its really, really sick. These companies are driven by consumer dollars. If even 10% of consumers stopped buying there, or all consumers spent 10% less there because they wanted to support more ethical companies....I think it would make a difference. How far do my convictions go? Not far enough, i am sure. I hate plastic, so much plastic everywhere, but I am not willing to go to the extent of never buying anything in plastic. Maybe we just need to make changes slowly to the extent we can. The amount of organic food in my local supermarket has skyrocketed in the last few years- it must be because consumers demand it. We do have power.

No, we dont do desserts usually- certinaly not daily. However, there usually are sweet foods around, like ice cream in the deep freeze, and fruit and yoghurt, so if the kids have a sweet tooth they will have something sweet sometimes. I am not against dessert though. A good homemade dessert can be very satisfying.

When we used WS we didn't skip weeks when it says to take a week off. We just worked through, and it always took less time that the book seemed to think it would. I usually assigned by time, as in I had a set amount of time set aside twice a week, and she would just do whatever she could in that time. Or I looked at the assignments and divided them into 2 sessions. Curricula is meant to be a tool so always feel free to adapt it to your own child and situation rather than being a slave to the directions in the book.

My husband and I used to sing "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston to each other. My song to my husband is " You Dont Own Me". :) As in: Don't tell me what to do, dont tell me what to say, and please when I go out with you, dont put me on display. I'm young, and I want to be young and Im free, and I want to be free....etc We have had some issue to work through.:) He sometimes sings it to me too :)

Sure. Eat less than you burn! Doesnt matter what you eat if you eat less. That's how Weight Watchers works. I tried high protein/low carb and I get so irritable and actually depressed. However, the "eat less" regime also leaves me hungry a lot which i find unpleasant. What I have done is just cut out sugar- all normal sugar, including honey etc. I use stevia in my tea/coffee. Then I just eat a normal diet, including enjoying butter on my toast,cream in my soup and whole raw milk. I am not even trying to lose weight but I have, and I am not cutting out bread or potatoes or anything. Its not even hard, because without the sugar highs and lows I don't crave sugar. However I do get hungry- not surprising since so many of my calories came from sugar. But when I am hungry, I eat something, I dont let my blood sugar drop. I am also careful to eat plenty of protein- but I dont measure it or anything. I just try and eat protein with every meal and eat nuts for snacks.

Mmm, me thinks that Americans are not the ones to speak about other countries being controlling, while they occupy a foreign country in a situation that had a lot to do with oil. I imagine the media in America is poisoning the public against Iran as there is probably going to be a war with them. Sad, sad, sad. I am not saying Iran is innocent or right...just that America certainly aren't the good guys any more, or innocent, or right (and the U.K. and Australia are painted with the same brush for being so tied with the U.S).

to the chooks (that's Australian for backyard chickens)