I dont think you need any writing program at that age, and Spelling Power is for ages at least 8 and up. Vocab can certainly wait. Have you read TWTM? She has a simple and doable LA program in there. I like the CM approach of copywork, dictation and narration, rather than all the workbooks.

Yes, I do think you are expecting too much, in a way. He is who is he. Its not his thing, he's not interested, and isn't that pretty normal and reasonable and healthy for an 11year old boy? I also do think that you need to make sure there is not one single answer you are expecting- ask more open endedly, as nmoira said. Ask him for his opinion and then respect the answer you receive as his opinion. It is normal :) I would keep going. Don't exect him to think like you , or to care, or to want to care. Gently gently perservere and you will find a way through with him.

I am finding it hard to split our time between two languages, but my older is 14 and she has had 3-4 years of Latin already, and she is a natural at pronouncing French (past life or something :) ) so I am making the effort to do both. My ds12 has little interest in it so he is just along for the ride. We do French two mornings and Latin 2 mornings a week. Not ideal, but it's how I do it for now. You oldest is 11- I think you have plenty of time to take it up again later if you desire.

I like the WTM approach to this. I can't remember it specifically, but I remember it involves Socratic discussing, and it's all we did. I couldn't fit it all in, certainly not literature guides or programs, so we did it all orally at that at that age. There is plenty of time later for more in depth study. I don't like to ruin a good book with too much analysis.

I can't compare, but AG is "from scratch" so to speak, so is a complete grammar program which could, if you spent an hour a day on grammar, be done in a year. We break it down to take several years because spending an hour a day on grammar would not be a good thing here :).

I had high ideals after reading the Well Educated Mind but couldn't get through Don Quixote. That's ok, because every now and then I read one of the books in there for some other reason, and I feel good about it! I read Walden earlier this year. That had a big impact on me. Then I read some Emerson essays. I am reading ahead of the kids now, especially since we are doing Ambleside, and discussing books is a large part of things. I don't want to read everything aloud, but I do want to have read it so I can discuss it with them. So I am reading the Ambleside Year 7 medieval booklist (and enjoying it!). I just read Charlotte Mason's Book 6. Recently I read A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner- I dont normally read novels except for school, but someone insisted- I learned a lot from those two books about Afganistan. Other than that, I learn Latin and French with the kids, I am building a website (well, I've started, haven't got far) which is a huge learning curve, have just finished some interesting books on health and cooking......self education is just a given for me, I am always into something....though it doesn't always look "classical". I just read what I get interested in and my interests change and vary widely. Recently it was a book on Economics called The Long Tail- fascinating, but I would never normally read Economics books! I am reading Sophie's World at present- a novel about the history of Philosophy. Along with about 4 other books. Oh yes, right now also is French Women Don't Get Fat- delightful light read! My long term goals are never to make self education into a chore, and continue to read widely, following my interests and also gently extending myself beyond my comfort zone.

My mother didnt let me wear it either. A boyfriend bought me my first little black dress when I was in my twenties. I have blonde hair (duh) and I like wearing black but it has taken me years relaly to allow myself ot wear it. As for my daughter, I dont control her in that way at all. She wears black sometimes. She has an amazing dress sense, never inappropriate but sometimes very bohemian- I dont want to mess with her style because she has a clear sense of what she likes. I didnt, at her age.

Most of the year we have two daily spas together. At the moment it is winter, the spa costs too much to run (it's in the garden) so instead, we go for two daily walks around the block together, 15 mins each- which is probably better for us both anyway. We have found that by meeting and talking twice a day as a ritual, without kids (they would love to have a spa or a walk with us but dh is strict about it being adult time, and it's good that he does that) we stay connected and up to date with each other. Other than that, on Sundays, sometime after our family ritual of swapmeet and breakfast, Dh and I often go for either a motorbike ride or a drive in his tiny little red sportscar that is older than me. Also, I tend to be up first in the mornings, and by the time dh gets up I am usually checking my email. He usually brings his cup of tea and comes and sits with me and reads me bts from the newspaper. Its the little things :) My parents always used to sit in our formal loungeroom and drink sherry or scotch and dry in the evenings for a while, and talk, and us kids knew to leave them be. ETA: I forgot- Dh loves to do the grocery shopping with me. In fact, he does it even if I don't feel like it- I give him a list. It's his thing, and I go with him often. We have enjoyed waltzing our way around the supermarket isles ever since we first got together- he enjoys it more than me, but we do enjoy the time together. He loves any kind of shopping and he loves me to go with him :)

I have been thinking about this today and I wonder how free and independent and adult they really were. I am pretty sure society would have supported them- families were closer, apprenticships are a form of guidance. My 14yo dd is working part time, and can certainly do a good job- the man she works for (she is doing bookwork for a friend who runs a gardening business) wants to pay her an adult wage, because she works better than adults he has had do the job- but it doesn't mean she is mature across the board. (She isnt :001_smile: ) Perhaps teenagers in the past did their maturing in a different place- the world, the workplace- rather than school- but that doesn't mean that the maturing didn't still need to occur. Being able to hold down a domestic or other job is hardly a sign of complete maturity. I often think of the Romans/ Greeks whose young men in their late teens and twenties were learning- that "rhetoric" stage seems to have happened at the age our kids are in university. They are not ready for it before then. I tend to think we keep maturing long after childhood, anyway. Or, at least some people do. Others don't. On the other hand, perhaps we do mollycoddle our teenagers too much. Its the other side of providing that guidance and structure- I certainly don't want 14year olds out on the roads driving, personally, even though they are technically capable. It still seems the most healthy way is to hand over the reigns slowly during the teen years. If it is a luxury our middle class affluent society extends to our teenagers, to give them support and time to mature, I am still all for it.

I dont often write out lesson plans. Mostly everything is "do the next thing", and if a book is broken down into parts to read all term, I put a bookmark in it telling me how much we need to cover each week. You dont have to complicate what already works for you!

Hi Julie, You will see from my signature that i use Queens. I don't think its enough grammar, really, or really taught in such a way as it will be retained, but I have still found the books valuable for a season. I haven't wanted to be tooooo heavy on grammar in the past, and we tend to hit it on and off, with Analytical Grammar on and off, with KISS grammar, and just now I am dropping Queens for my younger and having him do R&S6 because I feel he needs a challenge and also the repetetiton, and since I had R&S on the shelf, I have decided to use it. But for him I wont use Queens as well- that's too much, IMO. He will do some copywork and dictation but not a program. I tend to change LA programs and approaches according to how I feel, how the kids are doing, etc- I have never been one to just stick with something for year after year, because we get really bored and uninspired. The one year we did of Rod and Staff 3 years ago taught my kids a lot, and I dont regret not doing it year after year since then- but it just feels time to do it again for one child. Anyway, I just go with my feelings. I like the Queens stuff. I like a CM approach although I don't feel the Queens books are anywhere near as rigorous as CM herself was, and that is a bit misleading. I wouldnt use the Queens materials alone year after year, but yes, they are fairly independent . You could easily add something lighter than R&S to it (JAG, AG, Daily Grams) and still be doing well.

well, I found it interesting, :001_smile: http://www.kindredmedia.com.au/info/into_the_mystery_of_the_adolescent_mind/103/1

My dd14 has been using Language Lessons for Highschool by Queen's. She really disliked R&S strongly,and did a year of it, and yet language arts are her thing, so I didn't want every day to be a drag. She has done 2 years of Classical Writing, which she enjoyed (Aesop and Homer). This year she is using Queen's and an online writing course at home2teach.com, and Analytical grammar. Not all at once. The writing course is meaty enough to stand alone for language arts as it includes lots of grammar.

Another plug for home2teach.com My dd14 is doing the paragraph class right now, and although I would have said she is a good writer, she has found this very challenging, which is a good thing, I think. I gave it a go because a 6 week course at $75 felt like an affordable risk. I will use them again.

I would swap your rooms, because how you FEEL is more important than what it looks like. If it makes you happy to do your work in a nice room, that is more important than being able to display a formal dining room. Our main loungeroom is our schoolroom for this reason. We like being here most of the day- good views, lots of space and light. On the few times we have guests, we jsut bring them in here or sit in our kitchen/dining area. We are more important than our guests! Before Bed Routine The most important routine of the day! 1. Clean kitchen and tidy sink 2. Get kids to shower and do teeth 3. Check calendar for tomorrow 4. Lay out clothes for tomorrow, put away dirty clothes 5. Shower, brush teeth, moisturize, progesterone cream 6. Read aloud/ watch tv/ meditate/ read 7. Go to sleep at a reasonable hour Morning Routine Start your day flying! 1. Rise, sit for meditation 2. Put on exercise clothes and shoes 3. Chi Kung/ walking 4. Spa with Vish 5. Get dressed to shoes, hair and face 6. Swish and swipe bathroom 7. Put on a load of washing 8. Check kids have done chores 9. Breakfast (lots of protein), vitamins, fill water bottle 10. What’s for dinner? Sangha lunch? 11. Check diary/ to do list Afternoon Routine Set the tone for the rest of the day! 1. Lunch and water 2. Check with kids they know what to do after lunch 3. Have a rest time for 1 hour 5. Laundry 6. Start dinner 7. Spa

Twice a week I cook lunch for 14-18 people or so, so those nights I dont cook- its either leftovers from lunch, or do-it-yourself. Dh goes out for lunch 2 days a week too, and is not hungry those evenings, usually, so its less incentive to cook a decent meal. We fuddle through, without our various tastes and preferences. I love to cook and do cook decent meals often, but everyone is quite capable of makign themselves something so I am not a slave to it, either.

I have a dressing my kids and I absolutely love. I have to make it up in big batches because we go through it so fast. Sometimes instead of olive oil, or part of it, I will use UDO's oil or Flaxseed oil. I include it with the salad because that is how I have it stored in my recipe file on my computer. Sesame Spinach Salad (Peela’s mum’s recipe) 2 tbs olive oil 1 tbs soy sauce 2 tbs wine vinegar 1 clove garlic, crushed Pinch sugar ¼ tsp nutmeg Freshly ground black pepper 1tsp grated fresh ginger 250 grams young fresh spinach 2tbs toasted sesame seeds 1. Mix together in a jar the first 8 ingredients. Cover, shake well, put in fridge till needed. 2. Wash and dry the spinach, put in salad bowl, pour on the dressing, sprinkle on the sesame seeds, toss lightly. Serve at once. Notes: I make up big batches on the dressing and keep it in the fridge, big batches of toasted sesame seeds in the cupboard, so that this is virtually an instant salad. I don’t “weigh†the spinach! I use a stick blender for the dressing when I make it up rather than chop the ginger and garlic all finely.

Perhaps you are expecting a little too much yet...they may need more scaffolding for a while to learn to structure their time. I read this article yesterday on the Adolescent brain and it helped me see I can't expect my adolescents to think like adults yet...they still need a lot of adult input and structure and support. http://www.andrewfuller.com.au/free/TheAdolescentBrain.pdf My 14yo is very independent but still needs supervision and help to structure her time. Its soemthing that teenagers learn to do, but its not something that i think necessarily comes easily or naturally. I remember in TWTM SWB says to keep a close eye on your teens even though they can work independently- she said something about her mother not checking on her and how she neded up way behind on Economics...something like that. My dd would be the same. Your children are younger still, so I would be careful not to expect too much independence, and instead helps them to get there one small step at a time.

I dont keep up on these boards- I used to on the old boards. I actually prefer these though. I only go to about page 5 at the most on the three boards I frequent. I find these boards significantly less addictive, and its much easier to filter what I want to read. I skip a lot.

We do ten weeks on, two weeks off, as our state schools do, and it works well for us. Summer (Christmas) holidays are 7 weeks.

I have only recently become a breadmaker- I use a recipe that involves long fermentation so that it is easier to digest- and the kids and I have been handmaking bread in bulk. I not only sniff the dough, I absolutely LOVE the feeling of handkneading the dough, especially when I put coconut oil in it. It just is such a wonderful texture, smooth, soft, but with bite! I am addicted.

I think as kids get older the level of activities naturally goes higher. My kids are very involved in Scouts. Some weekends I am driving around, and for a while there,the kids were very busy every weekend for many weekends. Now we have had a lull, and several weekends with nothing on. When I say nothing on.....I work on Saturdays, making lunch for 15-18 people, and one child usually helps me. I then go to band practice in the afternoon- for myself. On Sunday mornings it is our family ritual to go to swap meet, then come home and have a big breakfast and read the papers. I specifically refuse to allow my kids to do group sports that involve weekend running around, because a) during the week they do do sport activities with homeschoolers that fulfill the need for physical activity and learning games and sports (one 1.5 hour session a week, plus a gymnastic class) b) I refuse to spend my weekends driving to soccer etc classes when I already drive them to several classes during the week. c) Scouts often has camps scheduled d) Dh and I are not into spectator sports (dont watch them on TV) and Dh works Saturdays so it would usually be left to me to do the driving. Dh does no driving of kids during the week- so it would be unreasonable for me to never get time off. I strongly need that the kids, who have very active and busy social lives, need down time, and so do I, so I dont overschedule. But then, what would be overscheduling for me, might not be for someone else, and vice versa.

:iagree: I would say don't rush into the more formal logic. I had my ddthen13 do half of Trad Logic and she could technically do it but she wasn't engaged with it at all. My feeling was to wait so we dropped it. I have a tendency, I think, to try and do things too early. My kids are not early maturers and often when I try and introduce something too early, it backfires in some way .

:iagree: Rosie- my experience too! my family was not huggy in the least and I certainly wasn't. I trained myself as an adult to hug people, then married the most physically affectionate person I have ever met. And even though I wasn't hugged much as a child (my mother tells me I rejected physical affection from about age 3), I have made sure my kids are hugged and touched a lot, to the point of family bed and longer term breastfeeding. But my daughter is like me...its less of a need to desire for her to touch a lot, but she is not inhibited at all, wheras I was. I still hug people- friends- but often I would just as soon not, and I wont make my kids do it, although sometimes I encourage them to. The whole hugging thing has in a way gone overboard, I think- it is now expected in my circles, wheras when I was a kid it wasnt at all. One extreme to the other. I would just rather be myself, and do what comes naturally.

I suffered burnout a lot last year, and for me it was a sign that I was pushing too hard and trying to make something happen that wasn't natural for me or the family. Going against the flow, so to speak. I did actually virtually unschool for a couple of months while I did further research to find what spoke to my heart. I found myself attracted to the Charlotte Mason approach and we have gradually changed over. I think burnout is a sign that something you were doing was unsustainable, and you need to genuinely look and see what that is. I imagine for some people it has to do with attitude, or with things unrelated to homeschooling. For me, it was too much pushing my kids and not enough encouraging and leading, and we have had a much happier year since I changed my attitude. But it's not going to be the same thing for all of us. ETA: I also implemented daily rest time for myself. That has made a big difference to me. It has meant I need to finish my part of working with the kids by soon after lunch, but I have arranged that. Actually, I would say this has been a crucial part of my lack of burnout this year (2008). In fact, I enjoy homeschooling so much this year I wake up in the morning looking forward to it, and even though I enjoy holidays, I also really enjoy starting school again. So the burnout I experienced last year was an opportunity I took to change things so that our homeschooling style, and my direct involvement wit the kids, became sustainable.