It sounds perfectly natural and healthy to me to take time off now, knowing you have time to catch up later when the weather turns. I do know that on perfect weather days (our summers are very hot and its better to stay inside, winters are cold but no snow, but spring and autumn are just heaven) I open up the house and let the air flow through and the sun shine in. Our schoolroom has large windows both east and west. There are trees and many birds outside and I like to let the house feel like it is not so separate from the outdoors as much as possible. My kids are older and I don't easily take time off- and we do have plenty of recreational time even on school days- however, one of my regrets is that I didn't take more time off when they were younger to just do what you are doing.

:iagree: And further, I feel that if someone expects or demands a hug or kiss they are in a way being abusive of a child's natural boundaries. These natural boundaries, which feel slightly different for all of us, are what protect us from abuse- we get gut feelings when someone is encroaching on our space without being respectful. I think its quite a delicate point, but it can have a huge impact on a child's life.

What I dont understand is why conservation is seen as something that should only be done if the world is in peril. Isn't it just a better way to live anyway, to take care, to be respectful stewards of our planet rather than mindlessly consume, destroy natural resources and shrug it all off as not my problem? isnt it jsut a nicer way to live? Isn't Classical education all about Truth, Beauty and all that, and isnt this all somehow connected? It is to me. On the other hand, i agree that there is a lot of marketing research, consumerism hype and a fad like mentality about conservation nowadays. However my concern with it is not that I have a problem with recycling, but that to some extent it is a distraction from people seeing how really, really bad it is out there. If we are looking over here and recycling and being good citizens, we won't notice what they are doing over there taking away our rights, creating wars, and all the horrible things that are going on behind the scenes in governments and corporate connections. I am all for recycling but lets not keep focusing on the smaller stuff to the exclusion of noticing the bigger stuff, the bigger picture. Conservation is a no brainer to me, not something I feel guilted into doing. I do it because i care, because its obviously, to me, the right thing to do, and I don care if the government tells me to or tels me not to- it wont make any difference to me. I think for myself and act from my own integrity, not out of a reaction to authority.

Ann, thankyou for sharing this. I do feel people in Australia and the U.S. generally don't realise how bad it is getting in other parts of the world, even though we are feeling the pinch. It's going to get a lot worse but until it does, we will carry on as if we will always be able to live like we do now.

I think you bring up another point entirely....it doesn't sound like you are actually against recycling, as some seem to be...it sounds like you are doing your best under the circumstances of your situation. I don't personally have a problem with that, because it's easy from my middle class, kerb-side-recyced-waste pick up suburban mentality, to judge those who don't separate their rubbish into two piles! But, you care and you see the issues, and it does affect where you put your money and how you live your life, which is different, in my mind to saying there are no issues.

Yes, were you? Please don't be offended by me, I am not making a personal attack on anyone.

But I didn't paint all fundamentalist Christians with the same brush. I referred to a particular vision that some have. I have relatives who are fundamentalist Christians who do not subscribe to this mentality as far as I know. I am jsut aware that it exists.

There are probably many reasons, and I feel all are based in ignorance. There is a whole fundamentalist Christian vision that thinks the world is doomed anyway, and they will be 'saved' but the rest of us...well, not their problem. It's sick and pervasive. There are many who feel the science is wrong, because they deny any science that disagrees with their religious beliefs, or they go out and find a scientist who does agree with them. There are people who just can't be bothered, for sure (and sometimes i fall in that category, although I do try). There are people whose lives are already so full and stressed and they are lost in the bog of human suffering, and can't lift their head far enough above to care too much about the bigger picture. I went to a cremation in India 5 years ago, on the banks of the Ganges river.The body had been wrapped in a white shroud, then a huge clear plastic sheeting. They took off the plastic sheeting and placed the body on the funeral pyre and lit it. Then as several of us Westerners watched- they threw the plastic sheeting into the Ganges. Someone rescued it. But it was explained to me later that the culture and conditioning in India is so strong that the Ganges purifies everything, that throwing rubbish into her is not necessarily seen as bad! Obviously the Recycling campaign hadn't yet reached these uneducated but sincere people! What amazes me is that 40 years ago, hippies and "greeny" scientists were trying to get the message of conservation across because it was obvious then to many...but they were considered far left loopy tree huggers. Now that its much, much worse, it's 'mainstream' and hip to care. Doesn't it occur to anyone to have a look at what the more extreme people are saying now? Because in 40 years when the masses finally listen...it could be too late! (That IS what many scientists etc are saying.) It's actually very, very serious. We are living in a false sense of security. Things are going to pot. Recycling should be a given, as should many things be - and the opposition to it is just one aspect of the huge opposition to waking up out of our collective sleep that everything is going to be ok. Recycling makes us feel empowered that we are doing something, but trusting our future to the governments of today, any of them, is something we may look back on with regret- there is a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes and it doesn't have our best interest at heart. Issues like recycling can be a distraction from the far bigger issues of giving up all our rights that we value.

My ds12 didnt have good spelling a few years back, certainly not when just coming out of school (he came out mid 2nd grade). He couldn't read or write, let alone spell! But once we got into homeschooling and he learned to read a lot, at first following along with his eyes as I read aloud, and later reading to himself, somehow spelling just came fairly easily for him. I would now say he is a natural speller. So, don't label your dd too soon. We did use Spelling Power for a couple of years. And we have done a lot of copywork and dictation, which trains the child to hold the picture of words and phrases in her mind, which I believe helps tremendously with spelling.

What I am doing is adding up their hours- we are also out of the house one half day and one full day- but I count the classes as school time- but not the travelling or associated play time. Both mine are doing well over 20 hours a week even though we only have 3 solid days at home. I feel that that is plenty, although it will go up next year. So no, I don't assign homework because I feel it is one of the blessings of homeschooling to have free evenings for family time and play.

My son has lots of trouble with maths, and just doesn't "get it" until he has had lots of repetition. And then he is just as likely to forget it. I did find out he is dyslexic, and I think it affects his maths more than anything nowadays. Yes, it can be a learning difficulty but I think you end up just using the same tactics whether you have label or not. Patience, lots of one on one, manipulatives, etc My son is 12 and I still have to help him every day with his maths. At 9, I was pulling my hair out. At 12, I just surrender and accept that this is what it takes, and be grateful for homeschooling, because he wouldn't get help in school. I wish I had been more patient and used more manipulatives, and not tried to finish the book in a year, and instead focused on mastery of the material. Kids like this need to feel success, so whatever it takes- going slow, doing less each day. Some kids thrive on mastery programs- programs that stay on one topic for a long time so that the kids really gets it before moving on. Others do better with spiral programs like Saxon, where little bits are given at a time while revision is constant so nothing is forgotten. There are programs that are a bit of both. Math-U-See is a program many parents find incredibly helpful for their math-challenged children. It is my next step if my son really can't manage the next level of the Australian program we are using. One thing I have accepted with my son is that he probably will only cope with, and need, up to a certain level of maths. he wants to be a business man, so I want to make sure he covers maths that is related to business- practical maths- especially, in his teenage years- and I probably won't take him on to more than basic algebra. For problems, one thing someone suggested to me that works well , is using a highlighter to mark the important parts of the problem. My son will nearly always misread problems and not actually realise what they are asking. A highlighter helps him focus and see what is being asked.

I like Spelling Wisdom at Simply Charlotte Mason for passages- there are a few religious ones and some old fashioned, but overall I find them very useable and accessible, and we are secular. I also use the Startwrite software. I have also used "wisdom" quotes from online, and quotes from books they are reading. For example, the year that we did Lord of the Rings I just found websites with quotes from the books and copied and pasted them into Startwrite. I have also used jokes, or things related to our history study. When I have pulled them together myself, I jsut sit down for an hour or so and cut and paste a lot so i have a term's worth all done ahead. Eventually I did get tired of this and that's why I use Spelling Wisdom nowadays.

Actually, I always wanted to, after first hearing about it when my kids were small, but I knew Dh wouldnt support it. Later, when dh and I were separated, ds7 was really struggling, couldn't read, his teacher called me in to tell me I needed to work with him at home, but he was so distressed after school he needed to run around and unwind, not do more work. The teacher was terrible. Turns out ds was dyslexic, but we didnt know that then and were given no support. I decided I needed to work with ds since no one else would, and I couldn't do it with him at school- hence, homeschooling was the best option. I convinced dh for a 6 month trial, and he had ds 2 mornings a week while i worked- he bonded so much with his son in that time, and changed toward us as a family, the whole family was brought together again and dd9 was brought home to homeschool too. So, originally it was for educational reasons, and within a short time it was because we saw the healing that happened once both kids were out of the school system, and the social and emotional benefits of not being in that environment. I would say we primarily homeschool for social reasons now. We don't want the kids in the school environment when they can have a perfectly good life out of it.

My ds12 is the same. I like what ashmac said about messing up perfectly. We have done some of that.My son cant handle too much praise, but he does like to feel success so i try and make sure to notice when he succeeds. But I have also many times resorted to Camy's solution as well- treat it as a discipline issue, because I think it can be. My son is as likely to pitch a raging fit as to burst into tears, or both. My mantra is, 'you cant think clearly with your emotions'. Once he gets emotional, he gets demanding of me to try and make it my fault, and it's a downward spiral, so i withdraw and don't help him and sometimes send him to his room till he has calmed down. Its hard. He genuinely wants to do well, and genuinely finds a lot of his work quite difficult, and I really feel for him- but getting emotional doesn't help, and often it is to try and get me to back off on the amount of work. My son is 12- and he is still like it, but it IS a lot better than it was when he was 9.

Yes, dont worry, KHE is hard to outline and you don't need to keep struggling with it. I read SWB recommend people use the library books they get out each week (choose one, I guess). What I did was choose a particular book I had for our country's history (Australia) which was straightforward to outline, for our parallel stream of Australian history, and we just did assignments /reports for world history. Many people find different ways. I am getting my dd to outline an essay before writing it.

I would also agree to start with the Ancients, because it's the beginning, but really it's not that important if you have a hunch to start with Modern.All the levels are interchangeable. We started in the middle and it was fine. And don't worry too much about lining up with an older sibling at school. Do what works for your child, what will be engaging and interesting for your first year. Personally, I find biology and nature study the most engaging, but I know many weird people get a kick out of chemistry and physics :) As for the in laws, it is very common for them to be concerned. Mine were, although they knew better than to mess with me. I think homeschooling is healing for the heart and spirit for many kids, and so if you feel this is what you and your son need, follow your own intuition and don't be put off by well meaning but ignorant relatives. After a while, many of them come around to realising their grandchildren are not being locked up in a cupboard, isolated from the world and cloistered with overprotective parents, and are instead living productive, rich and interesting lives just like normal people. The institution of school is a strong concept in most people's minds, and it takes a bit of undoing. Once you no longer see the world that way, you wonder why you ever thought school was the only way to do things.

We switched to a raw food diet for our dog and she has been great. She also gets fed only about 6 times a week- she has a fast day. And only once a day. Never leave dog food out all the time- dogs nee their digestive tract to be completely empty regularly for good health. Ours has a tendency to pudge and she is thriving on this diet. At the moment she is having one chicken carcass a day, and some scraps every now and then. She sometimes has chicken wings or necks, or lamb bones. Not having those commercial dog food farts is just wonderful :) ad its much easier to clean up the backyard too.

Dh wasn't going to take my name and I didn't want to take his ( I like mine, it's old English meaning 'fairies of the dell'- his just means 'barrel maker'!). I don't mind the whole hyphen thing, its a kind of solution, but what happens to the children? I didn't give my kids hyphenated names because I cant see how that works for their children or grandchildren. It's a one generation kind of solution. So they might be called Kid Smith-Jones, what happens when Kid Smith-Jones meets other Kid Brown-Black? It gets ridiculous. So the kids got Dh's surname, and I am the odd one out. My SIL is Belgian and she says that is normal over there- the woman keeps her surname, the kids take on the father's.

Do you have Subway over there? It's a healthy meat and salad roll fast food place. The kids and I are hooked on it for our once a week fast food binge!

I havent read the other responses but we don't even have a dryer, and here in Australia most people hang their clothes outside. It is amazing for us to think of millions of people using that much electricity to dry clothes when the sun and wind are free. Dirt? Well, we don't live where there is that much dirt in the air, even though we live in a medium sized city. I breathe the air, I am sure it's good enough for my clothes. But then I have never subscribed to modern Bacteriaphobia. Lol, I just read Melissa's response- I love that bushfire smell, personally :)

I read the book, Lucy (it's in the homeschool library) and at the time I was inspired, but I was left with the sense that this was a rather ungrounded and idealistic method with dubious origins that may have nothing at all to do with Jefferson. It sounds good, but you can easily pick up the basic ideas from the linked review above, and that's about it unless you want to spend lots of money. What I got from it was that it is important to set an example to the kids that I too am learning. And I do- I read, I play music, I have my own interests and life. Other than that I felt I needed to inspire my kids to kind of educate themselves- like unschooling, really- , and the truth is, i am not going to go there. I feel i would waste a year or so waiting for them to get all inspired, then I would just go back to what I was doing, making them do their schoolwork! Except that I would have lost a year ! After reading several articles about TJE and reading the book, I feel there is something a bit not clean about the whole approach although I don't really know what it is.

If it's really uncomfortable, i suggest you back off a little on whatever it is you are doing to detox, just to slow down the process a little. Otherwise- drink lots of water, try some apple cider vinegar as Amy says, and move your body to keep your lymphatic system functioning well. Dry skin brushing is good for the lymph system too.

My dh likes to make a big deal of opening presents, and we all take turns opening one, and we all watch that person open theirs. Not how I did it as a child, but it does rather stretch out the pleasure. The Christmas before last, I knew I wasn't going to get much, so I bought myself several presents and put them under the tree. It felt good! After present opening, we tidy up a bit and have breakfast. All of us are perfectly capable of filling in an hour or two doing our normal email stuff, as well as just pottering about tidying, maybe going for a walk etc, so filling in the morning is never a problem. Then we do a family lunch somewhere. Last Christmas it was at our place. Dh's family members are not exactly intimate most of the year, but they do rally together for a reasonable Christmas. Mine are too far away, so we do phonecalls sometimes during the day, and I must admit to a twinge of jealousy because I would prefer to be with them than Dh's family. Last Christmas and Boxing Day were 42 degrees C, (well over 100F) and the airconditioning broke down. Not pleasant, but somewhat "bonding" I must admit. We are in a hot climate so Christmas is mostly salads and cold meats and seafood (prawns, fresh fish) and fruit. Everyone brings a plate of food. Then by mid afternoon once the festivities are over and people are drifting off to other functions, we go and have a nap! The kids are fine with playing computer games or out on the street with their friends, or in the pool! They are very independent. Evening is just leftovers and our normal routine. I guess we dont make too big a deal out of Christmas, not too high expectations, keeping it simple, and the extended family seem to feel the same. We don't do presents for the adults- only the kids- of the extended family. It is not too stressful. As a kid, Christmas was pretty fun - my mum is a good hostess- she would BBQ turkey outside, or we would have seafood. I do have memories of my grandmother getting drunk, but it was all very fun. We would play cards and board games and just sit around telling jokes and talking. I was the oldest of 9 grandchildren who all adored me, so I spent a lot of time playing with them. I remember lots of laughter, probably fueled by copious good wine! I think Christmas was a very big deal to me as a child, but I try not to make too big a deal out of it for my kids.

:iagree:

We just did 10 weeks of the Greeks using Guerber's Story of the Greeks, Hawthorne's Greek Myths, Homer's Odyssey, John Waterhouse's paintings, and mapwork of the Mediterranean. We couldn't do a whole year, but if it floats your boat, go for it!