Well my honest answer to the OP is that I am not 100% sure we will finish the books (maths in this case) by the end of the year, and I am slightly concerned, but i have seen the timing thing work quite well so I am going to breathe deeply and stick with it for now. My two (being 12 and 14) can stop maths after an hour. My older is mature enough to do two lessons if she can in an hour, to catch up on the times when she doesn't get a lesson finished- which has been a lot lately as she dives more deeply into algebra. I just don't think she can concentrate well after an hour. My son, well, he just either finishes the lesson or stops after an hour. Its actually not working so well with him because an hour is long enough to find plenty of time to dawdle anyway, but this is about how long a lesson takes. I cant say it is the perfect scenario, but it beats taking all morning to do maths and crowding out other subjects. It keeps the day moving. And that is a higher priority for me for my not so mathy kids. Otherwise we get bogged down and miss out on the fun stuff. And it does help them focus and concentrate.

I had always preferred the "read over three weeks" version, but I am trying for the first time the CM way and I am really enjoying it. But we are not spending a whole year on anything yet- but certainly reading about 10 books over a 10 week term. It actually means we are reading more than before, because I couldn't make my kids read 90 minutes a day of a book they don't enjoy so much- like Augustus Caesar's World- but its easy to make them read it over 20 weeks. We are getting a LOT more reading done now. We also read LOTR over a year with the literature program and that worked beautifully to spread it over that long. We felt really immersed in it. I am sure there will still be many books we will read in shorter timeframe, but I am surprised myself how well the CM way is working for us.

Lol, I prefer these boards for the simple reason that I "waste" less time here than I used to on the old boards. I pick and choose the threads to read without getting "sucked" into others just because they have interesting looking responses! I am sure I miss a lot, even responses to things I have written, but its better for my life as a whole to just skim these boards and not spend hours getting drawn into dramas that have nothing to do with my "real" life. I love these boards better just because I feel less guilty about spending time here, because I don't spend as much daily time here as I used to, because of the format. Those things that make it better for me though are going to make it not so good for others. There is an element of conversational flow that is missing here. But there are many other advantages and I wouldn't want to go back.

My son is very fussy about his sport. He loves Gymnastics. Hates martial arts. Loves soccer. Doesn't like baseball. Dd is fussy too. We dont do team sports except at a homeschool coop (different sport each month or so) though because it eats into weekend time and thats when we do other things. Gymnastics is fun and its not a team sport but it can or might not be competitive, depending on the kid. Both kids do Scouts. Dd loves all the physical activities there, but doesn't enjoy a walk at home! Ds loves to walk with us, bike ride, skateboard, and surf...but doesnt like the sailing at Scouts much.

I voted yes because books like Shakespeare's Lambs Tales and the Iliad and Odyssey, have been important to read as "children's versions" before tackling the adult ones. I have also read Don Quixote as a children's version because I got bogged down in the adult version. Chaucer's Camterbury Tales is another good example of a book worth reading abridged first as a child. However, generally speaking, no, I would prefer to wait for Dickens etc until they are ready. I dont usually use them. But they have their place. My kids are the type who read an abridged version and then just don't want to read the real thing if they can remember the story at all. That has happened with Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, and they are very resistant to reading the real things now. I will have to "make" them, if I want them to read them, because they refuse...I don't like to get to that point with books. Even though they will enjoy them anyway. Same thing happens with movies, actually. Best they read the book first.

Thanks, I should go and lurk at my log (blog, but I like log too) too! Actually, I am really only a beginner at Ambleside and I am picking and choosing at the moment, to make a good Ancients year for us (so using parts of Year 6) but i have always wanted to try Ambleside as is, and so I intend to use Year 7 next and see how it goes. Oh, i will tweak because I cant help it, but I will try to minimise it! I know what you mean about jumping all over the place. Thats why I decided to spend a whole term on Ancient Greece and another on Rome,etc, otherwise I find for us it does feel too scattered. When we read several books at once on the same topic, over quite a few weeks, it feels more cohesive to me, and I am loving it this way after SOTW (but I accepted SOTW was the way it was and we enjoyed that too). There are lots of connections between the books and crossing points. It just feels better for us.

I have a pressure cooker, but I really like that multi cooker. I use a rice cooker at least twice a week. I use my pressure cooker every now and then, same with the crock pot. 3 in one would sure save cupboard space.

I know about husbanKs. I know I am not the only one who has called their dh "dh" to his face at least once. I learned all about LOL ing here first. I know about trolls.

Well, just tweak! This year I am doing Ancients with my two. It's our 2nd time through- first time we used SOTW, 1 book a year. We have 4 ten week terms in our year (Australia) First term, we did prehistory and early river civilizations. 2nd term we did Ancient Religions and especially focused on Asian religions- Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism etc. I had really wanted to do this with the kids, since I have a lot of interest and knowledge in those areas. We also did some geography. 3rd time, we are doing Ancient Greece, and last term, Ancient Rome, using Ambleside Year 6 books. We do one or two maps each term. I had had enough of doing history strictly chronologically, even though we really loved SOTW and got so much out of it, but I still like the 4 year cycle, so I made it work for me. I also use Ambleside and will go into Year 7 next. I am ready for the way Ambleside mainly uses literature for history, it works for us. I think you need to do what appeals to you, and make it work for you. Schools here certainly dont do history chronologically- they will do a term of geography, a term of Ancient Greece and Rome, a term of government, a term of Middle Ages, scattered through 12 years of school.

Similar here too. Basically I use it for severe PMS symptoms, although I dont tend to get cramping much. Side benefits- helps me sleep better, helped me lose weight, and generally calms me. Also, regulates my normally irregular cycle. Negative side effects- actually makes me sleepy if I use too much. Here in Australia it is only available on prescription and not many doctors know about it, and only a couple of pharmacies in my 1 million pop. city sell it, as far as I know. But I knew where to go, so I went and just asked the right doctor for it.

Valerian makes me groggy the next day, but you could try it, its safe. (doesn't taste too good though). I use warm milk, myself. Massage, a hot shower before bed. But a regular routine is also very important. I would have kids your kids ages in bed earlier than you are, and make it fairly strict. The routine should help but it may take time for their bodies to adjust. Not just a regular bedtime, but a sequence of events- e.g. dinner, shower, hot drink, teeth, read aloud, foot rub while having a chat about the day, reading, lights out. Same sequence every night if possible. No tv or computer within an hour of bedtime. Physical exercise during the day. My kids' bedtime- and they are 12 and 14- is 8pm. Lights out by 9. No, I wouldn't use melatonin personally, (its illegal here in Australia- worth considering) but if you did, just use it to establish a new pattern, then phases it out.

Isn't it wonderful? Your son sounds like he is really enjoying himself, and also finding himself. My daughter is passionate about Scouts, and recently when my mother dropped in for a weekend on the way back from a remote Kimberleys adventure cruise where she said she had the best holiday of her life feeding sharks and swimming with crocodiles and standing under waterfalls, I realised that that would be my daughter's dream career- working on an adventure cruise boat. She agrees. She is so multi talented, I am sure she will have a go at many things over the years. I do encourage her- both of my kids- to follow their dreams, and even though I give a good academic grounding, I think its more important for them to feel they can take risks and go for their dreams than just feel they need to "get a good job". Good on you.

Lol, we are a pretty explosive family at times. We are certainly not the Brady Bunch. The kids have seen Dh and I have shouting matches and slam doors, and while it's not ideal, it's real, and they also see that we work through it and come out the other end loving each other and somewhat resolved. I personally feel this is healthier modelling than kids who never see their parents argue (unless the parents genuinely never do), because they get an unrealistic picture of how marriage is. Marriage is hard work at times. I feel that repression of anger is very unhealthy for kids and adults alike and our society puts a guilt factor on expression of anger that can be unhealthy - many women feel their marriage might dissolve if they truly express the anger they feel toward their partner...and yes, its good to be as mature as you can be about expressing it, or feeling it, whether you feel the need to express it, or just work through it internally. But I feel healthy relationships can handle a certainly amount of natural anger, and then everything is out in the open. Anyway, thats the way we function aroudn here, not saying its right for everyone else. So it would be hypocritical for me to tell my kids not to express their anger. But when they get mean or nasty, I pull them up on it and get them to stop. Thats different from getting hurt, then angry, because of an injustice. my son has an explosive temper and we have never been able to do anything to curb it, he emotes at the drop of a hat. Now that he is 12, he is learning to manage it better. We have never wanted to repress him, but we have certainly sent him to his room to get over it in there. No, we don't tolerate verbal abuse. But the bottom line is, we would prefer to deal with the issue, get over it, and move on, feelings clear, than worry about a swear word or a door slammed. The kids do know what is appropriate, and we do tell them, and they know what is going too far for us, but all in all, losing your temper is normal for some people and soe families and I think it is going to be dealt with differently in different families because of that. Its not a crime here, and my kids will not easily be intimidated by someone losing it in their face, either.

I dotn know your situation but your dh just may never have considered those things...I have often found when soomething upset me, dh had jsut never thought about it, and he would usually change. We talk about all those things. We dont discuss our small purchases necessarily unless we feel like it, and I do have an allowance from him plus a small income so that I dont have to be accountable to him- but larger puchases, yes, we always discusss. But I know marriages that are pretty healthy where the dh will come home with a big screen tv or something. The wife was upset, but the dh then agreed to get her a new loungesuite to make it even! Like in many marriages, there is plenty of time and scope for dh or i to be dishonest about what we are doing, who we are with etc, and I have actually been tempted to lie a few times, but its not worth it...if he is upset, he is upset, better just deal with it than be secretive.

I don't mean to sound trite or,,I don't know what the word is...its easy to give advice and hard to live what you give, and I am sure people have said something along these lines already, I haven't read them all....but, years ago I read some stuff about relationships, and the author used the term "seasons". As in, there are seasons in relationships. He talked about the fact that most relationships do go through some sort of "winter" at times. And mine has, and for some reason those simple words have tided me over, just thinking of it as a season...because it feels like its going to be forever at the time, because winter is a kind of death. The past dies, everything that once was joyous dies. But it has to, for the new to come in, but you have to let go and just let it be as it is, without trying to "fix it" and make it like it was, like you think it should be...you have to let something new come in. It will come, something will stir in you. Hey, if carrying some weight makes you necessarily unattractive, most women I know would be unattractive. Its not the weight, its how you feel about yourself, how you carry yourself, your confidence. I know many women, including a close friend, who carry a fair bit of weight, but who are attractive- my close friend is a stunner but is probably 10 kgs overweight. So don't put that on yourself either, because it puts your happiness onto something that isn't true, and its in the future- when you will lose weight. Now, you are fine.

A movie or two at the most a week. But maybe 5 or 6 hours of computer games...not during the week though, only on weekends. When my kids were younger though (4,5, 6, 7) I used the TV as a babysitter more often. They would watch a video or two every day I am sure. We have never watched tv much, just used videos/dvds. I haven't needed to use the TV to get space from the kids for years, they just do their own thing and I do mine. I often mean to watch this show or that that someone mentions. My friends are always talking about shows they watched, and they sound interesting. But, somehow it just doesn't happen around here. But we are all computer nerds..the kids are limited to games on weekends, but they can use email and chat with their friends online during the week. Its a whole new world form when I was a kid!

Lol, I feel pretty organised, and I like to have schedules and everything...but, whenever I have tried to put together a teacher's notebook- or even a Flylady control journal...I make it all nice, spend hours on it actually, and then I never look at it. Apparently don't need one. I have a desk which faces a wall, and I have a cork pinboard on the wall, and I pin weekly schedules (and bills,and notices I need reminding of) on the corkboard. I have a diary which sits on my desk. Between those two things, and my 2 drawer filing system, I seem to be completely organised. Oh, and I have a tray on my desk for papers which I need to look at later (junk mail I havent junked yet, usually), and a space for school books/papers which need marking. I really wanted to have a Teacher's notebook or something like that. In fact I do, it has a pretty cover and everything. But I just never look at it.

Lol, I don't find it nasty at all. Part of life. I guess you're not the type who would pour your blood onto your pot plants either, huh,to stay more in contact with nature? Just joking with you. :001_smile:

I am changing over to all CM at the moment, doing Ambleside, a kind of mixed up Year 6 Ancients with some pre7 thrown in, and using some Queen's language lessons, while I get my feet. Then I intend on doign Ambleside's Year 7. I will tweak. I cant help myself. The more I read CM though, her original writings, the more I realise that you cant really get CM just from a curriculum, no matter which one. It's so much more. So I suggest you start reading. And enjoy. It's easy to include CM in other things you use, and vice versa, if jumping into a full curriculum is too much. You can tweak to your heart's content, because its not about curricula. I actually started with CM and then found Classical. I have been very caught up in curriculum. Nowadays I feel more comfortable just using simple things and I have been drawn back to CM for the lifestlye and richness. It touches my heart. However I am glad for the classical background, and am bound to use what I have learned over the years with Classical. Nothing is wasted. The only con with CM I have found is if you want to do it all- as in, you want to do CM and also do everything everyone on these boards is doing. You can't have short lessons and finish early afternoon, while doing Highschool classical style as many people here do. You have to sacrifice certain things to prioritise free time. You simply can't do it all,and if you are still in the curricula junkie stage, its going to be hard to stop looking at stuff and adding in too much, which defeats the purpose! But on the other hand, CM is a very rigorous education in its own right. Just different. But if you can be at peace with the differences, and settled with your own choices, its not a downside at all. But read. Read CM's own works.

I have just read a very interesting book called Lights Out, Sleep, Sugar and Survival amazon.com/Lights-Out-Sleep-Sugar-Survival/dp/0671038680/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212644597&sr=8-1 I have never felt convinced by the high protein diet fad but this book has educated me in some ways and I find it absolutely fascinating. In fact, if you like popular science/health books, this book is actually gripping. I couldn't put it down. And I am applying some of what the author recommends to see if it works for me. Oh yeah, forgot, it talks a lot about prehistoric man and their diet and lifestyle, comparing it to our recent diet trends, so if that bugs you, probably not for you.

We live in a very wealthy riverside suburb, but we rent, and we are not wealthy. We just like to bring the kids up here. So we have these kinds of conversations often, because kids in our area often go overseas regularly, and are mostly in private schools. My kids are older, but we have conversations at times about how we live in such a wealthy area etc, but about how we still live in the top 5% of the world as far as wealth goes- which most westerners do, when you compare to most of the world. Its a good concept to get into them, however its not such a good time to do it when they are actually upset or feeling loss, unless you feel they would take it well. Its just a matter of fact concept. I dont know where you live, but it may also encourage them, or you can encourage them, to start their own business of any sort. That way they feel empowered that they have some control over their lives. It may not get them on a camp,it may just mean they can afford to buy themselves a toy that you wouldn't normally buy them, but my dd is trying to earn $1000 to get on a camp next January, and it is making her very resourceful.

:lol: Thats what my husband always says, too! Problem is, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Not always I know. But often enough!

I would simply wear a pad. I often wear a cloth pad with my keeper. but you could wear just an ordinary one just for those times you might overflow. BCPills actually muck your cycles around, even though they 'appear' to balance them. It is an artificial appearance because they overwhelm your natural hormones. You might like to look into chaste tree (vitex) and/or natural progesterone cream to help balance your cycles out to their natural pattern. From my reading you can just empty your Diva CUp in the toilet, use some toilet paper to wipe it out, and pop it straight back in. Thats what I have done in a public restroom, even though it is slightly icky to do that, its not that unhygienic. I use cloth pads more than I use my keeper cup though, and I must admit I always have tampons and commercial pads on hand for times when its likely I would leak before I could change. Only a couple of times a year for me but I don't have such a heavy cycle either. Maybe just for that cruise dinner, rather than stressing, you could use tampons/pads,and practice using your Diva Cup in public when its not such a big deal to you. hth

If all an ob/gyn can do is put a girl on the contraceptive pill, sorry, I don't see that as a solution. You are stopping one problem but opening up a whole new world of potential problems. It masks an underlying issue, but doesn't actually deal with it, and can be the cause of many problems. And it is normal for girls to get heavy periods as they are starting. I did. Not necessarily something 'wrong", even though we can do something about it. I agree with Rosie's suggestion of a chiropractor- not a bad idea anyway for a dancer. If there is a pain relief - iboprufen or whatever- that can help reduce flow, if it has that effect, I would be more likely to use that on the rare occasion that it may be essential for a performance. And make sure shes not anaemic already.

Check out Spelling Wisdom. It is a dictation program used to teach spelling of 6000 commonly used words. I have had to use an older level for my good speller, but it works really well for kids with good visual memories. It has very beautiful excerpts from classical literature. Spelling Power is also good. Both of these programs involve you though, so not so good if you want her to work independently. But, neither takes long, either.