bump -looking for the same

Wee Pip- I have a daughter just like that. Nothing academic interests her. NOTHING!!!!!! She likes fashion, cooking, doing crafts, only likes to read fluff books, etc. I tried creating courses around her interests -history of fashion instead of history, cooking science for science, etc and that was a bomb. It was still a chore. This year (8th grade) she will do her work without complaints but we are still working on effort. what works with her: -check off sheet so she knows exactly what she has to do -make her read aloud if she claims to not understand (she hates it) -knowledge that I have no problem sending her to public school (she is the one who doesn't want to go) -Complaints-one freebie a day, then give me computer, IPAD and phone. Then if it continues, no dance that day -If she can't narrate or misses easy/obvious (Or multiple) questions (because she likes to pretend to read), then she has to reread to me aloud or reread and write a narration. And most importantly (yet hardest for me to do and I fail more often and not) is to not loose my temper or get pulled into her dramatics.

We did once a week for a year and are doing the same with Thinking Toolbox this year.

Bible: Read Bible Through, memory work, and and a few AHG badges Character: Ourselves-Charlotte Mason (first Half) Literature: The Hobbit and Fellowship of the RIng (use 1/2 of LLTLOTR) plus mythology, Gilgamesh, Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, Bronze Bow, Medea, etc. Composition: WWS Grammar: Finish Grammar Voyage, Vocabulary: Cartoon Vocabulary Other Language Arts: Passbook: English I , copywork, dictation, narrations, SAT question of the Day; Poetry journal; How to Read a Book w/study guide (first 6 chapters) Foreign Language: Hey Andrew Greek -volume 3 and 4 plus keep up with sign language Math: Kinetic Algebra Science: CK 12 High School Earth Science and Scout Badges that fit in this category Science History: Aristotle Leads the Way and Student Book History: Truthquest Egypt, Greece, and Rome (using Story of the Greeks and Story of the Romans and Plutarch as spines); Cartoon History of the Universe Books 1 and 2 (so very different lol); Relisten to SOTW Volume 1 in car; Book of Centuries Geography: map work; Read Book of the Orient and Glorious Adventure by Richard Halliburton Government/Economics: Uncle Eric's Liberal? Conservative? Confused? and Lessons from ANcient Rome; Current Event journal; Music: hymn, folk song (from Oh Brother Where Art Thou), and classical song (Nabucco and Aida by Verdi, Orpheus in the Underworld-Offenbach, works of Richard Strauss) of the month Art: Sistine Chapel works of Michelangelo, and artist studies of Edvard Munch, JW Waterhouse, and Giotto; Read relevant chapters of Child's History of Art and Story of Painting. One illustration/Drawing lesson a week. Logic: Thinking Toolbox

Keep lots of coffee and chocolate on hand! We ended up unschooling my dd's 7th grade year last year because it was going worse than 6th grade and I couldn't take it. This year, we are back on track and she's doing much better. She finally started her "event" last month and I am hoping that will make her a little more even keel. Mine still "hates" everything to do with school and it's all boring, etc. However, she is retaining more this year and able to tell me what she just read, is willing to ask for help in math, etc. When I was in school, 7th grade was in a school by itself. Elementary was 1-6 and 8-9 was a different junior high school with a different name and different location!.

bump!

Goodness! I have 351 friends and I very rarely see any drama. It happens but very rarely and of course, is never directed at or involves me in any way, shape, or form. I just hate it when someone gets on does post after post of pictures that are meaningless.

Monday, July 9th!!!!!!!!! It's crazy -we have a week of school and then a week off, then a week of school and two weeks off. Then about five weeks on and a week off. Our vacation/camp schedule gave me no choice!

No real advice -I have one that is starting her 4th year of homeschooling and still thinks it is all boring and still doesn't retain anything I teach. She is 13 and going into 8th grade and couldn't tell me and her dad what year the Declaration of Independence was signed, even though we tell her every.single.year and we did TOG the year that we covered that portion of history, and we've been to Philadelphia and DC and all kinds of patriotic field trips where she did the junior ranger badges, read lots of books, seen lots of movies and documentaries, etc.

Just look at your state standards and cover what you need to cover. I found we covered a lot of the health standards doing Scout badges.

7/8th graders Pass English I MCT Voyage Level (yes, it's below their grade level but I own it already, we never got to it, and I still think it's good review)- Practice Voyage book only 2 writtten narrations and 1 dictation a week Spelling City -most misspelled words and individual trouble words Vocabulary Cartoons SAT question of the day Poetry Journal-one entry a week -note meter, etc. Copywork journal-one entry a week Writing assignments across curriculum The Hobbit -Discovery Guide LLFLOTR -only through end of Fellowship of the Ring Book Club Various assigned books to go with history 3 Shakespeare Plays

Three Against the Tide-D.Anne Love 12 year old girl from Charleston Island plantation takes care of her brothers during the war. A Voice from the Border-Pamela Smith Hill 15 year old Missouri Girl whose house is commandeered by a union officer Behind Rebel Lines-Seymour Reit It's a true story of a female union spy. We enjoyed this.

I decide what I want to complete and divide it into 160 lessons. I put it in the schedule -leaving out days I know ahead of time that we are not doing to do school (social co-op days/AHG meetings) even though they may actually do some school on those days. Then I have 20 extra days to play with for park days, field trips, testing, and other things that seem to just "pop up." I have it all in an excel spread sheet and highlight it as we complete it. We get behind and we catch up but I will only add one extra thing that we are behind in a day and on weekends, etc. until it's caught up. I find when I try to do weekly plans, we do much less.

Which would be best for logic stage? Pros and cons of either?

we unschooled this past year for 6/7th grade. They still did some academics because they didn't want to get behind (math/foreign language). They joined a book club and read a lot of books of their choice. DD did some writing contests, a lot of baking and cooking and studied nutrition, jewelry making, started a business, got red cross certified for babysitting, started taking a Mandarin class, made a lot of videos, took some sewing classes, etc. She auditioned for Nutcracker and did a small role in it, worked on dance and getting her split, she did some science badges, etc. DS did tons of Khan Academy math, science Olympiad, survival training, jui jitsu, researching a lot of battles, etc. We did a lot of nature walks, some fun field trips, etc. They stayed busy. However this year, they both want to go back to assigned lessons.

Mine are reading Tales of Ancient Egypt plus one of the following (their choice -based on what my library had: Egyptian Fiction Choices Golden Goblet –Eloise Jarvis McGraw (Newberry) Ranofer struggles to thwart the plottings of his evil brother, Gebu, so he can become master goldsmith like their father in this exciting tale of ancient Egyptian mystery and intrigue. Cat of Bubastes-GA Henty (Online/Kindle only) A young Egyptian accidentally kills a sacred cat and must flee from an angry mob. Set in 1250 B.C., the time of Moses, this thrilling adventure also features fascinating details about Egyptian religion and geography, the methods by which the Nile was used for irrigation, and how the Egyptians were prepared for burial Mara, Daughter of the Nile-Eloise Jarvis McGraw Mara is a proud and beautiful slave girl who yearns for freedom. In order to gain it, she finds herself playing the dangerous role of double spy for two arch enemies - each of whom supports a contender for the throne of Egypt. Maia of Thebes-Ann Turner A young Egyptian girl, whose brother secretly taught her to read and write, accuses her uncle of stealing grain from the temple and must run away from Thebes to survive. Maia and her brother Sethnet are orphaned and sent to live with their cruel aunt and uncle in ancient Thebes; and when Maia pleads with Sethnet, who is studying to be a scribe, to teach her to write, it becomes the one thing that will save her life. Pharoah’s Daughter: A Novel of Ancient Egypt Born into slavery, adopted as an infant by a princess, and raised in the palace of mighty Pharaoh, Moses struggles to define himself. And so do the three women who love him: his own embittered mother, forced to give him up by Pharaoh's decree; the Egyptian princess who defies her father and raises Moses as her own child; and his headstrong sister Almah, who discovers a greater kinship with the Egyptian deities than with her own God of the Hebrews. Told by Moses and his sister Almah from alternating points of view, this stunning novel by Newbery Honor-author Julius Lester probes questions of identity, faith, and destiny. A Place in the Sun-Jill Rubalcaba In ancient Egypt, the gifted young son of a sculptor is taken into slavery when he attempts to save his father's life, and is himself almost killed before his exceptional talent leads Pharaoh to name him Royal Sculptor Sphinx’s Princess and Sphinx’s Queen-Esther Friesner (TEEN!!!) Although Nefertiti is the dutiful daughter of a commoner, her inquisitive mind often gets her into situations that are far from ordinary, like receiving secret lessons from a scribe. And her striking beauty garners attention that she'd just as soon avoid, especially when it's her aunt, the manipulative Queen Tiye, who has set her sights on Nefertiti. The queen wants to use her niece as a pawn in her quest for power, so Nefertiti must leave her beloved family and enter a life filled with courtly intrigue and danger. But her spirit and mind will not rest as she continues to challenge herself and the boundaries of ancient Egyptian society. With control of a kingdom at stake and threats at every turn, Nefertiti is forced to make choices and stand up for her beliefs in ways she never imagined. Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos _RL LaFevers Theodosia Throckmorton has her hands full at the Museum of Legends and Antiquities in London. Her father may be head curator, but it is Theo—and only Theo—who is able to see all the black magic and ancient curses that still cling to the artifacts in the museum. Sneaking behind her father’s back, Theo uses old, nearly forgotten Egyptian magic to remove the curses and protect her father and the rest of the museum employees from the ancient, sinister forces that lurk in the museum’s dark hallways.

I have it scheduled over several years ala Ambleside. There is a "How to Read How to Read a Book" but I'm not sure if it's available anymore-at least it's not available at Amazon :(

No sickness. It was weird. The magazines were not in plain site either. Then when my daughter discovered them, she had to tell them to get out of her room multiple times! It was only one child that destroyed the poster. I have no idea why other than she didn't like Justin Bieber? That boggles my mind. All the girls in the room are nice, sweet, religious homeschooled girls with nice, conservative parents (I tend to be the more bohemian one of the group lol). They are not the ones I would think about watching. Perhaps it's a sign that they feel really comfortable in my house lol? I find the whole thing weird because I have childhood friends who I spent the night with many times and sometimes practically lived in their houses yet I never ever saw the bedrooms of the parents or other siblings. Heck I have a friend who shared a room with a sibling so only had slumber parties in her living room so I never saw her room.

We recently hosted a birthday party. Because we had a theft last year during a birthday party, I closed all the bedroom doors on the second floor. I assumed that it is universal not to go through a closed door (especially by the time you are 11-14-I can see really young children not knowing) in someone's house. However, we did have girls go into the bedrooms (and some crawled into my daughter's bed and starting reading her magazines and another tore up one of her posters and spread it on the floor). When I mentioned this to a friend, she asked if I specifically told the girls not to go into the bedrooms. She said her child would not have known that a closed door meant stay out because they shut their animals up in the rooms during parties. (We do too -but wouldn't that mean you don't want the door opened and the animal getting out????). Anyway, am I out of touch? Is this something that one needs to spell out each time you have people come over to your house?

My homeschool daughter prefers the skimpier clothes, Adele, and Hunger Games, etc. She doesn't want to read classics, listen to classical or anything else that is "boring." She uses the same lingo as most other peers and would be on the computer all day if I would let her. I don't feel we have a lot of quality time because we are either doing school or running to extracurriculars. She also dumbs herself down to not shine in front of her peers. She even dropped out the church worship band because she didn't want to compete with her best friend.

I tried the email address under contacts and it was undeliverable. It was run by three sisters. I believe one of them just won a scholarship from homeschool nation. It looks like we may have to reinvent the wheel.......

THe writing contest was working earlier this month. My daughter just won a contest that we found from there but now it doesn't seem to be working. I used to be able to find this site by googling but now it doesn't seem to come up. Bummer. I found this under contacts http://homeschoolwriters.com/page.php?8

We are an Old Earth family with no issues with Evolution so the commentary really grates on one of my children's nerves because it seems that the idea of evolution is the greatest evil known to mankind is the main theme.

I think there are many myths about unschooling and much of it comes in because of the radical homeschooler movement. I've been on those groups and I disagree with much of their philosophy. Children don't know what they need to know in the future. What about math/writing/foreign language that need years of practice. I agree that children don't know. There is no unschooling law that says you can't tell them. If you work on your relationship and have one of mutual trust and they see that you are often right on other matters, then they are going to trust you when you say that you need 2-3 years of foreign language and you need to be ready to start Algebra in the 8th grade, etc if you want to get into college. My 7th grader attended a Getting Into College lecture this year and is fully aware that she will have to write an essay, take the SAT, what is on the SAT, etc. Unschooling doesn't mean standing back and just waiting for them to find something. You often have to offer and sometimes you got to give a sales pitch with that offer! Children won't learn to perservere through hard stuff First of all, it is unclear to me why perserverance can only be taught via academics? My son has spent hours working out to get stronger and working on his baseball skills. Two years ago, he only got on base if he got lucky and was walked. He was not a good player at all. Now, he's one of the better catchers and a solid hitter. My daughter is working hard to get a split for her dance class. She works at it everyday. She thinks the stretches are boring but she does it anyway. She has spent hours decorating a cake only to have to start over because something went wrong. Oh and my 6th grade son is perservering through radicals in algebra right now. Children won't learn how to be bored or do boring stuff or just do things they don't want to do Ummm. Dishes still need to be done. Bathrooms still need to be cleaned. Groceries need to be bought. We have to attend recitals or games of sibling. We have to make boring drives to visit family. My kids also compromise with each other. Just today, my dd did swordfighting with my son so that he would be in her video. She also played Druidawn and he helped her make pretzels. They will play video games or watch tv all day or eat junk food all the time Now I know the Doddites won't approve of this but you can't eat junk food unless it's in the house. You can't watch tv unless you have one (or in our case, we have a tv but no cable or converter box to get local stations). Who is buying all these video games? YOU are the parent deciding what comes in your house in the first place. My kids mostly want to play video games when a) It's new and they want to play it a few days and then it will get boring b) They are utterly bored and wanting to tune out c) I am ignoring them because I'm working (which usually leads to b lol) If all they are wanting to do is play video games and it's not just a new game phase, then I know something is wrong. Unschooling is learning through life experiences and excessive video game is not experiencing real life, it's tuning out life.

I am not quite sure where others would put in me in the unschooling continuum LOL. We are certainly not radical unschoolers! I don't have to worry about getting the basics done because my kids already knew how to read, write, and do basic math before we switched to homeschooling. However, they learned reading and math before we started public school because they thought it was fun and wanted to do it. Writing was an issue because the public schools forced so much of it that my Aspergers son was frustrated and my creative but authority shirking daughter didn't like being in a box. We came home and did Charlotte Masonish homeschooling for a few years. My son thrived but my daughter didn't. I could assign her any number of things and she would do them but would not do them well, did not remember anything she read or did that was assigned and she could not (or would not) apply any thing I taught (She could get an A in spelling or grammar but her writing would not reflect those lessons). It was if we didn't do any school at all. All that time wasted. Now if she wanted to do something, she would do it well, remember it forever, etc. So we unschool. Where we might differ from the traditional unschoolers. A) I do not let the kids drop out of activities they chose until the end of the season, etc. Once you commit, you're in it until the end. This falls in the "Do all that you agreed to do" part of the common law. We don't have much issue with my DD but my Aspergers DS often doesn't want to do something that day and we have to remind him of his committment B) We don't have cable and computer games are restricted. I don't play computer games and DH only plays them in the evening. People who have real jobs don't play video games all day and all night long. That is not living life. That is tuning out life. C) I have made it very clear what it means to be culturely literate, what one needs to do to get into college, why one might need college, what is considered standard knowledge, etc. They know what math they will need and how they should pace it. They know they need 2-3 years of foreign languages. My 7th grader went to a Getting into College seminar with me this year to learn about the SAT and she won a book on the top 350 colleges that she has been flipping through and has picked a few that she thinks are interesting and thus researching. D) We have a morning meeting every day to discuss their goals for the day. What do they want to work on, what supplies do they need, do they need my help? Does someone want to do something that needs the help of the other sibling (ex -play Druidawn). How can we compromise when one sibling needs the other sibling to play a game or something and the other doesn't want to do it? What field trip opportunities are coming up? Do they want to go or not? If one wants to do it and the other doesn't, how can we compromise? What movies came in from Netflix that need to be watched? What extracurriculars are today and do you have your uniforms, dance shoes, badge books, etc in place and ready to go? E) On the topic of goals: Why do want this goal? Why do want to give up on this goal? Do you think you are being fair to yourself and others in giving this up? Are you quitting because you got to something hard or boring? Is there a way through the boring/hard part? Would you consider giving it another week just to make sure? Have you prayed about it? F) I pay attention to what they are doing or not doing. If they are not reading, I suggest books, strew books, or ask them if they want to go to library, etc. I read what they read so I can discuss it with them. If they haven't been doing any math, I ask them why. Do they need my help? Or perhaps I will ask if they want to play a math game? I review their writing and show them their mistakes. F) They have chores they are expected to do daily and their allowance is based on their chores. You don't do your chores, you don't get paid. Just like if you don't work, you don't get a paycheck in real life. They can earn extra money by doing extra chores. They have pets to take care that is not related to chores. If they neglect pet care, I do the same (you don't eat if the cat hasn't eaten, etc). Their rooms are their rooms. I just close the door UNLESS it's a fire hazard or bug problem. The rest of the house is communal and they are expected to keep it so that anyone can use it at anytime. (If you get it out, you put it up, etc). G) I model what I expect. I have a commonplace journal, a nature journal, etc. I read what they are reading and what I want to read too, I watch documentaries and historical movies, and I am working through the Life of Fred series to brush up on my math skills. I volunteer, workout, and I research my passions. H) We respect and show support of each other (even if it is the parent enforcing the sibling to be respectful). Yes, you will attend your sister's recital or your brother's ball game unless there is a scheduling conflict and "I don't want to go" is not a scheduling conflict. I'm sorry, I cannot afford to waste gas by driving you home after dance. You can either go with me to this lecture or go with your dad your brother's event. It's your choice. Bring a book if you think you will be bored but not a IPOD. You will not disrespect me or your father or anyone else for that matter. I) I am not a maid. I am not a short order cook. I don't buy junk food or soft drinks with my money. I am not going to stop what I am doing to get you food so you don't have to stop playing video games. (I will ask when I am in the kitchen, if anyone needs anything and everyone else is expected to do the same). It's my car and the radio will be on the station of my choice, but you can listen to your IPOD if you like (and want to sit in the back seat -no ipods in front seat) or I can turn the radio off and we can have a conversation if you prefer. J) We are relatively interesting family, each with various passions. We have diverse and interesting extended family and friends. We have a lot of books, science kits, art supplies, games, etc. We are in multiple homeschooling groups, both secular and Christian. There is a lot of exposure to differing opinions, different subjects, etc. K) I don't think unschooling is the perfect solution for every child. I do know children that seem to have no passion for anything or have learning disorders that need to be addressed. If my kids were way behind, acting immoral, goofing off for long periods of time, etc., I would reasses. My kids tend to be goal-oriented and achievement driven (working on scout badges, entering contests, etc.) L) My Dh and I are not dead set on either child attending college. It's not the end all be all to us that it is for some.