Ratio Studiorum is here online in pdf form.

Thank you everyone for all the replies so far! I have already read through many of the threads linked and am loving it. Thank you, 8FillTheHeart, for taking the time to post on these boards. (I don't know where you find the time!) It was actually one of your previous threads where you briefly threw out the despcriptor, Ignantian education, that made me begin my search. I started reading on these boards a few months ago and many of your posts have resonated with me. I actually told my husband a few nights ago that I wish I could just do "8FilltheHeart" education, but felt I probably needed a little bit more to go on than just a few posts by an anonymous woman on the Internet. justamouse, http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/education/ed0108.html http://www.edocere.org/articles/jesuit_model_education.htm (Disclaimer: I am not in Society of St. Pius X nor affiliated in anyway. I don't agree with nor do I accept all the speaker's implications about the Church, Jesuits, and the Society. But it was still a worthwile read, IMHO.) Several aspects of the pedagogy that draw me in: 1.. Education is the formation of the total person, with a clear idea of the ultimate end of that person. 2. Academics is a means, not an end. 3. Education needs a good teacher who inspires and moves person to action. Also, has anyone read Francis Crotty's book, The Implemenation of Ignatian Education in the Home? Good or bad??

Over the past year I've been reading and thinking hard about the educational philosophy that will inspire our homeschool. Currently, my kids are young, and I err on more play and less formal work in the younger years, but I still feel like I need to be forming a somewhat cohesive idea of how to get where we want to go during the upcoming school years. I've found both CM and the WTM inspiring, but not quite the right fit. Today I stumbled on some articles on Jesuit educational philosophy. I felt like I was reading my own thoughts! I can't understand why I haven't read about Jesuit education before given my husband's and my own religious and educational background. Anyway, besides the Ratio Studiorum, does anyone have other books on Jesuit edcuational philosophy that they've found helpful? Anyone use it as inspiration themselves and how does it effect your homeschool?

I am teaching RCIA at our parish this year for the first time so I am doing more in-depth theology study than ever. I've enjoyed it tremendously, and since it is an outside obligation, I actually do all the reading, note-taking, and writing. I also started ballet this year. I've never danced formally but have always been attracted to ballet. I'm loving it.

I just started teaching RCIA at our parish. Last night was my first class actually! We have a team of 5 lay teachers (a priest comes at the beginning to kick off the class) so it is only about once a month for me. Of course, my first topic was the Trinity. Yikes! I guess they didn't want to ease me into it with an easy topic. I learned quite a bit about Trinitarian theology in the last few weeks in hopes of being able to make some sense of it for the class. Anyway, I truly enjoyed meeting everyone at the class and loved hearing about where they were in their walk with Christ. It was actually very inspiring to me personally. I think teaching RCIA is going to turn out to be one of the better things I've done in awhile for my own spiritual health. I hope you have a great experience in your class this year!

Here is a pic of our memory board. It is really helpful to us!

I saw this idea somewhere on these boards. It was worked wonderfully! I have a tri-fold foam board that we put each week's initial memory work (8 categories: History, Geography, Civics, Science, Grammar, Latin, Catechism, and Virtue of the Week.) I attached 8 clear sheet protectors to the tri-fold board and slide each typed memory sentence into a protector. Everyday we can bring out the board and go over our work. The kids love the board and it makes memory time very intentional. At the end of the week, I file all the memory work into a binder under subject matter for review. The new memory work goes up on the board.

I didn't think you were. :) Just wanted to make it clear that I'm not some flaky non-schooler trying to avoid truancy officers!

Very good idea to go to paper. I'm definitely going to do request that if no progress is made on the next call. I'm in the City of Alexandria, not the county. In theory, I'm not suprised at these kind of hijinks around here, but when it personally happened to me, I was still kind of shocked.

Actually, when I recieved the original call from the office, my immediate response was to just say, "I have to check with my lawyer." It sounds much better than husband! The poor woman seemed so surprised she almost immediately hung up. I had to quickly ask for contact information to get back with her!

Thanks everyone for the feedback! I was very confident I was correct. It is fairly straight forward, plus my husband is a lawyer. Still, it is always good to hear from other homeschoolers.

I'm a fairly new homeschooler in northern VA. Last year my son was 5, and we sent in the official Notice of Intent to homeschool to the local school. No problems. Virginia law has a proof of progress provision, but expliciting expempts children under the age of six as of Sept. 30 of the school year. My son was 5 on that day so I didn't submit testing. This year I submitted my Notice of Intent again. Didn't hear anything for weeks. Suddenly I recieved a call from the superintendent's office this week saying my NOI was pending because I didn't provide testing from last year. :confused: I tried to explain that the law clearly states that those under six do not have to submit testing. The poor woman just kep citing the age requirements for notification, not testing. I talked with them again today and still:banghead: The lower level minions seem to be done with me and now the superintendent is calling later today. I am sure it will all work out fine in the end, but am just so frustrated and annoyed! We only have one page of homeschooling regulations in VA; you would think the people enforcing them would actually READ them. I am being treated like a moron by the school board staff for quoting the regulations directly from their OWN WEBSITE! . This is when they will even let me say anything at all. Generally, they just keep interupting me whenever I try to say anything, insisting that my son needs tested. In theory, I'm not wildly opposed to testing, but there is no way in the world I am going to test him simply because they insist illegally that I must! Whew! That felt good to get it off my chest.

7:00 pm across the board. Everyone gets up around 6:30 am.

We just got our 6.5 year old a leopard gecko. They are very easy! It's very easy to clean the tank. You switch on a warming lamp in the morning. Feed every other day or so. They mainly eat crickets or meal worms. Not too complicated.

Just wanted to give some:gro:grouphug:uphug: My DD has hydrocephalus and was shunted at 12 weeks old. So far we've been blessed with relatively minor symptoms. Still I freak out every flu season when headaches and vomitting hit, never sure if it is sickness or a shunt malfunction. I can't imagine what you've gone through. (FYI: I don't know where you are, but our neurosurgeon is amazing. Medically, well-recognized, but just as importantly, he always takes my concerns very seriously and listens to my "mommy gut." He is Dr. John Myseros at Children's National Medival Center in Washinton, D.C.)

Love G.K.! Even have a quote of his in my signature. Non-Fiction: Orthodoxy Fiction: The Man Who Was Thursday Biography: The Dumb Ox (St. Thomas Aqunias)

Treasure Island is the first family read-aloud for our co-op this fall so we have been working on it. Only my eldest is really old enough for it. For everyone's enjoyment, we are reading Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.

We just painted and decorated our kids' rooms this summer. It was garage sale chic before this.:tongue_smilie: I bought red/white striped duvet covers and affordable down comforters from Ikea for the boy room, which I really like. Definitely not too kiddy. Ikea had several nice options. If you check the as-is department, you can often find the actual down comforters half-off. I bought Shabby Chic floral quilts off ebay for my girls. The quilts cost a $100 at Target, but you can get them for half that on ebay. They are washing really well and are very pretty.

I do! I worry mostly about the loss of daily academic competition. Both my husband and I were not overly athletic or attractive or popular when we were kids; we were intelligent. So far my kids are taking after us. Winning at math board races, spelling bees, getting the top grade on a test in the class, etc., on a fairly regular basis was very important to my self-confidence growing up. Kids need to win at something, imho. Getting a good grade from mom just isn't the same. I do worry about it. (Of course, later in life when I started staying home full-time with my kids, I realized how dependent my self-worth had become on outside praise. For years, I either had regular grades or performance reviews, bolstering my self-image. At home I suddenly had no professor or boss telling how great I was. Instead I had screaming babies and whining toddlers. Motherhood has many wonderful benefits; positive feedback is not one of them. :001_smile: It took me awhile to adjust to the lack of constant praise from an authority figure and find my self-worth in who I was and not just on what I did. Maybe this homeschooling adventure will help me kids avoid this pitfall.)

I completely understand, too. I love my kids dearly, but being home all the time with them - with no break in sight - is the most difficult part of homeschooling for me. I do think, or at least hope, that it does get easier when they get older as some of the posters said. As they get older, their physical needs seem to lessen, and there may at least be the semblance of personal space. At the very least, I hope to be able to go to the bathroom alone in a few years!

Oh, I know. You have enroll as a ps student to participate in PSEOP, at least to get the funding. I guess I was just saying that if a homeschooler wanted to do 12 credits of college work, they can enroll in ps, but don't have to attend the school. While officially a ps student, practically speaking you don't have to academically be involved with the public school and can participate in extracurriculars. I know it is still unjust, but it can be an out-of-the-box solution. I completely agree with you that publicly funded activities should be open to the public without discrimination.

You are probably already aware of it and you may not be interested at all, but Ohio does have an awesome post-secondary enrollment program (PSEOP) for high schoolers. A ps high schooler can take any number of classes at the local state/community college, and it counts for their high school credit and is obviously college credit. All tuition and books are absolutely free because the public school funding follows the student to the state/community college. Plus the student is still officially a ps high schooler and can play in all sports and participate in all extracurriculars. So if your son is interested in college level work, but wants to play high school sports, that could be a possible way for him to do so without taking lower level classes. Every one of my siblings participate in this program and were all very successful. I actually homeschooled my freshman and sophmore year, then enrolled in the public high school, but took all my courses at the local community college. I was able to earn my AA degree a week before I graduated from my public high school as valedictorian of my class, though I had barely stepped foot in the actual school building. I recieved a college associate's degree absolutely free, but was still considered a graduating high senior for all my college scholarship applications so my scholarships and financial aid were all for 4 years, even though I was basically transferring in as a junior at my university. I finished my degrees in the next two years, but was able to spend an extra semester studying abroad because my scholarships were still in place. Looking back, I should kept going and taken as many Master's classes as I could under my four-year scholarships! I know this is a tangent, but the PSEOP program in Ohio can sometimes work out great for homeschoolers.

Who do you think pays for the gyms and football fields and tracks and music rooms and stages? It is generally all taxpayer money. These are the real expenses in extracurriculars, and not ones that homeschoolers can afford/build on their own. Some extracurriculars and sports are easier to do outside ps than others, but some are virtually impossible, especially depending on where you live. I know my brothers would have loved to homeschool if they could have played competitive basketball while homeschooling. We lived in a very rural area and the only competitive basketball league was the school league. (And some of them were good enough that they did get basketball college scholarships!) I do think it is limiting on the homeschool movement that if you have an athletically talented child, especially in certain sports, you often have to choose between academics and helping your child develop and enjoy some of their natural gifts and talents. I know that life involves choices and sacrifices, but it is very galling when your property taxes go up to pay for a new gym that your son or daughter is not allowed to use because you simply want them to get a decent education.

:iagree:If there is anyone for the mom to be angry with, it is your friend, whom I'm sure you spoke to in confidence. What kind of mother just tells her daughter this while knowing you haven't spoken to the parents yet? Bad judgement on her part.