Yes, I just checked the Adelaide website. Seems our laws are different. What a huge pain in the backside! Of course, you could just read it online.........

Oh thats just silly (them not you)! I think the copyright regulations are daft when they don't cross international boundaries. Same frustration I have with Google books. Does the Adelaide Uni site tell you its illegal? D

I haven't read this whole thread, but wanted to make a few quick recommendations, based on what has worked with our teenage book club. I picked The Wind in the Willows over Anne of Green Gables because the group is mostly boys. Both books have wonderful descriptive language, but Toad is so naughty that I thought he was more appealing to boys (and he was, but so was the relationship between Rat and Mole). Anne's language is a bit too flowery. I actually think the second book, Anne of Avonlea, is more interesting. WitW is also good for discussing the idea of story within a story. Huck Finn was a hard read for these kids. They found the language challenging (we are Australian - I'm not sure if that contributed), but I thought it was an excellent way for them to stretch their muscles. Great discussions of slavery (including modern), America, class, education and civilisation vs decency. I'd do it again. Also nice to contrast it with the writing style and intent of Twain when he wrote Tom Sawyer. Animal Farm was fabulous. A big hit and great for discussion. Adelaide Uni has a free pdf version. We've just finished Merchant of Venice - we all took parts and read it out loud in the park. Its a great first Shakespeare, and nice for discussing bigotry, revenge, mercy, etc.

Oh Rosie, there's no point in repeating the experiment without a man in a wet shirt! And yes, that is my scientific opinion (I'd write it in scientific terms, but I'm too busy fighting off the urge to follow that North and South link). Clearly the only sensible study would be one using Richard Armitage in the same scene. D

I read "The Loaded Dog" by Henry Lawson, to our group's teenagers bookclub last week. They loved it. Great use of suspense, beautiful language, very funny, good characterisation. It might be a bit Australian, though. This week we are reading Roald Dahl's story of his meeting with CS Forester and how he got started as a writer. D

We've used WS3 and are a week away from finishing WS4. DS13 is a very good but very reluctant writer. He's only just realised that Writing Strands is fairly painless (there has been wailing and nashing of teeth in the past - and thats just me!). And WS works. No bells and whistles, no pictures, few formulae, just logical progression and enough flexibility that the student can still find his own voice. We will use WS5 next year. Its worth reading the other thread: there is a post that does a much better job of explaining the program than I have. D

I lived on maccaroni cheese as a kid. My mum always made it from scratch. I do too. In fact, I didn't know it came in a packet until I read American forums (we have it in Australia, I just don't get out much). DS HATES it. Loves pasta, hates cheese. Shame, cos he could do with fattening up.

In Australia we have a series of books called "Understanding Year x Maths". They have a separate section for each unit of work, including 5 worksheets per section that start easy and get harder. Years 5 and 6 are in the same book. Do you have something similar? I don't think our curriculum is that different for primary, so you could get the Aussie one at a pinch. I would read SOTW or listen to the audiobooks, and use something fun like Bill Nye videos for science. Watch some David Attenborough. Make these family activities not catch-up work. Read Grammarland by Nesbitt and do the free worksheets. And read aloud for fun: writing will come with confidence and good books, not with a writing curriculum. D

I'm a former molecular biologist (ie, I loathed the animal handling portion of biology so much, I moved to tiny, tiny samples using DNA and RNA). Dissections teach a few things: how to draw, name and label what you see (this is not the same as copying a book), esp when your specimen looks a bit different to the worksheet or lab manual; how to manipulate and cut a specimen and lay it out using instruments; use of a dissection microscope; respectful handling of a specimen that once was alive, and how to avoid contamination and throwing up. This can all be done (with the exception of the microscope work) at home, using things from the butcher (eye, heart, kidney). You don't have to do a rat or frog if you have a philosophical objection (we were allowed to opt out at uni). For the record, the worst thing I dissected was a cockroach. I hate cockroaches - looking at it under magnification was almost too much. D

I can't give you any sources because I am Australian. I'm also a raving leftie. I'm only posting to sing the praises of the radio. Our national broadcaster has a nightly news hour that includes lots of detail and some commentary (the conservatives think it has a left bias, the left thinks it's too conservative, so it's probably almost balanced). It's on when I'm cooking dinner. Do you have something similar? I am very politically active - listening to the radio and multitasking is the only way I keep up with the news. If I had to watch something, I'd have to choose between take away and ignorance ;) My husband loves listening to the conservative radio stations. Especially the shock jocks. He claims it fleshes out the debate. I think it's just increases his political rantings! D

I'm not sure anyone in Britain or Australia would even ask this question. Tea is considered to be very innocuous. I drank it as a toddler. I would sit on my Dad's lap and whistle for a spoonful of tea. Actually, the worst thing about a cup of tea is the sugar added to it. Learn to drink it without- it's much nicer. D

I wouldn't read any version of the Canterbury Tales with a child that young. Chaucer was making some pretty scathing comments about the Church, the Crown and society. Without the ability to understand this, they are just silly, and some cases, rather ribald. D

Yep, exactly what Ruth said! We're using MEP secondary as well. Because I am a child of the paper age, I seem to need to print quite a lot. But MEP really is fabulous. It's turned maths around for DS (he's a language arts guy) D

Occasionally Oak Meadow still shows it's Waldorf roots. Sounds like that lesson on primary colours is an example. Waldorf kids start playing around like that from early primary. D

104. There is a pecking order in this house. While you may now be taller than your mother, you have not climbed above her in the pecking order. 105. Only the cat is allowed to spend all day sleeping. NB. You are not a cat. 106. Yes, we are nicer to the dog than we are to you. The dog is pleased to see us, doesn't argue, is happy to exercise, does as she is told, is thankful at mealtimes, is sorry when we have to clean up her mess, and requires no electronic entertainment devices. She smells better, comes when she is called and doesn't require an internet connection. You want nice? Start behaving like a Labrador!

In Sydney "Haitch" is considered to be either lower working class or Catholic. Until the 1970's, that often meant the same thing (and until the 1990's, being working class was a badge of honour for Aussies, not something to be avoided at all costs like it is now). My very middle class, Catholic mother still says "haitch" (and manages to sound quite posh regardless), my very working class Protestant father said "aitch", probably the result of his Scottish mother (his father was Welsh and Irish). I said "haitch" till it was teased out of me at Uni. D

Just when we good British subjects thought your break-away tribe couldn't muck up the Queen's English any more than you already have, I come here and discover that not only can you not pronounce numbers larger than two digits, but you have been tampering with the pronunciation of decimals as well! Honestly, no wonder the international economy is in such a mess ;-)

Day 5 does offer a really good opportunity to see if your child can do the work independently in a timely manner. I'd set it for homework instead of skipping it entirely. You don't have to do all the problems: look it over and ditch any that double up on concepts. DS is now 13: I've given up all hope of ever being cool again! D

I agree completely with AVA - docos to whet the appetite or tidy up at the end, or for rabbit trails or extra interest. The written word is the best teaching tool long term, not just for the content but more importantly for the method. And that's where paper comes in - I've just specified that our homeschool group's book club kids need to bring paper copies of the Merchant of Venice so they can write on them as we read. I want to teach them to dissect the text, to annotate and make it their own. It's that or keep a notebook, which is how I cope with reading online. Paper is far easier, especially for Gen Xers like me. I read scientific articles the same way. I stole the method from a lawyer friend. I wish someone had taught me before I finished school and floundered at Uni. BTW Ruth, I think you have my son. Could you teach him to use the vacuum and washing machine while he's there? He's quite good at lawn mowing and wood chopping already. D

We're using Cells at the moment. DS is 13. Biology is not his thing (he's a physics and mechanics guy). Cells is pretty intense. It does a great job of presenting a lot of cellular biology in very understandable terms. It may contain too much info for lower high school, but I'm not obsessing over retention, just understanding mixed with wonder (understanding on DS's side and wonder on mine may be the best I can hope for - my degree is in molecular biology so I'm loving it, DS not so much.....) D

Thank you for this post! Given that I live on the other side of the planet, I will probably never get to a retreat, so posts like this are golden.

I couldn't concentrate after Denzel Washington........

I think it could be good for catching fruit flies (but these are only in parts of Australia). I think mice are too discerning (ours like peanut butter) so it wouldn't work in baits. Maybe you could put it in nice jars and give it to unsuspecting relatives you don't like much.... Sorry - I really hate marmalade. It's a waste of good sugar! D

MEP. My son sounds similar to yours - gets it quickly but needs review. MEP is slick: he won't know he's doing revision until he's already done it and moved on. Start in year 5. Back track to the relevant lessons in yr 4 if you hit something you've never seen before and it looks like you should know it already. Don't forget that MEP 7 and 8 are mostly review, so you can do them quickly as consolidation or move straight from year 6 to year 9, and only backtrack if you need to. Buy him a cheap exercise book to work in. Only print out the student pages and read the lesson plans on an ipad or laptop or whatever. Be prepared to spend 45mins actively teaching the lesson. Enjoy the ride: it's very cool to watch your kid start thinking like a mathematician! D

He's 6. He's very little! Many countries, including those with the best educational outcomes, don't begin any sort of academic work until children are 7. Zero is a pretty abstract mathematical concept when you talk of it as a number not a quantity or 'nothing'. Maths facts will teach him rote learning. This is memorisation, not mathematic reasoning. Memorisation is great till about 4th grade. By high school it's superseded by the calculator. What you really want is mathematical reasoning: that's what makes mathematicians, but it takes time to develop. Miquon is a great program, but 40 mins is too long. Stop at 15. Do it twice a day if you must, but let your son set the pace. When he stops paying attention, move on, otherwise you are just teaching him that it's OK not to pay attention when you are teaching. Relax and enjoy this stage and let him enjoy it too. D