This has been a very exciting week at our house, and after all these years of homeschooling and getting help from these forums, I can't believe I get to post this here!!!!!!!!!!!! So far, ds17 has applied to two post-secondary institutions, and will apply to two or three more in the next month. HE GOT HIS FIRST ACCEPTANCE THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I canNOT believe how good this feels, after all these years!!! (yes, he homeschooled all the way through, and will graduate in the spring) And, this morning he found out that he received a RENEWABLE FOUR-YEAR SCHOLARSHIP FOR ALMOST HALF THE TUITION each year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! provided he keeps a 3.67 GPA. I just can. not. believe. this is happening to us. We've been a low-income family the whole time of homeschooling and have had to be very creative in educating our kids. The story about this particular school (sorry, I won't be naming schools, for privacy reasons, but it's local to us and ds would be able to live at home) is that I talked to the asst. registrar a couple of years ago, and he was not very open to homeschoolers. Except to say that homeschoolers could enrol in "open courses" and prove their mettle in the first year, then they'd be considered for admission to regular programs. And he wasn't open to considering SAT scores because they aren't as common here in Canada. And there'd be no chance for scholarships the first year. I talked with him again a few months ago, and the story was the same. It didn't matter that other local universities have policies in place to consider homeschooled applicants. So, keeping my phone chatter friendly, I casually started rattling off ds's SAT scores (regular SAT plus the chemistry and physics ones), and he stopped me and said, "Hold on, what did you say he got in math? And critical reading? And physics?..." And I could tell he started scratching down on paper the scores. Then he said, "Now you've caught my interest. Could I pass these on to Dr. so-n-so (dept. title) and see if he'd like to meet your son?" Well, DUH, "yes, please!" Long story short, ds never did get the appt. with Dr. so-n-so; just happened to meet him at an open house we attended, so they DID get to talk! Ds filled out an application at the open house (with fee waiver that day!) a couple of weeks ago, and voila, everything happened this week. The tables turned and ds got admitted, and he got put right into the BSc program, WITH that big ole scholarship, and more scholarship opportunities to come!!!! I just can't believe it. I am so excited, and of course ds is very pleased. I haven't been this excited about something in a long time...all these years of hard work, this high-school-diploma-only mama worrying the whole time if this whole classical/WTM ed. thing was REALLY going to be useful for university acceptance, lol!!!! All I know is back in 2004 when I read WTM for the second time, it suddenly all made sense to me, so I decided to blindly follow it (and read these forums ferociously), tweaking along the way. And of course all the info. about putting together transcripts/course descriptions/writing samples/book lists/philosophy letter/etc., plus reading about people's portfolios here helped tremendously as I've worked on all that over this past summer and fall. Of course, ds has applications in or going in to other places this month, so we'll see what happens elsewhere. My point is, IT WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahahaha I can't believe it actually worked! WE DID IT!!!! Big fat THANK YOUS to SWB and her mother for writing the book in the first place, and then writing other books and doing conferences and audios and providing these forums. VERY PRICELESS to me. And big fat THANK YOUS to the long-time boardies who have gone before and have provided so much practical help - you know who you are, plus there are many more whose names I've forgotten. Our daughter will likely pursue a post-secondary path different than university, but I am seeing now that WTM/etc. will also serve her very well in whatever she chooses - I believe it now, lol. The girl does very well now in reading, grammar, composition, and math; and has collected knowledge in literature, history, and science; and I'm so glad. You'll be hearing about her creative/humanitarian/people-loving path in the coming years, too, as it evolves. :D I wish we could have a big WTM dance party to celebrate things like this in person with each other!! (like watching elegantlion pursuing her path alongside her son's path - you GO GIRL!)

EL, I'm just seeing this now - I am so excited for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did this already happen? Please report back when you can! And post a photo of you in your awesome outfit!

EL, I just returned from a lecture at a local university (it was given by a Great Courses astronomy superstar! Ds and I got to meet him!). Anyway, two women took turns translating to sign language for the audience. One of them was probably in her 50s. She wore an outfit very similar to what you described, and she looked great! Instead of flats she had the most gorgeous red suede boots!!! I think that with black leggings, dresses like that look great; whether it's with flats, short boots, or knee length boots, and yes, on older women.

That was so cool! He is just as smiley and friendly in person as he seems to be in his lectures. And his teaching of complex subjects is so accessible to the public. I asked my son afterwards if he wanted to go meet him, and he said no. So I stood in line to shake his hand - a little while later my son came to wait with me. Then he decided to hang around a bit to ask Dr. Filippenko a couple of questions. I sat back and listened to the two of them talk back and forth about neutrinos and a couple of other things I didn't understand. :D I'm pretty proud of my son! heh heh Karen, I think I read a book by Dr. Levine - I didn't know she did TTC lectures!

I used to purge when they weren't looking. I knew what they played with a lot, and I knew what didn't mean as much to them (and what was junk that had made its way into our home and what didn't have play value). There is a total of ONE item that I have not lived down getting rid of. I still occasionally get accused, "But you gave away PETER!" Peter was a little plastic doll that was featured in many an imaginative doll setup/doll play. Well, I had given away a bunch of the other little plastic dolls - I didn't realize Peter was SO important, lol! I even made another Peter out of a little wooden peg thing, but nope, it wasn't good enough. :D But guess what - though my daughter reminds me about Peter, she is not traumatized by it. I have no guilt about purging-in-hiding.

You'll rock your graying but beautifully curly hair in that outfit!!!!

That's right, Dr. Alex Filippenko will be doing a lecture this evening at a university local to me! I found out about it by accident, while perusing the university's astrophysics section online. My reaction? "ohmygoodness, it's the Great Courses guy! He's coming all the way from California to this tiny little school here!" Ds17 loves astronomy; and while he hasn't gotten through every single one of the 96 lectures in the big astronomy GC course, he has enjoyed the ones he has viewed. So, off we go this evening! And if the weather is good, there will be telescopes set up afterwards for night sky viewing.

meals, meals, and more meals! laundry and dishes. When baby sleeps, keep watch on baby in another room so I can sleep, too. Errands such as pharmacy to get more pain meds. Take me and baby to follow up appts. - drive carefully; car lurches are excruciating. Keep my water glass filled and right next to me. Slight change to "Ask, 'about what time do you need to eat lunch and supper, so I can have them ready' and 'what would you like me to run through the clothes washer today' and 'what can I pick up for you at the grocery store or pharmacy' and 'you're down to the last pack of diapers - what size should I pick up today for you? how's your pad supply - should I get more?'" so that she can't say she doesn't need anything.

Hmm...you know, Jane in NC is a math guru, but I'd betcha she'd ALSO be really great at talking about how to teach financial principles to kids!!!! She knows a lot about this kind of thing.

Ree used to post on these forums before she became famous. OP, Canadian fiddler Natalie MacMaster homeschools her kids! She has six.

Ah, it's nice to "see" you here again (I recognize you). You always have so much wisdom to share. And funnily, as I was thinking this morning about pinkmint, The Serenity Prayer came to my mind, too! For the same reasons - you can't change the people and some circumstances around you (though I still try, lol), but you can change what you do and think.

You both are very strong. I'm sure you have a lot of days when you don't feel strong. But you are. Just know that. And keep reaching out for support from here. And I hope/pray you can find support nearby you, too. It's tough letting yourself "fall" on other people/strangers/new acquaintances, esp. when you know many people have support networks in place most of their lives. But many also don't. And there are some good people in this world. Keep trying to find them in real life. Meanwhile, we're here. :D

Just to echo what Sahamamama was saying about beauty and how dealing with your current circumstances well can be positively formative - here are some books I have loved over the years - perhaps you can find them in a library. http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Living-Guide-Sourcebook-Stressful/dp/0553067966/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441332598&sr=8-1&keywords=janet+luhr http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Art-Homemaking-Edith-Schaeffer/dp/0842313982/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441332674&sr=8-1&keywords=the+hidden+art+of+homemaking http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Home-Defining-Want-Live-ebook/dp/B00BKZGNWS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441332784&sr=8-1&keywords=feeling+at+home+by+alexandra+stoddard

Sahamamama, I just read your post and I LOVED YOUR ENTIRE POST!!!!!!

Oh, do I ever feel for you and wish I could give you a hug. I don't think you're stupid or too big for your britches, and I don't think you should be apologizing for being negative. If any place on the internet is "safe" (well, safe as the internet can be, lol!) to talk about this stuff in context of homeschooling, it's these forums. Oh sure, you'll read a lot of what seems "normal" for homeschooling (talking about methods and curric. and co-ops and days where nothing goes right and days where things are great), but you'll also find people doing this in extreme circumstances because it's what they believe is best for their kids. You just don't see it as much until people like you get brave enough to POST about the struggles and ask for perspective. About your mentions of homeschooling ideals - what are these ideals? Maybe it would be helpful if you defined or listed them, and then figure out what will be realistic for you to work on *currently.* Or ditch the ones you can't do (such as join co-ops/clubs/sports teams/etc.) and creatively figure out what you CAN do. When my kids were younger, I had a very hard time with the fact that we just could not afford to do all those things (plus the fact that we've always only had one vehicle and we've lived most of the homeschooling years in an area with no public transportation). I thought my kids were missing out on important things. I had to work hard on shining the spotlight of my mind on what we *could* do. And before my oldest turned 6, we did live in an area with public transportation, but I hardly ever used it with my kids because it was so darn much work to talk babies/toddlers/preschoolers on the bus, lol. And like your baby, my babies had two longish naps morning and afternoon (and long sleeps at night) which made it hard to get out for long stretches (and I wanted them to nap and sleep regularly - they were happier that way). Most of the time it just wasn't worth the hassle to get out for an hour or two. It got easier when each baby dropped the morning nap, because suddenly the whole morning opened up. (one thing I will highly recommend, though, is to never give up the afternoon "nap" time, even if your kids keep themselves awake - this time can morph into "rest" time for a couple of hours after lunch. Having that big chunk of time for all of us to rest (and me read or sleep!) has been soooooo beneficial to all of us. As mine outgrew the need to sleep during that time, I would provide books for them in their beds, and since we read aloud all the time, they were happy to have time to just sit and read. Let's see...I feel like I'm meandering in my thoughts...like some others suggested, I second the advice to have a daily routine. Breakfast, tooth brushing, household chores, something-to-fill-the-morning-including-reading-aloud, lunch, two-hour nap time, physical activity, supper-prep-while kids play constructively (or watch edutainment), supper, cleanup, bathtime, read aloud, bedtime, and then you relax. Having a routine does help pass the time while you are immersed in baby/toddler/preschoolerhood. It WILL get easier to cope. Another thought...being homeschool-minded doesn't exclude things such as doing life activities such as laundry, cooking, baking, grocery-shopping, homemaking, and providing clothing. Another thing I remember from when my kids were little was that I designated each morning of the week for an activity. Mostly it was just things I had to do such as laundry or baking or grocery shopping. And when I said "had to do," I mean I really HAD to bake. Baking was and is part of my strategy to conserve cash for other things we did not know how to do (such as major car repairs). I just say this because some people view baking as a fun-but-unnecessary thing to do. Not me - I bake breads, cornbreads, biscuits, etc. because it's much cheaper for us than to buy bread or biscuit mixes or rice and noodles. So anyway, each morning had its life activity. And the kids would wander in and out of my doing these things and help and then run back to whatever they were doing. And speaking of doing, I read this book a long time ago. http://www.amazon.com/Learning-At-Home-Mothers-Homeschooling/dp/0968293824/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1441325778&sr=8-3&keywords=marty+layne It's about homeschooling, but it has a more unschooling flavour, which I don't subscribe to. But, I loved the way the author wrote - it was full and rich. And she had so many creative and cheap ideas on how to create a home atmosphere that really invited learning to take place. I used a ton of her ideas to create our home when my kids were little. I'm thinking of things such as collecting unused and unusual clothing and other bits and bobs and keeping them in a basket for "dress up." My kids are teens, and we still have the full dress up basket - it's one thing that will never leave our home. Because I read so many stories to them, and because they both acquired a love for good reading and read good books, they were constantly digging through this basket to act out the stories together. I never had to orchestrate these events - they did it themselves. Another idea the author had was to collect items that could be used as musical instruments and keep them in a basket. Guess what - we still have that basket, too. You can easily make things such as shakers out of toilet paper rolls and rice or beans or craft bells or whatever you have on hand that will make noise in the tube. Drum? Plastic food (ice cream, butter, yogurt, whatever) tub flipped upside down. You can decorate these things, too, with whatever you have on hand. Get creative and brainstorm. Look around your home. We also occasionally found things like harmonicas and recorders at thrift stores. You can also make a stuffed animal or a doll collection out of found materials. We shucked corn yesterday, and my daughter (from having read the Little House books) fashioned a corn husk doll. Old clothes and socks can be fashioned into animals or dolls. You can use rags or plastic grocery bags to stuff these. You can make balls and blocks the same way. Anyway, maybe you can find this book in a library or request an interlibrary loan for it. Another thing I deliberately focused my mind and efforts on throughout the years was ways to be frugal with what we had. My favourite book for this was Amy Dacyzyn's The Complete Tightwad Gazette. It's full of tips from her readers, but it's also full of her own articles philosophizing about how to think things through practically and why you should. http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Tightwad-Gazette-Amy-Dacyczyn/dp/0375752250/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441328848&sr=8-1&keywords=the+complete+tightwad+gazette I found that I would get excited about a particular idea (from this book or from the create-a-rich-learning-environment books such as the above) and work that idea until I had learned and mastered whatever skills were involved and worked whatever idea it was into our lives. Each new step improved our life a tiny bit and always felt like an accomplishment. It felt so good to learn how to bake simple bread and how to make yogurt and how to negotiate for the best price on a vehicle insurance policy. It also felt really good to learn how to create meals from whatever healthy foods we had on hand (I shop for the lowest unit price on many items), instead of trying to shop from a menu plan. It just plain old felt good to learn that we did have some power over our lives despite the low income. And that spilled over into other parts of my thinking. As my kids grew and learned and read and played and I saw that they actually thrived, I found I could have a clear mind to plan for things such as teaching them to read and figuring out what are "good books" that I could get from the library and figuring out all the tiny ins and outs of teaching them the academic skills without having to buy involved curriculum. Someone mentioned gardening - you mention a tiny backyard. I second the idea to try it out. If the yard is iffy with people running through it, you can always try plastic pots by a window. Even growing an herb plant or two can feel rewarding, as you nurture that plant along and reap some great flavour from it for your meals. Your kids will enjoy watching the seed bloom and grow. And if you put it by a window, well then, you may just want to spend a morning sprucing up the window. Give it (and the screen) a good cleaning inside and out so the sun can shine more brightly into your home. Hang a bit of decoration around the window - make it like a little shrine or monument of life/peace/joy, so that when you all see the window area, your day will be brightened. Don't buy the decorations - create something (anything!) from what you have on hand. When you get into the creative zone, you'll be surprised by what you can come up with. Get your kids involved - ask them for ideas. You mentioned having an "ill-equipped" rental home. Have a look around it. What is ill-equipped about it? Take one thing that bothers you and see if you can creatively think of a cheap/free fix or substitute. Maybe you don't have a clothes dryer and it's bugging you. Can you rig up a clothesline in your yard? Can you hang some rope by a sunny window? I once had a clothes rack that I placed over floor heating vents and this is where our clothes dried. I also once rigged up broomsticks, that I'd found, from ceiling hooks - for awhile this served as a clothes drying place. It wasn't "normal" for North America, but it WORKED and it prevented us spending money on electricity, so I didn't care. So anyway, fix that one thing. Applaud yourself and celebrate with your kids. You can celebrate with little kids the most "ridiculous" things and they'll think it's fun. Any excuse for a special drink (even if it's water with food colouring added) and a special treat (homemade cookies or muffins). Have a "We Have A Clothes Dryer Now" party!! Celebrate the creativity you all can come up with. Heck, bring the troubles here - we can help you think of ideas! Seriously, the more you start to use your own creativity within your own circumstances and means, the better you get at thinking creatively elsewhere - it's a great problem-solving skill. And it will spill over and be built upon in homeschooling. In fact, it's part of homeschooling. Anyway, I totally feel like I'm rambling. But all that to say that you DO sound like you are determined to do this and that you firmly believe it is best for your kids in your circumstances. And you sound very able. The library and your mind (left and right sides) are your friend in this right now. And this forum. Please come here anytime and present your struggles - you will find help here. I don't post much these days, but for many years this place was a lifeline for me. I do hope you find some homeschoolers to connect with, but if you can't find that right now, this virtual place can be so helpful and supportive. And you don't have to pay for brunch in a restaurant, lol. I would venture to say that you have an awful lot of potential to give your kids a good head start in life. Don't worry about "normal" (whatever that is, lol) - you have a brain you can use right now to enrich their lives right in your own home. I feel like a cheerleader, but I sincerely mean everything I'm saying. I see a Mom who is suited to do this for her kids - she just needs some fresh ideas and perspective. Come back and ask for encouragement whenever you need to!

pinkmint, I have BTDT. I will come back later when I have more time, but for now I just want to say that I read all your posts in this thread so far, and I think you show great determination to educate your kids at home and that you CAN do it. I'll get back later with a longer reply that I hope will be encouraging.

I remember her! She was quite helpful to me at one point in our homeschooling journey. Wasn't she called the Crib Chick?

I just bought two editions of English Grammar and Composition: Complete Course, one from 1951/1957, and the other from 1969. They are different. Both have all the typical grammar, mechanics, compositions, and library aids sections with exercises, but some of the explanations were rewritten and the exercise sets are not identical. Some of the chapters are shifted around in the 1969 books. The 1969 one adds a section called "A New Look At Grammar," which studies structural and transformational grammars. I haven't read that part yet, so I can't elaborate; but it looked interesting for grammar geeks. :D What to buy for a 12th grader depends on that student's current knowledge. This Complete Course is mainly a review course for those who've studied the earlier Warriner's courses, I think. My kids went all the way through R&S, and I could picture them using this as a review AND as a reference. I don't know anything about answer books or teacher manuals, but I didn't need them. With having R&S under my belt now, I can figure out the answers. Also, I like both editions that I bought, so if I had to choose one, I'd choose either of these. I didn't look through any newer editions (I didn't look for samples or reviews online) because I guess I just like how technical explanations are given in books from that era. (which is why I also like my 1960s Dolciani books :D )

We did this plus a few other steps. After my (reluctant writer) son had practiced copywork from other sources, I gradually moved him to taking my dictation. I might dictate from his oral narration that I'd written down (as Carol mentioned), or I might dictate from a well-written book. I only did a bit at a time. Eventually the next step was to have him dictate a narration into a tape recorder, one sentence at a time. I'd have him tell me a sentence (which, if it needed grammatical correction, I would correct and have him repeat back to me), and then I'd have him narrate that sentence to the recorder. We did this one sentence at a time, until his complete narration was done (it might have been two to four sentences, but all grammatically correct and clearly spoken). Then I would have him write down what the tape recorder dictated to him, one sentence at a time, or whatever speed he chose. Eventually he got to where he could hear his own narration being dictated to himself by himself, and could hold it in his head til he got all the sentences written on paper.

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions. I have around 40 books on hold at the library now, with potential for more if she likes particular authors!

Thank you for all of this!!! And could you please pm me your saved post with details about how you were taught? Yes, I am in Nova Scotia (and I once lived in NJ for a few years). I wish I could remember what books I used for my French classes in high school back in the early 80s - I remember loving doing dictation in French, because we learned how to pronounce the words, spell them, and write out sentences all at the same time. And I think there was a big emphasis on grammar (in which I got lost, because I hadn't a good background in English grammar).

This may have been mentioned before, but Eide's original book (on the logic of English) might be good to include in the grammar stage English section. It's a good "how to be a better teacher" book. http://www.amazon.com/Uncovering-Logic-English-Common-Sense-Approach/dp/1936706210/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438010335&sr=8-1&keywords=uncovering+the+logic+of+english I also think The Writing Road to Reading, 3rd or 4th editions, deserve a mention there as the same type of book.

YES YES YES!!!!!! I would LOVE to see this discussion in the 4th edition! I'm currently trying to evaluate resources for a non-Latin language for my daughter for her high school years, and it's not easy. I have loved the whole MP/PL/LC I and II/Henle approach to Latin, and I developed my own study pattern to tackle Henle after seeing how the progression and study patterns worked. Dd worked through the first level of Henle with it, and ds worked through the first and second levels. I would like to use a similar study pattern for modern language, but it is difficult to sift through all the programs and books on the market, because I am not sure how to evaluate them or what resources to cobble together. I can't afford to waste money on this or that and find that this and that are not suitable. And Katharine, I would love to hear more of what you mean by what I bolded in your post. This is something I've wondered about. I know the conversational part is important...immersion is a big concept where I live. But for a home educator who can't afford to outsource courses or even hire a conversational tutor, should that exclude us from at least getting a start on a modern language? I don't see why it should be so. Susan, this is a book I read awhile ago, and it might be useful to include in TWTM (although maybe there are better books on the topic - I don't know - I just know I liked this one) - it's about learning foreign languages. http://www.word-nerd.ca/about.html

I don't want to name them for fear of insulting people here. But they generally have themes that I guess you would call "coming of age." But there are so many more well-written and/or old-fashioned books on those themes that I'd like her to try and get beyond what I described in my OP.