This is the only forum I've really participated in. Like Brehon, I've been on this board for a lawng time. I *think* since first finding WTM in 1999ish and then joining the board in 2000. (could it have been that long ago?!) These boards have played a huge role in how I've homeschooled, the materials we've used, online classes we found based on excellent recommendations. It's been a huge online water cooler of homeschooling information all the way through high school and into college. The forums have also provided so much information about llife for me ... how to make yogurt in a cooler (I forget who first posted this?), trying to get pregnant again (thanks Lisa in Jax for some great tips), great recipes (Quiver's cinnamon rolls and Amy in NH's Italian crock pot beef sandwiches which are both now internet famous). I found one of my first ww bread recipes from Jean in WI, found great insights into astronomy from Jay in Cleveland, asked questions about how to teach writing classical from Lene in CO (who was then authoring the CW series). These forums probably have replaced some sort of IRL humans in my life, but they've also allowed me to meet several friends IRL. I have a lot of IRL friends, co-op group, and a wonderful church community so this hasn't replaced my local friends. But it widened my exposure to various folks and, most helpful for me, folks interested in giving their kids a really good education at home. I stay away from the threads that seem to end up in huge debate. Not my cuppa. (learned that here too! ;) ) And as for the Christian forum, I may pop over there. (I seem to remember a denim jumper board starting up for those that wanted a place that was more like-minded.) But this board is my go-to. Lisa, ETA: apparently answering the original question in a thread that has evolved elsewhere. But I had fun thinking about some of the great moments on this board.

I'm using WWS 3 in a group setting. It's not a co-op but I set it up as I would a small co-op class. It's one of my favorite years of writing and I don't know why I haven't used any of SWB's writing materials before! I teach the week ahead and sometimes begin to work through Day 1. I talk through the other days and the work that will be coming up. One thing that you might need to schedule outside of class is one-on-one time with each of the students periodically to go through their paper and talk about what needs re-written or corrected. I think that individual time together is essential to learning how to write with any curriculum. Otherwise, I've found WWS 3 very conducive to a group setting, especially since it's written to the student. Hope that helps ~ Lisa

I have one that's not a reader. He was raised exactly like everyone else, but he has never yet just fallen in love with books, or any particular genre. Once in a blue moon, if there's a really trendy series (Ender's Game), he'll read through them in a flash. But otherwise? He'd rather be outside with a ball in his hands or on his screen or when he was little, just playing. Lisa

I've been on the receiving end of some amazingly generous people since my dh died 3 years ago. People generous with their time, taking my young boys out fishing, inviting us over at holidays, and sending some things anonymously. It's been incredibly humbling to tell you the truth. I've had to learn to receive graciously and I so pray that it's shaping my heart and my children's hearts to be generous. One of the most generous: when my dh died, his truck was was sort of a company truck and so was sold. I had been driving our 10-year-old Suburban that I loved but it had 200,000 + miles on it. We knew it needed replacing and we had started a car fund, but it was not anywhere near funded. Anyway, I wasn't worried b/c I actually really liked that Suburban but apparently people were worried for us. A couple months after dh died, my sister was up to visit and check on us and we were all eating leftovers in front of the tv one evening. The doorbell rang and a man, lady and their little boy introduced themselves with made up names I'm sure. They told us that all we needed to know was that the Lord was providing us a new car. New to us. They handed me the keys to a 2 yr old, beautiful Ford Expedition. My kids asked a thousand questions trying to find out who they were and who had sent them. We have an inkling but really, it felt like it was straight from the Lord's hand. My husband's truck had been a black Ford same year as this black Ford Expedition and even having it sit on my driveway reminded me of my dh. Those tiny details mean so much. Here's another small but sweet story I wrote about recently as I recalled an umbrella ministry my husband had. :D Little things can be big things too! Great thread Chelli. I'm looking forward to seeing what folks share. Lisa

Awesome! Hope all is well with your big sister. Lisa

You're not the only one. IME, it's harder to tell the my own child that they missed something b/c I goofed than telling the parent throwing the party. My kids have usually been pretty good about it. But still, I hate it for them too. Lisa

Wait, y'all are sisters? :huh:

And it's just a good book. ;) I read it years ago and it's stuck with me (and shaped some of my parenting decisions).

For a December 18 - Jan 2 vacation at a beach, I'd look into going somewhere in Florida at the Orlando/Tampa latitude or lower. I live in northeast Florida on the coast and it can be windy and cold. Same with the panhandle. You might try lesser known beaches. Anna Maria Island is great on the west coast. You have all of the amenities of Tampa nearby but Anna Maria is a smaller island. Go a bit south to Sarasota and it will be pricier. Even further down is Ft Myers and Sanibel Island. Those are going to be WARM in December and downright nice swimming weather. But it's the beginning of their season, so prices are higher. On the east coast, Palm Coast tends to be less expensive, but it will probably be too cold to swim. Cocoa and New Smyrna might be really good choices. They should be warm, the East Coast is my favorite beach :) and you'll probably be able to swim. Here's a link to some beaches at the Orlando/Tampa latitude. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/beach/orl-closestorlando-story-story.html Hope that gets you started! Lisa

Jane Healy's Endangered Minds? Lisa

:grouphug: That one day every month? Everything is blown out of proportion for me. Don't make decisions, plans, or assumptions about your family on those days. I've had to issue way too many apologies for things I let get the better of me (even if there was a seed of truth in them). So, yeah, wait for tomorrow or the next day. Eat some chocolate. Watch a few good chick flicks and cry away. Call your best friend. Lisa

Here's something I wrote recently when I was pondering Mary and Martha: "I think we often assume that Martha is the type-A goal-oriented, efficient list checker and that Mary is the laid back, go-with-the-flow dreamer. But nothing in the account tells us about their personalities. Only their actions. (Except that Martha can be bossy!) It could be that Mary, a list-checker, decided the most important thing on her list was to sit at Jesus’ feet and that Martha, a people pleaser, was caught up in dinner prep feeling sorry for herself. I think we can cross off the list that Jesus favors a certain personality. We’re just not told that. (Probably for good reason) Plus, regardless of personality, we’ve all been Martha at some point, stressed by the day’s demands. Luke says that Martha was distracted by dinner prep. The word “distracted†actually means “drawn away.†So while Mary was drawn to Jesus, Martha was drawn away." Lisa Here's the rest of the article if you're interested. I wrote it in context of the stress of holiday prep, but really it can apply anytime.

:( I'm so sorry to hear this. Experiencing this locally especially this week. Lisa

It's fun (and kinda world's colliding) to meet online friends IRL. Y'all should have just taped your conversation using your phone and put the podcast up for another summer session. I'm sure there was lots that we all could have learned! Lisa

We've only done their self-paced history for elementary students. You might ask on the high school board though b/c I know there have been many that have used VP online classes. Also, do you need a diploma for some reason? There are lots of online options; VP is just one and many families cherry pick from among the offerings to get favorite teachers and classes to suit their child. HTH, Lisa

I've known several friends that have chosen (along with their kids) to have their child do what they call a super senior year -- basically add one more year onto high school. There were different reasons in each situation, but parents and child were all happy with the decision. Remember Charleigh, that 8th and 9th grades can be very sluggish years academically and in maturity for teens. I've been amazed at the people my kids are by the time they're seniors. There is such maturing that goes on every single year and sometimes these decisions are hard to make until you really can gauge what they're like in the senior year. Lisa

Not sure I'm relaxed though I'm definitely not a Type A school marm. ;) I do like bones of structure for our core subjects and a happy routine. I also like to add in large doses of masterly activity, play, exploration and discovery, field trips, exposure to lots of books, art supplies, etc. I also really like delight-directed studies in science and history, though we've enjoyed years of structured learning in these classes too. Are your kids unhappy with what they're doing? Are you burnt out or needing more rest in the day? I ask that because sometimes if what you are doing is working for the most part, then maybe you just need to adjust rather than throw out everything you're doing to pursue another philosophy. I would say that 6 - 7 hours of structured school is a lot for a 7- and 10-year-old. Perhaps you could pull back to structured learning in the core areas (for us that's math, grammar, Latin, spelling, writing) and less structure in other areas (history, science, art). Some of that can be directed activity while some could be completely child driven. You might enjoy two classic homeschool books -- books that guided the early homeschoolers even before TWTM. Homeschooling for Excellence and Educating the Whole-hearted Child both take a less structured, education is a way of life approach to homeschooling. In my own family, the structure ramped up as my kids got into high school and by high school, they were working 6 - 7 hours a day at pretty rigorous classes, using textbooks and syllabi and experiencing real deadlines. That was very good for them and helped them transition to college without a hiccup. You can see what my 3 graduates are doing. Next year, all three of my oldest will be in graduate school, two in an early admit program and one who got through undergrad in 3 years and then went into graduate school the 4th year. :001_huh: So, yes, at some point their homeschooling became much more structured and that suited all of us well. The early years looked different on purpose. Lisa

You've probably addressed this, but are they wearing themselves out with exercise?? IME (with my kids and myself) lack of enough exercise and way too many hormones and emotions makes us edgy. That's one of the things that could drive nitpicking with everyone. I find it very, very healthy to have my kids in sports or running or playing outside or on the swim team so that there's a positive place to expend pent-up hormones (hello, testosterone!) And running is hugely helps me take the edge off my nerves. Also sending you :grouphug: and praying you can receive wisdom for how to respond and parent though this! Lisa

Some of our favorite picture books (besides the classics) The Margaret Wise Brown classics (LOVED My World, Runaway Bunny) Robert McCloskey books Clap Your Hands (more of a toddler/preschool book but my youngest loved it forever!) Babar's Museum of Art Everything Jan Brett (here's her website with lots of extra activities) Kitten's First Full Moon Lots more but those stand out right now. Lisa

I took my youngest two on Friday after school and I'm going back with oldest and youngest dd tomorrow night. I loved it! I cried. I thought it was well-cast and that Disney helped make the story of how a young girl could become such a servant to her step family. I loved Cinderella's disposition and appreciated teasing out her relationship with her father a bit more. I'm wondering if I ever, ever had a waist that small?! I've been singing Lavender's Blue. :) One slight word b/c I'm sensitive to these things: mom dies when Cinderella is about 8 and dad dies when she maybe 18? The mom's sickness and death portrayed in more detail (not overly but it's part of the early story) while dad's death is just reported and Cinderella crumples and cries. I've been blindsided by the death of a dad in a children's movie that kinda took the fun out of it for us. So if that would at all affect a child, you should know it's there. I think b/c the early death involved the mom, it didn't affect my kids. Lisa

What a great update! Praising the Lord with you for sustaining all of you in so many ways. I cannot imagine a 12 year battle. I will continue to pray for an excellent transplant and for full recovery. Lisa

Moon pies. :)

I don't know why I didn't think to put this option! Sorry ladies. :)

I'm so sorry. I think that must be one of the hardest things to grieve. :grouphug: :grouphug: Lisa

I really like Doorposts materials. Lisa