Can someone please explain the Waldorf philosophy to me? I don't mean vague statements, such as "it's a sensory-based holistic yaddayaddayadda", I mean specific examples, how it relates/compares to other philosophies, a typical day of a homeschool that is based on Waldorf, which homeschool curricula best fit with the Waldorf philosophy, etc. Also, while we're on the note of curricula, how do you pronounce Sonlight? Sawn-light or Suhn-light? Thanks, Hadassah ETA: I'm not looking to implement Waldorf in my own homeschool, nor am I shopping for Waldorf curricula. I simply want to learn more about it. Thanks.

I've wondered the same thing. Both my son and I have other "issues" ( for lack of a better term :lol:) and it feels like it's got to be related. Yes - ds's therapist does specialize in CBT. I think the main issue is that she's a 55-year-old (I'm guesstimating) woman, whereas he's a 13-year-old boy, so he feels like he can't really relate to her, KWIM?

Thank you. I've never really considered that his insomnia could be related to ruminations... but that makes perfect sense, especially since he told me his anxiety is worse at night. It is encouraging to hear from a fellow OCD sufferer. I also have OCD, but it didn't really start to manifest itself until my late 20s, so I don't know what it's like to be a teen with OCD.

I've had two kids go through Year 5 so far. Here were their main programs (according to my not-so-meticulous record-keeping): Main program: "Secular-ized" Higher Up and Further In Year 5, with a few AO selections thrown in for good measure Math: SM and MEP hybrid, Year 6, with Family Math and various supplements Handwriting: HWOT and copywork Latin: Weekly translation (their last year of formal Latin study was Year 4, so Year 5 was just review) Foreign Language: Pimsleur Modern Hebrew 1 Musical Instrument: Continue piano; begin instrument of choice (both kids picked guitar and took lessons at the local recreation center) Co-op Art Religion: Private journaling, devotional readings, family prayer, worldview discussions, following the plan I designed for reading throught the entire OT, daily lessons - you get the idea Extracurriculars: first child did horseback riding and cooking class; second child did gymnastics; both did yoga and scouting - logic/critical thinking was part of scouting

:grouphug: Hugs all around. I am praying for your family.

Ds (13)'s OCD has been quite challenging lately, so I'm just going to share and vent and rant. Bear with me, please. About four months ago, ds was formally diagnosed with OCD. His therapist recommended a psychiatrist, who placed ds on Prozac. The Prozac built up in ds's system and caused hyperness and insomnia. After one full week of staying up until 5 am every night, he was taken off the Prozac, given a week's break, and then placed on Zoloft. The Zoloft didn't cause any side effects at first, but it wasn't really helping with his OCD either. After a while the Zoloft began causing insomnia too, but less severe - only to around 2 to 4 am. He suffered two and a half weeks of this insomnia before being taken off the Zoloft. All last week he was Zoloft-free but still having the same insomnia, likely because his sleep schedule is quite delicate and once it is disrupted it's hard to bring it back to normal. On Wednesday we had a psychiatrist appt. and he was very surprised to hear that ds was still having sleep issues. The psychiatrist gave us sleep meds to use as-needed. Wednesday and Thursday nights ds took the meds but they didn't really help. Ds asked not to continue taking them because they gave him a headache and made him feel funny. Last night he went to bed meds-free but STILL didn't fall asleep until 3-ish am. Tonight he is still up reading a book while I sit with him because I can't sleep either. The psychiatrist is starting to suggest that perhaps ALL OCD meds will cause ds insomnia, but he wants to try one more, so ds will start that as soon as he's back on track. But right now, ds has no semblance of a normal sleep schedule, he's terribly behind in his schoolwork, he hasn't been to Scouting or Sunday Schhool in ages, and he still has awful OCD. He doesn't really like his therapist, so we've got to find a new one. And to top it all off, I think ds may be mildly depressed, because he's constantly sleeping, has no appetite whatsoever, and is uncharacteristically grouchy and irritable, which were all my symptoms when I had depression. Of couse, those issues may just all be stemming from his sleep issues. If you're still reading, thanks. You are awesome. - Hadassah

My oldest kids are both leaning towards the liberal arts side of the spectrum, but they're interested in pretty much everthing. Of the two, I'd say ds is more "mathy". Dd (homeschooled through 7th grade, then took off for college) MEP and SM Years 1-6 in "grades" K-5 VideoText Algebra for grade 6 Harold Jacobs Geometry in grade 7 (It was my intention to have her take both years of VideoText, and THEN geometry, but the early college program required her to take geometry prior to enrollment.) Ds (currently "8th grade") Same K-5 as above VideoText Algebra for grades 6 and 7 Harold Jacobs Geometry for this year Plans: Lial's or AoPS Precalculus, supplemented - grade 9 Lial's or AoPS Calculus, supplemented - grade 10 At the rate he's going, he will likely graduate after grade 10. But if not: CC Advanced Math for grade 11 CC Probability and Statistics for grade 12 Both kids had Keys to..., Life of Fred, Family Math, HippoCampus, and similar miscellaneous supplements thrown in.

Perhaps you can use Ambleside Online? It's a full, free, online curriculum, but you can just look at the booklists and pick and choose which books you'd like your kids to read. There are weekly schedules.

My dh and I were told we would never conceive. God answered prayers and we had a dd, then spontaneous twins., and are now pregnant w/ #4. God is awesome! How miraculous! That's stupendous, unbelievable, amazing, cool, etc.!!!!!!!!

Hm, I'm not sure about this.

Thank you for the recommendation. I believe I'm going to go with HWOT, because we already own it and it worked well for my oldest dd, but I'll look into ZB if HWOT doesn't work out.

I'm a lefty, and if I understand correctly what you are describing, then yes, I diagram in the same manner as your son.

What point is he at in his history studies? What has he already covered in ps?

I usually don't start showing until around four months. I thought I was just getting old and fat :001_smile:, until I took a pregnancy test.

Don't we all? :lol:

How inspirational! Good for her!

That would be quite exciting! My dh and his siblings were all holiday babies - Christmas, New Year's Day, Thanksgiving, and Columbus Day (yes, Columbus Day IS a holiday :D) - but no such luck yet with my kids!

Thank you for all your congratulations! When I told my mother, her first response was to mutter "here we go again...". Not quite the response I was expecting :D.

:lol: We've all been there. No worries.

[brag alert!] Just wanted to share. My doctor told me I wouldn't be able to get pregnant again after my last child (who is now 5), which us why dh and I ended up adopting a 2 y/o last year. But much to my doctor's surprise, I'm four months along! :party:

Well, ds studied classical Latin for four years, since he hopes to someday be a scientist or doctor (he's not sure what type, yet). I don't want his Latin skills getting rusty, so this year I'll be having him start to translate an English Torah (since we're Jewish) into Latin. I figure it'll be a decent cross-curricular activity. At this point I'm planning on having him do three or so lines at a time, twice a week. He'll be armed with a copy of the Torah, an English - Latin dictionary (in case of emergency :D), and our trusty laptop (since he prefers typing to writing, and I figured that the activity is challenging enough without throwing handwriting into it). We'll see how it goes! In case you're interested, during that time slot on the other days of the week, he'll be finishing up his fourth and final year of Modern Hebrew study.

Oh, I understand now. That's a really helpful idea!

:iagree: The books are humorous but quite twaddlish. They're a nice option for reluctant readers, but I wouldn't recommend them for anyone else.

Grammar is covered in AO, and he's already got a fairly impressive vocabulary, so I'm planning on just letting the SAT class take care of that.

Sorry if this seems like a dumb question, but... why would a course taken in 7th grade not count for high school credit, but a course taken in 8th grade would? My oldest two kids have both taken high school courses in 7th grade (such as Algebra 1) and I counted it for high school credit. Did I do something wrong there?