I am intrigued. I like that it is an ibook and it is a good price. I was totally sold on Latin for Children but now.... If I had a magic wand I would use the RFWP Latin as a supplement.

As far as the relationship stuff...if you look up Studio C Hunger Games, they have three hilarious parody songs of the love triangle.

Is Joyeux Noel still on there? It has Diane Kruger in it, and it is historical fiction about WWI and the soldiers that find peace in the trenches on Christmas. It has subtitles because there are three languages but such a good film. If you can find it, watch it! ah, there is one sex scene that is not graphic or debasing, but I would feel uncomfortable watching it with my little kids. It is in the first 10 or 15 minute of the movie and not long. I second the Muppet Christmas Carol! I will be watching that all season.

I didn't love it, but I didn't adore the book either. I like that I wasn't in Katniss' mind. Her monologues bored me silly. So this is an example of a story I would rather read than see. I stayed awake through the whole film at midnight, so that is saying something. I kept waiting for the muttations to come and was kind of relieved that the only really scary part was with Peeta. The woman next to me screamed. That part was fantastic because, well, grumpy women screaming in terror makes me happy. I was sitting between two friends who are really reserved and were kind of cranky with each other that night, so that might color it. I wanted to laugh at the funny parts but felt judged, YKWIM? I think Who you go to a film with can absolutely change it. I want to watch them all again on DVD with popcorn by myself. Probably won't own them though. Not THAT life-changing.

Ha! here's an opposite story: My MIL and FIL were at someone's house and he was just praising the meal to high heaven. My MIL asked for the recipe since he seemed to like it so much. Then, the first time she made it at home for him, he refused to eat it. He said it was so gross but he didn't want to make the hostess feel bad. I am not sure if that was morally bankrupt, but it has made me pretty suspicious when he compliments my cooking.

Thank you for all the feedback. It is nice to know I am not the only functional adult not giving everyone I know gifts this year. As a few of you mentioned, it isn't one of my languages of love. I prefer acts of service or time alone. But that could just be my time of life because those are true luxuries around here. I think I will write lovely cards to the people I love. A keepsake letter telling them how important they are to me. I like to write, and I think people get a kick out of reading about themselves. I guess that is a "Words of Appreciation" gift. The only crafty thing that doesn't turn out looking like a preschooler's mistake that I can do is cross-stitch. I think when my kids are a little older I could do a nice something or other along those lines. To those who are wonderful gift-givers (as in shopping, planning, crafting), I can see I am missing something virtuous in myself, but at this point I don't think it is worth the effort to change.

I tell myself it is because we don't have the money. My husband insists we don't have the money, but I think if we were really careful we could give birthday and Christmas gifts to our parents and siblings and friends and their kids. But unless I am actually invited to a Christmas or birthday where I have to look you in the face, you don't get a gift. Probably you will get a nice card, but that is it. Does this make me a horrible person? Is it worth it to try to change this about myself and by extensions my marriage? I don't expect gifts for my birthday and I have never said a word of reproach to anyone for not giving me or my kids something for Christmas or whatever. Sometimes DH gets me something, sometimes not. Sometimes I splurge and get him something, but usually not. I read about so many of you wonderful people who plan for months and give lovely things to all kinds of people. I admire that and I am starting to realize there is this whole culture I am missing.

I was homeschooled, but since we need some male memories, here you are. My husband was homeschooled in Florida and South Dakota in the 90s. He liked going to historical re-enactments like Civil war battles and stuff. He was averse to reading until his step-grandma lent him a book from The Wheel of Time series and regularly took him to bookstores to get whatever he wanted. And then she would read the books and discuss them with him. Once he was caught cheating on his Saxon math (his little brother did it all the time, he says) and as punishment his father (Marine Cops officer) made him do math all day for months. 45 minutes of math, 15 minute break. This was in 7th or 8th grade. Well, he blew through several math books doing that. Soon afterward, he had to take a mandatory state test for Florida students. He did so well that a community college offered him a full scholarship to go there. And that is how he completely skipped high school. He said it was weird getting hit on by college girls (he was 6 feet tall at age 13). As for his little brother, apparently he refused to obey their mother, and in 5th grade she kinda gave up so he went to work with the father who had left the Marines and did his schoolwork on the road. Depending on who you ask, this was not a perfect solution. Some people aren't meant for classrooms. His parents then insisted he go to college, and after 7 years and 4 institutions he graduated with a huge amount of debt and thankfully found a great job 3 years later. My mom did part-time school with my twin brothers when they were teens. For a couple years they went half of the day to PS and then came home and my mom would do Saxon math and The Lost Tools of Writing. And she read biographies of great men to them. My one brother who is at West Point credits a biography of Washington and hours spent with my dad playing Axis and Allies on our dining room table with is love of country and his desire to be a general. I think in all of these lives, one of the great things HS gave the students was time. Time to pursue talents, time together with family, time to get ahead of the group.

It is hard to compare it to other books, because there is no other book like it. I think comparing it to Lord of the Flies is completely wrong. I read it when I was around ten. I think I read it in a week. It made a strong impression on me. I still think about some of the beautiful images (a mother tidying up her child's mind while it sleeps, like folding clothes in a drawer), and the hilarious hunting scenes where Hook and his pirates are following Peter and his boys, or maybe it is the other way around, or maybe no one knows. I loved it! Then I introduced it to my kids by reading some of it aloud. Maybe just the first 10 pages. I found I didn't like it. I didn't understand it anymore. I was heartbroken. It meant I had grown up, and had forgotten how to believe and enjoy pure fantasy. My 4th grader continued to read it on her own. From an essay by Michael Clay Thompson: "Peter has a Quixote-like dream of loyalty and honor. Peter's sense of integrity and honor are of the kind that grown-ups later demote as impractical, unrealistic, or naive, but as the book keeps reminding us, grown-ups forget. Peter presents, in its purest form, the not-yet-jaded, not-yet crushed enthusiasm for life, the exploratory joy of the young mind. He crows, he flies, he laughs, he encourages children to be with him, to join, to stay with him in forever-land." I am glad I read it as a child, because it is possible that as an adult I would have just been confused by its sheer imaginative genius. I wish I had read the Wind in the Willows for the same reason.

http://www.singnlearn.com/Item/330 I grew up singing these and was still singing it in my head on my US history tests in high school. Works like a charm. And there are a bunch of other great songs on the CD. The coloring book that comes with it is a little juvenile but I think a 6-year-old would like it.

The impatient American in me wants THE curriculum that will GIVE this to my kids.

Ignorance is an expensive commodity. That group won't know what it is missing by excluding you. Another way to look at your daughter's need to socialize might be this: by getting her school stuff done by such-and-such a time (say 3:00), she is free to hang out with friends from your neighborhood and ward. Does she have friends at church that could come over when their homework is done or on Saturdays? Growing up, that was one of the reasons my mom homeschooled us She required hours of music practicing from us which, if we had gone to public school, would have nullified any time to play with friends. As a homeschooler, I could get all my work and practicing done by the time my friends got home from school. Our family doesn't participate in co-ops (for many reasons). We prefer to just have friends come over for unstructured play time when schoolwork is done. Or my kids go to their house. This may not be possible in all situations, but it is just another way of looking at options.

That last name is super fun! Let's see... Hugh Harry Golden Sterling Xavier (his initial would be X. Mann) Richard (Rich Mann!) Dick Sage

Woo! 100 posts!

Congratulations on your journey! Isn't it great to be able to look back and see your mistakes and also what you have learned? :hurray: I tried a morning time thing that we called Read Aloud Hour, but it coincided with my serious morning sickness (all day sickness) so I can't be an objective judge. I am so happy it is working for you. Morning Time/Circle Time stuff are some of my best memories of my homeschool experience as a kid. Keep going! It will be worth it! Also, homeschooling from a place of peace has become a big priority for me. On another thread, Hunter reminded us that we as homeschoolers are competing with this mirage of public school as it is advertised, not as it really is. I am one of those who can fall into that trap really quickly and then I get anxious, competitive, and critical. It just kills the whole spirit of what I want to have in my home. This summer I was working on a crazy schedule that had all of us with our noses to the grindstone for 7 hours with a break for lunch. I was having panic attacks just reading it. Then, I revisited the whole Finland concept of 45 minute lessons and 15 minute breaks. I tossed the old schedule, drew up a new one with this in mind, and it practically glistened with peace and happiness. It is doable, and something I can look forward to. Now to figure out how to not waste time transitioning from breaks to lessons and back..........

Depends on what you find objectionable. I have found one or two stories that depict African-Americans in not-my-favorite ways. Nothing really derogatory, but there is a sense of "otherness" in the way their speech is portrayed. Mine are from the 30s or 40s, so considering that it isn't too bad. I would be fine with my kids reading it to themselves, but somehow I couldn't get through those ones. I forget which volumes they are in but it couldn't have been past 5 or 6. I have loved using them for composer study. There are a lot of explanations of famous pieces of music and stories of composers' lives. One day we listened to Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream overture, then we read the story of how his sister inspired him to write it as a teenager for a group of friends. The story included a walk-through of the piece, describing the different themes and what the music is saying. Then we listened to it again and were amazed by what we heard after a little understanding. I know Afternoon of a Faun is in there too. Gosh, now I have to add this to my schedule this year.....

I have been lurking and tinkering and doing little happy dances as I figure stuff out. Thank you everyone. Holly, I am no expert, but this has worked for me so far: I had a rough draft of a weekly schedule set up before I started assigning things for the whole year. I wanted to make sure I could actually fit everything in a real day or week. And it gives me an idea of what to assign because I know I have 20 minutes for French, not the hour that I thought I did. HTH

I think if it is an ongoing pattern like it sounds like this is, I would classify it as rebellion, not just a stupid mistake made out of weakness. I treat those differently. I don't have teenagers yet but I was one and I wasn't allowed to date or have a boyfriend until I was 16. That was fun for a year and then I sneaked out one night to see him and his dad busted us. His parents got in touch with mine so everyone was on the same page and we were not allowed to see each other for a month. Since both sets of parents knew that was the agreement, it made it hard for us to sneak around. I had a car but was sufficiently mortified and didn't want to push the disobedience to see what my parents would do. Visions of being shipped to Idaho danced in my head. Oh, and I had to apologize to his parents. This was before cell phones but I would have for sure lost mine for the summer. It was a crummy summer regardless. I am glad they did because even though we were basically good kids and nothing permanent happened, it was just so stupid and risky. I still needed guidance and I am glad my parents gave it.

MCT got me excited to teach and I think that enthusiasm translated to my daughter. I would absolutely do a spelling program on the side. The poetry book is one of the best things I have ever purchased in my homeschool journey. It is beautiful and introduces advanced concepts in ways that really spoke to my daughter. It is a very visual program. My right-brained musical artistic daughter loved that each different kind of word was in color. Like all the verbs are red, and the nouns are blue. That helped things click for sure. Of course, she sees math in color too. Every number is a color in her mind. The sentences get progressively more difficult as you go through the year. I would say grammar island, practice town, and music of the hemispheres were the essential books in my mind. If you want deeper more rigorous grammar assignments then get sentence island. I did not really have her do the writing assignments in the sentence island book

Loving this thread. I will have a new baby in September so this is timely. No more flying by the seat of my pants! One thing I have loved is having my older kids read to my younger kids on a daily basis. That keeps at least two kids occupied for something like 20 minutes.

I loved doing a block schedule when I was homeschooled as a 4th/5th grader. My mom called it "structured days" and "creative days". Math was done every day though. Toddlers messing up the manipulatives can be discouraging. This might get me flamed, but if the toddler watches TV, could you put on a 30 minute DVD to get some peace? Weighing between early impressions of math vs. a bit of screen time in an otherwise active nurturing environment, I come down on the math side every time. I love schedule posts! Yours was fun to read :laugh:

I think that sounds solid for that many people and food. I personally would want to get 2 rooms at a value just to spread out a little bit more. But I have only stayed off property.

If your signature is updated, I would start by expressing some surprise at how young your kids are to be doing Caesar's English. It is a great book, and I love sharing it with my 9-year old. But we are going at half speed and I still wonder sometimes what the point is of learning awesome vocabulary when she hardly reads Nancy Drew books. Oh well, those are my own emotions to deal with. We are using The Classical Education Edition. It has cool pictures and really focuses on Ancient Rome and its leading figures. I can see it being a bit of an overkill. We didn't do a formal history system this year so I was glad to be able to drop a few of the essays and poems from this book in my daughter's bucket. On the other hand, if your family has a good foundation in roman history, they might love making those connections. I think the vocabulary could stand alone, but I am glad I got CEE. My favorite thing about MCT stuff, and this doesn't change based on which edition you chose, is that the vocabulary you learn in CE will show up in your grammar book, and in the Wind in the Willows. My daughter and I think that is really great and it helps her appreciate the learning we are going when she feels stronger in another subject as a result. Yes, it is artificial, but she needs that confidence. As far as the implementation manual, I am full of the best intentions but haven't really cracked it open much after the first month. We just read through the student manual together, I give her oral quizzes (her spelling makes us both cry) and we call it good. She did do an expository paragraph yesterday at the end of lesson 9 about Ancient Rome. It was a great experience. We found the assignment in the student manual.

Nap in the afternoon, get to the parks early! We took ages 2,4, and 6 for a week. On the days wee didn't get there for opening, we waited in long lines and were surprised how different the parks feel in the hot crowded middle of the day compared to the early hours. If your kids wake you before 7 anyway, you might as well get up and go, then take a 3 hour break in the middle of the day to cool off and settle down. I thought it would be really hard for me to leave the fun in the middle of the day, but it was so worth it. The kids were happy all evening and even till late at night on some nights.

I can only share my opinion on yur bonus question. I have never used Shurley but understand it is a great program. We have done MCT island and town levels. I must be a moron because I just don't find it to be a useful writing program. Grammar, vocab, poetry? 100%. We would read through the chapters with delight, and then I would say "ok, here is a writing idea we should do" and I would read the assignment and we would both look at each other and quietly close the book and walk away. Is this simply an example of my own moral failings? You bet. Do I realize I need a curriculum that has writing projects that we like and are applicable to real life? Of course. We are continuing with MCT (grammar and vocab!) and will do CAP fable or narration for creative writing and do WWS 1 at half-speed. This is for fifth grade. We pretty much didn't do any writing in 4th grade, so I am awash in insecurities. We have already done some of the samples and we are in love with CAP. 1. I would start Island in 4th. It is not hard. 2. You could read grammar island in a month, then get back to Shurley while doing your daily practice sentences from Grammar Island. For me, I was totally satisfied with MCT grammar but again, I have a streak of laziness.