We live in a 4x4 farmhouse- 4 bedrooms (one is a study) and open first floor- 1 1/2 baths. 5 kids, though oldest dd is away at college, only 4 closets in the house. Its a good size but wish I had another bathroom and more closets and that the walk up attic was finished.

I was in a fellowship group years ago and one of the gals always made us gifts- homemeade aprons, actually she made us each dresses, too! She taught us how to make homemeade apple pies, knit us scarves, etc. I've also received some homemade cards like Nest of 3 makes as well as homemade soaps- which I love! I have also been really touched by getting simple homemade gifts for each of our babies- a homemade knitted hat, blanket. Homemade is best imho :001_smile:. Especially when the giver is good at thier craft! I'm giving baskets of preserves for Xmas and homemade vanilla but I'm not giving away my pickles cause I'm never sure if they're good!

I just wanted to reinterate "WOW." Amazing feedback. In agreement with Hakim as a weak text for high school. Mary Daly (of Mary Daly's diagramming), and a friend, has given some pretty unflattering reviews.

TYVM!!

I recommend (frequently :001_smile:) IEW. It is a front end load expense. Meaning that you'll pay a lot at first and reap the benefits for years. I purchased IEW around 10 years ago and have taught 4 of my own kids (so far) using it as well as countless others through co-op situations. I have also helped establish writing co-ops. Writing seems to be really intimidating to teach for those with students entering jr. and sr. high. IEW FILLS your toolbox with writing skills, teaches the kids basics like writing their name on their paper, how to choose a title, etc. If you are a poor writer it will give you the grammar of writing and if you stick with it and branch out ot use other IEW products you can become an excellent writer. My 18 yo dd has been using IEW for years now- this year she is working through "Progymnasta" by IEW and we are both learning more writing skills (I have 2 master's degrees and have written a 90+ page thesis and there is still more to learn- woohoo!.) It is a GREAT program. Andrew Pudewa is a classical educator extroidainnaire (in the same class with SWB and Jesse Wise) If you have other questions, feel free to pm me about it.

Back at you, Heather! I can't wait for more time to read more about your fascinating life! My dd is hoping to settle in E.Europe. I'm going to send her your blog link. blessings to you!

Your menu sounds great! What is mexican lasagna and would you mind posting the morrocan lamb and apricot chix recipes?

I baked a cake in a glass pyrex bowl and it worked great! (we were making a hobbit village for my dd's bday several years ago ;)

I was going to suggest Jean Craighead George as well. The Redwall series. Check our Sonlight or Beautiful Feet reading lists. My 8 yo can read anything, and does. He loves science, nature, battles, etc. -I guess that means he's not picky? But if he is floundering around not reading anything I'll assing him a book from the many we have. He liked "The Littles" and Beverly Clearly this summer:)

Can I come visit? Yesterday our thermostat was at 61- brrr!

have you thougth about TeenPact (www.teenpact.com). She'll meet other teens from around your state and there are very cool alumni events. Can she get politically invovled? My 18 yo dd is interning for someone running for state leg and has been able to participate in some fun dinners,etc. I have organized drama camps and my kids have participated in a yearly One Act Play Festival each Jan- which they love. My 18 organized a girls get2gether last year. They met weekly at a coffee shop and then had 2 formal teas (one at Xmas, one in the spring). The girls loved it. I feel your pain- btdt:grouphug:

I agree- this would make a great poll!

I just wrote a blog post on memory work for those interested:001_smile: Link in sig block. Honestly, I think that memory work is one of the highlights of homeschooling for me these day!

My 14 yo enjoys some of the schoolwork- loves co-op and is looking forward to the One Act Play and TeenPact. He is pretty self-directed and would much rather do his own thing that school work. It does seem that as the kids get older they develop thier own sense of how to spend their time and priorities. I keep reminding them that it's called "home-work" becasue work is involved. I don't like some of the work I have to do, yet it gets done.

It's a great holiday read- along with the other 2!:001_smile:

keep the house clean? We pick up once or twice a day. The rest of the time we live here:001_smile: so there are frequently homeschool supplies and other evidences of our living here lying around. We live in the country and never have people just stop by but clutter really gets to me. We don't have lots of nick-nacks and while we have a lot of the types of toys we have (brio, playmobile, lego) we don't have 40 different kinds of toys laying around so it's easy to clean up-kwim? We also do a LOT of gardening when it's nice out- the kids participate. They basically do whatever grunt work we do- we're democratic like that;) As a family we've cleaned up our acerage and done lots of projects together; painting, gardening, laying brick, remodeling, etc. get dinner on the table? I have a list in my head of what I know is available to make. I have several recipies memorized. We have soup/breakfast for dinner often. My older dd's know how to make everything that I do (and more) so they will cook if asked. My dh is home late frequently so we often eat dinner w/o him. homeschool the kids? I see this as my job so it gets done.every.day. I have spent years reading, researching education and am a committed classical educator. This limits choices and defines our homeschooling time, and is an auto-selection process for curriculum as well. We do memory work 1-2 hrs a day 4 days a week. I set yearly goals for each student. This is the bulk of what we do each day. take care of the animals? The kids take care of the dog and cats. We did have sheep, goats and a horse, chickens until a year ago. They took care of all animal care-including hauling water in SD winters- an ugly job! have time with dh? He'll call from work, we email. We talk at night with lights out and in the a.m. Frequently we are interrupted by kids. We enjoy their company and want to create a home where we all speak and are listened to, but for those times when we need to talk, we let them know to go away. :) take a shower? I don't take one every day- but did when I worked out more diligently. I alternate between a.m. and p.m. I'm usually up before my kids. keep up with the laundry? Once a kid can walk, they help put away laundry. My older kids (age 12 and up) start, switch around and fold. My older kids help iron. keep food in the house? we shop once a week. I buy mainly the same list each time. We have a large garden and bake a lot of our own bread but our menu doesn't change around that much. Simple dinners are salad based, or breakfast for dinner. pay the bills? dh does this. AND have time for YOU?????? get up early, stay up late or cheat the kids what is your schedule like? do you have one? do you stick to it? do you feel life is better when you have one? what's your typical day? We wash and dry clothes Mon and Tues and a couple loads the remainder of the week. I cook daily- frequently make nice breakfasts as we can all eat together. We start school around 8:30 after the kids have eaten and done a.m. jobs. During that time we play ed CD's. Then Memory work, then individual stuff. Latin and Logic DVD's in the afternoon. The older kids are frequently doing school till late afternoon. We cook and clean and do dishes together. I do a ligher week about every 4th week. We do about 1/2 of our normal work-load. Just seems like everyone is ready for a rest at that point. I do a read-aloud a week, usually, read to the littles every bedtime. Frequently we'll have an older "read-aloud" going at night time too. I have a schedule but basically but it's "relaxed." Like Paula, I'm not good at having lots of structure imposed on me! That doesn't mean I don't get a LOT done. I am very focused and goal oriented. Getting it all done: My philosophy- I don't. I know what my vision is and I stick to it. It's a long race so if I push too hard and burn everyone out (including me) it's self defeating. Start with the end in mind.

Another pov. In high school I was an avid fan of P.S. Buck and loved this book. I re-read it a couple of years ago and couldn't stand it. It is well written but it's a soap opera. A lot of grief, sin and despair. I took it off of my kids reading list.

I'm finally up with news about our political activities for the week as well as our visit to the One Room Schoolhouse- it was a blast! The kids want to go back:001_smile:

We love it too. It is a great flick!

Mine will be up later. We are going to a One Room School house today- complete with teacher. I wanted to get pics and post about it so I'll be back way later tonight!

I've always wondered about your avatar. It is wonderful:001_smile: Great post btw.

I heard a pastor say: Animals have bodies but no souls, angels have souls but no bodies and humans have both.

I've been thinking about this a lot recently. I just finished "The 100 Mile Diet" and while I admire the authors there is no way that I can commit the time and money that they did to do what they did. We are a family of 7 who spends $100 a week for food and all of our household supplies. I do appreciate their "fasted life-style" and we do live that in many areas (see above grocery budget). My dh has turned down and resigned from jobs that have gone against our principles. This has resulted in severe economic hardship for our family. People think we're crazy but we've had some amazing miraculous fruit in our lives as a result. Short term hardship for long-term vision. My bil (a stock broker) who is wealthy by the standards of many can't fathom why we live the way that we do but my dh (his bro) is the first person he called 2 weeks ago when the walls came tumbling down asking, "how do you deal with life when your security ($) is gone??? He is the first person he called when his dd was diagnosed with inoperable brain damage. Re: WalMart and Target specifically. I've gone to WalMart maybe 4 times in the last 5 years. Target, once. I can get what we need/want in many other places, usually for less in terms of time, money and effort and we are not tempted to buy clutter that we'll send to Savers later. Our convictions go deep.

I don't know about Singapore but I'll second Prima Latina. The kids will actually learn some grammar as they go. My littles love it!

Not always. I do scope out Sonlight books, BF and Bethleham books for good read-alouds but we've done plenty of others that haven't been. We still read lots of Berenstain Bears and Curious George :001_smile: and we've read Uncle Eric books, C.S. Lewis, bios, etc as well.