I'm looking for homeschoolers to connect with in Newfoundland.

I move mine around into specific-purpose shelves and bins. I have my books organized by historical period (4 year cycle) so I always know where my history books are. When I do my planning for the year I spend some time going through my books and I put them into the plans for the year. So, if we're planning on specific projects I make sure to write down the books that will be useful to access for those projects. Each week the kids have books they need to read. This goes on a chart for them and I usually pull those books from the shelves downstairs and bring them up to a "current" shelf in our living room. Or, if the book is specifically for one child it would go into that boy's homeschool basket. I also change books around to various places in the house. We have a variety of books out on our coffee table as well as a couple of books in the bathroom.

I move mine around into specific-purpose shelves and bins. I have my books organized by historical period (4 year cycle) so I always know where my history books are. When I do my planning for the year I spend some time going through my books and I put them into the plans for the year. So, if we're planning on specific projects I make sure to write down the books that will be useful to access for those projects. Each week the kids have books they need to read. This goes on a chart for them and I usually pull those books from the shelves downstairs and bring them up to a "current" shelf in our living room. Or, if the book is specifically for one child it would go into that boy's homeschool basket. I also change books around to various places in the house. We have a variety of books out on our coffee table as well as a couple of books in the bathroom.

Thanks :) We had a lot of fun and the kids learned so much from each other.

I believe that having a written philosophy of education is very important - especially in your first five years of homeschooling. I do a workshop called Creating Your Own Philosophy of Education and blogged a little bit about it here: http://fanningflame.wordpress.com/2007/08/25/philosophy-of-education/ My philosophy of education is there as well - although it's from 2007 and it's clearly time for a revision. I would need to include the importance of being part of a community of learners, the benefits of learning through experiences, and more emphasis on math and science. And I'd want to emphasize how deeply we're able to study.

I worked with a group of four logic stage kids this year in co-op and our last project was based on music from 1600 - 1800 AD. I blogged my assignment criteria chart as well as some examples of student work. A lot of the project was fairly open-ended and we were all thrilled with the results. It was really fun sharing the videos, the artwork, and even the written work within our group. http://fanningflame.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/project-based-learning-music/

We had a communities class where we invited different community workers to class each week. The firemen came with their truck, the ambulance gave the kids rides around the parking lot, the police actually had a speed trap set up and the kids got to see them give someone a ticket. They also had a doctor, dentist, baker and others come each week. One of the classes that I though went really well was Arty Science. They would learn about a concept, sometimes do an experiment or have a book read to them, and then do an art related project. Leaf printing, building a person with vegetables, and creating a picture with dried seeds are the only projects I remember. We've done Junior Lit using Five in a Row (in our own way). We have an amazing French teacher who ran a totally age appropriate French class with tons of singing and games. One of the moms in our co-op is a music teacher and she does an incredible music class for the younger kids with singing, rhythm instruments, and games. I was so sad when my youngest became too old for that class, but he's in her recorder class now. We also have the younger kids do PE. And don't forget to leave time for free play :) Ours are in all day (we run a K - grade 8 co-op) so they have lunch and recess together.

Ours is the Kindle version, so I'm assuming it's the newest there is. The prostitution references weren't an issue here either, I had kids who were 11 - 13 in my group and I talked to the parents before the kids had to do the reading. All of them were aware of prostitution - and abortion.

We're only two chapters in, but there's definitely a prostitution example. IMO it's pretty low-key. It's using the Chronological Snobbery Fallacy - they say something like, prostitution should be a an accepted profession because it's been around longer than nearly every other profession. They don't get into prostitution, but you'd have to know what prostitution was in order to understand the fallacy.

We have added more in-depth projects this year and our co-op tries to do some project based learning as well. I assigned a music project for my TOG kids. They needed to have a written component (biographical information about the composer, spiritual beliefs and influence in the music, some thought about how the music was accepted (or not accepted) by society at the time). They had to include a creative component where they express some of the themes that the composer expressed in the music - that was completely open. I had one student who made musical instruments out of FIMO, one who made cupcakes and decorated them to express her theme, and two who did collages. There was a performance aspect of the project (they had to learn a piece by their composer and perform it) and there was a video tutorial component (they had to choose a technique that their composer used and create a video tutorial teaching people how to do that technique). They were able to choose any composer from 1500 - 1800. This definitely had structured components to it, but I did leave a lot of it up to them as to how they approached it and what they chose to focus on. I think that regardless of the project that your student is pursuing you could add a written component (letter to the editor, newspaper article, blog, journal, research report, letters to an expert in the field, essay, fictional story, etc.).

I think my plans are finalized now. Math: Singapore DM 7B and AoPS Pre-Algebra History/Lit: TOG Year 3. We have a fantastic co-op for this. Writing: WWS over the summer, co-op writing class (very rigorous) in the school year Science: Exploring Creation through Physical Science (at co-op) Grammar: AG - we've taken a few years off grammar from about halfway through FLL 4. Second Language: French class 2 hrs per week (he's been with the same group of kids for the last 3 years) and we'll add in Rosetta Stone PE: Taekwon-do classes, six weeks of weekly snowboarding/lessons in Jan/Feb, possibly some swim lessons Music: This takes up the bulk of his time. 2 hrs private violin lessons, 1/2 hr piano lesson, 1 hr technique class, 1 hr music school orchestra, 2.5 youth symphony, 1 hr theory and 1 hr trio rehearsal - plus practice time. Logic: Art of Argument (continuing from this year into next, I teach it at co-op) Thinking Skills: Cort (www.cortthinking.com) I am so impressed by this program. I'm working through it slowly with my co-op class. It's sparked some really interesting discussions and I can see them transferring the skills learned in this to their TOG discussions. Very cool. Extras: Typing (over the summer, likely won't do it in the fall), This is nearly the same as our schedule for last year except that I'm adding in grammar and Rosetta Stone.

We took last summer off. Re-entry in the fall wasn't difficult, but we're a little behind where I'd like us to be in math now. It was really relaxing to take the whole summer off, but this year we're working through a lot of it.

I think it starts with having realistic goals and then prioritizing them. If you try to do everything you're never going to have enough time to do it all well. You really need to take into account your own availability and the time you have at your disposal to spend and you need to think about all other obligations you and your family have. I was looking at a week plan I made up for my dd when she was in 5th grade. It is radically different from what a current week with my boys looks like. That's because the boys and I are out and about way more than I was with dd. I've had to let some things go with the boys so that we can do really well with the things I think are most important. Looking forward to next year I'm still shuffling those priorities and trying to make our time more efficient. The key, for me, is deciding what is really important and then making sure I plan our schedule in a way that allows us enough time to get the important things done.

Any recommendations for historical fiction based in the French Revolution? This would be for thirteen year olds.

I seriously do not have that problem, but I wish sometimes that I did :)

I'm not doing as much in terms of languages and language arts as I did when my dd was this age... Math: Hopefully Singapore 8A and 8B (otherwise, 7B and 8A) Lit/Geography/History: TOG Year 3, units 2 and 4 - we'll also be doing a lot of our own thing. We have a small TOG group we work with and we include a lot of Canadian content that we design ourselves. Ds will be in a weekly Socratic dialogue class where we also do some project work. We will have some lit discussions, but not every week. French: Weekly French class for 2 hours. I am trying to find a way to include some daily French practice as well. Language Arts: Building Spelling Skills, AG (for 10 weeks), lots of reading, writing class at co-op (this year the big project is essay writing, last year they learned report writing and ended up with a 6 page, single spaced research report that was footnoted - it's a pretty rigorous class, they also do a ton of smaller assignments). We do a lot of assignments that require writing for TOG as well. Science: Co-op using Exploring Creation through Physical Science Bible: I haven't decided yet - any ideas? Logic: I'm working with a small group of kids doing Art of Argument. I was thinking of maybe leaving logic until Spring again when we have more time to work on it together. Is this something I'm going to have to make room for every week or is it something that can be done for 10 weeks a year? Music: violin, theory, youth symphony, trio, piano. PE: Taekwon-do for 2 - 5 hours per week, one session of swim lessons per year, 6 weeks of weekly snowboarding in the winter, lots of active play time outside (canoeing, riding bikes, etc.) I keep thinking we're not doing enough but when I write it out like this it seems like more. My biggest challenges will be to ensure that grammar, spelling and French are worked on regularly.

Could you explain how you used Photoshop?

Thanks. I do have an iPad so I'll play around with Notability. I am making them for my three boys but I also thought about sharing them with the other Taekwon-do parents. There's quite a bit of theory they have to learn and I find it boring and difficult for them to just read and memorize. I thought if there were some exercises they could do with the theory information in the form of interesting worksheets that it might help make the learning process more smooth. I've seen examples of other WTM sheets - notebooking pages and other stuff - and some of it looks so professional. That's kind of what I'm hoping for.

Is there a particular program that you use to make them in? I'd like to make some worksheets for my kids to learn their Taekwon-do theory. There are definitions to learn, historical facts, longer memory pieces (like the student oath), etc. If you made your own worksheets how did you do it?

The last two summers have been Screen Free Summers for us. The only exception was if they were doing something with dh or with me. Oh, and we had a weather exception. If it was raining AND it was a weekend then they could play on their screens. I loved Screen Free Summer. The first week is hard but after that it's amazing what they'll find to do. This year I feel like I have a better handle on limits and they seem a lot better at finding non-screen things to do and not immediately turning to the screen during free time so I don't think we're going to do a SFS this summer.

My thirteen year old sounds similar. Right now we allow three hours of recreational screen use on weekends only - 1hr on Friday, 1 on Saturday, 1 on Sunday. I have the kids' names on a sheet of paper on my fridge with eighteen 10's running underneath and every time I encounter attitude I put a line through one of the 10's and that's 10 minutes of weekend screen time gone. It's surprisingly effective and feels a lot better than yelling or nagging. We do make group exceptions - sometimes dh will play a video game with the kids and we usually watch a movie together once a week - those don't count. I do count brother-time as the three boys would happily play Minecraft together (on a server with their friends who are playing from their own homes) for 24 hours a day. Another exception I've been making lately is Skype time. I'm not sure how to limit it. The kids have a network of tech-savy friends and they like to get on Skype together in the evening to chat. Last night ds was on his computer with two of his friends for an hour before I kicked him off. I like that he's staying in close contact with friends, but I still don't like the screen time aspect or the fact that he's sitting in the dining room by himself. Dd was a lot easier in this respect. She didn't play any computer games or video games and she rarely connected online with friends. The boys and their friends seem much more aware of technology. They're also on Instagram together with their friends.

Congratulations! Our eldest is graduating in June. It's still hard to believe.

I agree with the others who have suggested trying out classes, looking for an established studio, and talking with parents who have been there long-term. I also agree about watching out for hidden fees and binding contracts. Our studio has a monthly fee per kid and the fourth kid goes free - so we only pay for 3 of our kids. We get a price sheet every year that lists the monthly fees, testing fees and costs for sparring gear. We've been with basically the same studio for the past ten years and testing fees haven't increased in all that time. There is no contract, I think we have to give a month notice if we leave. The kids do Taekwon-do, ITF style. I'm taking dd (17) to Nationals in Quebec City next weekend :) She stands a very good chance of making it to worlds in Spain in the fall. Take a look into tournament opportunities. My kids love tournaments. We typically have a Friendship Tournament (with local clubs) once a year, Provincials once a year, and Western-Canadian Championships once a year. We usually will only do Nationals if they are happening close by, but dd is in a very good position this year so we're flying East for it this year. She's a second degree black belt and pretty serious about her sport. We really appreciate the hands-on help we get at our dojang. Two weekends ago our instructor spend five hours on a Saturday working with the four black belts who are going to nationals and then spend another four hours on a Sunday morning working with my dd and another black belt - no cost. He really wants to see his students succeed and his goal is their progress, not the money he makes from it. There's a real team atmosphere at our dojang and a real respect for the upper belts. I wanted a ballerina, but I got a black belt :)

So sad to have voted 7 days a week. Although, I'm realizing that I should have only voted 6. Sunday - church, Youth Symphony from 2:30 - 5pm Monday - at the music school from 11am until 6:30pm Tuesday - home until 11:30 then French, music theory, piano, tutoring, home by 4:15 and no evening activities! Family Night :) Wednesday - tutoring for two boys from 1- 3, Taekwon-do for all kids from 6 - 8, dd's dance class from 8 - 9 Thursday - usually it's co-op, but that part of co-op ended at spring break so now it's a complete home day and evening! Friday - co-op in the morning and then our house for the rest of the day with two other families. Family Night! When we get back to regular co-op the Friday one will end and this will become our day at home. Saturday - usually Taekwon-do at 10am, but we don't go every week. When it was just dd I was at home way more. The boys have a great group of homeschooled friends and we do a lot of communal learning.

I had the exact same experience. I rarely ever decide to put down a book, but I disliked Wolf Hall so much that I put it down and haven't looked back. It drives me crazy because I usually read a wide selection of Giller and Booker winners and her sequel also won a Booker but I'm not reading it.