I found this title through the LA County Library: Building a new nation : the Federalist era, 1789-1801. Collier, Christopher. I don't think it's included on the list. (The publisher is the same, so I assume it's from the series.)

Joanne, Here are some ideas I've used over the years. Thanks for making me think of this. I've been really bad about doing this stuff for my youngest. Cutting table: tons of paper and scissors and let them go at it. Creation station: A place stocked with paper, glue, tape, scissors, stickers, old toilet paper rolls, pens, pencils and whatever else. Glue and shaving cream. 2 cups of glue into a tub. Allow the child to add and mix shaving cream to glue. Homemade sand: 4 cups dried, used coffee grounds, 2 cups cornmeal, 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt. Hat painting: Roll the edges down on a brown paper shopping bag. Let the children paint their hats. Shaving Cream and Block Building: Put some small blocks on the table along with some craft sticks and a can or two of shaving cream. Just let them have at it. Gak: 5 Tbs Borax, 2 cups Elmers glue, 2 1/2 cups water, liquid water color (if desired). Mix 11/2 cups of the water and 2 cups of the glue in a big bowl. Add color. Stir it up. In a seperate cup of bowl mix together the reamaining 1 cup of water and the 5 Tbs of Borax. After it's dissolved pour the Borax mixture slowly and a little at a time into the glue and water mixture. Watch it coagulate! Mix with your hands (my kids love to do this). or a wooden spoon. Keep kneading until it becomes a ball. Let the kids play with it. A table full of PVC pipe parts and connectors. Just let them build. Water play/pouring activities: Have a tub with cups, funnels and other fun pouring toys. Sidewalk chalk. You can also let them use water with the chalk. Most of these ideas come from a website ooeygooey.com. I linked her resource page. It's pretty cool. HTH!

How old is your son? If your son wanted to quit mid-season in a sport, that's one thing, but he has taken-up activities for two and three years at a time. I think playing football for 3 years gives a person a solid understanding if you like the game. He doesn't. I wouldn't define this as quitting so much as narrowing his interests. He is a child, as long as he is pursuing interests and finding enjoyment in them, I don't see what the issue is. You can't fault him for not having something he is passionate about. A big part of growing-up is figuring out who you are and I think that's exactly what he's doing.

My oldest will do things like this and there are always consequences. But it is usually a signal that he need more control over his life. So I find ways (not necessarily food related) to let him regulate his own life. For example, I give him an allotment of sweets for the week (or for a few days) and he decides when to have them. But when they are gone, they're gone. Or we give him an allotment of screen time for the week, he can spend at the rate he chooses. You get the idea. Find something important to him, that he can control. We tinker usually tinker around with this for a while, to see what exactly helps him. This is about control, not about food. So find appropriate ways to give me more control and see what happens.

Last summer we read the Mad Scientist Club by Bertrand R. Brinley, They are asking for to reprise the performance.

It's a Flippin reunion!

Holy Cow! My cousin lives in Flippin! I'll have to ask her about it. (And btw, she says everything with an Arkansas accent.;))

This is my struggle. For the last four years (all the years I've homeschooled) art is just something extra we do. If we do it. I am hoping this is something I can do once a week, so it gets done.

Lesson one is the same for all levels; you are learning to recognize the five elements of contour shape. Lessons 2-3 each level has a different "project." So you do lesson 2, level one, then lesson three level one. As skill improves you move to a different levels. But I imagine the process to be more fluid than that; just like learning any skill. You work at what makes sense to work at next. KWIM?

Colleen thank you. It's helpful to know that I can take this slow and work with all of my children at once. Otherwise, who has the time? And often when I'm excited about something, I need to be reminded to S-L-O-W down. So thanks. Just as you described I would like to help myself and my children *see* better. I have a hunch this may translate across the curriculum, but mostly I'd like to use the fruits of it in our science/nature studies. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Thanks for your thoughts Karin. At this point it's about exposure or teaching them a set of skills. Whether they respond to the medium is a completely different matter.

Hey Negin! Good to see you here.

Interesting. Mona Brookes points out that we would never use such an approach with music, dance or writing. She sees drawing as a skill that requires training just like other areas of artistic expression. Do you see drawing as a special case? Or do you allow all artistic expression to develop naturally?

This is what I was looking for! Thank you soooooo much!

I'd like to know as well. But think I'd like to try this myself. Because I like her philosophy and what it asks of a student. So much of her exercises are about drawing what you see--without any connection to representation. It seems to break-down observation into its component parts. It would help me to *hear* how someone else has done it.

She says that lower level students may compare their work to higher level students and become discouraged. Thanks for these resources. The Phonics of Drawing title looks interesting. I think Mona Brookes actually uses that exact phrase to describe her program. It might be worth getting it for my own instruction.

Has anyone used this method to teach their children to draw? To say I am a reluctant drawer is a big understatement. Outside of what I've read in this book, I don't know the first thing about creating a realistic representation. That being said, I'd like to learn and I want my children to have this skill. But I am having a hard time operationalizing her ideas. For instance, the author thinks children of different skill levels shouldn't draw together, so am I supposed to give my children individual drawing lessons? How much time would that require? How often should we do the activities? Once a week? This is totally new territory for me. Any ideas?

Way to take the bull by the horns Cheryl!

Have you contacted the Dean of Students Office? Schools have their own judicial process--separate from the legal system. You could pursue action against him on campus that could lead to sanctions against him. This would take time, but it is something to think about. In the short term, she should contact her RA and area director (or whatever term they use to describe a full-time professional staff member that is responsible for her residence hall/living area) and give them photos of this guy with a full history of the problem. The more eyes the better.

The New York Times had an article on vision therapy. I found it very informative.

I think this is the reason you posted. You are angry and want to feel justified in your feelings. If you want to stay mad and feel justified, I totally get that. I do that a lot. I don't get the impression you saw the exchange, yet you are sure this mother is over-reacting. If you want your son to be handled in a particular way, I would suggest you keep close enough tabs on him so you can intervene yourself. You can't have it both ways. This mother saw the exchange--you didn't--yet you want to focus on her intervention and not the conflict itself. Just because she responded in a way you deem unreasonable, doesn't mean she is wrong about what she saw. You seem too focused on her behavior and not your own, or your son's for that matter.

I read aloud between 1-2 hours a day. But that doesn't mean all of my children are read to aloud for that long. Currently I read aloud on two levels. The middle child sits in on both, and the youngest will tolerate the older read alouds. But it feels like I read aloud a lot. I am looking forward to the day when I read aloud for everyone in the same way. BTW, I often have my husband read aloud. Or I have him listen to my kids read aloud. Because between the two things, it feels like it takes-up a big portion of our day.

I understand what you are saying. But you don't wait for the feeling--it may not come for a while. Often when this happens to me, I have grown distant from the child. It helps if I work to reconnect in someway. If I can find a way to get behind their eyes--see their narrative--I have a lot more compassion/understanding for their behavior. What does this kid like to do? Find a way to play along with him or at least take in interest in what he is passionate about. Work to find positive time with them. But negative feelings are a natural part of any relationship. They have to be acknowledged and modulated. This can be tricky when people are counting on you for kindness and affection. Nobody told me this stuff about motherhood. I often find myself saying, "Hey, I didn't sign up for this!"

It's hard to say when we "start". We school for 3 weeks, then take a week off and go all year round. We adjust when we need to for vacations and whatnot. I really like this schedule; it keeps everyone rested (even me!) and allows time for housecleaning, and a few home projects through the year.

I'm glad to hear someone else say this. We just started WWE 3, after finishing WWE 2, and it has been a big jump for my oldest son.