Per Elizabeth, it may be helpful to combine an immersion program like FIA with a grammar-based program like SYRWTLF. I know, who has the time for two programs. Just a thought.

We used to live north of Paris, and would go in once or twice a month and spend the day there. We liked eating at the food court at the Louvre, or Godjo, an Ethiopian restaurant near the Pantheon. Both places are kid-friendly. We nearly always went to the Jardin Luxembourg, or that park near Les Halles that only allows a small number of kids in at a time for supervised play (can't remember the name). On the first Sunday of the month, many museums are free, but only my older kids enjoyed that. The younger ones stayed outside and fed the pigeons or played with Dad while the olders and I did the museums. We always meant to do a river cruise, but never did (well, many, many years ago when dd was a toddler, but never with all the kids). A few times at the top of the Tour Eiffel, and that got boring. Aquaboulevard is a place we'd like to try sometime, but haven't gotten around to. Ds10 was 8 when we went to the top of the Arc de Triomphe, and still talks about it. I thought the Playmobil Fun Park a little south of Paris was fun, but the kids said not to recommend it. I also think your daughter would like Parc Asterix (north of the city; you'd need to rent a car), but the kids said she might need to be familiar with Asterix to really enjoy it. We always got gelato at Amorino, and usually a milk chocolate eclair at Cacao et Chocolat. Mostly we went in on Sundays, so we usually just ate, walked around a museum or spent time at a park, then ate some dessert, and went back to our city. The times we were there on a weekday, or Saturday, we usually went to a grand magasin, even if we didn't need to buy anything, just to look at the selection and admire the displays. There's a book called Imagerie de la France, which you will find at any bookstore in Paris, that has pictures of things around France that kids would enjoy. Try to pick it up your first day there, and see what intrigues your daughter the most, and maybe you can take a side trip there. We always get inspired when we look at that book. I'm sure you'll have a great time. Stay as long as you can. France is a great place, despite the French.;) Hopefully your daughter will pick up some of the language.:)

My dd has not spent much time studying English grammar, and I thought about using something like this for that subject.

What a doll! I'm so, so happy for you! I know you will treasure this little blessing!

Even if people don't come right out and say they were wrong, or they had never considered that point of view before, or whatever, that doesn't mean they haven't privately changed their views. I think it's important for people to speak out. I think it's equally important for people to be willing to change their minds if the facts don't back up their viewpoint. And Mrs. Mungo, thanks for helping stop the spread of false information.

Maybe a play break for a few weeks for the kids, and a recharge break for you? You could spend some time reading and rethinking your educational philosophy and strategy, and see if you want to try again with CM, or find something else that may suit you and the kids better. You may especially want to spend some time talking with your dd12, and see what direction she wants to head in, academically, and with what methods, since she's getting close to high school. The great thing about homeschooling is the time and freedom it affords your family. Take advantage of it!:)

I don't like it, either, and it's a "check" on the command I have issued. We need to sit down, talk about why there is pouting, and I have to honestly look at the command I've given, and see if there is another way I could have handled the situation. Often I am not considering things from the pouter's perspective, yet I have (as the parent) all the power to make the pouter do what I want. While this might get what I want done, it will not help me build a relationship with the pouter, which is the main thing I want to do as a parent. I try to say something like, "How do you see this?" and then genuinely listen and try to understand his perspective. Then I try to explain my perspective, and we try to see how we can work out a plan we both can live with (a la Barbara Coloroso). Sometimes we can't. Sometimes I really want my way on something, and that's just how it is. But I really have to be sure about this, and have peace in my heart that what I really want is truly best for both of us, and trust that the child will eventually see that.

I've often come into a thread with a strong opinion, only to be enlightened after reading some posts. If I didn't take the time to read others' experiences, or opinions, I would be stuck in my own ideas, without realizing it. Otoh, sometimes I've come away from a thread with the same idea on it I started with. Sometimes the other sides presented just aren't very strong.

We live in South India, and that's just when everyone eats here.

We eat at 1 p.m. Whoever wants to eat in the evening can make oatmeal or warm up leftovers or something like that.

The two that come to mind are A People's History of the U.S., by Howard Zinn (a really different telling of our history than what most of us heard in school), and 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey. I am also hoping dd will read Punished by Rewards, by Alfie Kohn.

Dd14 and ds7 have been at their grandparents' farm in France these last six weeks, and will come home in a few days. Dd told me that when they first arrived, ds7 would say things like, "Peux-tu couper du pain moi?" to his grandmother. Now he's saying, "Peux-tu me couper du pain?" He's really improved in just six weeks. I know that we all know the importance of input for FL learning, and that encouraging output is helpful, too. But when I think about how little French ds7 has heard the last two years (dh works so much), and how little emphasis dh has ever put on output (always speaking to the kids in French, but rarely insisting they speak back), I am amazed at how quickly output can come, when needed, just with consistent input, even a small amount, over the years. So if anyone out there is discouraged, thinking about how little of a language a child is hearing daily, and how infrequently that child needs to speak the language, hark! There is hope, and a great deal of it! If our experience is typical, then just consistently hearing the language should produce output, and quickly, in an immersion environment. Dd told me that she remembers visiting her grandparents when she was younger, and while it was hard to get in the rhythm of speaking French, after a few days she didn't feel she had a lot of trouble. We all only have so much energy, and keeping things simple seems to make our lives easier. Based on our (okay - limited - we're just one family) experience, it seems like just consistently speaking a language to a child should be enough to eventually produce output, when needed. So just have your husband, mother, or yourself keep speaking, speaking, speaking the target language to the child!

Thanks for your replies. Dd14 is highly motivated and spends most of her time doing schoolwork, but wasn't this way until she turned 11. Ds7 and the other little ones I'm not worried about, but ds10 is the one who is trying my patience. He announced recently that he only wants to read Redwall and the Hobbit for schoolwork because he's interested in Redwall right now, and he's not sure he'll be interested in it (maybe will outgrow it) in the future. Well, as soon as I heard that argument, I thought about some books or projects that I had wanted to do with dd when she was younger, but didn't get around to, and that pulled at my heartstrings. I won't have another daughter. That special young daughter/mother time is all gone. So, trying not to cry as I thought about it, I just told him to ignore the schoolwork I had asked him to do, and just go ahead with his reading. But now I am feeling a little resentful about ds10's stubbornness. I feel like we could work out some compromise, say he does some French reading everyday, and maybe some history and science, but he doesn't seem to want to compromise at all. Add to it that he has cancer, and the pressure of that, wanting him to be happy with whatever time he has on earth, and I end up feeling conflicted. I guess it's just something we'll have to work through here. I was just wondering if anyone else has a hard time forcing things through when the kids aren't in agreement. Some moms have a firmer spine than others, I think.

Good luck to you and C, keptwoman!

My daughter is urging me to do Latin Prep 1 as soon as she finishes it. She really enjoys it, and assures me I will, too. I don't know, though. Latin just seems a little intimidating . . .

I don't know if this is helpful, but #4 is when I began to feel overwhelmed. I just didn't feel like I could really stay on top of things very well. And with #5, I knew I wasn't in control anymore! And then we moved to India, and then ds10 was diagnosed with cancer, and I can tell you my world is not the same anymore. School is truly the least of my worries. It must be a lot of fun for your olders to have the baby around. Why not just enjoy him this year? Relax on the school stuff, and when the baby is a toddler, try to hit the books again. Someone here, or somewhere, said, "The baby IS the curriculum." Wise words, don't you think?

I have an Asko in America that I love. I've always thought that if it died, I would go right out and buy another Asko, no matter the price, but it does seem like there may be other equally good choices available now. In India I have a Siemens, and that seems good, too. I have noticed, though, that when I do a load at 90 degrees Celsius (diapers), if I am not right there to turn it off when it ends, the whole cycle starts again. This is irritating. JMHO, but I will not willingly go back to top loaders.

Sometimes I read something here that I think is so cool, and I would like us to do it. I present it to the kids, or one kid, and it often just doesn't go over. I usually just drop things at that point, and let life take its course. About 8 years ago, I saw TWTM for the first time, and skimmed through it. What a treasure, I thought. I wanted to offer it to my children, and see if they would like to do something like that. I just don't have it in me to force it on them, but I do think they should be able to do it if they want to. Anyone else just not have it in them to force things, especially academics, on kids?

Just put all curricula away on a shelf, and bring it back in as you feel inspired. You'll know when it's time. Enjoy your long, lovely break!

I thought you and your dh spoke only French to your kids, Cleo. You both speak English to them as well? Your dh is certainly lucky to have a wife who can teach languages as well as math and science to his children. I hope he appreciates you!

Ds came across these a few years ago, and checked out several from the library, or got some from Goodwill. He really enjoyed them. This was in 2nd and 3rd grade. Now, in 5th grade, he is really irritated he read those, because he wants to read the unabridged versions, but he already knows the endings. He feels like they've been ruined for him (his words). Back when he was asking for them, I thought I was helping him out by helping him get them. Now I guess I was supposed to know *not* to get them for him, but to insist he wait for the unabridged versions. Man, it's hard to win as a mom . . .

I'm guessing there are a lot of us here who have husbands who are responsible for the formal teaching of their language to our kids (speaking to them, correcting their grammar and spelling, reading to them). What other choice do we have (lol)? I had to laugh when I read Wendy K's comment on how her children speak German better than she does, and her husband is supposed to be the teacher, but she feels like she could probably get the job done better than he does if she only had better materials. It is humbling to have our children and our husbands be so much better at something than we will ever be. We're used to being in charge as moms, and this is one area where we are not really in control.

It does seem like a lot of progress in the early grades can be lost rather quickly. Do you already know Latin? If you don't, and you're learning along with him, why don't you just keep working on it? He will see the example you're setting, and that might inspire him in the future. Maybe it's just me, but I can't handle too much tension in my relationships with my kids. If they aren't ready for something, either intellectually or emotionally, they just aren't ready.

Your house, your rules.

I heard that it may be a lot colder in Europe now in the winter, due to global climate change. My daughter is freezing in northern France. I wish our world had faced up to, and tackled, this most critical of issues many decades ago.