Wow! My kids have been taking classical guitar for years. I love to listen to their instructor play.

My first two are 6 years apart, and I did a six year rotation at first (It was not planned that way, but I stayed too long on the ancients.) Now I am doing a 4 year, so my ds is studying the same time period as my high school aged daughter. (For my sanity.) My ds will finish this cycle in 6th, so I will probably do something different with both of the younger two for two years, and start a 4 year cycle again when he is in high school. The truth is, it is hard to plan ahead, because children are different. I have a general plan, but I don't worry about it too much. As long as they are ready for Great Books by 9th grade, that is all that really matters to me.

I'm going with the teenage daughter, but we have to go at midnight Thursday with her friends or as she tells it her life will be ruined. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie, but I turn into a pumpkin at midnight!:)

My dd loves Saxon. She dislikes math, and the incremental approach is a good fit for her. Nan's post scares me though. Other than the Iowa test she has had very little exposure to other texts. She is just now starting Algebra 2, and I bought the Teaching Tapes, (not the DIVE CD's but the new ones that teach every lesson.) She is doing very well on the Saxon tests, and since Saxon can be bought used, I have only been paying $10-15 per year for the texts, which is a real help. I hope Chemistry is not a problem next year.

Joanne, Thank you for posting this, as I had not seen it before. I can relate to the original blog post. In the past few months I have been taking more time "for me" and for the most part it does not help me to recharge. In fact I have been wondering if my time online is becomming an issue along these lines as well.:001_unsure: I read some of the comments below the blog entry, and the blogger explained her position further this way: The very thought I was hoping to get across is that I can be creative within the role of mother and wife. Caring for a home and children should not be a drain on my creativity or individuality. Therefore, I should not be on a quest to "find myself" outside these roles. These roles should help to DEFINE ME. My creativity and individuality should be honed and refined within my home. Wouldn't it be absolutely beautiful if we could all be ourselves w/ our children--our creative, unique selves--instead of Super Mom who works herself so hard she MUST be recharged elsewhere? I am also not saying I don't think a mother should go somewhere by herself. What I am saying is that this alone time should not be a frantic NEED. We should not spend our days trying to get away from the children. We should find ways to make our time w/ our children and husband satisfying, so that when opportunities arise to go for coffee w/ a friend or to a baby shower or some such thing, we don't see it as something we HAVE to have in order to continue to function. We all know the disappointment of thinking we HAVE to do something and then not being able to. Wouldn't it be nice to see those "outside" things as something extra and not something we DESERVE? I think it is not the time alone that is an issue, but that time alone should not be an all consuming need. I have been looking at time away as an escape from the stress of my life, and it does not necessarily improve things. Several times in the past I have come home from a night out (coffee with friends) to find dishes in the sink, and I have felt resentfull. I have a lot to think about on this point.

Great pictures! We used to have a Shepler's here, but it went out of business. (I guess Idaho isn't the wild west anymore.:sad:) It looks like you guys had a great time!

My 4yo pretends to be a dog named "Salad". (Believe me I don't know where she got that.) My other two give her treats and have her shake her paw etc. :D

Wait a minute Zelda, Falafel in a Waffle doesn't sound too bad, but even if I were not a vegetarian, I would not eat chicken crackers. :tongue_smilie: (I think I will be brave and admit that I don't like Parmesian cheese, either fresh or in a can.)

We got married at Christmas time, so our song is "Walking in a Winterwonderland."

My dh lost his job two weeks ago. The unemployment rate is so high right now that there are many more applicants than there are jobs, so it is really scary. We have had several financial crises this last year, so our savings is already gone. There are few frugal things that would be too drastic for us right now! The price of food here has gone up over 50 percent on many items. A year ago I could easily feed our family of 5 on $60 per week. There is no way I can do this now. Gas has come down, and is at $2.40 per gallon right now, so that is nice. We have given up gymnastics for our younger two, and we are trying to cut back on everything we can. Any Christmas gifts will have to be made from my fabric stash. I have the most important things though; my family, friends and a houseful of books.:) We made a tree on the window, with fall leaves for each person. On the leaves we each wrote things we are thankful for. Our tree is very, very full. Hard times help us to realize what is really important in life!

Welcome, Feel free to contact me if you want to know about our local classical support group's activities here in Boise. (Not sure how close you are.)

Holly, I must be as mean as you, because I require all of the same things you do. (She is doing the vocab. in a notebook, because she has cards for Latin and French, and she said she had too many flashcards in her life.) I had a friend comment that the Module Summaries were overkill, but my dd struggled with Module 2 and since then, they are a requirement. The other day a homeschool mom told me I was crazy for making my dd read the entire Iliad and Odyssey. I want my dc to have a rigorous classical education. That is one of the reasons I homeschool, and can be hard to find friends IRL with that goal. That's why I have come to value the hive mind so much!

Cathy, I will keep you and your son in my thoughts and prayers. I hope he feels better soon.

I posted in the same thread that my philosophy degree is not all that "useful." Though, it is interesting, and does help with homeschooling.

Let's start with this, I love Philosophy! I have a degree in philosophy. (Double major with Political Science) All that being said, it is not a field for someone who wants to make a great deal of money. Getting a B.A. in Philosopy is a great stepping stone to law school or graduate school, and depending on the school, it is a good way to learn how to think, but it is not a money making proposition. With my degree, I was qualified to work in retail management after college. (I had planned to attend law school, but I got married and had a baby instead.) It is a great prep. for teaching great books as a homeschool mom though! If my dd wanted to study phil., I would have her minor in it. HTH:)

I have dreams about listing all my books, but since it would take days of work, I have never done it. Since I buy books used for the most part, I just resell any duplicates for the same price I paid. (Keeping the nicest one of course.) I have over 10,000 books at this point, (An estimate) and they are organized, but they don't all stick in my memory! This is not much help, but at least you know you are not the only one who buys books you already own.

Nadia, My bulging bookshelves don't seem to have much for this era, but I did find two. I have not read these, but they look interesting. The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali and Songhay, Life in Medieval Aftrica, by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack. A Glorious Age in Africa, by Daniel Chu and Elliott Skinner They both look to be Jr. High reading level. HTH

I was discussing this same issue lately with another home school mom here. She wants to pass this law in Boise. First of all, I am not in favor of the government passing new taxes to micromanage our lives. Second my limited use of these bags both helps the environment and saves me money. We reduce/reuse/recycle everything, so I usually only have about 1/2 of a garbage can full of garbage each week. Instead of buying garbage bags, I reuse the few bags I bring home from the store. Since garbage bags have to be at least as bad for the environment, as grocery bags, I think my limited use of them is acceptable. I have considered trying to do without garbage bags at all, but quite of bit of our garbage is animal waste (3 pets), and I just don't want to wash out the cans! The mom who wants to ban grocery bags here, (who is a very nice lady) told me she still buys garbage bags, as I think most people who advocate this do, so I don't think there is any actual improvement in the amount of plastic put into the landfills. This kind of choice needs to be left up to the individual consumer. We can help the environment more by working together, than by using being legalistic. Every family is different.

It works!

Just Testing.

Congratulations! :party:

I'm a little late to this hugging party, but I'll join in! :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

I've been there!:grouphug:

I am so thrilled, like Gretchen, I have not been able to keep up on all of the reading. Thank you so much!

Laura, you are my hero. This is on my list to do, and I have not had a chance to even start it. We are just a little behind you, and are also doing Great Books and Speivogel. I love SWB's narrative style, but dd is having trouble taking notes. The study questions will be a great help. Thank you!