Hello, My son often feels that way as well. Like your children, he is well liked and easily makes friends but for similar reasons he is not exactly one of the guys. This is really frustrating for me because it seems to be that being one of the guys means being less of everything I value...less kind, less willing to listen to others, less acadmically interested and motivated, less curious, less aritculate, less self sufficient, less responsible, less mature etc. He is either surrounded by children who are so religious and judgemental that he is considered an outsider because his religious views are not the same. Others have no spiritual life or at least none that connects to their behavior and choices. I certainly share in the frustration of his feeling on the fringe of his social circle. I am hoping that when he graduates our homeschool and goes to college he will find it easier to find acadmically interested friends who are open to varying degrees and types of spiritual beliefs. Your post makes me think that this situation may continue in college. Perhaps being an insider is over rated? My son is happy nonetheless and does have some good friends and I am very grateful for them. The prevailing culture of anti- intellectual, narricistic young adults consumed by peer judgements may not be a place he needs to feel such a part of anyway....hmmmm? Still, I can't help but hopes he finds a school where he feels he fits in and truly feels a part of.

Wow! I cannot tell you how much reading your comments has inspired me. I have often felt very confused about the results I want from our homeschool. I want my child to love learning yet I have rigorous demands that require serious output. I believe in the intrinsic values of the humanites but economic utility is also important. I struggle with the time our school takes. We work eight hours a day but really need more time to do all the subjects I would like to do, the way I want to do them. So I compromise and make the most of the eight hours dedicated to learning each day. Some days I feel like we have done it "right", and other days we just manage to muddle through. Some days are about insight, ability and growth and other days it feels like we did too much rote, useless busywork that will soon be forgotten. I find the balance hard to maintain because active learning is hard work that requires energy and time from me to make sure the learning isn't passive. If left on his own my son would also do the easy stuff and not put the effort into anything difficult. Dulcimeramy-I have had the exact same feelings about output and the taboo of trying to see and share what that is and means to people. Some people think the point is to show off when you share or to compete when you ask about their output when all I really want is to learn the best ways of making the most out of my eight hours. Janice-It doesn't matter to me if you call yourself a WTM'er to me. What I love is that you are sincerely trying to maximize the potential of your children and grow as a person. Keep up the great work! Thanks again everyone! Moira

Hi everyone, I did send emails out today with the attachments to everyone that asked. If you have international emails automatically go to your spam box than you might check for my email in your spam box. My email address is threenovacks@gmail.com. I live near Dubai in the UAE-at least for a little while longer, so that does happen once in a while. Sorry I was late in replying! Have a great day Moira

Hi Whitney, Inspiration and motivation are rather tricky. I find that if I can make a project out of an assignment there is sometimes more interest. Perhaps, deciding together that all her essays will be bound and made into a book-if she can tie them all around one theme it can even become a study guide or something like that. Or make some tangible project out of her other programs. For example, my son made a cartoon book out of the Rosetta Stone spanish lessons.-A character he created was trying to teach Spanish to other characters. He used his Spanish lessons as a guide and really ended up writing and learning a lot of Spanish--and had some fun with the illustrations. He ended up using his free time to work on the book--which to my minds eye also included working on his Spanish. Best of Luck!

I would love to share this idea because it was such a rewarding homeschool project. My son is very proud of his "book" and I am so proud of him!! He would love to have it published as a package with Sophie's World. I tried to upload some attachments to show you some of the final pages my DS made but I was not successful- they said the page was too big to be uploaded-but it was only one page. The fun part of the project will be obvious if I can show you this. Anyone have suggestions. Can I email it to you privately? I think you can see how we did this if I can show you some of the pages. I am not very competent on the computer-sorry.

My son and I both really loved the CyberEd Biology Program. You can get it at the Homeschool Buyers Coop rather inexpensively. If you want details regarding its value the Center for Talented Youth at John Hopkins has many details about it. They call it an honors Biology Program and credit it as such. I would not sign up for the class with them as it is so more expensive than the 30 dollars it cost on the Homeschool Buyers Coop site. It is a great program but challenging. We listen the course one day then my son takes notes for a few days and then he does the applications and tests. I also create a written essay test at the end of each unit. Best of Luck!

Hi there, I just did finished doing a great Philosophy program. We used a fantastic book called Sophie's World as the basis. This is a great novel and a fantastic way to study the subject. While my son read the book he did further study on each of the Philosophers mentioned in the book. He then bound all the pages he made at the end of the book and now has his own study guide. I would be happy to share all the details of how we did this if you are interested. We both learned an incredible amount and really enjoyed the process. Best of luck!

Check out AvenuesoftheMind.com They have a great way to learn the roots, not a Latin curriculum just a root study that is really effective and fun!

I am different Moira ( I can't belive there are more than one!) but I wanted to add my thoughts. I am sorry that Reya thought it appropriate to insult Susan on this forum. I am sorry Susan had to waste any time thinking about it. However, I am glad that Reya's ugly comment gave many of us a chance to let Susan know how much her books have helped us teach our children and how much her style has contributed to so many children loving history. My son and I both love history now because of SOTW. I mostly lurk around the forum but I learn something each time and appreciate having informed parents like you make me a better mom and teacher. Thanks everyone and Thanks Susan! Moira

These may not be great songs but they do have great running beats: Lets get Loud-J lo Come on Eileen- Dexy Midight runners Love Shack-B52's Lets Get it Started--Black eyed Peas Runner--Manfred Mann The Distance-Cake Lots of songs from the Clash--I am so stuck in the 80's! London Calling, Rock the Casbah Best of Luck

Hi There, This is a great problem to have because there is agreat way to end it!!!! I am not sure I can word it as well as the guys over at www.loveandlogic.com but I will try. Make the bickering the kids problem. How? For example. You are in the car and they go at it. You say (in your most calm and carefree voice) as you are pulling over (and yes, I really mean it pull over the car and do not move--let them miss whatever party, sport, lesson etc) the car that the car will start moving again once the bickering is over. Do not get involved in who started or why it started etc!! Do not move until it is quiet or they are talking nicely to each other. Do not get involved or lecture at this point. Bring a book the first few times may require more than one stop. If at home, you may try this: (again in a sweet carefree voice) Hey, guys I don't want to hear your bickering please go outside (in the basement, their room, the office--anywhere you are not). They need to go away. If they do not leave then you leave-- even if that means the bathroom for you. But then when they want/need (prepare lunch, play, drive somewhere, etc) you to do something you basically say no and remind them that they did not leave as you requested earlier. The idea being that you have to change not the kids--since you cannot control their bickering. I am sure love and logic will explain all the details much better. I have done this and it works. I taught this method (in person talking when I could give plenty of ideas and examples) to many moms and it always works. I will be hard at first but you deserve some peace. Best of Luck!!

Hi Pam, My take on the computer time situation is to try and not get involved. It might be worth a casual discussion where you state what your concerns are but let her decide what to do. The idea being that although you want to guide her you should not have to control her at this point. If she does get stressed and rushed that is not such a big deal. She is old enough to make her own choices and deal with consequences of those choices...now if those consequences start effecting you by wasting your time or money etc. then you deal with that situation. As long as she is doing her work at a level you find acceptable I think you may be picking a losing battle here. Her stress or rushed feeling should be hers to deal with. For example: If my son practices and makes progress I pay for piano lessons however, if he chooses not to practice the miminum time we agreed upon weekly and learn what was requested by the teacher that week than he pays for the lessons. I never nag or even remind him to practice. I believe that I am giving him the responsility to manage his time and meet goals without taking over ownership. Twice is three years he has had to pay. He learns to be accountable and I do not have to beg, nag or remind! Piano is not my responsilbility or my problem-- it is his and by not getting involved in anything negative (but being very complimentary and supportive whenever the opportunity presents) the situation has proven to work well. Self discipline and time management are hugely important skills but I have found that if parents try and take this over before the child experiences the consequences it leads to bad feelings and does not alter the student's behavior very long. The key is to really let her handle the consequences (good or bad) on her own when they come up. A really good resource for this issue is the Love and Logic web site (www.loveandlogic.com) . It sounds like whatever you have been doing has met with great results so far-- so follow your instincts. Best of luck!

Hi Kay, Both my son and I are up for the challenge. We will read 52 books in 52 weeks. What a great idea! My son managed to do even better than this last year but I did not. I am excited to try this year. Thanks for the inspiration!

My prayers are with you and your son. One of my favorite prayers written by Emmet Fox says, "God is the only Presence and the only Power. I claim God is Infinite Life and that Life is my supply, so I shall want for nothing. God created me and God sustains me so all is well."

You are not missing anything. My son has taken several classes with JHU and I could be more disappointed with the quality of their tutors. He took Science and Math classes. The classes are great but there is not need to pay JHU when you can get the classes (Thinkwell, Cyber ED, Destination Math, etc) all via homeschool buyers coop and save tons and tons of money. I was amazed at how inept and or absent the tutors were at JHU. The only thing I missed doing Cyber ED on my own were the midterm, final and research paper JHU required. However the tutor did a terrbile job grading. Marking wrong answers correct and not explaining why certain items were wrong--it was ridiculous really. I did appreciate that the midterm and final were not multiple choice. As for Thinkwell you will learn just as much without JHU-esp. as you have someone who can help if your student does get stuck. Thinkwell is fantastic but there is no need to pay JHU triple for it! Best of luck!

Hi There, My son and I both started it but only he finished. It took him two weeks. We basically counted the pages and divided by 14 and decided that is how many pages we would read each day. I just didn't really like it. He however, loved it very much. He couldn't get enough. I read the Spark notes for the sake of discussion for the last three days...not a great example and I rarely do this but this time it was the best I could do at the time. Best of luck!!

Please check: WWW.AvenuesoftheMIND.com They offer an awesome timeline that you can add your own stickers/notes to and have corresponding ones for SOW. It folds up to fit in a notebook and or can be hung on a wall (10 feet across) when not folded. See the video on the timeline on the website. I am biased here--but it is great! My son has added so much to his and it is one of his favorite projects.

Hi There, I simply cannot offer enough accolades for IEW. I have taught this program to 6 children and it has been an incredible gift for all of them!! I know it is expensive but I have never been sorry that I spent the money on it. Good luck.