We do this but VERY informally. It's usually when she and I are alone in the car and I open up the conversation about how things are going in school or how she wants to see it change.

I missed it too. What exactly IS the lounge for so I do it right next week?

Thank you so much everyone. This really helps.

And just for the fun of it...this is what I answered to a person who asked the dreaded, "What about socialization??" question; Indulge me: The actual word most of us MEAN is social-IZING....to take part in social activities. When someone says, "What about socialization", they are meaning, "What about friends? What about Prom? What about having play dates and going to the park....??" The meaning of socialization is completely different and infers what a lot of people think about the "mindset" of public schooling that they want to avoid: Socialization: the process by which individuals acquire the knowledge, language, social skills, and value to conform to the norms and roles required for integration into a group or community. It is a combination of both self-imposed (because the individual wants to conform) and externally-imposed rules, and the expectations of the others. Sociology was part of my major in college and this issue and misunderstanding of it bugs me more than many of the issues around home schooling misconceptions. LOL

Oh I agree - that's very true, Tracey. I thought I commented that I still felt the issue was a respect issue...I just wonder about the kids and if it was anything like my situation with my nephews where they're starving for more than Minecraft 24/7 during the summer...

socialization - the bane word of our existence in home education!! I was rolling!!

I never thought of it that way. This thread has been eating at me and I don't know why. I thought it was about the disrespect, which the way she's been treated IS disrespectful, but that's not why it was sticking with me. I figured it out last night, and then I came this morning and saw your post. My nephews were over playing and I was reviewing DVD's for the upcoming school year. They are 9 and 12. They were playing hide and seek and I put the DVD in (Bill Nye - Insects) and the 9 year old wandered in and sat down and started watching. Then Melissa came in. FInally the 12 year old came in and said, "HEY, aren't we playing??" He saw the screen and said, "What's THAT??" and started watching. Pretty soon they were all sitting down talking insects and asking questions and totally pulled into the DVD. WHen it was over, they went back to playing. This has happened a few times when they were over here. So...getting back to this thread: These boys have a very active mind. They love to be stimulated and they aren't being stimulated at home or at school. I thought of the kids in this thread that seemed to be drawn like a moth to a flame - and perhaps it's the same thing. It could be an opportunity for them to play and learn in an environment that attracts them. Just some musings...

It sounds really silly, but I just need to see some done. We won't be able to keep it up all the time so ours will need to be somewhat portable.

Yes, this!!! Schooling one just doesn't lend to a cool classroom like that!!!

I think it's more about respect than anything else. Are the parents here and continuing to let their children play where they were told not to play? Also - writing OVER their school work? I'm sorry, but if I told them not to and then went in and did it anyway and then destroyed school work they would never be allowed back. My response isn't helpful in any way, and for that I am sorry but I am honestly incredulous that this is happening again and again!

Hey, on another note: Is it pronounced SPANKS, or Span-ex?

My husband is a "stocking" man, and how they connect to a garter, and so on...so he is very pro-stocking. ;) I can avoid panty hose because well, BOTH of us hate them. LOL

IS "view new content" working for anyone else? It stopped working last night for me.

duplicate post - whoops!! :auto:

My automatic spell checker showed homeschool as wrong, but home school as correct, and leaves alone home-school. So I "taught" it to recognize homeschool and I'm fine, although I use home educate a lot instead. LOL :lol:

Pants actually feel constraining now!

"funner" is in the dictionary now too. UGH.

I just wanted to update for anyone who was interested! I have been wearing either a skirt or dress for all of the time since I started but 2 days. My husband loves it, I find I'm feeling much more feminine and attractive, and it wasn't at ALL like I thought it would be. I found that what bothered me with dresses and skirts were pantyhose. That made them very uncomfortable for me. When my legs are free with comfy shoes - I love it!!!!!! I still haven't purchased anything new, but hubby has commented that if I want to buy something, I most certainly can!

Ha ha!!!!! :lol:

Hey Hunt...I just sent you a PM wondering where you've been and you show up!! Magic!!!

Let the mailbox stalking begin; Melissa's next year's curriculum was purchased last night and I will be waiting for the delivery!!! She has VBS next week, and then we're supposed to start 2 weeks from today!!! It's all ramping up!!!!! Now to redecorate my blog for the year...get the lesson plans in order, make my list of books I still need for History...the Princess to kill and make Guilder to blame for it - I'm swamped!

This is Melissa too,

I swear sometimes my 10 year old wants to get back in my uterus. She sits ON me all the time. No personal space.

All ears!! We are doing a unit on prehistory at the beginning of this year!