We are the only 'classical' homeschoolers I know. There are some unschoolers, but mostly deeply Christian homeschoolers around here. As far as the unschoolers go, I've told Drew it's a different approach and that I'm not confident I could give him the education he needs using that approach. IOW, it's a valid method, but I cannot teach that way. If we weren't friends with people that used methods different from ours, then Drew would have no friends.

http://lionhomeschooling.blogspot.com/ Hope everyone had a good week :)

My older daughter has an embarrassingly limited knowledge of grammar. I've started her on First Language Lessons, because it appears the p.s. doesn't plan to teach any grammar at all. My son, seven, has blown through the first year outlined in First Language Lessons in about three months. It was a little repetitive, but he knows the material, iykwIm.

Been there! Small world, right? Except it was one of those little bulldozer thingies and our Lincoln ;) I couldn't move the car, the guy flipped, at first, then I reminded him that he was on private property. Once I saw what he did to the other yard (they moved their things) I was glad I could not comply. I like having a yard sans deep furrows. I can't move half the vehicles in my yard. I have my vehicles, he has his. I understand not having keys to everything :)

the lesson of the moth By Don Marquis, in "archy and mehitabel," 1927 i was talking to a moth the other evening he was trying to break into an electric light bulb and fry himself on the wires why do you fellows pull this stunt i asked him because it is the conventional thing for moths or why if that had been an uncovered candle instead of an electric light bulb you would now be a small unsightly cinder have you no sense plenty of it he answered but at times we get tired of using it we get bored with the routine and crave beauty and excitement fire is beautiful and we know that if we get too close it will kill us but what does that matter it is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty than to live a long time and be bored all the while so we wad all our life up into one little roll and then we shoot the roll that is what life is for it is better to be a part of beauty for one instant and then cease to exist than to exist forever and never be a part of beauty our attitude toward life is come easy go easy we are like human beings used to be before they became too civilized to enjoy themselves and before i could argue him out of his philosophy he went and immolated himself on a patent cigar lighter i do not agree with him myself i would rather have half the happiness and twice the longevity but at the same time i wish there was something i wanted as badly as he wanted to fry himself archy Just in case you didn't know ;) archy is a cockroach... link: http://www.donmarquis.com/index.html

I looked up the SOL requirements and made my own stuff. We had tried a workbook, just some generic thing that claimed to cover the necessities, but it wasn't complete. I'm planning on buying Saxon for third grade, it looks good.

I think a warning would be good. Not just in your post, but once you email back and forth. In your first email, let them know that you are not holding the item for them. First to pay will get it, even though you are answering questions.

If I had my druthers, the bail out money would have gone to the people who were losing their homes in the first place. IOW, I would not have bailed out the banks at all. Why? Well, if our economy is going to collapse because of these mortgage/faux insurance/bad investment issues and we have to do something to stop it, then I would've rather started with fixing the foundation, the borrowers, than attempting to fix the sky light. I have sympathy for the people that signed these loans. They were handed a couple of pounds of paper, paper that other experts couldn't have translated into English for them, along with a smile and a 'hey, we got your back.' They trusted these institutions and the people representing them. The thought, I'm sure, was 'why would they make me a loan they know I can't pay back. It's as much in their best interest as my own, for this loan to work out.' As for the banks... I have nothing to say that wouldn't get me booted. Let that suffice ;)

:iagree: :iagree: This is my experience so far. We're closer for having done this. We do much more of the stuff that the parenting books say to do. We read together so much more. I used to wonder if I would ever get around to reading 30m every day with my kids. Now, we get a few hours of reading in a day ;) We also read a higher quality of books and we get more from those books. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like I've gone from typical mom (join everything as a way to do things together, but in reality not spending as much time together, because I am in charge of a group of kids) to good mom (taking time out to be together, learning together, examining the world together).

I've found that being able to say, this is our time, we need to work on this, has brought us a lot closer. I don't have to set aside a special day just for ds and me, every school day has a few hours carved out that are (except for younger ds's interruptions) ours to share.

This is our first year, but our plan is to school year round, for the exact same reason. Once it gets humid enough to swim through the air, summer vacation gets moved indoors anyway.

I've gotton flack for my dcs attending funerals. They were not loud of obnoxious, but people were very aware of their ages. While I don't plan to put any mummies in the living room, I don't think that hiding death, or how we deal with death, is going to help them. I don't make them say goodbye or kiss corpses, but those we've lost deserved their presence and respect and they deserved the right to see that death is not scary and to to assure themselves that that person is not coming back. I think the most painful part of death is the lingering hope that it was all a mistake.

I don't understand why they didn't just develop Deigo's cousin or sister or whatever she is. She's older, she's already got the shape and everything. Arg. Luke loves Dora and Diego, this will be a big disappointment for him and his little friend (girl, same age) across the street. :(

Same town, different neighborhood ;)

Check with the Virginia tourism board. They'd have tons of stuff. Also, go to the George Washington's Birthplace web site, Jamestown site, Mount Vernon, Ferry Farm, Westmoreland County. There's tons of places to look and most of them sell books made especially for that place. Have fun!

Lol, I don't have a cell phone. I have an excellent plan on our home phone, unlimited long distance with all the bells and whistles for much less than we had payed for our cell phones. Now, dh has a pay as you go phone and I get sweet sweet aloneness while I'm in the car... or at least as alone as I can be with the boys, but ykwIm ;)

My dh works on dirt bikes, four wheelers and motorcycles at home for extra income. We are used to having groups of teenage boys show up out of the blue with their various mechanical issues. At one point, a group showed up that was loud, cursing and rude. I didn't let them past the front porch, simply told them this was my home and I didn't stand for that sort of behavior and they needed to leave. Now. That's how I handle most of those kinds of situations. I've kicked people out mid-dinner for being rude or obnoxious and my response is always, this is my home and I will not have that here. It always shocks me when anyone behaves like a wild animal in someone else's home. The other thread, about kids, I didn't even want to get into it. Telling someone, I'm sorry, but they can't come back until they learn some respect, never goes over well.

I would take a total break. Put the books down. You're making me tired just thinking about it.