:confused: I don't understand the idea that once the kids stop believing that Santa is real, you might as well give up Christmas altogether and just go away on vacation. To me, that seems to argue against telling kids he’s real to begin with. My kids have never gone through that level of disapointment, so Christmas has never lost it’s “magic†for us. We put up the tree the day after Thanksgiving, decorate the house with candles and evergreens and paper snowflakes, bake cookies, make presents for friends and family, play board games, have hot chocolate by the fire, listen to Christmas carols, and thoroughly revel in the season. The fact that I've never tried to convince them that reindeer can actually defy the laws of physics and fly through the air, or that a fat guy in a red suit can really truly slide down millions of chimneys in one night (or that children in other countries who don't believe in Santa don't deserve any presents :glare:), doesn't in any way diminish their experience of Christmas — or even their enjoyment of Santa as a fairy tale character. They still like watching Santa movies, reading The Night Before Christmas, putting Santa decorations on the tree, etc. DD's teddy bears don't need to actually talk and drink tea in order for "tea parties" to be fun — pretending works just fine. Knowing that Hogwarts doesn't really exist doesn't diminish my kids pleasure in reading about it, or in playing Harry & Hermione. Knowing that a "fort" is made out of sheets and furniture doesn't "ruin" it's value. I'm all for imaginative play and pretending. The issue for me, as a child, was being told — repeatedly — that Santa was not pretend. Jackie

:iagree: And I think this raises an interesting question: For those who did feel betrayed, do your parents know you felt that way? If you told them, did they feel badly about it, or dismiss your feelings as "overly sensitive"? Or were you too hurt and upset to even tell them how you felt? I'm thinking there may be quite a few parents out there who think their kids enjoyed "believing" in Santa, when the opposite is true. If someone asked my mother how my siblings and I felt about Santa, I’m sure she'd say we all loved it and it was part of the "magic of Christmas" — which would be true for some of my siblings. But for me, the disconnect between being told, on the one hand, that lying is always wrong, lying is a sin, children who lie don’t get presents from Santa (or go to heaven), and then having my parents lie to me — repeatedly — about Santa, made me question everything else they said. I agree with those who say this is probably a personality thing; some kids will feel betrayed and others won’t be bothered at all. Personally, I do not want to be lied to — by anyone for any reason. If I find out that someone has been lying to me, my trust in them is gone. And if someone tries to tell me that they were lying “for my own good” or “to make me happy,” that just makes it worse, IMHO. My son is like me; honesty and trust are a big deal to him and he would have been devastated if I’d lied to him about Santa. He’s explicitly told me this and has thanked me for not lying. My DD would not have been bothered; she would have been disappointed to find out it wasn’t true, but she wouldn’t consider it “lying.” But then her feelings about what constitutes a “lie” are a lot more... flexible... than mine. Jackie

DD9 has the WeDo Robotics set and absolutely loves it. DH does it with her; he thinks it's perfect for kids who aren't quite ready for Mindstorms. She can do a lot of it by herself, too. Highly recommended! Jackie

Yay! I did a very similar thing, and I know that getting a little extra “breathing room†like that can really help. My DS repeated a grade; when he finished his second year of 3rd grade in basically the same place academically that he’d started his first year of 3rd grade, I decided it was time to homeschool. After a year of relaxed schooling, when he finally stopped thinking he was stupid and seemed to have recovered from his school experience, I started trying to get him “caught up†and back on “grade level.†Suddenly “school†went from being documentaries and nature study and experiments and read-alouds to a dozen different “subjects,†each with its own curriculum: spelling, vocabulary, grammar, writing, literature, math, history, science (with textbooks), “critical thinking†workbooks, blah blah blah. Huge mistake. HUGE. At the end of that year I decided to stop trying to “catch up†and just let it count as 5th grade instead of 6th. I felt like an enormous weight had lifted off my shoulders, and that I could use the extra year to really figure out how we were going to go forward, because what I’d done the previous year (and what 2 different schools had done) clearly had not worked. Best. Decision. Ever. The irony? By devoting that year to “lighting the fire†instead of trying to “fill the bucket,†he’s ended up not only back on “grade level,†but ahead of it. On his own. For fun. Well, that’s what you can use this year for — to find out what he’s interested in. No matter how wonderful the curriculum is, trying to fill a bucket when the lid is clamped on tight is just a waste of time and resources (ask me how I know :tongue_smilie:). By the end of the year, if you can find something that your DS is really excited about, that’s worth way more than a stack of worksheets and essays. If anyone had told me 2.5 years ago that the sulky, unmotivated 11 yo who was whining/complaining/dawdling through every stinkin’ math problem, vocabulary exercise, and science chapter review would be voluntarily putting 10-15 hrs/wk into an Attic Greek class, reading linguistics for fun, and having conversations about dark energy, Xenophon’s approach to horse training, and the succession of kings in the Achaemenid empire (to name three topics of conversation at dinner last night!), I’d have laughed my @ss off. Not only did DS have zero interest in any of those things, he wouldn’t even read a book — I used to have to bribe him to read Magic Treehouse books. One thing he was interested in was computer games, especially Age of Mythology, Age of Empires, and Civilization III. I know some kids can handle gaming with no problem, but the combination of really boring schoolwork and really exciting video games was toxic for DS. Even when he wasn’t doing “school,†if he wasn’t allowed to play videogames, he would just sit around and mope, complaining that he was bored and there was “nothing to do.†So I took away the computer games, the DSlite, and the Wii, and decided to prove to him that learning cool stuff could actually be a lot more fun and interesting than playing computer games. Age of Mythology had piqued his interest in Greek mythology, so I used that to tempt him into reading the Percy Jackson books. Bingo! Then I kept him supplied with every semi-magical series with a tween/teen boy hero I could find, and suddenly I had a reader on my hands. I gradually increased the reading level and complexity of the books, until he was reading Lloyd Alexander, Ursula LeGuin, and Tolkein (and Homer!). The interest in mythology and ancient civilizations led to TC courses, which led to books like Warfare in the Classical World, which led to more TC courses on topics like the Greek & Persian wars, which sparked additional research and requests for books and TC courses on the Persian Empire, etc. etc. etc. When he asked to learn Greek, I told him I thought Greek was not a good choice for a dyslexic, ADD kid with poor working memory and slow processing speed who still struggled to memorize his math facts! But he was adamant, so I told him he’d need to do a crash course in grammar, and he shocked me by acing Lukeion’s grammar course. He’s just finishing up his 1st semester of Athenaze — he has worked his butt off and he has straight As. The interest in civilizations led him to invent his own civilization — complete with religion, mythology, weapons, housing, clothing & jewelry, maps of the landscape, everything — which he illustrates in a large sketchbook. The combination of learning Greek and working on his invented civilization inspired him to invent a unique language for his culture, so now he’s studying linguistics. He’s learning computer programming by working through Virtual World Design & Creation for Teens, so that he can design his civilization in 3D. Reading the Greek epics and LOTR (not to mention all those YA novels) got him interested in writing a novel about a hero figure from his invented culture, so I got him the One Year Adventure Novel. He’s interested in taking Lukeion’s Classical Lit class, so I was brushing up on my Greek drama and one day I said “Wanna hear something funny?†and started reading a passage from The Frogs, which DS thought was hysterical, so that has turned into a daily read-aloud. My point (which you probably thought I'd never get to :tongue_smilie:) is that ALL OF THIS started with a sulky, unmotivated 11 yo boy who hated school and was obsessed with a few computer games. You never know where even the most trivial and seemingly “uneducational†interest might lead, if you start from there and keep feeding it and guiding it and even sharing it with him. Jackie

Hi Korin! I think the answer to your question really depends on the root causes of the problems you're having. If it’s mostly a parent/child power struggle, then having outside teachers may fix the problem, but if the issue is that the boys are unmotivated and disinterested in school in general, then putting them in an even more “schooly†environment may have the opposite effect. More busywork; more testing; less challenging material; reading & writing assignments they may hate; history & science topics they may have zero interest in — those are not likely to improve their motivation and morale, kwim? And you may find that you have to do just as much reminding/nagging/arguing to get them to do the work anyway. At least with homeschooling, the work you’re nagging them to do is work you choose; nagging them to do an assignment that you agree is pointless busywork is much worse! Before I'd put the boys into an eschool, I’d try to change things up at home and focus more on rekindling their love of learning. Your boys are young, you still have time to find your groove and light that fire before they hit high school. You want them to be running under their own steam by then, because trying to push/prod/drag a reluctant teen through HS work will be much harder than what you’re doing now! Which courses/curricula do they hate the most? Can you drop those and cover the material in a different way (e.g., do them informally, integrate several subjects in a project-based unit, etc.)? Can you change your “output†requirements to things that are more creative and hands-on? Are they balking at covering the content, or is the problem that you’re afraid their output isn’t “traditional†enough (not writing essays, not doing spelling tests, not writing lab reports, etc.). If they actually enjoy learning but feel that “school-ifying†the process sucks all the joy out of it, then I’d sit down and really think about what your goals are, and design a program based on your end goals, rather than on someone else’s standards & benchmarks (6th graders “should†be doing X, 7th graders “must†be doing Y, etc). YMMV of course, but I can tell you what’s worked with DS13, who is not only awash in pubescent hormones but who used to be a die-hard school hater and extremely reluctant reader. By allowing him to pursue his interests in Greek mythology and ancient warfare (providing him with books, documentaries, TC courses, etc.), letting him go as in-depth as he wanted and pursue any and all rabbit-trails (e.g., extended research on the Hittite and Persian empires), DS has gradually expanded into much wider-ranging areas of history, politics, philosophy, religion, and culture. He’s also developed a passion for the Greek language, which has in turn led to a strong interest in linguistics (when I woke him up this morning, the first words out of his mouth were “Did you know that Finnish has 15 cases???†lol). So now, instead of a grammar text, DS has college-level books & TC courses on linguistics. For literature, he’s reading LOTR and we’re doing the plays of Aristophanes as a read aloud, with lots of cackling and discussion. Instead of a vocabulary workbook, I give him lists of English words from Greek roots relevant to the current chapter in Athenaze. Handwriting practice using colored fountain pens (fun, plus prevents DS from pressing too hard and ripping the paper) doubles as spelling work by incorporating words he’s recently misspelled. Instead of writing formulaic essays, he’s just started the One Year Adventure Novel; I like the idea of starting writing instruction with OYAN instead of essays — it’s high-interest, flexible, creative, and it does double-duty by teaching literary analysis from “the inside out.†Although DS’s “output†is not traditional, it serves the same purpose — in place of grammar worksheets, spelling tests, vocab quizzes, and five-paragraph essays, he’s doing linguistic puzzles from the Computational Linguistics Olympiad, writing a novel, and inventing a language. And instead of fighting me about doing boring worksheets, he wants to work on this stuff, even in his free time. For science, he’s currently into physics (TC courses, documentaries, hands-on projects, visits to the science museum), plus lots of nature study/journaling (he spent two hours at the river today, collecting snails, planarians, and amphipods for his “ecosystem tankâ€). He also does programming, electronics, and Mindstorms with DH in the evenings. Chess and strategy-based board games take the place of “critical thinking†workbooks. Oh, and he’s finally realized that algebra really is easier and more fun than arithmetic (thank you Harold Jacobs and Ed Burger). Starting with DS’s interests and then expanding those interests through connections with the wider world, jumping on opportunities for research and discussion, blurring the lines between “school†and “life,†have all contributed to a total turn-around in DS’s attitude. And since we’re now on the same team, we’ve eliminated 99% of the battles over “schoolwork.†Even DD9, who doesn’t “need†this kind of approach, has totally blossomed. Both kids are engaged, motivated, and working hard without any nagging/pleading/cajoling on my part. I would really encourage you not to give up the dream — you can have the kind of homeschool you want. Your boys can have the kind of homeschool they want, too; you guys just need to find the goals that you have in common and work towards those. And if the path you take to get there doesn’t look like anyone else’s... well, so what? Jackie

The dog's name is actually Bastardino — although I realize that's not any better. :lol: If you look at him, though, you can see that the name fits him. Bastardino wasn't designed (or named) specifically for the Barbie set, though; he's one of many well-known characters in the Tokidoki line, like the various Sanyo characters (Hello Kitty, My Melody, Chococat, etc.) In fact, it looks to me like the one included with Barbie is exactly the same one that Tokidoi sells as a separate figure, along with all their other collectible characters. The market for this doll was definitely Tokidoki collectors, not kids, and I understand it sold out really quickly. Tokidoki is one of those brands with an extremely devoted following: people line up for hours to have items signed by Simone Legno (the Italian designer), his booth at Comic Con is always totally mobbed, discontinued patterns sell for huge amounts on ebay, and there's a thriving black market in counterfeit Tokidoki stuff. There have been other collectible Barbies, like the Bob Mackie and Cher dolls, that were much more provocatively dressed, so I'm guessing the outrage over the Tokidoki Barbie is really just coming from people who hate tattoos. I think she's really pretty, and I'm not surprised that it sold out almost instantly, given that the target market for Tokidoki is teen-to-20-something girls. I think a lot of collectors would have bought it just for the micro-sized Tokidoki handbag! Jackie

:party: Thank you so much for this info — DS will be thrilled!!! Jackie

DS did this last summer! It's four 1-hr lectures, which are presented once/wk for 4 weeks during the semester, or four days in a row in the summer. I think a student who's read a bit about linguistics or watched a TC course on the subject would already know the material, but it's a really fun introduction for someone with no background in the area. Jackie

How does this work? :bigear: On the website I could only find information about signing up, as a student, to take the test at a registered university or high school site, or registering as a teacher to administer the test at a high school. Can homeschool parents register as teachers and designate their homeschool as a site? There aren't any university or high school sites listed for our state, so I would love for DS to be able to do this at home. Jackie

When my DD was about 7, she desperately wanted light pink hair. Her hair is jet black, and at the time it was waist-length, so there was no way I'd let her bleach the whole thing and go pink. The compromise was that we did the ends of her hair pink. I bleached the bottom 3-4 inches and then dyed it with Manic Panic. By just doing the tips, the chemicals never came into contact with her scalp or skin — I put her hair in a pony tail, brushed the bleach or dye on the tips, and put the treated hair in a baggie with an elastic band around the top, for the required length of time. Then I rinsed and shampooed the tips in the sink. It looked really cute, she loved it, and when it started to get faded and frizzy we just cut it off. That way, there are no "roots" to hide, no damage to grow out, etc. Jackie

Just wanted to add a couple of quick things: The other McWhorter course, The Story of Human Language, is on sale through Nov. 3rd. The Priority Code is 60217, and Coupon Code X9Z8 will get you free shipping through Nov. 4th. There are lots of practice problems in computational linguistics available for free download here on the NACLO website. (For even more problems, you can click on the database link and sign in as a guest.) DS has been having a lot of fun working on these! Jackie

McWhorter has a 2nd TC course as well, The Story of Human Language, as well as a number of trade books (Power of Babel, What Language Is, etc). OnlineG3 has a one-semester Linguistics class that includes prep for the Computational Linguistics Olympiad. I highly recommend The World's Writing Systems, published by Oxford University Press. It's an incredible resource for any language geek, and includes lots of really beautiful and obscure writing systems, from the glyphs of Easter Island to the shockingly alien/futuristic looking ancient Irish script, Ogham, as well as providing extensive historical and linguistic analysis from more than 80 scholars. Some of the reviews: It's really expensive new, but I bought an excellent used copy for $75 and it was worth every penny. It's one of my absolute favorite reference books ever. Some fun resources: Ardalambion, an extensive website covering all of Tolkein's invented languages, including a downloadable mini-course in Quenya! In the Land of Invented Languages: Adventures in Linguistic Creativity, Madness, and Genius The Language Construction Kit (walks you through the process of inventing your own language) On the Dot: The Speck That Changed the World (brilliantly eclectic book about the role of the dot in language — from bulleted lists in ancient Egypt to the addition of accents & punctuation to Greek, to morse code, braille, computer languages, etc.) The same author has books on the history of Greek & Latin as well. Jackie

The 48-lecture courses are usually $130 on sale. Jackie

Teaching Co courses: Understanding Linguistics: The Science of Language (36 lectures) Story of Human Language (36 lectures) History of English (36 lectures) (the first 2 are taught by John McWhorter, of Stanford, who's written a number of popular books on language & linguistics, like The Power of Babel) Some additional resources: The OnlineG3 Linguistics class is one semester and includes prep for the Computational Linguistics Olympiad The Adventure of English (documentary series with Melvyn Bragg, ~7 hrs total) In the Land of Invented Languages: Adventures in Linguistic Creativity, Madness, and Genius The Language Construction Kit The Story of Writing: Alphabets, Hieroglyphs, & Pictograms If he wants to make it a bit broader — something like Technology & Engineering in the Ancient World — there are actually a lot of cool resources out there. A few that I can think of off the top of my head: Understanding the World's Greatest Structures: Science & Innovation from Antiquity to Modernity (Teaching Co, 24 lectures; roughly the first half is on engineering in the ancient world) Engineering an Empire (History Channel series, many episodes on the ancient world) Seventy Great Inventions of the Ancient World Science & Technology in World History: An Introduction Engineering in the Ancient World (NB: I wouldn't recommend James & Thorpe's book Ancient Inventions for this age, because there is an entire chapter on sex, including sex toys! I put this particular book on the top shelf for when DS is older.) Oxford University Press's 7-volume series, Technology in World History, is excellent and the first two volumes cover the ancient world. I bought the set during one of those crazy sales that Amazon has on OUP sets (<$100 for the entire set), but you might be able to find them in the library. The ISBNs for the first 2 volumes are 0195218213 and 0195218221, in case that helps you locate them (sometimes you can get used copies of individual volumes quite cheaply) Jackie

:iagree: Jackie

I think there are likely to be far more people here with a negative view of unschooling than the other way around, though. And people who have gone the other direction — from structured to unstructured — would most likely not be posting here anymore anyway. Personally, I regret not having unschooled DS all the way through elementary school. He was unschooled up to the age of 7, and yet when he started private school he was ahead of grade level in math & reading and waaaay ahead in science. Within 2 years he was behind in math and reading, and by the time he had repeated 3rd grade he was not only still behind, he absolutely loathed reading and math and wanted nothing to do with school. It's taken a while to repair that damage, and I have no doubt that if we'd continued unschooling, or a blend of unschooling & interest-led, that he would have been much better off. I'm taking a much less structured approach with DD (currently in 4th). I think that's the key to making unschooling work. If the parents create a family culture that is focused on curiosity and exploration and a love of learning, then the kids pick that up. The instances where I've seen unschooling flop (IMO — obviously radical unschoolers often think the kids are doing fine) is when parents think that letting kids watch cartoons and play video games all day will somehow magically lead to an interest in learning about things they've never even been exposed to. For some kids that might work; for most it probably won't. Jackie

But they allow dual enrollment, don't they? The OP's DD could be enrolled as homeschooled HS student, who would just be doing all (or most) of her classes at the CC. The OP could also give her credit for her missions work and any preparation she's doing for the upcoming internship (Bible study, learning about the culture, etc.). Then she graduates with a homeschool HS diploma and a number of CC credits towards an AA. I also agree with what Martha said about letting her try to test out of some courses by studying for CLEPs and/or doing some distance learning courses. Even if the local CC does not allow dual enrollment for some reason, she could take distance learning courses from other CCs. Many people who get a degree through CLEP/DANTES testing (e.g. using College Plus, the Instacert forum, etc.) take distance learning courses from CCs like Clovis — out-of-state tuition for two 3-credit courses is only $270 (for both). I think there are lots of options here without having to "settle" for a GED. Jackie

:iagree: We don't unschool, but we're definitely on the more relaxed/eclectic/interest-led end of the spectrum, and my kids are far from lazy or undisciplined. They do their own laundry, clean their rooms and their bathroom, do most of the sweeping/dusting/vacuuming, and load & unload the dishwasher. They feed and water the chickens (even when it's freezing outside), collect eggs, and clean the coop (even when it's 100 degrees). They help DH in the barn when he asks, and they help me with other chores around the house when I ask. None of those tasks are "fun" but they do them without complaint — which is more than I can say for many of their public- or private-schooled friends, who have far more structured/unfun school experiences. IME, it's not necessary for a child's education to be heavily scheduled, or to include work they find boring or tedious, in order for them to develop a work ethic or be able to tolerate boring tasks; there are plenty of other opportunities in life to teach those things. In our family, we prefer "school" to be as exciting and engaging and interesting as possible. Obviously different things work for different families, and even for different kids within a family, but I don't believe that unschooling = lazy kids. I agree with WishboneDawn and Hotdrink that that is more of a parenting issue than a schooling issue. Jackie

Lukeion offers a 6-week intensive College Level Research Writing Seminar each semester. It's taught by Regan Barr and although DS hasn't taken this particular course, he took the intensive grammar course last summer, which was fantastic. I was so impressed with it, and DS not only thoroughly enjoyed the course, he retained everything. He's currently taking Lukeion's Greek course and he's done a number of their short-term workshops (4 meetings) and he's loved everything he's done with them. Jackie

Are you sure she needs a GED to start at the CC? Most CCs don't require a GED or a HS diploma, the student just takes an assessment (like Accuplacer) and then enrolls in courses at the appropriate level. Can she study a bit for the Accuplacer (or whatever the CC uses) instead of the GED, and just start taking classes? Then when she's 18, if her work at CC is satisfactory to you, you can graduate her from your homeschool. That way she would have a high school diploma rather than a GED and if she's ever asked on a job application if she's a "HS graduate," she can honestly answer yes. That's what I would do, anyway. Jackie

I've added it to my booklist — we watched the episodes of Jeopardy with "Watson," and DS was fascinated with the whole idea. Thanks! Jackie

Another thought about English — if your DS enjoys Latin and is interested in programming & programming languages, he might like to do Linguistics as one of his English credits. My DS, like yours, is definitely headed for a STEM career, he loves Greek, and he has minimal interest in formal literary analysis, so I'm planning for one of his HS credits to be Linguistics & Language, focusing on the science and history of human languages. We'll use 3 Teaching Company courses, an online course with G3, and some interesting books like In the Land of Invented Languages and The Language Construction Kit. The Construction Kit book teaches you how to invent a "conlang," complete with alphabet, grammar, lexicon, etc. DS's "output" for that course will consist of an invented language that follows linguistic rules and operates like a proper language; a techier kid could focus more on computational linguistics instead of inventing a language (the G3 course actually includes prep for the Computational Linguistics Olympiad). Spending a year studying language from a scientific perspective instead of a literary one might be a fun change of pace for your DS. Jackie

Tailoring a student's education to his interests doesn't have to equal a lightweight, noncompetetive transcript! Just because the standard Social Studies credits at the local PS may be World History, US History, and Geography (or whatever), that doesn't mean that your son can't have credits like History of Science, or History of Weapons & Warfare, or something closer to his interests. Even something like Media and Technology in American Culture can count as a Social Studies credit. English credits don't have to be English 1, 2, 3, (or American Lit, Brit Lit, etc.) either, they can be things like The Hero Quest in World Literature, or Utopia & Dystopia in Science Fiction, or any other topic of your son's interest. In fact, I looked at the course offerings at several of the top private schools around here, as well as nationally recognized schools like Philips Exeter, and those are exactly the type of courses they offer — not the generic World History or English I. IMO, if you really want your DS to stand out when he applies to MIT, having a more unique transcript that shows his interests will be much more effective than a generic course list that looks just like every other public-schooled kid. I'm on several other homeschooling lists where kids have gotten into top colleges with very nontraditional transcripts. In fact one person said that when she interviewed at Yale, the interviewer told her that "people think we're looking for well-rounded kids, but actually we're looking for a well-rounded class of jagged kids." As for writing.... Could you use a less structured program, like Bravewriter? Or even something creative like the One Year Adventure Novel (which could be a complete English credit as well). Or could you drop writing for now and do it as a separate "summer intensive" program, when he doesn't have so many other courses on his plate? He might find it less painful to focus on nothing but writing for a shorter period of time, like pulling a bandaid off quickly instead of millimeter by millimeter. As long as he learns to write at some point, in the meantime you can use oral discussions as "assessments" in subjects like history & literature in lieu of essays and tests. Jackie

The two Athenaze books cover all of the grammar; after that it's reading original works. DS will stick with Lukeion for the reading courses (Greek 3 & 4), because he absolutely loves Regan Barr as a teacher and the format is working really well for him, but there are a number of self-teaching reading courses available — if you search Amazon for "reading Greek" + Homeric, Attic, koine, etc., you'll see some of the options. It's Attic Greek, but it does include some biblical passages. By "blended" I mean that it includes both explicit grammar instruction and lots of reading & translation. Each chapter has 1-2 pages of the Greek story (Dicaeopolis and his family), several lines of translation from ancient sources and the New Testament, and then about halfway through book 1 you also start getting passages of adapted original text (e.g. Homer, Herodotus) — these are all in addition to the same type of sentence translation exercises you would see in Henle or Wheelocks (e.g. translating 12 Greek sentences into English and another 12 English sentences into Greek). The idea is to make sure that students can apply their knowledge of grammar and vocabulary to actually reading Greek, not just doing textbook exercises. It also really livens things up, compared to just straight grammar & vocab drill — Dicaeopolis's slave, Xanthias, is hilarious! ETA: This website provides a good explanation of different Greek dialects. As to the advantage of learning Attic rather than Koine first, he says: "because of the Koine's simplifications of morphology and syntax, going back to read Attic or Epic Greek is much harder than moving in the other direction." Jackie

Well, here's some advice from a few people who seemed to know what they were doing: Do not train children to learn by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may better discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each. Plato Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. Aristotle Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing of what it takes in. Leonardo da Vinci A man ought to read just as inclination leads him, for what he reads as a task will do him little good. Samuel Johnson It is in fact nothing short of a miracle that modern methods of instruction have not yet strangled the holy curiosity of enquiry, for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mostly in need of freedom. Albert Einstein :001_smile: Jackie