Thanks for sharing this article! I think the teachers who want to embrace texting and want to emphasize "attention scope" are unaware of the drawbacks. "It is also what makes multitasking a poor long-term strategy for learning. ...task-switching leads to time lost as the brain determines which task to perform...his research has also found that multitasking contributes to the release of stress hormones and adrenaline, which can cause long-term health problems if not controlled, and contributes to the loss of short-term memory." http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-myth-of-multitasking Multi-tasking and texting and the constant interruptions from all kinds of technology could also lead to shallow thinking, poor introspection, and poor comprehension of not only a single subject but the interconnection of related and disparate subjects. The book Endangered Minds by Jane Healy also examines this issue.

:lurk5: I, too, am really intrigued by the birthday rings with the candles and figurines. The expense is a bit daunting, but maybe if we purchased a single figure year by year it wouldn't seem as onerous. Hmmm... I've seen nearly the same kinds of rings re-organized into seasonal decorations. That could helps spread out the cost, too....hmmmm... Are there any particular traditions or ceremonies for these rings or are they mostly just a special decoration for a child's birthday?

Absolutely.

By your subject line I thought you meant "kind" of tea--Earl Grey or chai for me. :lol: As for the actual cups, I prefer a weird assortment of mismatched ceramic coffee cups, themed porcelain tea cups (their shapes are more or less the same but they all have different colored flowers) or matching white Corelle teacups. For travel we use plastic lidded mugs that we can open & close the sippy-hole with one finger. I think we just picked them up at gas stations or in the grocery store coffee aisle.

From what I've read about the "problems with praise", it is not giving vs. withholding praise. The kind of praise given to a child can undermine their confidence. Blanket "good job" or "you're so smart" type of praise can have a reverse effect. Either a child doesn't really know what in particular they did was a good job or a child starts to crave getting labeled as smart, for instance. When they find themselves struggling with a difficult problem (like in math or something), they fear failing to figure it out easily--like a smart person "should"--and thus fear losing the label of "smart". So, they just don't try to figure the problem out--if they don't try they won't lose the label. Being specific with praise helps head this off: "I really like how you worked to figure the problem out" (praising effort), "that was an inventive solution", "you put a lot of thought into answering this", "I like your color choices", etc. Carol Dweck, a psychologist at Stanford I think, has done a lot of research on this. Here's an article she wrote: http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/spring99/PraiseSpring99.pdf There was an interesting article in the New York Times magazine, too, about this issue: http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/ I was told as a kid, "You did a great job watering the plants!" (I was 12.) And, other such blanket, silly praise for everything in an effort to give me good self-esteem. What ended up happening was that I started to doubt all that praise as being empty and undeserved and I also didn't try as hard as I could have because I was purportedly "brilliant". :tongue_smilie: Great discussion topic! Even with my perspective on being cautious with how I praise, I love hearing people's ideas for clever ways to approach this issue!

If you choose Chaucer's Canturbury Tales, be sure to read them yourself before reading them to the kids. Some of the tales might be okay. "The Miller's Tale", for instance, is NOT something you should probably read to a little kid. (For instance, there is a sex scene that ends--supposedly hilariously--with the man committing adultery getting a hot poker stuck in his nether region by another jilted lover.)

If you can find it, I recommend The Wonderful O by James Thurber. When I was a kid/teen, my family also enjoyed reading together: --The Wheel on the School --Tree Wagon --The Cat Who Came for Christmas The Wonderful O is my favorite of those 4 by far, though. A pirate loses his mother after she falls out of a porthole and now he despises anything shaped like an O. He takes over a town and slowly gets rid of things with O's in them. The townspeople, of course, must fight for their town. I love reading everyone's suggestions! Great post!

Thank you, Moderators! :hurray:

Consider also including: natural resources of particular areas--everything from forests to oil to diamonds, etc. land forms (fjords, peninsulas, etc.) When I was in 6th grade, I had to make a 3D depiction of different land formations on a 1 foot square tile, using 10 different formations. It had to be painted to look like the formations we'd molded. We had to discuss why we placed the desert to the right of the mountains instead of on the other side nearer the ocean, for instance. I'm not sure what the material was that we used. It was white and it could be molded. It may have just been a dense flour and water mixture??? In any case I loved this project. main exports and attractions, perhaps (coffee, teak, electronics, skiing, etc.) maybe a little of geology--the whys of island chains and mountain ranges state/national birds, flowers, religions, etc. In 4th grade I enjoyed coloring maps of Arkansas and Maine. I had to draw them myself, draw the state bird and other items of interest, and mark the capitol. Then I had to present my states to my classmates. Had to do something similar in 6th grade with several countries of my choice: Israel (my mom had been there and had lots of stuff on it) and Ireland (because I'd always wanted to go). Some of this is a bit tangential, but might be interesting to include anyhow. The info could lead to an interesting segue into history and current events.

http://suzukiassociation.org/parents/twinkler/ I recommend reading Dr. Suzuki's Ability Development from Age Zero. It is an excellent little book that explains his philosophy. Oddly enough, it is a good parenting book in many ways, too. Depending upon how closely you want to assist your child, you might also consider getting a violin. Dr. Suzuki recommends that the parents learn, at least a little bit. We set an example and can better help with technique if we are learning to play, too. My daughter will go get her violin when I get mine out. She also likes it when we play songs together.

I took the Myers-Briggs test--INTJ here, too, though many were moderate (aside from the introverted criteria, decisive on that one!). Anyway, I read the description of this particular personality type and to hammer home why there seem to be so many INTJs here: "This in turn produces an unusual independence of mind, freeing the INTJ from the constraints of authority, convention, or sentiment for its own sake." Part of the definition of being a homeschooler, eh? Unusual independence of mind, not tied to conventions, chooses to be outside the constraints of, at least, school authority. http://typelogic.com/intj.html

"Men of sense, whatever you may say, do NOT want silly wives!" ;) Gotta love Mr. Knightley.

No pun intended? ;)

I am 5'4" and about 135 (10 more lbs to go of baby weight...sigh). Anyway, I have good luck at Younkers (a Midwestern store with a Petites section), GAP, Target, JCPenney, and Macy's. Sizing is all over the map, though, with all of them. Some places/brands I'm a small, others a large, some a size 4 (yippee!) and others an 8 or a 10. And I deplore trying on clothes. Blech. Goodwill has also been a great place for me to shop--just scored some really nice winter shirts just the other day actually. However, I must tell you I haven't bought jeans in ages so I have no idea what brands are good to buy anymore. I think one pair I own is even a hand-me-down from one of my sisters. Good luck!

In what way are their sentences incomplete? Capitalization issues? Punctuation? No subject? Starting the sentence with 'Because...'? What is the context? Sometimes the way questions are phrased encourages answering in incomplete sentences. (Who was the 14th president of the US? What is the capitol of Iowa?) Perhaps have them answer as if you suddenly lost the question and wouldn't understand what they were talking about unless they answered more clearly (in a complete, detailed sentence or paragraph). My 2nd grade teacher told me I couldn't use the word 'because' anymore to start my sentences. I had to figure out a more creative way to answer the 'why' questions. :)

:iagree: "Why are homeschoolers so annoying?" she asks, and then answers, indirectly, that in many ways we're right. The green-eyed monster can be frustrating.;) Her article does mix up some snootiness by the homeschooling author ("mommy and daddy get back to their ultra-important lives") and legitimate concerns ("bullying, arbitrary systems of order and discipline, age-inappropriate standards of behavior, and the hegemony of corporatized kid culture."). I haven't read any of the comments over there, but I hope people are not reacting with outrage. She seems interested in the possibilities of homeschooling; I hope the responses encourage her to investigate further and to not judge the whole by the part.

It was the ketchup. Perhaps he has one entitled "Reminiscences of Jackson Pollack". ;)

Little Lights Nature School--what a darling name! Very apt, and I think, very clever and creative. :)

Our name is Laurel Highlands Eclectic Academy, so it doesn't quite reflect a pure CM approach (nor is it particularly creative). What about: Charlotte's Academy Once Upon a Walk School of Discovery Garden of Wisdom Hope these aren't too cheesy or anything... :001_smile:

Found some reenactment links. Maybe there's a group in your area. http://www.schneckhouse.com/reenacting%20supplies.htm http://www.coon-n-crockett.org/linklist.htm http://www.warscholar.com/Revolution.html http://www.historyandreenacting.com/NewReenacting.htm

Excellent article, Audrey! I'm sending it on to friends of mine with little ones. Maybe they'll decide homeschooling is the best route!

"A Tangle of Snaking Cubes! Puritanical clergy deemed this snake puzzle a form of temptation as parishioners snuck them into church. You will experience the same temptation as you try to recoil the snake into a perfect cube. The object is to twist and turn the individually connected cubes to form one 3 x 3 cube." Just don't let him sneak it into church. ;) http://www.gamedaze.com/Snake-Puzzle.aspx Maybe a small animal/insect figurine that has a good texture--like a smooth frog or a bumpy dinosaur or a ridged caterpillar. You can get a handful of different ones at Michael's or Target, I think.

Cranberry Christmas. by the Devlins The Night Before Christmas. illustrated by Tasha Tudor The Polar Express. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

There are some who are upset about Obama in particular, but at least for the people I know it is about policies--not about "their guy lost" (many thought, McCain? eww) or that conspiracies are around every corner. Policies I'm upset with: deficit spending run amok, the health reform bills, the bailouts of banks and the auto industry, the stimulus package, the cash for clunkers program, CPSIA, the foolhardy policies by the Fed (et al.) that turned into our current economic woes. Where was I the last eight years? Not paying proper attention. :( Looking back on everything that's happened in the last 8 years I'm pretty ashamed of myself for not being more attuned and objective and observant. Finally being forced to really examine my own bank account has forced me to look out the government's spending habits. I finally started reading Cicero and Revolutionary War history. Behavior on both sides of the aisle is ridiculous. I'm an independent. My Republican-voting friends are upset with how things are going. Some of my Democrat-voting friends are upset with how things are going--including friends who voted for President Obama. I held my nose and voted for McCain. :ack2: For the people I know (yes, a small set of anecdotal evidence), it is about the policies. The reason it looks like it is about President Obama is because instead of the wild spending slowing down and the infringements on our rights slowing down nothing really has changed on Capitol Hill.

Oh for heaven's sake! Well, it seems a childish thing to spread news over. But, that reinforces my view of tweeting and Twitter--it's a gossip machine in many ways. The name makes me think of The Music Man and the song lines "pick-a-little, talk-a-little, pick-a-little, talk-a-little, cheep, cheep, cheep, talk-a lot, pick-a-little-more". Two aspects of "truthiness" though--the President's remarks and someone else's observation that they weren't very presidential remarks. I bet he won't be as loose-tongued in a newsroom again! Nothing new, though; other presidents have made unwise comments with a mic around. Seems kinda snoopy and nosy of those journalists, actually. Sheesh!