:iagree: My grandma died just a few months ago. Grandpa had a wake at the old home place. It was beautiful and sweet and oh-so-special. It was so relaxed and comfortable with people coming and going all evening long and lots of impromptu singing, both German (her primary language) and English. I couldn't have asked for a nicer good-bye.

I have a dd16, and two sons, 13 and 11. We all recently read the books by Australian author John Flanagan. The Ranger's Apprentice has 12 books in the series and then the Brotherband Chronicles has 5 or 6. They are fantasy/adventure/a lot of action. I was sad when we came to the end. Maybe worth looking into?

The first time I read an article from the onion, I thought, "Really! ... What? ....no, that can't be". :001_smile: I did believe it for about half a minute. In my defense, the story wasn't that "out there". Or at least, I didn't think so. :blush: Around here, we have come to like the onion. It's hilariously funny even if it occasionally pokes fun at stuff I believe in.

I have nothing to add to discussion. :tongue_smilie: I just wanted to say how true I think that last sentence is. I read it somewhere a long time ago and it was some of the best advice I have ever gotten. I think my mind gets easily cluttered. I need space to think.

Displace - I have been on the dyslexicadvantage website. I also read their very interesting, very informative book. I credit it for changing my whole outlook on teaching my son. I haven't heard of the other two. Thank you I will check them out. :seeya:

Apologies to athomeontheprairie. I didn't mean to derail your thread.

Quill, that was a gracious response and maybe I should have explained myself I bit more. I am new to the board, so I didn't feel like overwhelming you all with a sermon right off. :001_smile: Additionally, words are not my strong point so I have a hard time getting my thoughts on paper. But here goes.... I promise not to throw rotten tomatoes, but did you read any of the HP books? (Presumably not.) No, I didn't. I didn't feel like it would be worth my time, since I wasn't comfortable with the amount of sorcery/witchcraft/magic to begin with. As a child I read a lot. At least a book a day. My parents never monitored what I read. To busy to keep up with me. I got into a lot of things I shouldn't have read that still cause me to struggle even as an adult. I have a daughter who takes after me. She would spend her entire life reading if I would let her. So, yes, I depend a lot on other moms, forums, review sites, to help me make wise choices without me having to read every book out there. If I feel like there as a question or gray area, then I would take the time to read the book myself. I didn't think that HP was gray at all. :001_smile: In fact, the question of ends-justify-means is a theme that is wrestled with in the upper books. But, more importantly, do you hold to that for all the media you consume? We try. :001_smile: I would not want to be so limited in my media selection that I could only read/watch stories that reflect my worldview. To explain what I meant by that....I want the books that my children read to reinforce what I am teaching them morally and spiritually. So if I teach them that God hates sorcery and divination, how can I then point them to a book in which the "hero" does those things. (I'm not sure how I could even know that in advance.) The beauty of the internet. And like I said, I preview, read reviews, and depend some on others who I have come to trust. Of course, it is none of my concern whether you read J K Rowling's books or not; there are 300 million other people who do. It just bugs me when people won't read it because they have "heard" this or that. It would be kind of hard to argue that Harry doesn't use spells or incantations. So if I start with my main premise that I think that is wrong, I don't need to go any further than that. The HP stories are packed with Christian symbolism and the story continually wrestles with good vs. evil, important themes of what different beings "deserve" (i.e., some magical creatures are slaves with no personal freedom, some creatures suffer prejudiced attitudes, "Might Makes Right"), resurrection is a theme, sacrifice is a theme, parental love is, love as the great overcomer is, defeating death is a theme. See any books written by John Granger on HP analysis. I get that. And obviously Rowlings is a fascinating author or else she wouldn't have the success that she does. But there are plenty of other books out there that emphasize those same themes without stepping over what I think is a very clear Biblical guideline. Or don't. ;) Certainly that is your prerogative. And that is what I have come down to with my friends and relatives, some of which have no problem with HP. If they are free in their own hearts to read or listen or watch something, that is between them and God. I cannot know their hearts. But then I want the same grace from them. :001_cool: Edited to remove some funky formatting.

Mamiof5 We've lived both sides of the spectrum. We have an oldest dd who we didn't homeschool. We are very close and have a great relationship, but homeschooling is just different. As you said, learning together is such an adventure! It saddens me that we didn't have that with her. {Hugs} It sounds like you are still close? If so, that's the important thing. :001_smile: I totally understand how it must be hard for you to live in rural area and don't have other activities, homeschooling groups etc, that must be really hard :( It is. It would be even harder without the internet, so I am really grateful for that at least. I can chat on online forums :blushing:, my children can learn robotics, coding or whatever they are interested in without me having to be the expert. I'm glad you are sticking with homeschooling though! It's such a wonderful lifestyle...I just love it :) Me too. Totally off topic, but why with as many post as you have are you "just visiting". I have less than 10 and am "larvae" :eek:. How does that work?

Me too. Books are my escape. So I tend to stay away from any that sound too sad or too depressing or too dark or too heavy. I remember reading "Gone With the Wind" as a young teen. I walked around in a black fog for days after I finished the book. It wasn't worth it. :tongue_smilie:

I so agree with everything you wrote, but especially the bolded. My oldest is 16 and we are each others best friends. She will be leaving home soon enough and I want to enjoy every day I can with her. I really enjoy most aspects of home schooling - but most especially the upper grades. Discussing ideas, world views, learning life together. The other things that I really appreciate about being able to home school is the flexibility of schedule, the fun of researching and choosing curriculum, and the bonding I feel we have as a family. The biggest thing I struggle with is that because we live so rural we can't really be involved in group stuff. We don't have the opportunities for sports, or drama, or debate, etc. NO big home-schooling group or co-op. But I still wouldn't have it any other way. We have a rather relaxed view of what constitutes a good education. Of course, I want my children to be strong in math, reading and writing. We concentrate on those things. But after that's taken care of, we just have fun together doing a lot of interest driven stuff. Very stress-free. We make liberal use of online courses. My 11th grader will be doing mostly online courses next year (I think). When the children were younger, we did a lot of classes together. Especially science, history and bible. Besides the obvious of saving time, it was just a lot of fun to do it that way.

I watched the video. At 2:23, wow. Definitely feeling it. :wub:

The Hallelujah Chorus. Every single time....especially the pause before the final Hallelujah. Major, major frisson.

double post

Yes. All the time. But only when it comes to music. Never anything else. Interesting. I thought it was universal.

I just like playing in the dirt. :001_smile: Plus, nothing tastes as good as a home-grown tomato.