nmoira Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 :D Seriously, I'm frightened of losing the rest of my day if I so much as click it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happygrrl Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 :lol: I started, left for a few days, and am now waiting until tomorrow's 'snow day'. I have to make sure dinner is in the crockpot before I open it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garddwr Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I was scared but did it anyway. It's worth it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewellsmommy Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Which is 'the' thread? I am nosy and brave, just point it out.:tongue_smilie: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 (edited) I read the whole darn thing and wish I could get those hours of my life back. I personally thought it was a great deal of fluff-talking-in-circles. :leaving: ETA: To be clear, I thought the question in the OP was fantastic. I found the answers so far from practical that I wondered what the point was. Edited March 25, 2012 by Alte Veste Academy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 (edited) Which is 'the' thread? I am nosy and brave, just point it out.:tongue_smilie: The Circe Institute thread. (I was able to copy the URL without actually entering the thread. :tongue_smilie:) Edited March 25, 2012 by nmoira typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simka2 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 (edited) Ooops! Read the title wrong. :) Edited March 25, 2012 by simka2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunnyDays Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Honestly, I'm afraid that thread lost me some time ago. :D Like Kristina (Alte Veste) said, the original question is a very valuable one... but the whole thing just made my head spin and I wasn't really getting much out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewellsmommy Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 The Circe Institute thread. (I was able to copy the URL without actually entering the thread. :tongue_smilie:) Ooooh, that makes sense. Thank you. Cover me, I'm going in :tongue_smilie:. If I'm not back in 5 hrs, send the cavalry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 Seems the poll should have been "Should I read "the" thread?" :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I ventured in. It's a Kern lovefest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I'm not sure I'm even smart enough to answer your poll correctly, so suffice it to say that I'm scared to click. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I assume it's a lot of philosophical banter that I won't fully comprehend, so I haven't even read the OP. :D Those threads tend to hurt my brain. :tongue_smilie: (Engineer here) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 I'm not sure I'm even smart enough to answer your poll correctly, so suffice it to say that I'm scared to click.It's not you, it was muddled by design, a faux poll, so to speak. :tongue_smilie: (Shoot, I just realized that won't work with the wrong accent.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissKNG Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 At least it's not about crock pots or returning shopping carts! :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Seems the poll should have been "Should I read "the" thread?" :lol: Precisely! :lol: I assume it's a lot of philosophical banter that I won't fully comprehend, so I haven't even read the OP. :D Those threads tend to hurt my brain. :tongue_smilie: (Engineer here) :lol: I understood it all. I just kept reading (and reading, and reading...) hoping someone would answer the OP in a concrete way. I wasn't reading to discover the one and only recipe for the perfect classical homeschool but a bit more discussion of practical application would have been nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlbuchina Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I stuck a toe in, but quickly decided that it wasn't something I needed to read. I like how we are doing in our schooling using TWTM as a guide, so I don't want to confuse the issue in my brain right now. LOL Some of the things she says can have my head spinning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CourtneySue Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I have loved the whole thing. It really depends if discussing the philosophical side to Classical Education is your thing. I think for a lot of people it helped remind them why they are doing this thing: homeschooling and classical education. Sometimes we need reminders and motivation that it's all worth it. And there are some good practical tips throughout as well. It has also opened my eyes to what my role is as a teacher and being careful not to let the curriculum take over. I especially enjoyed Andrew Kern's comments. I like the fact that he doesn't think it's beneath him to post on this board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaners Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I've been looking for something to do instead of prepping the bedroom so I can paint tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAutumnOak Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I have loved the whole thing. It really depends if discussing the philosophical side to Classical Education is your thing. I think for a lot of people it helped remind them why they are doing this thing: homeschooling and classical education. Sometimes we need reminders and motivation that it's all worth it. And there are some good practical tips throughout as well. It has also opened my eyes to what my role is as a teacher and being careful not to let the curriculum take over. I especially enjoyed Andrew Kern's comments. I like the fact that he doesn't think it's beneath him to post on this board. :001_huh: Andrew Kern was posting on the boards?...I did not want to read the entire thread because it keeps growing faster than I can catch up, but I may venture in now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Ya, he is, and I'm emailing all his fans as we speak. He was here about ten minutes ago. . . lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I braved it last night. I am so glad I did. Though it left me scratching my head many times. You ladies are so danged smart and I feel wholly inadequate when I read thoughts like those. Not in my abilities to teach, but in my abilities to learn. I have always been a voracious reader BUT I have never been able to discuss what I read seriously. I still don't "get" animal farm. I studied it in grade 9, I know it is satirical but that is as far as my brain can wrap around it. I think what I need to do is listen to the audio files linked in the "the" thread and see what sinks in. The whole thread has reminded me of my visions of what I wanted when I started homeschooling in the first place as well as what terrified me the most when I started homeschooling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudboots Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I loved the first post, but I left the thread several posts down. Maybe when all my kids are out of diapers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I stuck a toe in, but quickly decided that it wasn't something I needed to read. :iagree: I am a CM homeschooler, so the only draw from the Circe Institute was the article In Defense of Charlotte Mason http://circeinstitute.com/2012/01/towards-a-defense-of-charlotte-mason/ Everything else, well.. Meh :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In2why Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I found it interesting. I listened to a couple of the audio discussions, and I would say the Good books to Great books was helpful, because I think too often I look at some of what other kids are reading and feel insecure. But I think the choices we are making are right for us, and will give a good foundation when they do read the "great" books. This reminded me why I feel that way. Also why it is important to me that the kids have lots of imaginative play, and opportunities to explore. So they have something to bring to the table, so to speak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I've been following from the first so reading along. I'm not sure I would have opened it at the length it is now. That would have been my loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CourtneySue Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 (edited) :iagree: I am a CM homeschooler, so the only draw from the Circe Institute was the article In Defense of Charlotte Mason http://circeinstitute.com/2012/01/towards-a-defense-of-charlotte-mason/ Everything else, well.. Meh :) I have more than once sent Circe talks to my Charlotte Mason friends (and I'm talking women who have read all 6 volumes of Mason's treatise on education as well as attended ChildLight conferences) and they usually love them and find that they align nicely with Mason's thought. Edited March 26, 2012 by LutheranGirl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama25angels Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I've not had the courage to venture in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I finally dove in at the beginning of the week. I got some good stuff out of it. But I realized - I spent so much time this week thinking about that stuff, that I did a really, really crappy job teaching my kids :glare:. Isn't it ironic?;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickerdoodle Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I plan to read it at some point. I liked the spin off thread of the book lists that Halcyon started. I always get the best ideas from this forum (aka, I was up late last night hunting down a copy of The Little Grey Men). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted March 26, 2012 Author Share Posted March 26, 2012 I plan to read it at some point. I liked the spin off thread of the book lists that Halcyon started. I always get the best ideas from this forum (aka, I was up late last night hunting down a copy of The Little Grey Men).:D Halcyon's thread is the only reason I'm considering diving in, though I'm holding it back because DH will be home for the first week of April after some (relatively) minor surgery. I just may need to disappear for awhile by Friday, if not sooner. :tongue_smilie: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamatohaleybug Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I read the whole darn thing and wish I could get those hours of my life back. I personally thought it was a great deal of fluff-talking-in-circles. :leaving: ETA: To be clear, I thought the question in the OP was fantastic. I found the answers so far from practical that I wondered what the point was. Agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ester Maria Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 (edited) I read the whole darn thing and wish I could get those hours of my life back. I personally thought it was a great deal of fluff-talking-in-circles. :leaving: :iagree: I have a really, REALLY high tolerance for that kind of stuff. Extraordinarily high. I studied letters, for Heaven's sake, most of what I encountered in modern scholarship could probably be classified as that type of thing (essentially fluff, but thought out with minute elaboration). So I am used to that kind of stuff. I should be able to read it without batting an eye about it. I am also used to ample theoretizations myself, which are not always as substantial, as precise and as consistent as they should be. So really, all things considered, I should have been able to read it. I. just. could. not. finish. At the same time, I am very happy for people to whom that thread "spoke" in ways it did not "speak" to me. After all, to each their own and we may find inspiration, support and, sometimes, sense (:lol:) in wildly different things. So for those people, I am glad they found a common platform and, seeing how the thread has grown and seeing there was a positive, supportive atmosphere in the air last time I attempted to check, I do think it is a worthy time investment for some people. Edited March 26, 2012 by Ester Maria Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
podoba01 Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Precisely! :lol: :lol: I understood it all. I just kept reading (and reading, and reading...) hoping someone would answer the OP in a concrete way. I wasn't reading to discover the one and only recipe for the perfect classical homeschool but a bit more discussion of practical application would have been nice. :iagree: I started to read this thread. I certainly appreciate a philosophical discussion, but I tend to have more faith in philosophies that translate into concrete application. I take that as a sign that the ideas in question have really been fully developed. I don't like being left with a vague feeling that I should be doing something different but no way to actually do it. I stopped reading this thread about 3 pages into it, but I will listen to the "Analytical Learning" speech that was mentioned in one of the links. I think it's better to hear the source and draw my own conclusions (instead of reading 1,000 posts telling me how profound the speech is). If I can find practical application, great. If not, that's fine, too . . . I will have a clearer idea why I am doing things the way I do them. It's always good to bring one's goals/methods in sharp focus, and that won't happen without challenging them from time to time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 (edited) I read the whole darn thing and wish I could get those hours of my life back. :iagree: Edited March 26, 2012 by Hilltop Academy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usetoschool Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 :lol: I have read all of IT and every spin off, but I started at the beginning and just kept up in bits as it went along. It wasn't unfamiliar territory though so it was fairly easy to get through. What made me :lol: was how many people chose "what thread". Apparently the world continues to turn outside of the classical education renaissance ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerPoppy Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Have been following from the beginning. Some posts were very inspiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 (edited) Apparently the world continues to turn outside of the classical education renaissance ;) This is what confuses me. I must be missing something completely. :confused: What were people doing before? :001_huh: I didn't see anything new or remarkable in the thread. Did I miss something? ETA: That the world continues to turn doesn't confuse me--it's the thread that does. lol Edited March 26, 2012 by Hilltop Academy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Ok, I gave in and started reading the thread, and I had to laugh because I just this month switched over to Sonlight, and there is all this talk about how historical fiction is not as good as great literature, etc, etc. Well, my son prefers historical fiction, so I'll just do what works for us. :D I'm not trying to give my kids a perfect classical education. I'm not equipped to do that (and let me tell you, great books scare me, because I hated a lot of the ones I had to read in high school :tongue_smilie:). I'm not a philosophical intellectual. I'm a geek. I'm raising 3 geeks. I'm happy to read some really good books, even if they are historical fiction, and leave it at that. Frankly, when people start talking educational philosophies, they just completely lose me. I have no clue what they're saying. So I know I couldn't teach using whatever philosophy they're talking about, as I can't even understand THEM. :lol: But again, I'm an engineer, raising what could be little engineers (though they'll be equipped to go into whatever field they chose), so I'm ok with not teaching that way. :) I provide my kids with lots of good books, read them good books (though not as many as I'd like... in a couple years, it wll probably be much more, but we're improving... last year, I wouldn't have been able to do Sonlight, and this year it's easy peasy to fit it in). I also give them a lot of time to "go adventuring" (as they call it) on our 10 acres. The education I'm giving them is much better than what it would be if I tried to do what people are talking about in that thread. I'm not well-read enough to do it. I would be short-changing my kids if I tried. And I'm ok with that. It's like when Hunter (IIRC) says the best curriculum is the one that gets used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warneral Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I assume it's a lot of philosophical banter that I won't fully comprehend, so I haven't even read the OP. :D Those threads tend to hurt my brain. :tongue_smilie: (Engineer here) :iagree: Engineer here too. My mind nearly exploded just trying to grasp what was being said. I am not an abstract thinker. I feel a bit less dumb reading that I'm not the only one :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 This is what confuses me. I must be missing something completely. :confused: What were people doing before? :001_huh: I didn't see anything new or remarkable in the thread. Did I miss something? ETA: That the world continues to turn doesn't confuse me--it's the thread that does. lol People were being bogged down focusing on checking the next box and putting so much emphasis on history and historical fiction that they no longer had time to just read good books and discuss them with their children. It is not a new concept. It is one that many had visions of doing when they began homeschooling, myself included. But then finding just teh right curriculum, and focusing on history and focusing all the lit study time on historical fiction etc left little or no time to just sit and read and talk. Obviously not every family has seen that bit pushed out of their homeschool. But for many discussing the ways to bring things back to that. FInding a way to reignite the passion they have about homeschooling without turning to next best curriculum. I mean look how many posts we had just a few weeks ago about the Feb blahs, and how mnay posts in the last 6 weeks of people wanting to toss in the towel. I found the thread was great for relighting that fire to homeschool without making everyone want to run out and buy a new curriculum. Most of us have great classics and such on our bookshelves already. It was not about running out and buying more. It was about getting back to the basics of what we want to focus on with our kids. Some families want to have a historical focus, some want a strictly basics appraoch with text books, and some want a focus on good literature and discussion, but lost sight of how to have that along the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 (edited) People were being bogged down focusing on checking the next box and putting so much emphasis on history and historical fiction that they no longer had time to just read good books and discuss them with their children. It is not a new concept. It is one that many had visions of doing when they began homeschooling, myself included. But then finding just teh right curriculum, and focusing on history and focusing all the lit study time on historical fiction etc left little or no time to just sit and read and talk. Obviously not every family has seen that bit pushed out of their homeschool. But for many discussing the ways to bring things back to that. FInding a way to reignite the passion they have about homeschooling without turning to next best curriculum. I mean look how many posts we had just a few weeks ago about the Feb blahs, and how mnay posts in the last 6 weeks of people wanting to toss in the towel. I found the thread was great for relighting that fire to homeschool without making everyone want to run out and buy a new curriculum. Most of us have great classics and such on our bookshelves already. It was not about running out and buying more. It was about getting back to the basics of what we want to focus on with our kids. Some families want to have a historical focus, some want a strictly basics appraoch with text books, and some want a focus on good literature and discussion, but lost sight of how to have that along the way. I guess I didn't miss anything. I am still a bit surprised by the size of the thread given the content. I'm happy people are inspired--even if I don't quite understand it. I hope it is lasting for them. ETA: Thanks for giving me your thoughts. Edited March 26, 2012 by Hilltop Academy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 This is what confuses me. I must be missing something completely. :confused: What were people doing before? :001_huh: I didn't see anything new or remarkable in the thread. Did I miss something? ETA: That the world continues to turn doesn't confuse me--it's the thread that does. lol Exactly. Especially if you're remotely CMish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avila Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 (edited) If you want the basics of it, skim the thread and listen to some of the links at Circe ( http://circeinstitute.com/free-audio/ ) and Society for Classical Learning ( http://www.societyforclassicallearning.org/index.php/resources/media/15-2011-conference-recordings ). Listen to the Circe talk by Dr. Taylor, and read through the Good Books list: http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html And skim the list for more reading, like The Abolition of Man and Climbing Parnassus. For me, it has confirmed that I am more of a Great Books homeschooler, but I needed to remember the value in the Good Books to prepare for that. There is more than one approach to classical homeschooling, and that is part of why the practical applications are not as concrete as I would love to have. But I did come out feeling like committing to the Good Books is what I really want to do, and whatever I need to drop (within reason) to make time for that kind of study is going to be worth it. Latin Centered Curriculum is also on my list to re-read. And I either need to fully convince myself on the issue of teaching Latin or just decide to let it go. I think it is really hard to do everything well and thoroughly, with multiple children who have multiple interests and skill levels. So for me, I came away with a renewed sense of what I want to prioritize and how I want that to look for next year. But IMO, reading the thread without making the time to listen to the Audio is probably a waste. I needed the audio to put some of it together and be able to follow along. :D Edited March 26, 2012 by Asenik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PollyOR Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I've enjoyed reading that thread ;). I've been ready to throw in the towel the last couple of years in regards to homeschool. While reading through the thread there have been times that I've scratched my head but overall I feel renewed. This post in particular spoke to me. I wish I had read something like it years ago. Just wanted to comment on faddishness....( is that a word??) Years ago, When I began homeschooling I read some booklets put out by a woman on Lifestyle of Learning ( no names). This was a philosophical spider web of ideas...which on the outside looked heady, and beautiful to this new homeschooler and new Christian. I neglected, in my immaturity, to realize that duplicating someone else's Journey and idea of education would be futile. I was NOT her, nor was my family like hers, nor were we supposed to be. We do not live on a farm, cut off from all society, with only a Bible, an 1828 dictionary, a principle approach guide, and some classic books..... My family is modern....we have TV, computers in every room, gaming systems, dh leaves for work most days, we have activities, medical needs, etc. That pull us out of the house. I work ( from home, but it is still a job)every day of the week. My kids are regular kids, not geniuses destined to be high ranking officials:D, or overpaid executives, or scientists in labs. We are just regular people, and I am striving, sometimes against all odds to provide them with what I see as an exemplary education. Don't get me wrong. I learned a lot from those books, once it all synthesized, and I was able to chew the meat and spit out the bones.....once I was able to read CM and realize I would never have a nanny for my kids and a nursery set up for my private tutor to come in and engage my children in chats about virtue and honor. That it would be ME who had to be all these things to my children, and their chef, chauffeur, on-call physician, maid, laundress etc. PLUS, I would still have to be my husbands wife and my children's mother. It all sounded overwhelming...and it was....and I fell a bit into despair. I kept reading that His yoke was easy and His burden is light...yet I fel my yoke was choking me and my burden too heavy to bear. Thus is the struggle of the homeschool Mom. I could not relate to Mom's who had been there, and done that, and tossed the books and let the kids " unschool". That would never work here. I knew my kids.....they would never unschool....they would just NOT school...lol, that was not my path, nor the path for my kids. I also knew my family could never be the family that studies for 16 hours a day....every day. We do not have that kind of stamina. My kids need down time, alone time, non scheduled time.....I am digressing again..... Anyway, I have been around homeschooling long enough to see fads come and go...and homeschool mom's jumping on bandwagon after bandwagon, And burning themselves and their kids out, spending fortunes that they don't have, convincing every other mom in the homeschool group that THIS curriculum in the BEST for every family...and it will make everything so much EASIER. It is planned, chewed and predigested. All you have to do is open and go....until the next great one comes out......Only, those curriculums are not used as intended by those families. Instead of being used as a tool and an aide, it is used as a crutch and a lasso. No wonder we are disheartened by week 4!!! I fell into this trap repeatedly. Bought the curriculum. Used it for a few weeks, evaluated, tossed and went back to teaching MY kids, my way....and then continued to educate MYSELF. I can't give what I don't have....unless I hire someone to give what they have to my kids. I won't be teaching Latin or French....I will be farming those out. I do not own it....I can not give it. I will also be hiring a tutor for upper level maths, or having my ds teach them to the youngers. My brain will not wrap around it right now. Anyway, I think curriculums, lesson plans, writing lessons etc. Are a great thing. I think that having many resources available to me and curricula that others have put their blood, sweat and tears into are a blessing. I have learned SO much from them. I have gleaned ideas...I have had AHHA moments, but to fall hook, line and sinker into someone else's idea of what my homeschool, and my kids SHOULD be doing daily...every day....well, that does not work..... Faddishness is so desirable because we are all looking for an answer...we are all looking to educate our kids to the best of our abilities, but the clock is ticking. Our kids are getting older, they will not wait for us to gain the education we should have had when we were their age, they need to be educated NOW and that is the conundrum! How do we educate them...when we need to educate ourselves too?? And how does a mother of many young ones, or even one young one, or a mom or dad who is striving to keep food on the table and a roof over heads, or parents who are trying with all their might to provide what they not only do not have, but what is not offered anywhere else, provide those things to their family. I want to provide beauty, truth, virtue, integrity, to my children. I want them to walk with God and the saints who went before them. I want them to engage in the Great Conversation. I want them to be comfortable engaging in deep conversations and to seek after beauty, Truth, and Wisdom all of their lives...this is the headiness. In the practical, I want them to be able to care for themselves and their families. I want them to serve with their hearts. I want them to do hard things. I want them to reach heights I have only dreamed about...or those I could not even fathom. Somewhere in here, I need to be practical. I need to get these kids into college...we need to work on the math books, we need to memorize our facts....somewhere in all this , the rubber has to meet the road, and the kid has to learn to put his thoughts on paper and has to work through that phonics program, or vocabulary book:D In the meantime, I continue educating myself. I listen to lectures, read books, try stuff out on my guinea pigs:D, get excited about my garden or new project, tramp through the woods or watch a movie with my kids. In the meantime, I continue educating my kids to the best of my ability, pick up some fads, try some tried and true golden oldies, bang my head on the wall a few times, smack my forehead....and move forward...ever forward....hopefully further up and further in. Faithe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I have to admit....I love it. I don't get all of it, but it's come at just the right time for me and for our homeschool. I have ordered a few books off the thread I started, and got many for free for my kindle (yay free!) I have been listening to a lot of the podcasts while in the tub at night, and just allowing my mind to wander, thinking about the ramifications of what I am hearing and reading. Alte Veste Academy _was_ right when she says that coming in to th thread with a strong grounding in homeschooling and its various approaches is probably quite important. I need to breathe right now, enjoy, not keep pushing curricula at my kids.....for the moment. We just need to find our joy again, and so the thread really spoke to me. Keep in mind, I am a fairly confident homeschooler and my guess is that if one is floundering, or unsure, or new to hsing it may not be the right thread to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Exactly. Especially if you're remotely CMish. Some of us were very CMish. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Precisely! :lol: :lol: I understood it all. I just kept reading (and reading, and reading...) hoping someone would answer the OP in a concrete way. I wasn't reading to discover the one and only recipe for the perfect classical homeschool but a bit more discussion of practical application would have been nice. I find that this is true every time one of those huge threads pops up. I'm still trying to figure out just exactly what people are doing to give their kids a truly rigorous education! No one can ever quite put their finger on it :lol: That said, I did find some value in that thread. I'm one of those who has found myself checking boxes lately, feeling burned out and like I'm playing Whack-a-Mole. I just started reading The Hobbit to my girls this week, but before that, I can't remember the last time I was really regularly reading aloud to them, because we're always scrambling to get the boxes checked and "get back on track!" So it did relight some fires in me. It also left me feeling inadequate, as such threads usually do *sigh* Also, it left me feeling like I must be the only homeschooler here who really dislikes George MacDonald! The Princess and the Goblin has to be one of the dullest books I've ever read--even DD9 didn't want me to finish it :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I voted "What thread?" Now I know......Wow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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