I thought long and hard about what might make up an optimal environment for healthy childhood, creativity, fun, and learning. As a parent of younger children, *I* determined what the boundaries were for the way they spent their time. Excessive computer use was taboo. Still is, except for things like programming, creating web pages, etc., but even then I encourage the kids not to let it become all-consuming. If my son has spent long amounts of time at the computer, I don't have any problem telling him to do something else for the rest of the day (he's 17). The kids have other things they are expected to do, anyway, so they *can't* spend all day there.

We kept everything as natural and real life as possible so that the only real choices were boredom or doing something that-- as a parent-- I thought was constructive. I counted daydreaming as constructive, but I didn't want them ticking off the hours in front of some kind of screen or technological device (to me, that's not a constructive way for a younger child to spend much time). That's just how it was for us. There were 1,000s of things to do, really. We provided alot of possibilities for our children. They didn't miss a thing. They had rich, full, fun lives as children.

We had/have a definite homeschool structure, too. The kids have always worked steadily on math, reading good literature, and writing. These were our minimums in the early years, and we sat together each morning to get started. We'd read aloud the Bible, read aloud a good book together, do whatever else I wanted to do with the kids, and then they'd start on their math. They used programs for the most part, and in junior high and high school have worked steadily through  math texts. I also tried to keep something stimulated in the science area. This was mostly nature stuff in the early years. We didn't have lessons, but I read books aloud. On our walks we picked wildflowers or identified trees with our little identifying guides. We had birdfeeders and watched and ID'd them. We'd lie outside on a blanket at night to stargaze. We'd go to the tidepools at the beach. We went on hikes-- ranger guided and on our own. We simply spent lots of time outdoors with an eye toward appreciating it and getting to know it. I consciously tried to share this with my children.

<>(She didn't include the question here.-Lisa's note)

Yes. Every year until the past two years, and now tests are required in grades 3, 5, 8, 10. By law, children must be tested in math and language arts. My kids did well on these.

<<> (The question seems to be, "What did you talk about?"-Lisa's note)

Everything. This is not formal. It started with the normal discussions that come up all day with little children and the conversations simply grew in their complexity and depth over the years. It's just something we've always done when we eat, when we're in the car, when we're sitting around, when we're doing chores, etc. It comes up constantly. We discuss books (constantly), movies (evaluating and discussing themes), music, art, politics (I'm not overly savvy), ethics, values and morals, spiritual things, culture/pop culture. We have conversations going on all day long. My son endlessly discusses everything he does and reads and thinks about. He is an interesting young man! He is quite a thoughtful reader. Examples of discussion: 1) My son recently read The Iliad (for the second or third time) and had some great insights about the Greek gods, Greek culture, our God, etc. 2) When we all read The Count of Monte Cristo together we had long, long discussions about revenge, God's justice, bitterness, etc. These discussions got really deep at times. 3) When we watched Lord of the Rings, we discussed it on several levels-- Was it faithful to Tolkien's themes (why or why not, how, etc.)? We compared characters in the book to characters in the movie. We discussed what we liked about the movie and what we didn't. We discussed individual characters, the music and how well it fit the movie, the filming, if the sets were or weren't how we imagined them, costumes, everything. When we watched the extended version, we compared it to the first. 4) Once we had an impromptu discussion on our favorite books. The kids ended up making lists of their Top 20 (for fun), then they talked endlessly about why certain books were on the list and others weren't. A book they loved reading might not make the list because it didn't have as much to say to them longterm as others did. They discussed individual books, especially books that more than one of them chose for their lists. They talked about how the lists reflected something about each individual. 5) We might talk about the situation with Iraq, and as things come up like the possibility of using nuclear weapons, we talk about that. 6) When we read 1984 together recently, we had a nice talk about solitude. Solitude was something that was impossible in this story (even the character's thoughts were monitored), and we discussed why solitude and freedom are dangerous to totalitarian regimes. This was an unplanned discussion, but it turned into a deep one that went far astray of the original point of discussion. This is typical for us. I asked the question during reading, "Why do you think Big Brother perpetuated these false stories of war and horror?" The kids had good ideas about war and the nationalism, emotion, patriotism that can be stirred up because of war. People tend to support and trust govt more when a threatening war is on. What happened in America because of the NYC terrorist attacks came up-- how we reacted to it and "pulled together", the intense patriotism that flared up, etc. Then Vietnam came up, and the different response by Americans then (and why). 7) Yesterday in the car, I gave a little impromptu pep talk about writing (because I asked Melissa to remind me to buy a journal for her). We were talking about why it's important to write and what it's important to write about. We talked about why I like the kids to keep journals and I gave them some ideas about how to approach journal writing. This is a little planted seed.

<> (A question about reading aloud?-Lisa's note)

We've always had read aloud times more than once a day. Right now we're reading Tolkien's The Two Towers even though the kids have read this book again and again. They asked me to read it aloud. I don't know what I'll read next, but I'll have something ready when I near the end of this book.

Also, we've always done some things together, but more consistently in high school. We studied art history together for two years. Now we are starting a two year, relaxed music history and appreciation study. We listened to the Teaching Co. tapes on Churchill together. We went through a Critical Thinking book together (very casually and informally). We start our day together reading the Bible aloud, then reading whatever book we are reading together, then doing whatever else I want to do with the kids. Right now this is only the music history stuff, but I might occasionally read an excerpt from a book I liked or read aloud an article because it says something pertinent. This is when I talk to the kids about their day. This gives us a good start and a good jumping off point for the rest of the day.

In high school, the kids actually project what they would like to end up having done. Melissa and Aaron both want to complete Physics and Calculus. They have certain interests in history that they follow, and we make possible reading/project/idea lists for them to use or not. Something is always being done in this area, though. Aaron chose to study Latin. Melissa is just starting German. We talk about developing LA skills. Writing and literature should always be in process, but other LA studies are wide open (numerous possibilities, too!). Aaron will end up with a Fantasy/Sci Fi credit because he's read so much, discussed so much, written so much on the topic and within these genres. Aimee ended up with British Lit I and II (2 credits altogether) because she did so very much in this area. Anyway, we definitely have goals, a destination in mind. All four of my children's transcripts will look completely different, but they will have transcripts. We project what this might look like early on and we keep tweaking it as we go.