13/13 I'm embarrassed for the education system.

Well done John.

Keep on mothering the way you do.

Liz Chaney v. Anyone.

When I moved to my present house, 1989, and visited my neighbour to let her know that I would be putting up a new fence between our properties, she told me that I was living in America now and that I was free to do whatever I wanted on my property. "It's a free country my dear.", she said. The first time I felt that fierce frustration at having my freedom challenged, I realized I had gone native. The agent responsible, according to the enforcers was always insurance. " You can't do ..... It will void our insurance."

Great combination... CJ's books on Audible.

A minor quibble. Lord action said that power TENDS to corrupt, and that it is absolute power that corrupts absolutely.

Moving from English schools, to US public schools, to Catholic homeschool, and finally to mom-designed home school, my children and I learned and perfected at least four different styles of cursive handwriting. The clearest by far is the Getty/Dubay, cursive italic. I really don't know how useful it is to them now. But I would no more have sent them out into the world not knowing how to write legibly in cursive than graduate them without other important/obsolescent skills including but not limited to, changing a tyre, playing bridge, translating Latin, darning their socks, solving differential equations, and baking bread.

I attended a convent school so strict that the day girls were afraid to take off their woolen gloves on the way home, for fear of undefined yet dreaded retribution from the head mistress. Consequently I ran a pretty tight ship whilst homeschooling my own children. However I did think briefly that I might have taken things too far when I heard the children plotting revenge for some unpopular schoolwork by changing all the disks in the CD player to Shostakovich, how naughty...not. Good grief, even I, the most pious of children could have thought of a million naughtier things to do! It was really difficult to keep a straight face as I pretended to be disturbed by this odd turn of events, and to look suspicious of their po faces before they escaped outside in fits of giggles.At the same time it was better to give the children the gift of easy rebellion far short of the seriously self destructive behaviors which their peers needed to indulge in to get the attention off their overly permissive parents.

Thinking about conversations with my Father, siblings and son. I believe they joined, for one reason, served for another, and fought for their lives and the lives of their comrades by destroying the enemy.

Forgot Mapp and Lucia.

I strongly recommend Jeeves and Wooster, with Fry and Laurie. It's intelligent, hilarious and suitable for all the family. Also the Campion Series with Peter Davidson. Finally, The Darling Buds of May Series. That should keep you busy these winter evenings without having to cover anybody's eyes.

I used Lingua Latina to to teach Latin to my homeschooled kids. It was a blast. The stories are hilarious and the knowledge just builds so painlessly. My kids all felt that it put them way ahead in their classes in college because Latin is everywhere in every subject. Yet they are an Economist, a Mechanical Engineer, and a Plant Pathologist.Very affirming to a home school mum. For a fun taste/intro to the ubiquity of Latin and Greek, get "English from the Roots Up" program. It will truly enrich your life and will also help you when you move on to learn any of the Romance languages.

Yuck.

I got my first watch when I passed my 11 plus exam. I gave that one up 14 years later when I had my first baby. It was making me bitter. Better to give up the watch than to throw away the baby I thought. Got a new watch with a bright glow 18 years later for midwifing in dark Amish houses. Threw that away when I retired. It wouldn't be a real retirement if I wore a watch. I live by the seasons and the sun now.

I wouldn't be too concerned about your desire to be left alone, Matthew. It is normal for one's first instinct to make one hunker down when one's children/family are threatened. However, in real life situations, the protective reaction is almost always followed a millisecond later by a stronger instinct to fight back. Personally, I believe in the pre emptive strategy of challenging any criticism of homeschooling with accurate information. No matter how mild and no matter the source, we owe it to our fellow homeschoolers not to surrender the narrative to the opposition, ever. Conservatives are way too polite.