I enjoyed the Ted talk posted by genius experiment.  One thing that I am still thinking about a week after watching it is his comment about how he doesn't pay his children for set jobs but that they have to look around the house, find something that needs doing and then negotiate with him regarding how much he will pay them.  I think Kiyosaki talks about the same thing.  I had planned to start paying my child for tasks/chores but this really is just teaching them the boss/worker mentality - not that it is bad but I would really like to encourage more of an entrepreneur mindset.  It doesn't come naturally to me though so it is something that I'm going to have to think about and work at. 

My 6 year old has been wanting to learn the guitar for quite a while now and I'm afraid I have been very slack and apart from buying him a guitar haven't actually done anything else.  He has started on the piano, 10 mins per day, and is pretty much independently working his way through a beginner book.  I would like suggestions for something such as an app or even youtube videos that would help him do a similar thing with the guitar and be able to work through basic lessons independently.  Any suggestions? 

Has any one been able to find any details about Excellence in Education and what they actually do.  The website doesn't really give much information on their program.  My guess is that they are working through the books advertised on ther website (bond for the primary ages) with a 2 hour tutoring/mentoring session on Saturday and homework the rest of the week. 

I liked what the Imafidon father said in one of the interviews when asked how his children were so smart.  He said something along the lines of we provide an enabling environment where we allow the children to do essentially what they want to do and then feed the habit (or I would say support and encourage them). 

Also interested me that both Paula (one of the twins) and Deborah (in the last clip) say that they find it fun and like a game.  I would love to know how they develop this attitude. 

'Dabbling' would be too strong a word for what we are doing    but my 3 year old loves watching Maisy in French (or more recently Sweedish).  Some Maisy cartoons are available on youtube but you can also pick them up pretty cheap secondhand and most (not all so check the back cover for available languages first) can be played in English, Dutch, Finnish, Swedish, French, Danish and Norweigian.  These are very simple story lines to follow.

Also reading a-z  http://www.readinga-z.com/  has simple readers that can be printed.  Many of these are also available in Spanish and French.  You can sign up for a free trial with limited download but enough to give you an idea.  I was disappointed that their other site (razkids) only has the animated versions of the books in English though. 

Thought I should clarify that last point.  I'm not suggesting that they didn't educate their children well just that so many of us get caught up with all the things that we could possibly teach to our children that it can seem overwhelming.  This family found what each child was interested in and then focused on that (while also providing the basics - Reading, Writing, Math, History/Science.  Acceleration is definitely a lot faster if you can actually be focused on one thing 

Their homeschool routine sounds very Robinson Curriculumish. 

Their routine was nice to know, too.  They pretty much get up, do their morning chores, bible study, math, writing, then they read for history and science, afterwards they can read 'for fun' ... and they have the rest of the day to play and engage as children.

From the little bit in the article it sounds like they accelerated the children in the area that interested them and didn't worry so much about all the extras or a 'balanced' education. 

A comment for Mandabplus3, you mentioned lugging 3 books around once all your kids are on Saxon.  Just thought I would mention an organising tip that I saw on a homeschool blog the other day.  She took all her texts to an office store ( in the States but I assume they could do it here as well) and for 80cents had the binding cut off.  Then hole punched all the pages (again she could do this for free at the office store with a heavy duty punch - don't know what services ours have).  Stuck it all in a folder with clear pockets on the outside for the cover.  You could then remove the section/s that the kids are using and put in their own smaller folders to carry around and change out as needed.  Only thing that I would worry about would be how the holes would stand up to use or whether the pages would end up being pulled out of the folder.  But would save carting all those big books around.

That is really cute.  Great job.  Would be nice as an ap for the ipad.

So this is rather off topic to right brain education but I have been thinking of this in regards to technology or no technology.   I like the simple idea of the Robinson stuff and the no technology appeals to me as I was brought up for most of my childhood with no tv or computer and I loved to read.  And it scares me how powerful tv/video/computer is.  But our children are coming into a very different world than I did.  When I got to universiversity I had to suddenly use a computer for word processing and that was it (this was 20 years ago!) and I remember how stressed I was.  By the time my children get to university level everything will be on the computer.  They will be using it for things that I can't even imagine.  And they will be using devices (not just computers) for things that I can't even dream of.  For me, technology didn't change that much to when I had to use it so it wasn't a huge gap for me to overcome.  Now technology is changing so fast that the gap/learning curve of someone not familiar with at least some of it will be huge.  Am I actually doing their education and their ability to integrate and use these technologies to learn a diservice if I restrict them in their learning now.  If there is an easier way to learn something by watching DVDs or using technology why not use it?  As Tamsyn suggests maybe it is rewiring their brain to learn differently (well, not maybe, we all know it is that is why it bothers us) but that differently is probably 'normal'.  Do we need to let them watch hours of cartoons and play random games to do that - no.  But I think maybe we should expose them to some things at least and encourage the use of technology in their education. 

Simple example, when I was a kid you were taught to pick up the phone and dial 000 (or 911) in an emergency.  Now, I have had to teach my child how to do that.  We only have mobile phones so it goes more like this
First, find the phone!
Then, press the sequence to unlock the keys.
Next, find the number keypad display by pressing the appropriate icon/button
Then press 000/911
Finally press call.
And in 6 - 12 months time when I have a new phone it will be different again (and of course everyone else's phone is slightly different so if he is with someone else or somewhere else he needs to know how to work their phone). 
So, maybe we are rewiring our children's brains to a more fast flashing, fluid, non linear, think outside the square type approach but maybe we need to for them to survive in this world. 

I found this ed talk that was part of another thread here very interesting. 
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/y3jYVe1RGaU&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/y3jYVe1RGaU&rel=1</a>
Look at the results that he gets by putting a computer in a slum with children with almost no education.  Technology opens up a whole world of learning that wasn't even thought possibly a few years ago. 

As Tamsyn says will it be setting our kids up for ADD type behavious.  Possibly, but is that what is needed?  I honestly don't know.  I'm not really sure where I stand at this point.  The RC no technology appeals to me as I said - old fashioned 3R's - but then I see my son's excitement/interest and how much he learns from some science youtube videos that I could never teach him and he would never read in a book at this age. 

Very interesting TED talk.  I had heard of his original study but completely forgotten about it.  Lots to think about.  Love what he says about the teacher standing back and just admiring/encouraging the learning. 

No, different to those.  These AVE devices are designed to be used while you are awake or falling asleep/to facilitate sleep (not dreaming).  They are designed to change the brain's state while awake usually and for sleep would be used to keep you in a deeper sleep state.  Depending on the unit they usually have a few set programs and some are able to be programed with unique programs as well (duration and brain wave level).  What is nice also is that the more expensive units can actually be used as a CES (Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation) Device without the glasses and can be carried around while you do other things.  They are usually marketed for anxiety, ADHD, insomnia etc... where the brain is 'on fire' to try and calm it down but I imagine that you could use it for a 'typical' brain to slow it down to Alpha or less.

TMT, you mention combining music with headpones.  Have you looked into audio visual entrainment devices?
http://bio-medical.com/products/stimulation/audio-visual.html

They also include glasses to flash lights along with the music.  Supposedly you can choose the brain wave level that you want the brain to go to.  With repeated use your brain is supposed to become more used to the level that it is entrained at and be able to operate in that level even without using the device. 

These are actually marketed to help with things like anxiety, depression, sleep disorders etc... to change the brain patterns to a more synchronus, relaxed state.  We will probably end up buying one for our eldest daughter as nothing else is helping with her anxiety but would be interesting to try with the other kids/myself as well.

lois1  Just a suggestion for your French videos.  My children enjoy watching Maisy in French (and for some reason my daughter has started watching it in Sweedish).  There are a few available on youtube.

Nee1 quite honestly, I don't have an opinion on A2.  Supposedly it includes more than the Robinson curriculum.  Doesn't necessarily mean it is better though 

I wonder how much you actually need either of these nowadays.  Just take the ideas?? Find a good book list?? (The RC one is freely available)  lurk around some homeschooling forums and see what is regularly recommended for spelling, grammar etc. if you want to add those?  When RC was published there wasn't the accessibility to all these classics that we have now.  So much easier now that most of it is available free for kindle or similar.  Most of the CDs that make up the RC are simply the books to print.

I can't seem to find any powerpoint presentation on the childandme website.  Where should I be looking?