Are we the only ones having trouble with this course? While it's true that we missed a fair amount of school for speech and debate tournaments last year, we schooled through the summer, and now it's November, and we STILL have THREE units of Chemistry to slog through, after they take the next test (Please God, this week!). And we are not homeschool slackers--we do science every day for an hour. My husband is the one helping them with it, and he is saying that it's way more in-depth and more difficult than the Chemistry we had in high school, lo, these many years ago. What are others' experiences with this course? If anyone else has had this problem, is there anything we can do to shorten this course?

Shower. PJs. Laptop. Netflix. Easy eats.

Yes, it can feel that way for the first few years. Eventually it DOES taper off, even for curriculum addicts like me. Eventually you do have a critical mass of stuff and you will get to ENOUGH. For some of us it takes longer than others ; ).

I wonder if she is seeking intensity. Perhaps when you react calmly to her she just keeps pushing until she gets the intensity. She might be seeking intensity badly enough that she would rather take negative sensitivity than have nothing. I kind of have a button-pusher like this, although not one who would scream and kick doors. I have read books about intense children and the general recommendation is to give her enough positive intensity so that she doesn't seek out negative intensity. Not fun for an ISTJ parent . . . I probably have failed at this fairly regularly, but my button-pusher started improving around 15yo.

I have a bit of a different perspective. First, this is a serious problem since he is to be the main instructor. It should not be brushed aside. However, I would encourage both of you to not make this an "all or nothing" debate. So, he has a poor math background and is nervous about teaching it. I actually have the same exact weakness! In fact, math was my #1 all-time worry about homeschooling. I went to Christian school, and the math program was fine (I think), but I seriously struggled all the way through. Pair that with a horrendous algebra teacher in high school, and I am very, very dismal in math. I remember crying over addition flash cards in first grade and it never got any better. I actually think I have a learning problem in this area. My brain just does NOT seem to process numbers well at all. What we did long ago, when we were deciding to homeschool, was to take one year and go around a (very large) curriculum hall and look at nothing but math programs. My mathy husband was to examine them technically, and my job was to figure out if I could teach the one he thought was best. This was back when the ONLY program with videos was Math-U-See. We ended up going with a scripted program (Professor B Math--back then was only books that I read a script out of, but now has CDs and an online option). We chose it because I understood things about math I had never understood before from the interactions at his booth, and because it was scripted. Every day, I would read the script. If my children didn't understand it, I read it again. If they still didn't understand it, Dad helped them when we got home. We did this for YEARS. Neither of my children "inherited" my math problem. Both of them are at least competent (although my daughter dislikes it). Here's the point of my story: I knew my weakness and was determined not to pass it on. I made sure I got extra help in that subject. Your husband can do the same. So many helps, video programs, and online programs are available. If you wanted, you could even enroll them in something that did the grading for him. It's pointless to try to determine whether a monolithic concept like "homeschooling" is responsible for your husband's weak areas. Many who went to traditional schools have weak areas for some reason. I do not consider my K-8 school responsible for my math weakness. Phonics is a little trickier, but again, helps are available. And you might be able to help in the evenings with that. The key thing is to recognize weakness, compensate, and do your best to ensure that weakness is not passed on. That can be done, one subject at a time, without throwing out the whole "homeschooling" baby with the "math" bathwater.

I haven't had time to read all of the replies, but I heartily agree with the OP. The WTMBoards have been a VERY key support system for me from the time of their inception (15 yrs ago?) til now. The first edition of WTM came out when my children were 1 and 3, and now my first student is beginning her senior year. These boards have helped me along each stage of the process. Kudos to SWB and the PHP/WTM staff for bearing the $$$ and labor responsibilities necessary to keep this community alive! Thank you!

I feel your pain on wanting less touch than the children do. Definitely! I think I would treat the older two differently than the younger two, especially the 6yo. I would be more boundary oriented with the bigs and give the littles some grace. If the bigs are touching you less, then perhaps you will have more of a reserve for the littles. Especially the youngest, especially in the flopping on and laying on department. I might let the 8yo lean a bit, but probably not flop or lay on. And the older two, IMHO, should not be doing any of the things you are describing. Maybe you can set a flopping on and laying on age limit ; ). "Once you are older than 10, Mom is off-limits for a playground."

I will either go back to technical writing or do individual tutoring in English/Language Arts. I love both.

Wow! Praying.

I did this, this summer, for the first time ever. Five days, in a beach cottage, ALONE. Best. Vacation. Ever.

Sorry about all of the problems with the website! I'll let him know so he can get them fixed. (He is definitely not a tinfoil hat kind of guy.)

All, I am really excited to be able to share this site with you. This is our fabulous Greek tutor who has taught my children the last three years. When he saw that homeschool students could learn Greek, he was inspired to start teaching his elementary-aged boys, and now he's getting ready to share his passion in online courses! He is eminently qualified with three years of Greek from Moody Bible Institute, and better yet, he loves his subject. I highly recommend him, and I think it's terrific that others will get a chance to benefit from his instruction. His site is: http://www.homeschoolgreek.com. Check it out!

Seafood. Especially things that people have pestered me over the years to try with the claim that "it doesn't taste like fish. It. ALWAYS. Tastes. Like. Fish. Pickles. Olives. Anything fermented.

Oh. My. Goodness! It's even better because I found the original song soooo foul. Weird Al hits it out of the park . . . again! Stinkin hilarious.

Yes, you don't start out knowing how to handle it all. You start where you are and stay just a tiny bit ahead of your student. Rinse and repeat every year. And each year is just a little step above the previous. It's just like parenting--you grow with your child. You will be fine!

No, although that list definitely informed mine. And even SWB says don't try to do the whole list but see it as a pool of ideas. I have course descriptions (that include book lists and how the history/lit integration works) for all four years of the rotation (we are completing Year 3). If you want them, please PM me your email address.

I haven't had time to read the replies, but here's a few practical ways I try to practice multum non multa in high school: 1. We do a WTM-purist Great Books study, coordinating history and literature. Literature is very carefully selected, at the rate of one or two titles per month. It is sooooo easy to assign too many titles and then fly through them shallowly. I resist this tendency and try to cut, cut, cut my list until only the very best survive. And then the student writes a short persuasive essay on each title (we brainstorm essay ideas--no outside curriculum). It really helps them process the book at a deep level. 2. Math and Latin (and now Greek) are prioritized and done early in the day. That way, if the day falls apart, I feel like we have done the basics. 3. Extra-curricular activities: We do not do tons and tons of things, but the things we do, we do as a family and are deeply involved. NCFCA homeschool speech and debate is a prime example.

I was actually just thinking about this the other day. I have never been called, in any of the places we've lived (and if they look at voter registration I always vote). I'm 46, so I've been around a while. Now that I've been involved with debate for a couple of years, I actually think it would be interesting to serve.

Ooh, would love to do this. Haven't seen the board folks in years. But I can't get westside next weekend : (. Hope everyone has fun!

My 17yo just got a dumb phone, because she genuinely needed it. My 15yo has no phone because he has no need for one. Actually, we told my 17yo that we reserve the right to issue it to the 15yo occasionally if he needs a phone on occasion when he will be away from us.

When I started going to speech and debate tournaments, I was on my feet for 12-14 hrs a day and my feet were killing me in my usual inexpensive (~$30) dress shoes. I bit the bullet and bought a pair of $100 Cobb Hill shoes and my feet never hurt anymore at tournaments! I only wear those shoes then, hoping they will last a long time. So far they've done about 1 1/2 debate seasons and still look new. Then, this spring, I had to buy two pairs of really expensive shoes for my daughter to wear in Paris for serious walking. One pair was $150, and the other was $125. Unreal! I couldn't believe I was paying that much for shoes. Oh well, at least they worked well for her walking all around the city.

The cost is higher because the hardware is higher quality and more tightly integrated. With Macs, you pay $$$. With PCs, you pay time, aggravation, more time, more aggravation, ad nauseum. I can't tell you how many Mac haters have then asked for my husband's help with their PCs because they were virus-laden, broken, messed up, etc. They don't seem to see the irony . . . We just don't have those kinds of problems. We have had Macs since 1985; we would never get a PC. Who needs the hassle?

If you don't mind driving outside the city a bit, the Museum of Flight is always a good stop.