I've homeschooled for 7 years now and I still can't find my groove. Maybe this is normal? I feel like by now I've tried every method and philosophy out there and can't subscribe to any one of them. I've done SL (lit based), BJU (textbook), ecclectic (several versions of that model), hints of Classical and CM (which ends quickly), Unschooling (horrible), project based, lapbooking, and everything in between. When I read about Classical, it tends to jive with me the most, but our homeschool has never resembled Classical, and anything we try Classical quickly drops off the list. It just feels forced, dry, repetitious...or I don't stay on top of it all, or life gets in a tizzy and the kids have to do something independently (rather than waiting on me to dictate a sentence, or give a spelling list). I start off each year with glorious expectations for myself, but by week 3, it's been reduced to - hand child the book, tell them to read it. I'd feel like such a lazy, unmotivated homeschool mom if I weren't so gosh-darn busy. Every time I put the expectation on myself to be more involved and teach them more, I realize that in real-life practice, I don't have the time to do it. I'm pulled in a billion directions. I have a (almost)3yo. I have a dh that wants me to do more than tell my children interesting facts all day long. I have bills and billing mistakes to call about. Everyone is just so needy, and it cuts into any time I might have to work with kids, create lesson plans, or learn the material I'm about to teach them. I have kids shouting "mom! mom! mom!" during lessons. Our homeschool just looks so....ugly. I'm yelling, they're yelling, the 3yo is yelling. The kids rush thru schoolwork and get it done in record time. I wonder how much they are actually absorbing if it's just rush rush rush. Outside activities & appts make it even worse - hurry up and get done so we can go out for x,y,z. But this seems to be an improvement; at the start of the year, they were taking 5 hours to do 2 hours worth of work. At least now they are getting things done with determination. The kids prefer to have a billion different school subjects that all take 5-15 mins each. But to me, it just feels so schizophrenic. Language Arts alone is comprised of 4-5 different books/subjects, and that just feels so disjointed. I'd rather study 3-4 subjects total but really delve in and absorb them. Every time I look at our subject list, though, I'm reminded of just how empty our list is. Shouldn't we add piano back in? What about foreign language? The kids really should be learning to type. Geography - my kids have no idea where major countries are. Etc. My kids seem to be getting a really rotten education. I feel so guilty. Those quiet moments where the 3yo sits on my lap and we read a story together reminds me of what I was really hoping to create with homeschooling. Relationship. Enjoying learning together. Pointing and talking about things. Asking questions and talking about the answers. Counting steps. Planting seeds in dirt. On the other hand, my kids and I really need direction. My kids aren't happy without some sort of plan and a well laid out answer to the question "what are we doing today?" Open ended "let's delve into a subject" is enough to make us all crazy. They don't want to wait for me to reveal the day's lesson, and I don't have the freedom to do that, anyway. They just want to be able to ask me questions as they do their schoolwork. Re-reading this makes me realize: the kids need a rigorous education, but I need to feel more relaxed, lol. How does one do that? I'm really lacking direction for our homeschool. I'm trying to plan next year, but I have NO IDEA how to plan next year. I don't know what subjects to include (do we ditch history and go for geography? or add in 50 more subjects to our day?) If you read this far, thanks. I'm not entirely sure why I'm sharing this. Maybe it's spring and someone else is having the same issues. Or maybe someone can offer some inspiration. We have found some things to work brilliantly. Our 6 weeks on - 1 week off schedule this year has been awesome. Math is going fairly well. But it's such a big process of trial and error (lots and lots of error) before hitting on a success.

Yes! I've seen this incredibly high burn out rate with Abeka, too. Those that are successful year after year with Abeka tend to have an easy time saying "skip that...and that...and that...". They also don't seem to teach from the TM, only using it as needed when they need a little help. I've seen a few people ready to throw in the towel after trying ecclectic, but then buying all Abeka was their homeschool's saving grace. It's rare, but it happens. But I think these are the moms that need that structure and checkboxes, but are content with skipping things.

I'm subscribed to MM newsletters and today's included a blurb and a good deal on Hands On Equations. Well, I've been half tempted to buy it, but don't want to spend money needlessly (how many times have I done that already?) So, questions - 1. Could I buy just the teacher kit ($35.00) which contains levels I, II, and III and the manipulatives for one student - would this give me enough instruction to teach it, or do I need the videos (we don't really like math videos here)? 2. What sort of supplement does this provide? Does this make pre-algebra or Algebra I easier? Or, could it be used as pre-algebra (or am I really stretching the usefulness of this program?) 3. Does this cover negative numbers at all?

phonics and sight words were not working for my dd until we put it all together with the book Teach A Child to Read with Childrens Books by Thogmartin. It is free online, avail thru many ILL libraries, or about $10-12 on amazon.

This year, we've been using Winston Grammar + Evan-Moor's Daily Paragraph Editing. I feel that the DPE has covered capitalization and punctuation very well through hands-on daily practice. We've done Winston in fits and starts - when we hit a brick wall, we take a break. Then we pick it up for 3 more weeks and hit another brick wall. We're absolutely STUCK on Week 13 (the week after Adverbs were introduced). We're having major problems understanding things like this sentence below: Won't you go home after the holidays? Home, here, is supposed to be an adverb. I would've called it a noun (it's a place). But no, it's an adverb, because it tells "where". Here is where I am scratching my head...what is the difference between where and place? I figure if *I* can't understand it and explain it, then I'm either dumb and incapable of learning, or the book isn't doing a sufficient job of explaining. At this point, my options are: 1.) pull in this old gr 4/5 Easy Grammar teacher book I bought used, and use this with Winston, or 2.) shelve Grammar for the year and try again next year (we only have 6 weeks left of our school year and Grammar is not high on my list for summer practice: we'll have enough summer school covering math, writing, reading, and science). I love the idea of Winston, and hope to keep using it. There are some things that I understood better from Winston than BJU. It just goes to show that *I* need about 5 different curric for every subject before I can understand it well enough to teach it to my kids. :lol:

Awesome, thanks! This is exactly what I needed to know. She understands the basics of multiplying up with exponents and squares, but we've never started with a big number and worked backwards before. I think she'll catch on without problem, but I wasn't sure how much to make her do on paper vs. calculator - and I figured using the exponent feature on the calc was the ultimate in laziness :tongue_smilie: So this gives me a good framework. And thanks to everyone for the other resources - I might watch the videos just so that I can have a deeper understanding! Or, I can pull those in if we do have trouble.

So we'll be doing Lesson 46 in Horizons 6, and it is about Square Roots and Exponents. Lesson 42 & 43 has the students practicing Prime Numbers. Lesson 44 teaches exponents. Lesson 45 teaches square roots, and teaches "educated guesses" and toying with a calculator to find the answer. Lesson 46 simply says in the TM "most students should have no difficulty". It has a chart to fill in that looks like this - 64 8 to the nth (only N is shrunk and at the top right of the 8 as an exponent) 759,375 15N (again, N is an exponent) 1,024 4N (again, N is an exponent) So...do we use a calculator and just start counting up how many times we multiply that number by itself? Or do we do this on paper without a calculator? I'm not sure whether this is something she should be figuring out with a calculator or not. And the book doesn't do a bang up job of telling me how to teach this part. Thanks!

Thanks for the feedback on EE, have been looking at that one, too!

I figured I could make a game myself, but I don't know what kind of game rules to make. I tried to find a make-your-own game or suggestions for games online, but all of them are internet based (I don't want internet based, I want a paper based game). Picky picky me!

Considering My Father's World Exploring Countries and Cultures (MFW ECC). I've never considered MFW before because it just doesn't seem like my thing:) Their philosophy isn't the same as mine. Ex: I am strongly Christian but I love teaching myths & evolution to my kids at an early age! LOL. However, I asked dd 9 (10 in the fall) what she'd like to learn next year and she said she wants to focus on different cultures from around the world, and she wants to learn to cook foreign recipes. She also wants to study ancient greek and would love to incorporate a study on Greek culture. I'm considering pulling things together myself, but I admit that a boxed curric sounds so appealing to me. I have a (almost) 3yo that wrecks havoc, and a busy lifestyle. I do not have the joy and pleasure of being able to sit for hours at my laptop or library. (Note: I noticed ECC doesn't include Greece, so that one I would have to pull together myself). I'm wondering if we'd enjoy MFW ECC or if I should stop looking at it. 1.) many of the book choices that come in the pkg don't inspire me (we already own Hero Tales and I am just NOT a big missionary kind of person, although my 9yo *might* be). 2.) I already own 2 children's atlases that I like, and MFW would give us yet 2 more. Other questions - could my (will be) 10yo do much of this independently? I'm sure we'd discuss things, and I'd look/plan out what she will do at the beginning of each week - but I need the list-style grunt work to be independent. We would work on cooking/recipes together at dinnertime. Also, would I include my dd (will be) 12 in this? Based upon the 11/12yo's interests, I think we are going to focus on American Girl Doll "Welcome to...so and so's world" books and pull other things in around that. Is MFW gentle enough that we could pull in our own things? The BIGGEST draw for me is the Countries Game from MFW ECC - is there something similar I could make at home, or do they sell this apart from the $100 teacher's guide? (Could I pick up the student packet and find it there?) Thanks in advance!

I personally cannot accept that one program has one right way to teach everything :lol: So, what that means for me is that I look at several different programs and learn their teaching strategy. Since my kids are schoolwork-phobic and multiple programs would drive them crazy, I really have to pare it down to one. I try to pick one decent program, and then I incorporate pieces of different strategies from the different currics that I looked at. I simply cannot be happy with one program, one alone. But at least *I'm* learning the material multiple ways and I'm getting an amazing education, here! No advice, just commiserating with you. I spend a lot of time looking at samples online, ordering books from the library to peruse, and finding odd friends that can show me their curric. Oh, and I buy a lot of stuff used, as cheaply as possible. Dh wouldn't allow me to buy so many multiple programs, sigh.

Wondering the same thing! I would love to tear out our Horizons math book, but starting in 4th grade, each lesson is 3 pages - doesn't work so good for filing.

I'm looking at possibly getting SL Core G for next year (which covers the ancient side of world history), but I'm not sure if I'm stretching the age limits of my kids. I think my 11 (will be 12 in the fall) yo could handle it fine. I'm not sure about my 9 (will be 10 in the fall) yo. Is this too big of a stretch? Both are excellent readers, but the 9/10yo has a shorter attn span for more difficult material. I was looking over Core F and just didn't like the looks of it for us. The comments in the 1st 3 weeks of the Core F teacher's guide kept talking about "how difficult" the books were, and it just doesn't meet my history goals for my children, anyway. We just covered American History and State History this year, so I don't really want to repeat that with Cores D & E. Or, any other options? (We've used SOTW before, and could definitely see using it again, but would need to add other things in - we've used it very lightly before by just reading thru it and not doing the activities or supplemental reading).

Yes! LOL. I was the OP and my kids were 8 & 6 at the time:) I love that the thread was resurrected! We're not "accelerating", but just meeting the kids where they are at (sometimes slightly behind grade level, but always trying to lay a good foundation). We're also trying to keep an eye on their interests so that we can prepare them for whatever direction they might go in. Right now, my 11yo may go into science/technology, or childcare, or law; if it looks like any one of these directions may become more important to her, we'll develop her curriculum around these things. We're also hoping to start adding in some college classes around age 14-15; either from the local cc or online classes at home. They will only be enrolled if they are ready, but really, I think many kids are ready for that challenge at 14-15, if they've had a good foundation and supportive parents. In my own experience, high school didn't seem quite so different from cc (some of my advanced high school classes were actually tougher than college).

Great list! :lurk5: I might use this for my own kids:) My 9yo's personal favorite is The Girl Who Could Fly. I only read the 1st chapter, but found it had a rich language (the characters speak with a strong southern accent and it comes through very well in the book). I know she would recommend this book for your list. My 11yo would probably recommend Heidi. As she would agree, it's so boring, but after you read it, you remember it fondly, lol. The 9yo has not read Heidi and the 11yo has not read The Girl Who Could Fly. But I hear some interesting arguments from both girls trying to get the other sister to read their book, lol.

:iagree: That was my thought, too. I don't know if this helps, but there is a series of articles that Marie Rippel from AAS sent out. Here's the first one, second one, third one, fourth one, and fifth one. With my own kids, I've noticed that using long words totally loses them. Using examples they cannot relate to, loses them. And whatever they understood yesterday, they might not understand today. And...sometimes when learning how to multiply multi-digit numbers, they completely forget how to multiply 2 x 2. I've also had to change course many times with a kid that simply didn't get it. I've also had to dumb down and simplify. I've even had to resort to teaching methods and materials that I hated and didn't believe in (I had to ditch phonics to teach my oldest to read, switched to Horizons math which is a different approach then I wanted to take with math, etc.).

I like what you have so far and think it is a unique spelling program that you are developing. You have elements there that other programs lack (not just spelling words, but being able to add suffixes or change word endings).

if you want to search past threads about lightness, sue in st. pete has some thorough posts (she also links the success posts too, so you can get both perspectives). on my internet phone, forgive bad typing:) ETA: ahhh, found it! Here is what I was talking about: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2443755&postcount=38 ETA also: I really do like the looks of MUS, and am going back n' forth in my own brain about using it:) I wish I had had this option during my high school years. I'm not sure it is the right choice for my kids, though. And to the OP, I think the Life of Fred / MUS combo sounds like a fantastic choice!

I've been reading all I can on the various high school math threads:) I think I can sum up what I've read about MUS: * It is a good visual presentation; for many students, MUS presents it in a way that makes sense. Even if the student goes on to use a different math program, they are able to apply what they learned in MUS to deepen their understanding. * Not all students benefit or understand the visual presentation of MUS. * MUS tends to be lighter on topics and is best done one level ahead. For example, MUS Algebra tends to have the same scope as others' pre-algebra. Working through Honors, and working through Calculus, however, should balance that out for students aiming for an Algebra-preCalc education. * As Derek said, MUS tends to be light on the word problems (lots of word problems, but lacking in difficulty). Supplementing with CWP or something else helps overcome that. I hope that is a good solid summary. Anyone is welcome to correct me or disagree - I have not used MUS upper levels, and am just trying to tie together what I've read in those 100+ threads :lol:

OK, crazy question. I was looking on my library website for Lial and Dolciani - if I can borrow it, then I can get a better feel for it. Wow, I'm totally lost!! There is Beginning Algebra, then there is Beginning and Intermediate Algebra. There is Structure and Method 1 and 2. There are all kinds of funky names that don't explicitly tell me whether it is Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, or Algebra 2. So... Dolciani's PreAlgebra is called? Algebra 1? Algebra 2? And Lial's PreAlgebra is called? Algebra 1? Algebra 2? That might help me get a little further here, lol! BTW, the public school's avoidance of using "grade levels" on their books is really, really not helpful.

Dolciani looks OK, Lial looks OK - I like picture explanations, and so far from what I see, Dolciani, Lial, and Prentice Hall all have picture explanations (I like pictures! lol). I love the layout from the cbd.com samples of Singapore's Discovering Mathematics - very simple, few pictures, lots of white space and larger font. However, I'm terrified of DM based upon what people say (I am not a math-smart person, hence my extensive search for the perfect math program).

thanks for the ideas! I have my 9yo working thru Horizons 3rd gr book 2, and just started her on SM pm 3a. She calls SM "easy math" but likes Horizons better, so far. I have my 11yo finishing Horizons 5 bk 2, and doing CWP 3. I think this is a good thing for her. Neither kid likes SM, but are doing ok with it. Seems to just satify my need to use it, lol. I also like having MM blue series and MM youtube videos for me; it helps me teach the concepts, even if I don't print any pages for them to do.

I don't like busy, pointless layouts, either. I'm looking for clear math (I hate wordy conversational math just as much as busy pictures). I'm looking for "here's why" (I did not like MUS's sample explanation of multiplying negative numbers and felt that explanation danced around "why"). And I want pictures that help explain the why. I must confess, so far I'm not finding anything that meets that criteria for me. There are many options like this for elementary math, but nothing like it for upper math. Got anything like what I describe?

any thoughts on the prentis hall series, as recommended on Math Mammoth's site? I like the pictoral presentations with blocks, and there are videos and supplements on the website. (on my internet phone so sorry for lack of punctuatuon and no links to back me up).

Just wanna say Thanks So Much, Quark! I like the layout.