I agree re: not adhering to a methodology. Find out what works for you. I have 8 kids, but 2 have graduated homeschooling and 1 is in high school and totally independent via co-op and DE courses. So I’m teaching 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and I have a toddler. We focus on the 3R’s in the younger years, and we keep things simple - just a couple of hours of formal work per day. My 5th and 7th grader are combined for language arts, and I’ll eventually combine the 1st and 3rd graders. Each kid does math individually, but requiring no more than 15-20 minutes each from me for teaching the littles or grading and explaining things the big kids don’t understand. One thing that has worked for us during some seasons over the years is a circle time where we do Bible, memory work, etc. as a group. During the elementary years, my kids do science and history by reading picture books - no formal curriculum. They also do some science kits, documentaries, etc., but nothing requiring a lot of teaching and supervision from me. This did not seem to hurt my older kids at all. They all did extremely well in upper level science. Story of the World on audio worked well for us for history for a bit - just listening as a group while the kids did the coloring pages. This is something they look back on and say they enjoyed. We do a lot of audiobooks in the car, or while they play legos, draw, etc. We can give ideas, but you have to sort through them and find what works for you. Personally, it doesn’t work for me to just sit and teach all day. It does not fit my personality, and the busyness of our lives (newborns, nursing, activities for various kids, etc.) does not allow for it.

None of the 11 schools my dd applied to wanted lengthy course descriptions, so take a look at the schools your dd is interested in and see what they want. If she is pursuing an NCAA sport, I think she will need to upload a course description worksheet for each core subject through NCAA. My dd’s application packet consisted of: -one page transcript -one page of course descriptions that was basically a list of courses taken along with texts used and/or vendor name -one page reading list for literature courses -two page school report/counselor letter where I outlined our approach to homeschooling, gave details about dd’s high school coursework (basically one paragraph per year hitting the highlights of any projects or outstanding work she’d done), gave some highlights about dd’s skills/character using examples from her activities -letters of rec from 2 co-op teachers and a volunteer program director -2 page resume -personal statement Dd did get a full ride scholarship to a big state school using the above, but it is not an elite school. Take a look at the schools she’s interested in and what they expect from homeschoolers.

Have not had time to read all of the responses, but I have a large family (8 kids), and encouraging the kids to be independent learners has worked really well for us. In fact, when I had to go out of town for a week last spring (my first time leaving the kids), my 7 yo surprised me by having done an entire week’s worth of school when I returned. I do work one on one with the K and 1st graders for about 20 minutes per day, teaching them to read, etc. In 2nd grade, they are moving toward independence. (“Read the directions and complete as much as you can, then bring me your books.”) If they try something new and get the whole section wrong, I say, “Wow, this is great! This was something new. Look at you! Now, let me show you a few things for tomorrow.” They eventually begin to prefer doing it themselves. They also see their older siblings working independently and want to follow suit. We don’t follow the Robinson method, but I learned a lot from reading through his website right after my 4th child was born. A few thoughts: 1. If you want your kids to be self-teaching and work independently, you have to use materials that lend themselves to that method. Wouldn’t be fair to hand them some fancy, teacher intensive program and say do it yourself. 2. With kids below middle school age, I grade their work every single day, so I can see what they missed, explain things they may not have understood, etc. They need support and accountability. 3. The kids need to have clear expectations of what is expected each day (and for us it is pretty much the same each day), and the materials need to be at a level where they can understand and make progress. 4. My kids are not spending all day alone at a desk. When they’re 6th grade and under, they spend no more than a couple of hours a day mainly focused on the 3R’s. In addition, they read independently, listen to audiobooks, play sports, go on outings, play games, draw, craft, etc. I guess you could call it lifestyle learning. I do admire moms who plan courses and are very hands on with teaching, but unfortunately I’m just not capable of maintaining quality and consistency that way. Fortunately, my kids are fine with that, and my older kids have not recommended I change anything for the younger ones. My kids have seemed to want more depth/academic interaction around 7th/8th grade, and co-ops/DE have been great for that. We do spend a lot of time together each day and have many joyous moments - they just don’t revolve around schoolwork. I know this is not for everyone, but it has worked well for us. Also, kids who need more help, get it. One kid needed vision therapy. One kid needed some math games and a slower pace. I did these things with them directly during their one on one time with me.

Thank you all for the responses. I can’t respond much because I’m still so emotional about all of it. But I do feel like I need to stop wallowing and move forward, and all of your thoughts are helpful and appreciated. To those who have asked about getting help, we have finally found a professional he likes that we think will be helpful. I am trying to step back and just be a support. It is good for me to hear about people who got it together during mid 20’s or even later because I’m beginning to accept that this might take a while.

This is helpful for me to hear because this is the other thing I beat myself up about.

We realize this was a mistake. What I am really wondering is how to deal with my own disappointment and move forward in light of the knowledge that despite my best effort, things may not pan out the way I had hoped.

Wondering if any of you have been through this, and if so, how you’ve moved forward. To make a long story short, our oldest came home after his first year of college. Covid shut down happened. But even before that, he was behaving immaturely and made some pretty bad decisions. We’ve been trying to help him, but 2 years later, things are still a mess. He doesn’t necessarily blame me or blame homeschooling, other than saying maybe he should have gone to high school. But I can’t help but feel somewhat responsible. I spend a lot of time looking back, questioning everything. I have 2 teens who seem to be thriving. Both have done well academically and have active social lives. 1 is a high school freshman who wants to continue homeschooling. The other just graduated and is headed to college. I’ve asked them if there’s anything I should do differently for them or for the sake of their younger siblings. They have said no. They’re happy with their experience. So I’ve put on my game face to continue, but I have so many nagging doubts. Just wondering if any of you have btdt and have advice for moving forward.

So it looks like she has: 2 of 4 English credits 1.5 of 4 math credits All 3 science 1 of 2 social science (model un/gov) All US History 0 personal finance All health (counting first aid, water safety, etc.) All PE (swim team) 2 of 6 electives (music, art) So she needs 2 English, 3.5 math, 1 social science, personal finance, 4 electives. What about spending her 2 productive hours on math and English? Technical Writing (email, resume, cover letter, etc.) could be an easy English credit. Social science could be something like Current Events. Dave Ramsey’s personal finance course is very light, IMO. Electives could be whatever hobbies she is interested in, such as cooking. I would focus on checking boxes for credits that she actually needs if the goal is graduating as quickly and painlessly as possible.

My dd took 3 years of Latin and took the National Latin Exam twice. During her 2nd year of Latin, she also took 2 semesters of DE Spanish.

Well, thankfully, it’s not my issue this time. I told her I would ask because I wasn’t sure about the advice she was getting. She has found all of the comments really helpful. My oldest got a C in DE government. Thankfully, it was 2nd semester of senior year, so it didn’t affect anything, but I learned to be careful with DE!

Thank you both! Good advice!

Thanks, all! I shared this info with her. I am really out of my realm when it comes to selective admissions, so I recommended she speak to a college consultant re: future course selection, etc. Do any of you know of consultants who work with homeschoolers and selective admissions? She is also going to ask around locally.

Yes, it’s very different than what you’ve used previously, but when you said tired mom, I wanted to mention it because I was so often worn out and overwhelmed, and math was one of the things that got done without requiring much from me. My kids would do one page front and back each day. For new concepts, they would read the blurb at the top of the page and do their best. They liked to get up in the morning and get it done without waiting for me. Once a day, I would call them over one by one, check their work against the answer key, and explain anything they missed. There’s a lot of practice and built in review, which I think helped build their confidence, so they did great with higher math. I know there are better methods out there, and I’ve considered switching, but now I’m at a point where if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, lol. You will figure out what’s right for your family. I’m sorry you are going through such tough times.

Sorry, I didn’t mean to push any buttons. I didn’t mean that no one uses A Beka. I just meant that A Beka math isn’t one of the programs I see suggested here often. Maybe that’s just my perception, and if so, that’s fine. I don’t have any negative feelings about it. 🙂 Anyway, I was not even suggesting the OP use A Beka, even though it has worked well for us. My general point was that a no frills, open and go, workbook style math program has served my family well without feeling too burdensome or time-consuming.

Weighting the grade was another idea given since it was a DE course. Would that help? Would weighting it 1 point change from C to a B? Again, I don’t know how to help as I don’t do weighted grades on transcripts.

A close friend had her 9th grade daughter take biology for science majors at the local community college. Her dd is bright but had not taken any high school science before. She worked hard but ended up with a C. My friend is trying to figure out how to mitigate this for college applications. Her dd wants to go to an elite school, majoring in theater, film, journalism, or some other non STEM major. She has been told by various people that you don’t have to include the grade on the homeschool transcript, you can do extra things and improve the grade, etc. Is there a way for her to make this look better or does she just accept that there will be a C on the transcript and move on? I don’t know how to advise her as none of my kids have applied to elite schools.

For elementary math, I found success using a workbook program. I don’t buy the teacher’s manuals, just the student workbook and the answer key. Each kid did one page front and back per day, and I corrected it daily, explaining anything they may not have understood. As a mom of 8, there was morning sickness, pregnancy, postpartum, nursing issues, etc. My husband traveled a lot, and I was also responsible for an aging relative. This was a simple way to keep everyone on track without requiring much time or brain power from me. We used A Beka, which doesn’t seem to get a lot of love. But my kids liked the workbooks, and my oldest 3 kids are very strong math students. High math scores (above 90%) on standardized tests and SAT. Oldest dd took precal, calc 1 and cal 2 at the community college during high school and made A’s. My other kids are still young. Anyway, this plan worked fine for our goals and was low stress and sustainable.

You might try looking at the Sonlight curriculum book list for ideas. I also search Pinterest for suggestions for diverse literature and historical fiction.

Thank you! I am so proud of her!!! I was hoping you would weigh in. Thank you! This is exactly what my husband suggested.

Dd’s high school graduation ceremony was on Saturday, and she has her last community college final on Wednesday. She’ll then be done with all courses except self-paced physics, which she is behind in due to starting late in the year. I think she is on week 21 of 32 of this syllabus: https://www.derekowens.com/CourseSyllabuses2.aspx?Location=Online&Day=Monday&Year=2021-2022&Course=Physics&Teacher=Mr. Owens I listed her official graduation date as June 1, so she has plenty of time to finish the course. But knowing that it’s common in high school not to get through every topic in the book, I’m wondering if there are any topics it would be okay for her to skip. She is going to be premed, so she will take University Physics 1 and 2 in college and needs to be prepared for those.

2 of my kids are doing the Stanford 10 online next week through homeschool testing services. I chose it because it’s untimed, and this is the one I did with my older kids just to see where they were compared to peers.

I am not sure if optometrists give referrals for it or not. I would do a search for a developmental optometrist in your area and make an appointment. They can do the standard eye exam, as well.

Your description right above my posts sounds so much like my son. He could read and understand grammar, but could not spell. He finished his vision therapy in November, and it is still a shock to me to read something he has written and see that only 1 word is misspelled. Previously, almost every word would have been misspelled.

My 4th son was slower than my others to learn read and was a terrible speller. He just could not spell. A friend recommended testing for vision issues. You have to go to a special developmental optometrist for this, not a regular optometrist. His actual vision is 20/20, but he had severe issues with tracking, teaming, focusing, and visual processing. After 20 weeks of vision therapy (1 hr appointment, plus 5 minutes of homework every night), there was a definite improvement. And after the full 20 week program, there was a complete 180. He is still a but behind in spelling and writing because he is getting a late start in seeing properly, but he is now progressing normally in these areas. I would definitely recommend an exam with a developmental optometrist before putting him in school. Again, this is not a normal eye exam, but a functional vision/visual processing exam.

My oldest took DO Comp Sci. I watched the videos, as well, because I had never done programming before. I thought the course was well done. Great videos and interesting projects. I’m planning to have my current high school student take the course eventually.