We are in the same boat during parts of thr year. Perhaps unstructured free time is more important than co-op or Spanish 5x a week or philosophy 1x a month etc. Just because we can do all these things (theoretically) doesn't mean we should. It is not easy to make those evaluations, though.

I agree with pp - although that doesn't mean I actually do it... One thing I do do is spell it out if things are going down hill. "I know it can be hard to start back up after a break. If it is too hard, one solution would be to do less but do it every day." Sometimes the shock of this as a possibility helps all of us regain a little perspective. Another thing I do is ease some work into our breaks. For instance, when visiting family for an extended period we will do school work some mornings when there aren't other distractions.

I'll answer some of your questions about how WE do it, but I can't sell lapbooks to you, they're like cloth diapers, either you want to or you don't. :) I don't usually create lapbook components from scratch (although I do frequently modify them to suit). I cut and occasionally transcribe, they assemble the pieces and the lapbooks. The pieces get glued in, so we don't reuse the folders. I expect to use some for review for years (but not frequently). Each dc has one for SOTW. It is nice that they each have ownership, but it is a lot of cutting. We all share for composer study. Up to you. If I only had ds we probably wouldn't do them, with just dd I might do more. I expect we will graduate to more notebooking as the get older. I think of notebooking as being more text-based. Obviously in truth it is probably more of a spectrum. Notebook pages sound easier to store!

I'll answer some of your questions about how WE do it, but I can't sell lapbooks to you, they're like cloth diapers, either you want to or you don't. :) I don't usually create lapbook components from scratch (although I do frequently modify them to suit). I cut and occasionally transcribe, they assemble the pieces and the notebooks. The pieces get glued in, so we don't reuse the folders. I expect to use some for review for years (but not frequently).

I don't think she has to master multiplication before learning division. Perhaps limit the problems to a few fact families until she gets the hang of changing the problems from multiplication to division? Do you have manipulatives you could bring back out for a bit to introduce the new topic?

The one I loved recently was a Richard Scarry one that had stickers -Barnes & Noble or Amazon. I ripped out ten-ish pages at a time. Stickers are more popular here than coloring, but I thought there was a nice variety of topics. Someone had to read the directions, but a lot of the work was (fairly) independent.

I've been working through the days of interest (to me) for my soon-to-be 4yo in CSMP K level. After that I will either check out MEP Reception or try Miquon. CSMP and MEP are both free for the printing. I usually do one lesson and some worksheets from other workbooks to keep her busy in between working with my two olders. I needed something to tell me what to do next, but not too hands-on because I don't have a dedicated block of time for teaching.

Just make yourself do the cutting-in. At that point the rolling will seem a lot easier than making room in the fridge for the covered paint tray - OR the paint tray will take over the job of nagging you every time you open the fridge. :D

I want to second the extra pillow. Not as uncomfortable as it looks.

I agree with your plan. Think of those as being for you and dh. You are not being rude if you don't go out of your way to pay for food for people who weren't invited. Chances are they will eat the kids' pizza. Don't sprain anything showing off your skating moves! ;)

I made my brain-dump list last week and it was shorter than I expected. Probably means I'm suppressing things, but Oh well! I'll capture them as they surface. Then I spent my free 1/2 hour during swim class trying to sort the list into other categories and set up "project pages" for the things that qualify as projects. There is more to do on that, but so far, so good. I'm a bit skeptical, however, about my ability to keep up with the process when the new wears off. I guess we'll see. "No need to borrow trouble" as Ma Ingalls was always saying...

Can you map out a plan to that end? When dh finishes grad school you will start? Then in the interim you could be doing things to get ready like studying for GREs or reviewing undergrad material or filling the freezer with casseroles so you never have to stop studying to feed the people around you.... Perhaps when your dc dual-enroll you can bop off and take your own classes to brush up. Mostly tongue-in-cheek, I don't mean to be flip about something that is troublesome, especially this time of year with the February doldrums right around the corner. :grouphug:

We will finish Ch. 20 this week (started in August) I'm trying not to let this move too fast because I think it gets absorbed better if we have time to read some of the outside literature and play the games (although we don't do many of the projects any more). We are also doing the lapbook and I made a timeline - we do both of these as review every few weeks. I expect to finish in May.

After each lesson we do one of those story pages where there are lines on the bottom third of the page. I write the lesson number and name across the top and in the text area I write a summary of the important topics we covered. Then they can draw whatever picture they think is appropriate. It is nice to have a uniform, tangible reminder of what we have done. Occasionally we review important pre-requisite pages as part of the lesson. It really helps them remember when they see their own work. This would be particularly helpful if you want to go slowly and spread the book over two or more years because occasionally there is a long gap between the current lesson and the important pre-req. For instance we just finished the lesson Gravity II: Rate of Fall; Weightlessness in Space, and Distinction Between Mass and Weight, but we talked about inertia in C-5 last spring as part of a science co-op. I'm thinking that at the end of the book (or the beginning of next year after a summer break) I might just spend a few lessons going back over each of the threads in their notebooks. ETA: emphasis :D

Thanks Mystie!! I also appreciate the "reality caution" at the end. After I posted I spent some time over the next two days reading your 31 GTD posts and I have a much better understanding of where it is all heading. I like the idea of not having to block out my day ahead of time but rather making better use of available time as it arrives. I started my brain-dump list and I can hear thoughts rattling around up there now that there is a little free space! Next I need to figure out what to do with all the items I listed. :smilielol5:

I have a bunch of soups I rotate through, tomato, potato, split pea, lentil, etc. I make double and then freeze 1/2 in a gallon bag (inside a large tupperware to make a frozen cube, rather than a thin sheet of soup). On alternate weeks I make rolls and freeze half. That way on Mondays I only have to make soup OR rolls. Don't forget cookies or brownies! It can't all be serious in there.

You are welcome. I will be curious to hear your thoughts after trying it out. We have art to take us through the spring, but after that I will be re-looking at DWC (since we own it) and some of the others linked here...

Drawing for Children was a bust here, but a year or two later I saw this link to some lesson plans. If you like the book, maybe this is enough hand holding? If not, that Augsburg book looked good, and I think there was another sweet vintage book on Google books called What to Draw Now. That one was in the style of the Ed Emberley books, have you looked at those? Our library has a number of them.

OMG, Lori D.! I'm ready to start my own Hobbit thing just based on your post!!!! You are a Hobbit ninja. :ph34r:

Eragon by Christopher Paolini is very similar, more dragons, but adventure with dwarves and elves, etc. First in a series of 4 books. Once he has taken that step, then maybe Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey. This one is all about dragons, no dwarves, elves, etc. It is a slightly lower reading level than Eragon (and lower than the Hobbit), but still good and there are a number of books, and then a number of overlapping related books in the adult series.

Although we continue doing some school over the summer, I don't usually count after 180, so I had to guess at the total but I think it is likely around 200.

Ok, here is a hang-up I have and perhaps you all that have already been working on this can give me your insight. How do you include school-time in your schedule? We have a long morning block, then a break, then lunch, then a short block of school, then a break, then occasionally a third block. The lengths of the blocks changes, so it is hard to know if I am going to have time to make lunch, move laundry and clean the living room, or just make lunch. I checked out the books Kristina recommended in the OP but I haven't read them yet. I'm just curious about hearing how other people handle it.

You could look at the Evan Moor literature pockets for fairy tales. They have them for K-1 and 2-3. I think I got the older one. In my experience these things are pretty adaptable. We'll do them "when the mood strikes"... I don't feel like I have time to put something together from scratch unless it is a core subject.

We've been using them as a supplement to other math, and we are about a semester behind. In part this is because we work on them irregularly. It is a nice break from what we usually do, but only for the first 6 or so problems. We are further complicated in that my ds is more "mathy" than dd. If your ds does ok and you want to add them in, buy them for the level you are at and give it a go. You could (in theory) always back up. If you aren't so sure, but still want to add them, buy for the level below and see how that goes. You have two more coming along who could pick them up when they get there if he doesn't finish, right? :D

I'm usually the perpetrator in these discussions. dc: "Mom, did you ever have shoes like these when you were little?" Me: "When I was little shoes hadn't been invented. We tied leaves or pieces of wood onto the bottoms of our feet. So, no." dc: "Wha-? No. Did you really? Really, Mom? C'mon, tell me. Really?"