I readaloud for either Science or History every day. I try to work in some "fun" books here and there but am much less consistant with that. I read to DD4 daily for at least 30 mins because she loves books. I recently started playing an audio book while having DS read along in his head while we are in the car and I believe this is our new favorite method of fitting more "readalouds" into our schedule. Right now we are listening to/reading "The Witches" by Roald Dahl and the kids are loving our car time!

Thank you for the kind words. I needed them today. I need to remember that he's only 8, and he's only been home for 5 mos.

I guess maybe I'm just in a panic because he has his state-required testing in 2 wks and I feel like he is going to be 'graded' poorly because he has these spelling problems, but it sounds like maybe he is where he should be for finishing second grade. I've also been trying to figure out what we will use for next year and I've been hypercritical of where he is at this point. I need to remember where he was when we started. Thank you for your advice. I need to relax but life has me wired so tight right now it's hard. Thanks again!

I am so sorry for your loss. You are in my thoughts.

We started HS'ing in January and LA's was DS's weak area IMO (even though the PS was ready to push him into 3rd grade by Oct of his 2nd grade year). He struggled with phonics and spelling as well as grammar from where I saw things. I chose to remediate him. We started with CLE LA 1 and supplemented with WWE, FLL, and AAS. Five months later DS8 is great with phonics, reading, and comprehension He can use good grammar, knows the parts of speech, shows improvement in penmanship, and can construct good sentences and paragraphs for his age. He even does well on spelling lists. However, when it comes to writing he reverts to spelling phonetically. He will also mispell words when doing copywork which drives me absolutely crazy because the words are right there!!!!! CLE covers the rules of spelling (i.e. "The e at the end makes the vowel say it's name," "Drop the silent e when using a suffix that begins with a vowel," "F, L, S, and Z are usually doubled when used at the end of a word," and so on) and he can tell me what they are when asked. He just can't seem to remember to use those rules when he writes. So is it him being 'lazy' when it comes to writing or is it a spelling issue? Is he so focused on forming the letters properly (which has been an issue) that he neglects to spell correctly? Do I drill more spelling or do we focus on writing with me looking over him to make him "think" about how he is choosing to spell things? How do I help him overcome this?

I would say look over the last LU and see what's in it. If there is something you will miss by not doing it, start with it next year! That's the beautiful thing about HS'ing. You make up the rules!

I love Sue Sylvester. She says what I think before my mind has a chance to censor it.

DS's 2nd grade teacher (for the first half of the year) fully supported my decision to homeschool and told me that if she weren't a single mom she would HS her own DD. You may be pleasantly surprised. I wonder if they put you in that group because they know you are a teacher too.

Mondays are our best days. It only goes down hill from here. Honestly I believe part of it is my fault because I tend to stick around home Monday - Wednesday and focus only on school but by Thursday I need to run errands, catch up on work, clean, etc.... and by Friday it's a nightmare.

Do I just pick and choose from the Blue menu or would I be better off buying the Light Blue package deal? Do I just pick areas where I see weakness or do I get the whole enchilada?

I chose CLE to remedialize DS but I am just not sure we are really getting anywhere. I wanted to do a one-stop LA program as I was feeling overwhelmed doing FLL, WWE and AAS. However, now I feel like this may have been a bad idea. We've done FLL 1&2; he can regurgitate the rules but he just can't seem to apply them, particularly with spelling. He's OK with grammar and penmanship. We use SOTW and science for narrations, dictation, and copywork, and spelling aside he does OK. We've tried WWE but DS struggles so much with spelling that it brings both of us to tears. Do I just need a different spelling program? We've tried AAS but that was not a good fit. DS rebelled against it as he hated the tiles. He felt it was all too babyish. I guess I could force it. I know SWB recommends SWO or Spelling Power. Thoughts?

I'm such a kid. I love to play. Frequent indoor activities include board/card/dice games, Wii games, Playdoh, coloring, painting and crafts. Frequent outdoor activities include bike rides, pushing them on swings, running races at the park, playing tennis, flying kites or airplanes, playing frisbee, kick ball/soccer, playing catch... I love to be outside, and I love sports. Some days I play Barbie although I despise it. The kids love to dance and play air guitar so sometimes we put the music on and jump around like crazy people. Occasionally I'll get out the train tracks and we turn the living room into the Island of Sodor. Sometimes the Hotwheels, Legos, or Rokenbock sets come out too. Some days the living room becomes the beach and we have a picnic for lunch. Other days I need to be a grown up and they are on their own. They are OK with that too.

I'm Michelle (38), married to my husband for 13 yrs in September. We have 3 kids (DSS turns 18 tomorrow, DS8 and DD4). I never thought I would homeschool, but issues with the school system resulted in me bringing DS home in December '09. I like the idea of homeschooling but, because of all the turmoil in our house since January, I haven't found my groove yet. I will continue to re-evaluate our situation and determine what is best for our family. It appears we will continue to homeschool at least through next year. Honestly, after fighting with the school with regard to DSS (who may or may not graduate in June) and DS, I'm not sure I could in good conscience enroll my children in our local PS again. I am a physical therapist and primarily work as a very part-time consultant right now. My husband retired from the Army, went to school, and started an IT business. I manage the business and he and the techs bring home the bacon. I like to play the piano, read, surf the net, hike, camp, and be outside. I am a gym rat and my best days start with a good workout.

We use CLE LA but do use the SOTW narrations as copywork and then I have him do narrations/dictation from science or history IR or RA's. I also use CLE LA's "Words to Read" for extra spelling words as I feel their spelling lists are sparse. It has worked quite well.

I have read that with SSL you just need the student book with CD. What do I need for Minimum? Student, CD and TG or just the Student book?

This is my first year of hs'ing. My plan is to continue with daily reading as well as light (10-20 mins each) math and LA's 3-5 days/wk so we don't lose too much ground. He will also have Cub Scout Resident camp, Bible camp, 2 weeks of Science camp, and a 2 week family vacation to WI thrown in.

I know I have cooties but could use some opinions anyway.

I agree with staceyobu. It probably has less to do with education and more to do with CPS/legal issues.

My son is not strong in spelling or grammar. Which would be a better fit?

at peacehillpress.com. That's what I use to print off pages for my kiddos.

In WA we are required to provide " for a number of hours equivalent to the total annual program hours per grade level established for approved private schools" which upon first glance makes it seem like we are required to teach for 180 days/yr at 4-6 hrs/day but "The legislature recognizes that home-based instruction is less structured and more experiential than the instruction normally provided in a classroom setting. Therefore.... the nature and quantity of instructional and related educational activities shall be liberally construed."

Me: "The Murder of King Tut: The Plot to Kill the Child King" by James Patterson, "The Lightning Thief" by Riordan, and "Bones to Ashes" by Kathy Reichs DS8: "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," "Magic Treehouse Resource Guide: Ancient Rome and Pompeii," and various other books on Rome (history) and the Solar System (solar) Readaloud: "The Witches" by Roald Dahl

I'm done. My son is done. Sadly, our work is not done. We are hoping to finish Math and LA's by June 4th. Science and History will continue in a relaxed form until we are finished with SOTW1 and any scientific rabbit trails that DS is following.

"The War of Northern Aggression" as those in Charleston, SC, like to call it!

We started SOTW1 in January and will be done in June. We read at least one book suggestion per chapter as well as the review questions, narrations, and maps. DS did the coloring pages while I read. We picked projects that looked fun (i.e. Lego pyramid, Assyrian seige tower, carving soap). Some weeks we did two chapters (for example, we the Qin Dynasty and Confucious in the same week). It didn't feel rushed and he totally enjoyed it.