[quote name= Our first year of homeschooling we used Sonlight. It was a great fit.... Lots of good books' date=' a daily schedule that is awesome, everything in a box. We have tried it since, but it just isn't a good fit anymore. However, it sounds like it might be perfect for you, at least until you feel more confident. If it makes you feel any better, my kids often listened to me read while hanging upside down off the couch at that age. I think it is just natural. My dd, who is 10 now, would fall off her chair for no apparent reason several times during the day until just a couple of years ago. :) [/quote] Thank you for that recommendation! I have thought about Sonlight. Tell me though, is it advanced and challenging enough? Forgive me for asking - I just thought I had read somewhere that it wasn't one of the more advanced curricula - I could be totally off base here! That was early on in my searching, and I could be getting it mixed up w/ something else. Please let me know if I am, as I would very much like to consider it. Your dd sound like mine! I can't tell you how many times she wiggles out of her chair, or drops her pencil while we're working. :) I glad to know that she might grow out of that.

Yes - you are absolutely right! That is one thing that I look very forward to when we're homeschooling next yr. I guess the guilt I've been feeling has to do with having her in K at private school right now, and wondering if she's really being challenged intellectually - BUT - that is where we felt that she fit in socially. We made that decision before we decided on homeschooling for next yr. Oh well, I guess when I have her home there will be plenty of time to make up for lost time. :)

That's hilarious! You aren't in Texas, by any chance, are you? They would probably be great playmates! One yr. we gave her several rolls of scotch tape in her stocking. I still have to hide my tape. ;) I do try to cherish it, but it's an interesting problem to have as well...few would understand the amount of time it takes to put the house back together after an afternoon of "inventing". So funny. :001_smile:

Wow! Thank you all so much for making me feel so welcome and for all of the advice and encouragement! I am now looking up all the suggestions and putting things in my HS bookmark file... :) I'm cracking up at this, KarenAnne... "hang Barbies from string on an umbrella outside and twirl them around to give them "rides," - That is so my daughter. She creates and builds things out of everything in the house. Today she made a train for all of the stuffed bears in the house out of bins and baskets that she taped and tied together with tape and those plastic tube things that you twirl around and make music with. Yesterday she made a bird's nest out of an old wire tomato plant cage and curling ribbon (filling it with grass and leaves and hanging it from a tree). My vision and hers are so very different. As much as I want to teach her, I'm seeing that I have alot to learn from her as well. I think part of my problem is that my husband and I kept her back a year (for many reasons including her being very sensitive and that she plays and interacts better with other kids when they are her age and younger vs. older kids) - she's a summer b-day, so she'll be 7 going into 1st grade this fall. I feel sometimes like we've done her a dis-service though intellectually. She was reading at 4, and is now loving K, but I know she would be so much farther along had we put either put her in school earlier or had I HS'd her for K the yr. before and this yr. for 1st. Why am I second guessing myself, after dh and I prayed and prayed about this decision? I guess I'm just putting too much pressure on myself to make sure I do the right thing for her (and my ds -4, too), because I love them so much! Her brother is is definitely going to reap the benefits of being the second child! :lol:

Hi all, My name is Megan, and I'm new to The Well-Trained Mind. I'm amazed at all of the wonderful advice and info that's available here, and I've already had many of questions answered - thank you! Here is my struggle, and I would greatly appreciate any wisdom and insight any of you have to offer...(please forgive me - this is long) I'll be homeschooling my dd (6 yrs. old - 7 in June) for 1st grade next year. She currently goes to a part-day, 4 day a week Kindergarten. I've been trying to do some supplemental work with her on Fridays because she is capable, and I want to make sure she's being challenged. Iv'e kind of been looking at these Fridays as practice for next year, and to maybe work out some of the bugs ahead of time. My tendency is to want to use a curriculum that goes day by day and clearly explains the directions, and is fun (imo) - it's mostly worksheets. I think I tend to gravitate toward these because it seems to be the easiest way to make sure I'm not leaving anything out of her schooling. The problem is that she sits at the table and is either board, distracted, or just doesn't want to be doing this. Yes - she is strong-willed, No - she isn't ADD or ADHD. One example is handwriting - She has developed some pretty sloppy writing habits that I'm now trying to fix. We've been using A Reason for Writing to try to help her improve, and a lesson that should imo take about 20 min. to complete is taking about 45 min. at times! I feel like it's like pulling teeth to get her to do anything, and I end up feeling stressed out and overwhelmed - I can't imagine doing this every day! Is part of my problem the way I'm going about things? I'm constantly drawn to the idea and philosophy of Charlottle Mason, as well as Classical, but I feel like I need a more structured, step by step approach for my first year of homeschooling. I feel like I need a schedule to help hold myself accountable. I guess my main questions are these: Is it, perhaps, that I've just got to approach teaching her in some other way than table work? I'm so sorry if this is a ridiculous question, but to me it would be so much easier to do it this way...figuring out another way feels like it's going to push my creativity to the extreme limits! *please see my edit, bellow...:) Also - how can I use Charlotte Mason AND make sure that I'm covering everything and not leaving anything out? I'm sure there are other posts on this topic, so please feel free to refer me, if that's easier. :) One of her favorite things to do is just cuddle up on the couch and read, look at pictures, talk about stories, etc. We could do this for hours. She's even much more into grammar, math, etc., if we're just sitting on the couch! Maybe I need to find a "curl up on the couch" curriculum!? Thanks so much in advance! megan ...edited to say this....I realize that it probably sounds awful that I would NOT want to stretch my creativity to it's limits - it's not that I don't, it's just that I don't know where to start, or how to go about it. I'm realizing that homeschooling is probably not going to be the picture that I originally had in mind, and that's OK...I'm just wondering if there's anyone else out there that had to work through these similar issues. I know that if I let it become what God wants it to be it and stop worrying about MY plans for it, it WILL be what's best for my kids - only He knows best, after all! I guess I need to let go of some preconceived notions... *sigh* ;)