How about FIAR? Secular, flexible, fun, lots of great activities and awesome books! We are going to use it this year along w/ MFW K for dd4 and as our main program for ds6 and ds8.

First of all, I have to say thank you to everyone who replied w/ such encouragement and advice and for all the prayers. I spoke with my dh last night and earlier this evening. I had him read a post on another board re: the Moores advice on early learning. He shared his own doubts about ds8 going to ps and his dissatisfaction with the teacher he would have (happens to be the same teacher dd12 had when she was in 3rd grade and I never really liked her as a teacher) and the curriculum. That cemented it for me. So, (drum roll please), we have decided to keep him at HOME! :hurray: Dh agreed to support me in teaching ds8, cut me some "slack" if things don't immediately go perfectly and I have agreed to keep dh informed as to how I am feeling (emotionally), ds8's progress, his behavior and generally just keep the lines of communication open. I'm under no delusions that this will magically be "easy" this year. However, I am certain this is best for ds8. Please keep us in your prayers if you think about it. I am excited, scared, anxious to get started and so much more at peace now. Ds8 is thrilled as well. This WILL be a better year!

There are many materials out there that use the ZB style of handwriting. You don't necessarily have to use their books. We have used A Reason for Handwriting and liked it. Books can be expensive, though. HWOT is also a good program, but very different. We switched from HWOT to ZB b/c ZB is used most often in workbooks and other curriculum. However, my ds6 and ds8 are having trouble with the 3 lines and so we might go back. Personally, I do not like the HWOT cursive...it is "ugly". JMHO. But, as I said, I think ds8 would do well with it. Easy, quick lessons that don't overwhelm.

Thank you...everyone for all these wonderfully encouraging replies. Your prayers are coveted and appreciated. I know I must take care of myself. However, I must also do what is best for ds8. I believe I have turned him against school by forcing him to do formal work too early. I know that many here don't agree with this but I truly believe that some children simply are not ready until age 8 or 9 to do formal work. I read another post on another board about the Moore's (I have read some of their stuff) and Better Late than Never. This is my son! He is very bright, but I fear with my pushing I have turned him off to learning. He used to be so curious, but my pushing him turned out that "light". He now equates learning with workbooks and drills and busywork. No wonder he fought me all the time. And to what end? This year, I just want the chance to turn that all around. I want his curiosity back, his "spark", his desire to learn. I want the chance to show him that learning doesn't have to be workbooks and textbooks. Does that make sense? As for me...I think if I lay off for a while, do some hands on stuff, make learning fun and engaging and tune out all the "voices" telling me what he should be doing, how he should be learning and at what level he should be at...then we will all be okay. My dh is coming around to this point of view. I have another day to pray, but my gut still tells me to keep him home.

My advice to you is to first take a few deep breaths. Okay. Done?:) Now, a few words of advice. Your children are so young. You don't need to start a formal curriculum, even with the 5yo. Does he read? Pick a good phonics program to start with if he doesn't and go through it at his pace (Phonics Pathways, OPG, 100 EZ lessons, The Reading Lesson, Phonics Road, etc...lots to choose from). You already love books and likely read to them all the time...so keep that up! Math? Again, if you prefer a curriculum there equally as many good math programs out there as phonics (sorry, that's not helping is it? :tongue_smilie:).. Singapore Earlybird, MUS Primer or Alpha, Horizons, RightStart, Saxon, etc. Everything else at this age is gravy. If you really like unit studies...I would highly recommend Five in a Row. Great, great program. AND, it is all about reading great books...every day...and doing related activites (Science, Art, Geography, History, LA, Math, etc.) based on the books. You would love it and so would your kids...all of them. Just my humble opinion. That would be a relatively inexpensive way to do it. HTH a little. FIAR, phonics and a little math...presto! Super K curriculum you can do with your 5yo AND your youngers will love sitting in on the FIAR stories and activities! Good luck!

Lots and lots of :grouphug: to you. I so know how you feel b/c I am in the same boat. My 4 oldest are going back this year b/c I have to take care of me. It is so hard to let go esp. when every fiber of my being HATES the ps system and the curriculum and everything about it! My advice...just use the time to take care of you like you need to. Be involved in the school to the extent you can and perhaps next year, when you have healed, you can bring them home. More :grouphug: and please stay and play...I am!

Others have already said it, but I will reiterate. You are NOT being selfish. Not at all. You must take care of yourself. Setting boundaries sometimes feels selfish, but they are healthy. If others cannot respect your boundaries right now, then they will just have to deal with and own their own feelings. KWIM? You are pregnant, in the hot summer, hormonal and wiped out. Right now...you are the one who needs the extra help...not others. Does that makes sense? Praying for you...I know what it is like to be preg. in the hot summer...with no A/C might I add!

There is that, Angie...letting him see that the grass isn't always greener. Dh even said that a trial run of a few weeks/months (he was looking at a semester) wouldn't ruin ds8 for life. I just don't know what to do! School starts Tuesday! I only have 2 days to really decide!

Thank you. To top it all off...ds8, if he had his way, wants to stay home and be homeschooled. He told me just now that he only agreed to "try" public school b/c he wanted me to be happy. :001_huh: We breifly talked about what he wanted to learn and how it would be important for him to do actual "work" this year...and not fight me every.single.day. But see...this is a kid who doesn't need drill after drill after drill to "get" something. He was just flipping through a math book and saying "oh yeah, 3+5=8 and 2+2=4...I know that already". He just hates doing those "drills". I am convinced that he "blew" the math test at the ps on purpose b/c he just didn't want to do it! When he wants to learn something...he will learn it and some. I'm just on the verge of tears here and dh simply doesn't understand.

You don't have to read this or comment or anything. I just need to write out my thoughts and rant and ramble and find some peace about this decision one way or another. DD12, ds11, ds9...all going back to ps and I feel "fine" about it. Two oldest can't wait to go back, ds9 has come along and is looking forward to making some new friends. Ds8? He has been adament about NOT doing school or going to school for months now. Finally, I got him to agree to give ps a try, that it might be fun, he might make some friends. So why am I KICKING myself for doing this? I just feel so strongly in my gut that sending him to ps is NOT going to solve our problems or his. Dh disagrees. He is concerned about me. Ds8 did fight me tooth and nail last year about doing schoolwork. Dh thinks he didn't learn nearly enough and that he is behind. I'm not so sure I like that word...it's the word the testing admin. used when she tested him at the ps. It bugs me that he is entering ps with the label "behind" or "slow" or "delayed". My gut tells me that this kid just hasn't been ready to do the "formal" school stuff like math drills and spelling lists and writing assignments. Has he learned? You bet! He KNOWS addition and subtraction and can do it when he has to...for real life stuff. He can read very well...and taught himself. He will read when he's not forced and for long periods of time. He will write when he has something interesting to write...or feels like being creative. He learns on the computer, learns from ed. tv programs or DVDs, he learns from being around a family that loves to read and learn, he learns at church and at Royal Rangers, he learns from being outside and around nature, etc. I know this sounds like "unschooling" and perhaps it is...perhaps it just "works" for this kid. Does that make sense? Perhaps this child needs a more flexible program, something that is more interest led or child led...unit studyesque. I've known children who simply were not ready for formalized learning stuff until they were much older. Am I making sense? Dh wants to give ps a try for him. He doesn't agree with me on this at all. He's much more brainwashed from working in the ps system than I am. I can understand some positives to waiting and to unschooling type programs...dh poo-poos it all saying it's an excuse to let children be lazy and not learn anything. Now I am stuck. I fear I will have to send him to school Tuesday, even though my instict is screaming NOOOOOOOO! Dh thinks we must now give it a try or risk screwing up ds8 and confusing him after getting him to agree to trying it out for a few weeks. I want to pull him now, do MFW Adventures or HOD Beyond (not sure which one, leaning toward Adventures) with him and ds6 as a tag-along (why? b/c he has always been interested in Amer. Hist ever since watching National Treasure). Taking our time, feeling our way and seeing what works and what doesn't. Letting ds8 take the lead in that we could stop at any time and go on any tangent he would like. He wants to learn about dinosaurs? Great! Lets do it. He wants to learn about trains? Super. Let do it! KWIM? Thanks for letting me ramble. I am just grieved about this. I really, really, don't want to send him to ps. But I feel that b/c of the horrendous year we (I) had last year that dh has lost all faith in my ability to teach him and his ability to be taught by me. I'm so hurt and so broken about this. Thanks for listening if you read this far. If not...simply thanks for letting me take up space on the board to pour out and sort out my thoughts. Oh, then there is the fact that the school uses Sitton spelling, Everyday Math...both horrible programs (I have experience with EM and hate it...have just heard horrible things about Sitton). If I am going to have to afterschool these subjects anyway...why not just pull him now!?!

That was what I was afraid of. Between Sitton spelling and Everyday Math...I'm so afraid that I am sending my elem. aged children to the wolves! Dh is adament about giving ps a try for them since we've built it up all summer. So why does my "gut" tell me to wait until middle school? Anyway, thanks for that confirmation about Sitton. Dh just rolled his eyes when i told him as if to say, "you are looking for a fight everywhere aren't you?". Why can't he just believe that I care about my kids? Ugh. I wish I could pull them now. They will certainly balk at doing any more schooling at home...even if it is only spelling using AAS and tiles instead of writing. Ugh. Just ugh.

My ds8's elementary school uses Sitton spelling. I've read some really BAD reviews online from teachers AND parents. Does anyone here have any experiences with it...good or bad? Thanks.

Thanks everyone. I know my kids will be fine...it's me I am worried about! Katilac...we are putting the 4 oldest in school for a number of reasons. The first being that last year was a really, really rough year emotionally for me (depression related issues) and my therapist has recommended I do this so I can regain some solid ground. Secondly, my 2 oldest expressed great interest in going back and dh thought it best for them. Third, my 6yo is showing some real "issues" with anger, possible depression, etc. and I must use this year to focus on him and w/ the older 4 home he tends to get "lost in the shuffle" as they demand so much of my teaching attention. Anyway, not to go on and on...I know it will be "okay". It's just not what I truly "want" even though it is what we all need right now. Does that make sense? And, it's not set in stone and I can pull any one or all of them if it isn't a good "fit". Thanks again for all the encouragement. It's just hard letting go and not feeling like I have failed.

As the first day of school approaches (Tuesday), I am getting more and more anxious about sending my 4 oldest back. I've had such issues already w/ dd12's school (and am NOT impressed w/ the school in general), am anticipating one huge math issue w/ ds11's (but besides that am relatively impressed with the school as a whole) and am simly not impressed with the Elementary school either. It is so hard to let go when I am so opposed to the ps system and just don't trust that the education they will get there will be better than the one I could provide (if I were at my best, which I am not right now). Any advice on how to get through this? I know my dc will do well...they are intelligent, well-adjusted and hard-working kids. It's the system I don't trust. Anyone btdt...how did you deal with this? Thanks.

I'm not looking to get them "up to speed" with ps writing as I think it is ridiculous. They will do their assignments as best they can but I just want to make sure they still get the firm foundation that they would at home, kwim? I'm not happy about sending them back, but dh thinks we need to (don't ask me about that right now :glare:) and I have to submit. Blech. Anyway, I'm going to do my darndest to afterschool the subjects they will be missing or not getting good instruction in. Thanks for your advice!

Yeah, it irks me beyond belief, but it is what it is, kwim? Thanks for your advice...I think I'm going to do it and just see how it goes. Ds10 is afterschooling math, so the others will just afterschool writing and that will be that. I expect arguments, but oh well...i get those anyway! Anyone else want to chime in?

I'm not thrilled about sending my 4 oldest back to ps. But, it is what it is right now and something I must do. Writing and math concern me the most. I've worked so hard to get ds10 to a place where he is actually "getting" math, only to throw him to the Everyday Math wolves. Ugh. I do NOT, I repeat, do NOT agree with the amount and type of writing required in ps, esp. in elementary school. Ridiculous to ask a 2nd grader to write for 5 minutes on "What is your favorite thing?" (that was the "test" they gave to my ds's entering elem. school 3rd and 4th gr.). They said my kids were grossly behind in writing b/c my upcoming 4th grader only had 4 sentences written (good ones, by the way) and my upcoming 3rd grader only had 2 (okay, he's never had any type of creative writing...only copywork and some dictation). Anyway..I digress. Could I use WWE to supplement at home? Would it take too long? I don't want to pile on the extra work, but do feel strongly that we continue the classical method of writing instruction at home. KWIM? I am getting so anxious about school starting next week that I am physically ill today. I just HATE that this is what we have to do. HATE it. And, I hate it even more that dd12 and dsd10 WANT to go back. Ds9 and ds8 are torn. I think ds9 is getting excited but ds8 is still very hesitant...except that he loves his new Mario backpack. Anyway, I ramble again...Thanks for your suggestions.

I'm not thrilled about sending my 4 oldest back to ps. But, it is what it is right now and something I must do. Writing and math concern me the most. I've worked so hard to get ds10 to a place where he is actually "getting" math, only to throw him to the Everyday Math wolves. Ugh. I do NOT, I repeat, do NOT agree with the amount and type of writing required in ps, esp. in elementary school. Ridiculous to ask a 2nd grader to write for 5 minutes on "What is your favorite thing?" (that was the "test" they gave to my ds's entering elem. school 3rd and 4th gr.). They said my kids were grossly behind in writing b/c my upcoming 4th grader only had 4 sentences written (good ones, by the way) and my upcoming 3rd grader only had 2 (okay, he's never had any type of creative writing...only copywork and some dictation). :001_huh: Anyway..I digress. Could I use WWE to supplement at home? Would it take too long? I don't want to pile on the extra work, but do feel strongly that we continue the classical method of writing instruction at home. KWIM? I am getting so anxious about school starting next week that I am physically ill today. I just HATE that this is what we have to do. HATE it. And, I hate it even more that dd12 and dsd10 WANT to go back. Ds9 and ds8 are torn. I think ds9 is getting excited but ds8 is still very hesitant...except that he loves his new Mario backpack. Anyway, I ramble again...Thanks for your suggestions.

You might want to look at My Access Writing...the Buyers co-op has it as a group buy right now. It's all online and looks very cool. I was going to get it, buy my dh wanted to see what sort of instruction they'd get at the ps.:001_huh: Funny, but as my older kids begin ps this year, I was told by the testing coordinator that they were all weak in writing. Well, duh. That's b/c we followed the WTM/classical method of copywork, dictation, narration, etc. I don't agree with the methods used at ps. Making 2nd graders write research papers is absolutely ridiculous. I'm now in the spot where I want to continue w/ this classical method, but how do I do that when my dc will enter ps this year? I'm afraid the ps will ruin everything I've tried to do, KWIM? Anyway, I digress...hope you find what you are looking for.

Staples just had filler paper for a penny! Now, I'm not sure how much it is but typically, Walmart has the best prices and they price match, too. Check the online sales fliers. Lot of sales going on.

I can only offer you sympathy and more sympathy. Actually empathy b/c as you know... I am right there with ya (A/C in one room and all)! I hate to even mention this word on this board but "gulp", will the 3yo and 16mos. old watch TV? (Sue is now ducking as the tomatoes are thrown). It's the only thing that gives me more than 15 min. of uninterrupted time around here. Letter Factory, Word Factory, the occasional Dora/Diego movie...mostly educational stuff...won't harm them if used as the occasional "babysitter". Jesse is into everything around here and keeping up with him is hard. He loves to get into drawers, open the fridge, pull stuff out of the pantry, etc. I have a drawer in the kitchen full of plastic measuring cups, rubbermaid containers, lids, etc. that he can go to town with. That entertains him for a little while. Take out, put away, take out, put away, take out...then go bother mom again. :glare: Sure wish he'd leave off with the "put away", kwim? Anyway, will be praying for you...lots of good suggestions here. Could he do "school" with the others? Playdoh, big crayons, paper, blocks, larger manipulatives of some sort? I just feel your pain. Hope it gets better for you!

Okay Chris. I don't have a response for you, yet. However, I just had to say that at first glance of your post...I thought it said, "What DEMON might fit me..." and I got a little confused. So glad I read THAT one wrong...I must be exhausted.

I've been overly stressed about Phonics around here, too. OPG didn't work for ds and frankly, the scriptedness just irked me. Just my pers. preference, I guess. Looked at Phonics Pathways, and it looked interested. Looked at 100 EZ and that looked interested. Looked at The Reading Lesson and that looked even better. But, finally, Tina's review of The Phonics Road sold me on that one. I purchased it used here on the board (thanks, Ronda!) and I can't wait to start. I hope Tina chimes in and can link you to her "advertisement" of TPR. BTW, I love the butterfly on your dd's face ( I guess that is your dd!). I am a face painter, myself, and this is a beautiful design.

Thanks everyone! And Tina...I think it is wonderful that you are so excited and passionate about this curriculum! You've been a big help to me.

Hey Ronda, I so appreciate your review! I kinda thought it would be a bit redundant, but wasn't sure. I'm pretty sold on TPR...my son can do the writing. I might keep AAS just in case.