I have this same struggle but I have found that if I do a sort of block scheduling that things are much easier. I suppose it needs less time for planning and switching subjects with the kids having to change their train of thought. We do math everyday because they do it at lunch with their dad. But I will take a day for Latin, History or Science. Sometimes we will focus on one subject for a week. This allows us to concentrate on something and get a lot accomplished. Meanwhile it frees up some ME time for mom. I do not have to plan out the entire week of all subjects daily... I have a little more time to focus on the kitchen and myself.

Yes, completely understand... thanks for the discussion!

We are thinking luxury by moving it from one place to the other... Not splurging just yet on a second one :)

Thank you for the help!

On a tight budget, yet wanting the best time line... I need ideas for creating a time line that we can use on the wall or possibly use paper connected but folded into an accordion style book. I have seen links to free or low cost time line figures but can not find them now. Any ideas or thoughts? Thanks!:)

We go for natural science in kindergarten. They are only little once and they need this time to explore the world. Go for a hike, children's museum, play in a pond, plant a few seeds or a big garden, and watch them blossom!

Yes, Donna Young's is great because you personalize it, save it on your computer and print it as you need it. Very easy and professional. It is easy for the kids too. I print one a week for each of the 4 children. They check off their work as they do it and on the back we list library books read or experiences that were not planned.

"Gods don't kill people, It's people with gods that kill people" (not sure where that quote is from, but I read it somewhere)... I always think of this when we are studying religion and history. Most wars and atrocities have been committed because someone thought their thought was right and must be forced on others.

Yes, Rose.. Thank you for the feedback. You are right, I think, about the term world view. We do need to have some 'ownership' of the term for ourselves. However, like someone mentioned, I don't want my children to have a certain world view. I just want them to be free spirits and have their own paths while trying their best to understand how others are thinking and feeling along the way. I guess an educated world view through secular history with respect for all people. I have not read many of the authors that you are quoting (on my way to the library today) and I have most always heard the term world view spoken from a Christian context. Thanks for this discussion. It is still going strong and there's so much more to learn. Thank you to all of our fellow free thinkers too!! I did not realize there would be so many on this board. It is great!

I would love to see a picture when you get it finished! We have thought of doing something similar.

This shows us how much we as humans rely on these little boxes that plug into the wall called computers :) I think about this often: What would we do without them? Maybe play with the kids and garden a little more.

I like using my copier to print off workbook pages. We often get to a part in a book that we can skip some pages or only one child needs a page now - the other later. I think it is definitely worth having a copier.

I agree with you Rose, when I hear evangelicals use the term world view, I always think why does one group of people think they can own the term only for their beliefs. It is kind of like owning a god :)

That will be a wonderful experience! Maybe you could read some stories about the area and then retell them to the family while you are there. So much history will be under your feet! Is your husband's family from Lebanon?

I agree... the lower levels of writing strands seem so slow, but we sometimes do an entire week's lesson in one afternoon. It is a great writing program in my opinion. We also add to it by writing letters to family and doing book reports.

It can seem hard trying to sort through the religiously biased 'world view' materials in an effort to share an unbiased view with our children. I am on that journey. I think that the term world view is from the fundamental Christian viewpoint. But, I do teach a world view to my children (in essence). We respect EVERYONE's belief. I try to teach them how others live with and without religion. I teach them how religion has been used politically throughout time. We try to skip the Christian materials as much as possible, however if a question is presented we do not avoid it. We learn from it. For one reason, every denomination (even if it is 'non-denominational') has their own world view. For another reason, I want my children to respect everyone's personal choice of their religion. I do not ever want my children to say that someone is wrong because they believe something different. I grew up judging others because they were not my religion. Since that time I have learned a lot and realize I only believed what I did because of the others around me. It is wrong and I truly regret it. I do not want my kids to learn through the minds of others. I want them to look at the world with an eye of mutual respect and awareness, not the view that they are wrong and I have to change them. Sorry to ramble on - am I on the same question that you are asking?

The candy shapped like ciggarettes takes me back to my grandmas front porch here in the bible belt. Smoking was a sin but we saw people do it all the time and we would hide eating and smoking those candy ciggarettes. Oh how innocent were the days of the 70's.... One of my favorite things was my baby doll called Baby Ann. Did any of you have one?

Personally, I was in 4-H and did not live on a farm. However, I was very active and participated in judging events such as soil (learned the qualities of different soils), land judging (learned to view land maps and tell what the land would be best suited for), fabric (learned the qualities of different fabrics and how to sew with different ones), and met a lot of friends from the region who were like-minded. It is a fantastic opportunity if you are active. Let your extension agent know that you homeschool and you want to get a lot out of it. They will point you in the right direction. Oh yeah, don't forget... You can participate in local county fairs by entering art, sewing, crafts, veggies, baked goods, etc. and earn prizes (often money). I hope you have a good experience!

"we would just keep on going the next week, by either throwing out the work we missed or doing it quickly out loud. This was crazy, but worked so well for us. You see, it's ok to miss a math sheet here and there throughout the year. There's enough review etc, that it's not a big deal... But it IS a big deal if you miss the last big chunk of your book. This way of doing things helped me to finish the whole year by may with lots of breaks throughout." Thank you for this! Your words just made so much sense to me and it was like an AHAH! moment :)

Are you using the homeschool tracker free version or paying for the full version? Maybe I should create a new thread. I have thought about this but not seen any reviews. Thanks!

I do not like to confront issues like this either because of the conflict, however, when it comes to my children and teaching them honesty I think I would have to. I think I would just open a discussion about the votes and see if the voting sheets are available to see. You could mention that you just want to set your daughter clear on the count since she was disappointed. Then you could explain your feelings more. I think they will always smirk behind you when you are around during elections, but you will be showing a strength that they obviously do not have. Good luck!

I want to jump in here with Shurley Grammar. I also think it is extremely expensive and too rigorous for my homeschool setting. We enjoy learning, reading, writing and spelling. But Shurley English took the enjoyment out of it for all of us. I like Susan Bauer's new grammar books and Practical Language Lessons. Those just seem like more natural learning versus boring public school learning. We do use Latin for children which we love and I have heard that Shurley goes well with it, but we are learning so much grammar from latin that I do not know how we would have time to do both. Good luck in your choices.

We also use writing strands and spelling workout. I feel that for the years through 4th grade this is enough. We will begin with imitation in writing and incorporate more writing activities for 5th grade.