I plan for some that I know I will need. Others, I take as I need. I knew I was taking a vacation in April for three weeks... what I didn't know was that my dad would be in the hospital half of March and that we'd be there visiting him, too. So.. we home school all year so we can do this kind of thing without falling behind. :001_smile:

I can tell you really love your son and you have so much grace for him, I like that. :grouphug: I have a talker and I will often ask her, "Please can I have some quiet time?" I am with her all day long and I have just come to realize that I need to be alone sometimes (for a little while) for her happiness and my happiness. I will send my daughter to her room to read, play, etc. I make sure there is stuff in there for her to do so it isn't punishment. While it's quiet, I read emails, cook, make phone calls to family... whatever I want/ need to do. And if I don't send her to her room for this quiet time, I don't actually ever get it. :001_smile: Sometimes I do take a deep breath and listen intently and respond.... other times, she and I both benefit from silence and a forced separation. Good luck. :grouphug:

I felt the same way. :grouphug: I would encourage you to read some books about un-schooling and homeschooling philosophy. I know this may sound totally absurd, but hear me out.... :confused: When I started homeschooling, I was totally fanatical about doing a great job educating my daughter... and I was totally discouraged when I wasn't perfect... and I was NEVER perfect... I really wondered whether or not I shouldn't just send her to school. But, after reading books like The Teenage Liberation Handbook (even though I don't remember agreeing with everything in this book) and books by Charlotte Mason and books by John Taylor Gatto, I realized that what I was doing (even though it wasn't perfect according to what I had imagined it would be) was MUCH better than the life my daughter would be living being a kid learning in school (in my opinion. I know and respect other moms who disagree.) Even going on a walk in the woods and looking at plants is often more effective and enjoyable and inspirational, etc. than being in a classroom, talking about the same plants, teaching your kids about photosynthesis, etc. I guess what I am saying is that I try and focus on the positive aspects of homeschooling life in general... like the quality time I am spending with my kids, rather than focusing on the fact that I am responsible for teaching them EVERYTHING!!! and getting the laundry done, and cooking dinner, and sending cards to family members, etc. The teaching is the easy part, really... keeping the reasons why you chose homeschooling always before you can be the hard part. :D

When I sense that my daughter (and I) are losing joy or interest in learning, I will do more unit studies (along with all our other formal plans, of course.) And when I say unit studies I mean taking a trip to the zoo with the free pass from the library, enjoying ourselves, taking pictures, letting the visit spark an interest in bears or ducks or whatever we saw there, checking out books on these subjects, doing drawings with new art supplies about them and narrations about what we learned in the books we read, etc. This "extra" stuff tends to remind us both that learning is fun and makes the rest of the day have more spark. :D I find that my daughter will show more enthusiasm for everything if she has had something to enjoy. The way I see it, if you can enjoy yourself AND be effective, why not do both? Homeschooling IS our life, so if we don't enjoy home schooling, we don't enjoy life... and I just can't have that. :D ;)

I felt the same way when I started. :grouphug: I have an older copy of FLL that friend gave me. I have heard the newer edition is more "user-friendly." I have a feeling that means that I would find myself messing up less. I will still OFTEN read out loud what is meant to be read to myself silently or read silently what I am supposed to read out loud. :glare: But, actually, my daughter has gotten used to this and so have I. I still like the fact that I am not making her do seat work for grammar. (She does enough seat work as it is with handwriting and spelling and phonics workbooks and history and..., etc.) She's still learning what she needs to learn (and she doing this in five minutes a day) and that's what I like about FLL the most. :D I also really like the poems and narration and the handwriting practice (when I don't skip it), etc. I like having all that in one place. We only do it three or four times a week... if that. We're moving through it fine. We should still finish on track.

We go all year because we take so many breaks, because we often do only four day weeks, etc. :D I would do thirty minutes of reading a day, without fail. You could do handwriting, if you know that your younger children may need to practice so they won't lose the skills they have without practice for so many weeks. I'd read a novel or two out loud throughout the summer, something you all would really enjoy. And you could read books relevant to where you travel or where you explore (ponds, lakes, seashore, etc.) Other than that, I'd base it what you know your individual kids would benefit from continuing. Some stuff can clearly wait till the fall... The other stuff could be done in a few hours a day before you go enjoy the summer weather. :D

:iagree: These are questions we adult's need answers to as well! :D

My daughter started being able to type in her user names and passwords at four. But, half the time, she'd type them wrong and need help fixing them. Now, she's six and she does it right every time. :001_smile:

You could use a Sonlight Core of your choice and then work separately on phonics and math... I used Sonlight for that last year right before my daughter was ready for The Story of the World, etc. :001_smile:

I use an old tape player. (About 10 years old). I wait till everyone is sleeping to record so it's quiet enough and I put my mouth close to the built in microphone. This is "old fashioned" but it works for me. :D

That would have been my advice. :confused: Sorry.

I'd make them read for a half an hour during the day. That's probably the chunk of time you control anyway and your husband is gone to work (I am guessing) so that should work easily enough. Librarians will be a good help finding the best books to interest boys. The house should be quiet. No television or computer screens on. Maybe classical music playing. I would make them sit on the couches, etc. (Just my thoughts). I think most people who aren't readers really COULD BE... since there are books on EVERY topic under the sun... it's just that getting into the habit of it is a learning curve and it's so much easier to turn on the television. I went years without reading any books. But, now I read daily. :001_smile: Good luck. :grouphug:

I'd buy them. I am in the process of collecting all the books that are "worth having" (in my opinion) or the books that are good for me to have right now... that I may end up getting rid of when we are done with them. I blogged about this (if you are interested). Here's the link: http://www.veronicaboulden.com/2011/03/i-spent-another-hour-typing-titles-into.html I also use the library constantly. And that means I constantly pay late fines (even though I try to get them back on time... I really do.;)) It's nice not to pay fine on the books I own. You can check every book you'd ever need out at the library, yes... but some books are just great to have. I tried for years to avoid collecting books (AKA spending money) but I found that it was much nicer to have books (the ones you read over and over or the read-alouds that take you a few weeks to get through) because then I could just go the shelf and get the books when I needed or wanted them, rather than stressing over finding them at the library and having them when I needed them or when it was convenient for me, etc. or finishing them by the time they were due. Note: I hardly ever buy books new, though... I go to thrift stores or used book stores, etc. This saves tons of money and there is a "thrill in the hunt." :D

I try and do our unit studies along with our field trips/ vacations. This way, if we really want to take a hike or go to the beach, we can still make it educational. We are using the One Small Square books to go to the swamp, pond, seashore and woods this summer. We've been to cypress and mangroves swamps so far and we've been reading and rereading One Small Square: Swamp. If the book mentions that alligators live in the swamp and we see alligators on our visit to the swamp, I try and find a book about alligators. My daughter and I will read it or she will read it by herself and I try and encourage her to do a narration about what she read and draw a picture that she can put in her science notebook. (A three ring binder). Sometimes the books I find about the animals in the habitats we visit are internet-linked (Usborne) and she will find activities to do on those internet links. One thing naturally leads to another most of the time and that's how we end up with an informal unit study. :D

Congrats. Homeschooling is awesome. :grouphug:

We go throughout the year. We travel so much and take so many breaks for other reasons, it's the only way for us to stay on track. :001_smile:

I'd call them third grade books. I am comparing them to the 3rd grade readers from Sonlight and they are about the same kind of thing. :001_smile: We love Magic Tree House by the way. :D

I am pretty sure that To Kill A Mockingbird (the old, black and white film with Gregory Peck) would be a perfect fit. I believe the characters even reference the bus boycott, saying in passing "...they won't ride buses anymore..." I just read this book and then saw the movie. The book is better, one of the best pieces of literature I've ever read. But, the movie is great, too, in my opinion. :D Note: The book and movie are about a black man accused of raping a white woman. The white woman is lying. She tries to seduce the man, etc. (much like Pottifar's wife accused Jacob in the Old Testament, etc.) The main character IS a child, in first grade I think, so she asks, "What's rape?" and her father handles it beautifully, in my opinion. This movie will bring up serious discussions about topics they may not even know about. (The movie only talks about it. Doesn't show anything.) Of course, you are the best judge of what to do with your kids, 10 and 14... I have a 6 year old and a 2 year old, so I have no clue what a 10-14 year old are capable of processing. I had forgotten I wasn't recommending the movie for YOU alone. Sorry.

I group it with a subject it best "goes with" and then we do it before I do that subject... For language, we use First Language Lessons, so we usually review the poem we are learning in that book before the language lesson for that day. (We are also usually told in the book to review the poem at the beginning of the lesson... so that helps me remember! ;)) But, take Bible study, for example. We are reading The Family Time Bible Reader, but I remember to review the Bible verses we want to memorize before we read/talk about our Bible lesson for that day. With history, we will review the names of Pharaohs before we even listen to our chapter in The Well Trained Mind and do our map work, etc. I tend to ask myself at the start of each new subject, "Is there any memory work we need to review before we start?" That way, by the end of the day, we've done ALL our memory work by doing it before the subject that it bests "goes with." ...Works for us. :D Good luck.

I never use the TM either. I didn't even have it for a long time. Now I have it, but still don't use it!!:D We used The Handbook for Reading by itself for a long time, now we also use the phonics sounds CD, Abeka readers and lots and lots of other readers, including the titles in Sonlight's Cores K-2nd... If you are missing something, I don't know what it is, either! :001_smile: I plan to go back through The Handbook at least one more time, seriously drilling the sounds. After that, I plan to start All About Spelling. This will also be a review of phonics... just with a focus on applying it spelling. My daughter is NOT learning to spell well with Abeka's Spelling 1... but I am determined to finish book 1 anyway. Even though the words are grouped to follow a spelling/ phonics rule... she just is NOT really learning to think about the words. She's just memorizing them. She needs a better way to break the words up into sounds and figure them out, so we are going to do phonics again... but with All About Spelling's bent on Spelling. But, as far as teaching reading goes, Abeka as you (and I) do it seems to be the best way. Everyone who uses The Handbook, even if they do nothing else, seems to be pleased with the results. I am!!! My daughter is a great reader. ...Let me know if you eventually find something missing. :001_smile: I'll do the same.

I blog everyday. That's a photo/ written record of much of what we do. I don't keep paper projects around for more than a few months. (My daughter made a snake game with cardboard and paper and markers for history... I plan to throw it out in another month.) I take pictures, we use or display the stuff for a while, but then we usually toss it. If my daughter makes something crafty, it goes in her room. If it breaks, it gets tossed. I keep the first and last pages of each year's handwriting book, so you can see how she improved. Those go in a file/ basket I keep on the shelf. I keep most of her narrations and illustrations. But, they go into a notebook and that's where they are also "stored." (When the notebook is full, we will get another one.) I keep all the maps, history color sheets, etc. in another notebook. (When that's full, we'll get another one.) I keep any really nice drawings in that file/ basket and when it is full, it goes in my hope chest. Her math workbook goes on the shelf when we are done with it. I plan to reuse that with her baby sister, since she only uses half the pages for each lesson anyway. (Math U See) I try to throw everything else away... after I take pictures. :D

It usually takes a week or a little more... I don't remember getting my workbook right away... but I don't think it was really late, either. Good luck. :001_smile:

:iagree: It will take a few games to teach the six year old how to play, but this is a good choice for those ages, in my opinion. I like it and I am a grown up. :D

I have the audio version. :D I have SO MUCH to read out loud as it is, I like to listen along with the kids.

When you are just starting out, you have to do a reasonable amount of research... but eventually, you have to choose something and just go with it. And then as you do it, you will be able to tell what you like about it and what you don't and that will inform the next decision you have to make about what to use next... It's a process that goes on as long as your kids are learning. Most of us don't have an unlimited budget to buy everything that's out there. So, the best thing you can do is research for a few days or weeks and then choose the best fit out of the products you've come across. I am still learning about new products everyday. If I let it, this would drive me nuts because I would always wonder, "What if THAT will work better than what I have?!" But, that question "What if..." is really only a question I can ask at certain times of the year... like when something is obviously NOT working or when I am finished with something that worked well enough and I have to buy something new. :grouphug: