Yes I saw the one along the wall! I love that too. I need something like that but I don't want built in since I'm not sure if we will need this room for something else in the future or change to a different room for homeschool (we have options). The room we currently use is quite big, but I seem to be lacking in creativity to solve the distraction issues.

Ok, if you could design your ultimate homeschool room (or already have!) please share! I need to redesign mine because some of the kids have outgrown the little low table and are tired of the 2 year old coloring on their books. They spend too much time looking at each other's assignments and staring off into space! I currently have 4 children: 2, 5, 7, and 10. The 10 year old is HIGHLY distractible and needs to be separated somehow. Will be adding another one late this year that will probably be a toddler too. I need ideas! Show me what you love! I have a designated homeschool room and a decent budget to redesign it. The room is fairly large. Thanks in advance! And if this has been discussed recently, please just link me to it! I didn't find it on the search function.

This is my second year using HOD, for my 8 year old, who is now in Bigger. I'm having a baby next week but it's only my 4th :) so I can relate some. We are also considering using MFW ECC next year, though for the content not so much a change - my daughter LOVES learning about other cultures and will often read about how other countries live just for fun. Anyways, we tweak Bigger A LOT. She has difficulty transitioning (always has) so we minimize it and do longer lessons. Eg: Bible - we do about 2 times per week. Combine day 1 and 2 discussions, write her verse and character trait in her notebook on the first day, do the day 4 and 5 reading on a different day. History - Read day 1 and 2 on Monday, day 3 and 4 on Wed, then note booking/timeline on Friday. Sometimes we skip the activities if they don't have enough educational value for the time it takes. Science - not a fan of theirs so we do twice a week, and the AIG the rest of the time. Poetry - only once a week, to discuss meaning and whatever technique it is teaching. Storytime- about three times a week. We combine narration with whatever else it's teaching. Anyways, the point is I feel this takes less time and still accomplishes the important stuff without taking as much time. So tweak to meet your needs! Don't let it own you :)

I'm having my 4th little one on Tuesday... My others are 3, 5, and 8. So I had my last one when my oldest was early K, and we were new to homeschooling so not too intense. When did you get back to school after a new baby? My newest little one will be 4 weeks premature so may need a little more attention. Also it will be my 4th c-section. Tentatively, I figure definitely two weeks off, two weeks at half speed, then maybe full speed if all is well. What do you think? How long did it take you to get back to normal? I don't want to set myself up for failure but also know how hard it is to get back into the swing of things if off for too long!

Just wanted to say I am also teaching a 3rd grader with a K listening in and am looking for something different. We have done quite a few in the series actually, been using it for over 2 years, and I find the retention is extremely poor. The quickie paragraph for the younger ages is TOO short, while the rest of the text isn't long either and jumps into words and concepts not covered. When people say Apologia is wordy that makes me want to get it because AIG isn't wordy enough! I am planning on doing the Astronomy one and getting the junior notebooking pages for each. My younger likes to feel part of it and my older could probably do the regular notebooking pages but probably would have more fun with the junior since her brother will be doing them. And really my goal is to love learning and remember what you learned - not happening with AIG. Good luck!!

My 7yo dd read the entire Harry Potter series in a month (and I wasn't happy about it - I would never have given her that first book if I knew how much she would get into it). I don't have any suggestions but I wanted to say thank you to all those great suggestions, especially the pp who took the time to write out all those books. I copied and pasted into a handy reading list :) Thanks!

Thanks for the suggestions! He does know most of his letters but he's not real solid yet. He is enjoying the LHTH so far but since we just started, he does not have much of an attention span!! He frequently wanders away! I think that will get better with time... On the upside my other son, only 2, started joining in and acting out the finger plays with us! I didn't think he would take an interest in it so that part has been really fun! So we are just a week into it, and I recommend it, but am looking into the R&S workbooks because he loves having some seatwork like his big sis :001_smile:

Thank you for the recommendations, I will definitely bookmark them all!

Great thread! So fun to see what everyone else is up to :) Here is what I am thinking we'll do: Preparing Hearts for His Glory BJU English 3 BJU Math 3 AAS 3 (if we finish 2 by then) Rosetta Stone - once we get into the groove of the new curriculum Art - tag along with little bro's FIAR studies and do the art with them Music - maybe BJU, we still have to try out the grade 2 program we bought months ago! PE - soccer, dancing, swimming, or whatever she happens to choose at the time!

I just got Heart of Dakota's Little Hands to Heaven and it could be used with that age (it's Christian so if you're not, you won't want it!).

BJU math is very colorful and super easy to use for newbies. It is the fourth program we've tried and the first that has been a hit.

Thank you for the suggestions! I actually didn't teach preschool with my first - she went to one since I never planned on homeschooling. Ha!! Turns out I was wrong!

Hmm I have both 2nd grade rod and staff as well as BJU and I found the rod and staff to need me a whole lot less. I could have her read the info and do the work if I was busy. With BJU, I need to read the lesson for the most part. We did 4 out of 6 of the units with Rod and Staff 2 last year and I felt she had a lot of gaps in her writing and she disliked it so we moved onto BJU English 2 without finishing it. She had retained a lot of the rod and staff, which was encouraging, but really enjoys the BJU worksheets. Her writing has improved, though to be fair the last two units of R and S focus a lot on writing.

Thanks! Any more?

We enjoy all the BJU curriculum we use (listed in siggy) but I'm going the other route and thinking about trying a new approach (HOD) to get away from being so textbooky. However, if it doesn't work, I know what does!

Ok, got the HOD Little hands to try! Excited about it :) The rod and staff books look mostly like coloring books, is that right? Or are there activities with them?

I'm looking for some resources that will let me know about books before I let my daughter read them - something that will alert me to issues or circumstances I may not want her reading about. She is seven, and started reading the Harry Potter series mid December. She is currently on the Half Blood Prince (second to last book in the series) and I can't possibly keep up! The last book was 870 pages. We don't want her reading things too over her head but she just breezes through things. These weren't even the only books she's read in this time! Also, any book recommendations are appreciated! Thanks!

Thanks so much for your suggestions! I have been leaning towards Heart of Dakota, especially since I have a little one that I may be able to include in that program since it's geared for 2-5. I have never heard of some of the ones you all have mentioned so it's really good to have more to look at. And thank you for not coming down on me for needing something easy! One board I posted a similar question had several posters that told me if I didn't have the time to research and figure it out myself then I should re-think my decision to homeschool :001_huh: Any other suggestions or endorsements are still welcome!

I hate to sound lazy... but what are the best options for something fairly open and go for a 4 year old? I'd like to start teaching him, but it's been busy moving to a new home, working from home, attempting to sell the old home, homeschooling a very distractible 7 year old, and entertaining the 2 year old. And I might be pregnant soon.... I'm open to all education styles, I'm not sure what style we are yet ;) Thanks for your input and helpful comments!

Thanks for the links and resources so far! And yes, what Laura the previous poster said - that kind of thing is what I am looking for. Mostly do they all sit down and stare at dry textbooks all day that they will forget later?? If not, how do they learn?

Yeah, we definitely are too textbook-y. My daughter doesn't mind, but I know she isn't excited about school as I would want her to be. It's me teaching for 10 minutes, her doing a worksheet for awhile (depends on if she can concentrate that day!) for every single thing (except spelling). I'm bored so I know she is! We need something with a lot of science - it seems most of these unit studies focus so heavily on history.

I'm really interested in how other parts of the world learn. I've only been educated in our public school system and it seemed like the only way - and so I've been attempting to replicate that at home. However, I realized that despite being a straight A student, I remember almost nothing! I'm starting to see that my daughter is the same - only unit studies and hands on projects stick with her (though she aces the tests). I'm looking to switch to some of those kinds of curriculum, but also really curious about the rest of the world. Any books on education throughout the world or personal stories? Curriculum suggestions also appreciated!

This is totally my daughter, too - completely oblivious! Usually she just gets so caught up in reading or anything that moves...or is shiny... Well, nice to know I'm not alone, but any ideas? We've tried the timer and perhaps didn't stick with it long enough because she also was so distracted staring at it, crying about running out of time, that we didn't try long.

My 7 year old is bright but SOOOOO poky. She is doing pretty good with school, though it does take her awhile to complete anything artistic or that involves writing. The problem is, everything else takes her SOO long to do! Getting dressed? Easily at least 30 minutes. Brushing her teeth: usually 15 minutes. Hair: another 15 minutes. Eating? Don't get me started! She would easily take an hour each meal! Standing over her coaching her to keep moving is not an option. Some days we have to, if we have somewhere to be. But at this age, shouldn't she be able to complete these tasks in less time??When I remind her 3 or 4 times to go brush her teeth and I find her off doing something else, it is very hard to stay patient! There must be something I am missing! What is the cure for pokiness??:confused:

We liked Antsy Pants if they still had messes and then Blueberry trainers when they got #2 in the toilet on a consistent basis. Going naked this time of year is tough! To me, it wasn't worth ruining a couch or the carpet...