I think I would sit down at a time when you're not upset about this and explain that you find this frustrating and unfair. If you are able to have a conversation about it (as opposed to a confrontation), he may be able to explain what the issue is. With any luck, he will also see the problem from your perspective and agree to work towards a more equitable division of labor at home. If this just isn't something he will work on, then you will have to accept that and figure out how to deal with it from your end by hiring help, making decisions unilaterally on certain things, and leaving other things to him entirely (with him dealing with whatever fallout results). Not much else to do, really, is there? Ultimately, adults only change when they want to. Hugs.

Loved: AAR, AAS, Horizons Math, CLE Language Arts, Morning Time :) Liked: WWE, VP Self-paced history, Singapore, CLE Reading, MP guides with novels OK: Reading a science textbook with note taking, vocabulary, and questions. We'll be tweaking a little next year. All our 'loves' will stay, along with WWE. We'll start Beast Academy for our conceptual math, and use Mosdos Press instead of CLE Reading. History and science will be more CM-y with some assigned readings.

I am a newbie, just finishing up our first year with Morning Time. You might want to take everything I say here with a grain of salt. Or, maybe bring along an entire salt lick! Morning Time is my biggest single time investment in our home school. This year I have had 4 with me -- a 6th grader, a 4th grader, a 2nd grader, and, for half the year, a K'er. Here's what we do: 10-15m Music: Listen to a selection from our composer 20m Prayer time. I sneak in memory work here because we recite a Psalm and another meaningful passage (the Magnificat, the Nicene Creed, etc.) and a hymn. 2m Wisdom: Read that day's Wisdom passage (usually a Latin or Biblical phrase of interest) 10m Bible Study: VP Bible cards, 1 day read the back, 1 day read the Bible passage, 1 day talk about it, 1 day review 30m Poetry: So, each kiddo has a poem to read aloud for each week. On Friday, we discuss their poem (structural/thematic elements). 15m Cultural Studies: Here's where we go in depth on artists, composers, philosophers, literary greats 10m Shakespeare: A scene a day 30m Memory Work: CC, all subjects, poetry selection, Shakespeare selection 20m Read Aloud/Guided Reading I know it adds up to more, but somehow we are usually done in ~2 hours. Psalms, Hymns, and Composers change every month. We don't move on from a memory selection until it's memorized. Right now, I have a list of all the novels I'd like us to read, poems to memorize, Scripture, Shakespeare, etc., some of it taken from Living Memory, some of it just things I want them to know. I don't plan on rotating things really. To me, it's more important that you've memorized some Shakespeare, and less important whether you've memorized "Let me not to the marriage of true minds" or "Shall I compare thee." Everything is organized in our Morning Time notebooks. The kids have a copy of our prayers, the Psalm, the hymn, their weekly poems, and whatever selections we're memorizing. I keep everything, including all completed memory work, in my notebook. Every day I just flip to the section in my notebook and we review 1 old poetry/Scripture selection plus 1 week of CC from the two cycles we've done. I move the post-it note to the next poem or week, and I'm ready for the next day. My kids don't keep their past memory work in their notebooks. I have the hard copies, and when we review, I will give them a prompt if they need it. This basic system has worked well for us and when we start school again, I will only tweak it to add a weekly folk song (I took the list from the Core Knowledge series) and our artist of the month. This was supposed to have been happening in the afternoon, but it just got really difficult to gather back together and do it. Hope that helps!

I've learned that the most important thing I can do is to discipline MYSELF. Consistently waking everyone up for school even when I'd rather have another cup of coffee and enjoy the quiet. Consistently starting the day with Morning Time. Consistently sitting down with each child to do the Work With Mom work. Consistently checking their independent work. Doing what I know has to be done instead of wishing some magic fairy would :poof!: make it all easier! I've also learned that really, most curriculum choices are pretty solid, and I must. resist. the. temptation. to toss something we're doing that's working in pursuit of something just because it's new! shiny! or aesthetically pleasing! Ultimately, the curriculum is merely a tool; it is not my master! Lastly, I've learned that kids learn like they grow, a little bit at a time. Yes, there are 'spurts' where things seem to be clicking all over the place, but those tend to happen after many days of dutifully laying brick upon brick, building a strong foundation. So, the education for my early elementary kiddos has to be consistent. For me -- a procrastinator who has a 'Step One: Slay a dragon. Step 2: Take a nap' approach to, well, everything -- this can be a challenge! So my motto for 2015 is "Joyful Diligence." This is almost an oxymoron for me, but I want it to be true that I can find joy in doing the things that I must do. Really last this time, I've learned that I still have a lot to learn on this journey! And that's OK. I know more now than I did a year ago, and far, far more than I did before I started. By the time I get my 3 year old up and grown, I may have things figured out. :)

I actually just purchased the older version of this on eBay. One of my sons shares many traits with those on the spectrum, though he does not technically qualify for a diagnosis of ASD. He is diagnosed with language processing disorder, so understandably his comprehension also drops significantly if he is just listening to something being read. Anyway, reading comprehension (especially of fiction) is a weak area for him. From what I can gather, my son has two significant problem areas; first, he doesn't understand the subtle interactions that are hinted at in higher level fictional texts, and second, because reading is hard work, he is not as prone to read as much as my other children, so his overall exposure is lower, his vocabulary not as rich, his use of language not as developed, etc. The downward spiral effect. The frustrating thing for me is, I don't think anyone has a silver bullet for this particular issue. So far, what he feels has helped the most is working through some of the materials from Lindamood-Bell, i.e., Visualizing and Verbalizing and something I got from Royal Fireworks Press, Reading Through Imagery. Of course we've continued with things like CLE Reading and using the MP Comp guides for some a few novels this year, having him read aloud to me, etc. We've also worked on test strategies, although I really hate the idea of 'teaching to the test,' the reality is he needs to know how to take tests, so hopefully this will help too. I will test him again at the end of this school year, so we'll see if he's made any progress. Next year I had planned to use CLE Reading 1st Semester/Mosdos 2nd Semester, and HoD Preparing. They'll all be about a year below his grade level. I'm hoping that by forcing him to read more than he normally would, but to read successfully by giving him slightly easier texts, he'll gain confidence and shore up some of those skills he seems to lack. The older SRE program wasn't a huge investment thankfully, but from what I could tell, results from the program were mixed/unclear. I'm guessing like so many things, it may help for some kids and do nothing for others, and if you've got a kiddo it doesn't help, you've wasted that time. (Can you tell I am frustrated with not knowing how best to help my sweet boy?) At any rate, I really need to sit down with it for a while, make sense of it, and determine if it can be of help to us. Our schedule is full, and if we do SRE it will be our main reading program. I'm a little hesitant to do that, honestly. Anyway, I'd love to hear how things go for you, either with SRE or any other comprehension programs you use.

I am pretty new to homeschooling, and I made some pretty sweeping changes at the beginning of this year! This is what we'll be keeping... What worked: Morning Time. Thank you Cindy Rollins! Morning Time is, as my 13 year old has said, small but mighty. We worship, listen to classical music, go through VP Bible cards, read poetry together, do our memory work (poetry, CC, and scripture), read Shakespeare, and have our literature read-aloud time. Horizons Math + Singapore for the 2nd & 4th graders. (Not a good fit for the K-er, I think, though.) CLE Reading and LA. The only downside is I feel like I'm sacrificing my educational philosophy on the 'Get 'Er Done' altar. Still, all the grand, beautiful philosophizing in the world does no good if it does not come to fruition in the day to day! AAS for my very reluctant speller. Pricey, but for the child who would NOT write a word unless she knew how to spell it perfectly, this has been a good fit. IEW writing for the 4th grader. I know this program isn't everyone's favorite, but the checklist approach has been very empowering for him. VP self-paced history. Kids love it, they've learned a TON, and it's freed me up to work with the kindergartener. Win-win! Oh! And the BBC's typing dance mat (is that what it's called?) My oldest two homeschoolers can type now! Woohoo!

I just finished Henry V with my 13, 10, and 7 year olds. As suggested, we memorized the St. Crispin's Day Speech. We worked through it a scene a day, sometimes watching the scene on youtube and sometimes reading together. Surprisingly, my children prefer Laurence Olivier to Kenneth Branagh, while one youtube Henry they always called "The Yeller," and this was definitely not a compliment! Such critics! Overall a very positive experience.

I have stressed over this as well. I really wish CC had a traditional 4 year sequence, and that the sentences just... made more sense. Shakespeare, DaVinci, Copernicus, and Michelangelo in ONE WEEK? Ain't no way! That said, I don't have any problem using CC as a supplement and working on memory work out of context IF I feel sure we will get to it/have covered it. Which is why I also concluded that I should put the sentences into chronological order as a starting point. There is probably going to be some variation with that because some of the sentences cover a span of history. At any rate, I grouped them in a way that made sense to me, then added a few memory sentences, either taken from CC's Bible memory work, Classically Catholic or even sentences I wrote myself (for example, for our state's history, I consulted with my father, who taught our state's history to middle school history for about a decade) for things I felt were lacking in CC. Then I added in cultural (art, music, and literature) memory sentences I had written last year. I then went through and correlated every history resource (SOTW, MOH, Famous Men of..., etc.) we own. That was fun. (Not!) So, what we have now is basically my own history curriculum. :) We will work through it about 3 years, but it won't line up perfectly with what we're doing in CC. During memory work time, we'll recite the sentence for the CC week and that's about it. During history, we'll have a quick recitation of the relevant memory sentence accompanied by a reading and/or an age-appropriate activity (coloring page, burn a King Alfred cake, whatever). My older homeschoolers (3rd & 5th) will do related independent reading. I hope this works!

I pulled my kindergartener out at Christmas. (It was just a terrible fit for her. The work was developmentally inappropriate, she was frustrated and feeling so discouraged and ashamed at her inability to do what they wanted her to do.) It was terribly nerve-wracking, and I was totally dreading the actual going in and filling out of forms and explaining our decision to people whose business it isn't, but I also do that over-explaining thing to try to smooth things over. But you know, it's over now, just a memory. My sweet girl is making progress because we started back at the beginning, here's how you hold a pencil and building from the very basics and going at a pace she can manage, not moving on until she's confident and ready. I'd guess she's about half a year 'behind,' but the skills we have are solid and that foundation is what's important to me. And, even more importantly, she's happy now. I noticed about a month after we'd pulled her out, she was singing to herself again, and that was a sound I hadn't heard since August. I'll gladly suffer the disapproval of a few administrators to give my child a song in her heart. So, chin up! You did what you felt was best for your child and your family. Enjoy the time with your little one. :)

For my 3rd grader, it's looking like: Morning Time: Composer Study, Worship, Poetry, Memory Work, Cultural Studies, Vocabulary, Shakespeare, Read Alouds Latin: Finish Prima Latina, then move onto... Math: Finish Singapore 2B --> BA 3; Finish Horizons 3 --> Horizons 4 (won't start that until next spring) Reading Instruction: Finish CLE Reading 2, move into Mosdos Ruby; Read through McGuffey 3 with me LA: WWE, AAR 3/AAS 3; Finish CLE LA 2, move into [not sure, either CLE LA 3 or MCT] Science: Exploring the Building Blocks 3 History: My Own History hodge-podge based on a chronological ordering of CC's memory sentences Independent Reading: America First, My Book House 3, Burgess Animal Book with note booking pages, Pinocchio with comprehension guide, The Fairy Ring, Fifty Famous Stories, Viking Tales, Redwall, plus several novels of own choosing Tea Time: Artist Study, Folk Songs, Geography (Using Charlotte Mason's Geography) Piano

VP Self paced history CLE reading and LA Horizons Math These get done no matter what.

I think I've settled on a plan for my 5th grader... Morning Time (worship, poetry, Shakespeare, memory work) Math: Horizons 5, BA 4A-D Language Arts: Continue with Essentials & IEW, work slowly through CLE LA 5 for mechanics/spelling Reading: Finish CLE 4, then move onto Mosdos Coral Independent Reading: various, still debating about assigning notebooking/comprehension activities Latin: Finish Prima Latina, then maybe Lively Latin Science: Exploring the Building Blocks of Science 5 and read Storybook of Science History: Working through my history timeline, hoping to get from Creation to Vikings, various resources

There are numerous academic and social benefits already mentioned, but for me, there is a more personal element at play. I struggle to write quickly and legibly. If I write quickly, no one (myself included) can read what I've written. If I write legibly, it takes too long, and I get frustrated because my brain is several thoughts ahead. In other words, I lose thoughts as my brain works faster than my hand. I am self-conscious about my handwriting, and I don't want that for my children.

First graders... I've got one of those!! Morning Time with us (composer, worship/bible, poetry, cultural studies, memory work, Shakespeare, read-aloud 1) Reading: AAR 1 Math: CLE 1 Language Arts: ELtL Science: Exploring the Building Blocks Of Science 1 Tea Time with us (history, art study, read-aloud 2)

I've homeschooled 3 years (1 kid for only 1 year several years ago in order to hold him back a year, and now 2 years with 3 of my younger children 'for real,' as in, as a lifestyle choice). Last year we were only giving it a trial run; this year it's been the real deal and we've made the decision to homeschool through elementary and possibly some of middle school. I still feel like a newbie because I am not entirely confident in what we are doing. Am I doing it right? and what happens if I'm not? and especially, am I doing enough? And, although I have a vision for where I want us to be, we are not there yet. I know I still have a lot to learn; every day it seems I find something that makes a lightbulb go off and I think, "Why didn't I already know or understand that? And what else don't I know that I should?" So, yeah, still a newbie. :)

I pulled my current kindergartener out of PS at Christmas. My plan for next year is... Math: Finish up Horizons K, move onto Horizons 1 Reading: AAR 1 LA: ELtL Literature: The Selections from ELtL plus MP 1st Grade Enrichment Science: Building Blocks of Science plus all those 'Let's Read and Find Out' books She'll also join us for Morning Time and Tea Time, where we do Bible, poetry, memory work, folk songs, Shakespeare, and our read aloud selections.

Well, we have language in order to communicate our thoughts and ideas with each other. Grammar enhances this purpose by setting down linguistic rules which facilitate and improve communication. Off the top of my head, I would say there are three basic levels of grammar knowledge. The first would be the grammar native speakers pick up without having been taught. That is, they can communicate and they can construct intelligible sentences, even if their grammar is occasionally (or even often) technically incorrect. At the next level, the person understands some or most of the 'what' (parts of speech, phrases, clauses, etc.) and some or most of the 'how' (subject/verb agreement, parallel structure, effective use of punctuation, etc.) of language. At the third level, people discuss things like bare infinitives. :D No, I suppose at the third level you have linguists. For my own children, my goal is to equip them to be effective communicators. As long as they fall on the upper end of the second level, I think they will possess have the skills to communicate effectively in a variety of settings.

My 4th grader has read four books with accompanying lit guide, about 10 additional books during his independent reading time, and another 10 or so books from our history period.

I'm not sure if this was directed to me, but I'll answer anyway. :) The first break is over December, and the way we have things set up is that that time is used to prepare for the Faces of History paper (i.e., reading sources and deciding on topics). CC finishes in mid-April, and from that time to August, I'm thinking that we'll just continue writing from key word outlines using history or science passages as source texts. I have actually been pleasantly surprised how distinctive my students' voices are in their writing, given the admittedly formulaic, 'checklist' approach of IEW. I look at the stylistic techniques requirements as simply a way to familiarize students with different ways of constructing sentences. For the kids who really struggle to write something beyond the subject-verb-object construction, the checklist and incremental approach seem to give them the tools they need to move past that.

To the question of how intense is the Essentials coursework, the answer is that it as intense as you need it to be to accomplish your goals for your students. As regards grammar, most of my parents are pretty relaxed with their 4th graders, using this year as a general overview. For my own son, we do the writing (10-20m a day) and we copy one chart (15m) and we diagram/discuss one or two sentences a week (another 10m). As I said, we also do CLE LA for mechanics and spelling and anything else that looks fun or useful, such as homophones or study skills. My experience with tutoring has been that the children, even those who were shy or reluctant, come to love the writing portion. They beg to share their papers every week, and Faces of History is a big deal on our campus. The motivation that provides has been very helpful with my reluctant writer.

I am an Essentials tutor with CC. Essentials will cover grammar through the EEL Guide and writing through the IEW history-based writing curriculum. There are options in the EEL Guide for both spelling and mechanics, but this would not (likely) be covered in your afternoon classes. (Your tutor may be able to give you guidance on those elements of the program.) I personally don't care for the way the EEL guide handles spelling and mechanics, so I ignore those parts of the guide entirely. We use CLE LA to review grammar and to cover mechanics and spelling.

You'd be surprised what I can see other ways. ;) I have really said, I am fairly sure, next to nothing about what my beliefs may or may not have been prior to my belief in Christ. By existence, you mean something like your consciousness of your existence, no? I ask because rocks or viruses exist, but (I assume) you don't think they have meaning the way humans do in that they are not conscious. If this is true, why is consciousness privileged? How is it different than, say, digestion?

OK, responding to several things, here goes... ;) Genie, yes, we choose our own meanings. What I am saying is that all of these meanings cannot be simultaneously true, because they contradict each other. I would submit that consciousness cannot be what creates meaning, because consciousness itself is merely a random occurence. How can meaninglessness create meaning? I have a hard time understanding why love would be privileged as the transcendent, meaning-center of life. In a materialist worldview, love is ultimately nothing more than the experience of certain hormones, chemicals, electrical impulses, survival mechanisms, and the like. In what way can love, over and above any other perceived emotion, give meaning if it is nothing more than the product of certain environmental influences? But surely it does. Origins mythology exposes the fundamental assumptions that shape a person's, a religion's, a nation's worldview. It usually explains the 'Why' of existence. These ideas have profound consequences on our view of ourselves, each other, and our world. Of course you *are* here, but I cannot help but think that you've considered the question 'yes, I am, but how and why?' And, am I a missionary? No. But that is one of the most complimentary questions I've ever been asked. :)

If truth has revealed itself, then it is something which has a self and can act upon itself and upon others. What, in your mind, is something which can reveal itself and take such actions? And, I do not disagree that non-Christians can hold human life to be meaningful. I'm just asking why they would conclude that life had meaning, indeed, that there is such a thing as meaning, if we are here as a random cosmic occurence.

I'm talking about the why of maintaining value in the first place. I'm talking about whether saying "everyone makes their own meaning" is tenable and logical when played out. Religion is sort of irrelevant to this argument, as it is nothing more (from your position) than one way of making meaning. Even when religions contradict one another, there's no way to determine if one may be true (if I'm understanding your viewpoint correctly.) Of course, this applies to your assertions as well. How do we determine that what you are saying is The Way Things Really Are, if the only difference between what you say and what I say is, well, you and me? You are correct that I believe that Christ is The Truth of the universe. But I'm not saying "I think you should also believe that Christ is Truth." Truth is whatever it is, regardless of who believes it. And, at the level we are arguing, all that's beside the point. If you don't believe that there is Truth, obviously you won't believe that Christ is Truth. You'd have to believe in Truth before you found what It was. But I think you only think that you don't believe in truth, when in actuality, you have already made a truth claim, i.e, that there is no truth. That's a statement about the ultimate nature of reality. We are discussing these issues because we disagree about what the Truth actually is.