I personally think it's plenty. We read one chapter a week, do the map work and the coloring page, and one activity from the AG for my kids in 2nd, 1st and pre-K. My 2nd grader will also be doing a supplemental read each week, when I figure out how to make our schedule work. <sigh> :) As others have said, it's just to introduce them to history and whet their appetites. It's laying a foundation--they'll go into it in much depth in the logic and rhetoric stages.

My hope for our next house is to have a formal dining room that we could use as a school room and an eat-in kitchen where we would actually eat. Ideally, we'd have cabinets in the formal dining room so if we're having people over everything could be put away, but we wouldn't have to have it spotless on a daily basis. I don't think I could do a separate schoolroom unless it was really big and/or had french doors to the outside or something. I think I would feel trapped.

Well, my 7-year-old found a copy of Newsweek in the bathroom one day and came out, saying "Mom, someone named Obama doesn't think we should keep doing the war, but I think he's wrong. Someone needs to keep all those people safe from the terrorists." :) So I think she's well on her way to being a card-carrying Republican. I intend to communicate what I believe and why, and they absolutely will need to think for themselves and look carefully at issues from many different angles as part of their schooling. I can't deny that I'd rather see them become conservatives than liberals, but it's not my intention to make them believe what I believe about politics.

...what is your reason for doing so? I've heard a few people mention doing this and I'm curious. :)

My oldest daughter has had a tough time with having to work while everyone else is playing, too. One thing that has helped is when she's able to see the privileges of being older along with the responsibilities. In our family that means getting paid for some chores, getting to stay up at rest time, getting a library card when she learned to read, etc. Sometimes I'll let her have a snack during her afternoon schoolwork, once last year I bought her a present "for doing such a good job in school". I don't think you can buy a good attitude with favors and privileges, but sometimes I think kids need to see that being the oldest isn't all bad, know what I mean? That working hard and being responsible has rewards. We've also had to correct bad attitudes--copying Bible verses about contentment, etc.

It's absolutely enough--seriously, if you did all of the recommended reading and all of the activities in the AG, you could fill an entire week with just SOTW! We are loving it this year. :)

Hang in there--the math stuff will get better, I'm sure! Also, it sounds like your DH is coming around and the kids are doing better, so this should be a better week, right? :)

I'd love to finish my education.

If it's really bad, DH will take the day off. Otherwise I lay around or sit in front of the computer and let the kids watch TV or play computer games. I have them do the schoolwork they can do independently. I do as much as I can but I don't stress about stuff that doesn't get done.

Scrapbooking and photography are the big ones. I used to be an avid reader and am getting back into it. I do some gardening, I used to quilt, I do a lot of inductive Bible study.

I'd give the baby his own room. He's probably still taking naps, right? And he's playing with little kid toys, where the older ones are closer to the same level as far as interests and activities. Maybe you can put up some kind of divider if they would like privacy, but I wouldn't worry too much about it at that age--they can have the room to themselves while they're changing.

Yes--though they still get more screen time than I'd like them to have. I'm finding that now that we're back to school, we just don't have time for that much TV/computer (except for DD3). I have relied on PBS and videos over the last year or two to get some quiet time and so I could homeschool my oldest, but I'm weaning them (and myself!) off of it. *ETA--I just saw that you asked for specific amounts--I don't have a set time, but it's usually around an hour a day except for the 3 year old.

I'd need to see more information about the figures you posted, but I do agree that the level of service we're getting should be much higher for the amount of money we pay in taxes. Here's an example that will probably get me kicked off the board here ;) --we pay $90+ a year in taxes to fund our local library (not to mention close to that much in late fees!!). Would I pay that much $8/mo. for access to the library? Absolutely! I'd happily pay much more than that. But the fact that EVERY taxpayer in my city is paying the same amount (based on property taxes, our house is around the average price for this city), and probably less than 5% are using it, means that either the cost of bureaucracy is ridiculously high or some money is being misspent somewhere.

We have one of those--I love it!

I would leave it off and try to get in as soon as you can, or put it back on and take it off when you're eating. If you leave it off and can't get in for a while, you run the risk of your tooth moving and having to get refitted for another crown (BTDT, not fun). If you leave it in, you run the risk of swallowing it if it comes off while you're eating. My dentist would probably not consider it an emergency, but he'd probably want me to come in ASAP during office hours.

Thanks for sharing your experience. It is very hard for someone to work hard to get off public assistance only to end up worse off than they were before. When we'd had our 3rd kid, we were on WIC and state subsidized health insurance, and became convicted that we (I'm just talking about our family, not anyone else) needed to pay our own way. DH spent a year looking for a job, making contacts in his industry, doing freelance work, and finally got hired on somewhere making almost double what he had been making. However, with the increased cost of insurance, the loss of WIC and having to move to a more expensive part of the state, our budget was just as tight if not tighter for a long time. It's been 4 years of my husband working very hard for a good company that rewards his efforts and we finally have some breathing room. I don't object to there being help for those who truly need it and have nowhere else to go (though I'd prefer it came from the private sector and/or charitable organizations and churches), but I do feel that the system as it is now makes it way too easy to depend on public assistance, and fear it getting worse as we look to the government to solve more and more of our problems.

I would probably start condensing or skipping lessons if you think she has a good handle on the concept being taught, so she'll progress more quickly and get to more challenging material. I'd let her read too--if she's reading good quality literature and non-fictions, she'll learn more from that than most seatwork! I might also ask her if there's something else she'd like to be studying, or encourage her to go into more depth with something--maybe get a tutor and have her start learning a foreign language if you can?

I'm enjoying BSG4AA (the kids love it!) and SOTW2. Saxon is fine--we're where I want us to be (other than the occasional meltdown). I'm a huge fan of Discover 4 Yourself for inductive Bible study, spelling has been somewhat of an afterthought and Writing Strands isn't doing much for me (but I'm not willing to give up on it yet).

I think it takes some people that long to get to where they are fully independent, but they should be transitioning into independence long before they move out of the house. It is strange to see young adults who still need to be handheld through every little thing.

In this society? I'd say not until late teens-early 20's can they take care of their own basic needs and be responsible for a family long-term. Many societies' kids become adults around 12 or 13...but I believe work was/is integrated into life in a much greater degree. In a society where someone hunts for food or learns a trade from their parents from early childhood, I could see them being ready to be independent at 12. I think we have different demands in our culture when it comes to literacy, professionalism, our relationship to the law, etc....I'm not saying it's better, just different. I don't think a young teenage mind can thrive in this society. A young teenager could work an entry-level job, but that wouldn't allow them (in most cases) to live independently in a way that provides for all their needs.

I try to catch a few minutes here and there when I can during the day, and we'll do dates occasionally (2-3 times a year per kid). DH takes the older ones on errands fairly regularly and will take the younger ones to Starbucks occasionally. It's not a lot, but mine are so young and close together that I can't ignore 3 to focus on 1. I don't worry about it too much--I've given them the gift of siblings, and we get lots of time together as a family. I also don't think it's damaging to my kids to be told they have to wait to get my attention. They have a good foundation I'm only 1 person. I can't imagine how it would be with 9!

I think of 6+ as large. 4 seems normal to me. I think when you can't fit the family in a mini-van, you have a big family. :D

That's EXACTLY what we're dealing with--and not all the time, but it's been a lot worse since I introduced Saxon 54. With reading, I find that there's a gap between her ability and her maturity, and I think that's what we're facing here as well. The work is adequately challenging, but she's having a tough time with the format. I'm trying to take it as slow as we need to, but it's hard to keep things in perspective when we're both emotional. She seems to do fine if I'm sitting with her and talking her through the problems. I think I'll try to do that more.

I'm going to go out on a limb and disagree with the majority here...it seems that the original post in this thread was referencing the SP speech last night. I felt that in the speech for the most part she attacked the qualifications and the policies of her opponents. As a Christian, I don't see anything wrong with that. At times I think she may have judged the motivations (seeking power, etc.) of her opponents as well. Was that wrong? Maybe. As someone else said, many leaders of the early church did the same thing. Was it right for them because they're church leaders and wrong for anyone who was not a church leader at that time? I can't say that for sure. Also, I feel that Barack Obama has openly claimed the name of Christ at least as much as Sarah Palin has, and has spoken equally harshly. Are you (generally speaking) equally willing to cast stones at him? I'm not saying that his speaking ill of his opponents makes it ok for her (or anyone else) to do the same, just that we should be careful of double standards.

I think #2? I teach the way I teach with all of them, but I try to take their strengths and weaknesses into consideration and allow more time & adjust my expectations when we're working in a weak area.