Thanks everyone. He does sorta muddle around reading his source documents and looking at the student book (we are using IEW Following Narnia this semester) and it is all written step by step so that he knows exactly what he has to do. He just doesn't actually physically DO it until the deadline is right on him. I just worry that he will be like I was in high school (sigh) and just like a few of you also noted - you wait until the last minute, do a great job, get the A and then 2 weeks later - you have forgotten it all. Sooner or later, when those 5 page essays (thanks foxbridgeacademy) come around and he gets a C or worse - maybe he will learn. I nag him about so many other things these days (love love love these 12 year old boys whose brains have fallen out :001_rolleyes: ), maybe I will just let this one be for a while.

Yes, this is me. Always has been, always will be I'm afraid. And now DS12 is just.like.me :cursing: What do you do with a child who leaves everything to the last minute/last day but then does the most brilliant work?? Example, he had an essay due last Friday (assigned by mom). He had a week to do it but waited until Friday morning to start. He did an amazing job on it. I was completely gobsmacked. I shared it with DH and he thought that I had written it!! I know he didn't copy it or otherwise "cheat" because I saw him working away furiously on it and he had to share his sources with me!!! He has done this a few times now. I know sometimes we are just wired this way but do I just let him be? We've talked about the importance of planning his time, how he won't always do as well if he waits until the last minute, etc. But the kid just shines when the pressure is on. I used to plan out his assignments/work for each day but now that he is in 7th grade - I thought it would be good to basically outline the requirements at the beginning of the week and then leave it up to him how to plan his days with his writing/grammar and religion. Any advice?

:grouphug: We have been there. Not long after DD was born last year - things went completely nuts. We tried a whole bunch of things not unlike what others have posted here but none of it seemed to make a difference. I tried. I really did. We ended up putting the kids (3 older ones) in school in late Feb last year. I hated having to do it but I also knew that I just needed a break. Actually it went beyond needing and into "if i don't send them to school - i will need to run away". That decision was the best thing for ME. And sometimes you really have to do what is best for YOU. It gave me the break that I desperately needed. And yes, going to school meant we were dealing with a bunch of other issues but after a relatively quiet day - I mentally & physically had the energy to tackle those. We have them all back home now and even though some days make me crazy - I feel reaffirmed in our decision to homeschool. Things aren't perfect by any stretch, but I just feel like I am re-committed to my job as homeschooling mama. I hope you can find a solution to your situation. I know how you are feeling and boy, it is not a fun place to be. Many :grouphug:

Oh gosh - that is great Lori! Thanks. I have a few books and other resources for teaching study skills which I have already pulled off the shelves tonight but I guess I am just wondering aloud if this is a major oops in terms of a lot of the curriculum we have chosen. Or maybe it is just a function of homeschooling where our kids don't necessarily "need" to be tested like this on such a regular basis in the non-math courses?? Or maybe they do and I haven't factored that into our choices? Does that make sense? I hate comparing myself/my kids to what the schools are doing.......

Hi all - haven't been on the boards much anymore but this one has me stumped so where else to go but the Hive :) DS12 is grade 7/8 here at home. He has a lot of friends who still go to B&M school & ever since starting back to school - the majority of these kids are spending a LOT more time on studying for tests. Fewer projects but it seems like a lot more unit tests, etc. They have their notes from class and spend hours studying them before these tests. And now I am in a little bit of a panic...... DS will probably be going to high school (private) but he hasn't really had to "study" for tests here. We don't have unit tests in any of their curriculum - at least not that I have asked or expected that he study for. Beginning to think I need to teach this skill before he gets to high school (hangs head in shame). How are you all doing this with your middle schoolers? Are you worried about this and/or should I be worried? Signed, Crammed my way through high school & university exams and it all worked out (eek)

The shipping I could get around by shipping from Buffalo but I didn't realize that you get hit with fees twice :(. Yeah, that would be a deterrent for sure.

Just wondering if anyone has done this? I have SO MUCH curricula here that is collecting dust and not a single person is interested here in Canada and from seeing the classified boards, I know there is a huge demand for a lot of it. Just wondering if anyone has done this successfully.

No Facebook here. But thanks for responding. I will head over & post my list on the sale/swap boards.

I have SO MUCH curriculum here that isn't being used (in some cases, was never used) that I finally decided to put it all together and declutter my shelves. I know that the sale boards here are pretty active but the majority of the buyers/sellers are in the US so it is fairly easy for them to buy/sell. Where can Canadians sell their stuff? I have an entire rubbermaid tote full of stuff that only a fellow homeschooler will be able to appreciate :)

Please pray for my friend's dear father today. He has been sick off & on for the last few weeks. They thought he was doing better but took him to the hospital last Friday where they discovered he had pneumonia. After further tests, they found out on Mother's Day that he has a brain tumour (almost certainly malignant). Surgery is scheduled for today @ 2pm. This man is the rock of this family. Please pray for all of them. They are devastated but trying so hard to be strong.

Please pray for my friend's dear father today. He has been sick off & on for the last few weeks. They thought he was doing better but took him to the hospital last Friday where they discovered he had pneumonia. After further tests, they found out on Mother's Day that he has a brain tumour (almost certainly malignant). Surgery is scheduled for today @ 2pm. This man is the rock of this family. Please pray for all of them. They are devastated but trying so hard to be strong.

Not weird at all. I think this is perfect. Now to figure out a way to help the relationship mend after this. That is the harder part.

Could be partly this too. When DD was in grade 1 at this same school, we pulled DS out in the middle of the year (DS was grade 3) - these same older girls were always going out of their way to find her, play with her, ask her about her brother.......yes, even in grade 3. And yes, she absolutely does know better!! That is the part that makes my head want to explode!

Intent. I think it is a combination of wanting to get his attention and trying to be the cool little sister to his classmates/her own. She does have her own group of friends - no concerns there. She is at her catechism class so we haven't had time to sit down & discuss all of this yet. In terms of the relationship between the 2 of them, I would say it is typical sibling stuff. One day they are playing great together, the next they are on each other's last nerve. Obviously they had way more time together when they were at home so DS played more with her; whereas now he is all about his friends. He does play with his siblings but it just isn't the same KWIM? As I'm typing this, I am beginning to wonder if maybe she is missing him and just doesn't quite know how to tell him/us? That would make total sense.

So the 3 oldest went back to school 2 months ago. It is fine. But We are pretty sure that we will be homeschooling again in the fall (yippeee!) DD9 did something at school today that i am FURIOUS about. DS11 is beside himself. She wrote a note to one of the girls in DS's grade 6 class - it was all about DS. Personal info like that he has started wearing deoderant, the brand that he likes, things he does at home, etc. She was actually denying it but DS said the girl showed him & then she recanted and said she did send a note but it wasn't about him. There is no way that this girl would know this info if DD hadn't put it in the note. I am so angry at her. We have had many talks about what is private and stays in the family. The kids like to go & tell gramma & grampa who got in trouble for what, etc. We haven't had any issues with that recently and now this at school!!! What was she thinking?? DS11 is really embarassed and angry. I completely understand. I told DD we would discuss it when DH gets home. But i am totally speechless. Why would she do this!!?? And what should we do about it!!??

Hi all :seeya: Looking for some advice from all of you. A quick update: after 2.5 years of homeschooling, we sent the 3 older kids to school at the end of Feb :( I was really struggling after our little one was born last October & I just didn't have the physical or mental stamina to push through. They have been there over a month now and they are all doing really well. Academically they are at or above where they should be and each of their teachers is completely shocked at how well they are doing socially :001_rolleyes: Imagine that. I've had my break and am feeling MUCH BETTER and I want them home again. Our plan is to bring them back in the fall. But all of them have already said they don't want to homeschool again. I don't really blame them. We didn't do a whole lot of the fun stuff (swimming lessons, field trips, homeschool groups, etc) last fall or through the winter with the new baby & I was struggling so it was not fun for them at all. When we talk to them about WHY they like school so much and why they aren't interested in coming back home - all 3 say that the work is way easier at school & they get to see their friends. OK. DS6 is in grade 1 at school but was working on grade 2/3 stuff at home so of course it is much easier. Same for DS11 - he is easily 1-2 grades ahead of the grade he is in at school. My grade 1 & grade 4 kiddos won't have a say at all in this decision; and will probably be fine with coming home again. I think they miss being at home but are enjoying the social aspects. DS11 though is very vocal about NOT wanting to come home. DH is worried that if we insist, that he will be completely unmotivated and that will cause bigger issues for everyone. Besides just putting our foot down and saying "too bad, you are staying home" - any other ideas that I can use to get DS11 to change his mind? Have you homeschooled your pre-teen when they didn't want to? How did it go? Any regrets? I know it is the best thing for him. I just want him to see it too. I am even considering using bribery.......hmmmm, you know how you've always wanted a pet? Well since you will be home to take responsibility for it - how about we go look at a dog? :eek: Help!

From the bottom of my heart - thank you for all the kind words. I love the wisdom that you shared with me. And I am going to really make an effort this week to look at the positives of this decision and focus on the 2 little ones. One day at a time.......

The title says it all :( After months of struggling, we finally had to do it. And I am not happy about it but it really was the only decision that made sense. Since DD was born 4 months ago – I haven’t been able to find a new routine for us. I am so used to being organized – some would call it too organized. We had schedules that worked, we had a flow to our days, the kids were doing awesome with their work, the house was managed pretty well (thanks to DH doing quite a bit) and we were doing really well overall. Life was good. When DD was born, we took some time off. I had pictured days filled with fun crafts, educational DVDs, lots of reading, baking and playing outside. Lots of time for mom to rest. Yea – that didn’t work at all. The toddler was a little tornado leaving a trail of disaster behind him every minute of every hour. The kids thought it was suddenly a free for all. We went from very structured to chaos pretty much overnight. You would think they would have LOVED having all that free time but all they did was bicker and aggravate each other. They argued over the TV, they fought when they went outside to play (I’m sure the neighbours LOVED that), they couldn’t agree on a board game, etc. It was a nightmare. The toddler was all over the place & none of them were interested in playing with him. After a month of chaos, I decided to get them all back to work. We started off slowly with the core subjects and oh.my.gosh. – you would think I had asked them to write a 10,000 page essay. It was like pulling teeth to get them to do ANY amount of work. And when they did do it (after much nagging, yelling & threatening) it was garbage. They put in as little amount of effort as possible. I was calling DH or emailing him many times throughout each day. Just frustrated and angry. He kept saying to just send them back and I kept pushing back & saying no, no, no. I can do this. I just need more sleep, more time, more patience, kids need to listen, blah blah blah. Then it was Christmas so more time off. More chaos ensued. My organized little life blew up in my face. Our days were not productive on any level at all. Schoolwork wasn’t getting done, piano practice wasn’t happening, they balked at their chores and put in very little effort there as well. I was a really miserable mom. I know that I could have been more consistent, or could have been more patient or could have tomato staked them or whatever, but I seriously had no energy to do that. None. Did I mention that we had booked a trip to Disney a few weeks before baby was born? So now here we are in early January. I am fed up with all of it, the kids are being so awful and we are supposed to be going on a fabulous 2 week trip to Disney. I didn’t even want to go. But we did. It was fun. The weather was great. But it was not relaxing. It was not a break in the true sense. 1 week after coming back from our trip, they were back in school. And they are happy. So far. I feel guilty. They are not back in school because I think it is best for THEM. They are back in school because I need a break from homeschooling, a break from them to be honest. So in my mind, I am being selfish. And moms aren’t supposed to be selfish. I feel like I failed. I failed to live up to my own expectations and I failed my kids. I failed my husband. I’m not sure if all of this is just homeschool burnout, or post partum baby blues, or me being lazy. I just don’t know. What I do know is that I hate sending them off every morning. I hate how quiet the house is during the day. I hate that they likely won’t be learning very much. I hate that all of my hard work over the last 2.5 years is pretty much going to go out the window. I hate that I couldn’t suck it up and just carry on. I hate that “people†are looking at me and saying “yup, told ya she couldn’t do itâ€. I’m not sure what will happen in September. I am hoping the kids will realize how great homeschooling was and ask to come home. I am hoping I will feel better by then and be able to tackle homeschooling again. I hope. Any prayers or good thoughts would be most appreciated.

Sick Kids is a world class hospital. Grace is in wonderful hands. Everyone there is amazing. We know a few families who have had children there and i have never heard anything but heaps & heaps of praise. Kristin - we are not far from Toronto. PM me if there is anything we can do to help.

Sorry no experience. Just wanted to send prayers for you. We were just in the ER on Saturday since our GP thought our baby girl may have it. The test for RSV was neg. for us. Hope your little one feels better soon.

We are considering orange picking!! Groupon has a deal on this place right now - sorry typing while nursing baby and can't link. Showcase of Citrus Their website is down right now. But i've heard good things about it. Maybe someone here can give us the scoop??

Wow!! Congratulations!! That is amazing.

Loved that One Republic video.......cried the whole time :). We will be there in 3 weeks!!!! We are staying onsite for the first time and really hoping it is as magical as i've heard. To answer the OP - we don't go that often. Every few years but may look @ DVC. We really need the space now and camping every summer is not enough vacation time for me!

Thanks everyone. She slept well last night. I didn't. I kept waking up all worried. At least she is still smiling for me :) So appreciate all of your good thoughts/prayers/hugs.

Not an expert yet but have been researching & planning like crazy for our trip. We leave in just over 3 weeks. The www.disboards.com is an awesome site for getting pretty much any Info you could ever want about disney :) They have all the news about discounts, places to eat, special events, etc Disney just released a new offer to the public on January 3rd -save up to 30% on a resort stay. And the month of May is included! Make sure you create an account on the Disney.com website and do a bit looking around - save a few vacation options and order their DVD for planning your vacation. It looks like Disney is sending out postcards for free dining right now so you may also be lucky enough to get one of those. In addition to staying on site, we are also spending some time offsite and are staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek which is a timeshare but is available for rent. You can get some good deals here as we'll for 1, 2, 3 or 4 bedroom condos. Lots of good reviews and it is pretty much onsite at Disney just not a disney owned place. I am not an expert since we haven't even left home yet but I feel like I know so much from spending so much time on the Disboards. (Hence my absence from here lately LOL) Feel free to PM me :)