I require output in almost every subject. The only subject that we oral discussion for is reading/literature. I care a lot about making sure my kids are learning and (hopefully) retaining knowledge which is why I require output. I also value teaching them to get used to working hard and developing endurance in their school work. I see my kids experiencing joy in school through their achievements after they put in the hard work. There are a couple of subjects that my kids genuinely love/enjoy (which differ by child). For those I take care not to quash that natural enjoyment with too much output, particularly since they easily learn a great deal in those subjects because of their natural interest.

I have an 8th grade boy. He has a checklist that he uses to check off his assignments. I also have the same checklist, and I don't check things off unless I have graded the work or else discussed what he learned (for certain kinds of subjects). He is an excellent student, but as an 8th grade boy, he wouldn't get nearly as much work accomplished if I were not monitoring and evaluating everything. All that to say--perhaps you need to be more hands-on...?

I have used Mystery Science for one of my kids for half of third grade and all of fourth grade science It has been such a good and easy program to implement that my daughter will continue using it for fifth grade. I just wish this had been available for my older kids!

For elementary: Science (Mystery Science) Wiring (IEW DVD programs) Art (art classes or camps) Middle school: Science (mostly BJU distance learning online) Algebra 1 (local middle school) Foreign language, levels 1&2 (local middle school) Writing (IEW DVD's) I am very happy with all of these and would do them again.

Mystery Science checks all your boxes. Just sign up for it and all your frustration will melt away...

K12 is a public school curriculum, but it is not necessarily a public school environment. It is worth consideration since cost is a factor.

My kids have been in CC for four years. I think it could be a good way to help to enforce deadlines, but I don't think it would help much to reduce the teaching burden. That was the point I was trying to make.

One more thought-- Does dear husband like math? Maybe he could teach the children their math lessons in the evenings. (Mine does.)

The main issues I see are that you are worried that your children are not being taught enough, but for various reasons you don't want to/can't devote more time to teach them. It also sounds to me like you don't really enjoy the teaching aspect. Maybe you enjoy planning the curriculum but not the daily grind of slogging through the lessons. If this is the case, I think you would be happiest if you work on outsourcing either some or all of school. You said that public school is unacceptable and private school in too expensive. There are other ways to outsource that you should consider. An online program could work. K12 is a free public school option. Christian companies such as BJU offer online programs. There are many of these types of programs available. Alternatively, you could piece together courses from different companies. IEW offers DVD writing courses where all you have to do is help edit the rough drafts and proofread the final papers. BJU has good science distance learning online courses where you don't have to do anything except help the child learn how to use the website. Mystery Science is mostly done for you and is inexpensive. I am sure I have heard of online history programs (Veritas Press?). This year I outsourced half of my 8th grader's classes, and it has turned out to be a very enjoyable year for me. I can spend time with him on a few courses that I enjoy teaching and leave the rest to his other teachers. I spend a limited amount of quality time teaching him, and yet he is taking a full load of good quality courses. Perhaps an arrangement like this could work for your situation. CC may meet your expectations if you are planning to do Foundations and Essentials, but understand that you will be on their schedule. That is not a bad thing, but it is constraining. CC would mostly help you with writing, grammar, public speaking, and memory work, and it would take up one whole day per week.

I would use Maxwell's "School Composition for Use in Higher Grammar Classes." It is a vintage program that you can download for free from google books. They are great writing lessons and quite "classical" in nature. https://books.google.com/books/about/School_Composition.html?id=E_8AAAAAYAAJ

Additionally, sports are a huge factor in the military. If any of your kids may be interested in applying to a service academy or ROTC, you may prevent them from getting a spot if they have never been on sports teams.

Another point no one has mentioned yet is that we have a lot more "family time" because we homeschool. I am home with my kids for most of the school days five days per week. My husband also helps with the homeschooling. We also eat breakfasts and most lunches together. Since we have so much time together during the day, I don't feel badly about going in different directions in the afternoons and sometimes on weekends. If my kids were in public or private school all week, I think travel sports would be more difficult on our family time.

In my area, if you don't put your kids into a travel program before middle school, then they will have a tough time finding a spot later. Personally I think it is often better to wait until middle school to specialize in a sport, but I have put one of my kids on a travel team earlier because it was the only feasible option.

First, to the OP, competitive gymnastics is a category almost unto itself and should not be lumped together with most of the other travel/club sports. I grew up with sports, and I love youth sports. All my kids are members of travel teams, and those teams have provided some of our best activities as a family. Travel sports are expensive, but we choose to do these sports instead of going on vacations or doing other leisure activities (in general). Physical fitness, physical development, character development, social interaction, relationship building, learning to contribute to a team, time management skills, leadership, self-control, respect for authority, enjoyment, thrill of competition, humility in losses, humility in victories... These are some of the benefits I see my kids acquiring in youth sports. Whoever said that youth sports don't produce wisdom and virtue--?????? is all I have to say about that. I also coach youth sports, and while i enjoy it immensely, I also do it as a community service. Through coaching, I have been able to invest significantly in the lives of quite a few kids.

I am using Mystery Science through the end of 5th grade. You can sign up for a free membership on their website to try it out. Then I use BJU distance learning online courses for middle school. For my younger kids, I have had them do some science lapbooks from Hands of a Child website. This is almost entirely hands-off for me, and yet it provides an excellent science education.

If the school is worthless, pull her out. I don't understand why you think you are obligated to keep her there. You are acting as though your child is the parent!

Yes, I have a list of lessons that need to be done each day so that we can complete all of our subjects during the school year. I know some people who have been the chipper-types. They are happy with their lifestyles until their child has to take a standardized test and achieve a certain grade level score. They look for some way around the requirement because their kids are not at grade level due to the chipping method. Not all chipper people's kids are below grade level, but that way of doing school will increase chances of kids gettig behind.

I am very impressed with Mystery Science. I am using it for 3rd-5th grades. My child has been doing it almost entirely independently, mostly because I am spending so much time working with my older kids and don't have much time for teaching her science a science program. I made a weekly plan for her. On Monday she watches the Mystery Science video and does the experiment/activity. Tuesday she does the lesson activity/worksheet that goes with the Mystery Science lesson. Wednesday she writes a journal entry to describe the science principles she learned and illustrates it. She uses paper with the blank top half and lined bottom half. After she explains it to me, she files it in her science binder under the appropriate tab (life science, earth and space, physical science, or nature of matter). On Thursday she completes one piece of a science lapbook (weather) that I preprinted. On Friday she reads a science library book. I checked out a pile of them for her to choose from. She is learning a lot of science and she can do this almost independently.

You just made my point. The colleges trust the non-mommy SAT and ACT scores. They are not judging the student on the mommy transcript.

I can see why a CC transcript would be looked at as better than a mommy transcript. (I do not have my kids do CC beyond Foundations, so we are not any of those people who would will have a CC transcript.). But I have had enough contact with school administrators and others like them to know that anything non-mommy is regarded much higher than anything done by mommy. They don't trust mommies, no matter how smart and accomplished the mommies are!

The reason I pay the money for CC is because it has filled in all the holes that I wasn't able to get done at home by myself. Public speaking every week, tons of memory work, classroom experience, some science, art, and music, and a whole lot of extra friends including weekly lunchtime and recess. Plus I don't have to prepare anything or teach anything like at other co-ops. So that is why I don't mind paying the money. CC makes you sign something that says you know their program is not a full curriculum, but maybe some people try to make it out to be a full curriculum.

Most people in CC use it just like they would any co-op. They come for a few years and then move on to something else. There is a minority who consider it their entire homeschool life, including social network. Maybe these are the people you are referring to? Won't dh be surprised when I tell him that the kids and I are members of a cult...

Drinking Gatorade (or 1/2 Gatorade, 1/2 water) gives exactly the same results as IV fluids. The only difference is that the Gatorade method is safe. You do not want to ruin your child's veins by doing frequent IV's if you don't need to. Also you do not want to risk infection if frequent IV's are unnecessary.

I am doing R&S 8 this year with my 8th grader. We spend a short amount of time on it, skip most of the composition exercises, and do a lot of it orally. It is good review and practice, and it makes a nice final grammar program before heading into high school. However, I think you would be fine to skip it if you have other things to do that are more important. Completing R&S 7 gives your student more than enough grammar knowledge for life.

I pulled my son out of school mid-year in 1st grade. It was so wonderful when I got him out. Then I was kicking myself for having waited so long to make that decision.