We start in September & school without a break until November. We do this because a) we are excited about all our new stuff and b) the first few months of school always seem to be really easy with review and such. Starting in November, we take 1 week off per month. For November it's Thanksgiving week, December the week of Christmas...and then take whichever week I want to from January - July. This also allows me to have the entire month of August off to write my lessons plans for the following year. I like this schedule because I feel that it discourages burnout. Every 3 or 4 weeks we get to take a week long break. During this time we can catch up on schoolwork if we had illness or bad attitudes, etc. I also schedule dr visits during this week and we are really active in our homeschool meetup group during this week as well. Oh, and this is also the one week a month that the house gets really clean :)

:bigear: Maybe the Saturday crowd has some insight?

When do children typically get to the logic stage? Is there anything I can do to move along this process? My 8 year old son is really quite advanced for the grammar stage. He scores off the charts on standardized tests on anything that is grammar stage related (math formulas he's memorized, spelling words he's memorized, grammar rules he's memorized, etc). However, when it comes to general academic knowledge he scores average. I think it's because he hasn't arrived at the higher level thinking required to apply his knowledge in a general setting. Since this is his weakest area, I'd like to help him grow in this area...but if it's a developmental thing that I just have to wait until he's ready, I'll do that too. Thanks for any help you can send my way!

Every journey begins with a single step right? What I do (for my highly ADD brain) is divide the house into sections & tackle one section per day. Today it was the kitchen, 1/2 bath & entry (all right next to each other). I change the towels, make sure the 1/2 bath is stocked with toiletries, pick up/organize (nothing stays in these areas longer than a week that does not belong in these areas). Then I clean. My oldest son washes the windows, 1/2 bath mirror, entry door & cleans the 1/2 bath toilet. My younger son washes off the kitchen table. I wipe down the counters, sink, stove, microwave, clean the 1/2 bath sink, vacuum & mop. <I also have 4 baskets in the hallway between the bedrooms. Each family member puts their dark laundry in one basket, their light laundry in another basket, towels in the 3rd basket & linens in the 4th basket. Every morning on my way downstairs, I pick up one basket and throw it in the laundry. After the kids go to bed, I fold laundry & watch tv. Then I put it away the next morning after making beds.> Written out it seems like a lot, but it's really not. My whole "housekeeping" takes about 45 minutes a day (with an extra 30 minutes to finish the show I started while folding laundry). Once the area of the house is done & the laundry is folded, I can consider my housekeeping *done* for the day. Tuesday I tackle the living room/dining room, Wednesday both full baths, Thursday all the bedrooms & Friday the finished basement. By the weekend, I don't have any cleaning to do and my house looks lived in but presentable every day without having to find the time to clean it from top to bottom in one go. The first week it might take longer as you put stuff away, but after that, it is so easy! Don't worry about making the whole house "organized" in the first day. Just tackle one area & then move to the next. Even if it takes a few weeks to get everything where it belongs, it'll be better than allowing the amount of work to be done prevent you from starting at all.

Depending on who you talk to, Christians should also not celebrate Halloween, read Harry Potter, drink wine, use pain killers during childbirth, listen to music, dance, play cards, read any book other than the Bible, serve in the military, not serve in the military, vote democrat, etc.

You might want to consider a test like the Woodcock-Johnson Normative tests. These tests allow you to test by age and then tell you what grade equivalency the child is working in on all the different subjects. That would more fully show the strengths and allow you to gauge more accurately the strengths & weaknesses of a particular child.

Philosophy 3: Start schooling subjects when there is an interest, with adding the "required" subjects when age appropriate. Slow down when you need to and forge ahead when things are going fine. Don't worry about "grades" or "levels" and get yearly testing for your own peace of mind that there are no significant gaps and child is where they "should" be (as required by law).

No. While there is some overlap, Bible & History cover different events.

I have found it near impossible to "schedule" our day. I just write down what all I need to do and keep working on it until it's done. If I schedule the day like 8 - 8:30 literature, 8:30 - 9 bible, etc it never lines up with the time slots. If I just keep a running list and keep working on it, miraculously it all gets done before lunch.

I'm going! My mom took off work for Thursday & Friday so she can watch my kids for me all weekend. My husband always comes with me and it's pretty much the only time of year I can have his undivided attention to talk about homeschool-related stuff.

I had something similar happen to me, that really freaked me out! I would see looming figures about me while I slept or was trying to get to sleep. Then, I got my wisdom teeth taken out and it went away. So...have your kids recently gotten their wisdom teeth in?

Saxon is an incremental approach to math...so the expectation is not on "knowing the right answer". The expectation is exposure. You say "What month is it?" Child says "August" you say "August is a month, but the month we are currently in is January. Let's spell January." Just keep going over the correct answers, and they will eventually get it. Same with the days of the week. You ask, you let them give an answer, you feed them the correct answer and then eventually they get it. The same approach will later be needed for long division. You teach the child, they act like they've never heard the English language before, you show them the steps and walk them through it and eventually they get it. Just stay patient and everything will be fine. If the kids already knew all the answers, they wouldn't need to be taught :)

I downloaded the 2 free lapbooks. I also called customer service to see if I could get a list of the artists studied for volume 1. Once I hear back from them, I'll share anything I find out.

I'm so glad you asked, because I am looking at it too! I'll be waiting to see if anyone has actually used it and what they think. Right now, I'm just in the drool stage.

This is answering for my 7 year old & 4 year old respectively.

I've been using the low-fat version of the e-mealz plan for 3 weeks. I love that it not only plans dinner, but also a few sides. Not to mention the printable grocery list! Now, menu planning takes 5 seconds instead of 2 hours. The food is good and uses easy to find ingredients that you have most likely heard of before. The menus also incorporate lots of fruits & veggies. The e-mealz could very well be exactly what you are looking for.

Ok, I think I understand now. The attitude & volunteering of the information is what is offensive. However, if I understand correctly, if you met a mom at a homeschool event & were making small-talk and asked her "So, how long have you been homeschooling" and she responded "since birth" and had children older than 5, that wouldn't be offensive?

Isn't there a distinction though? I mean, I am one of those that says I've been homeschooling since birth, because I knew I wanted to homeschool since before my kids were born. What that means to me is: the kids have never attended an out-of-house preschool and the kids have never been in public school. Since "school" in my neck of the woods starts at 2 1/2 (which is when the preschools start calling) I don't think it's beefing up my resume to say I've been homeschooling since birth. It's saying that I've taken responsibility for my kids education since they were born. How do you all take it since you find it so offensive?

I think that benefits of the family should only be given to those that are respectful of everyone within the family. So, eye-rolling, mouthiness, etc. would be met with them getting nothing from me until they can treat me accordingly. (This is assuming of course, that the children & spouse get treated with respect by the mother.) Practically speaking, I would get through math, even through the eye-rolling & keep my cool. Then, when she wanted to watch tv/play on the computer/have me make a snack/eat the dinner I prepared* I would say no. (This will take 5 minutes after school until she needs something.) After she complained that wasn't fair I would inform her that only those who respect everyone in the house are allowed to participate in house benefits. Since she was not respectful of me or my time, she will not have those things until the time she can. This will of course illicit a heartfelt apology but the trick is to stay firm. She can try again tomorrow but for today those privileges must be forfeit. *She can still eat dinner, but she must make something herself, not what I made.

Washing windows & dusting are the chores for my 7 & 4 year old respectively. After they do that, they fight over who gets to vacuum. So, all that's left for me personally to do is pick up, change towels/linens and clean everything with the all-purpose spray. Oh, and do the mountains of laundry.

I'm not exactly sure about loop scheduling, but I tackle one room of the house 5 days a week & then take the weekends off. I get my 2 boys to help me & it's done in about 20 minutes. Monday: Clean kitchen, 1/2 bath & entry (this includes washing windows, cleaning counters, range, sink & microwave in the kitchen dusting, stocking toiletries in the bathroom, cleaning mirror, toilet & sink, changing hand towels & vacuuming & mopping) Tuesday: Clean living room & dining room (this includes washing windows, dusting, cleaning computer glass vacuuming the sectional & recliner & vacuuming the floors) Wednesday: Clean upstairs bathrooms (this includes cleaning mirrors, toilets, tubs, counters & sinks, changing towels, stocking toiletries, vacuuming & mopping) Thursday: Clean upstairs bedrooms (this includes changing sheets on the beds, cleaning windows, dusting & vacuuming) Friday: Clean basement (this includes cleaning the laundry area, washing glass, dusting & vacuuming) Every day I do a load of laundry (on a cycle of lights, darks, towels & linens), unload/load the dishwasher & make beds.

Breakfast PreK Math 2nd grade Math PreK reading 2nd grade Literature PreK playtime 2nd grade rest of subjects Lunch Chores Playtime Dinner Playtime Read Alouds Baths Bed We have no times set with any of the above, but that is roughly what our day looks like. Of course, when we have meetups or classes the schedule is changed a bit. I make sure though to schedule those meetups & classes for the afternoon though so I can ensure school gets done in the morning.

We are grateful for the example you set so humbly, the support you show so steadfastly, and the love you share so freely. Thank you. (?)

Buffy (the vampire slayer)! Season 1 is kind of hard to get through, but it will all be worth it for seasons 2 - 7 :)

We take 1 week of per month. This allows lots of time for field trips, outings, dr appts, etc and still time to be "off" when dad is home (which is usually on a holiday week).