I don't have much advice as I'm a newbie. But I can offer a big :grouphug:. I have homeschooled in the past while dealing with depression, so I can relate to the not wanting to sit down with your kids to teach them and finding no joy in it. It's TOUGH when you feel that way! But kudos to you for putting one foot in front of the other and doing it anyway. A couple of questions for you to think about. Have you thought about your kids' learning styles and what curric would fit them from that point of view? Are you able to take a week (or two or three) off right now -- to give yourself a break and the kids a break? Are your kids having a difficult time learnng because of the curriculum, or learning handicaps (like dyslexia), or a poor attitude, or do they just naturally have a difficult time absorbing information? I hope some others are able to chime in and offer some wise words for you. Hang in there!

thank you!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, everyone, for your thoughts and opinions. I really do appreciate you! :thumbup:

Is it crazy to follow The Well Trained Mind to the letter with 3 kids (will be 5th, 3rd, and 1st)? I'm a rule follower by nature, and I'm not good/comfortable with just winging it, changing things up, etc. Everything suggested in TWTM sounds so great that I can't decided what to drop so that it seems doable. A little background: I'm still a fairly new HS mom (which probably explains why i'm not comfortable with winging it). I homeschooled my two oldest last school year for a semester before we determined that it was best that they be in public school (not because homeschool was not working out). So I've got one whole semester under my belt. We've come to the end of our committment to ourselves to keep the boys in public schools and have pretty much decided to homeschool them (and our current kindergardener) next school year. I'm worried about stressing myself out (I'm already very nervous even though I've done this a little before) next year and in turn, stressing out my kids and burning us all out. I realize i need to R-E-L-A-X. How exactly does that look? Thoughts? Suggestions? :confused1:

I now have one whole week under my belt. (Yea! So glad to get that over with!) But I'm feeling insecure about one thing in particular. What do I do with the son that I'm not presently working one-on-one with? Let me explain. Most of our curriculum is teacher-led. There is some "homework" that needs to be done (like in math), but for the most part, it's a one-on-one kind of thing. So what do I do with the other son who I'm not working with? This past week I've let them play when I'm not working directly with them or they don't have any work they can do on their own. Should I find some random workbook for them to work out of just so they stay in a school frame of mind? Or is it OK to let them play intermittently throughout the day as I work with them one-on-one? My boys are 3rd and 1st grade, by the way... And the 1st grader can't read much yet... TIA!

We start tomorrow also and I'm shaking in my boots (I'm new to all this). I think/hope I have everything ready to go!

you could also try Craig's List...

OK. Thanks, Paula. I just needed some one to talk me off the ledge. :D I'll come back and reread your words, I'm sure!

Hi y'all I've pretty much gotten over my fear (or worries) about homeschooling in general. Now I've got a new one hovering as we get closer to actually starting (Aug 22): What if I end up being cowardly and don't make the kids do the work they should do (work they just don't want to do because it's difficult)? I don't want to be too lax and not give them the work because I'll hear complaints. But that's my fear. That it won't seem like school around here and it will be too easy to just lay off some of the work. Any advice or words of encouragement to help keep that from happening? TIA!

I like Zaner-Bloser's paper (link). But it's $10/ream + shipping. :glare:

I'm going through Saxon Math 1 with my son. I have him complete the front side of the worksheet. If he has trouble with part of it, then I'll have him do the backside. Otherwise, if I feel that he's got a good grip on the material, we skip the backside. Granted, most of what we're doing in Saxon 1 right now is review (I pulled him out of PS and we'll hit homeschooling hard in August). HTH!

3Blessings4Me, I think you're enabling our Office Supply Junkie! :001_smile: --from one office supply junkie to another, I completely feel your pain --

Amen! The general board description is mainly for " general questions about classical education methods, teaching techniques, readiness, supplemental activities, field trips, assessments, frustrations, online resources, etc." and then they add "or just for hanging out and chatting!". It would be great if there was a General board, a General Education board, and a Curriculum Board... imho

brilliant idea! also a brilliant idea! thanks ladies! you've helped me overcome one of my fears!!! THANKS!

So she doesn't get out of the "rhythm" of school when she has breaks like that? That's my fear with my ds6.

Hi Wise Hive Minds I'm new to HSing and have yet another question. What should I have my newly 6yo (who isn't reading strongly yet) work on while I'm working with his older brother? He can work on penmanship for a little while. And I have a few workbooks, but with ds6 not reading very well, he'll need instructions and help. Should I just have him go play while I'm working with ds8? And then when he's reading better, he can do the workbooks?

Thanks for the responses. I'm beginning to cool off now a little. We don't have much money for swim lessons right now (they're SO expensive!) unfortunately. We tried a couple of years ago with the oldest, and he was in tears nearly every day. Our middle son has been diagnosed with anxiety (one of his anxieties is bodily injury -- and swimming qualifies as a potential activity that would "harm" him) and so I'm thinking that not just any swim teacher can help him. Unfortunately the little one has "learned" to be afraid because of her brothers. I must learn to :chillpill:. Or this will be a long summer. I HAVE started doing some math with the boys (we're new to homeschooling) and that is helping take up some of the afternoon... I'll add in subjects as I feel ready to (but we won't get into the full swing of things till the Fall because of Classical Conversations) Thanks ladies. I appreciate your helpful suggestions and empathy.

I tried to take my 3 dc to see a $1 kids movie at our local theater. I think we barely lasted 20 minutes in to the movie (my sensitive kids thought it was too scary -- It was a Shrek movie). I loathe taking my dc to the pool by myself (or with a friend) because none of them know how to swim and are afraid of getting water in their faces. I've got only 2 arms and 3 dc. It's a LOT of work for not a lot of fun. It seems we can't do any of the "easy" summer activities that don't require much mess or planning. In TX, it's getting up to nearly 100 degrees each day, so playing outside for most of the day is not an option (it IS nice outside early in the morning and late at night). Frustrated!!!! :banghead:

I haven't been able to find a resource on SoTW and Cycle 3, but I did find this resource broken down by week with a list of supplemental books (maybe check your local library)? On my own, I looked up the US History sentence for each week and looked in my own resources (which includes SoTW 3 and 4) to see what info I had for that week... http://ccdurham.com/Cyc3_Resource_List.xls.pdf

:bigear::bigear::bigear:

Thank you, ladies. I'm feeling a little bit better after reading your sage words and having put a little (time) distance between myself and this afternoon. I've heard the first year is the toughest. And that it takes a while to find your groove. Sometimes it's hard to remember that when you're in the middle of (what feels like) chaos. :001_smile: Thanks again!

everything felt so forced, and stiff, and hurried. I'm jumping ahead in the Saxon 3 book for my rising 3rd grader who has a good handle on math and has already been through (in public school) half of the material in the Saxon 3 book. But there were a couple of things he hadn't seen yet (rounding numbers, for example), that I had to explain to him. But I don't want to start at the beginning of the book because 90% of it would be a boring repeat of what he learned in school this past year. We'll start full force with homeschooling in the fall for both DSs, but I wanted to get a jump on things (plus the boys were asking to do school this summer. who does that????). But now I'm feeling completely overwhelmed at the thought of adding in other subjects. Tell me it gets better after the first day! Tell me that I'll actually come to enjoy this and it won't always feel overwhelming! Talk me off the ledge, please!

I'm new to homeschooling so I don't have many opinions to offer you. But WHAT A BLESSING!!! :001_smile:

Geez. I'm so sorry. This sounds gut-wrenching. I haven't been through this so I can't offer too many words of advice. Do be gracious wih yourself; you'll need lots of time to heal. Don't expect to just "get over it" quickly, even if he seems to be that way. This is a big deal, and it's something you'll need to grieve. I don't want to sound trite. But do you know Jesus? Or Have you ever read the book of Psalms in the Bible? Those, in addition to forming a support network, would be some good places to start. Also, maybe seeing a counselor if your budget will allow. Again, I'm so sorry for your loss.

:grouphug: Take a deep breath. It will all get done! I'd start in your main areas (kitchen, living room, wherever you spend a lot of your time). Set a timer for 20 or 30 minutes and work for only that long. Then later in the day, set your timer again and work a little. You'd be surprised at how much you can get down in that short amount of time! I'd take care of your main areas first, and then tackle smaller rooms (like kids rooms) later. It's hard to work and live in your main areas when everything is a mess!