Thank you so much for your reply. I have some great hsing friends IRL but sometimes I just need to seek some fresh answers. I know I need to revisit why I'm doing this. Over the years my answer to 'why' has changed. Lately, it's just that I want to give them a childhood. Time to play, time to be innocent. And I know some wonderful kids who go 'away' to school. They do have time to play and be innocent, but I've been over and over it in my head, and for my family and my kids, for various reasons, I'm not sure if I could give them that time and innocence if they went 'away' to school. I also want them to really know that it's ok to choose not to do what everyone else does. It's ok to imagine a life for yourself that doesn't look much at all like your neighbor's life. So I'm stuck. My husband and I chose this hsing thing. It's the best option for our family right now. But it's so much work for me. My wonderful husband helps as much as he can, but he works a lot so I can be here with the kids. Ok, I'm done bellyaching. Just tell me there's someone here who understands what it's like to feel like you just can't teach another kid the definition of a verb or grade another math paper or find another copywork passage to help your 5th grader learn to punctuate dialog correctly.

Thank you! That almost made me cry. How sad is that? :grouphug:

Background: All my kids have been hsed since the beginning. They are ages 13, 10, 8, 6, and 7 months. I've used various methods, resources over the years. The kids are doing great on standardized tests with the exception of my 10 yo who is still scoring fairly well (say 75th percentile), but not as well. I understand those tests are not the only measure or even the best measure of how they're doing. It's just an indication that they're making some academic progress at home here. My question: It's Saturday, after 8pm, I'm preparing for another week of school, and I just can't do it anymore. I'm just so tired of lessons, lists, workboxes, answer keys, all of it. My boy wants to play with me, but if I don't prep for school now, I'll be up late tomorrow doing it. You name it, I've tried it. I don't just need a break; I feel like I need to STOP. Ugh. Anybody been there? What's next? I saw this yesterday (www.allinonehomeschool.com ) and I'm seriously considering it because I need to keep them working, but I just can't keep doing it all myself. I sure could use some advice or encouragement.

I read through this thread because the original post sounded so much like something I could have written when my oldest was 9! Two people mentioned the workboxes. I implemented this system last spring with my 4 kids. I don't want to sound too irrational here, but I'm not sure how I ever homeschooled without it! Check out Sue Patrick's workbox site and ebook. I'll tell you why I like it for my 4 kids ages 11, 9, almost 7, and 4 and why I'm willing to put in the time it takes to load those 48 boxes every evening. (Actually right now it's 42 as the youngest is doing 6 boxes a day now.) 1-I feel like I'm finally taking full advantage of the flexibility of homeschooling. I used to make checklists for the kids, but it just wasn't easy to adjust those on the fly so to speak. Now every night I can say "what do they need to do tomorrow" based on our schedule of outside activities and how they did that day. If 9 yo needs more practice on a math lesson before we move on, it goes in a workbox. No adjusting my written schedule. Never feeling like we've gotten "behind". 2-All the kids get my undivided attention. There is no wasted time. School is a joy for me now because I literally did all my thinking and preparing the night before. We get up, get breakfast and clear off the table and then I have a constant stream of little people coming to me with their "Work with Mom" boxes while I sip coffee at the kitchen table. I used to try scheduling blocks of time for math or just any number of other organizational ideas for homeschooling. Nothing has worked as well as this because the kids always know exactly what to do if I'm busy with another child and can't help them at the moment. No wasted time. 3-I am finally taking advantage of the short lesson idea that the Charlotte Mason types suggest. Their workboxes are geared to their attention span. I am not tempted to keep going with one child anymore so we can finish thus working long past their ability to stay focused. Each workbox contains a focused chunk of work. The one-on-one teaching gets done in small bites and I can tailor the order of the work to each child's needs. One wants to get piano practice out of the way first, the other wants to do it last. One needs math first or she can't focus on it, the other needs math toward the end after she's "warmed up" so to speak. 4-We are consistent. Day after day I load those workboxes and it gets done. I am attempting to do less daily than I did in the past, but it always gets done. In the end, I believe the kids are going to accomplish far more this way. Slow and steady wins the race! I know I'm missing some big benefits here. When I initially looked into this workbox system, I thought it was ridiculous. But since implementing it, I have seen so many benefits for the kids and for me that I just can't imagine homeschooling without it now. I would suggest trying it before you make any other adjustments to your curriculum. I hope you can find a way to work this out. Homeschooling is a tough job. It isn't for the faint of heart is it?! Your son is fortunate to have a mom who is working so hard to do what's best for him! Blessings, cheryl