Thank you, thank you. I am finally in. I was able to join by clicking through the invite in my notifications.

Thanks for letting me join. I have looked and looked and cannot figure out how to access the group, though. Is there a link or listing of private groups somewhere?

I would love to join, too.

Big thanks to all of you who offered advice when I posted several weeks ago about feeling lost. I am happy to report that the kids are picking things back up very quickly. I am fully confident that by June they will be caught back up and expect that they will probably be ahead again. We are taking things at the pace they want to, and doing lots of hands-on and creative projects. Thank you, thank you, thank you for giving me the confidence to move past our negative experiences over the past two years and open my mind to doing things in a different way.

Thanks, Kiwik. :)

Pen, Terrilth, Tracymirko, Texasmama, and Mathwonk, I am so sorry I did not respond right away. Our schedule has been hectic and I have not had time to respond to anything. I appreciate all of you responding and am grateful for all the suggestions. I am in a much better frame of mind now that we are starting (and utilizing a lot of the suggestions on this thread) and I am able to see that all is not lost. Thanks for being patient with me.

Thanks, Nasdaq. I think you are right about SM with a supplement being the way to go. I have never heard of American Cursive Handwriting, so thank you for that. I plan to start having them all do typing, but I really want all of them to have penmanship that is at least legible. Thank you, thank you!

Thanks, 8filltheheart. The more I am thinking about this, the more I feel like Singapore is what we will end up doing. I have Beast Academy also, so may supplement with that. Thanks for reminding me about it! Also, I appreciate the sentiment about looking forward and not back. Dwelling on what has been as opposed to all the fun things we have to look forward to does not help anything or anybody.

I (and my sci-fi/fantasy-loving kids) can't wait to buy the book from him and read it cover to cover. He has a talent - I can hear his voice (similar to Tolkien's) so clearly when I read it. What an amazing opening!

Thanks, Ruth. I love the idea about the diary and will definitely be doing that. Thanks for writing up that schedule, I think I may use at least part of it. Thank you.

Thanks, Minivan (sorry, I don't know your actual name). I am so glad I reached out. I feel a lot better about things now. I appreciate what you wrote to me - it brought tears to my eyes. <3

Thanks, Incognito. Yes, I have been careful not to say any of the things I have written here out loud within their earshot. I would hate for them to get down on themselves about something that was not their fault. We actually have the entire series of LoF and Jared enjoys reading them and doing the work in them as he reads. I may start trying to do LoF with Hannah, though. Thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks, Tracy. That article is amazing and I appreciate you posting it here. Since testing the kids last week, I have felt so selfish for needing to take a break from homeschooling and seeing what happened to my kids because of my choice. This article makes me feel that I have not failed them and that it will be okay in the end. Thank you.

Thanks, Jen. Singapore and moving into AoPS was our pre-school plan for him, but I have been worried about putting him back there. I am glad to hear somebody suggest that, it makes me feel better about making the choice to skip Saxon in favor of SM. As far as Hannah goes, she has VERY mild juvenile tourette's (her tics manifest as eye twitching, clearing her throat, blinking often, etc). She also has a very mild case of juvenile epilepsy (petit mal absence seizures - basically, she appears to be staring off into space for a second or two). The neurologist is fairly confident she will outgrow both issues by age 12. Both the tourette's and the epilepsy are subtle enough that unless you are told they are present, it is likely you would never notice either of them. I have no idea why they were pushing for the 504 or saying that she is severely disabled, or that she needs a full-time aide, or how having a 504 would even qualify her for that. She is definitely not severely disabled. At the public school (non-Montessori), Hannah was surpassing the expectations of the classroom teacher to the point that she recommended her for the magnet school. At home, she might need to be instructed in how to do things once, but that is it. It is very odd to me that the Montessori school did not seem to know what to do with her because she is one of those very studious over-achieving, striving for excellence in all things kids.

Thank you both. Deschooling is a foreign concept to me, but it sounds like that is what we need to do.