We switched to Winter Promise, but I really disliked that. We finally settled on Bravewriter, Oak Meadow for history and Noeo for science. I used Sonlight up through grade 4.

I wish my daughter had written that when she was 9. She stills struggles with spelling when she rushes. And she forgot EVERYTHING when she hit puberty. I focused on loving to learn. She now tests well above grade level in everything and is a fabulous student. I've been there with the tears and worries. Take hope.

We buy books. We also use the library, but we are suckers for the pull of a bookstore. Especially a used bookstore. But my kids are rereaders. If I wasn't sure she would be rereading it many times I probably wouldn't be so willing.

My first thought was Eliza, but I also like Marianna and Julia.

I won't speak to how I define classical education because I'm intentionally trying not to label things right now. I did want to mention that one of the things I've learned as continue on our journey is that a quality education seems to depend more on how my children learn than on how I teach it. The challenge is in figuring out what will ignite their passion to learn and teaching to their style. And it's not the same for every child. That would've saved me money ;)

I'd love to here about this!

I agree with all the development advice. That said, my daughter (and she was 6) didn't understand blending at all until I stumbled upon "singing" the words. When she sang the sounds, it blended naturally. It was a huge lightbulb moment for her.

My oldest daughter has a spreadsheet or checklist for each week. She knows what she has to do and the work that needs me has a special time in the day. This would probably work for your two oldest. For the youngers, I have a general routine that we follow so they know approximately when to work with me and know to go to workboxes for independent work during "school time."

Some there is a quote floating around about being a classical homeschooler in the fall, Charlotte Mason in the winter, and unschoolers in the spring. We operate a lot like that. We shift with the seasons and fatigue levels. I try to look at the big picture and what we accomplish over the year. I think the most important thing is to recognize what your personal comfort level is. Some people need strict schedules to give them peace. Those same schedules can artificially make other people feel like they are failing when they get off track. I think most people end up with a loose framework.

Been there with the math. I tend to sneak chocolate chips.

Been there with the math. I tend to sneak chocolate chips.

My biggest advice? Freezer cooking and menu plans. Sometimes we even pack lunches the night before.

The only year I remember being read to is 5th. She read Anne MacCaffreys "Dragon Song" while we were waiting for the buses. It turned me into a lifelong fantasy and scifi fan. I was always glad to be on the last bus and felt bad for the kids that left earlier.

I will chime in and say that we much prefer the paper copy of magazines over the digital. Flipping through magazines just isn't the same without the paper and they tend to take up a huge amount of file space.

I try to engage with the little ones first, then let them loose play or they can join us. On not so good days, I have an enforced quiet time. They must nap or look at books. This usually lasts about 2 hours. The big kids would prefer to be able to play quietly, but if we haven't finished school they know this is the time!

Now that I think about it, we always go out to breakfast on the first day of public school!

My oldest daughter genuinely thought I was punishing her when we tried lap booking! Not her thing, but my current 1st grader could cut and paste all day long. You just never know. It also means I won't be able to reuse much curriculum with my younger kids :)

Hugs to you. I haven't read all the responses, but I thought I would share what has helped us. My 13 yo daughter is ADHD. Not oppositional at all, but she still struggles to get things done. What has been key for her is routine. Solid routine. Get up, breakfast (with protein), exercise (sometimes she will exercise 1st) and then straight to school work. If she is having a hard time focusing, she can break for a walk or other exercise. And she loves and needs a checklist. She likes to start at the top and pound it out. If it's not on the list, forget it! Good luck!

I have this app, but can't find it for you. When I googled Callaway digital arts, the company that made the app, it says there server is not responding. Weird.

I definitely think you could do it in a day or two. The preference here is to break it up, but it could easily be done in one day, especially if you don't do all the activities.

I don't know that it matters what you use, but it sounds like you need to use something. We took 6 weeks off before grade 5 and my daughter was back reviewing 2nd grade math. We won't make that mistake again!

My daughter is doing the reading one day, mapping the next, and activities on the other days. She usually likes to break it up over 4 or 5 days.

For some reason, I've been mulling over this post. I'm going to be honest and put out there that the original comment, while meant to be encouraging, made me feel bad about myself. This is totally my fault and an example of why we should not compare our kids. My 1st grader is doing Saxon 2 and my K is in Saxon 1. I initially got the feeling that my fabulous, but not gifted, kids could have been doing better if I worked harder. This made my gut reaction a little unpleasant. That doesn't mean that getting them even farther ahead is possible or desirable for my family. Finding peace with our goals and individual learning styles is a process.

I do understand your worry. My biggest fear when I started homeschooling was not the 3Rs,but how to teach writing and scissor use to my kids! Silly and irrational, but true.

We can use 3 small local libraries. All about 20 minutes away. These together don't make up one big one. The non fiction books are non existent. We use them often for leisure reading, but they are useless for school. And by the time we pay for interlibrary loan shipping, it's less expensive to just buy from Amazon. Sadly, Amazon Prime is more valuable than our local libraries :(