:hurray: :party: WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!! Yay!!! Way to go!!!

I facebook but I vacillate over it because it sometimes seems like a GIANT waste of time and energy. I am always considering leaving and have a couple of times then someone will say, "did you see the baby's photos on facebook?" and I cannot resist. :(

Horizons.

I think you are undercharging, I would be willing to pay more for an experienced, knowledgeable teacher.

I have been be very guarded about our time. I was doing Bible studies in the a.m. and co-op, piano, etc. While these are great endeavors they were taking away from the main goal. So, we have scaled back this semester and I am hoping we will feel more at ease. One of the reasons I chose to homeschool was that I did not want my schedule dictated by other commitments or obligations. So, no co-op this semester and I am really happy about it.

I, like yourself, was tired of using AAS. Those tiles drove me nuts. However, my son needs some remedial phonics and spelling help so we are using the Spalding method starting Monday using the Writing Road to Reading manual. I like that there aren't a lot of pieces, I think it would work for both natural and struggling spellers. However, I think (at least in the beginning) it will be somewhat teacher directed/intensive. All of that to say, I have used R&S and really like it and I think it would be good for a natural speller and it is much more independent. :)

Score. Now I feel like I am too generous. :) We also purchase books and since we live in Japan these are for books that he would want for his own personal reading pleasure (some I purchase) so I require he purchase. Thanks for your insight.

We just recently started doing "commission" which basically means our children work and if they work we pay them and if they do not we do not pay them. They have a set amount of chores and check them off each day when they are completed. Here's the dilemma, the cost to actually purchase a toy, or game, or book are most than what I really pay. Perhaps, I am not keeping up with the rate of inflation. :laugh: We make our children save 15%, give away 15% and then they are free to spend the rest or save for something larger. My son (8) gets $5 a week. He does chores not on the list but those are chores that are the "BECAUSE I SAID SO AND YOU LIVE IN THIS HOUSE SO YOU HELP!" chores. He walks the dog, cleans the yard, feeds the dog, vacuums, clears the table, cleans windows (T/TH) and cleans toilets on (T/TH). Basically, that's what I remember for now. My husband thinks I am cheap (I was only giving him $2/weekly, so I bumped it up but now I am starting to realize that maybe even $20 a month BEFORE giving and saving isn't a lot? Or, do I chalk this up to a life skill and learning to conserve if you really want something.....hm.... So, what is the average for children this age? His sisters make $2.50 a week, they are 4 and 2 so it's just not the same. Thoughts?

I have finally accepted that if I do not like it, it will not be taught, so while I try to be accommodating of my son's needs (e.g. perhaps mildly dyslexic, visual spatial learning style) I now realize that it is easier to purchase something *I* like and tweak it for him in different ways than to purchase something for him and tweak it for myself. Also, there are some things, like you said, that you just don't like, you just have to do them and move on, it's part of life.

Whilst we are Dave Ramsey fans and followed his plan (debt free 2011- YAY!) I don't feel I have enough expertise to offer any wisdom, sorry. So, I'll be a 'bump' for the conversation. I hope that the Year of the Unemployment is quickly wiped away.

I am going to take the plunge and go with WRTR, after reading it (on my second go around) I am excited about it and honestly, it makes sense to me. It seems that once I begin I will grasp the concepts and methodology even more. We start learning the phonograms Monday. :) Here we go.

Yes, this is my husband. I mean, thankfully, he DOES care he just knows that I am far more passionate about education in general. So, the other day I asked him, "what are my favorite curriculum or philosophies" to which he replied, "Story of the World." HA, well kudos honey, some rant made it through. ;) I cannot remember what else he said but he did mention Charlotte Mason and Classical and the Read Aloud Handbook, GO YOU! I was actually surprised.

Yes, guilty. I am that SFM. :) I do live in Japan and LOVE it but it also has it's challenges. One of the largest being that most of the things that you would read or learn about (museums, art exhibits, historical sites) are written in a completely non alpha language. Thus, making it quite difficult at times. Japan is BEAUTIFUL and lends itself to being GREAT for nature studies. We make it work, we got to things and just look or hope they have some English translations. They are a very kind people here as well. We are in a small rural community so it is not like being in Tokyo (we are about 6 hours south via bullet train -- to give you a rough estimation). We aren't "city folk" here. :) I love it though, I am so thankful for my children being able to experience life in a different country and culture. We have lived here for 5 years and plan to be here perhaps another 4 but could be as little as another 2 years.

We really have enjoy Grammarland and The Sentence Family, when I started (in 2nd) we just did FLL2 and I loved it. I hated FLL3 and thus our move to R&S for 3rd. However, with my younger girls coming up my plan is to VERY gently introduce grammar in the early grades. Like Primary Language Lessons, FLL, or/and Grammarland and The Sentence Family. The kids think Grammarland is very humorous.

I went ahead and read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Frye by Rachel Joyce and Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua and liked both of them and they were both fairly easy reads, I read both last week. So, I voted for other ones, although I am willing to discuss the others.

I have had the same problems recently.

Agreed.

I will write more later, it's WAY past bedtime in Japan. But, thank you so much ladies, it really helps put my mind and heart at ease to read some others' experiences. I was reading the Power of a Praying Parent tonight and it was even an affirmation about what's really important, sometimes I get off track and my focus needs to adjusted. :)

I think once I work with this schedule more after the New Year (we have been off since early December for medical reasons and travel) then I will have a better idea if it is too much. I wrote it out (all of it) tonight and it just looked like too much, however, I suppose if we get through it in a timely manner it's not necessary to change it unless we are completely failing. QUALITY VS. QUANTITY. :)

SOTW Vol. 3 and we do not do the Bible readings with it as they were mainly Proverbs thus far and we already try to read a proverb a day....just seemed redundant.

For the record, I am using Biblioplan with SOTW Vol. 3.

Thank you for the book recommendation. I looked it up and put it on my wish list. Sounds like something I would like to read. On another note, I find myself wanting to be more simple. I tell myself that they did it that way years ago and it worked and I think worked well for most. I want my children to be CHILDREN. I really do want to allow more flexibility. I told my husband just today that yes, I am a teacher but I am a MOM who is a teacher not a TEACHER who is a mom. I want to stay focused on my ultimate task. I suppose I read things or hear things and I worry that we aren't "doing" enough. Maybe it's something that plagues all homeschoolers at some point. I need to re-focus, write out our family's goals and simplify a lot of the time and remind myself to pace ourselves. Rome wasn't built in a day type thing. HE'S in THIRD grade and I have a four year old and 2 year old. :) Thank you all for your feedback. I really appreciate it.

Those really are just rough estimates in regard to time. The reason I have revamped things is because it's not working out so well with a 4 and 2 year old. Thus, my concerns, thank you for your input. Perhaps, I am trying to take on too much. I have found, that because my son was initially in PS I try to keep up with their times/schedules/workload etc. and I am realizing that you can accomplish a lot more in a shorter amount of time if it is focused intensity. Perhaps, I will take it easier and try to weed it down to 30 minutes for the core subjects....then maybe allow time for the "electives"? Not sure. Thank you for your input. I value the feedback.

I have slightly revamped our curriculum choices. After homeschooling this first year I have decided that some things did not work and added in other things that did work. I also was doing content areas, everyday, and realized real fast that it was not working for us. So, here's what I have going into this semester...thoughts? Am I missing something, I feel like I have revised and edited and searched so long that I get fuzzy and wonder what I missed. 3rd "grade" DS 8 years old, excellent reader, loves History and Geography, loves learning. Favorite "class" History by a long shot. :) We love SOTW. Bible: DAILY Reading through the Bible with catechism, Journey Through the Bible, and God's Names Mathematics: DAILY 60 minutes or less total Singapore Primary Mathematics 3A (finish) and 3B Horizons 3 for skill maintenance (we are only planning on doing Horizons once every few weeks for a week at a time), it was working before the break, we will see if it continues. We are also adding in CWP and we have been doing IP Read one chapter of Life of Fred during lunch "Language Arts": DAILY 60 minutes or less total Spelling/Phonics: Writing Road to Reading: Spelling and Handwriting (daily) Writing: Writing With Ease (M-TH), pen pals (W), and journals(F) with History narration on Friday Grammar: R&S English 3 (M/W/F) omitting the writing sections McGuffey's Eclectic Reader 3 (M/Th) out loud History: MWF 60 minutes or less total SOTW Vol. 3 with Biblioplan we just follow along with Biblioplans weekly recommendations. (MWF) Science: T/TH 60 minutes or less total Elemental Earth and Astronomy science (T/TH) Logic:DAILY 30 minutes total Critical Thinking Company and Primarily Logic puzzles Lots of books (I read literature aloud, choose a book for him to read, then we usually have a history read aloud as well or one for him to read). I aim for a specific amount of time each day devoted to READING. Usually a total of 2 hours with SSR and reading aloud without Bible included. ELECTIVES- so potentially another 1 hour a day for electives. :) I am considering doing away with some/all of these while we focus intensely on re-mediating some spelling/phonics things. The italicized will stay regardless, we really enjoy all of these things. Latin - Prima Latina (MWF) 30 minutes Art- Artistic Pursuits Book 1 (T/TH) 30 minutes Music- (MWF) This is mainly reading about the composer for the week and listening to his/her musical compositions. 30 minutes Spanish (T/TH) La Clase Divertida 30 minutes Nature Study (Wednesdays) Cub Scouts (Monday nights) Piano (Wednesdays) Book Club (Wednesdays @ Library) We typically begin our day EARLY, mine at 5am and the children are up by 6-630 usually. So, we start by 730, USUALLY. Trying to incorporate tea time at the end of the day to discuss our day and then OUTSIDE!!! :) OH, and I have scheduled in my planner at least an hour of outdoor time in the morning and then ballet/piano in the morning break. I suppose when I write it out it looks like too much honestly. I feel like we are taking too long. Am I doing too much I wonder? Now I am having the opposite reaction. Oh bother!