Absolutely! Enjoy!

We are in the final weeks of a 12 week VT program. I am seeing improvements in handwriting, spelling, and I believe in reading. Time will tell a bit more on the reading. Mine is older and could read, but was very slow in tackling a novel of any size. In small portions she can easily read. But give a novel and a few chapters to read a day, and it just wasn't happening yet and should be. Ours does some special education therapy with the VT, and they are teaching some daily things to work on with her, and their methods are helping immensely along with my personal reading on alternative education methods that apply to her as far as the spelling and some other things. The weekly screenings and therapy appointments help because they give me things to work on specialized just for her, and I do see a difference. I haven't assigned a full novel yet since we started. But her daily reading and comprehension and output on those readings has improved a ton.

Last day before Christmas break here, so we are going over all of our work and wrapping things up. Only one outsourced class here, and she had done well keeping up with that one and most of her daily at home subjects. BUT last day... I needed to see her notes for her ongoing report and she needed to complete the lesson on organizing her notecards. The project is going into next semester, so that's it. Just show me the notes you have been taking all week. She claims there are about 10 notecards completed so far, so she needs to have a bit more time today for reading and notes. Fine. but it has to be done today. What's this? You tucked the first 5 notes into one of your library books and now can't find that library book? And you spent 45 minutes "searching" your room instead of reading a chapter in another of the 80 books you have checked out on the subject. So now after 45 min you have 5 notecards from one book that you know of to show me. And you have 10-15 cards due today. And it's time to move on to another subject to get everything done today and wrapped up for Christmas. Sigh. I am glad it's not just my house.

Oh, very interesting, as we are wrapping up R&S 8th grade here. Perfect timing!

Dd did TLi this semester for 9th grade. Original plan was to do TLII over spring semester, but after going over her next semester plans, I think I would like that slot for another elective. Her schedule is very full right now. I don't want to overload. I have always followed WTM selections pretty closely, and know that she should have done these over 8th grade according to its schedule. It just didn't happen. And the plan is to put her into the 9th grade rhetoric/writing WTM selections next year fully for 10th. Would she be ok with those resources without completing the second semester of logic and just having it as a 1/2 credit elective? First time with a WTM high schooler here! Thanks for help.

Definitely Latina Christiana can be done in 20 min a day, minus the history portion. If you are so inclined to add the culture/history, that could go in your read aloud time. The grammar in LC is light. I am teaching it right now to a co-op class. We are through about week 10 for this semester. We have covered pronouns, nouns, verbs, and declining nouns and conjugating verbs of which the last two don't really apply much to English. There is a lot of vocabulary work. You definitely don't need another program for that. It spends a lot of time on derivatives and meanings, so that is a big focus which I like of doing Latin.

In 3rd grade with Prima Latina, we had one day of latin instruction with the full lesson. We listened to the CD, learned the new words, practiced the prayer and or song, etc. Then the other days of the week it was just a quick practice the 5 vocab words once or twice and do the prayer at the table for meals. There wasn't actually any time scheduled into the day for it except for the one lesson a week. In 4th grade we moved to LCI, and we had a full lesson at co-op, plus an hour of Latin club at co-op to cover history, culture, extra vocab, study for the ELEs. so 2 hrs once a week that I planned for. Then the rest of the week, there was one day where dd was responsible for listening to her CD and saying her words with her flashcards. (5-10 min tops,) one day when she was to do the worksheet, 2o min tops, and another day of flashcard practice. We also sometimes did the vocab practice in the car with the CD on the way to other things instead of during the day. I never did Latin instead of English, but most definitely some of our English output was lessened by the fact that so much was covered in Latin. We work through a text each year, but can often just do R&S orally (as she suggests in WTM,) because they understand it so well. We do all writing assignments most of the time from R&S, plus from other sources each year.

Yep, at that age, SOTW, as much or as little as can get done in the worksheets, narrations, maps, extra books, crafts are great, but at least read and color and look at your map. Nothing else is essential if you are working on your writing and reading comprehension in other places. Maybe watch some videos once in awhile. Read or listen to audio books like Magic Treehouse. My kids got tons from those.

I just requested the How the Grinch Stole Christmas in Latin. Every year I can decode more and more of it. :) Other than that, I am reading a Bible Through the Ages History book with the kids, The Epic of Gilgamesh with them, How to Draw Everything, watching YouTube art videos, and just picked up a book, How to Get into Art School to start looking at with dd12. So constantly learning, but usually with the kids during the school year. Short articles here and there I can squeeze in from online or magazines are helpful, but nothing too deep going on right now.

Globe, binoculars for nature study, telescope, microscope, etc. when possible, a bit at a time are all good, and I am glad I have them. But we can access those things on field trips and musuems if we didn't have them. If starting out, a computer, art supplies, a printer, a library card, will give a lot of help creating games and art.

Lots of books on all subjects from thrift stores and books sales. It is so nice to do a unit on Egypt and go to the shelf and pull what you own instead of keeping track of 12 library books. (we do that too, but when I have some on the topic that I don't have to return in a set time is so much better!) Lots of art supplies and notebooking materials. Gel pens, large and small construction paper, glitter glue, stickers, good colored pencils and markers, etc. Lots of whiteboards here. A wall one for lists. small ones for me to use as flashcards and vocabulary words as I am reading aloud that they can copy into their notebooks. A good one with a stand that lines up perfectly for my dd to attach her work to hands free. She does a lot of her actual work on it on a TV tray in the living room on her Yoga Ball. Perfect for wiggly kids. Yoga Ball, lol. Big bulletin board for displaying our art and posters about what we are learning, etc. And for us this year: Thinking Tree journals (basically notebooking pages.) In the past we used Apologia Science notebooks for my notebooky child, but the new ones are more customizable for us for all of her subjects. Index cards. We make lots of flashcards.

I never tried the MP. It wasn't around so much until I had already done R&S reading with mine. So I have used the R&S complete 1st grade with two of mine, and will probably use it again, since it works. I own it and like it. I actually used the complete workbooks every other day or so, then did our narrations around our SOTW in 1st grade, before dropping the readers after 1st grade to go to a complete WTM style reading/narration style in 2nd with both of mine. I still completed the phonics program in 2nd with both of mine and picked up the R&S English and spelling (for the one that needed the spelling. The other was way beyond their spelling.) I liked doing the R&S in 1st alongside SOTW vol. 1 because it gave us Bible which was perfect for the ancient year.

We are later sleepers here. So 7 wouldn't work for us and never did. But I do have a start time in mind, and I wake everyone for that. With teens, their natural clocks would easily keep them up until 2 or 3 am, sleeping til after noon if we didn't regulate it some. We definitely have a later start time than schools. One of mine has to start by 8. The other has to start by 9, and works later in the afternoons, just because she is not a morning person, so that works for us.

We've done both for several years (sometimes with one child and not the other.) But what we have found that works for us is to really focus on one, and do the other a bit more lightly for introduction. So here, we do Latin as our main focus. But the Spanish complements it. Both of mine will eventually get a credit or two of Spanish after their Latin high school credits. So I figure some familiarity with it is a good thing. DD12 is in Second Form Latin right now and is doing EasyPeasyallinone Spanish and the occasional lesson from Easy Step by Step Latin text and reading picture books with me. She took a languages class at co-op last year that did a semester of Spanish once a week while we did First Form and other latin work daily. ODD did SFC A at one point alongside Latin at one point.

I think if it feels like too much and dinner isn't happening the way you would want it might be too much. Or you just need to plan dinners better and utilize the crock pot and lunch coolers for on the go. Whichever makes you feel more sane. I know there have been years where we had dinner out at a fast food one night a week regularly because of an activity or we packed our lunch cooler on that night, but multiple nights like that would have been too much for me. I have learned to meal plan and use the crockpot, etc. and that makes everything better. I have a set day of the week for planning and another one for shopping. I sit with the calendar when I am writing the menu for the week to think about what would work best each night.

Mine do their science classes at a co-op. The co-op has science equipment purchased over the years, costs split between parents. Our science teacher was a science professor in her working years, so it has been such a blessing to have her. There are other science classes for homeschoolers that we could pay for if we wanted the help. They are usually more expensive than a co-op. And we could do some or all at home. We have purchased a good microscope for biology and used it plenty at home. The equipment needed for science can be bought online easily. There are lots of good curricula or online courses to walk you through the materials. YouTube is my friend. I do not have a science/math background. I haven't touched a calculator in years. When it was time for my dd to learn hers, we youTubed for tutorials and found everything we needed to know. I felt so proud of us for mastering that that day. :)

We have a large age gap between my older set and my youngest. She will be like an only child for the bulk of her homeschooling life once the kids have left for college and life. I can't even imagine what our life will be like, as I am so used to being busy with a houseful of homeschoolers, occasional babysitting kids, all of their activities, etc. We are already a family that needs to be involved in church and homeschool activities for our sanity. Plus my kids are very active in dance classes and scouts too, similar to yours. I see that we will keep those up when it's just one at home, and probably add more or the quiet might be too much for me! OR I will embrace it and quietly sip my tea in peace, lol. We have another hs family that has 3 olders close in age, and a younger that is best friends with my mdd. She is worried about when her olders are all gone, what it will be like for her youngest. They are in dance and one co-op. She feels they may add another co-op. I can't imagine doing that, but who knows when it is just my one at home. I suppose that could be an option.

While doing LC are you learning the prayers and conversations and songs alongside the grammar? Are you chanting the endings in a sing songy voice? (We do the declension case endings to the tune of B-I-N-G-0: a, ae, ae, am, a... a, ae, ae, am, a.... a, ae, ae, am, a.... singular first declension....) Try it... Are you doing the history read alouds from the Famous Men of Rome alongside as scheduled in LC? We do a few minutes of the suggested review of learned endings, the prayer, and song to start the lesson once a week (I do this in co-op.) Then we do the saying and talk about the history of it. I give any printouts or coloring sheets I have that relate. I have found a lot over the years online. Then some days I have them practice conversations of introductions and how are yous and all of that. Then we make flashcards of the new vocab for them to practice with over the coming week. We discuss the English derivatives and such as they come up. Then I introduce the one new bit of grammar in LC which is really quite a small bit. Then I spend the remaining 20 min or so of class on history. We read the (or generally I retell the stories from) FMOR. I have them keep history notebooks. They have a timeline that we review the dates on as we go. They have an ongoing list of the 7 kings of Rome and of the 7 hills. We review the lists each time we add to them and review the related stories we know of each one. Sometimes I focus on mythology and teach the gods and goddesses, etc. The kids really enjoy the history portion and it gives them a mental break after the 20-30 min on vocab and grammar. For most of my kids, this is all of the beginning latin they do for the week. I ask that they review the flashcards during the week. I don't require them to do the workbook page. This is my 3rd year to start a new Latin class in co-op. I have taken the other classes all the way up through the Form Series. I generally don't begin to lose kids in Latin until Second Form. Most enjoy and have fun with Latin through First Form. After that it becomes a lot more serious. So maybe you could change the approach a bit to make this year more fun. LC is still really light as far as grammar. I generally describe the LC class as a mostly roots and vocab class. If it is too much grammar, then I agree, you might want to switch to a roots course after this year, instead of keeping on with actual Latin. For the rest of this year, try to have some fun. Look for coloring sheets, book in Latin at the library (Dr. Seuss has some!) do the history portions. Have some fun!

We are very active with outside activities as part of our homeschool, but we are also very scheduled, so that I accomplish the majority of what I want to accomplish. I also school year round, but with different goals and schedules depending on the subject and season in a way that works for us. So our neighborhood school school from beg. of Aug to end of May. This is our official "school year" as well. BUT our co-op, where my kids do some core classes, goes from Sept to mid May. So we have the full month of August to work full time at home with very little field trips besides what I want to do. And the subject load can be lighter as they won't have started some of their courses yet. So I can really jump into new things we are doing at home and hit them hard or finish up things/review before starting the year full on in Sept. So for us currently with a middle schooler and a high schooler and a tag along toddler we school at home on Mondays, but leave semi early for 3 hours of dance classes. We leave the house at 2:00. We do not finish our school by then. They go for 3 hours, come home, have dinner, and wrap up stuff at night as homework. This is part of the deal for the way our schedule works. I get alone time while bigs are gone for this. I put the toddler down for a nap, have alone time, and can clean and cook. They get a ride home so I only have to drive one way. That is helpful to my sanity. Tues is our at home day. It is also the day that I have to schedule dentist appointments and whatnot, but that is really rare. For the most part, this is our full, long day where we have time for read alouds, catching up and checking in on ongoing stuff, time for projects, etc. We generally go into the evening on this day. Wed. is another school day at home. They only have 2 hrs of dance, so they are home until 2:30. So a bit later than on Mondays. Again I drive and drop off, they get a ride home. So I take toddler home, put her down, etc. Thursdays vary. Twice a month we have homeschool group activities in the morning. On those mornings the field trip or party or learning activity is school, even for my high schoolers. A short day twice a month doesn't hurt them. We cut out say spelling and English those days. In the afternoons after lunch they wrap up math for the week and homework for their classes at co-op the next day, do some reading, etc. Fridays they have a full day at co-op. Sometimes there is something for the week that I feel didn't get accomplishes as it should have, and they will have homework over the weekend. I have a schedule of what I want accomplished as far as how many math assignments and what have you. On Weekends we often have scouts and related activities, projects, field trips, camping, plus church stuff all day on Sundays. I take the toddler to her dance class on Sat. mornings. This schedule is working well for us. I don't take the toddler to preschool storytimes and playdates during the week. She has her co-op friends on Fridays, dance on Sat, and church classes on Sundays. I think that is enough for her. Plus she plays with neighborhood kids and her sisters and stays active at home during the week. **** OOps I forgot that for a few weeks, one of my dds has an educational therapy class on Wed. mornings. So I take her and the toddler to that, run by the library, and then come home for lunch and a couple of subjects for her on Wed. before dance. The teen stays home and does her regular work at that time, and the therapy is the middle one's school on those mornings. They do spelling and reading and other things. She does math and reading and science when we get home. That will only last for a few more weeks.

I am constantly eyeing this. I am curious about the geometry as well. If I bought it, I could use it for geometry next year, plus Bible, art, and preschool extras. But I want to know what the math is like! bumping again!

For my kids, art and reading aloud do a lot for us. I find ways to work both in whenever possible. Just find what works. If it is games, they don't need to be elaborate, just daily. :)

These are fun to read. I love these threads. For us, a typical day: 8:00-9:00 dd12 gets up and does some math review with me, eats breakfast and starts today's lesson. I feed toddler, and dd14 sleeps until I force her up a bit before 9. 9:00-10:00 dd14 reads her English and works on it independently. dd12 does one day of EasyPeasy Spanish online mostly on her own. Some days she needs help with written work or to do a conversation. And then she works in her Thinking Tree Journal. She does a page daily, and they vary on topics. Some days it's reading and journal about that. Some days it is do an art page. Some days it has her do a math game online. She does xtramath.org on those days. Sometimes it has her write a story or draw a picture or do copywork. It is all artistic, so good for her. The baby and I get dressed, make beds, clean up dishes, start laundry, etc. She will often want to "do school." So I will get down playdough and supplies or paints and books, or whatever table activity she wants. 10:00=11:00 dd12 swtiches to an hour of Latin. I usually have to help her get started, but then she works on her own. DD14 switches to whatever I need her to do writing related that day. For example, last week she was working on an application for a girl scout interview for something special. So we worked together researching the topic and discussing it before she filled out the written application. Other days she has assignments from her English book or from her co-op classes or I assign something from her great books study. Just whatever I need her to do. dd2 makes a big mess with blocks and My Little Ponies and gets louder as we get busier into our days and aren't playing with her. :) 11:00-12:00 I work intensively with dd12 during this hour on her home therapy exercises and spelling word loading. Then I work with her on her R&S English book. And I assign what I want her to do from those subjects. dd14 is finishing up Traditional Logic I during this time period. By this time, I usually turn on some PBS for the toddler in my room. 12:00 lunch. We get a bit more loosy goosey after lunch. :) I have each day scheduled a bit differently depending on the afternoon's extra curricular schedule. I need to get reading, read alouds, history, and science in for both girls over the course of the week plus dd14 does her Algebra and Latin. She prefers to do Chemistry and Algebra on her own at night. So usually we will do some read alouds and history together. dd14 will do her great books reading and writing and Latin. Then on days they have dance classes they go to that for 2-3 hours. Sometimes one or the other has an hour where the other has a class that she isn't in, and can do a bit of her afternoon bookwork at that time. While they are gone I do library, short errands, and take toddler home for a late nap. I start dinner, fold laundry, and usually chill alone online or with Netflix for a bit. On afternoon at home days, we get the baby down for an earlier longer nap, and big kids and I read together for a long time on a variety of subjects. This is when we also do any messy projects that they have for outside classes or discuss and do research for bigger projects. It kind of depends what is going on with all of our other subjects what we need to do on our long afternoons. But they involve a lot of reading, discussing, coloring together and hot tea and chocolate under soft blankets on the couch. Then they break off to finish anything left (finish math and science paperwork, play with friends, talk on the phone, etc.) I always have a dinner plan, so depending on what that is I might have done some prep earlier in the day or I might start it at this time. After dinner and clean up big kids finish up homework, shower, lay out stuff for the next day, etc. I or dh bathe baby, do dishes, general clean up, etc. I clean in small bits throughout the day and hopefully don't have a ton left on the weekends, but I definitely do a bit more on weekends. Today is Saturday. dd14 cleaned up some windows and glass doors, dd12 dusted. I swept and folded laundry and changed the sheets on two beds. DD12 did her own. Then I took two kids to dance and ran a couple of errands. DD12 stayed home and finished straightening up while we were gone and did a great job.

Same here! We took one great big planned Fall Break Week with lots of educational activities that I had planned, but the next week, co-op had an emergency and canceled one day, so they got a break from their work from there. And we ended up taking two extra days off that week unplanned. So we are doing the above planned work on Mon-Wed.

Sort of. When I planned this first semester I planned it as a catch up week and a Thanksgiving mini unit week. I babysit a niece on her school weeks, and I can't believe it, but her school has the whole week off. So on Monday we will go to a Science Museum in the morning. In the afternoon while toddler naps I have some Thanksgiving reading to do from a mini unit study that I do some years. It has picture study, copywork, and read alouds. Then I have an art project planned. We have been collecting leaves on our nature hikes lately. We will do leaf pictures. Odd has an art badge she is working on for scouts, so if she wants, she could do one of her collages for that while the rest of us do leaves, or she could do both. I still have to do Vision Therapy/OT excercises w/dd12 daily, so that is "school." And both are behind where they need to be in Latin, so in the evenings they will need to do some of that. On Tues: They will do Latin, Thanksgiving read alouds and finish up Gilgamesh because it is overdue from the library :), more art, and we will do some Thanksgiving Baking and Therapy. On Wed: We have our weekly Vision Therapy/OT appointment, so I will assign dd14 some work that morning while we do that. Then we go to Grandma's. I really want them each reading some on their own each evening, but it's getting harder to enforce during the busy holiday time and with all of the outside commitments they have to prep for at night (packing for scout camps, scout badges, co-op homework, etc.) So no math or daily assignments.

If totally OT, or we are in a crunch and I want to finish something I just say something like, "I don't know. We're talking about this right now." And continue what we are doing. I am all for exploring and discussing, but within reason.