I am very much agreeing with Taratheliberator about the fact you can most definitely cut extra curriculars and if it isn't a financial necessity, teaching piano, or at least reducing, the number of lessons / after school stuff. It's hard! I have struggled with this myself but can tell you that taking time off from school and cutting my kids down to only 2 activities a week has been huge in relieving my anxiety levels and helping is get more school done! You might need to consider streamlining your curriculum and think about what subjects would you really like to be directly taught by you and which ones are you willing to have kids do independently. For me, teaching our core subjects is important, but I have my 3rd grader do her math and Lang about 80% independently. My 6 year old needs my full attention in Lang and math instruction so I prioritize giving him my full attention for one hour for "k time". And then that's it! If we don't get the fun craft or what not it's ok . I also have what I think of as my bare minimum mode. This mode has for periods lasted 6 weeks at a time (first trimester pregnancy, newborn, needing to get caught up on my own school, or just swamped by life). It looks like--- 1 hr k time with mom while dd does 1 hr independent Lang & math Bible- 10 min Chapter book reading- 20 Book basket- kids read science and history related books at their level (maybe dd's reading to my k'er) and DVDs independently ---30 min The rest is "unstructured, self directed learning". If you don't allow tv or tablets and have a lot of homeschool stuff lying around --- board games, art & craft supplies, stuff to bake, science kits & books, good chapter books, a basket of library books your kids got to pick out, etc.---your kids are bound to spend constructive time learning without you. This is my version of "unschooling."

Thanks a bunch! I hated learning my multiplication tables and want this to be as painless as possible for dd!

^^^^ I am actually putting that on my "homeschool Christmas list".

Where do you get skip counting songs? Are there good online sites, ideally free, or affordable suggestions? How's it work? My guess is they can use it to learn times tables? She is just learning x1-3 up to 12. She can count by 2's but we've never learned skip counting by 4's, 4's, etc. It sounds a lot easier than the way we memorized times tables.

Thanks tofindwisdom! My dd sounds like she's right about were your daughter was. Will need to check it out!

I forgot boys... My son is Gabriel Andres. My stepson is Alexander (no middle name). I love Javier and Joaquin but dh doesn't. I also like Sebastian which he does like. Other names I like that are not Latin / Spanish---- Landon Miles Elliot Caleb Malachi

I'm thinking of Isabella Olivia and Michaella for my twin girls. Not sure the middle name for Michaella. My older daughters are Carolina Bianca and Amelia Grace. Other names I like but dh won't go for--- Margaux Elisabeth Catherine Josephine Beatrice Natalia

There are also unit studies online called Girls of American history were you can get individual units for only 1 series. We did Kaya and Caroline. They are pretty basic giving a Skelton outline of ideas to create a history / unit study but good for getting some ideas flowing.

What's a good chapter book for an 8 year old girl to read independently that's at about a 3rd grade reading level / reads beginning or short chapter books. She was able to read James and tend Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr Fox and Junie B Books. The Americam Girl books are a tad above her level so I read those aloud to her and let her read out loud to me a page, I take a turn, etc. She likes horses and animals. I want to try the something you want, something you need, something to share, something to read. Right now I am thinking--- Want - kitten surprise Need - a new riding helmet Share - ticket to ride USA Read - ?

It's really popular where we live and I know a lot of families who enjoy it. I went to an initial info session a couple years back and decided it was not for me for a couple reasons- 1)I had already purchased mfw and all my other school materials and that CC year didn't align with what we were doing in history or what we planned to study in other areas so it would be pretty much all unrelated to what we were doing at home 2) my kids already had a morning horse riding lesson---I didn't want another morning commitment because that would bring us down to a 3-day week with extra CC material 3) sticker shock----didn't want to tutor and didn't want to she'll out that much money to join CC for extras 4) my kids were in pre-school and 1st grade---I wasn't sure how much they would " get out of it" My kids are now 6 & 8. I like our freedom to create our own schedule, have opportunities to go on rabbit trails, and chose all my materials. The further you get involved with CC the less that's happening. And personally I don't think implementing memory work is difficult to do at home. Plus, we like a scenic route through history. We do a 6 year cycle. I did find the community appealing but we recently joined a homeschool group that we do informal stuff with---park days and field trips. This seems to give us a social outlet without stress.

If she likes the American Girl books you could get the "Welcome to ________'s World" accompaniments. You could also check out some non-fiction books and picture books on topics from the era of AG books, and then just have her do a "book basket time" with them. Documentaries on youtube are also a hit. We are doing our US history through the AG books series with my 3rd grade girl and k tag along son. It's been a hit! Since you already are doing a core history, it might be overkill, but we are using Portraits of American Girlhood to do 6 week unit studies on some of the AG girls (it includes the first 7, not later ones). You might like it.

Didn't notice that! I hope she's really not a senior in college writing like that.

If it's a college essay it's a really bad one. It cites one source, a website at that, not an academic journal, and makes many assertions without on any citations to back the claims up. "Imagine taking chemistry and not having the resources to go to a lab or do experiments." Cute! Maybe I should link a chemistry set you can buy online....

This is funny to me. I recently heard this argument and my son is in kindergarten. My mother and I were talking and I causally mentioned something about homeschooling (can't remember what. Nothing major, just our day or whatever) and she asked me if I wanted to know "who was against me homeschooling?" She was getting ready to list them, when she she was quite shocked to register that I said causally, "no, not really." She then tried to continue, "well, one concern is sports. How will they get scholarships to schools for say football?" I assume she meant my 6 year old son. I didn't really even know how to respond. After all it's hard when we are having two different conversations (happens often; pretty sure she's BPD & a narcissist). Pass the bean dip. "Ever hear of Tim Tebow? If ds does end up wanting to play football in high school he can but that's a long way off." Utterly hilarious because no one in my family or my husband's family has ever had a sports scholarship to college, we don't watch football except for like Super Bowl, and my son has shown zero interest in team sports at this point but then he's 6 and a kindergartner. If he were to be offered a football scholarship to college (theoretically) I am not sure I would even want him to accept. Unless he was super passionate about I would honestly prefer he focus on his degree. I've worked with student athletes and it's hard balance for them. There's been some other interesting comments lately but really I try to ignore, so long as they aren't directed at my kids. Latest--me-dd did state testing and I got the results Mom- how'd she do? Me- good. At grade level in most areas and above in vocabary and reading comprehension. Mom- well that's good. That's all we ask all of us. (Tone is "attempting to be reassuring / approving") Me- (inner-dialogue) can't recall seeking aproaval and who is "we"!?!

My experience of high school was similar. I felt like I was just bidding time in high school and by 16 I was more than capable of doing college level work. In fact the summer I turned 16 (right before jr year) I took the STAR test at my local CC and tested into English 1A, and Pre-Cal or Stats. I went to public high school my freshmen through junior year but started taking some summer school classes at CC. My senior year I was burned out and decided I wanted to go to CC and transfer to a UC as a junior; I only needed 3 classes senior year, so I decided to do the independent study program and register at my local CC through concurrent enrollment. I took English 4, business math (I already did alg 2), and Econ & Gov., and then did my electives at CC. By the time I graduated high school I had 21 college units and had taken drama, speech, yoga, psychology, Spanish 1/2, and anthropology. Then I did 3 semesters as a college age student and transferred to UC Berkeley. I think it was a great choice for me! I could have gotten into a 4 year fresh out of high school. I took all the college prep courses, took and passed 3 AP classes, and had a 3.7 GPA. I might not have gotten into UCB but I could have gotten in somewhere. As far as my own personal experience between public high school and CC through concurrent enrollment---yes, the kids who partied and drank and ditched class and the older guys were there--but the peer pressure wasn't, and that about sums it up for me! If I wanted trouble I could find it. But I didn't. When older boys asked me out I told them I was only 17 and a senior, and I had a boyfriend. I didn't make too friendly with the kids who showed up hungover or smelling like weed, and they didn't twist my arm to join them. We were all (mostly) adults. So there wasn't really the same bullying, peer pressure or gossip as you see in public high school IMO. I went to class, I worked part time, I hung out with my high school friends and boyfriend. All and all, I think I would consider my kids maturity level to see if concurrent enrollment was a good choice or not. If they had a history of say getting caught drinking or smoking pot and my daughter liked dating shady dudes then definitely not! If they were not really great students, self motivated, and we're likely to not get decent grades, I would probably keep them home or to a public or private high school. My general philosophy is we can't shelter or kids or make them hold our faith and values. We can only hope if we train up a child in the way he should go, when they are old they will not depart from it. Hopefully by the te my kids are 16 they will be able to have some independence and make good choices.

My long term plan for my dd pre "she's behind" was ---- Complete level 5 or 6 by 6th grade Target to start Pre-alg in 7th and Alg by 8th with a year each way of wiggle room depending on her ability ---ie, we could hold off on starting Alg in 9th if she needed more time or she could start pre-Alg in 6 / Alg 7 if she was ready. My overall math goal sort of depends on what her abilities, academic and career goals are. If she isn't planning a career with a lot of higher level math and science requirements, then, depending if the college requirements are still the same, I might be ok with her doing only 3 years college prep math, but hopefully 4.

Sorry I didn't list after schoolers. Must have slipped my mind. Your posts seemed to come off as being anti-homeschool and I was genuinely wondering if you were a homeschooler, a regular boardie, or just stirring the pot. Come to think of it I recognize your name now. Didn't mean this to offend you. I am not sure of the specific rules with who should post but in the past when I have seen posts from people who have no interest in classical education or homeschooling but just want to stir the pot so to speak I tend to wonder why on earth they are on a board primarily for homeschoolers (is that accurate?). Not saying you! Tsuga you don't need to defend why your kids go to public school to me! If it's not feasible as a single mother and if it means you'd be fighting a kid tooth and nail and your family is happy then that's awesome! Really. And for the record if my kids wanted to go to a traditional brick and mortar school for high school the public high school would likely be it. I can not see us putting two children in our area through private school as they run at about $12,000 a year per student. And I have a PPS credential (counselor education). Before homeschooling I fully attended to work in jr high in a PS. Still might be an option if my kids go to school.

Then we agree here . I may chose to homeschool, and I might not agree with the direction public school is going in regards to the philosophy and methods they use to educate students, but I support teachers, and public schools, from preschool through university in fact. Not every family is able or will want to homeschool and the infrastructure of our society needs an educated population. I do know some homeschool families who have chosen to send their children to private Christian schools assuming that the character of the private school kids would be better and were surprised to find out it was not. That doesn't really surprise me as I have gone to both private Catholic school and public school. And I have gone to affluent public high schools and low income minority ones. By far the worst drug abuse was at the affluent one. So no, I wouldn't make that assumption. And I not trying to say private school is all bad. I know some families who sent their high school age kids to public school as well after homeschooling for years because it was their preference or they couldn't afford private school, and they've been happy with it.

Tsuga--- do you homeschool? This site is for people who homeschool, are interested in homeschooling and want to learn more, or used to homeschool and used this board for support and still enjoy checking in with boardie friends. It's more specifically geared towards families inspired by The Well Trained Mind book by Bauer to classically educate at home or incorporate some of the ideas in their school. Does this fit you? Also, the OP posted about her high school age homeschooled son taking some courses at community college and her family member who has always been discouraging about homeschooling making a negative comment and wanting to get some support from other homeschoolers. I am not sure how your comments are supportive or really relate to OP's post. I am not sure if your comments are based on real homeschool famines you know who have said they homeschool to keep their kids away from "undesirable" high school kids or assumptions you've made about why people homeschool. Although a lot of homeschooling pioneers were maybe Conservative Christians who might have had this view (although plenty didn't) the homeschool movement today is quite diverse. Many factors go into the decision to homeschool, and families are often motivated to homeschool for many different reasons that aren't religiously motivated or to be off the grid (few do that). For example, we are Christian, and I do enjoy having time to teach Bible and character. We use secular and non secular materials. But we homeschool because----- 1) our assigned public school is not good 2) I can't afford private school for 5 kids 3) we tried it for a year and enjoyed the freedom it offered 4) I get to tailor my kids education to their learning styles, ability and interest 5) I think with my bachelors from Berkeley, my masters in education and my student ratio of 1:2 I have to be "capable enough" (I don't think my degrees are necessary to homeschool though)----not to toot my own horn but right now I think it is the best educational option for our family ;) Notice I don't list sheltering my kids or brainwashing them into my beliefs. We belong to a secular homeschool group were they around a diverse group of families---unschoolers, classical families, traditional school model, online k-12, Jewish families, non-religiously affiliated, Mormons, Christians, Catholics and everything in between. Why? So they can be around lots of different people :) My kids are in k & 3rd. I can't with any certainty say if we'll be homeschooling in high school or what it will look like if we do continue. I hope we will be but that will be contingent on a lot of factors----finances, is it still the best educational option for my kids, what their academic and vocational goals, their personality, their preferences (yes, I would consider this)., etc. I think homeschooling in high school could offer a lot of opportunities they won't get in a traditional high school. I don't know whether they will be in a co-op, take some classes at a CC, start working towards earning some credit in a vocational school, volunteer or work part time or maybe go to a public or private high school, but it will involve them being in their community, being answerable to another authority figure besides me and making some choices about their education and gaining some independence.

How did this thread go off on this tangent!?!

I did some classes at CC in high school, then started their after high school with the goal of transfer. Because I had taken college prep classes in college and taken some classes at the CC in high school, I graduated in 3 semesters and transferred to UC Berkeley. My experience was much the same. I went to class. I knew some acquaintances from class I would talk to but for the most part I went to class, studied at the library, went to math and Lang labs, and left. I worked part time so I stayed pretty busy between my friends, boyfriend, job and school. I thought getting to know non traditional students was a neat experience. I liked the one on one attention you got in CC and it was a bargain! I transferred into my UC with junior standing and did just fine!

I took classes at my local CC in high school and loved it! It helped me gets feel for what was expected in college.

Our ps does a similar schedule so that's why I started doing a break in October, February and taking 2 weeks for our Easter holiday.

I'm with you! I am feeling burned out but am waiting until Thanksgiving week---then we start "holiday school"! We took a fall break early September.

She's enjoyed it so far. And I am having her do some more computer independent work so I just added that in. Last year we did 1 hr independent work and now we are working up to 90 minutes, with a goal of 2 hrs next year. On the computer she's doing the common core I-ready stuff, Rosetta Stone Spanish and spelling city. She does this about 3x a week. Her other independent work is reading 20 min, spelling, phonics, and her math (if it's not new) and sometimes handwriting and grammar but then I would sub them out for the other stuff.