I am in the same boat! I have homeschooled 15 years now and have a big assortment. Every year I whittle it down, and then find a "few" new ones to add to the mix. I AM getting better! The hardest thing for me is just to realize when to cut my losses. If I haven't used it AT ALL it has to go. No matter how wonderful it seems. Curriculum gets outdated, and the sooner I realize it, the sooner I can sell it for the best price and the sooner someone else can be USING it instead of letting it sit there for ages. If I haven't used it in three years, it needs to go. We are limited on space, and having such a huge variety is just more added clutter no matter how good it is. We can get a TON of extras from our awesome library - so I do not need to hang on to everything! My overloaded subjects are Language Arts and History. My boys are passionate about history so most of those actually get used. It took me about 8 years to find a favorite science (Apologia) and math (Saxon with DIVE or Saxon Teacher CDs). I got rid of almost all the rest in those subjects. If I could do that with language Arts, I'd have a LOT less stuff. Just can't find a comprehensive LA curriculum I like. Still it's an improvement! It DOES take time to work with them and see what REALLY fits. Plus, you may have different learning styles?? Don't worry too much about it, unless you're trying to do it ALL with the SAME student! That would overwhelm me! Good luck!

Definitely feeling like I'm in the same boat! My husband resigned 3 years ago (good move!) and since then we both have been working temp jobs (well, mine has lasted 2 1/2 years with extensions), and it is nearly CRAZY to try to homeschool! But I SOOOO want it for my younger kids as well. My husband has started helping but he REALLY likes the CORE textbooks, workbooks, etc. So I have replaced our "fun" unschooling stuff with boring drab (well, they are still colorful) workbooks, etc. It just is what it is right now. We sent our 7 year old 2 mornings a week to school last year because he had serious problems learning to read (tracking problems) and it was actually GREAT for my husband to see how the public school system failed. Long story, but it was a clear lesson. THANK GOODNESS we were homeschooling. Our 7 year old finally learned to read - EVEN with just the one hour structured "BORING" schoolwork we did at home. It's more attention than he received with all the tests and specialists he received at school. I may be listing some of our more "fun" books soon on here to sell. With me having to pull back my time, they need to have more of the independent learning books. Still, I know that MY ultimate goal of homeschooling is still being met. I want them to come to ME with their problems, not their peers. Especially in middle school years. I am here with the wisdom of someone older, and with my heart in the right place for them. Learning academics together in a fun way is a cool second for me, but for me anyway, I am primarily homeschooling for behavior and life training - which we are still getting. So evaluate your goals and see if you are still meeting the primary ones. :)

Don't know what ours charges...we get occasional fees, but I see them as a donation, similar to someone else who responded, we pay between $10 and $20 in fees a year. Mostly on videos (sigh) - hate those "free video rentals" at the video store and the library. For the last two years they have had an ALL FINE FORGIVENESS program right around Christmas for a week or two. Bring in all your books AND a donation to the food pantry and all fines are forgiven. We brought back all our books and $20 in items for the food pantry. We could have gotten by with a can of peas, but how fair is that? That's a great thing they're doing. :) No guarantees on doing that for the future, but I hope they do of course! Win for the library (they get their books back), win for me (no "fines" - my choice to donate x amount), and win for the food pantry!

I am suddenly so grateful that my ever disapproving FIL is financially well off and can stay in his own house and visits only a few times a year. I can't even IMAGINE an every day 24/7 situation. LOTS OF PRAYERS of wisdom being sent your way!! This would be very tough!

We switched math programs for the same reason. We switched to Saxon math with the DIVE Cds. The kids had many repeat questions for me, and the CDs allowed them to repeat the basics of each lesson as many times as they needed. The time they need me now has decreased probably 95% from when we did RS math. This year I ordered a Saxon Teacher CD to try out. It explains EVERY problem - which is what my daughter needs. Haven't received it yet, curious to see how it will be. We kept the abacus from the RS and still use it when I get a chance, so the youngest two know how to use the basics. The beginning levels are so awesome especially.

For my science nut, who has been 2 years ahead in science since he was 4, science is the one we focus on the least - he gets that in his fun reading. We still have a textbook, but I don't fret if he's falling behind. He can catch up in a day. His writing is fantastic, he has assignments but I only look at them like once a month. For my daughter whose spelling is three grade levels below normal, we focus on reading and comprehension. (Not spelling as that just discourages her.) The more she's read, the better her spelling has become. Etc. etc. Things I frequently check to make sure they are on par with, these they must know inside and out before we go on: Math Language Arts - reading, spelling, comprehension, Science Additional things we cover thoroughly, but I don't quiz them on so deeply: History Foreign Language (German) Character (all the time) including Bible Health Other things we present, but we don't go into much detail, they can follow up on it more if it interests them beyond the basics we cover: Art Specific Literature topics Sports Computer Music

Agree agree, agree, agree, agree, agree, agree, agree, agree... with all the others. I could go into a huge long spiel of disbelief and church teachings and Bible teachings, etc, etc, but I am SO stunned, and basically the summary of: run away works well. God tells us to still use WISE judgment, not just blindly trust authority. No one on EARTH has that sort of control, power....what's the word I'm looking for?? Not sure. Haven't thought about this too much at the moment, just sitting here in total disbelief!

Does your child have to go the full day to be allowed to play sports? In our district, the homeschool students have to go half a day in order to be eligible for sports. Another area school makes them take two classes a day. They will not always give the students a diploma if they don't take all their district requirements, but we are not looking for a district diploma - if the district decides not to give them one (and this is a long, complicated, story), we have accepted the fact that we will just meet the requirements for the state diploma (in WI - anyone can apply for a state high school diploma by meeting minimum requirements - MUCH less than our district which requires the most credits in the state.) And colleges accept both diplomas AND most accept homeschool transcripts. Another option we have is to join a pre-approved virtual/online school and the kids will qualify to play sports. There are only 2 virtual schools pre-approved (for us) that are allowed in our district, and I will be checking these out over the next year. The schools have NEVER volunteered this information to us. The only reason we know is from other homeschool or homebound families and we have asked them about it. Every district is different. Actually every person you talk to in the district could be different. I just had a friend (non-homeschool) ask someone last week about something similar for her daughter with special needs and my friend was criticized about thinking about a non-traditional option and told her they highly discourage that. Do NOT be afraid to go right to the superintendant (in a nice way) - they have been pretty helpful. Again, depends on the person. Anyway, just saying I'm surprised there's only the one option - and maybe there are others and they just haven't told you. And yes, block schedules are most terrible for languages and math (my husband taught German on this schedule and said it was terrible for his students). Good luck.

Stop all this senseless distracting chatter! I have work to do! I need to stop laughing and stop reading and get on with important things!! :lol: Maybe I need to block this site for myself....

I agree. RightStart has been WONDERFUL as a base for my kids. THey all started out with the abacus and numbers up to 100 just clicked for them. They could visualize numbers so much easier than with a 10 base block system. I wish we had continued further than just the first 2 years, but it was trickier for me to read up on the concepts and present them every day than just pull out the math books I was familiar with as a kid and do those. (Basically, we switched because of my laziness and not creating time to lesson plan.) But I was truly stunned by the positive results the first year I used it with my oldest.

They do have weekend visits still that look like a lot of fun (from the brochure they sent me). :)

No book recommendations (although I'll be tracking down the ones recommended!), just empathy and letting you know here what we do. A few months ago we instituted a two minute time out rule for any rude behavior. Yes, for my 15 and 13 year olds too (the worst two with this behavior). We have said they can talk to us about anything, but it needs to be done respectfully AND at an appropriate time (not midnight, not interrupting us unless it's an emergency, etc). We are training them for the "real world" and the real world has problems, and they will disagree with their employers, or have frustrations dealing with people and they need to learn to do it in a respectful way - in a polite tone of voice - with self-control, etc. Two minute timeout for each: rude tone of voice rude words (we get to decide what those are) making someone feel bad with words Stomping Eye rolling, etc. We explained this to all the kids and they all understood. The next morning child number 2 received an 18 minute timeout within the first few minutes of getting up. :) Whew! We OBVIOUSLY needed to work on this! Timeouts happen instantly in the middle of a discussion, and there is no talking about the issue until that time is up. It helps so much to calm them down and start talking respectfully. Anyway, it's helped us A LOT! Even our five year old understands how it works and what it's for (whining, screaming, etc.) You'd think by their teenage years they'd figure out civility. Glad some others are in a similar boat to help exchange ideas!! Thanks for sharing!

By the way, I know NOTHING else about it. They contacted me (someone on their board lives nearby and was asking about homeschool groups in the area). They sent me a packet of materials to browse through, and if they had hockey at their school, I know my daughter would be checking it out! :) So if you want to find out more, please visit the link above and start your inquiries. I'm just passing on the info that they're homeschool-friendly. :)

I was recently contacted to encourage our local homeschoolers to check out Cottey College in Nevada, MO. When I asked if I could share it here too, they said sure! :) www.cottey.edu Quick facts: It is a 2 year college for women Student to Faculty ratio is 10:1 97% of their students receive some sort of financial aid 95% of graduates transfer to 4 year college obviously, homeschool-friendly. :) Just throwing it out there for people! :)

By the way, I know NOTHING else about it. They contacted me (someone on their board lives nearby and was asking about homeschool groups in the area). They sent me a packet of materials to browse through, and if they had hockey at their school, I know my daughter would be checking it out! :) So if you want to find out more, please visit the link above and start your inquiries. I'm just passing on the info that they're homeschool-friendly. :)

I was recently contacted to encourage our local homeschoolers to check out Cottey College in Nevada, MO. When I asked if I could share it here too, they said sure! :) www.cottey.edu Quick facts: It is a 2 year college for women Student to Faculty ratio is 10:1 97% of their students receive some sort of financial aid 95% of graduates transfer to 4 year college obviously, homeschool-friendly. :) Just throwing it out there for people! :)

I am happy with the basics of education (all we have time for?), and would like more time, but it's where we're at. What we do do, is all get up together and meet at 7:30 to start our short prayer/reading time together. We read something chacter or faith-building, says some rote prayers, some personal prayers, sometimes sing a song or two. Favorite books over the years for all of us have been the Saints and Heroes series by Amy Welborn. Helps us historically learn of saints lives, see they were real people too, and inspires us to try to live virtuously. It's a good way to start the day. Also read through the thick Book of Virtues by William Bennett (excellent variety of stories). I guess I don't see the need to Catholcize or Christianize every subject. We talk about character, behavior, and responsibility (to ourselves and God) throughout the day, but I don't feel the need for these things to be written in every textbook. By the way - my current favorite general curriculum: Apologia science - seems the right balance of science and an occasional faith-filled comment (like: and isn't this interesting that this point is in the Bible as well?) :) Also love Story of the World Saxon with DIVE CD (my kids need the auditory part of the lesson) Explode the Code for beginning readers/writers

I have a science nut in the house and we received a microscope from a local school that was getting rid of it. None of my kids (including the science nut) have ever been interested in using it. My son who just completed Apologia Biology didn't even use it - (check recommended links), and we've used it twice. So glad we didn't purchase it. Our christian school in town also has a great relationship with homeschoolers, and I'm sure if we had asked, they would have let us borrow one or bring things in to school to use it. $100 is a LOT of money for us to swing. Depends how your budget is. Defiitely don't think of it as a necessity. :)

We had our son in morning kindergarten two times a week and the teacher requested 2 conferences within two weeks because of "issues". We decided it wasn't worth our time to have him in school if he was going to be seen as a troublemaker and he would start associating school with a bad experience. So glad we have the option to homeschool! :) It's 10 years later and I KNOW we did the right thing. I definitely get frustrated at how unfair it seems to be with our parenting - we have to put 1000% of effort in and others seem to only have to put 30% of effort into it and get the same (or better!) results! What's that all about? :)

I hear ya! So glad we homeschooled to avoid a lot of this. Some people got it and some people didn't. We had people (including family members!) diagnosing our son with ADHD when he was 2! Luckily we had both worked with kids with ADHD so we could say something like "It's not ADHD. It's similar, and also under the umbrella of autistic disorders, but these are the differences...." AND kids with SID (Sensory problems) DON'T respond to ADHD medication. For them it would be like taking sugar pills - no effect. HOW TIRING that is to EXPLAIN to people! I got so tired of being the one to educate people. Usually I'd stop with "it's similar, but there's no medication available to help him". We gave the book the Out-of-Sync child to more than half of our family members to read. We also gave it to his pediatrician (who hadn't heard of it 10 years ago), and explained it to others on a need-to-know basis. For me, I was thankful that *I* had the diagnosis, because I was in tears at all we had tried and how things didn't "work normally" - with discipline and behavior, etc. Hopefully 20 years from now (or sooner) this will be more understood. For now, keep venting when necessary, and keep up the good work you're doing in your children's lives and getting this dx more understood!

We also try to honor the fact that some people are single and that's just as great. Being a mother is great too. There are two great options. But we always try to impress on the kids that that's a long time off and now is the time to pursue lots of interests and decide on that later. :) Also, like you said, they can do more than one great thing when they're older as well! :)

Our kids get consequences whether it was intentional or not. 2 chores if it was unintentional hurting someone else and 4 chores if it was intentional Consequences shouldn't just be if someone does something intentional. Discipline shouldn't just be handed out for intent. And if I can't control other people's kids (and I shouldn't be expected to unless I'm the one in charge), or a teacher can't control other people's kids, and the parents don't control their own kids, I would be hyper-vigilant of my kids. It sounds like you've done everything you can. You might hurt the other families feelings, but what's more important? Your kids are going to hate going to church and these activities. Some parents are truly clueless. It's not your job to teach the parents how to parent. It's not your job to teach the teacher how to discipline. It IS your job to PROTECT YOUR own kids. I would stop attending these events and if people ask why - I would still be polite and give every benefit of the doubt and say "I'm oversensitive sometimes, my kids just seemed to be getting hurt or in trouble with the number of kids around, so we're just taking a break for awhile." Now, if it were MY kids doint the bullying, I'd hope you'd come tell me and I would respond appropriately. It sounds like you've discussed this with the parents, and if they choose to respond in a different way that's not really resolving the problem, you need to choose to do something different. Good luck! I hate this kind of drama!

We are trying these next year. Read through the difference between these and the DIVE CDs at Rainbow Resources. These teach EVERY problem. This is exactly what I need for one of my students. I'm guessing she'll just be able to zip through and find the answers for her specific problems. The DIVE cds work great for my other learners who just need a brief lesson in the new ideas presented. They are able to figure out the rest. I also think the Saxon Teacher will be great as my son is now heading into Algebra 2 and Calculus (which I never took) - so I'm grateful to have that available!!

Two of my boys have terrible handwriting. No problems otherwise, they simply don't care. We have said as long as OTHERS can READ their handwriting it's all right, BUT we'll give more writing assignments (copywork) or whatever if it needs work. So they have the ABILITY to write neatly, the rest is up to them. When our oldest was younger though (6th grade) his handwriting was really illegible, what we did was have him "teach" the one learning handwriting at that time. This way he had to go back to the basics and be perfect and focus on explaining lines, etc. etc. We also do lines and lines of practice, basic letters, words, etc. and the kids go back and circle the "perfect" letters and cross off the imperfect ones. So it's working on being perfect, not fast. We also don't correct handwriting on any other assignments outside of handwriting. Outside of handwriting it's only legible or illegible (to the point that might need a consequence of an additional copywork assignment). I put the word teaching in quotes because I still directed the lessons (told the oldest what to do that day) and would hover around, cleaning, and add my two cents in occasionally to be sure they stayed on track. :) Interestingly enough, my son with dyslexia has the neatest handwriting. :) It's neat, it just might be backwards or upside down sometimes. :)

This is our number one pick. http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?sid=1273886334-1111975&subject=5&category=823 Starts off with Get Ready for the Code Get Set... Go.... Those three just start off with introducing the letters and sounds of letters in a fun way. Not in "alphabetical order" but the letters are introduced dependent on how easy the kids can recognize them, pronounce them, etc. Our favorite for kids who are just showing interest in letters. One of our kids didn't learn how to read until they were 7, another was reading before he was 3. We started this series with all of them and they all loved it. You can go at any pace you want. Also they are inexpensive workbooks. By the way, we never used the teacher's guide....probably helpful for first-time parents teaching kids how to read, but we did fine without it. :)