I print book A, B, etc at a time. Have it bound at Office Max. I did a rough estimate of how many pages needed to be done per day to finish up for the year. (This year it was 3 pages.) I once tried print as you go- huge mistake for us. Binders also became a pain. While the binded material is still big and bulky, it works a bit better than the other options.

Welcome to the club! On Wednesdays, we wear pink. My kids are a bit closer in age, 8 and 9.5...but they pretty much do everything together. They are not on the same level for a lot of things, however. I personally do not use a set curriculum, just because if I can't check everything off, it drives me absolutely nuts. Here's what we do-- it has always helped me to see what other people do. 1. Explode the Code workbooks for language arts. 2. First Language lessons (which involves a read aloud) 3. Mammoth Math (they're at very different places here) 4. Writing in their notebooks at least 4 sentences on SOMETHING besides "mom is cute" or "the dog is stinky." 5. Vocabulary- I have a list of words from a dictionary, they look one up, figure out the definition and then draw a picture/write a sentence about it. This can easily be done for multiple ages. 6. Spelling is very hit and miss so don't ask about that right now It is going to take a bit of time for everyone to find their groove, including you. I think the most important thing is don't feel like you have to play "teacher." I don't know why, I felt that at the beginning and it just didn't work. Expect that some things will work, something things will fail horribly. You can do it!

Is he an only? The oldest? I ask because my kids, since they are homeschooled, had never really seen other kids' handwriting before. I mean, when I was at school...I saw other kids' writing all the time! I knew what was good and what was bad. My kids do not. Writing has been a very slow process for us. What is helping is really FOCUSING on it, either through copywork or handwriting workbooks. Remind for awhile that there must be a space between each word, otherwise it is all one long word. He may never have great handwriting (I still have trouble reading my husband's writing) but you should be able to make it a bit better.

The # I TRULY know (instead of just kind of know socially) is dropping quickly. I imagine in a few years I probably will not really know any other homeschooling families, though my kids might know people from classes.

Honestly? I don't plan my life out that far. Life has a way of throwing major curve balls at us, and I don't want to jinx it. We're going to homeschool as long as it works. I could see it being at least to, or through, high school (but I will never homeschool college. Ever). Currently, what I want for my children isn't available in a school form. When they are a bit older, there are a few options (a charter school that's top 10 in the nation, or a few private schools), but that will depend on the child, any extracurriculars and other matters, such as college admissions, etc.

I'm working on all the things I mean to work on for the rest of the year. Currently, I'm having "book club," which means the children can choose from a pre-approved list of books that I have to read for "school." Then, once they finish and fill out a very small book report they get a coupon-- like at the library. Coupons are for things such as a pack of gum, skipping 1 homeschool subject, buying popsicles at the store...you know, things that make it fun. The kids have already started and my one child, who I have never seen read ANYTHING besides Garfield comics, has plowed through two books. The goal is to up their reading levels, mainly using Caldecott winners and older books that have a bit of a tougher vocabulary or higher Lexile number. Anyway, hoping to work on either history or geography, plus continuing to plod along in math. As I live in the desert-- too hot to enjoy summer anyway. Hitting close to 100 next week.

No...but my kids will takes classes here and there from schools when they are older. (Right now ages 8 and 9.) They are both on OM (Odyssey of the Mind) teams at a local public school and there has never been any issues with anyone about them homeschooling. Some of the parents gave me the old "I don't know how you do it blah blah blah blah blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah" song and dance, but the kids were all nice to my kids. It wasn't that big a deal.

We totally had this problem for our 9-year-old and violin. Go read "The Entitlement Trap" book. It is now one of her daily "jobs" which she gets paid for. Her teacher said she needed to practice 60 minutes a week-- she decided on 3 days of 20 minutes. Has completely changed how she practices and I've seen TONS of improvement without an ounce of nagging for me.

Your wife is awesome :hurray:

Neither of my children could read until age 7. My daughter, in K, absolutely REFUSED to read and had me convinced she was dyslexic...which is really hard to diagnose at that age. It could be he's just not ready. No amount of pushing will get through that. At 7, in about 6 months, my daughter went from reading very beginning chapter books to Harry Potter. I'd say, personally, it is too early to be worried. Also, remember, your children are different. Mine are both very close in age and have learned everything together but, academically, they are night and day. There are very few places (if any) where they are the same-- except for both starting to read at 7.

I can help. My handwriting is a mix of cursive and print letters, though I get compliments on it. My 9 year old is learning cursive and was able to write a few sentences to me last night. Just PM and I'm happy to help.

"Don't want to take no for an answer?" Then get out of your house.We used to have neighbor kids like this. They obviously think they can come over and do whatever they want. Absolutely not. If they can't listen, they can play outside. Don't be intimidated to tell them NO! Most kids just aren't used to being corrected by adults not in their family. Trust me, when I correct children outside of our family, the look of shock on their faces says it all.

One of my absolute most favorite picture books is Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm. Seriously, why Pixar has not snatched up this wonderful book and turned it into a movie is beyond me. Of course, it wouldn't be as great-- but I just love this book!

I just want to add, as I previously responded while half asleep. Honestly? You've already fought half the battle. You realize that #1 something isn't working. You've also figured out that you tend to "keep going" when it comes to work. That means, you know how YOU work, and honestly, so many adults can't even figure that out about themselves. They just keep asking why why why without looking to their own behaviors/thoughts/needs. Anytime I need something to change, I spend a lot of time mulling things over...turning them over and over in my head until I can figure it out. Give yourself a couple of scenarios. Even a couple of trial runs. I think something will click. Try paper plates for lunch for a week. Try only wearing sandals (no socks!) to cut down on laundry. ;) Just keep trying and thinking...you'll get it under control!

I'm a HIGHLY distractable person, so I understand. I also have all that plus a business to run-- so it is easy to try to do 100 things at once. I say, if you feel you're trying to do too much during school hours, why not pick a few things you can do while seated to stay in the room/at the table? I have to send out files (I run an online party business) every day, so I often try to do that during school. I TRY not to respond to questions, because that makes me irritable. (People can be quite rude, ya know?) Why not-- between subjects-- get up and start the laundry and then fold during a different subject. If you're taking a break to eat lunch, it only makes sense to do the dishes right then and there, otherwise it will pile up and you're teaching the kids bad habits, anyway. I personally find not putting things off and picking up what has to be done at that moment works best for me.

Both of my kids are in Scouts. They are definitely on different days, with totally different schedules. You don't have to do the fundraisers, by the way. We just wrote a check to our troop instead. I like scouts because it gets the kids out in the community-- we find the school people here are typically much friendlier than the homeschoolers.

OOh, that's a good idea-- my husband is very mathy (wonder where the kid gets it from) and he's definitely more of a taking it beyond the page kind of guy. Granted, I'll turn around and somehow he'll be trying to teach Calculus...but that might be a risk I need to take!

I thought it might be a little behind, but that it would move rapidly enough that they wouldn't be bored.

I just purchased life of Fred Apples for my kids, ages 7.5 and 9 (going to 2nd and 3rd). The 2nd grader has an amazing math ability and is good with numbers. I opened up Apples and see things such as 4 + ? =7 Seriously? I'm flipping through the book...and....this is just too darn easy for a 2nd grader and 3rd. I thought we might have to skip a few chapters...but it seems like the 5 + ? = 7 keeps getting repeated over and over int his book. I'm really disappointed that this book is too easy as I really wanted to use it. If I go up to the next level, are they going to miss out on the story?

Put her in a sport. My daughter turned 9 this weekend and she is a total bookworm, just like you describe. We have her in swimming. It keeps her active. It gets her outside, with other kids and in the water (where she can't complain about being "hot"). I'm perfectly happy with her fitness levels now, though we still have to pull her out of her cave to rejoin society at points.

I'd say he makes 80-90% from work and I make the rest on the side with my own business. But, I always say my hobby is spending it :) That being said, we're pretty much always on the same page when it comes to finances. He usually pays the mortgage/student loans etc., while I am responsible for paying for things for the kids. We've never had a problem with our arrangement and there's no rhyme or reason or gender roles-- it is just the way we roll, personally.

Both of my children learned to read at 7. I tried way too hard to push my daughter at five and it was a nightmare. I finally just had to step back and wait. Her 7th birthday, she picked up a chapter book and read it aloud. Within 6 months, she was reading Harry Potter. Her younger brother also learned to read after his birthday. It was quite odd. Pushing didn't work for us. The reason the schools push reading at age 5 is that they want to have the kids following instructions on workbooks/textbooks and let's not forget standardized testing. I'd step back and give both of you a break. Keep reading to her.

While they're in class, I'll be doing whatever the heck I want :hurray: -- a definite recharge day. My kids are currently in summer school/camp (well, camp at a school-- cooking, cake decorating, Lego, magic, etc.) classes from 8-2:30 every day. They love being at school and are super sad its almost over-- so they don't mind being gone. I honestly keep wating for my younger to tell me he wants to do public school, and I'm glad that he hasn't. As for musicianmom-- that was what I was thinking. There comes a point in life where we just can't keep putting things off. There's always tons to do. Every year. Already, here, 9 is considered an "older" beginner for group lessons. If I can ever get my French tutor back online (where the heck did she go?), I was thinking they could have their meetings in (or at least near) a bakery/coffeeshop so they could have a fun treat for all the work.

Just wanted to add-- you are correct, Lori. If I had to pick one over the other, I'd guess we could start with seeing how French goes into our schedule and if it isn't too much, look into music in the spring or next summer.

This is our 3rd or 4th (not sure if I count K) homeschooling. We're not doing too many activities-- they did science last year and loved it. They actually really enjoy being around other kids and doing activities/music/sports is how we make it happen. Trust me-- I'm always preaching to people about bouncing from one activity to another that makes them miserable-- that's why I am really thinking this through before I sign any checks. (But I understand where you're coming from-- I give the same advice to people when I see them going crazy!) Foreign language HAS to happen this year for us. I've said it for years that when we got to this age, this is what we would need to do. I think, if we did not do it, it would be one of my biggest homeschooling regrets.