My 2nd grader has a real hard time with it, too. My 3rd grader is starting to get it, but still needs a bit of work. It'll come.

In my humble opinion, I think you should take the job. It sounds like a real blessing with everything you have said in this one post. As for your mom helping, let her do some read-a-louds. Your kids are 1st and Kindergarten so ALOT of school right now is read-a-louds, I would think. You can do phonics, math, handwriting, and a project when you get home. At those ages, the time spent on school is really minimal, kwim? I only spend about 4.5 hrs for my 2nd and 3rd grader and quite a bit of that is still read-a-louds. I work from 8:30- 5:30, and so far we are managing. They do some independent work in the afternoon, and then we do our lessons in the evening. They are in bed by 10:00 most nights. I definitely would prefer starting at 9:00 am and finishing by 2, but you have to work with what you have sometimes. Feeding and clothing them is pretty high on the list of priorities so work I must. lol

Thanks, ladies. We already have a pretty good routine going so we will just be adding a few things in such as FLL, WWE, AG, and WWS so I don't see that as too much of an issue, I guess. I think what really has me stressed is the idea of introducing brand new topics? I guess that makes the idea that I am solely responsible for molding their little brains more real and intimidating. lol I know it's what I signed up for, but wow. What if they flunk their SAT's? It would be entirely my fault!

7:30 Wake - get ready for the day, take out the dogs, eat breakfast and read. 8:30 Clock into work- enter comments from the day before and get kids daily plan ready between calls and emails 9:30 Wake Kids and let them watch TV, play on iPods, free read, etc... 10:30-11:30 Kids get ready for the day and eat breakfast 11:30-12:30 Kids do chores 12:30-1:30 Littles take turns reading level appropriate books to me (my lunch break) 2:00-5:30 Kids do independent work. They each have a desk in my office. They ask questions and get a little help when needed between my phone calls. (The littles only work about 1.5 hrs during this time, but dd11 works the whole time) 5:30-8:00 Dinner and Cross Country or outside play depending on the day. I do a few chores and/or piddle on the internet during this time. 8:00-10:00 Take turns with one on one time with mom. 10:00 Kids go to their rooms. They get 30 minutes to read if they want or lights out. 10:00-12:00 Switch out a load of laundry and read to keep ahead of dd11. If I am caught up on reading for HS, then I can read my book or piddle on the internet some more. 12:00 My bedtime We school Sunday through Thursday. This is our Monday - Thursday schedule. Friday they wake up, get ready, and do chores at the same time, but the rest of the day is theirs. On Sunday, they sleep til they get up and we start school around 2:00pm. We usually do whatever we didn't get to during the week, any experiments or project work, and our nature study.

We read a chapter at a time and look up pics of the birds online. Sometimes we will watch a video on YouTube to hear their "songs". We made bird feeders for the backyard so we can watch for birds through the window. We've had birds show up, but none of them have been the birds we've read about yet. The girls enjoy it, and have become more aware of birds when we're out and about.

So I pulled my girls out of ps at the end of the last school year. We have been reviewing and filling knowledge holes all summer. I have been researching homeschool methods, resources, and curriculum like crazy. I finally committed and made all my purchases over the last 2 weeks, and I'm starting to receive them. First official day of school is 9/3. We are moving from review and stepping into the great unknown. I felt so sure this whole time, though, overwhelmed. Now, I'm suddenly nervous about all my choices and about whether I am going to be able to fit all this in while working and leading a Girl Scout troop. I think I need a Valium! Lol. We're going to the lake for the long weekend. Hopefully, that will do much to recharge us, and we'll hit the floor running Tuesday.

We did send our dds to first day of kindergarten at ps school. Believe me you did NOT miss anything! Don't feel bad. My oldest had the best experience, but of course, I was a wreck. My next 2 both suffered from separation anxiety and cried making feel like the worst mom ever for leaving them there. Make the first day of school a celebration. Take pictures, and be happy that you are blessed with the ability to do this for your children. A lot of the kids you saw probably have parents that wish they could do what you are doing. I know that was me. I'm thankful I am able to do it, now, but really wish I could have from the beginning.

In response to the science teacher asking about secular science levels, I would say the logic stage is the greater need to start, although, all three levels need it. A lot of the grammar stage can be taken care of just by reading books, but logic goes into more depth. I'm not a science person so challenging my dd11 takes considerable work on my part. Would love something like Apologia science but secular. In response to the poster saying, she needs a wife. I second that! I've told my husband that we need to look into this polygamy thing, because I do think it has merit. Unfortunately, we cannot say that it's our religious belief so not sure how to justify it. Lol My greatest need is TIME! I need at least 4 more hours in the day and another day in the week. I'm working full time and trying to do this. We're on a 3 year plan to reduce debt to the level that I can stay home. Oh, I so wish that we could stumble into a windfall to reduce that time, though. It doesn't help that dh doesn't fully comprehend the time involved in this. I'm working on educating him, though. I agree with others that a way to better compare or even see in person various curriculum would be a great help, more secular options, and I would love more activity options in the evening and/or on weekends for the moms that do work. Almost all homeschooling clubs and activities are during the day during the week on the assumption that all homeschoolers have a full time stay at home parent. I know there are single moms that work and homeschool, too. Working homeschoolers may be out numbered but we're still out there.

My daughter is still young, but I think hang out time is for the weekends. Organized activities, work, and school-based activities are fine during the week on a reasonable level.

Check out programs at the library. Nature walks, geocaching, or if you have any state or national parks near-by, they have different programs, as well.

Have you looked at Analytical Grammar?

We are doing basically what Alte Veste has outlined. My d11 is reading OUP Ancients while I read SoTW to my youngers. Then I am throwing in as many living books on the side as they can handle. Dd11 has a book of centuries and the youngers have outlines.

Dd11: multiplying and dividing decimals review, photosynthesis, Tennyson, copy work, and reading The Lost World Dd8&7: metric weight, children's favorite poems, dinosaurs, Charlotte's Web, spiders Family: cross country and reading from Aesop

Check out BrainPOP.

I'm giving daily grades. I look at everything they've done and then average it so they get one grade per day. I too have to have an annual summary of progress that I keep. Plus my girls like to get report cards. They are proud to show them off to Daddy and the grandparents, kwim? It also helps me to go back and see trouble spots easily. I don't really do tests. We are going for the mastery approach, but there is a bit of review at the beginning and end of the year to be sure things are sticking.

Printing is harder. They used to teach writing first instead of print. It was changed when mass printing came about because it makes it easier to teach kids to read so they say. We learned this when reading A Secret Garden. We couldn't figure out why Mary said she could write but not print so looked it up. Anyway, my dds have copy work everyday. We are using poetry this year, but I plan to make each year a little different. It takes about 15 min, but keeps them writing with pen and paper while allowing them to type their papers. If it were me, I would probably have him do it in cursive. Most anything he does of importance as an adult would be in cursive or typed. Just my two cents. :-)

Right now, TV time is a reward for finished chores, and free outside time is reward for finished lessons. They earn a small piece of candy for each math lesson mastered on IXL or they can save up get to do the candy buffet for 5 mastered. I have been thinking of starting a game of book Bingo where they earn $5 gift card when the card is full. I like the idea someone mentioned about play money. The girls' public school had dolphin dollars, and it was one thing that the girls did enjoy.

I work full time and homeschool 3 kiddos. Dh works out of town all week so he's only home on the weekends. Kids all have daily chores; I keep the floors swept, do a load of laundry every day, and shop/run errands on the weekends; dh has a honey-do list on the weekends. I wouldn't be horribly embarrassed by drop in company. Of course, I would love it to be more organized and better decorated, but I have kids. They take my time and money. As for dinner, it's grab and go during the week. I cook a nicer dinner Friday- Sunday when dh is home. The kids tend to just whine and complain about good dinners anyway. I remember a time when I made awesome dinners 6 nights a weeks, but that was back when kids were strapped into highchairs or boosters and wanted to eat whatever was on my plate. Lol

For me, it was the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. I started them about about 8, but I was 9 or 10 by the time I finished them all. They turned me into an avid reader. Around 11 or 12, I adored A Wrinkle in Time. Unfortunately, I can't say any of my girls have a book(s) that has made a huge impact yet. I'm working on it. I think the TV and iPods are hard to compete with, though.

This is my first year, too. I have 2nd, 3rd, and 6th graders. I have used the core curriculum kind of as a guide of where to start. Then like the other ladies are saying if they breeze through it, up the difficulty or if they are really struggling then back down a level. I have found that I have really had to back down on grammar and math. The school may have taught it, but the kids evidently didn't master it. As for how deep to explore topics or determining when they have mastered it, I am trying to trust the curriculum I have chosen. It has taken months to make those choices so at this point, I am sticking to the plan. I will assess our wins and losses at the end of the school year and let that help me make decisions for next year.

There are no local choices here. The public High School is failing and is on the verge of losing accreditation, and the only private school within 30 minutes is church based. Since we aren't church people, I cannot imagine sending my children there. If we were to move before High School then we would have re-evaluate based on our choices in the new area.

Oh my gosh, we are educational twins. Lol. That was my experience except my parents couldn't afford to get me into a better school. I attempted to dumb down in Jr. High to fit in which of course didn't work. I slept through High School and skipped half of second semester Senior year because I had already won a full ride to Vanderbilt. I still graduated number 9. Then I got to Vandy and uh-oh! Study? What's that? I struggled big time. I have no idea what my IQ is though. I've never been tested to my knowledge, and never really had a need to know I guess. The school system put me in the most advanced classes they had which by today's standards weren't all that. My oldest was labelled gifted by the PS school system, my middle daughter has a learning disability which makes most things hard for her, and my youngest is probably gifted, but she can't be still long enough for anyone to have noticed. This is our first year homeschooling,and I am still feeling things out. I'm excited though for them to be able to learn at whatever pace suits them. I think a person can be gifted in many different ways: academically, artistically, physically, etc... I do think that people with learning disabilities can be gifted as well. I know one young man who is simply a genius but has Aspergers so people think we is weird and/or dumb then are blown away by his knowledge and abilities especially in Science once they take time to know him. I think IQs play a factor, but I don't think they are as accurate as some would like to believe.

Yep, they are worth it. My dd11 turned me on to them. She borrowed one from someone at ps last year. I was skeptical, but she was right. Finally, a pencil where the lead doesn't just fall out after you sharpen them.

Oh gosh, I watched the 68 version when I studied Shakespeare in high school. Lol I'd let my 11 year old watch the Claire And Leo one watch it. She's 11.

My 7 and 8 year olds read a poem to me everyday of their choosing. We have at least one read aloud for history, math, and/ or science. Then every evening we do tandem reading where one of them will read a couple of paragraphs then I will then the other one. We typically do one chapter, but sometimes will divide a chapter into two readings if they are longer than 10 or so pages. I do not require them to read on their own. If they want to, I encourage it, and like someone else said they get to keep their light on for an extra 30 or so minutes if they read at bedtime. I was introduced to Laura Ingalls Wilder at this age by my mother and have had my nose in a book ever since. I'm really hoping that my girls will be the same. I have caught them on a few occasions reading unassigned books so we're headed in the right direction.