Wow, really? You're right -- that does sound harsh. We send our kids to preschool. We have zero qualms about it. For our family, it helps both school and home to run more smoothly. DD went to preschool even though we were considering homeschooling her starting in K. It was a church-based school, only 5 minutes from our home, and reasonably priced. It was a fantastic experience for her and I'm glad we did it. She was an only child at the time, and we live in a rural area, so getting some time with friends was great for her. The school shared both our social/religious and academic (i.e., play-based vs. academic-based at this age) values, so I don't believe being with someone other than me did her an ounce of harm. She wound up (due to some unforeseen factors) going to public school for K-2, which was FAR worse. Since we've started homeschooling, DS has gone to the same preschool a few mornings per week, for the same reasons we sent DD. And there is the added bonus of a little quiet, uninterrupted time for me to work with DD on school. I get plenty of one-on-one time with DS at other times. And the truth is, I am not great at the preschooler thing. I am much better suited to teaching/managing at an older level. I also work from home, and I know my physical and mental limits. Preschool DOES allow us to make sure EVERYONE'S needs are met in the way that best suits him/her. It's rather rude to insinuate that families who choose to use a preschool/mother's morning out program don't have the best interest of all their members in mind. We're all doing the best we can.

This is a good point. I should have mentioned that the hands-on activities are not that important to us. We do a lot of reading, discussion/writing, and map work. Otherwise, we skip most of the activities. If you're looking for a more hands-on experience, it is probably a stretch to try to combine two books in one year. However, if you have a little history buff who always wants to know "what happens next?!" like my dd, it works great. I love that she is already able to see history as a huge, interwoven narrative; that's something I didn't get until high school at least, maybe even college.

We started homeschooling when dd was in 3rd grade, and we combined SOTW 1 and 2 last year without any trouble. We will be combining 3 and 4 (up through about WW2) this year for the same reason you describe -- so that we can start again with the Ancients in 5th grade and get two full four-year history rotations. Obviously this involves some picking and choosing as to which topics you cover. We have focused on Western Civilization for now, with the idea being that we will expand to cover other civilizations in more depth through middle/high school. My plan is to pull from SOTW again in middle school for topics we're skipping now, along with other resources. DD enjoys the books so much that she's pretty much read them cover-to-cover anyway. I know this is not the "recommended" course, and many people like to take it slow, but it has worked for us. Good luck and welcome to homeschooling!

Thanks, friends, for all the hugs. I need them today. DD and I so very different; I often feel like I just don't get her at all, no matter how hard I try. Things that are basic common sense to me don't even seem to register with her. I know she can tell I'm struggling, and I'm afraid the message she's getting is, "There's something wrong with you." When the truth is, she's only 9 years old and simply lacks a certain amount of maturity/self-awareness/self-control. It's so far outside my reality; I've always had an unusually mature/type A/self-conscious personality. And I do NOT want her to struggle with self-consciousness like I did for years, but it's so difficult for me to relate to her and understand how she thinks. I wish we could find a balance. I love her so much. It helps to know I am not alone. Hugs to you all.

I'll spare you the details. It's just one of those days where I don't understand my kid and, even though I tried to handle the situation as well as possible, managed to fail. Miserably. Or am I the only one who has days like that? :(

Hmm... we don't do a portfolio. That would make it easier.

I'm cleaning out and getting ready for the new school year and I just don't know what to do with all of dd's work from last year! We still have room in most of our binders, so we can just continue to add to them. But what about -- for instance -- her math notebooks? Part of me just wants to toss them, but they represent so much hard work (for both of us) that I haven't been able to do it. So, what do you do with previous years' schoolwork?

Poor thing! My BIL suffers from frequent pancreatitis (he has CF) and I know it is no fun. Thinking of your dd...

Here we typically started on/around August 25 and finished by June 10. It's still very much the same now. When my younger sisters were in high school, they tried moving back the start day to early August in order to finish by the end of May, but nobody liked that and it was switched back pretty quickly.

I don't know how much time it would save you, but does your 4th grader still really need the formal handwriting practice (not sure what that looks like in CLE)? My rising 4th grader has nice penmanship and gets plenty of handwriting practice with her other writing assignments, so we've dropped formal penmanship/copywork. This year I'm requiring all assignments to be done in cursive, which will give her plenty of opportunity to practice. I definitely wouldn't use two different reading programs on the same day. I'm not really familiar with what you're using, but could you do, say, 2-3 weeks of CLE lit, followed by a week with CAP? How much writing/narration is involved with the CLE study guides? Could that take the place of W&R on some days? Also, as you all get used to the routine, some things may begin to move more quickly. It often does for us, especially as dd is able to be more independent with some subjects. You might just need to give it a week or two. Good luck!

Sigh. And OF COURSE dd has suddenly announced that she isn't at all interested in music and is demanding to drop her piano lesson. She hasn't touched the piano all summer. I was so hoping she would love to play as much as I did. :crying: Going to show this to her and see if it changes her mind... fingers crossed. Thanks for posting.

We were lucky enough to be given a set of hand-me-down CLE flash cards from some friends, but I would say they're definitely worth the money if you can swing it. I love how the rotation is already set up and I don't have to worry about dd getting rusty on facts we forgot to review. I had her make her own set of flash cards for multiplication (adding one set at a time as we learned a new fact family), and we'll do the same this year for division.

DH shakes his head... but yes, I'm intrigued!

I also work from home (most weeks considerably less than 30 hours though) and homeschool my dd9 (while simultaneously keeping ds3 out of trouble). I was very apprehensive about the time commitment and over-extending myself at first too. It does help greatly to have a student who is able to work independently while I do what I need to do. You might find this site helpful: www.urthemom.com (although from your name I'm thinking you might be a homeschool dad? It doesn't matter, most of the info has nothing to do with being a mom!) She talks a lot about teaching students to be self-directed. It has helped alleviate some of my worry over not sitting right on top of dd while she works. My best advice as a homeschooling parent with a whopping one year under her belt is to take it a day at a time and realize that it may take you a while to find a rhythm that works for your family -- and that's okay! Welcome to the forum!

Trying to plan out dd9's fourth grade year, and I need some advice on implementing our ELA program. She needs practice on dictation, so we're definitely going to use WWE's dictation exercises 2x/week. We also will do narrations on our history reading 2x/week. (This worked well for us last year.) We do some writing for science (recording observations, etc.) but not a lot. The part I'm not sure about is how to handle literature narrations. This year all of our literature will be novels from the 1,000 good books list, which will take us 2-4 weeks each to complete. Do I have her write a narration a couple of times per week about events in the book up to that point (or since the last narration)? Narrate the chapter/selection she read that day? Just use the narration exercises from WWE and let her read and enjoy the literature for its own sake? I'm also drooling over Killgallon's Sentence Composing, and I think she would enjoy it, so maybe it would be better to drop some of the straight narrations and use that once a week instead? Too many choices!!! :willy_nilly: She is a good reader/writer (3+ grade levels above) and fully capable of writing multiple narrations per week. She doesn't beg to write them or anything, but she doesn't hate them either. Would you drop something? Add something? Keep this schedule?

Oh wow! That's cool. (Have you read this book? It looks interesting.) It probably depends on pronunciation, too. You have to hear it in my grandmother's backwoods southern accent; it came out sort of like "Sa-FRAW-nee."

DD is named Charlotte, and I totally wish we'd thought to call her Lottie. I don't think she shares that wish, though. I haven't seen several of my crazy family's names anywhere in the past, and I don't expect to see them in the future. My maternal grandmother is Jathina (yes, it rhymes with that word you're thinking of), and her sister was Ersley. They also had a sister named Cecil. My dad's grandma was Sophronia. :scared:

It's helpful to me because I kind of work when I have time (or the mood strikes!). Especially with ds3 around, I frequently have to stop to get out new activities, help in the bathroom, etc. I don't get much in the way of uninterrupted chunks so the app is easier than watching the clock. For me, anyway. The hardest part was getting used to clocking in and out when I stopped. OfficeTime Lite is free, although there is a paid version (about $7, I think). I couldn't tell much difference between them from the description. I just use the freebie.

I use the OfficeTime app on my phone. I can clock in and out and also track by which clients and/or projects/tasks I'm working on. I only have a couple of clients, though. I may need something more sophisticated if I had more.

This is a great list of ideas. I'll add a couple more: 5. Since you're both expecting, make a lasagna or some other type of meal that can be put in the freezer for after the baby arrives. You can always say, "Oh, I was making these for after I have my baby and thought you might be able to use one too." Maybe this would feel less awkward than bringing food for no apparent reason? 6. Do you have her email address, or can you get it? I often find that reaching out via email is more comfortable for me than by phone or in person. It might be more comfortable for her as well, if she's shy. 7. Are you on Facebook? You can send her a friend request, or message her with an invite for coffee or a play date. You don't usually have to be friends with someone to message them. It might be easier to locate her on Facebook than to get her email if you don't have mutual acquaintances. This is very much dh and me as well. And if we are out in public together (as woman and her dh were at the doctor's office), I'm highly likely to just let him handle the conversation completely. A smile is probably all you would get from me. (Although, if I were directly addressed, I would respond. I just have a hard time thinking of things to say.) OP, I hope this works out for you. I know it's frustrating to want to get to know someone who (for whatever reason) doesn't seem interested. Especially if you're not an outgoing person yourself. The couple across the street is just like dh and me. They also homeschool, and I have tried several times (in my own admittedly feeble way) to befriend the wife and arrange play dates for the kids. We have gotten together a few times, but it's always very awkward and it's clearly not in the cards for us to become BFF's! :laugh:

Well that just puts every lighthouse I've ever seen to shame... :smilielol5:

Wow. That whole yard is just... wow. See, I think it's cool if you live at the coast. Lots of decor that you see at the coast is, um, coastal. Lighthouses just don't make much sense 200 miles inland, IYKWIM. But to each his own. I'm not an anti-lighthouse crusader or anything. :D

I would loooove to see that! No offense intended, but I am truly baffled by the front yard lighthouse phenomenon. It is rampant around here (200+ miles from the coast!). I didn't realize cruiseliners running aground was such a threat in our neck of the woods. :tongue_smilie: Some folks up the road from my parents used to have one that was at least 15 feet tall. Hey, if you're going to go, go all out, right?