You poor thing! You are stretched way too thin! You need HELP! My first thoughts went like this: your kids are way too old to be giving you an attitude about helping out. I would set aside everything (schoolwork, co-op, outside activities) until you guys can work out a chore schedule that you can work with. And that means kids getting up off their butts and helping you (yeah, I'm looking at you, kids!) with acceptable attitudes. Your kids are old enough to do their own laundry (any of them over 6 or 7 anyway; I'm not clear on how old your younger two are), keep their own spaces clean, take their own junk out of your way, and do light cooking (12-year-old can cook almost anything). They are old enough to clean toilets and take out trash. With kids of 9 and 12, you shouldn't be drowning under housework. They should be doing a lot themselves! No, this is not bad or mean parenting. By allowing them to manipulate you into getting out of responsibility, you are doing them a disservice. You are not preparing them for higher education or real life. (Okay, that came out really judgy, and I didn't mean it that way. Sorry!) But, seriously. These kids need to start helping out. And bedtime is bedtime. It is not Come Out of Your Room 17 Times to Bug Mom time. It really isn't. (((Hugs))). I hope you can get some good sleep and start feeling like yourself again soon!

Congrats! Enjoy your new house! We bought ours 2 years ago, and sometimes I still get excited about actually owning it!

Lol...we're in ME. The other day the temp actually hit 30 F and we all went outside in our shirtsleeves because it was just SO WARM!! Of course, there are still several FEET of snow on the ground, grrrrr. Maybe I should ship some to you guys in those crazy snow-loving places. :D How do people love snow? We won't see grass until May if the weather keeps up the way it's been going!

I'm no help, lol. We hang ours over the top of our bedroom door. Of course, you can't close the door, but the towels get dry. :D

Yep. Phonics. Any phonics. Having said that, I have one very strong reader and one in K who is coming along nicely, so it's getting done. There's just nothing fun about it. I'm with the others who have said that if something is yawn-worthy, I throw it at the wall and get something else. Several math programs before CLE went that way. Several LA programs before CLE went that way. And (gasp!) a few history programs as well.

Ok, not burnt out (yet), but I just had to say...you throw away the LUs???!!!!! What?! Ok, j/k. I just can't imagine having them do all that work and then just throwing it away....😳. My kids would be devastated. Our. LUs go with us to grandparents' houses to show off, and to the library, etc, etc. They're like part of the family, lol. Yes, we're weird. Check out the user name and all will be explained. Ok, back to your regularly scheduled conversation...

ksva: love your posts! Makes me feel so much better about the messy, fun, intuitive way we homeschool here. And about changing up curriculum often, when I can tell we need to come at something from a different angle!

I don't see one! DS5 will be 6 in June and will start 1st grade in August. *cry*. I have a 3rd grader, 1st grader, and a 3-year-old sort of preschooler (if he's interested) next year. First grade plans: CLE Language Arts 1 CLE Math 1-2 CLE Reading 1 Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry (and maybe Physics) Story of the World 1 w/ activity guide Writing With Ease 1 Explode the Code 4, 5, 6 Music, art, and PE without a set curriculum.

Wow, it's so funny to think I'm planning for third grade already! Where did the time go? Anyway, here's our plan as it stands now: CLE Language Arts 3 CLE Math 3 CLE Reading 3 *or* some Memoria Press Lit guides, if we need to change things up for interest. Real Science 4 Kids Elementary Physics and Elementary Biology. Story of the World 3 w/ activity guide Writing With Ease 2 Latina Christiana 1 Literature: lots of read-alouds. She also reads on her own every day. Music, art, and PE without a set curriculum.

We started Prima Latina when DD was 6.5. She likes it and has done fine with it. She remembers her vocabulary through the daily drill and loves 'speaking Latin' to us. All that being said, PL isn't the most fun program, so if your DD is apt to not like that, Song School may be a better starter.

Timely thread ;) I will be following this. My kids do chores, but I'd like to get them more involved in my everyday routine.

Question RE: handwriting styles: I love the look of the Italic style, but we use (and love) CLE Language Arts, which uses a traditional manuscript in its examples, etc. Could you use Italic and a more traditional LA without being confused?

Snow? What snow? I can barely see any ;) In reality, a small amount of snow with unprepared cars and drivers can be worse than a large amount. It certainly looks like you guys are dealing with a fair amount of inconvenience. We live in Maine. It has been a very dry winter so far. I think we've only had between 2 and 3 feet of snow so far...pretty mild.

Congratulations! She is beautiful!

I have two of those kids *gasp* Some days...oh, some days are like a new form of cruel and unusual punishment :D On one side I've got a very intense DD7 going on and on and on about horses and tack and gaits and colors and breeding and feeding (you get the picture), and on the other side I've got DS5 going on and on and on and on about Rescue Bots, Wall-E, and all things robot (and iPad). I love reading the posts that say that the ones that talk incessantly will keep on doing it. It gives me motivation to keep on gritting my teeth and listening. We all want teenagers that still communicate :)

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: You can't do it all. With little kids, you can barely do any of it. However, we have all worn ourselves completely to a frazzle trying from time to time. Some of us pretty frequently :lol: I always do at least one load of laundry a day. I run the dishwasher at least once. The kids can dust and run the vacuum. They can feed pets and tidy their rooms. But it still always looks like a tornado just went through my house! But school is done :D :D And then, I try really hard to just :chillpill:

I'm not attacking anyone. I understand that some people are just not easy to deal with, and even harder to coordinate around. Some will never be happy, no matter what. But here it is: you did not have to say yes. But you did say yes. Now, you are the leader. So, now you really do have some responsibility to work with your people. 4 different ways? Why not? Poppy, it sounds like you really, really have too much on your plate. :grouphug:

Reading this thread is like being in Jr High, lol. Seriously, though...isn't it the nature the job of a group leader or coordinater to make sure that all her participants get the information they need? No matter how they choose to communicate? What happened to taking reponsibility and doing the job? I don't see an issue if a group leader has to sit down on project day and post a notice on FB, e-mail 5 other people, and call 3 more. Seriously, that's what, 10 minutes? Oh, the horror! If you want the job, do it well. Enough cutting corners. FB should never be a must.

I am an Aspie and a VSL, so, yeah. I have tried a lot of curriculum. When it doesn't work, it's usually me that it doesn't work for. Things that we (both me and the kids love) are CLE Math, LA, and Reading. I love Mystery of History but it's a little old for my kids. We also like Memoria Press (anything). I think I'm going to order the entire JrK program when #3 is old enough. I just bit the bullet and bought the one thing I've been looking at and drooling over for years: Tapestry of Grace. So far, I love, love, love it. It teaches the way I think and like to learn.

As usual, what Ellie says makes a lot of sense. I've done it both ways, and I haven't noticed a lot of difference one way or the other. They learn both ways eventually.

Even though Karen just said it...every science program or book we have tried has just been meh. I think the programs are okay, but I just don't like science, and I haven't found one that I can stomach teaching yet. I'll keep looking. Eventually I'll find a science I can teach. Or else the kids will get old enough to just do whatever science they want on their own, lol :lol: Ugh, that's so sad. I really need to get a grip on this science thing.

I have used the first two levels of CLE, and we (including DD7) love it. It is not very teacher-intensive, and it is excellent. It is basically the same as R&S, only in workbook format. So, whichever format your daughter prefers. With R&S, the student writes their answers on separate paper. With CLE the student writes the answers right in the workbook. You'll need to keep up with correcting her work, and may have to be around to explain something once in a while, but that's it. My 2nd grader can do it nearly independently.

I think you should be able to start it with her in the fall. My 5.5-year-old K'er is enjoying it. It's intensive phonics, though. There's a lot of work in each lesson. If you get into it and want to spread each lesson over two days, that's fine to do. We did that in the beginning. There is a lot of handwriting practice built in, which I like. Really, you can make it as much or as little as you want, or need. There are a lot of exercises and activities in the TM that we don't need, like blending practice (DS5 blends really well). We don't do all the flash cards every day (DS just doesn't need that much practice). But it's working and DS is learning to read well, and is proud of his accomplishments. I wouldn't jump into it with a 4-year-old, though, even if she can do K-II easily. Ask me how I know ;) We started LTR last year and DS was quickly overwhelmed. He's doing much better now, and is even enjoying it.

Yeah, sometimes too complicated is...too complicated. I have 3 little kids and I just need school to get done. When we hit the logic stage, then we'll try really branching out.

I don't have a lot to add here, as we've only used 1-2 years of various CLE curriculum, but I just wanted to say a word about the LTR program. I love all things CLE (we are slowly returning to it after trying out some 'new and shiny' things (which didn't work, lol...math in focus was such an epic fail...). The trick with their reading is not to start too early. I tried starting my son on LTR when he was 4.5, and it was just too much. For a willing student, you could probably get away with using it, doing half a lesson a day. Now, he's 5.5, and we just pulled it back out, starting at long vowels (106), and he's just in love with it. I'm so glad I tried again, because it is a great program. But it's meant to be used in 1st grade, with 6-year-olds, and not 4.5's, lol. We're getting the hang of it. As soon as my order comes in, we will be doing (2nd grader) Math 2, LA 2, and Reading 2. My K'er is working through LTR, and he loves, loves, loves his Math (102). I really can't see myself switching to anything else. We tried the piece-it-together, new-and-shiny, and CLE is just better. And simpler. And still classically rigorous (in the skill areas). The only thing I will supplement out I the writing, where I will still use Writing With Ease/Skill.