Ok so some may know I wrote a post on here asking for suggestions on taking a full-time job outside the home this year while trying to homeschool my first grade son and my kindergarten daughter. I had all but decided to go back to work. We had taken a few weeks off since we worked a lot through the summer. So today I started with fun projects (building a snow globe, making bracelets, etc) then I told my son to come on and let's practice our sight words...our first grade curriculum has not been ordered yet due to finances so I want to keep him at least practiced on things he should know and I figure he needs to get into the swing of things with me having to start work in a week and a half. The snow globes and jewelry went well--we all had fun discussing colors, animals, letters, shapes, etc. Then came the sight words, and I remembered exactly why I was terrified to homeschool and work. My son went crazy at the sight of the sight word flash cards.....I heard things like, "I don't want to." and he went to his room shutting his door all upset like someone had killed his best friend. About 10 minutes later he comes out saying he was sorry for acting ugly and he knows he can't fight anymore. I was so happy thinking ok maybe it really has gotten through his head now....we started sight words....we come across the word "eat" he had trouble with it so I was about to go into explanation of when there are two vowels next to each other the first says it's name and the second is silent (we learned this in Horizon's Kindergarten).....well before I could get out the explanation he lost it.....got all upset saying he will never be able to figure out the word, crying, etc. I tried to tell him that if he already knew how to do all this there would be no reason to have school and that there is not a 6 year old alive who knows everything but that is why he has me to help him when he needs it so he can learn it.....nope no luck I had lost him....he cried, lowered his head on his arms refusing to look up, refused to pay attention when I tried to explain "eat" to him.....to the point I had to send him to his room for not listening when asked to which turned into another war of how he hates school and I'm awful and he will never get it etc.....finally he went to his room slamming his door. Yep, I'm losing it....how can I possibly work and school a child who wants to fight, not listen, etc... Anyone with a child like this and any suggestions on how to help ughh

Well that's why I am looking for opinions here....I like the idea behind SOTW just worry if my 1st grade son will really get into it. I have not fully decided anything so I am looking for opinions before I buy

Ok for those of you who have used these I am trying to decide between the two. I currently have the 30 day trial of Homeschool Planet (I really like the fact they give you the free trial as oppose to making you spend $5 for a product you haven't seen before.) I really like how homeschool planet lays everything out as far as when I look at it I can see all the assignments for the week and I can see our appointments etc right below to know what that day is going to have to look like. The only reason I am considering HST+ is because while it won't be online where I can access it anywhere I can spend the $49 once and be done; whereas with homeschool planet it's something like $69 each year. On that note is there any way you can have HST+ on multiple computers/tablets where they can all link together? Thanks

Ok I have a question here....If you buy on Amazon how do you make sure the TM matches the student book you get? Are there different editions such as they printed them different years so they have different problems or page layouts, etc? I am really wanting MIF but the price is daunting...I've considered just the student books and workbooks but if I can get the TM cheap and make sure it matches their version they will be working from I might be able to justify getting it.

Thanks so much Chelli. That makes me feel better about considering giving up the TM....I'm really trying right now to tell myself that I do not need it no matter how much I feel I do lol (once again that type A person coming out in me). I can't wait to get all our books and officially start the year (I'm having the kids do review with me just going over math with my now 1st grader and having him read to me and with my K daughter I had an old preschool workbook we have been going through that has a little bit of every subject). I think I am more excited about this school year than anyone but I am loving seeing my son excited to start especially since last year he hated everything to do with school lol.

So I was considering doing SOTW for my first grader and letting my K child listen in...Now I have found myWorld Social Studies and Scott Foresman Social Studies....I was wondering if anyone on here has used either one of those? Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you. I have always been a math-minded person (got the math award at high school graduation) so I don't see a problem trying to teach without the TM. Are there any extras in the TM that would be useful is my question....maybe how it would list a few ways to explain things or a fun activity to make the lesson make some sense? I guess it's my Type A personality that makes me feel like I would be missing something without it lol.

I would probably find no use for the teacher manual other than when/if my husband or mother decided to help in that subject for a day in which they would need the teacher's manual...How does it work not using the teacher's manual?

Okay so I want to use MIF for my first grade and Kindergarten children, but it is soooo expensive. Is there anything that is as good and as interesting that I could use instead? If I must I will buy MIF (it's what I really want) but the cost is daunting.

I found myself considering leaving story of the world for possibly 3rd grade and up. With my 1st grade son I am planning on using more of a social studies (like PS) type of thing till 3rd grade...that way he gets some of the basics and he will be able to better understand story of the world....I have never seen the SOTW books so I am a little concerned about how well he would really get into them at 1st grade.....if anyone has any suggestions or knows a link where I can view the SOTW 1 sample pages online I would love to look at it so I can better weigh out my options.

New Apologia books??? Now I am curious if I have been looking at the old ones or the new ones? Anyone have a link they can share?

Thanks everyone. I am starting my 1st grade on A and letting him work through just for a review but he is pretty decent at reading at this point so I don't really expect it to take him long. I don't want him bogged down in the noun, adjective, etc but I don't want him to be behind his PS counterparts either. I also found Reading Street today that I have briefly looked at. It seems to incorporate everything which is nice and all of it is non-consumable....I have to make a decision pretty quick though lol.....any thoughts on Reading Street vs LOE Foundations?

I may have asked this before and I am sorry if I did. I have decided to use LOE Foundations for my 1st grade son...it says it covers reading, phonics, and spelling....but does it cover grammar? I am not even sure of what grammar he should be learning in 1st grade....what a noun, verb, adjective, etc is??? I am so unsure on this topic? But if he is suppose to learn this I want to make sure we cover it? So does LOE Foundations cover grammar and if it doesn't what would you recommend I use for a strictly grammar program to go with it? Any help would be appreciated...I am trying to get his books ordered this week ASAP so I am really trying to make sure I get everything I need for him. Thanks

As I said I am very much trying to find a way to take the job, but I do have to disagree with the statement of "They are young enough you can't screw them up school wise." I personally saw how our PS took my son in K from loving learning to hating learning and I am a firm believer that these are the most important times. This is the time where you build their foundation they will build on the rest of their lives. You can build up a child with a love for learning and a love for challenging themselves. 4 hrs is usually due to the fact that my son now hates learning and procrastinates even when he knows how to do the work in 2 minutes. This started thanks to the practices of our local PS system. On top of that there are certain standards I hold myself and my children to. One being I want them on level so that if they decide later on that they want to attend one of our private schools or I was unable to continue homeschooling for some unforeseen reason then they will easily test at their grade level if not above. I have witnessed children who did not have a good foundation in K and 1st grade. My best friend is trying to teach some of them now in a PS and they are in a second grade class on a Kindergarten level (not the child's fault--I blame the teachers and parents at that point). Those children will continue to struggle in the school system because they will always feel like they are behind and trying to catch up and most will not catch up fully. These are the ages where children will absorb info like a sponge if given the chance to and I am not going to say it's okay not to learn to your fullest potential. Maybe I seem tough to some, but a thorough education is the best thing you could give your child to help them succeed in life. I am not saying the job is not important by any means as I have repeatedly said I am trying to figure out a way to make it work, but I refuse to let my children's education slip to sub-par standards for it and my husband is in agreement with me on that. My best friend (that PS teacher I was talking about) says (and I believe it's true), "If you are going to take your child's education into your own hands then that needs to be your number 1 focus so they can have a foundation they need to grow on." I was asked to learn probably more than what my children are being asked to learn right now (I actually started school around age 3 in what we called an Excel program). Excel was not daycare; It was school. We sat in desks and learned what most K children learned, then when I got to K I was ahead. This momentum continued through my education and to this day. I graduated at 15 Valedictorian of my class, and I zoomed through nursing school with no problem. To this day, I love to learn anything I can get my hands on and I always challenge myself to push myself farther--a B is not acceptable for myself because I know I can make A's. I brought my children out of school to give them a better education, not to say oh well I will give you even less than our PS is giving you. While our homeschool work at this point takes less time than school they learn way more than they ever would learn in PS and I am not willing to sacrifice that. If I can figure out the job while keeping their schooling as best as I can keep it then fine I take the job--if not then I look for a PT or PRN job that allows me to keep their schooling top notch. Okay off my soap box now.

Thanks everyone. Phonic Pathways was on the core for Timberdoodle and while I do agree wholeheartedly that no pictures means no guessing (as this was my big complaint with Horizons Phonics K) I also think absolutely no pictures would completely turn my son off to doing it. He already dislikes phonics though he is actually really good at it, so I am really trying to avoid anything that will make the process more painful. I think we may try LOE Foundations....looks to be complete for spelling, phonics, reading, and grammar. (If I am wrong on this someone please correct me) Still looking but that is the way I am leaning so far.

Duckens, Thank you for your advice and the recommendation of Xtra Math. I will definitely keep that in mind. I have also considered the court thing too....another reason I am trying so hard to figure out how to make it work. I did speak with my lawyer about it and she did agree that it would look better if I take the job but that they could also argue I am not home to homeschool during "normal" school hours. She also said that if I take the job and had to quit (which really isn't possible) that that would look even worse than me not having a job. She said with everything the court is requiring (counseling sessions, days in court, meetings with different court appointed persons, etc) and my daughter being so "fragile" right now it would be no problem to explain that she needed me at home and I had to be available to attend court related things which will be difficult if I took this new job. Nursing jobs do not look to kindly to having to not be at work on an often basis when you first start because when you first start it is all about being trained in the new facility their way. That's another problem with taking the job. I spoke with my lawyer about that also and she said she could make it ordered that I be at everything which would make it where I had no choice so I couldn't get in trouble at work, but this is not a right to work state meaning they do not have to give a reason for dismissing you so they could easily get away with firing me if they feel my having to be gone so much for so many things is a problem. I have spoken with the manager about the situation and she said I would need to try to give at least 4wks notice to specific days I would need to be off. I have explained to her this may not always be possible, but I would certainly try. She really didn't say anything to that though so I am not sure how she really feels about it. I am really appreciating everyone's response as I am truly trying to do what is the BEST for my family. I am honestly trying to figure out how to make the job work and if it won't figuring that out now so I don't end up in a bad situation.

LOL This sounds just like my 6yr old son. God love him, he is smart and sweet (well when not being made to do school work) but hates school work with a passion which I blame on our PS. He use to love learning when he started K in our PS by mid-year my child was crying his eyes out begging not to go and hated anything to do with learning. My son loves the computer and if I would allow it would sit for hours playing games, watching videos, etc. He and I had this "discussion" last year quite a few times with hubby involved too. I didn't threaten him, I think. We sat him down and told him plain and simple school is not optional you have to do it. We explained how the government says if you don't do school then parents go to jail. We explained that I gave up my free time to do this with him and we paid a lot of money for his books. We told him, if he did not appreciate being able to homeschool he would go back to school. He knows school is close to 8hrs long. He will tell you he doesn't want to do that, but then he also says I don't want to do my schoolwork. I promise you this child dropped his pencil so much to avoid doing schoolwork that I was about ready to tie it to a string and attach the other end of the string to his hand lol. This year we haven't started yet nor gotten his books yet, but he seems more excited. I let him see what I was thinking of using for each subject on the computer so he could have input too. (Before I start some war over letting your children pick their curriculum, that's not what I did...ultimately I am choosing what's best for him, but by letting him have input about what he likes too he feels he helped pick it.) We tried everything last year, grounding, taking t.v. away, taking computer and tablet, taking toys out of room, no outside time, corners....you name it I tried it. He just simply hated school work at that point. I do think he was slightly bored with the work we were doing, and I know how that is as I was a gifted student and if I were bored I would not do like I was suppose to. Hopefully, all that is solved this year though as I said he seems excited right now and we have already had the talk that if he refuses to do it for me then we will have to look into private schools or something. As far as the household not stopping over a challenging child. Oh my, my husband and I got into it because of this very topic. Last year my son would literally take ALL day to the point I wasn't able to really spend time with my other children having fun because I was sitting arguing with him over school work. I did learn quickly to do things while he sat pouting about something--I would do laundry, fold clothes, wash dishes, etc. It is extremely challenging when you have such a challenging child especially when you know he knows the material and it would take him 5 minutes if he would just stop fussing and do it. Homeschooling is definitely a full-time plus job. I am having issues right now deciding on taking a job out of the home to help our family financially while trying to homeschool. Everyone has different opinions about it. One of my friends, who is a teacher in a PS, straight out says a full-time job is not possible while homeschooling because if you choose to take your child's education into your own hands then that needs to be your top priority. I am no expert here by any means, but I would say don't threaten because if you do have to send them to school they will definitely hate it and cause problems in the school. That said, I don't see a problem with having a discussion explaining that homeschooling is a privilege and (if you are willing to do it, which you said you were) that if they do not appreciate that privilege they will have no other choice but to go back to PS. It's not a threat then---it's a discussion of expectations and consequences if those expectations are not met. I would not expect a 2nd grader to do much independent work though. My son in K could do addition problems (about 10) by himself, but I would leave the room for a second so he would not have time to really get into too much before I would catch him. With Math my son would literally try to race me--we made it fun by saying see if you can get all those problems done (or in the case of copy work, sentences) before I come back and then I will check how many you got right. On really difficult subjects (for my son, Phonics, simply because he hated it though he had a full understanding of it) we did a game to incorporate math---for each page you get done I will give you a nickle or a dime, and at the end of the work I would have him count out how much money he earned to put in his money box. He knew each dollar in that box meant 1 toy at the "toy store" which happens to be our local family dollar lol. This worked well sometimes. I think we actually started that when I realized no consequence would work so I started focusing on rewarding good behaviors. Good luck to you. Maybe something in my rambling will help you I hope.

Thanks Coco Clark for the three options...I have considered at least some parts of each. A: That is the plan if I take the job....just school them late afternoon and into the evening. I am not sure how well it work and that is why I was looking to see if anyone else is having to do something similar and how it is working for them. Our schoolwork in K was usually at the very least 4hrs long due to my son procrastinating and just plain out not wanting to do it (he had a very bad experience in PS K the first half of the year and he went from a child loving to learn to a child who hated anything to do with learning even though he is so smart it is scary. B: If I take the job I'm going to have to plan out what my mom is capable of doing each day while I am at work. The consideration here is she will have 2 to homeschool and a one year old to watch and I just don't know if she will really be able to handle it all. I was at Gateway, it's a private school where you do all your work at home and only go to the school 2 days a week to take tests, in high school but I was completely self-sufficient and an only child. I was pretty much self-sufficient in school my whole life as I always had my homework done before I would come home. I know how hard it is to juggle all 3 and trying to get my son to focus at the same time so that is my only fear....though I am well aware I won't know whether or not it will work until we try it. C: My husband and I talked about this option yesterday. He said himself, "I couldn't do the homeschool. I am not good at teaching and I don't have the patience to try to teach and watch all the kids." Plus my husband is very much the working type. He gets depressed if he is not out earning the money. While my pay is much higher, he would never be happy sitting home with the kids while I work. You know the song "Mr. Mom"--he would be neglecting schooling to be looking for a job to get him back working lol. Point being he would never be happy and his patience would not hold trying to juggle schooling of 2 and watching the one year old. Xixstar Thanks for your input. The stress I think is my biggest worry. These days with court and having to help my daughter through everything she is going through at the very unfair age of 4 I am overwhelmed on a daily basis just trying to keep things going. Lately my favorite thing to say is, "I feel like I am trying to juggle 20 balls and I don't even know how to juggle." Usually I am good with stress, but the amount of stress going on lately has been more than anyone should ever have to handle. My daughter due to what happened is extremely needy of me right now--she never was like this before all the issues. She doesn't want me out of her sight. It has gotten a little better through counseling but not much. Part of the stress too is knowing everything can seem to be going fine to get one e-mail or phone call saying I need to be in court the next day or someone needs certain papers or needs to speak with me about what is going on or my signature on something to say to proceed. It's just crazy. But honestly, I think that is my biggest fear--not being able to handle the stress from everything and just breaking down. I already feel most days like I can't handle anymore so I worry how I will handle adding in the new job as well.

Well my first grader is really not so much into the read-aloud type so his read-alouds are basically science and history. In the other subjects it's truly work for him. Maybe I am one of the few here I don't know, but I try to make homeschool subjects and work somewhat like public school in the sense of what work they should be doing. My son, while he doesn't enjoy school as much yet, is really smart and I we encourage him to challenge himself with reading instructions on his own out loud to me. With math, for example, I teach him how to do the problems and why we do them the way we do. We follow that up with guided practice, and then he does independent practice. He usually gets all of the problems right on his independent practice since we have started this type of study habit. As far as history and science, while they are read-aloud, I still have certain questions I would ask at the end to check comprehension of what we read. Language Arts (i.e. phonics, reading) is a subject he hated last year. He was good at it but did not want to do it. It would usually be an hour to an hour and a half of fighting about doing it, then once he realized he had to do it, he would fly through the few pages within minutes and be done. This year we will be working on cursive handwriting, so I know that will take some time to master also and I tend push him harder to do things correctly than my mother does. (She says oh well you at least tried, where as I know he just half did it because he didn't want to do it in the first place, and I make him go back and try his best--at which point he then far exceeds the expectations I originally had.) As I said, he is the child who is smart, knows what he is doing, but doesn't want to do it so he just half does it hoping it will slide by. Same thing goes for having him read aloud. He will, with my mother, look at a word and just say I don't know you tell me, and she just tells him--whereas, when I teach him he knows if he says I don't know I am going to require he sound it out before he gives up on trying so he knows by now to try his best and if he is struggling at that point I am more than happy to help him out. Honestly, I want to stay home with my children and enjoy them, plus I want to ensure their education is the best it can possibly be. I know, however, I have to look at the situation and adjust to what must be done and that is why I am leaning towards taking the job and trying to figure out exactly when I will sleep, plan for school, have play time with each of the three kids, have me and hubby time, teach, and work. I am in no way saying I don't need to work because yes the money would be much needed and if I have to work that is the highest paying job I can get, but I am like my husband too on the fact I do not want the kids school to suffer and I don't want to be so overwhelmed I fall apart completely. My job would be demanding of me, from what I understand between the work and the research parts, plus the kids, the house, schooling, etc. I would have no second thought taking it if I knew that if we see that in a few months everything is falling apart, the kids school is suffering, or I am so stressed out I am no go to anyone that I could just step-down from the job, but that is not an option as I would have to stay for at minimum 1 full year. The bad thing about this is the two people I usually rely on for advice, my mom and husband, are both as concerned as I am as to if it will work. I am praying about it 24/7 at this point and hoping between advice here and prayer I will find a peace about it one way or another so I can give an answer comfortably Friday.

Well my first grader is really not so much into the read-aloud type so his read-alouds are basically science and history. In the other subjects it's truly work for him. Maybe I am one of the few here I don't know, but I try to make homeschool subjects and work somewhat like public school in the sense of what work they should be doing. My son, while he doesn't enjoy school as much yet, is really smart and I we encourage him to challenge himself with reading instructions on his own out loud to me. With math, for example, I teach him how to do the problems and why we do them the way we do. We follow that up with guided practice, and then he does independent practice. He usually gets all of the problems right on his independent practice since we have started this type of study habit. As far as history and science, while they are read-aloud, I still have certain questions I would ask at the end to check comprehension of what we read. Language Arts (i.e. phonics, reading) is a subject he hated last year. He was good at it but did not want to do it. It would usually be an hour to an hour and a half of fighting about doing it, then once he realized he had to do it, he would fly through the few pages within minutes and be done. This year we will be working on cursive handwriting, so I know that will take some time to master also and I tend push him harder to do things correctly than my mother does. (She says oh well you at least tried, where as I know he just half did it because he didn't want to do it in the first place, and I make him go back and try his best--at which point he then far exceeds the expectations I originally had.) As I said, he is the child who is smart, knows what he is doing, but doesn't want to do it so he just half does it hoping it will slide by. Same thing goes for having him read aloud. He will, with my mother, look at a word and just say I don't know you tell me, and she just tells him--whereas, when I teach him he knows if he says I don't know I am going to require he sound it out before he gives up on trying so he knows by now to try his best and if he is struggling at that point I am more than happy to help him out. Honestly, I want to stay home with my children and enjoy them, plus I want to ensure their education is the best it can possibly be. I know, however, I have to look at the situation and adjust to what must be done and that is why I am leaning towards taking the job and trying to figure out exactly when I will sleep, plan for school, have play time with each of the three kids, have me and hubby time, teach, and work. I am in no way saying I don't need to work because yes the money would be much needed and if I have to work that is the highest paying job I can get, but I am like my husband too on the fact I do not want the kids school to suffer and I don't want to be so overwhelmed I fall apart completely. My job would be demanding of me, from what I understand between the work and the research parts, plus the kids, the house, schooling, etc. I would have no second thought taking it if I knew that if we see that in a few months everything is falling apart, the kids school is suffering, or I am so stressed out I am no go to anyone that I could just step-down from the job, but that is not an option as I would have to stay for at minimum 1 full year. The bad thing about this is the two people I usually rely on for advice, my mom and husband, are both as concerned as I am as to if it will work. I am praying about it 24/7 at this point and hoping between advice here and prayer I will find a peace about it one way or another so I can give an answer comfortably Friday.

Well my first grader is really not so much into the read-aloud type so his read-alouds are basically science and history. In the other subjects it's truly work for him. Maybe I am one of the few here I don't know, but I try to make homeschool subjects and work somewhat like public school in the sense of what work they should be doing. My son, while he doesn't enjoy school as much yet, is really smart and I we encourage him to challenge himself with reading instructions on his own out loud to me. With math, for example, I teach him how to do the problems and why we do them the way we do. We follow that up with guided practice, and then he does independent practice. He usually gets all of the problems right on his independent practice since we have started this type of study habit. As far as history and science, while they are read-aloud, I still have certain questions I would ask at the end to check comprehension of what we read. Language Arts (i.e. phonics, reading) is a subject he hated last year. He was good at it but did not want to do it. It would usually be an hour to an hour and a half of fighting about doing it, then once he realized he had to do it, he would fly through the few pages within minutes and be done. This year we will be working on cursive handwriting, so I know that will take some time to master also and I tend push him harder to do things correctly than my mother does. (She says oh well you at least tried, where as I know he just half did it because he didn't want to do it in the first place, and I make him go back and try his best--at which point he then far exceeds the expectations I originally had.) As I said, he is the child who is smart, knows what he is doing, but doesn't want to do it so he just half does it hoping it will slide by. Same thing goes for having him read aloud. He will, with my mother, look at a word and just say I don't know you tell me, and she just tells him--whereas, when I teach him he knows if he says I don't know I am going to require he sound it out before he gives up on trying so he knows by now to try his best and if he is struggling at that point I am more than happy to help him out. Honestly, I want to stay home with my children and enjoy them, plus I want to ensure their education is the best it can possibly be. I know, however, I have to look at the situation and adjust to what must be done and that is why I am leaning towards taking the job and trying to figure out exactly when I will sleep, plan for school, have play time with each of the three kids, have me and hubby time, teach, and work. I am in no way saying I don't need to work because yes the money would be much needed and if I have to work that is the highest paying job I can get, but I am like my husband too on the fact I do not want the kids school to suffer and I don't want to be so overwhelmed I fall apart completely. My job would be demanding of me, from what I understand between the work and the research parts, plus the kids, the house, schooling, etc. I would have no second thought taking it if I knew that if we see that in a few months everything is falling apart, the kids school is suffering, or I am so stressed out I am no go to anyone that I could just step-down from the job, but that is not an option as I would have to stay for at minimum 1 full year. The bad thing about this is the two people I usually rely on for advice, my mom and husband, are both as concerned as I am as to if it will work. I am praying about it 24/7 at this point and hoping between advice here and prayer I will find a peace about it one way or another so I can give an answer comfortably Friday.

Okay so we started homeschool last year when my son went from loving to learn and going to school to crying about going to school and wanting nothing to do with anything that involved learning. This worked out as at the time I was not working and had planned to stay a stay-at-home mom. So this year we had set our minds to really getting this homeschool thing right (i.e. having an at least semi-set schedule and doing field trips etc). I was so excited and so was the entire family that this year things were going to get more fun and more normal. My husband finally found a job (job situation around here is just horrible and he had been looking for a job for a long time and finally found one. The down side is he is making $12.50 an hour. So really not enough to keep us rolling especially since we now have to catch up from getting behind. We were going to just deal with this and keep pushing through (luckily my mother is amazing and definitely will have a special spot when she gets to heaven as she took in my husband, me, and our 3 children and has helped us out as she could). I had been interviewing for jobs trying to find something prn (as needed) or part-time as I am a registered nurse, or at least work night shift it I was going to go back full time. Well, a day or so ago I got a job offer....full-time nurse at a well-known dialysis center making like $25.85/hr to start with a 50 cent raise within six months and more raises to follow soon after. The schedule is 4 days a week and every other week one of those days would be a Saturday. Most of those days I would have to be at work at 5:30 in the AM (and there is a good 35-40 minute drive there) and work till around 1pm. On top of that because of the specialty and the fact that they really want to keep their nurse's the best I would be required to do a research topic at least once every six months. My mother (once again being one of the best women I know) said if I wanted to take it she would watch the 3 kids while I am at work and try to help with their homeschooling. Luckily only two of the three are homeschooled: my six year old son will soon be starting 1st grade, my 4yr old daughter will start Pre-K with a little K work mixed in, and my other daughter will be turning one this coming month so no school for her yet. God love my mother, she is very smart and has more patience than anyone I know but she doesn't teach how I would teach. I require my kids to try a few times before help is given and then I give help and by help I do not mean I give them the answer. My mother, on the other hand, tends to give the answer and doesn't really have them try when they say they can't figure it out. This worries me about having her help with even a portion of their school--I don't know that there is too much I would feel comfortable saying they could do before I got home because of this. I considered science and maybe history since it's SOTW and Apologia Astronomy but my mom isn't much of a experiment type person to do the fun activities I had planned out. So I worry what they really could accomplish before I got home. On top of this, right now we have a court battle going on with my ex-husband concerning my daughter for very personal reasons. This court affair is extremely important to my daughter's safety. It takes a lot out of me dealing with it every day between the lawyers, counseling sessions for her, court dates etc. Oh, plus this has added more financial strain thanks to extremely expensive lawyers, doctors, etc. So that is my other daily stressor. I am trying to decide whether to turn down this position or take it and try to make it work for a year to at least get us ahead and let my husband have time to find a better job where I can stay home and we can live without worrying how all the bills will get paid. If I accept the job I have to work there for at least one year, then I could either quit at that point or ask to be moved to a part-time position if they will give me that option. For two days I have gone back and forth on it and can't figure out what would be best. My husband is convinced like I am that our children should be homeschooled and it is what God wants for our family (we both have a major peace on the homeschool front), and as far as the job he says I should do what I feel is right. He agrees we definitely could use the money especially right now but he knows how hard this would be and unfortunately I can't take the job and if it doesn't work quit in a few months because I would have to stay for a year. My mother is the same--we could use the money but if I am not comfortable with the decision then I don't have to take it and just continue hoping I will find something prn or find something to do from home. The Upsides to Taking the Job: Great money and opportunity to advance my skills as a nurse (I mean to walk away from 25.85+ an hour is just hard), could get caught up on bills and ahead in one year, kids would be able to have the big Christmas we have been unable to do the past few years due to the economy, I could obtain more homeschool stuff that I really wanted to get them to really make learning fun, etc Downsides: I'm already so busy with court, Dr's appointments, etc I don't know how it would go trying to work 5:30 to 1 and come home and do all their schooling with them, oh my kids go to bed late (they, like their mother are all night-owls) so when would I get sleep having to be up around 3:45-4 to be able to get to work on time, my son is excited about 1st grade so I am hoping the fights that were present about school during K will not be there at least not as bad, I feel as though between work and school our true family fun time will be hard to really get, and honestly I am disappointed at the though of this great plan for this school year (the schedule, field trips, and extra little things I wanted to do with them) will not be how we all thought it would be if I accept the job. If I took another job nursing I would definitely be paid less and if full time it would be at night doing three 12hr shifts a week plus having holidays I would have to work. Plus it's hard right now to find prn jobs in my specialty area I currently have (ICU nurse). I would love to work from home but most nursing jobs don't have work from home option and if they do you need like 5 or more years experience and I only have 2 years in it. If anyone knows any jobs I could do from home I would love the suggestions. I need advice from fellow homeschoolers please as I have to give an answer by Friday at the latest. Have you ever had to try to homeschool and work? Does it work out with doing school later in the day? Is it even feasible? What would you do? Any suggestions welcome.

Thank you so much for your suggestions. So if we do the Foundations program we don't need the Handwriting program correct? I am taking it as the handwriting program is incorporated into the Level A and B book. So just looking for clarification there. I am thinking I will just buy the A & B bundle since I can start my Pre-K on it also. I noticed the website said C isn't out yet--it said coming out in late August (I thought we were already in late August already) so any word on when it will be out and ready to use? Also is there anywhere I can see sample pages of the books? I've been searching online and can't seem to find them anywhere. I noticed the readers sold separately also but I think it said something about them being in the back of the workbook???? I'm really thinking I am going to go with this program. I really like StoryTown but being as it is made for PS use it is extremely expensive, though don't get me wrong I love how it encompasses reading, spelling, grammar, and writing. Do you think once my son is done with Foundations (I figure since he already knows so much of A & B we could possibly get through them all if we work on them through the summer too) that he would be ready for any second grade level reading, grammar, spelling program? I am asking for the reason of thinking about StoryTown for 2nd grade and I don't want him to be behind in things like spelling and grammar when we hit second grade.

Thanks y'all. I spoke with my six year old today about his curriculum, because, while I will not let him pick his own curriculum, I do want his opinions so he feels connected before we really get started. Also, on things like Science or extras I want his interests to shine through as much as possible. I asked him what he thought about learning about the planets and stars and he said, "That's awesome Mom. Can we buy a telescope?" LOL My daughter who is 4 while be listening in I am sure because she is my schoolgirl through and through. We've always had to buy something for her and this year we are officially starting Pre-K (if she had her choice though we would be studying land animals lol). I am going to look at the other recommended curriculum but I am pretty sure we will stick with Apologia unless something just amazes me about the others. Always open for looking though

Okay I know I have posted a lot today but it is so nice to be able to finally run ideas by fellow homeschoolers who know more than I do. So I think I may choose LOE Foundations for my 1st grade son. Here is my thing....from what I read on the A book he knows how to do all of the things in it but he was taught manuscript in PS and I am wanting to teach him cursive this year...book B only covers uppercase letters since they covered lowercase in Book A.....what do I choose? This is an expensive program, so I am sort of hesitant of buying Book A just because of the lowercase cursive letters for us to fly through it in a short time because he already knows everything else to then buy book B which he knows most of too. He is very big about not feeling behind in things so at least the books do not say a grade level on them but I hate having him redo everything he already knows. I am also trying to look on the flip-side of that too that it will be a refresher and make him a much better reader in the long run plus I could start Book A also with my Pre-K daughter at least introducing it to her so we don't have to worry about being behind with her. I really want the best for him and this poor child had a horrible, and I do mean HORRIBLE experience in PS Kindergarten that took his fragile self-esteem to the lowest levels ever thanks to a teacher who did not care about her students. So I want him to feel like he is succeeding because God knows this boy is extremely smart. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.