Sorry to hijack, but will the renamed Incredible Flexible You have different content? Should I wait to buy it until it has been renamed "We Thinkers?" I was considering purchasing it soon. Thanks!

What about only sending her half day? At my local public school they reserve morning for Math and Reading in the younger grades, and then they do "specials" in the afternoon which is a rotation of music, art, science, P.E. etc. You could continue to do math and reading with her at home, at the 2nd grade level you mentioned she was on. This would allow her to get one-on-one attention in these areas and avoid the part of the public school day that requires the most focus. But, she could go in the afternoon and practice her behavioral and social skills in more structured setting with peers, and you would get a much needed break. You could continue to follow rabbit trails with her when she gets home in the afternoon, or in the morning after you do reading and math. I am considering a similar arrangement for my daughter next year, and the principle was completely on board with it. I would guess many public schools try to get the hard stuff out of the way in the morning.

This is not really a psychological trait but I would say one needs to develop love of learning and of education. I have talked to many women who start homeschooling out of fear of the public schools, or because they feel they have to because of their circumstances. If they never catch the joy of teaching, or the excitement of learning with their children, they usually find another option quickly.

Good grief! What kills me is that these are the same schools that have a 25 to 1 teacher to studrnt ratio in the classroom. Why not spend the money on another human being who can ACTUALLY sense the children's emotional well-being!

We have used it for 4 years and we love it. I have my kids use it for 20- 30 minutes a day as a supplement to their regular math assignments (Singapore.) I would not recommend using it as your only math curriculum. As long as the kids are finishing the lessons (and not exiting them) then Dreambox will automatically put them at the right level. It has been very accurate at keeping my kids at a good spot- challenging but not too hard they get frustrated. I like it's use of manipulatives, ten frames, the abacus, number lines etc. I occasionally check the parent dashboard to see where they are at. Other than that I just hand it to them and insist they play. You can also get it for over half-off at homeschoolbuyerscoop.com.

Your replies were VERY helpful! Thank you for taking the time to explain this to me!

Thank you for these suggestions!

I will definitely check out Spalding. Spelling Power, which I have been using with my daughter, gives a general “rule†before the spelling test. Here’s an example of a rule: the long u sound can be spelled ew as in few, ue as in blue, ui as in suit, o as in to, or as u followed by a consonant and silent e as in mule. Beyond this, it appears they are expected to simply memorize the variations. Is this different than the way “spelling rules†are presented in Spalding? Thank you for taking the time to reply!

Please tell me more! I am obviously confused by spelling and phonics rules. I have been trying to avoid buying expensive spelling programs like "All About Spelling" so I have just been teaching him what I thought were the rules with his phonics workbook, showing him examples and then giving him spelling tests and other activities to help him remember (writing the letters in sand etc.) Are there more "rules and protocols" about spelling I am missing in the above example with the long sound of "o"? I do see now that giving him all the variations of the long "o" sound in a week was overkill, and that it would be best to introduce those word groups separately. Would you give me an example of how Spalding works to improve spelling? I was under the impression that it was mainly used for teaching reading, and he is already a good reader. We already do dictation and copywork daily. Thank you!!

Could phonics instruction be confusing my son’s spelling? I know this is a strange question, but let me give an example. This week I taught my son (he turned 7 in July) that the long vowel “o†sound can be made with “o†like go, with “oa†like goat, with “o_e†like nose and “ow†like snow. Then I gave him tons of words as an example for spelling tests and had him include them in sentences. Honestly, it just seems to be confusing him. He will write “nose†correctly in one sentence, and then write in “noas†later after he has written an “oa†word. He is also interjecting “ow†in to the middle of words, despite the fact that I remind him "ow" usually comes at the end of a word. Basically, spelling just does not seem to be sticking by doing it this way, and I am considering just going to high frequency word lists. (I am also wondering if teaching him words like “moat†and “hoe†is really necessary right now, considering he is still frequently misspelling very basic words like “of.â€) Spelling has been difficult for both of my children, even though they are advanced in reading and math. My 9 year old daughter seems to be showing a lot of progress with Spelling Power, but I think my son is still too young for that. Any thoughts?

I want to say that I can see how painful and complex this topic is and I apologize because I think my comments have been insensitive to that. I wish you all the best.

Not to nitpick, but children of same- sex couples are not being denied sanctifying grace either. They are asking for them to wait for baptism until they are 18 no longer under their same sex parents roofs. In Mormon theology, even if they were to die before then left the home, they could still be baptized by proxy after their death. In Mormon theology baptism is a covenant with God that is taken very seriously, and one should have a basic understanding of the doctrine before one enters into that covenant. This is typically done at 8 years old, and children meet with the Bishop and are asked questions about if they believe in the doctrine of the church. For a child in a same sex home to be baptized would be put in one of two situations: 1) Being baptized without fully understanding Mormon doctrine, which states that homosexual sexual actions are a sin. (To be clear having same sex attractions is not considered a sin.) or 2) Espousing doctrine that says that same sex marriage/relationships are sin while still a minor living in a same sex home thus putting them in a position of opposition to their parents. I believe the idea of this policy is to not put children in that situation. I also don't think that it is completely the same as children of Catholics and Atheists who become baptized with their parents consent. Especially now that same sex marriage is legal, Mormon doctrine that same sex marriage is a sin would strike at the actual structure of the same sex family unit. Also, I want to point out that the giving of a name for newborns is also not a saving ordinance, but it is basically the step that puts the child on the records of the church as a "member." The "blessing" portion of that ceremony is actually a separate priesthood blessing, which can still be given at any time to anyone.

"Or the reverse, can you imagine your dd being denied the Eucharist if you were gay?" The Mormon equivalent to the Catholic Eucharist would be the sacrament, and children of same sex couples would not be denied from taking the sacrament.

Having a schedule helps me to cut down on decision fatigue throughout the day. The more decisions you have to make in a day the more overwhelmed you are going to feel. (You can read more about it in this article: http://simplehomeschool.net/decision-fatigue/) It is good that you plan your week beforehand, that is one way to decrease decision fatigue. But, waking up every day and trying decide how to implement it in the moment can be very stressful- especially when the 1 year old is crying and the other two are wondering what to do next etc.. etc.. (I know, I have 4 kids.. 9, 7, 5 and 2). I think that it is a good idea like others suggested to schedule out the skill- based subjects (math, spelling, etc.) and then leave longer blocks to be more creative with the content based subjects. (Science, History) Start paying attention to exactly how long the skill based subjects take right now and start making some decisions beforehand about how long you WANT them to take. I realized that I was assigning too much math for my daughter, who is already at least a grade ahead, and it would often drag on for a hour and a half. Looking over the lesson beforehand helps you say: this much math should take about how long I want them to work on it each day... but also if they have been working hard and it has been an hour go ahead and let them stop. I also realized that my son who is 7 is not really ready to be as independent as I thought. He spent so much time dawdling, and I spent so much time nagging... until a good friend pointed out that he still needed me to sit at his elbow. Duh! Now my 9 year old knows that every morning she plays with the younger kids for 1 1/2 hours while I hammer things out sitting right next to him. I am typically more of a "big picture" kind of person, so I never thought I would be able to hold down daily schedule. However, I have been amazed at how many of my scheduling problems can be solved by really focusing on the details. For example, last year our mornings were feeling really stressful, until it dawned on me that my oldest daughter is NOT a morning person, and will inevitably be grumpy for the first hour after she wakes up. So, I let her sit on the couch and do her reading right when she wakes up, while I work with my son who is cheerful in the mornings. Also, making snack and meal times consistent (and planning what you are going to eat beforehand) cuts down on decision fatigue. My daughter pops us popcorn every single day at 10:30 while she plays with the little kids, and she brings some popcorn to my son while he does his math. That way we don't have to stop when he wines he is hungry at that time every day. Obviously taking full advantage of your 1 year old's nap time is also a must. The difference between doing a lesson with our without a toddler involved is HUGE.

FWIW- I have four children that seem very close in age to yours, and my day takes almost exactly as long as the one you describe. We start at 7:00, end at 3:00, but then do an hour of combined Science or History before bed. My 4th grader does Writing, Math, Spelling, Grammar, Reading, Piano, and a computer math program called Dreambox. My 2nd grader does Writing, Math, Spelling, Phonics, Reading, Piano and Dreambox. I also do 1 hour of preschool in the morning with my 4 year old and I have a 2 year old who is an effective agent of chaos. I would love to fit in Spanish, but I don't know how to fit it in right now, as the kids also have ballet or soccer in the afternoons. They do get about an hour break each where they play with the younger kids while I work with another child. There are a lot of interuptions (diapers, messes to clean up, snacks to get etc.) when you have that many kids at those ages and they need a lot of one-on- one mentoring, and I can imagine the LD's would make that even more so. I have often had the same question you are asking: Is this too much and is my day too long, especially when I have friends tell me they can finish their homeschool day in 2 hours. But, honestly I feel that my kids need the amount of time I schedule to get them through a years amount of work in a year. I have NEVER been able to do math in 20 minutes. I schedule 1 hour for my 4th grader and 45 minutes for my 2nd grader and they do a computer math program called Dreambox for 30 minutes a day to review their skills. I agree with this. Also, in the school district I just moved from kids were already getting quite a bit of homework in the early years. Also, you are teaching more subjects than the public schools I feel this exact same thing! How I wish I could have some "teacher training" as a homeschool mom, or at least someone somewhere to tell me with authority that I was doing an adequate job! So, for what it is worth I think it sounds like you are doing a good job! I agree that if you feel burned out then Latin or French are the most obvious to cut- but again, if you love them and the kids love them- by all means don't cut out the heart of your school! Are you feeling burned out? If so you could cut some subjects to 2 or 3 days a week. Also, do you homeschool through the summer? That might shorten the days some.

We had a piano teacher that sounds very similar to this. She would go on and on with her detailed explanations of hand positions and techniques to my 6 yr. old, and expect me to follow what she was saying and remember everything in practice. It was overwhelming and frustrating at first, but truth be told my daughter advanced very quickly with her and her next teacher was very impressed when we moved. I second the idea to take a video camera and to pinpoint one or two things for each week to work on. But, if your daughter is enjoying the teacher, than I guess I would say trust the process! Good luck!

I realize this is a very old conversation but we use Dreambox Online math with RightStart and have found it is the perfect fit. I found I did not have time to play all the games in Rightstart with my kids, but the Dreambox games are very similar, they even use an abacus that is identical to the Right start abacus. It is about $10 per month but if you have multiple children I would recomend getting it through Homeschool buyers coop. It motivates the kids to keep playing by having them solve problems in different lands (dinosaur land, pet land, fairyland and pirate land.) The program completely changes for older kids with really great problem solving activities etc. I have my kids play for about 30 minutes a day and they love it. (I don't let them play any other computer or video games so for them this program is really exciting! :))

I would love to know your secret of getting done so fast! I have a 3rd grader and Kindergartner and a friend with similar aged children as mine told me she only spends 2 hours doing homeschool daily with both kids combined and I was blown away! My 3rd grader spends: Math: 60 minutes Reading: 45 minutes (she can do independently) Writing- 30 minutes Spelling- 20 minutes (she can do independently) Foreign Language on the Computer- 20 minutes (she can do independently) Science/ History (alternated every other day combined with both kids) 60 minutes = Total 4 hours 5 minutes doing homeschool My Kindergartner spends: Math- 30- 45 minutes Reading- 30 minutes Computer Time (usually math or phonics): - 20 minutes Writing- 25 minutes Science/ History alternated every other day- 60 minutes (combined with both kids) = Total 2 hours 45 minutes of homeschool They also practice piano for about 30 minutes daily and do extracurricular sports & dance. That is the time they spend ACTUALLY DOING the work and not the in between time, time spent dawdling or breaks. If they drag their feet (which they often do) these tasks can take MUCH longer. Plus, we usually throw in other things like science movies, read aloud chapter books, field trips etc. that I am not counting. So honestly when you consider that the public schools take a recess and a lunch, my kids are probably spending about the same amount of time on academics as kids in public school. I use Right Start Math, which I have heard takes longer than other math programs. For my 3rd grader's writing she does summary/ dictation exercises out of Writing with Ease or she summarizes what we have learned in Story of the World or Science. I also have a 2 year old, so we have lots of interruptions. So I start at 7:00 in the morning and we are usually just finishing up around 4:00 pm. Is this normal, or is this totally overkill??? My husband who was homeschooled (I wasn't) has been saying that I am spending way too much time on this lately.