I understand what you're saying, and to an extent you may be right. However, last year in ps they saw my husband/their dad about 15 minutes a day until weekend when he was off and I was at work. I too saw him about 15 minutes a day while he was packing his lunch and running out the door. I know they'll see him more than that this way. If we're able to get it leveled out a little to where they're able to do some of it during the day and part after he leaves if necessary it will allow for at least an early family dinner that we haven't had together in months. In ps we would get up at 6 (dh just got in bed at 530am) rush thru a quick breakfast and get ready for school, in the car by 720 and on the road, I'd finish dropping everyone off at school and I would be in class by 9. I'd start picking up at 2:30 and get home at 415, dh leaves the house at 430pm. I'd fix dinner and fight with 4 very tired and drained kids for 2-3 hours about homework that MUST be done before school tomorrow. Then after they got in bed at 8:30-900 I'd start my homework, hopefully be in bed before midnight and set my alarm for a short nights rest. If they went back to ps they'd have to ride the bus (on at 7am and off at 430pm) In my mind (maybe I'm totally completely off) HS cannot be as bad or worse than that. Surely, we can work thru this and make it better than it was......

The time it "should" take us to do hs, wouldn't be any more than the time I would spend driving, helping with homework, school projects, after school activities during public school. it's an hour drive in the morning and evening, 2-3 hours homework, plus anything after school or extra projects, not to mention the hour it takes to get everyone ready for school.

Not necessarily. He may do some of it, but the beauty of hs is that we don't have to do it from 8-3. We can do it whenever. He'll be sleeping part of the day since he works nights, but it will be a team thing he'll do some and I'll do some. Yes, he is helping with the teaching right now. We are both on board with this, our idea of home school is the same. We both have talked/prayed about it together.

My husband is home during the day, he'll be looking after them during the day. I'll be there in the evening just like after ps times.

Part of my problem is that I don't know how long to schedule for each subject. I have no idea how long it should take, that probably sounds like I'm very much out of tune with everything, and maybe I am. I'm open to any and all suggestions here.

What are their ages/grades? 5- Kinder boy 7- 1st grade girl 8-2nd grade boy 11- 6th grade girl What are you using? Horizons for math Rod and Staff for English Sonlight for History/Reading Bible for Bible What is your schedule? My schedule isn't rigid at all, I let them wake up when they get ready and then we just take it one thing at a time. I don't want it to be like "school" maybe that's my problem. Maybe I need a timer going and hold them to it. Is there any aspect of homeschooling that they like? None that I have found during these 2 weeks. Did they know in advance what the expectations were going to be? Yes, I explained in detail what would be expected. Math and reading every day, read alouds every day, English every day etc. Do you use checklists and give input (if they are old enough)? We use a check list. I'm not sure what kind of input they could have. I'm not doing much in the way of "electives". Can/do you combine anyone? I combine the 7&8 yo for a lot of it. All but math actually. The 5yo listens in during any reading that's taking place. Are you all business or is there some breathing room in your day (nature walks, art, read-alouds, projects, tea and poetry, etc.)? Well, since I'm not using a rigid schedule, no I'm not business all the time. I offer incentives for finishing things, but they don't seem to care about any of them. Maybe I haven't found the right tool yet. What are your reasons for homeschooling? I believe it's what God has called me as a parent to do. It will work better for our family because of our work schedules. I miss my kids. I can customize their education. ETA: I'm starting this early because it's a "trial run". They do not know this, they believe this is just the way it is. I may be starting nursing school in the spring (waiting for acceptance letter). Last fall I posted here about that asking if this was even do-able, and someone suggested I start in the summer so I could get a real feel for what the time commitment would be. I really WANT to do this. I really want this to work. I've always wanted to do it, but talked myself out of it and left them in public school. I won't be sending my 6th grader to public school, and between the time it would take to hs her, and then ps the rest I could have done all of them at the same time and saved time. Not to mention, the family time we'll gain. I decided to start in the summer to make sure I could do it. If it's a success I'll keep going until it gets too deep between hs and nursing school so I'll have wiggle room as far as my 180 days go. Does this make sense? I feel like I'm rambling. I worked last night and haven't had much sleep today lol.

We just started homeschooling this summer. Week 2 ended today, finally.....this has been the hardest 2 weeks of my life I'm pretty sure. I'm hoping that things will level out soon and they'll get used to it. 3 of the 4 are coming from p.s. and number 4 is in Kinder. Was it like this for anyone else when you started? They whine and cry about everything I ask them to do. It literally takes us all day to get anything done. They really don't like it at all. But when offered the alternative (p.s. getting up early, riding bus etc.) they quickly decide they want to work.....that doesn't last long though.

I kind of had that feeling....Maybe I can use SM for the youngers and find something different for my 6th grader. What's the favorite middle/high school math?

we'll eat it up to a year usually unless the seal is broken and there is freezer burn of course

I will begin homeschooling my 4 children in the summer. I'm completely torn between Horizons and Singapore maths. I'll have a K, 2nd, 3rd and 6th grader. I know that Singapore has a different scope and sequence than traditional styles (ie. public school). Has anyone here started their kids in the later years of elementary school in SM? I read that a lot of people use both to compliment each other. Any suggestions, thoughts, advice?

:lurk5:

Ok, I've been messing with this for about 4 hours and am about to scream! I'm assuming that I am unable to edit .pdf files in onenote, I wanted to put some of donnayoungs stuff there to work with, but I can't add my own text. Another issue, I have an excel file I want to upload to be able to edit. I can't do that either. Am I expecting too much from this? Do I need to do all the editing outside of the program and upload a new file everytime it's updated? Or do I need to reinvent the wheel for everything that I need? My head hurts now lol...

Great! Thanks so much :)

I'm new to all things H'Schooling and am planning to use R&S for grammar. We are starting next fall and I will be teaching a 6th, 3rd 2nd and Kinder. I'm wondering if I need to add a writing curriculum or is R&S sufficient for that? I'm sure to some this may sound like a stupid question, but I'm just trying to figure the whole thing out before it's time to start!!

I created a template, if you want I can email it to you...pm me your address

I'm planning to homeschool all 4 of my children starting the next school year, fall '14. My oldest dd(now 5th gr) is "ok" with the idea, she's not thrilled, but she's not totally against it. I haven't mentioned it to the youngers yet (1st and 2nd gr now) or the prek ds. I just wondered if anyone met major resistance from their child in the beginning and what you did to help them get used to and even maybe like the idea. thanks!

I realize that this is a really old thread, but I'm desperately looking for an excel template to make my weekly schedule look like SLs. Could someone who has one send me a copy please? I would be FOREVER grateful!

I'm new to the whole homeschooling scene and planning my curriculum for next year. I'm seeing all this information for this and wondered if I needed something like it. I'm using Sonlight Core for history and literature and Rod and Staff for grammer. Is this something I should add to my line up?

Newbie here.... I'm Rebecca, from the Tulsa area, mom to 4 kiddos (ages 10, 8, 6 and 4) I'll be starting homeschooling in fall 2014. I'm gathering ideas, information and resources right now as well as curriculum. I'm in school myself so it will be very challenging, but I'm really excited. There's so much support in the area I know we'll be successful. Can't wait to meet some of you!

I am SO glad I found this thread!!! I'm in this same exact situation right now. I have one in 5th, 2nd and 1st and one in PreK. THey've all been in Spanish Immersion since Kinder and I'm terrified that they'll lose all they've learned. These are great ideas. We'll continue reading and watching movies in Spanish. I think I'm going to start my PreK guy on Rosetta Stone or something similar right away so hopefully he'll get it soon too. I'm glad to see there are other families out there in my boat!