Bedschooling! Seriously, during the horrors of morning sickness, I would cuddle in bed with whoever and work with them here. They love it. I feel fine now that bambino is very close, but Miss T and I still do school in bed.

The happiest Baby on the block and some big swaddling blankets

Simply Charlotte Mason https://simplycharlottemason.com/store/product-category/product-language-arts/ The free book is on this page. If you snoop around her blogs, she has a whole series on narration.

I tend to do a lot of narration (SCM has a big section on this on the website and a free ebook). What I did is start by reading aloud a paragraph or 2 or very short story (fables work well) and get the kid to tell it back to me. No questions, no direction. And then gradually build up length and then the child reading it on their own. It works well, though what the kid thinks is important is often not what you think is important, and that's okay. It's a surprisingly difficult skill, but after several years of practice, my kids can retain a chapter or two of a book, and tell me the main points and what they are interested in after a single reading. And it tends to stay in their memories long term. At that point, you can start discussing some of the points that the child felt was interesting, work on some more analytical/engage the text type questions. The child has typically been doing that for a while, but they often will do it days afterwards in play or in a less structured environment until they get older.

My plan is to work through Winston Churchill's A History of the English Speaking Peoples over grades 7 and 8. The reading level is a bit of a stretch, but it's gory and chatty, which is always good.

Yes. The review continues through the books.

Money gets hit again in gamma, and figures in word problems throughout MUS. Measurement units appear in gamma as well with lots of problems. No running around with a ruler type questions, though. HTH.

Miss T was mystified by this. Then one day, she ran into the room and cried " 5 til 7 means five minutes until seven!" Then D looked at her and said "or 6:55." It took us a while to pull her off of him :-). She finally got this concept this year. I really don't think MM explains this well, and it's tough at the best of times. I found playing with a model clock worked much better.

Grace Van Den Dool has a series called Keyboard Theory. It's self teaching, and you can get answers for the intermediate and advanced books. We didn't need answers for the A to E books. Follows the RCM curriculum. http://bookstore.rcmusic.ca/books2-1/keyboard-theory-preparatory-series-2nd-edition-book-a.html?___SID=U

Hugs and I'm sorry.

My kids do a fair bit of copybook at that age (they aren't ready for independent writing usually). Slow is the norm. Definitely start with what she can do well and easily even if it is 2-3 words (or letters), and then gradually increase length. With the ADD, if she's like mine, there will be good days and bad days. The focus should be her best work, not the length, and it's okay to stop in the middle and go back the next day. For my kids at that age, a sentence might take a whole week. Printing the model above is certainly helpful. Also, it's much easier if its something she can read (not sure if reading is an issue, but it is for my kids at that age). Reversals are normal (I hope) even if they are copying. Mine typically reverse until age 8 or so, even with a model. Mark capitals and punctuation with a highlighter. The French dictation thing is somewhat helpful, but my kids really couldn't do it until age 7 or 8, and we did that from the Wand, which is for less advanced readers. With Miss T we would practice all the words ahead many times so she could remember them. D usually remembers the spelling from doing the copy the day before, but I need to remind him constantly about caps vs. lower case. Charlotte Mason actually advised copying only until age 10 or so, and then adding in dictation at that time-with the plan that the child would study the dictation ahead. Quick plug for HWOT if you need a handwriting program (you may not). It also focusses on quality rather than quantity, which is great for the kid with ADD. You can do a page in less than 5 minutes, and if you do a tiny bit daily, you'll get done comfortably in a year. I also use the chalk boards and such when needed for multi sensory practice-which helps to break it up.

Thanks, interesting!

I agree, don't panic and don't hurry. With math, it is all about foundation. Number games, lots of counting, manipulatives, etc. Kitchen Table Math is a great resource. I actually restarted math with Miss T in grade 3 (she had really just missed the point) and this year she is now a strong math student.

Just the text book. I find the TM helpful since my grammar is weak, but if you are comfy with the material, just the book is likely enough.

There's a great talk on this from the Circe institute https://www.circeinstitute.org/audio Imago Dei and the Redemptive Power of Fantasy by Angelina Stanford I think this question is pretty much as old as Christianity. She has another excellent talk on this subject in the area where you can buy talks, too.

Please add me as well and thanks

Miss T also has a large gap from verbal reasoning/perceptual reasoning to working memory and processing much, much lower. All our psychologist could say was "that's a really challenging learning profile, and no wonder she gets frustrated." And treat the ADD (hers is inattentive). Treating her ADD with meds has really helped. I'd adapted what I could already, and I've been shocked at what a difference stimulants had made. She is slow to get through things though, and I do have to remember to breath when she slowly and painfully wanders towards the point :-}. Her frustration levels have dropped dramatically, which is very good. I also avoid timed work like the plague.

BTW love the no fear plan.

Haven't read all the replies, so this may be answered. R&S is very religious, old order Mennonite. Lots of references to the bible and God, lots of moralizing. Most questions have about half the questions without a religious theme, so you can reduce it somewhat. Lots of pictures of farms and traditional gender roles. I know some secular families use it with no problems. We are Christian but find it a bit over the top. It is a good opportunity to discuss that different people believe different things. Other people find it pretty hard to get past the preaching. HTH.

Hugs, 8 and thanks so much for sharing your story. I really appreciate hearing the stories and advice of people who have walked this road before.

Sounds like he has a good coping strategy (leaving, hugging cat). Tears are one of the better possibilities when dealing with overwhelming emotions, so right away I would support his current strategies, and make sure he has an exit when the going gets tough. And the brothers leave him alone. And let him know it's okay to cry. After that a psychologist or zones could be helpful.

Narrations can be written or oral. They can and should include the child's ideas as well as the author's. They can be in different formats as well: picture, paragraph, poetry for example. It's a very flexible idea.

What I did for my kid at that age who was a reluctant writer was focussed on reading and spelling (I used A&P but wouldn't switch if you like what you have). We did HWOT every day and copy book and freewriting each once a week. I scribed when she needed help. Just pull copybook out of what she is reading. We started R&S 3 for grammar and writing this year (Grade 4) now that she has more stamina. It has a ton of practice with sentence writing and mechanics, and with her better stamina she is doing well. R&S is pretty advanced, so a grade behind is fine, and the grade 3 book is a really good one. It is dull but covers everything. And the lessons are a good length. My next kid D will be in grade 3 next year, and I will spend lots of time on copy book and start formal spelling. He writes better, but reads less well. He is also much older for his grade, so I may start R&S 3 for writing and grammar. I'll have to see where he is in the fall.

Amen to setting limits. Kids need to learn that you are a human being with stuff to do, too. It's hard, but it is okay to say not right now. Plus, he needs to learn to be considerate, because no one other than you will ever listen to him that long. I say this as a motormouth myself, and the mom of a few :-).

Hugs and it sounds like you have a good plan. I also struggle with burn out from time to time between the kids and work, so I do take breaks when needed. The biggest thing for us is that school gets done before anything else. Housework, dishes, whatever. I really focus on one or two priorities for the year and ignore or unschool content, especially for younger kids. Where your kids love to read, that becomes quite easy. My older 2 are at the point that they read and we discuss content when I'm doing other stuff. And don't worry about the testing. Sounds like you found an explanation.