I think, on the subject of school, busywork is going to happen, in a classroom setting with 20-30 kids, all at different levels, some of them will be doing busywork at some point. And I talk to my kids about this all the time. I remember writing pages and pages of grammar and math, even though I already knew it. My oldest hates writing and the lessons in FLL are plenty for him. He understands, writes a few sentences, and is done. No more. I would never make him just sit and write sentences if he already knows the concept. That's busywork. On the other hand, my second loves writing. In WWE, she will write BOTH sentences and I will always give her the longest writing assignment - because she likes it. It's not busywork to her; it's fun.

I'm leading toward this might be what I need. So thoughts now after a couple weeks: We visited my friend's CC on Monday and I'm pretty much in love. I really think it's what I need to motivate me to teach them better through the week. We already do FLL, WWE, SOTW at home and I'm familiar with the classical model. I love how you can tailor to each kid, and that each kid is doing the same types of things, just on their level. (They were all surprised to know that their science project was the same for all three of them!) It will be more money, and I'll have to be there but it's really not taxing to sit and listen and observe classes. Easier than being home trying to teach AND take care of the littles! We've been doing more field trips this week too and I really do love hands-on learning. I prefer to go with another group though so we would have to work on their timetable for scheduling those. Not that I couldn't go by myself but I'm too social I think for that too regularly. Lastly, I think I was trying to do too many extra things and I don't have time for them all! And it's OK. I do like couponing, but shopping multiple times a week is just too much. And I was trying to fill my afternoons without the older kids with outside things and that was running me ragged. I think I've found the passion I used to have, at least I'm closer than I was before. :)

Wow, you guys have blown me away with your input! Trying to, again, reply as much as I can. :) I DO think we need more field trips! Our one co-op does them once a month but last month it was a trampoline place?!?! and would have been $40 to go there and no educational value so yeah. The other one we were busy. I think I need to pare down MY activities. I'm trying to do too much myself, and then I get annoyed or stressed out when I have to spend time on the kids instead. And I laughed so much about the house cleaning thing. If it got much worse, we might get diseases. lol I kid, I kid, but really I'm pretty lenient when it comes to cleaning, plus I outsource a lot of it to the kids. ;) GOOD POINT! I feel a lot better since several of you have said something like this. I DO like teaching my kids, but I think I prefer more of the hands-on teaching than the book work. BUT at the same time, I LOVE being able to choose our curriculum and what they are learning to tailor to their and my needs. I am going to look into preschool for my almost 4yo. I would already have to pay for him to go to CC, which I don't think would really be worth it this early in the game for him. So maybe 2 days a week in preschool would be better. My hubby feels the same way about his job - he doesn't love it, wants to do more (actually a high school teacher, haha) but for different reasons, he's just not there yet. Homeschooling may not be my "ideal" in a perfect world, but it is the best we can do for our kids right now. I do like the idea of CC for the reasons you said - in some ways, it forces me to be there for my kids and be more involved and I like that idea. Funny - we have some great charter schools for middle school, so I'm leaning towards that from middle on out. I do only teach in the mornings but if I want to do anything else that day, I have to plan for it and sometimes I need time in th emorning to plan because if I start after lunch, it's like 3 or 4 when I finally get out and by then, I'm too tired lol. This all being said, I'm leaning towards CC for the older two, and we will see what to do w/ the younger ones. I would probably still keep the Wednesday co-op - gives them time with other friends, is only $100 total for the year for all three, and I'll get a little time to run errands. We will see if that's what the Lord has in store. I'm going to look into PS for the one kid. There is also a possibility of my in laws moving to town this year but they have to sell their house first. If they moved, I would feel SO much better about hsing because if I needed a break, they could help me. And don't worry; I'm not offended when people suggest public school. I have plenty of friends who use it and have liked it and I'm not against it. :) I would NOT like K12 though because yo uhave to use their curriculum and the thing I love about hsing is being able to choose what you want yourself.

 

Thanks all! Trying to address questions:        DH is supportive of us looking at different options. He is also supportive of me getting enough time for myself. Other than feeling like I can't send them to public school (which I have issues with as well), he is really open to helping me out and giving me the breaks that I need. He works a normal, 8-5 M-F job which is good but he doesn't really have much flex time during business hours. All that being said, I *still* have the kids all day every day. He can't do anything about that fact.      I don't really feel like the littles are a huge problem - they do make focusing on the older ones harder sometimes, but I feel like because I spend my whole morning teaching, I use the rest of the afternoon to plan shopping trips, etc. and the house doesn't get clean and extra things don't get done.  Educational philosophy: classical and Charlotte Mason. I do like getting out with the kids and don't love being home all the time. But having too littles makes it more difficult to get out, especially for longer day trips. I think I would really enjoy a day trip with the older two. Also like curriculum and guidance when it comes to what exactly to do. I love being able to choose what my children learn, and tailor it to their needs. My oldest is a self-learner and they both love reading all kinds of books about animals and history. So they get it. It's just not led by me.      Yes, the schedule would be a huge change. Like I said, my oldest went to Kindy and I picked him up every day at noon. That did get a bit old.  I think homeschooling is great for my oldest. But the next one, I'm on the fence. She always says she hates co-op but I know she enjoys it when she's there. But she's also very needy - needs me to guide and help her, and doesn't play well by herself. Sometimes I feel like school for her would be helpful socially. She's also very dramatic and we have regular blow ups where she goes to her room yelling, etc. That really frazzles me.      That makes sense. We are both praying tons for leading from God. I honestly can say it was God who led me to home school when I had zero desire to do it the year before. And I think it's my own wants that keep me from enjoying it to the fullest with my kids. My own things that pull me and make it so I don't want to take the time to teach. When I've spent the whole morning teaching, I just want the kids to leave me alone for the rest of the day. That's just how I feel right now. And I hate it. Sometimes I think I will appreciate them more if they're in school full time. I have others who say my kids are intelligent and wonderful and wonder what I do with them that makes it so. I feel like I'm doing nothing, haha. I've learned not to worry about things like crafts and stuff that aren't my forte. But some things, I really like and can tell that they like and I'm not doing with them.       Honestly, I don't dislike any of the subjects. I just dont' feel like I have the time for them all!    We do have a private school that does part time homeschool where you can pay per class. Still pretty expensive but may be an option for us. I need to look into more things like this maybe.     And I think this is why I'm considering CC - it's less time for myself, but it FORCES me to be with them and in their lives more. And that may be what I need - maybe having that will bring that desire back to me and make me WANT to teach them. I do like getting out with them. I go crazy at home all day. And CC starts early Monday morning which might be the boost I need at the beginning of the week to get it started right. Then the support of CC. I'm NOT getting that at the co-ops I'm at - one of them, most of the moms have younger kids so they think I'm the big cheese lol. Other one, I really barely know anyone because it's always drop-off. Would love advice on books to read because I love reading! I've read The Well-Trained Mind.. that's it lol. And I think I need more field trips. Co-ops have them but they have recently been very expensive and/or far away and hard for me to do with four small kids.  

Background: We weighed many choices when my oldest started school and decided on Christian school for him. I prayed about the next year because of the cost of schooling, and I decided I would be able to home school him. He is an EXCELLENT student - intelligent and relatively self-motivated. Fast forward to now. My oldest is in 3rd grade. The past few years have worked well, but ever since January, I have felt pulled and haven't felt the desire to teach like I once did. My biggest qualms with homeschooling are having all four home with me 24/7 (have 3rd, 1st, 3yo, 2yo) and not having enough down time to do things that *I* like to do - couponing, selling on Ebay, and mystery shopping. I feel like I'm sacrificing my children's education for my own selfish desires. :( This year, they are doing two co-ops, both of which are drop off and give me some time to run errands on my own. But I find that on the other days, I'm not doing enough to get everything done. And I feel like they're missing out - I have barely done any history and science this whole semester and I feel HORRIBLE about it. :( Plus, I am SO jealous of others who happily send their kids to public school and have time by themselves, or have older kids out of the house and just have the freedom to do more of what they want. DH and I are on similar pages when it comes to homeschooling, but he's a little more resistant to public school. He is more concerned that the kids would be conformed and molded to be like the other kids and doesn't want that. In our area, there are many Christian school but they are either very expensive, or very fundamental. I'm looking into doing CC with my kids next year, but that means much more expensive (even though it would replace one co-op) and me having LESS time to make some money on the side. The drop off co-ops keep me sane, but I need the accountability of outside projects so that I have a reason to teach. I still, though, don't have the desire to teach them. When my oldest was in K, thinking about homeschooling stressed me out. I never saw myself as a home schooler - I thought we would be able to find a cheaper Christian school to send them to. But we can't. I think I'm pretty set that once middle school hits, they will go to charter. I also think my daughter is much harder to school than my son. So maybe considering something different for her only?? I just don't know. She is very easily molded so public school for her could be detrimental. I just wonder - is it really best for my kids to home school them because it's the lesser of other evils for me? Easiest/cheapest choice? Any thoughts? How do I know??

I might end up starting a new thread on this, but since you mentioned it: I haven't done any WWE with my 3rd grader - just the dictations from FLL and he was doing HWT up until now. What level should I start him on with WWE? I might do the assessment with him and see but I'm thinking maybe level 2. He is in FLL3

My hubby and eye have weird things like this. Like, I was taught to tie my shoes left handed so that's how I do it. Both hubby and I change diapers the "wrong" way - with the baby's head facing the right and butt on the left. When we change the diapers at church, the table is always set up "wrong" - with right handed people in mind. But we are both right handed and do it that way.

My hubby and I are right handed and our two older kids are left handed! My MIL is a leftie and remembers the teacher trying to get her to write with her right hand in school, but I think it was being phased out by then because she never listened. The only thing I've really noticed is our HWT book actually says some words are written differently if you are a leftie - like they have them cross t's from right to left instead of left to right. I'm not sure what else. I do know that it seems like you have to work with them a bit more on handwriting because they tend to want to form things wrong right off the bat (like circles from the bottom, l's from the bottom, etc.). like others have said. We have never had left handed scissors and the kids have never complained. My 7yo cuts well and my 5yo cuts okay but I wonder if she would do better w/ left handed scissors. I just had them both show me their cutting skills and they both happily cut w/ left hands and right handed scissors. Interesting.

So I went to buy the next HWT for my Kindergartener who is just about done with her current one and realized, after all this time, that I accidentally bought her the first grade book for Kindergarten!! Ha! I remember that it's VERY similar to the Kindergarten one, so similar that my now second-grader didn't even finish his last year because he didn't really need the review. So my question is, should I go back and get her the K level one, or ....? She definitely still needs work on printing and forming words correctly. Has anyone used the level 2 book? We went from level 1 to level 3 cursive with my son because he was ready and asking for it.

^^This is hilarious! You are so creative! I don't think my kid would like the music part - he would get too distracted listening to it! I do like a lot of your ideas - like teaching it to the toys and declaring you done after a certain amount of time and you can't finish later. My son HATES not to finish something. He will leave math unfinished, but only if he knows he can finish the rest of the lesson next time. So I wonder what he would do if I threatened him with not finishing it next time. So far, sitting with him is very effective. Plus, we are doing geometry right now and he loves that because it's not really "math" haha.

He started disliking Horizons towards the end of last year so I don't think it's a good fit. I think MM is WAY better with conceptual stuff and he is learning many more ways to do math and I really like that aspect of it. He knows the material, just gets overwhelmed with the amount of work he has to do. I do think crossing out problems would help. I like Math Mammoth and I don't think switching again would really help. BUT I do think that if this went on, he would really grow to hate math. He already says he does. So yes, it's time to intervene. So this morning, I sat down with him and was attentive and went over problems with him and guided him and he got two pages done in probably 20 minutes. I still had to attend to the other kids briefly but overall it went *much* better. It was also a review section so that helped. We are heading into geometry and he's excited about that so I really really hope this helps bring back the things he likes about math.

Thanks guys! He didn't need me to sit w/ him last year so I guess I just assumed he should be able to do it on his own this time as well. I'm going to try and sit with him and really help him. I do sit with both him and his sister at the beginning but it takes him a lot longer than that to get it done if I'm not focusing on him. I just need to figure out the best use of time for this. Maybe I could have him work on things he can do himself first while I work w/ sister, who really doesn't take long to get her stuff done, then when she is done, work w/ him with Math and whatever else, then come back to history and/or science w/ both of them. I think figuring out the best schedule would help get through things quickly and smoothly. I feel like most days it just drags out so much.

Ugg.... so ever since the end of last year, tackling math for our then first grader has went steadily downhill. Since he started second grade, it sometimes takes him all day to do his math. This really puts stress on me because I have to constantly redirect him. Some info: I switched from Horizons to Math Mammoth this year thinking maybe a change of pace would help. He KNOWS the material but just doesn't want to do it. I've tried starting early, which works better but still takes him until lunch to get it done. He always wants to get it done first, but I've taken to letting him work on it in between helping his sister and then working w/ him on spelling or language or something else that he needs my help with in between just to break it up and not waste my time. I try putting him at the table with his sister, at the couch in the adjoining room, or in the kitchen more away from people and nothing helps. He will just sit and daydream or read whatever is within reach or look out the window, etc. I just don't know what else to do to get him to do it. It's only his math that he's like this with, nothing else. I think because it takes the longest. I'm actually wondering if he just needs less problems, but I guess I'm worried that if I give him less to do, he won't learn it thoroughly enough. Also, I don't have time to just do fun mathy things with him. I think I would go more insane then I am now. I'm just not that kind of homeschool teacher.

So I *think* we've decided to stick w/ Singapore for our math, after using Horizons last year and my son not liking the repetitive-ness of it and looking at a lot of other options like Math Mammoth, Math U See, etc. We bought the workbook and have been going through it but I definitely need the Teacher's Guide and manipulatives to help DS really see what they're doing. The thing is, it's costly. And I'm cheap. And he is the first of four kids. So, are the TG and TB easy to find used since they are reusable? If I can get those for $5-$10 each, that makes the $12.50 textbook easier to stomach. But if I start investing in these I will probably just stick w/ it for all my kiddos. Has anyone used JUST the TG and the Textbook and not the workbook? DS likes being able to write in his answers so that would be easier.