Two of my kids were very lucky to survive to their fifth birthdays. You have my sympathies!

You're not her, and she's not you. Your kids and her kids are not the same. You will not do things the same way. I think a lot of times new homeschoolers have in their minds that there is A Right Way or A Best Way to do things, and it's just not true. Instead of helping her imitate you, which is obviously not working for her, try to help her figure out what will work for her. You might even start with the way you would do things and ask her what's one aspect that she would change to make it feel more "her." And when she asks, "What about ABC, XYZ, etc.," you can say, "I wouldn't choose to do that, but it might work for you. What about that is making you think it would be a good idea?"

The game Robot Turtles may be a good place to start. My kids have enjoyed the courses on code.org, but I don't know how well that would work in a group setting.

It suits our needs well, I think. I am learning along with her; she begged me for an additional language and then picked one I have zero experience with, lol. It is VERY slow and incremental. Right now the vocabulary we've learned is mainly nouns, introduced with each letter of the alphabet. We're only in book 1 currently. I use the teacher book, student workbook, and audio files. I think there are a couple other resources that I did not get. DD loves it and is enjoying it very much.

No, never sneaked out. And as far as I can recall, I was pretty much always where I said I would be and/or with who I said I'd be with. (Okay, my parents didn't know how often I went to the Burger King drive-thru for breakfast on my way to my dual enrollment classes.) I voted "other" on the question about my own kids because my oldest is 11, so my "no" wouldn't be terribly meaningful at this point. 😉

It probably depends on the child as to what would be most effective. I had been doing it the opposite way and then tried changing it and was amazed at how much of a difference it made. So it may be worth trying both ways to see what works best for your DS9.

I know you said you have something figured out, but I thought I would add this: Things flow more smoothly at my house if I make sure DS (my highest-energy child) gets my attention FIRST. He is capable of working independently for a bit while I focus on his sisters, but he is SO MUCH BETTER at doing that if he has already had his turn being my focus.

I had already posted in the grade-level threads before this thread was started. I can't remember if I have normally posted in those or not. My kids are accelerated different amounts, but here are the plans for next year as they currently stand...may look slightly different from what I initially posted in those threads. This thread is also better for showing where I'm combining kids. 🙂 Grade levels listed are age-based grades for the 20-21 school year. DD#1 (6th) and DD#2 (3rd) together History: K12 Human Odyssey volume 2. I will make my own "student pages" to go with the text like I have done for volume 1, also incorporating map work from MapTrek. Writing: Writing & Rhetoric, books 7 & 8. Science: physics is the plan. Still looking into options, but right now I'm leaning toward Hewitt's Conceptual Physics. Grammar: jury's still out on whether we will do grammar or not. If we do, it will be Grammar for the Well-Trained Mind. DD#1 (6th) Reading: mom-selected books. Computer skills: coding (Python, not sure yet what resource/s); typing (Typing Instructor and maybe starting to type some papers). Math: AOPS Intro to Algebra. Foreign language: I'm not sure what we'll do. She'll wrap up book 2 of Lively Latin this year. So I could have her start Wheelock's, with a sense of "this is easy because I've already done it" for a lot of the first half of the book. Or I could let her choose a modern language to start instead, because she's feeling a bit Latin-ed out. On the other hand, some friends do a Latin club that competes and they've told me she would be welcome to participate...and that could be a good thing for her. And she doesn't actually have another language that she's particularly interested in learning. So...that was a lot of words to say "I don't know, but something." DD#2 (3rd) Reading: mom-selected books. Computer skills: coding (Scratch); typing (Typing Instructor and maybe starting to type some papers). Math: AOPS Prealgebra. Foreign language: continuing Lively Latin 2; continuing Russian Step by Step. DS (1st) Grammar: First Language Lessons 2. Writing: some A Beka handwriting, and some WTM-style narration & copywork incorporated with science, history, and reading. Reading: mom-selected books. Math: *pretty sure* that I will start him on Beast Academy 2, and we'll use Math Mammoth 2 to shore up any weak areas as needed. BA2 wasn't out for my girls, so I don't have a good feel for whether DS is ready for it or not. Based on the placement test for 2A, it looks like probably, but with a couple of spots he should work on more. History: Story of the World 2 (might need to finish the tail end of 1). Science: most likely, this will be a mishmash of topics studied through books and YouTube videos, plus he will observe demonstrations/experiments that his sisters are doing for their science, and he'll absorb some knowledge through that as well. This is pretty much what we're doing this year. All three kids Piano lessons Children's choir Whatever sports or other activities we end up signing up for!

Given that I learned yesterday that someone I know died this past week from flu complications...I'd say yes, do what you can - get the shot.

My oldest will be in 6th grade this fall. Reading: mom-selected books. Computer skills: coding (Python - not sure what resource); typing (Typing Instructor). Math: AOPS Intro to Algebra. History: K12 Human Odyssey, volume 2 (possibly finishing up volume 1 first...not sure if we'll get through all of it this year). Science: the topic will be physics, but I haven't yet started looking at options for resources. Writing: Writing & Rhetoric, books 7-8. Foreign Language: I'm really not sure. She'll have finished Big Book of Lively Latin (both 1 and 2) at the end of this year. Starting Wheelock's is a possibility, or starting a modern language of her choosing. Grammar: if we do grammar, it'll be Grammar for the Well-Trained Mind at about half-pace. But we may continue the "grammar break" we've been on this year. She'll also continue with piano lessons and children's choir.

My middle one will be in 3rd grade this fall. A lot of this is just continuing on or doing the next thing from what she's doing this year. Reading: mom-selected books. Computer skills: coding (Scratch); typing (Typing Instructor). Math: AOPS Prealgebra. History: K12 Human Odyssey, volume 2 (possibly finishing up volume 1 first...not sure if we'll get through all of it this year). Science: the topic will be physics, but I haven't yet started looking at options for resources. Writing: Writing & Rhetoric, books 7-8. Latin: Big Book of Lively Latin 2 (continuing from this year). Russian: Russian Step by Step (continuing from this year). Grammar: if we do grammar, it'll be Grammar for the Well-Trained Mind at about half-pace. But we may continue the "grammar break" we've been on this year. She'll also continue with piano lessons and children's choir.

My youngest will be in 1st grade in the fall. Grammar: FLL 2. Writing: probably some A Beka handwriting, plus WTM-style narration & copywork incorporated with science, history, and reading. Reading: mom-selected books. Math: It will be either A Beka 2 or Beast Academy 2. I have used A Beka and Beast Academy, but haven't used level 2 for either of them. I go back and forth in my mind about which would be a better fit for him...the only thing I feel certain about is that Math Mammoth 2, which is what I used for both his sisters, is NOT the right choice. Sigh. History: SOTW, finishing volume 1 and then going to volume 2. Science: most likely, this will be a mishmash of topics studied through books and YouTube videos, plus he will observe demonstrations/experiments that his sisters are doing for their science, and he'll absorb some knowledge through that as well. This is pretty much what we're doing this year. He'll also continue with piano lessons and children's choir. He wants to learn another language because his sisters are doing so, but I am not ready to add that to his workload or mine.

I'm so, so very sorry, AM. You and your family are in my prayers.

Picked up a child at the zoo to hold her for a picture. Knee surgery, and knee pain ever since (6.5ish years now). When I was a kid, I was doing underwater flips in the babysitter's pool and having a contest with another kid to see who could do more in a certain amount of time. I decided I could go faster if I didn't open my eyes when I came up for air. Five stitches on my forehead after I banged my head right into the concrete at the side of the pool. I regularly run into things like door frames that I swear are out to get me. I've broken toes doing that sort of thing a few times. Just clumsy.

Sent!