We rented a beach home for a week. We had our own walkway to the beach. The beach wasn't crowded, so we didn't get close to any other families - well over 20 ft. apart. The house hadn't been rented since before the pandemic. I know this because I know those who work at the vacation rental company and I know the people who own the home. I spent the first two days cleaning the house - partly because COVID was still on my mind and partly because it was very, very dirty. We did grocery pick up from Walmart. The only outing we did was pier fishing one night and put-put one day. The put-put course was limiting participants and sanitizing everything. Other than that we cooked in and stayed-in. This was the only way we could think of having a vacation and feel like we were doing our best to social distance.

I actually just bought Spelling Works! It was recommended on this forum. And I think combining it with vocab would make sense. And, yes, I will just use geography as a history lesson, instead of adding it on top of another lesson. these are great suggestions. Thanks!

Lori D. Thank you so much for your detailed response. This gives me some new ways to think about our schedule. I've looked at it so long, I just needed to step away and get someone else's perspective. Thank you for taking the time.

Yes, I think it's the total number of "things" that makes it feel like too much. Where, if they were integrated better, if would look like less. Like if, we could use our History lessons for writing lessons. But I need IEW, as I'm not confident in teaching writing without something. We need spelling help. Until this year, we've followed a Charlotte Mason approach and I kept thinking copywork and dictation was enough to improve his spelling. This year I realized he's going into high school and his spelling is not good at all. So this is kinda remedial. I could probably get rid of vocabulary. I thought of dropping Art of Argument and just adding it next year. But we could do it orally once a week. We've used Rosetta Stone for the past 2 years, so it's not a big transition. We go through it slowly, only 15 minutes or so a day. Thank you so much for your suggestions.

This is very helpful. Thank you.

The history and biography reader are books that go along with the history period we are studying. For example, this year we are studying Medieval history and he will read literature and biographies like Crispin and a Marco Polo biography. He reads them at his own pace and just picks up another when finished. Then we discuss it. I reserve the Literature read-aloud for more difficult books like Beowulf. Yes, my gut tells me it’s too much. I’ve got to decide what needs to go.

Ladies, I need your opinion. I’m planning next year’s schedule for my 8th grade son. He’s a good reader and sometimes does his readings at night before in bed. He works independently for the most part, with a little help. But IEW is new for us and will take lots of assistance. As I put the schedule together I feel like it’s too much. I don’t want to stress him out and make him hate school. I need an outside opinion. I enjoy having him in our Circle Time activities because it’s the only thing we do together as a group during the day, but I guess I could give him that time off. See below and tell me what you think: Daily Subjects Circle Time (with Group Read Aloud) – approx. 45 min Literature Read Aloud (with 7th grade brother) – approx. 30 min Algebra 1 (online) History – Book of the Middle Ages by Dorothy Mills History reader Biography reader Bible Memory Work – 5 minutes 4 days a week Art of Argument Apologia Physical Science Writing – IEW Fix it Grammar – 15 min Spelling – 15 min Vocabulary – Wordly Wise – 10 min Other Art – 2 x week PE - 3 x week – basically soccer practice Rosetta Stone Spanish – 3 x week - Geography - Map work that goes along with history – 1 x per week

We've always memorized poetry and scriptures. This past year I allowed the kids to choose their own poems and that brought new life into it. My oldest always chooses the shortest poem I will approve. My middle will always chose something funny. And the youngest will always choose a poem about animals. It's funny to see their personalities come out. :) Sometimes I'm sad when years later they don't remember poems we spent a lot of time on. I thought they would remember them forever. But then they will bring up one I had totally forgotten, as if it was yesterday when we last read it. We go over our poems during our Morning Time sessions and I've started using Fridays as a day to go back and review poems from the past.

This is a very interesting topic to me. I've never even thought of blaming a university for being accepted but not being able to pass the classes. The article is interesting. I'll have to think about this more.

This ^, I really think this is where I am right now. It started with writing in April. I came to a point where I thought my oldest wasn't where he needed to be going into the 8th. I started looking into writing programs, then methods of teaching writing. From there I basically determined we had homeschooled "incorrectly" for 9 years!! :) It so easy to jump ship from fear and self-doubt. I made an elaborate plan to get my boys "back on track" and now with a summer break I'm finally able to look at the situation with a clearer mind. We have an area we need to work on, I've not completely neglected my children's education.

I can't speak for others but this is what I have in mind.

Thank you!! This is very helpful. Can't wait to check it out.

The discussion in this thread has put into words many of the thoughts I've been wrestling with lately. I've tried enough boxed curriculum that I know nothing is going to fit us perfectly. I rather enjoy making it our own. This past year was the first year I've been confident enough to just choose my own history and literature books to just read and discuss. And it was very freeing and satisfying. It was our best year by far. My middle DS (a slow reader) told me it was his favorite year because he loved his books. That was all the encouragement I needed to continue making my own. It is soooo much work and I understand some families do not have the time or desire to do so. I've only been homeschooling for 8 years. I'm no expert, but I feel like I could help a newbie, if only with encouragement. At the same time, High School is just around the corner and I wish I had someone who has walked that walk before who I could discuss ideas with. We are mostly homeschool loners. Closest co-op is 45 minutes away. I do have one other homeschool family in our church. I've joined a few FB groups for community but they often leave me feeling disappointed and uninterested. It seems that just a few years ago (maybe 5?) I could find far more encouraging homeschool mama blogs that were not just about curriculum choices or box days but about the ins & outs of homeschooling. Maybe it's my imagination.

I'm interested.

K12 has free online summer courses on coding: https://www.k12.com/virtual-school-offerings/dca-summer-programs.html#summer-school-faqs My rising 8th grader is considering them.