My dh used to be on a three shift rotation - a week each of day, afternoon and night shift. When he was on day shift, the days were, obviously, just normal. On night shift we operated pretty much the same because he would be sleeping during the day. I had to try to keep the kids up one end of the house, no piano prac etc while he was sleeping. When he was on afternoon shift we operated differently. After breakfast, while dh was still sleeping because he ended late night before, we did a bit of school - like maybe till morning tea. Then we stopped, had time with Daddy across thd middle of the day until he left for afternoon work. We had our main meal at lunch then too. After he left, we would then school again until dinner which would be light and easy because we ate big at lunch. It worked pretty well really. It was really important that Dad and kids got to spend time together so we just did what we had to do. He's back on permanent days now, so life as normal :)

Nearly all my kids 'do stuff' while I read aloud - even the older ones. They cross-stitch, knit, do puzzles, play solitaire card games, draw, play with toys, etc. Sometimes the little ones get a bit loud and I have to shush them. My oldest is doing BA in Ministry and she has been listening to a lot of online lectures. She told me the other day that she found she would drift off while listening but then discovered if she was knitting at the same time she would concentrate much better - she's 21 ;) . I agree also with using mealtimes, and I also think OhElizabeth's advice is great about training to sit, but not necessarily use read aloud time as the training ground. Keep at it :)

For 4th grade I do 40 mins assigned reading time and probably have a literature book and one of either history or science on the go at the same time. So, for instance, the 40 mins might consist of a double page of the science book and the rest of the time in literature. When the science book was finished then you could replace it with a history selection if you wanted to. In our house Bible readings were usually at a separate time - like morning before breakfast. Hope the helps. PS: My son was very similar to yours at that age. He would often enjoy the books I assigned but would not regularly choose to read left to his own devices. I assigned lots of level 2 and 3 SL books - they were soooo good for him :) . He's in 6th grade now and stays awake reading too late at night because he wants to but, hey, who am I to put a stop to that...;)

I'd let her. My 13yo dd decided at the start of the year that she wanted to learn Indonesian - I am doing French with the others. Her reason is that we have two sponsor children in Indonesia and she would like to visit them one day. So I gave her the choice of French with us or Indonesian on her own - she chose the latter. She is totally self motivated and uses Mango languages which seems to be working really well for her. Learning the language for her own reasons has been a real motivator her.

Science in the Beginning. It covers a wide range of topics in an organized way.

I have a K'er. On a typical day she: - joins our family time at or after breakfast during which we pray, read Bible, sing, memorize, poetry, do read-aloud. Our current read-aloud is The Hobbit so she tends to drift off and play at that point which is fine but she joins us for the rest. - read with me and dd4 on couch. Our reading are from Sonlight's P4/5 program but you could definitely just pick your own books that suited. We read science or social studies type book and Bible story here, do a bit of memory and sing a song. - a lesson or two of mathsonline. - phonics/handwriting/writing/maths book. Not usually all on same day. - play outside with siblings - free play with little sister - read aloud at lunch with family. - after lunch reader time. Maybe some literature or other picture book reading. - violin practice at some stage. This might look like a lot but, other than the family times, this only takes somewhere around 90 mins.

Maybe you could have them draw a picture about what you read and then tell you about it. The picture could be the evidence you need for the state and it wouldn't be a taxing for the girls. OR You could do an activity related to the reading (make a model, cook something, build something, my kids sometimes acted out sections from SOTW) and take photos that could be scrapbooked which could also be used as evidence. Just some thoughts...:)

Loving SL here.

Not outsourcing anything for dd15 except violin and one 4 week science course from Open 2 Study. We may do another of their 4 week courses later in the year. We'll see..... Dd17 is doing an online certificate in Events Management along with her other studies.

I love this 'guided flexibility' - sounds like something I could work with. Do you mind if I ask how many hours a day you had your kids work - say, for example, 5 hour-long blocks a day??? Did they do an hour(ish) of each subject every day, or did you change it around between subjects? Just curious and looking for ideas for my 10th grader....

My ds11 has recently started 6th grade. He is not a big writer so we are working on this regularly and improving.... Math: Mathsonline/Targeting Maths 6 Sonlight Core F - includes Bible, History and Literature Sonlight Science E - he is loving this. Writing: WWE 3 continued, dictations and selected assignments from SL LA, Mom made assignments Spelling: Successful Spelling 5 Grammar and Skills: Grammar Ace/Successful English (workbook including some writing, comprehension, and grammar - alternated with Grammar Ace) Language: French Music: Piano PE: Bike Riding, Cricket We also do some family topics which will include art, Australian history, extra history and science, geography, composers etc

I'm doing SL core P 4/5 with my 4 and 5 year olds. I love it. You can choose whichever level readers and LA you like without it affecting the Core.

Another vote for Sonlight. I am using it with Miss 5 and I am really liking it. You can pick whichever level of reading/LA that you would need for your child . I use workbooks along with the SL package - my girl also really likes her 'seatwork' - and together it works well.

Diana Waring materials. We actually use SL but I am using some DW materials for a unit during our family learning time. This is with kids that are 15, 13, 11, and 5. My 20yo was kind of listening in while doing something in the next room and became interested, and my 4yo (who wasn't even involved in the lesson) is talking about it too. Now that's multi-level learning....;)

Dd4 has only just turned 4. She is doing the SL P4/5 readings along with Miss 5, and some random preschool workbooks. Sometimes she likes to do some sight words - she asks for them - so we do a few. My eldest dd is also reading The Wizard of Oz to her and doing an associated lapbook (because we are in rehearsals for the musical at the moment) and she is really liking this. Oh...and a little bit of French. That's all really. Not too formal.

We use the Student Notebook which has a schedule and everything contained. It's a great resource. http://www.christianbook.com/exploring-creation-second-edition-student-notebook/vicki-dincher/9781935495703/pd/495703?event=HPT

I'm using SL's P4/5 program for Kindergarten and I love it. It covers Bible, read-aloud stories and rhymes, science, and social studies/culture. It also includes a song each week, a Bible verse to memorize and a character trait, and some simple activities to go along with some of the readings. We sometimes act out a story or a concept from the science book. We get out the map and find the countries where our international stories are coming from. It is low-key if you want to just read the books, but the added activities add to the richness when you have the time (and student interest). Anyway, like I said...I love it ;)

We started K a few weeks ago and we are doing: Sonlight P4/5: Love this!!! It includes literature, science, Bible and Social Studies/culture, songs, activities. Once again....love it. Math: Mathsonline and Excel workbooks. Family Math and games. Phonics: Learn to Read Write and Spell Bk 1 and 2. Maybe 3 - we'll see. LA: Sonlight LA1 - reading, writing, spelling etc. French: Oldest dd is doing French with my little girls. Taking it easy, having fun. Art: Preschool Art

I so agree with this. It's much easier to combine at natural together times than to pull everyone together once they've scattered. And they certainly can be rich times with multi ages. We had our 'Morning Hour' around the breakfast table this morning consisting of Bible reading and prayer, memory, singing, and a chapter of read-aloud. After lunch we had another read-aloud. This was with many different ages. It really can work beautifully.

My boy is 11 and he has 7 sisters. We have always homeschooled. We don't have any problems with him being the only boy in a 'girly' home. He spends time with his dad. He plays with the boys in our street because there happens to be some and they keep knocking at the door asking for him....not because we sought them out. He plays in a cricket team (Aussie thing to do ;) ) because he is cricket mad...not because we were desperate to seek out boy companionship. He plays sport with a bunch of boys after church because that's what they all like to do together. He also plays board games and music with his older sisters. He plays games and kicks the ball around with his younger sisters. He's very comfortable with girls and has none of the awkwardness that can pop up around that age sometimes. I think it's important that he (and my girls) learn to relate well in whichever situation they are in. I haven't seen that has had any issues because he's not constantly around other boys. In fact, when he joined his cricket team, he seemed to blend well with the other boys. It hadn't mattered a bit. Also, (you may already have thought of this), but I make sure that he takes part in household chores and learning to cook etc. Just because he has 7 sisters doesn't mean that he is going to sit around and have them do everything for him. I think it's just as important that he learn those skils as it is for them. He's on our chores roster and is scheduled to make a meal for the family once a week. He makes me a pretty good bullet proof coffee and latte too :hurray: .

I have one (or two or three) who would gladly sleep in and take their own sweet time in the mornings, but for the sake of the whole household and family we need to have a routine of sorts. So, we have a required breakfast time each morning so that breakfast and cleanup happens in a timely way and we can have time all together. Then, we can disperse each to their own. I also think that having some sort of start time (especially if it works around other commitments) is a life skill.

That's great. I hope you love it!!

. Yes, you would probably find a lot of reading to go along with the Usborne pages at AO. Certainly, you could use CHOW to 'flesh out' what you read and then add any extra books you find in the library or elsewhere. Www.mainlesson,com has lots of free downloadable books.

Maybe you would enjoy doing history the way it was outlined in the first edition of WTM: read a double page spread from Usborne history, talk about it, draw and write, then find a book to read that goes along with something covered on the page. Read and enjoy that book(s) then, when ready, move to next page of Usborne.

I had my first 6 in about 9 1/2 years. We did a lot of our content with Sonlight and SOTW. LA was a mixture of workbooks, Bravewriter and keeping subject journals, writing narrations etc. Much of this can be done together with young children because they respond at their own level. We read aloud a lot and the kids learnt to have their own quiet reading times as well. Activities from the SOTW manual were great together and created some awesome memories and I love looking back over their journals from these times. It's so very doable :)