Homeschooling really appealed to me when I was pregnant with my first. I was gifted in a school district that didn't have resources to help me. I was brilliant at math and can remember loving it, craving it, and yet by the time I was forced to do things that bored me to tears over and over I gave up trying. I saw kids on both ends of the achievement spectrum get totally lost in the shuffle and so many good kids get into bad situations from too little worthwhile challenge or too much of being told that they were stupid and wouldn't ever be successful. I wanted that not to be my kids, wherever they fell in terms of abilities. We live in Ontario where Jr. K is started the year you turn four, with a Dec 31 cutoff (so the oldest kids are 4y8m, and the youngest kids are 3y8m). When oldest DS was JK eligible his birthday falls the week before school started and I was due with my third baby the day after school started (and as it turned out he was born on his due date). We decided to unschool JK and take it year by year. The follow September I was really really torn between homeschooling and putting him in French immersion when it became an option. We decided to put him in French immersion and see how he did and it turned out that he did great. The second week of school DH had a major stroke out of nowhere and we ended up being grateful that DS1 was in school as it was one kid taken care of during the day for free when I was busy with DH at the hospital. We enrolled the other two who were 2yo and 1yo in daycare for the same reason. Fast forward three years and we had DS1 in grade 3, DS2 in SK, and DS3 eligible for JK. We decided to keep the youngest home because he is autistic with a speech delay and I was sure we could do at least as well for him at home with less stress for him. Our oldest was being bullied constantly. The kid responsible was suspended multiple times but he'd return and nothing changed. Our poor boy was having nightmares and was wound up tight with anxiety all the time. At the start of October he came home after being dragged through gravel and we decided we were done trying to let the school sort it out. He never went back. Middle kiddo was in a fabulous class with fabulous teachers and we'd have let him stay there but he chose to come home and now it is really amazing how much things fell into place like it was meant to be all along. We will take it year by year but I can see continuing all the way through as a very real possibility now. I found wtm forum when I googled the book on the advice of a friend who is a former home schooler. I'm so glad I found you all :)

Me too

I am! My sister asked last night if she could come for a visit this morning so this morning once everyone is up will be tidying up and getting ready for the morning with her mostly. After she leaves we need to get schoolwork done. I'd like to get history, math, spelling, reading, and science done. Maybe even a geography movie. I'd also like to catch up on dishes and laundry as much as possible. Hoping my pain stays low and energy stays high :)

First time seeing this thread but I thought I should check in too! I'm in the east part of Toronto now but in the almost seven years since I've been married we've lived in Belleville and Niagara Falls as well :)

I do. In my case though it was trial by fire and we had to get through some big trials in order to come together as an unbreakable team. I love my husband. I value his contributions to our marriage and lives and I don't know how I'd ever manage without him. Things are never easy around here as we have multiple people with medical complexities under one roof and our days involve a lot of needing to work hard to have everyone at their best possible level of health. We regularly are told by outsiders that they don't know how we do what we do (the answer is we became good at it when we were given no other choice, we didn't pick it but we do what we have to do). Our days (and nights!) are often exhausting. Our marriage has gotten better with time though and I could not have a better partner in life. He loves me for me, supports me where I am weak, and gives me the fun and levity I need for us to be able to do what there is to do. Marriage is a lot of work, a lot more than I fully understood when I got married. To be as blessed as I am in marriage though is, I feel, a rare gift.

Thank you so much! This is great advice. I will back up and really spend more time solidifying place value (he did spend time on it but I think more practice will be good). I need to get base ten blocks. I have C rods but I can see the benefit of the base ten. For the WRTR suggestion, I have access to the 5th and 6th edition at the library. Will either of them work? I think I read here the editions have a lot of differences.

I'm in! Today I need to get a boatload of reading done. I also want to catch up on laundry and dishes. On the plus side I got up this morning first thing and showered and got dressed (really dressed, a dress and leggings instead of back into clean PJs or yoga pants and tee). I know that's not a notable accomplishment for many people but for me I've been struggling with chronic health issues and being upright is hard, being dressed just usually doesn't feel like something I can use my energy on. Today I made an effort though and my husband's reaction made me want to try more often :) Kids are done math. Oldest kiddo (age 8) is reading an anthology of fantasy stories, and youngest kiddo (age 4) is building lego into superheroes from his head and its really awesome. Middle kiddo (age 6) and I are going to go read together while I wait for the laundry to be ready to switch.

My six year old is learning to read, he's at a early grade one level (we just started grade one in January and he was behind at the end of K but he's almost exactly where he is grade wise in terms of proficiency). He's also doing grade one math (Math Mammoth 1A and MEP Year 1 with Miquon as fun added in because he loves math). He is doing well with the concepts of addition and subtraction and number lines and more than and less than. As concepts he can describe them to me in detail and give examples easily. On paper with the examples already there he is having trouble executing the ideas he knows. His struggle is reversals. He reverses his two digit numbers more than half the time (closer to 75-80% if they are single two digit numbers and not in a sequence like number line or chart). He also reverses b and d when reading and moves sounds around within words fairly regularly in text that is new to him or that he is reading again but isn't fluent with. I know that this can be within the range of developmental norms, I'm just wondering how I can help him. His math work today he got more than half of the questions wrong and every single one he got wrong was a reversal, if the digits were flipped the answer was correct but he consistently writes, reads, sees them flipped. He gets frustrated because he's a bit of a perfectionist sometimes and so I'd like to help him if I can. Thoughts? Ideas? I'm all ears :)

OK. I wasn't sure if I should post this or not, but I came across something this morning I never have before in my parenting and I wondered if anyone else has. Our youngest had a black nose hair coming out of his nose this morning. We have a black dog so my mind immediately went to it being a dog hair. I grabbed it and pulled thinking it might make his nose itchy if it stayed (again, thinking dog hair). Well it was attached and when I grabbed and pulled I felt the tell tale resistance as it came loose and he yelped like one would expect when someone pulls a hair out. He's only 4.5. Something I should watch out for? (Only thinking this since I thought only adults grow protruding hair like that... Should also mention it was darker and coarser than his head hair). Random fluke? Totally normal?

I'm not but I'm still in my (late) 20s. I do have 4 nephews and 3 nieces and a heart neice (not really mine but I love her like she is) so far, and with all siblings tallied between DH and I we have 8 siblings who are still child bearing age and of those four still definitely want more children. I figure I'll be a great aunt many many many times over eventually but our oldest nephew just turned 8 yesterday so we have a looooong time to go. :)

Forgive me if this isn't the right spot to post this. I'm not quite sure what to do to help my son. He's six years old, would be in K in public school because of January birthday but he's doing first grade at home. He's very bright, and was my earliest talker. His speech has always been precocious but he's always had a hard time with some pronunciation of words and phrases. He has a significant tongue tie but since we were able to nurse through it when he was an infant (I was tandem nursing at the time, without that he wouldn't have been able to keep my supply up) I can't get anyone to do anything other than agree with me that it is there. The pronunciation issues I feel are twofold. One I think is the tie, his tongue doesn't move easily and the letters he's had the most trouble with are the ones that need the tongue the most. Also he doesn't hear new words correctly the first time unless he's really focusing and watching the speaker. So if its something he's heard before he does a good job responding appropriately but if its a new word, or new phrase, or even a familiar word or phrase used in a new context he will get confused and repeat back what he heard and then need it slowly and clearly repeated (and explained if the concept is entirely new). After that he can confidently use it. He assimilates new ideas easily once he hears them properly. So I asked for a hearing test which was done today. He was tested with beeps and then words into headphones. The audiologist said he got perfect. Then we leave and he says "I'm glad I trusted my gut when the voice said foot dog. I knew foot dog wasn't a thing so I guessed what I thought it meant and said hot dog." So I asked him if there were any others he guessed and he told me a few more. So what now? Anything? He's frustrated when people don't understand him (which he's getting better at compensating for but still when he's excited or not focusing it slips, and of course mishearings that he repeats are a problem). The mishearing issues really came to a full light when he was in a French immersion class this past autumn. He was picking up language like crazy, he loves language, but he would mishear and then repeat words and phrases and even when I'd try and correct him sometimes I'd have to try multiple times and really get him to focus to hear it correctly, even if I broke it down by syllable. Should I let it go and just keep correcting? Is there something else I should be doing? I'm starting to doubt myself when I say I think there is a problem and get told that he's compensating and will figure it out or that some six year olds have far smaller vocubularies than him so he's doing fine. For the vocabulary he has and the love of expression he has I feel this struggle to understand and be understood all the time is unfortunate for him. But maybe I should be focusing on just helping him work through his frustration? A little lost over here. Thank you for any support or ideas.

Posting to remind myself to come back. Our youngest will be 5 in September and hes autistic and doesn't respond to the ways of teaching my other two do. He's got an amazing memory though, better than any kid I know, and we are trying to come up with a plan to utilize that to his full potential.

Oooo me!!! This is my first tackle thread I think but I really need it. I have had a huge to do list hanging over me for a long time and my sister gave me a kick in the pants to do a few things to make it smaller, one day at a time. So my list: 1. School for all three boys (for all three: math, reading aloud to me and then me to them, for older two: history, geography, for DS1: spelling) 2. Fill out testing form for middle, and form for school board 3. Call for application for respite 4. Redo appointment calendar and update it 5. Finish booklists for me and kids 6. Call to confirm DS3 appointment 7. Gather paperwork for respite application 8. Catch up dishes and clean counters 9. Clean bathroom 10. If I am up to leaving the house before I have to take youngest to hospital then office supply store, thrift store, and Gramma's Also important: Breathe

There are no words. How awful. I'll add your cousin and your whole family to my prayers.

I need to add in more math for my older two kids and budget is a major restriction. I've looked over both MEP and Ray's and I like the look of both (MEP for it's very different approach and Ray's for word problem focus). I am just not 100% sure what level to put them in for either program. I'm waffling and could use some help deciding. We are new to homeschooling (only home for fourish months) after them both being in public school and I underestimated how much both of them would want to tear through math :D Oldest DS is 8.5, in grade 3, and is almost done Math Mammoth 3A. Very very good at mental math (hates to write out steps, also dysgraphic), needs more work on word problems. Middle DS is newly 6, and would be in K if he was still in PS. I started him slowly on Math Mammoth 1A to see if he could do it and he's just about to start 1B already. He's a process dude, every step he is taught he will follow. He's not reading fluently yet so I read the problems for him but he's great at hearing a problem and giving the answer orally. I also have another son who is 4, which is junior kindergarten age here. I've got Miquon Orange for him (and the others if they feel the urge, all three loooove the cuisenaire rods). So I am torn between MEP 2 or 3 for my oldest and MEP reception or 1 for my middle. Which would be best for where they are? And for Ray's I'm not sure which of the books I want for my oldest. Any ideas from those familiar with either program would be most appreciated :D

Thank you for doing this :)

I don't have specific curriculum suggestions because we are figuring that our ourselves but I will say one thing that made a *huge* difference for our non verbal son was teaching him to sign. I knew how to finger spell and we used signing time almost like a curriculum and his brothers and his Dad and I all learned the signs as we went through and used them in every day situations (while saying the words at the same time). His signs came quickly and an unexpected side effect is that his verbal language is also taking off in a huge way. It's really amazing the difference in a few months for our son. We didn't teach him ASL looking for speech, only looking to facilitate communication through signs, but now he's doing a lot more of both.

I'd like to start Story of the World and I'm not sure exactly what to buy. My kids are 8 (g3), nearly 6 (K), and 4 (junior kindergarten as we call it here in Ontario). I am going to buy the Volume 1 book and activity guide. Should I buy the tests as well? Also how important is the audio version? How long are the passages? Will I regret not having them read for me? For what it's worth I've read of people putting the CDs on when they drive but neither DH or I drive so that won't be a thing here :)

I haven't but my oldest is crazy for Minecraft stuff so I've been looking for resources to use for him in learning. Following with interest. :)

Thank you very much for all the responses. This is great info. We will be schooling year round as well and that is one reason I'm worried about going too far ahead level and concept wise as he will have more days to do the actual lessons, thus even more lessons/levels getting done. I think adding in more resources on a rotating schedule will help get those ideas solidified deeper and keep his appetite for more saited. I've downloaded the teacher manual for CSMP and am going to peruse. And I'll take a look at MEP too (since both are free anyway). Plus we live in a city with a huge library and I've requested some materials from there as well to see what catches his/our fancy.

For those who use or have used CSMP my son will be six next month, he would be in K in the public board but easily zipping through addition and early subtraction in MM. I'm looking to go deeper using CSMP but I'm not sure what is covered in K and whether it would be appropriate to go to grade one or start at K. Any insight?

I was reading a math spiral vs mastery thread and several people mentioned using multiple math curriculums for the same child at the same time. I'm curious... Why? And how do you fit it all in? We are using math mammoth and its going well but I wonder if we are missing anything sometimes. Plus my middle is going to pass my older at the rate he is going and I'd like to slow him down but he wants more and more.

Could I please get copies of the ones you have too candikane? :)

Thanks for the response! I love DuoLingo, I don't know why I hadn't started with that. :) I don't mind a reference of beer or wine :) It was just the only conversations available for learning were for carrying on conversations that one would have if visiting a francophone country (starting with ordering wine and cheese ;-) ) which I felt would be not very relevant or interesting (and therefore motivating) for a child :)

I was excited to find my library has a free subscription for card holders to Mango languages and I signed up based on the reviews I'd read. The problem is when we go in to start the lesson for the target language of French the first option is wine and cheese pairings. My son is 8, and so wine and cheese pairings are not relevant :) Is there a way around this. I read it was suitable for children as long as they could read which DS does. If this program won't work for us at the level it is set at what other recommendations would be useful as either an open and go program I can do with him at home or something online that can be done fairly independently for an 8 year old?