I'm just learning about what's out there. Not sure if Itunes U has everything at this website, but you might check it out Open Courseware

Hello! I'm just beginning the journey of learning about self education and creating a plan. Yesterday, I didn't even knew the term "self-education" existed, lol! I've found plans from using homeschool curriculum and book lists, to websites and blogs dedicated to self learning journeys. I also discoered Open Courseware! So my question is: When you decide on a plan, what exactly do you do? For example, I was looking at some specific courseware courses. How far do you take it? Read the books, watch the lectures, take notes, complete the assignments and papers? If you're following a homeschool program, do you complete all the notebooking, map work, lapbooks, etc? Just wondering how others do it. Thanks! Cathy

I have both, and I am currently using both with my 7, 6, 5, and 4 year olds. They have math language arts and reading at their own skill levels. There is a list of additional books, by unit, in the back of the hod guide. Many of them are also used in Sonlight at some point. If you use one program all the way through, you'll read most of the most popular titles along the way, just not at the same grade level. If choosing is an economical issue, stay with what is easiest on your budget. Cathy Duffys books and website can help you chose based on learning styles and teaching preference. She has an online survey that will generate the best choices for your child, with an index of compatibility. I've found it very helpful. Blessings, Cathy

Since we began homeschooling my daughter from the beginning, who is currently 12, we have used Math U See. She is currently in the middle of Zeta. For review, we have followed up with Singapore Math. She just completed 4B. I use the last review exercise in each book like a final test. Book 4B has two reviews at the end. My daughter got about 50% correct. We redid every problem she got wrong together and reviewed concepts. I had her complete the placement assessment for book 4B as a retest. She got about 20% correct! I am stumped about how to handle this. She wants to just move on to Book 5A and forget about 4B. We've done the Singapore levels enough behind Math U See that it's really truly review, with no new material that she hasn't already learned in Math U See. Her 4B workbook assignments were mostly correct. We haven't encountered this type of difficulty before. Do I: 1. Go back and redo Workbook 4B with her? 2. Use another Singapore review book? I already own Intensive Practice, which seems more difficult, or I could buy the regular review book. 3. Let it go and move on, since she could do it in Math U See and the workbook? 4. Drop Singapore totally, since I was already considering it when we move to Algebra? 5. Another suggestion? Thanks for hearing me out, and enouraging me with suggestions! Cathy

Where on the website can I find information about sending in my Loom to upgrade to DE? Is there an address? Do I need any type of authorization first? Thanks, Cathy

Playing classical music, especially while doing math. Coloring while listening to read alkyds.

Thank you for your replies! I will be digging into the CM sites for the rest of the day, lol! Another question: How does one determine what books are worthy for reading? I know to look at book lists in catalogs, like Sonlight and Heart of Dakota. But what about when you're browsing the library and you see books on topics? Sometimes there are series, such as a book for each colony, or different systems of the human body. How does one chose the best from the good? Thanks, Cathy

Right now, lol, I don't have much time or much money! But I do have a lot of curriculum! And I have books about books, like History Through the Ages and Honey for a Child's Heart. I have complete Sonlight Cores PreK 3/4 through Core 4 (E). Plus I have hundreds if not thousands of books in our home library. Our library system is average. Is there a way to become comfortable with Copywork passages, narration, and dictation without following an HOD guide for a year? Thanks, Cathy

Hi, I am so attracted to HOD for my oldest daughters, ages 12 and 10 years. We used Sonlight up to Core 3 (D) and then got stuck in a unit of Tapestry of Grace. Most of our LA has been work booky. We adopted 3 younger children last May, and I started homeschooling them with HOD LHTH and LHFHG. They are currently 7, 6, and 4 1/2. We all LOVE HOD, even my older ones want to join in! I've been trying to come up with a plan to create a HOD-CM like plan for my oldest two using what I already have from SL, TOG and other things. One reason I resist just taking the plunge and totally switching to HOD is that I am so used to combining them. The only subject they aren't together is Math, and even with that they are only 6 months apart. I've read over and over how HOD recommends keeping each in their own guide at their own level. I almost want to get the youngest guide recommended for their age, and start at the beginning to ensure they have all the necessary skills that build over the years. . (We've never done narration, copywork or dictation.) I'm also a bit afraid that I can't handle 5 separate guides at the same time. (I also wonder how to reconcile years that are 4 day plans with years that are 5 day plans, or those that are different weeks in length.) My home-made plan takes the framework of HOD, using materials that I already have, which helps the budget. I tend to want to overschedule and have a poor sense of what can actually be accomplished in a day. I like that we can keep studying history chronologically. I can keep my kids together in most subjects and add in my younger ones at their level (similar to TOG.) But it's so much work to do all this research and planning. And I wonder what I might be neglecting, like higher level thinking skills. So, let the debate begin: Which side of the fence should I jump to? Should I take the plunge and completely switch totally to HOD for all my kids? Or should I continue my quest to create the plan that is perfect for our family using CM and HOD as roadmaps, and using materials we already have? Blessings, Cathy

Just an idea, if you are really having a hard time finding something you need....if you don't have to account for consumables, how about buying some of the most popular choices and donating them to other homeschoolers who may need some help with their budgets. Here we have a local homeschool organization that accepts curriculum donations and sells them at drastically reduced prices.

Health insurance through my husband's company is going up again, and will now be more expensive than we can afford. I've been looking at alternatives at ehealthinsurance.com. So. Many. Choices! How do I pick the right one for us? Any warnings I should heed? If you've had experience with this, how is the application process? Thanks so much! Cathy

I'm wondering how the extension packages are scheduled for older students. Do they merely read more? Is there more assignments? Is there an extra box to complete each day? I wish there were samples on the web site to see how they are handled. Anyone want to chime in? Thanks! Cathy

I have a question about narration and dictation with multiple kids. They all listen to the same read alouds. When I ask questions orally, they either all shout out their answers at once, or one answers first, then the others basically copy what they just heard their sibling say. For narration, dictation and copywork, how would I help each child give me a unique answer that isn't influenced by the others? Blessings, Cathy

Are there any previous posts, websites or blogs that I can cheat from to accomplish this? I am a Sonlight convert to TOG for my 11 and 10 year olds. We adopted 3 littles, currently 7, 5 1/2 and 4 1/2, last year that are currently using Heart of Dakota LHTHand LHFHG with some Sonlight PreK read alouds. HOD is working really really well for all of them, and even my older girls love doing the art projects. However managing so many levels and different curricula is starting to wear me down. I'd like to adjust TOG to be more HOD-like, so that we can meet the strengths of each child at their own level, and the teaching is streamlined into one topic for all. Thank you very very much for pointing me in the right direction! Blessings, Cathy

If your husband doesn't have anything he wants, and there isn't anything he needs, what about a donation to a charity in his name? Or in lieu of a gift for him, picking a couple things up for an Angel Tree Ministry. Providing Christmas dinner and gifts for a local needy family. Food banks, women's shelters, foster families, etc would be blessed!

R&S is set up so that sections correspond. If needed you can start with a lesson in level 3 that introduces, say, pronouns and then continue with the more in-depth pronoun lesson from level 4, do some examples together and make sure they understand and then assign the older one half of the written work (I usually do odds or evens). Consider getting the worksheets to use for the 9 yo or doing a lot of it orally. If the oldest is doing evens in writing you can still do the odds orally w/o messing her up. Is this really true? This is the gold nugget I am looking for tonight!

We've dabbled in a few English/Grammar courses, but never got very far in any of them. My older girls are now 4th and 6th grade. In considering to finally get serious, should I consider starting at a lower level to get foundation, or is starting at a higher level okay? I'm debating most heavily between R&S English (I have Grades 3, 4, and 5), and Shurley English (I have levels 2 & 3.) I see that some also combine the two. I also have 3 youngers coming up, with totally different learning styles than my olders. Could you please help me sort this out? Thanks! Cathy

Lots of food for thought here, and I have a better picture now. Thank you for your comments. I'm not sure how it will work out for us yet, but I have a new perspective. In the meantime, I need to find a way to streamline the rest of our subjects to make time for one on one time. I have two distinct levels of students for history and Science, and 5 individual Math levels and 3 reading levels. Using Tapestry of Grace will eventually allow me to teach everyone the same history topic at the same time, but for now, my littles are still too young for that. And the funny thing, my older girls don't want to miss out on what the youngers are doing, so all 5 of them are doing that. Blessings, Cathy

I have 2 daughters, ages 11 and 9 that I have always homeschooled. The younger one has already caught up to the older one in reading and language arts skills, and is catching up to the older one in Math. She is less than a half year behind. My older daughter can do her Math, she just doesn't want to. My younger daughter has a better attitude, and works efficiently, so moves at a quicker pace. Up until now, I have resisted teaching them together, just so there wouldn't be competition. My oldest is at grade level, and my younger is almost 2 years above grade level. In May of this year, we adopted 3 siblings, now ages 6, 5, and 4, who are now being homeschooled too. Homeschooling is a bit more busy and time consuming now, lol. In order to simplify my teaching time, I am reconsidering combining my two oldest, so that they are together in all subjects. What positives or negatives might we experience? I've thought of going to a more topical lesson, percents, for example, and teach the concept together, and have two different curricula for their assignments. What if my younger continues to outpace my oldest? Would I hurt her by keeping them together? Well, I thought that I'd bounce the idea off y'all and ask for feedback. Blessings, CAthy

We have been studying Language Arts with workbooks for vocabulary, phonics, handwriting, spelling, etc. I would like to try an integrated approach similar to Charlotte Mason, Solight's LA, and what is described in Educating the WholeHearted Child by Sally and Clay Clarkson. I think I just need a big push to get started, because I am afraid to jump, know what I mean? One of my questions about doing this, is how to handle kids at different levels? Right now, they can do their own independent workbook assignments at their own level. We are studying the same history, literature and science together. If we switch to an integrated approach, I envision that everyone would be studying the same thing now. What would this look like? My next question, is where to stop. If we have one book for read aloud, each has a book they are reading to themselves, a book or two for history, a living book for Science, would I pick one book for Integrated LA, or one subject, or what? I need help visualizing how it works. Thanks, Cathy

Thank you for your replies and reassurances. I'm looking forward to checking your suggestions. I definitely feel like I spend more time planning lessons than actually doing them! I'm looking more closely at CM. Hopefully I can find the simplicity I am searching for and experience an easy transition (for me). Have to be comfortable with letting go....less is more. Going to read more of Educating the WholeHearted Child...love this book! Cathy

I've been reading and thoroughly enjoying Clay and Sally Clarkson's book Educating the WholeHearted Child. It is revolutionizing how I think about our homeschool. It's given me the ability to take the vision of how I thought life, parenting and homeschooling should be and to put it into action! Even though we've been homeschooling for 7 years, I've never felt so encouraged, energized, and excited. I feel like I truly get it now! So now, I feel compelled to re-evaluate our curriculum choices against this new vision, and I know I need to let some (a lot) of it go. I don't know what method (ecletic, living books) we really used up until now, but I know is wasn't Charlotte Mason, except those things that might be CM by accident. How do I decide what to let go? We've been doing a separate spelling, vocabulary, grammar, and handwriting program because I never felt confident enough to integrate language arts with our reading. I love the idea of unit studies, integrating as many subjects as possible, but again, that confidence factor creeps in. I've also duplicated some things. One Math Curriculum as our main spine, and another for review. Cherry picking the components that I like from several history and literature programs, when sticking with just one would be so much easier. I have one foot each in Sonlight and Tapestry of Grace. Wish I could do both! Then, we added 3 more children this year after we adopted 3 siblings. What was a great choice for my older two girls wasn't working as well with my 3 youngers, so I tried something else (Heart of Dakota) with them. Problem is, everyone loves it and wants to do it! So I am trying to teach all 5 kids the younger curriculum and then cover more with my older girls at their level. (I have thought about letting my older girls teach my youngers, but then felt jealous that I would miss out!) One more consideration: My husband has been working one full time job and 2 part time jobs just to make ends meet. This week we learned that one of his part time jobs is going to be cut 50%, so there is no extra money to buy any thing else. I have a lot to chose from, so I should be able to make due with online resources and what I already have. Besides, knowing me, if I bought something new, I'd just have something else I couldn't let go, lol. :) Is there an easy pain free way to get things under control? Blessings, Cathy

Is anyone here a current subscriber to Homeschooling Today?

Does anyone know if Homeschooling Today Magazine is still in business? I've been reading all the back issues I can find from my library. I tried to subscribe today, and my order would not go through. If I am looking correctly, it seems that the website hasn't been updated since March. Thanks! Cathy

There is a great free preschool curriculum online called Brightly Beaming, or www.letteroftheweek.com. Also, Sonlight's PreK 3/4 and 4/5 now come with planned hands-on activities. Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready is good for preschool activities too.