This is my first year homeschooling, and it has been quite an experience overall, both good and not-so-good. I feel like the not-so-good parts are mostly my doing, and I want to make sure going forward that I create a healthy homeschooling environment. So I thought I'd put the question to the hive, especially those of you veterans: what do you do to create a healthy homeschool? What are some lessons you've learned along the way that you would suggest to those coming afterwards of dos and don'ts? For comparison's sake, some times the unhealthy things I do are: 1) not giving enough grace and affirmation to my kids; 2) getting lost in the trees as opposed to seeing the big picture/forest of why we're homeschooling (i.e., getting too caught up in the to-do list); 3) being overly demanding at times...the list could probably go on and on! Anyway, I would LOVE to hear from the wisdom of this group. What makes a healthy homeschool environment? What are some intentional choices you make to create that environment? Thanks to all in advance for your feedback!

Finally finished ours! Link below!

This is fantastic. I am the most unartistic person there is so picture studies have always stymied me! Thanks so much!

I'm loving all these great responses and feedback. What would I do without these boards????? Thanks, everyone!

Thanks, Lisa! This is very helpful! I never learned straight phonics myself and my eldest son didn't learn them in public school so this is all new to me! I really appreciate the advice. Thanks!

...did you start getting confused about all the different vowel combos and sounds???? Did your DCs??? This is my first year homeschooling and first time using OPGTR. Overall, it's been great for my DS who has used it the past six months. Now we're hitting the point about midway through the book when it feels hard to help him distinguish between all the different sounds that can be made with similar combos of letters (the various sounds of -ow, for example) and there isn't exactly a rule to learn. It's just "sometimes -ow sounds like 'oh' in 'low' and sometimes it sounds like 'ow' like 'cow' and sometimes....." Basically, is the child supposed to start just knowing/memorizing that "low" is pronounced the way it is and "how" is pronounced the way it is? Does the book continue to just get more and more like this, where there are so many rules it starts to feel overwhelming??? Just wondering if I can learn from the experiences of others! Thanks!

Do you need more feedback? Looks like you have a great list of options here! But, to join the party, my 2nd grader this year has been doing the following: --Doing MFW Adventures as well, for Bible, History (U.S.), Geography, Science (largely Usborne book-related, from Science With Air and Science in the Kitchen, as well as a unit on birds) --Language Arts: Spell to Read and Write as recommended by MFW, New American Cursive, First Language Lessons, Classical Writing Primer (I will omit some of FLL where it seems to overlap with CW Primer) --Music: Piano --Languages: Mandarin (BetterChinese.com) and Prima Latina --Math: Singapore 1A/1B, moving on to 2A next week --Weekly co-op for gym, karate, and art --Weekly lesson in typing (Typing Instructor) Hope that helps! Good luck with your decisions, there are so many options out there, aren't there??

They don't give you the answer key? I'm so curious to know what the answer is! My first thought was that "royal" is the only adjective...but would second graders know that? My son is studying parts of speech this year in 2nd grade but I'm not sure he would have been able to figure that one out!

I was in your shoes one year ago, deciding to homeschool my then 6-year old, plus I had a 4 year old (and a toddler) as well. Going to a homeschool convention and taking ample time browsing curricula options was for me the necessary step to making some final decisions. And of course, there's nothing wrong with trying things and changing course as you go. I started out with Right Start A for my 4 year old, but after a while it just didn't seem to work for him. I had gotten MUS from the convention and used it for my 6 year old to help solidify his math facts, but it seemed too much for my 4 year-old, so I did go to Singapore Earlybird and that's been a good fit so far. So, don't worry about making wrong decisions with regards to curriculum choices. Sometimes you just won't know until you try it out with your child! OPGTR has been a huge hit with my 4 year old, we've used it this year steadily and I've loved seeing my son blossom in his reading ability. Memoria Press has a new kindergarten program that looks fascinating, so it's one you might want to check out (http://www.memoriapress.com). But if you're going to start, I think 5 is a great age to do so. You don't have to worry about being overly academic and there are lots of great curriculum options out there! Good luck! These boards have been my lifesaver this year. I don't think I would have been able to homeschool without the Internet!

I'm always so late to post! And terribly inconsistent. But ours is up for the week! Look forward to reading others' summaries!

I just read this article and thought it would interest many of you: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/magazine/07Teachers-t.html?ref=magazine Coincidentally, I went to high school with the man who is mentioned in the lead paragraph--Doug Lemov--we were on the newspaper staff together. I just got in touch with him after 20+ years via Facebook; he has written a book which will be out next month which is called Teach Like a Champion. According to Doug, although the part of his book which deals with urban schools and classroom management will not apply, the academic aspects he writes about would definitely apply to homeschoolers and has "changed the way I approach parenting." I'm very curious to see what the book says, and I just thought some of you might similarly be interested.

We're using Adventures right now. The state sheets--although my kids do enjoy coloring them--don't really take much time for us at all and probably are not worth buying separately. They feature a large outline of the state and feature the state flower and bird on it; the back of the sheet has some pertinent info about the state (capital, state this and that, date entered the union, etc.) and then a list of interesting and unique facts about each state. Nothing that couldn't be easily reproduced with existing resources on the Web, etc., I'm sure. I have loved Adventures overall but I don't think you'd need to buy the state sheets.

Hi---I can't answer this question from the perspective of one who has received and is using the curriculum, but I had a similar question and posted on the Memoria Press forum boards. My almost-5 year old has been working through OPGTR this year and is more than halfway through. Here is what Tanya from Memoria Press said: Hello. I do understand that it seems redundant to do phonics with a child who is reading, but I found that my son (who also read early) still needed those basic phonics rules for spelling and writing practice. First Start Reading has pages where you dictate words for the students to spell and lots of practice with writing letters and words. You could move at a faster pace than you would with a child who isn't reading, but I'm not sure I'd recommend skipping it altogether. Or, if you do choose to skip a basic phonics program, I'd at least consider doing the worksheets from SRA. Maybe your son is ready for SRA2 and could just skip SRA1. You can see sample worksheets on McGraw-Hill's site (https://www.sraonline.com/products.html?PHPSESSID=4db5fab406d4f69bc2f52ca0037d29f4&tid=7&sid=136&open=) Just click on 'sample lessons.' The samples show the teacher book, but you can see what the student book looks like. We don't use the teacher because we just use these worksheets as supplements. We actually teach phonics through First Start Reading. So, if you move through the phonics program quickly because you see that your child doesn't need to do it all, you could move to the 1st grade StoryTime Treasures reading program early. But I would caution you not to be in a rush. There is plenty of time for everything, and though you don't want your child to be bored, you also want to encourage mastery. And we have plenty of room in our k-curriculum for extra writing practice, memorization, reading, etc. We built the program so that anyone could make it fit their particular family, and most specifically, children. So you can do all of it, most of it, or some of it, and still have a full kindergarten program in which your child will be challenged, but not overwhelmed. Also, our read-aloud supplemental books might be books your child could read to you! Regards, Tanya So maybe that will help in your decision-making? I'm close to taking the plunge. =) Good luck!

Hi everyone, My 2nd grader DS has just finished Singapore 1B and I gave him the placement test today to assess his understanding of the material. Out of the 94 total questions, he scored 80% correct. So, not excellent and there are some definite areas of weakness to go back and review. (Double-digit subtraction, definitely, for example!) So, aside from my going back through the mental math sheets together with him, is there anything you would recommend to supplement? I am not looking necessarily for another curriculum, but for something that will be fun and yet allow me to give him extra review where he needs it. I know many of you supplement Singapore with other curricula; for those of you who use Singapore as your main math source, what do you find most helpful for spot-review of specific topics? Would love any and all suggestions. Thanks so much!

I agree completely! I have loved reading everyone's responses. I am planning to print all these pages out and keep them for quick reference or a little boost of perspective when I'm feeling conflicted. These boards are my lifesaver! Thanks to everyone, indeed!

Here is an example of my son's work using NAC. He started the program in August, and he is 7 1/2. To be honest, I have no frame of reference for his work, as he is my oldest and we've never used a different handwriting program before. So you can be the judge as to whether you think this is the appropriate level of ability in cursive after six months. I'm happy with it so we'll probably just continue using NAC with our other kids! http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Q54kSU84hAjmUOZeMtq5Hw?feat=directlink

We have been using NAC this year; I have nothing to compare our experience to, as this is our first time homeschooling. My son is a second grader and started with Book I this fall, now we're about 3/4 the way through Book II. He has really liked it, as he was motivated to start cursive this year and happy that he could start it half a year earlier than his PS peers! I liked the NAC font for its cleanliness, and for the fact that its slant wasn't too upright or too far right. The spacing of the lines gets progressively smaller as you move through the books. But I suppose as you could say, the proof is in the pudding. My son did a lovely page of cursive words today and I was completely impressed with what he did! I don't have a photo of it up yet but will do so in our next report. So, although I can't speak for HWT or other programs, or how it all compares price-wise, I'm happy with NAC overall.

Ours is up. =)

Wow, everyone! This thread has been just what I have needed. I think I am going to print it out and have it handy for those times I go through periods of questioning! I really appreciate all the great feedback and will take it to heart. How people homeschooled before the Internet, I have no idea. I am very grateful for this online community and appreciate everyone who took the time to reply! Thanks everyone, so much!!

This is my first year homeschooling, I have three DSs: 7 years old, almost 5 and 2. I largely homeschool my eldest, who has had two years in the PS. My 5 year old has had some preschool time but now stays home as well for school. My eldest says he much prefers being at home to do school; he says he enjoys what we are doing and learning. BUT, I find myself wrestling with a couple of doubts and would love to hear from experienced homeschoolers to reassure me or give feedback on how I can improve. 1) Sometimes I feel like because my eldest is so comfortable being at home, he doesn't give me his best effort, and that being in an actual school motivates him to excel in a way that he doesn't have at home. Maybe it's being around other kids, I'm not sure. I know that when he was in PS, he was the angel child. At home during schooltime, he gets goofy way more than I'm sure he ever would at PS. And I feel like I'm always asking him to redo things that he could have done better. Am I just expecting too much from a 7 year old? Or does anyone else ever feel like having your kids schooled at home results in their having lower standards for themselves? (I often feel like such the taskmaster, asking for work to be redone or done better, etc.) 2) I want my kids to love to learn, I try to keep the workload reasonable, but most days my eldest just can't wait for school to be done! Does the whole "loving to learn" come much later, when the kids are older? Do all young kids just want to be done so they can relax and play? I know this might seem like a silly question, but it's just something I'm wondering. (i.e., do I have to be more proactive to make what we're studying more engaging?) 3) I often feel like the greatest liability my kids have in our homeschooling experience is me! In my fallenness and imperfection, I know I often am more impatient than I should be, or I don't give as much grace as I should. I'm an introvert, and being with my three sons all day in addition to homeschooling wears me out! I feel like I'm constantly asking God for forgiveness for my inadequacies! I do often find myself saying, "Would my kids be better off with teachers who have more experience and patience than I do??" Despite all this, my two older boys say they want to do school at home for the 2010-2011 year as well. I'm glad about that, but worried that in the meantime I'm somehow scarring them for life in other ways! I would love any reassurance or advice from those who have been down this road before! Thanks for reading this post. Any and all feedback welcome.

My son is using the NAC books; he's in 2nd grade, he's my eldest, and this is our first year homeschooling so my perspective is a pretty limited one at best! I chose NAC because I liked the cleanliness of the font, and because I generally had a good feeling about Memoria Press's products in general. We're working through Book II right now, but I have no idea if the handwriting he is producing is about right for his age or not. (He'll turn 8 in July.) If you go to my blog and scroll down you'll see a photo with some of his "F" words. I think that cursive handwriting is one of those subjects in which you need lots of practice! There isn't really a teacher's guide to Book II, which could have been helpful. You just have to be fairly diligent to show your child where their letters don't quite look as they should. I do wish there were a few more practice pages for each letter, showing how they connect with a variety of other letters. But, I like the font so much more than Zaner-Bloser, which seems too far right-slanted and too ornate to be practical. The only change I would make with NAC is their upper-case "F", which I write facing the opposite way that they do. But that's my only quibble with the font itself. I don't know if this is at all helpful but there are my 2 cents! =)

P.S. and yes, the teaching helps are specific to each season's books. There are general suggestions in the beginning of each Primer that are the same, but that's not the same as the info in the teaching helps. Good luck!

Hi there--I've been using CW Primers this year. The teaching helps are useful; they provide background on the artists and summarize the grammar/spelling rules that are being taught; they also provide background on the nature studies. It's also very helpful to use the online resources they provide as well. I can't remember how much the teaching helps cost, but I don't think they're very much, and I think it's always helpful to have extra background for context and to understand what the curriculum is trying to get at. So, I would recommend getting them if you're using Primers. HTH!

We're using Adventures right now for my 2nd grader, and my nearly-5-year old joins in when relevant. I am a new homeschooler this year, and although I loved much about TWTM, I really wanted a program with U.S. history to begin with. When I saw this program at a homeschool conference, it fit everything I was looking for--a program combining Bible, history, geography, and science. (It also recommends optional activities in drawing and music, which we have largely not been using). The activities have been just right for us--not too intensive, but memorable for the kids. And I know others haven't been too keen on the state sheets, but I have to say that my boys LOVE the state sheets! They don't take much time but it's one of their favorite activities. Overall, I've been very happy with our decision to use Adventures this year. The history spine mentioned above, Exploring American History, isn't always the most exciting, but it is used in small chunks and heavily supplemented by all the great Book Basket suggested in the curriculum. I also love how MFW is creative about connecting across disciplines when relevant. For example, the week we studied the idea that Jesus is the Living Water, we studied water in science; or, the week we studied Jesus is the Lamb of God, we made a lamb out of cotton and studied Eli Whitney in history. The Hazells have obviously put in a great deal of thought to the program and I have been very grateful for it this year!

Finally did one as well...it's been weeks!