My 7 and 8 year olds love it when I give them free reign over the math manipulatives. Their favorite is the set of pattern blocks, followed by tanagrams and fraction tiles. They also enjoy Sudoku, mazes, and building 3d shapes from magnetic blocks.

We’ve never just given up on an entire day, but we’ve had a few that were an absolute struggle for all involved where we had to drop a subject or two. I’m a planner and have months scheduled out in advance, but I keep Fridays free of specific lesson plans. We usually use it to play math games, go on field trips, or complete interest based projects. We still get up to do school like usual, but it is more informal. So when we’ve had a difficult day when we didn’t get through everything, we use Friday to catch up. Or if DH has a random weekday off of work and we decide to go hiking or something, I can just make up that entire day on Friday and we don’t miss out on any of the lessons that I had planned. “Friday Funday†is also incentive for the kids. They want to get through all of their work Monday-Thursday so that they can enjoy free writing and playing with pattern blocks on Friday. For as much planning as I do, I also include as much flexibility as I can stand. I had PPD after my oldest was born, and I can’t imagine adding other kids and homeschooling to the mix! Don’t feel guilty if you need to take time for yourself or decrease the kids’ school load for a while. With an 8 year old and 6 year old you can ditch science and history for now and just focus on reading and math until you are at least getting a full night’s sleep regularly. Add in some good science and history read alouds or videos (Planet Earth is perfect!) when you have time. On days that just aren’t going smoothly, I may give the kids an extended break before they (and I) reach my breaking point. I send them outside to run around with the dogs to let out some energy (and give me a little break) or we drop everything for an impromptu dance party. I can TOTALLY understand you needing a break. There are times when I need to compose myself to remain a good teacher (or parent in general). I even tell my kids I need a time out. If you need a break, take a break. Maybe have your 8 year old read aloud to the younger kids or have some coloring pages that are related to science/history that they can work on to give you a quick breather. If your older kids are mature enough, teach them how to prepare breakfast and get read for the day themselves. Honestly, my kids get up an hour to two hours before my alarm goes off and they are usually dressed and eating breakfast when I begrudgingly drag myself out of bed. They can get their own cereal, oatmeal, and toast without any help (ages 10, 8, & 7, but they’ve been doing this on their own for over a year). To make lunches easier, I usually prepare a huge meal in the crock-pot on Monday, and we live off of those leftovers until we run out. Little things like that help to ease some of the stress that can pop up throughout the day and give you some time relax.

Our library offers monthly science classes to homeschoolers where they do activities that I’m not as comfortable doing at home. The local school system also offers weekly classes to homeschoolers in different subjects, including science. But I know this is not available everywhere (we just moved to this area from a state that had very limited opportunities open to homeschool students). I would look into what opportunities are available in your area and see if there is something that would appease his emphasis on science.

I track grades for my elementary school students, but not because I need to. I’m teaching a blended household; my husband has a daughter and I have two, and their “other parents†(my ex husband and his ex wife) want assurances that we’re covering everything. I use Scholaric to make a plan for the year for each kid, and it is super easy to input grades and print reports as we go. I give a final “report card†to the noncustodial parents when they pick the kids up for summer break. I also print and save the reports in each kid’s file at the end of the year to show an easy to read record of what topics we covered. It also automatically acts as a record of attendance, in case my state actually asks (which they haven’t). My kids know that I keep a record of their grades, and sometimes it is helpful that there is a pattern when they start to slip in an area. I can easily see the exact lesson in which they began to struggle and help redirect them. But I don’t put too much stock on their grades as long as they are progressing.

My kids are younger, but they use our microscope all the time. We’ve used it a lot for school, but most of the time it is because they found something cool outside and want to look at it more closely. So even if you don’t end up using it a lot for lessons, it’s fun to have around for impromptu investigations.

That actually makes me feel a lot better. My 7 year old is good at writing a good summary, although I may be the only person who can decipher it. This is only our second year of homeschooling, so I'm still trying to get a good grasp on what to expect. All three of my kids have such different strengths and weaknesses that I'm still trying to figure it all out!

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I think I’m just at a loss because my 5th grader is naturally an exceptional writer. My 3rd grader is so far ahead in all other areas that it is difficult for me to step back and let her take her time developing her writing skills (I’m working on this). She knows her grammar and her sentence structure is usually flawless. I’m more worried about the content seeming “lazyâ€. She is right on track with creative writing. I love the idea of using key words, it will help her stay on track and include important details without stressing her out.

My 8 year old daughter is my most motivated student and loves all of her lessons-but her writing seems behind. She is great at spelling and has a huge vocabulary, but when asked to write a summary she seems to just do the bare minimum and struggles to include important details. Should I be concerned, or is this more of a developmental thing that will improve naturally over time? I wouldn’t have worried about it at all, but the content (but not the spelling or handwriting) of her 7 year old sister’s writing is much more detailed. I know I shouldn’t compare siblings, but I can’t help wondering if I need to really work with her on her writing or if I should lower my expectations a little. When I ask her questions orally, she gives long, detailed responses so I know that she understands the topic, she just struggles to put her words on paper.