Is this enough?

[micheller1]

This is my first year, which I'm sure I've said in every post I've written.

 

We are almost finished our second month of school. I feel like we are progressing okay but about once a week, I get a twinge of "am I doing enough?". "Is this okay?"

 

I feel this way especially for my two older kids. So here are my curriculum choices:

 

DS, 12yo - struggles in math, LOATHES reading with a purple passion

Math Mammoth, working on 4A (almost finished)

Growing with Grammar 6

Pathway Reader with Workbook, Level 6

Soaring with Spelling/Vocab (we were doing Spelling workout but after reading the thread ab this we revisited and he chose to go back to this book so we are giving it another try)

WWE 3

 

DD, 10 yo - struggles in math, LOVES to read, reads constantly

Math Mammoth, working on 3A (almost finished)

Growing with Grammar 5

Pathway Reader with workbook, level 5

Soaring with Spelling/Vocab (she ditched Spelling workout as well)

WWE 3

 

DD, 8 yo - Loves math, tolerates reading

Math Mammoth, working on 2A, Funbrain for drills

Growing with Grammar 3

Pathway Reader with workbook, level 3

Spelling Workout B

Cursive practice

WWE 1

 

Together we do:

Caught Ya Grammar everyday

twice a week SOTW 1

twice a week RS4K pre-chemistry (we're almost done and will be starting elemental science)

1 x a month health

Art lessons once a week

 

 

The older kids also do Mindbenders twice a week with their dad and their dad also does music with them.

 

Okay typing all that out - it seems right...but I think I have these nagging feelings about teaching SOTW 1 to a 5th/6th grader? teaching low level chem to 5th/6th grader? I don't do read alouds (yet). I don't do a foreign language AND I can't seem to get my children to READ enough. I read to my younger children (8 yo, 10 and 4 yo) every night before bed. This doesn't feel like "read aloud" books because they are books like level 2 readers, little scholastic readers, etc.

[specialmama]

If you're reading aloud, they're read alouds. ;) You may want to grab a long book to start for bedtime, like The Hobbit, or Treasure Island, or Charlotte's Web. I think you're doing fine, and that nagging voice is common. You will learn to shut it up. Just keep reading and thinking about homeschooling, your kids, your family, their future, etc., until you find your conviction. That one thing that deep in your soul assures you that there is NO going back. When that hits you, you can very quickly get that voice to go away. :grouphug: It sounds like you're doing a great job. In fact, I would encourage you to ditch the books sometimes and go outside to sketch or chase some bugs. Build memories and enjoy your children. They're a gift.

[dripdripsplat]

I think the hardest thing to get over when you first start hsing is the nagging feeling that you aren't doing enough. We've been hsing for 7 years, and I still feel this way sometimes... Especially when we feel lead to go in a different direction.

 

In terms of your curriculum list, it seems right to me. Especially as your just starting to get your sea legs under you. I would say give it a year, and then see what worked and what you could change. As for right now, if it were me, I'd just go with it.

 

At bedtime we read the classics... The Three Musketeers, Gulliver's Travels, The Count of Monte Cristo, A Tale of Two Cities, etc. It gives us all a time to unwind, and the kids are in a position where they have little else to do but listen and imagine. I think, if you pick books that interest them, they will possibly grow in their desire to read on their own... You've just got to plant the seed.