All this change is normal for one's first year, right?

[SorrelZG]

I've been trying to keep notes on what I've been trying and doing this year and glancing back over them today, a few months in, has me wondering if I have some sort of disorder that needs therapy or medication. How many times can one person change their plan in just a few months? PLEASE tell me I'm not the only one that needs two hands for this! Pretty please?

 

On the bright side, the three Rs are still trucking on .. well .. little by little in math and by irregular forward motion in reading and writing .. so I suppose "trucking on" is only true if one takes a highly optimistic, broad view of what DS has been doing and a highly liberal view of "trucking".

 

I'm tempted to throw the school year to the wind. He's advanced enough to skip kindergarten and start first next year without issue - unless it's going to teach him something negative by my just bailing this year. Perhaps I should just commit to continuing on with say, half an hour at the table each morning. I really don't schedule much else for him (it was taking just an hour before I dropped several things from the schedule) but the days in which he decides he wants no part of it today have worn me down enough to want to quit and try again next year when he's hopefully more mature but on the other hand, these issues aren't simply school issues and there is no break from parenting so maybe I'm just not addressing whatever the real issues are. I could probably keep doing a little of the 3Rs daily but besides that just unschooling and a lot of reading. In fact, I could drop it back to having him read daily and do spelling (copywork/dictation) for the practical concerns a child who likes to write and keep math unscheduled too.

 

I liked what someone said on another thread, (paraphrased) "Quit trying to make school fun and just have fun with your children." That's my new plan for the year. Half an hour of school (3Rs) and then I'm going to try to enjoy them in our own family way rather than some curriculum way (the obligatory clarification: not that it isn't just the perfect thing for some families to have a fun K curriculum, it's just not the perfect thing for me).

 

Thank-you if you made it through and again .. I'd love to hear I'm not the only one going through so many changes my first year!

[Aurelia]

Been there... Oddly enough, we didn't have a lot of changes our first year because I didn't know I could piece together my own curriculum, so Ariel did Calvert Pre-K and I was blissfully unaware there were more than a couple of alternatives. The second and third years...oh boy. I could have educated at least 4 kids with all different curricula. I don't even want to think about how much money I spent trying to find "the one" program for any given subject. Now, in year four, I think I've finally found a groove. Mostly. It gets better! I swear!

 

I think the half hour is fine, maybe work on reading and art or teach him piano (or recorder) simply so he gets used to doing something and the habit of working every day gets rooted (though he likely won't jump for joy every school day next year, either).

Edited October 7, 2011 by Aurelia

[8filltheheart]

I can share my experiences w/my kids. My 2 oldest sons are both very bright, but both were very, very busy. My oldest HATED K. He didn't want to sit and do it at all, but I did force him to. I really regret that decision in hindsight b/c I made battles out of issues that simply didn't need to exist. My 2nd child was severely ADHD, so we simply skipped K altogether and he started 1st grade not knowing how to identify letters or number symbols. Regardless, he finished 1st grade reading Charlotte's Web and on solid 2nd grade level math.

 

All of my girls and my 3rd son have loved K and have jumped right in. (though my 3rd ds didn't learn to actually read on grade level until 4th grade. He was however doing much higher level math at the same time. You just don't know what they will end up doing. ;) )

 

HOWEVER, our just turned 6 yod started K last yr and I realized that she was mentally not ready to do K work. We worked on skills for 6-8 weeks and she kept confusing letters/sounds and numbers/symbols. So I dropped K. It was a good decision b/c this yr in 26 days (that is all she has done for this school yr), she has already finished the entire first Horizons K math book and the first SSRW 1st grade book and is already attempting simple blending on her own. What was a struggle last yr is now easy.

 

A yr of maturity can do a lot and it does not necessarily equate w/being educationally "hampered." I know that there are a huge number of posters that believe that kids that are reading at 4 are always going to be vastly superior students than those that learn a little later. I just don't happen to be one of them and my kids have certainly not demonstrated that they are "behind" in anyway. And w/my boys, simply being a yr older made a difference in their ability to sit still and do work even though mentally they could do it at the normal K age. You can simply skip K and jump right into 1st grade.

[SorrelZG]

Aurelia - that is encouraging! Well .. up until the last part in parenthesis which wasn't encouraging at all. :tongue_smilie:

 

8FillTheHeart - I was thinking about you today and some of what I've read of you as I pondered these things and just knew you would have encouraging words to say so I'm so glad you posted. :)

[Greenmama2]

Have you read Linda Dobson's "The First Year of Homeschoolibg Your Child?"

[AimeeM]

Let's put it this way.

Since beginning our homeschooling journey last April (less than 6 months ago!), I have spent as much on curriculum as we spent for a year in private Catholic school previously... because I keep changing my mind/dislike what I have/find something better/completely change educational philosophy and direction, etc.

:001_huh:

I will permit anybody to bend me over the next time I switch gears.

We are REGISTERING WITH KOLBE, in the hopes that having oversight will stop my obsessive curriculum addiction. Period.

Although I really like the looks of Memoria Press.

And Anglicum.

And I'll rather miss putting my own thing together; although it never worked out well...

:lol:

[5LittleMonkeys]

I've been trying to keep notes on what I've been trying and doing this year and glancing back over them today, a few months in, has me wondering if I have some sort of disorder that needs therapy or medication. How many times can one person change their plan in just a few months? PLEASE tell me I'm not the only one that needs two hands for this! Pretty please?

 

 

I had to laugh at this. I have a "problem journal". Anytime I've had a problem about or frustrated with anything homeschool related I will write it out in my journal. Writing it out is therapeutic for me because it helps me organize my thoughts better. Anyway, I also always write thoughts about what I could do to fix the problems, any ideas or thoughts that people here might have given me and I try to update it with the solution or "fix" if there was one. I have periodically gone back and re-read it...oh.my.word. Several times I wrote that something wasn't working, what I was going to do to fix it, how I fixed it and then several months to half a year later I will come across another passage where I'm complaining about the. same. problem! I realized that I need to read it, in it's entirety more often.

 

No, you are not alone. I'm three years in and I'm still changing and tweaking things. The only thing I've tried to keep constant is math and even then I have had to change that once for one dc and twice for another. My oldest thinks it's funny to come downstairs in the morning and ask, "So, am I still using all the same books today or did you change them again.":glare:

 

I've actually just posted about issues I'm having with my ds5. They are more of a social nature but I've been struggling with him and formal academics as well. 8FilltheHeart's post is timely for me and I'm going to take it to heart. When I grow up I want to be wise just like her.:D

[Walking-Iris]

Have you read Linda Dobson's "The First Year of Homeschoolibg Your Child?"

 

Love love love her books---anything by Prima Publishing is a big must read for any homeschooler imo. :)

[boscopup]

I do think change is normal. I started homeschooling last January. I started researching around September prior to that. After a few weeks of research, I had ALL my curriculum picked out... Then a few weeks later, I started changing my mind. Then by time I ordered at Thanksgiving, the only thing from the original list was math, which we'd been doing since September already (afterschooling).

 

Then January 3 rolled around and I started our first day of homeschool. The first week, I decided that spelling needed to change (I had changed my mind twice since my original decision, and ended up buying two curriculum, but NOT the original decision). The next week, I changed spelling again. Finally, the 3rd week, my order of the original decision came in, and we stuck with that up until very recently, and it was just right for our 2nd semester of 1st grade. :D

 

Also in the first few weeks, we dropped the reading curriculum (CLE Reading 100 is still available for sale... someone please buy it and get it out of my house! :tongue_smilie:). Later, we changed grammar a couple times. We also changed history (though it wasn't a drastic change - went from Biblioplan, which uses SOTW, to just SOTW). Oh, and I also changed science.

 

In all of this, the only things I didn't change from the beginning of that semester to the end of the semester were math and writing (MM and WWE). We have continued with both of those. They are a good fit here.

 

During the summer, I made a grammar change again (to the next level of what we'd started with originally), then changed grammar yet again 6 weeks later (to the next level of the 2 levels of grammar we'd worked on most of the previous semester). I changed science over the summer, and already have plans to change it next year, but am sticking with what I have for now. I changed spelling recently (and really am doing it sporadically anyway). I plan to change history next year (since DS has read all 4 SOTW volumes AND the entire Usborne Encyclopedia of World History... I think he's ready for a detour through American History for a year or two).

 

Anyway, it HAS gotten better!!!! It's just those first few months, I definitely didn't stick with everything I'd started with. I didn't know going in what kind of teacher I was, nor what kind of student my son was. I had no experience teaching at all. I had no idea how fast or slow he might need to go in various subjects. I had no clue his history reading would take off when he started reading SOTW himself. :tongue_smilie:

 

In this second "grade level" (hard to call it a "year", since I haven't completed a year yet), I've had a better idea going in what we both might like. Did I still change my mind some? Of course! But I've been able to change LESS. Hopefully next year will be even less change as I figure out what works for us. Of course, until I find the right fit for each subject, I still reserve the right to change. I also sometimes change because I'm bored and need something different. If Mom is bored, the subject probably won't be all that exciting for the kid either.

 

I don't have any plans to change math or writing until I finish the series in those subjects. They're both working very well. I add stuff in to spice things up, but they are remaining my spines. Other subjects may change to meet the needs of my changing boy. ;) Oh, and kids #2 and #3 may use different curricula. We'll see what they're like.

 

As far as your boy and "K"... I think it's completely fine to set formal school aside and just play with math, read a lot together (is he reading on his own yet or no?), hit the library at least once a week and load up on books (reserve them if you need to, since you have a younger child ;)). Get some fun science kits to work on. Go outside and play (with mosquito repellant :lol:). A year of maturity can make a HUGE difference.

 

My oldest was doing all the stuff required at the end of K when he was mid-4, BUT he wasn't ready for formal school until after he turned 5, and even then, he wasn't ready for lots of formal stuff. Going to a "party time" style K was great for him. He had fun, and there was lots of movement and play involved. First grade got more schoolish, but by that age (6) he was able to handle it better. I pulled him out, and he was relatively easy to teach. At 4, he had not been teachable at all in a formal way. Yet he still learned a LOT. I am really glad I backed off with him and let him forge his own way. My middle son is wigglier, but he handles formal sit-down stuff a bit better. I keep it super short. For example, in math, we do ONE page of Singapore EM K book B. This week it's been mostly 3 problems of "5 is ___ more than 3" type stuff. I get the C-rods out ;) and let him play. When we get done with playing and doing those 3 problems in the workbook, he's done with math. That's it. It probably takes 5 minutes. Likewise, for phonics, I've just pulled out Webster's and had him do a few lines (or more if he's gung-ho... this week he's been doing one "lesson" each day, which is 5-6 lines... I think he's getting ready to take off). We spend probably 5 minutes on that, then put it away. That's all his "formal" sit down work. It's easy peasy, and he isn't being chained down to do work. He may accelerate later on like my oldest did, but I'm totally ok with waiting until he's in 1st grade or later until he starts accelerating more. I know it didn't hurt my oldest one bit to wait until 2nd half of 1st grade to start accelerating. That was the age when boredom was hitting and a need for challenge was developing. At 4 and 5, he didn't want to be challenged. He wanted everything to be easy. I try to keep things easy with DS2 as well. Most 4-5 year olds don't like to do hard work.

 

Ok, that's a book. Sorry. :lol: Just sayin'... Don't fret. You're fine. You're normal. Your kid is normal (as normal as any of them can be). If you drop K until next year, he won't fall behind. He won't stop learning this year.

[campmom]

I just wanted to add that if you think there are character issues going on. Now is the time to work on those when you don't HAVE to be doing academics. Spend this time working with him on these things and it will make next year go better. And no he won't be behind or miss anything. I have noticed that over the years on this board it seem that the students are getting younger and younger starting "school". Seeing that can become a "peer pressure" of sorts for us.

[SorrelZG]

Have you read Linda Dobson's "The First Year of Homeschoolibg Your Child?"

 

No. I don't think I had heard of it until now. :D I'll check it out!

 

Let's put it this way.

Since beginning our homeschooling journey last April (less than 6 months ago!), I have spent as much on curriculum as we spent for a year in private Catholic school previously... because I keep changing my mind/dislike what I have/find something better/completely change educational philosophy and direction, etc.

 

I will permit anybody to bend me over the next time I switch gears.

We are REGISTERING WITH KOLBE, in the hopes that having oversight will stop my obsessive curriculum addiction. Period.

Although I really like the looks of Memoria Press.

And Anglicum.

And I'll rather miss putting my own thing together; although it never worked out well...

:lol:

 

Aimee, you make me feel better about myself. :lol:

 

Several times I wrote that something wasn't working, what I was going to do to fix it, how I fixed it and then several months to half a year later I will come across another passage where I'm complaining about the. same. problem! I realized that I need to read it, in it's entirety more often.

 

8FilltheHeart's post is timely for me and I'm going to take it to heart. When I grow up I want to be wise just like her.:D

 

I've experienced the same thing. It's embarrassing .. and frustrating.

 

Oh, and I've thought that latter also! :lol:

 

Boscopup, you're starting to get to know me too well. :lol: That was quite a novel but I feel honored that you took the time to share all that on my thread! MM and WWE are unchanged here too, what a coincidence. :D I like your ideas for this year. You know what is interesting? You possibliy know about my notebook/s where I plan out all my possibilities (same thread as the mosquitoes). Well, a lot of changes have been going on for me this week and a new direction has been forming in my head. Meanwhile, I picked up a notebook and some papers fell out. One of them was a first grade plan I'd written up in the first half of 2010. He'd been in that ready but not ready stage (that he's apparently still in) and neither was I as a teacher and it had never materialized. Then I went spinning off in another direction instead when I tried again at the beginning of this year .. and then another at the beginning of this school year .. and now I find this thing again and think - that's exactly it! That's what I want for his first grade year! I guess we have both just needed the time to grow. I'm looking forward to seeing if this really is the plan I end up using next year (minus the phonics since he is reading now). Wow .. I've become my own source of amusement.

 

Oh, and I have 3 younger ones. No quiet, relaxing trips to the library here. :tongue_smilie:

[SorrelZG]

I just wanted to add that if you think there are character issues going on. Now is the time to work on those when you don't HAVE to be doing academics. Spend this time working with him on these things and it will make next year go better. And no he won't be behind or miss anything. I have noticed that over the years on this board it seem that the students are getting younger and younger starting "school". Seeing that can become a "peer pressure" of sorts for us.

 

Good advice. We definitely have some things needing attention. Both of us. :D

[boscopup]

MM and WWE are unchanged here too, what a coincidence. :D I like your ideas for this year.

 

Maybe you and I need to compare notes more often and get ideas from each other. :lol:

 

Oh, and I have 3 younger ones. No quiet, relaxing trips to the library here. :tongue_smilie:

The hold system is your friend. Go online, find all the books you want, put them all on hold, and when they come in, walk in and grab the bundle with your name on it on the shelf and take them directly to the checkout counter. When DS3 was younger, I put him on my back for this trip, so no getting away! I still do that sometimes. :tongue_smilie:

 

At home, put the library books in a "book basket" in a special place so they don't get lost or confused with your books. Go EVERY week on the same day, and do renewals online on that day as well. That way, you don't have late fees. ;)

 

I didn't realize you had 3 younger ones! I knew you had at least one. You ARE busy! :D

[SorrelZG]

Maybe you and I need to compare notes more often and get ideas from each other. :lol:

 

The hold system is your friend. Go online, find all the books you want, put them all on hold, and when they come in, walk in and grab the bundle with your name on it on the shelf and take them directly to the checkout counter. When DS3 was younger, I put him on my back for this trip, so no getting away! I still do that sometimes. :tongue_smilie:

 

At home, put the library books in a "book basket" in a special place so they don't get lost or confused with your books. Go EVERY week on the same day, and do renewals online on that day as well. That way, you don't have late fees. ;)

 

I didn't realize you had 3 younger ones! I knew you had at least one. You ARE busy! :D

 

Good strategy with the library. I get a little concerned with the holds that I'm seriously inconveniencing someone by disabling them from renewing their books unnecessarily, like Heather's thread a week or two ago. I'm not so sure that my own library system works that way but I'm going to check into it. It certainly is convenient because I can have DH drive by and pick books up for me. :D

[EKS]

Um, we're in our *ninth* year of homeschooling and I've changed my younger son's math twice and his history, grammar, and writing once. I've changed my older one's English twice. Frankly, it's a miracle that I haven't changed more.

[SorrelZG]

Um, we're in our *ninth* year of homeschooling and I've changed my younger son's math twice and his history, grammar, and writing once. I've changed my older one's English twice. Frankly, it's a miracle that I haven't changed more.

 

 

Are you saying you've made those changes this year or over your nine years of homeschooling? That clarification will make a big difference in how I take this post. :lol:

[In2why]

I can share my experiences w/my kids. My 2 oldest sons are both very bright, but both were very, very busy. My oldest HATED K. He didn't want to sit and do it at all, but I did force him to. I really regret that decision in hindsight b/c I made battles out of issues that simply didn't need to exist. My 2nd child was severely ADHD, so we simply skipped K altogether and he started 1st grade not knowing how to identify letters or number symbols. Regardless, he finished 1st grade reading Charlotte's Web and on solid 2nd grade level math.

 

All of my girls and my 3rd son have loved K and have jumped right in. (though my 3rd ds didn't learn to actually read on grade level until 4th grade. He was however doing much higher level math at the same time. You just don't know what they will end up doing. ;) )

 

HOWEVER, our just turned 6 yod started K last yr and I realized that she was mentally not ready to do K work. We worked on skills for 6-8 weeks and she kept confusing letters/sounds and numbers/symbols. So I dropped K. It was a good decision b/c this yr in 26 days (that is all she has done for this school yr), she has already finished the entire first Horizons K math book and the first SSRW 1st grade book and is already attempting simple blending on her own. What was a struggle last yr is now easy.

 

A yr of maturity can do a lot and it does not necessarily equate w/being educationally "hampered." I know that there are a huge number of posters that believe that kids that are reading at 4 are always going to be vastly superior students than those that learn a little later. I just don't happen to be one of them and my kids have certainly not demonstrated that they are "behind" in anyway. And w/my boys, simply being a yr older made a difference in their ability to sit still and do work even though mentally they could do it at the normal K age. You can simply skip K and jump right into 1st grade.

 

 

As usual I (heart) you!!!!

 

I am slowly learning that not everything has to be done on an arbitrary schedule. AND IT STILL WORKS OUT!

[Dolphin]

I changed a bunch my first year. This year is now our second year and I am sticking with what I have. I think I had to try and teach to learn what would work well, and what wouldn't.

[EKS]

Are you saying you've made those changes this year or over your nine years of homeschooling? That clarification will make a big difference in how I take this post. :lol:

 

This year. In the last 6 weeks.

[In2why]

Good strategy with the library. I get a little concerned with the holds that I'm seriously inconveniencing someone by disabling them from renewing their books unnecessarily, like Heather's thread a week or two ago. I'm not so sure that my own library system works that way but I'm going to check into it. It certainly is convenient because I can have DH drive by and pick books up for me. :D

 

 

I read Heathers thread and I think/hope that is an isolated incident. Hold is one of the best tools!! I often have this board, Amazon for reviews, and my library all open at the same time so that I can make a list of books and then decide which ones I want to go with what subjects, or just for me and put the entire list on hold. For one thing I don't know if your library is as unorganized as mine, but half the time the books are not where they should be and make looking for them very time consuming, and another I can get sidetracked into thinking I need 10 books on the same subject if I am actually there looking at the shelves. (I love books). So putting them on hold, and having the librarian/volunteers find them, and picking them all up at the same time keeps me sane.

 

Of course we still go as a group at least every other week so the kids can pick and choose and I can go a little nuts at all the options.

[In2why]

This year. In the last 6 weeks.

 

 

 

:lol:......Don't feel like the lone ranger, although I am getting a bit better at knowing what works with my kids, but I doubt if I will ever end a year with the curricula I started.

[Soror]

I can share my experiences w/my kids. My 2 oldest sons are both very bright, but both were very, very busy. My oldest HATED K. He didn't want to sit and do it at all, but I did force him to. I really regret that decision in hindsight b/c I made battles out of issues that simply didn't need to exist. My 2nd child was severely ADHD, so we simply skipped K altogether and he started 1st grade not knowing how to identify letters or number symbols. Regardless, he finished 1st grade reading Charlotte's Web and on solid 2nd grade level math.

 

All of my girls and my 3rd son have loved K and have jumped right in. (though my 3rd ds didn't learn to actually read on grade level until 4th grade. He was however doing much higher level math at the same time. You just don't know what they will end up doing. ;) )

 

HOWEVER, our just turned 6 yod started K last yr and I realized that she was mentally not ready to do K work. We worked on skills for 6-8 weeks and she kept confusing letters/sounds and numbers/symbols. So I dropped K. It was a good decision b/c this yr in 26 days (that is all she has done for this school yr), she has already finished the entire first Horizons K math book and the first SSRW 1st grade book and is already attempting simple blending on her own. What was a struggle last yr is now easy.

 

A yr of maturity can do a lot and it does not necessarily equate w/being educationally "hampered." I know that there are a huge number of posters that believe that kids that are reading at 4 are always going to be vastly superior students than those that learn a little later. I just don't happen to be one of them and my kids have certainly not demonstrated that they are "behind" in anyway. And w/my boys, simply being a yr older made a difference in their ability to sit still and do work even though mentally they could do it at the normal K age. You can simply skip K and jump right into 1st grade.

I always love your posts as well. I often wonder at the stats of those who push early schooling. I wonder how many have girls and how many boys. Ds was not ready to even hold a pencil until 5.5 yo, while dd writes and writes and is only 4. We did K last year at just turned 6 and he started unable to identify all letters(and sounds) and numbers etc. But did a first grade math program and is on level with reading.

 

I am so happy I didn't push him, he wasn't ready. I read a few books recently about past education and one was talking about schooling starting at 6(Why Johnny Cannot Read) yet kids are considered defective now if they don't start at 4.

[prairiegirl]

Not only did I change our curriculum and schedule quite a bit those first few years, we also changed philosophy like a yo-yo. We bounced around unschooling, Waldorf, CM, LCC, TJED and classical. It was alphabet soup around here for quite awhile. I finally smartened up when my oldest was in Gr. 4 and we settled on melding CM and Classical together and it has all been good.

 

Crazily enough, my schizophrenic take on educating my children did not harm them. They are doing very well. So the tiny bit of bouncing around that you have been doing will be just fine. I do believe one has to go through a period of trial and error to find the right fit for everyone, including mom.

[SorrelZG]

I think I had to try and teach to learn what would work well, and what wouldn't.

 

This is part of it all for me also.

 

This year. In the last 6 weeks.

 

Oh, then I feel better. :lol:

 

 

Of course we still go as a group at least every other week so the kids can pick and choose and I can go a little nuts at all the options.

 

It makes the craziness worth enduring now and then to see the children interact with the books and get excited about them and about making their own choices. :D

 

I always love your posts as well. I often wonder at the stats of those who push early schooling. I wonder how many have girls and how many boys. Ds was not ready to even hold a pencil until 5.5 yo, while dd writes and writes and is only 4. We did K last year at just turned 6 and he started unable to identify all letters(and sounds) and numbers etc. But did a first grade math program and is on level with reading.

 

I am so happy I didn't push him, he wasn't ready. I read a few books recently about past education and one was talking about schooling starting at 6(Why Johnny Cannot Read) yet kids are considered defective now if they don't start at 4.

 

My little one is a boy and he is a writer. :) At 5.5 he writes a couple of sentences very neatly without any discomfort. This is his natural bent, not anything any effort of mine as created. I realize in some cases it is a parent driving a young child who isn't remotely interested but I know in other cases it is the child driving the parent to provide for their insatiable interest in whatever it is they're interested in. My own circumstance isn't either of those extremes. It's been finding him interested and blooming but not understanding how to provide him what he needs. It's been learning when to have the confidence to meet him at his level even when that causes others to question me, knowing when what he really needs is just a little push and the big one - know when what he really needs is just time and space within an active but informal environment. I've had great moments when I got these things right and have seen him blossom but plenty when I got it wrong with much needless frustration and I can admit that. Learning to be the teacher of my son is like learning a dance. I don't know the steps and it's awkward and frustrating at times but I'm starting to find our rhythm. Like for instance, I've found he does not need me to formalize history and science. He has a lot of interest in these things beyond many of his peers but he wants to follow HIS interest, not a curriculum (of course, not saying no one should do that with their Ker, just that I've learned it's not profitable for mine).

 

I've been encouraged by reading the WTM again. I do wish I'd just followed the recommended course of action in there for preKers and Kers, we'd have experienced a lot less frustration. It's not too late though!

[SorrelZG]

Not only did I change our curriculum and schedule quite a bit those first few years, we also changed philosophy like a yo-yo. We bounced around unschooling, Waldorf, CM, LCC, TJED and classical. It was alphabet soup around here for quite awhile. I finally smartened up when my oldest was in Gr. 4 and we settled on melding CM and Classical together and it has all been good.

 

Crazily enough, my schizophrenic take on educating my children did not harm them. They are doing very well. So the tiny bit of bouncing around that you have been doing will be just fine. I do believe one has to go through a period of trial and error to find the right fit for everyone, including mom.

 

This is encouraging! Thank-you for sharing your experience.:001_smile: