After all these years I still want....

[Mommyfaithe]

SOMEONE or SOME COMPANY to just put all this stinkin' stuff together for me into a reasonable laid out plan!!

 

Seriously! I don't want a darn smorgasbord....I don't want a writing assignment in every darn subject.....I don't want tons of overlap and then having to decide what stays and what goes.....I just WANT to have this DONE!

 

I don't have overzealous learners....just your average humdrum wanna get it done and go play kinda kids. If they get inspired....they can figure that out on their own!

 

I want decent worksheets that are clear....uncluttered and have diagrams to label.

 

I want projects that are kid centered....easy to do....but look like SOMETHING when they are done.

 

I want lesson plans that include the main points....not a chapter on how to teach a simple point! UGH!!!!

 

 

I hate this time of year! HATE IT!!!!!!!!

 

My high schooler is NOT going to be a brain surgeon....she is NOT going to be a historian or a Literature professor.....do her materials HAVE to look so darn boring, repetitive and oh so THICK? REALLY.? She is a kid! She still likes lap books and projects. She does not have an aversion to writing a paper....but do we have to write a paper in every darn subject every single week?

 

 

I am just so tired of culling and cutting and tweaking and planning and replanning and planning again......and adding and tweaking and pulling books and adding others in.

 

:glare:

 

Did I say I hate this??!

[RegularMom]

Hear! Hear!

 

(she yelled in her office all by herself, and then resumed putting stuff together...)

 

sigh...

[FO4UR]

...feeling much the same...

 

...regretting NOT buying Memoria Press packages...

 

 

...at the same time knowing that I'd be irked to no end tweaking said Memoria Press Packages...

 

 

...having started school several weeks ago, already feeling the overwhelm of NOT being quite ready with the plans...

 

...and now I can't even write a cohererent sentence...

[fairfarmhand]

I will say that I have been pleasantly surprised so far with IEW's english I program. This is a composition/literature course. I thought it would be much more difficult, but for my normal, non-ambitious student, it has been the perfect amount of challenge with some easy days added in there too.

 

AND....she loves it. (she's 14 too) She averages one 500 word essay a week the way it is laid out. No we've never done any other IEW stuff, so I may be using it wrong, but it really is working perfectly.

 

The literature selections are good and I've read about half of them. They are acutally INTERESTING!

 

One day, when all my kids are out of homeschooling, I am going to create a blog with all of my tweaked plans. Oh yes, I am going to do it. I may as well share all my work with the world.

[JenniferB]

You have more graduated than you have left. Good job! I'm sorry you hate this part. One foot in front of the other. Lord have mercy.

Edited August 10, 2012 by JenniferB

[shanvan]

SOMEONE or SOME COMPANY to just put all this stinkin' stuff together for me into a reasonable laid out plan!!

 

Seriously! I don't want a darn smorgasbord....I don't want a writing assignment in every darn subject.....I don't want tons of overlap and then having to decide what stays and what goes.....I just WANT to have this DONE!

 

I don't have overzealous learners....just your average humdrum wanna get it done and go play kinda kids. If they get inspired....they can figure that out on their own!

 

I want decent worksheets that are clear....uncluttered and have diagrams to label.

 

I want projects that are kid centered....easy to do....but look like SOMETHING when they are done.

 

I want lesson plans that include the main points....not a chapter on how to teach a simple point! UGH!!!!

 

 

I hate this time of year! HATE IT!!!!!!!!

 

My high schooler is NOT going to be a brain surgeon....she is NOT going to be a historian or a Literature professor.....do her materials HAVE to look so darn boring, repetitive and oh so THICK? REALLY.? She is a kid! She still likes lap books and projects. She does not have an aversion to writing a paper....but do we have to write a paper in every darn subject every single week?

 

 

I am just so tired of culling and cutting and tweaking and planning and replanning and planning again......and adding and tweaking and pulling books and adding others in.

 

:glare:

 

Did I say I hate this??!

 

I'm right there with you especially on the hating this time of year, and for the same reasons. Ds had to decide on TOG again. I was considering a very attractive looking textbook---ya' know, ONE book that I look for ONE time, buy ONE time, store in ONE place. Nope, he and Dd begged me to use TOG again and I agreed.:glare:

 

I do know myself well enough though, to think realistically that I would probably not be satisfied with the one text and start adding and cutting and planning and unplanning anyway. But yes, I hate this time of year. I remember liking it at some point a few years ago. That's why I posted the thread about what you read when you want inspiration to keep going. The stuff you mention is exactly what zaps my inspiration and makes me tired.

[shanvan]

You have more graduated than you have left. Good job! I'm sorry you hate this part. One foot in front of the other. Lord have mercy.

:iagree:

[Plucky]

I know but it's never gonna happen because there is no one-fits-all method of learning. I pick and choose items from different providers and then add or cut lessons depending on our need. I do try to keep the planning to a minimum and have most things open and go. If the learning tool is too hard for me to use or takes too much time I scrap it. I also outsource subjects.

 

I am a planner though and have had all my stuff on the shelves for quite a while and we won't start new stuff til Sept. Avoid the curriculum boards like the plague unless you are specifically looking for a change. Don't agonize about the choices so much. There are so many good choices out there finding the absolute best isn't going to make a huge difference and everything new looks better. :)

[Catwoman]

I'm right there with you, too.

 

I used to enjoy planning my ds's school year, but as he gets older, it's more of a chore than a pleasure.

[jg_puppy]

SOMEONE or SOME COMPANY to just put all this stinkin' stuff together for me into a reasonable laid out plan!!

 

Seriously! I don't want a darn smorgasbord....I don't want a writing assignment in every darn subject.....I don't want tons of overlap and then having to decide what stays and what goes.....I just WANT to have this DONE!

 

I don't have overzealous learners....just your average humdrum wanna get it done and go play kinda kids. If they get inspired....they can figure that out on their own!

 

I want decent worksheets that are clear....uncluttered and have diagrams to label.

 

I want projects that are kid centered....easy to do....but look like SOMETHING when they are done.

 

I want lesson plans that include the main points....not a chapter on how to teach a simple point! UGH!!!!

 

 

I hate this time of year! HATE IT!!!!!!!!

 

My high schooler is NOT going to be a brain surgeon....she is NOT going to be a historian or a Literature professor.....do her materials HAVE to look so darn boring, repetitive and oh so THICK? REALLY.? She is a kid! She still likes lap books and projects. She does not have an aversion to writing a paper....but do we have to write a paper in every darn subject every single week?

 

 

I am just so tired of culling and cutting and tweaking and planning and replanning and planning again......and adding and tweaking and pulling books and adding others in.

 

:glare:

 

Did I say I hate this??!

 

:iagree: I agree with all of this. If I could find something like this already done for me I would be so happy.

 

Janet

[justamouse]

:grouphug:

 

Can i help with anything? Can we share our plans so you can just stack books?

[Desert Rat]

I am so with you this week, Faith! I'm knee deep in science, which is my least favorite subject to begin with. I have one week to figure out what the heck I'm doing. I'm using ck12 for my oldest and I can't figure it out. I'm getting there, but now I find out that the earth science I'm using, which I thought was complete, isn't. It's a flexbook system and I could build my own but I liked what someone else had already done. And it was, well, already done.

I haven't even started on my little man. I was hoping to find unit studies that go along with my ds12's so we can do some of the same labs and just be on the same topic, ya know?

Ugh. I hate figuring out science every year. I hate it!

[Mommyfaithe]

You have more graduated than you have left. Good job! I'm sorry you hate this part. One foot in front of the other. Lord have mercy.

 

I think I ran out of feet:tongue_smilie:

 

All I have left to decide on is history....and my kids are not really readers (where did these aliens come from?). I want to do a WTM style .....but combine years 2&3. The idea of spending an entire year in the Middle Ages makes me want to poke out my eyes with lances!

 

I want it all laid out! Wah!!!! :glare:

[JenniferB]

The idea of spending an entire year in the Middle Ages makes me want to poke out my eyes with lances!

 

I feel the same way about 3 cycles of 4 years of Western history. For history I just follow my interests. Last year I became interested with early church and especially the Byzantine Church and Empire, so that's what we studied for the whole year, and it was soooooo enjoyable (for me :D). This year we are doing Russian history from about 800 to the Bolshevik Revolution (early 1900's I think). Anywho, I'm soooooo excited about it, because I desperately want to learn about pre-communist Russia. Next year we will study Communism. I'm already excited about next year too and gathering resources as they pop up. I was never much into history as a student, but now that I'm homeschooling I'm very interested in history, especially those mysterious times and places that I know nothing about. Maybe you could find a time or place or book that interests you, and then go from there for history? It's OK for mom to learn what she wants now and then isn't it? At least, that's what I tell myself. ;)

 

I'd be willing to share with you my Weekly/Daily schedule and book list from last year, if you want to study early church & Byzantine Empire history instead of Middle Ages. It's the same time period, but a little different focus. The focus is on Constantinople instead of Rome & the north/west of Rome. I set it up like Sonlight with a Weekly Schedule and a 4 day a week read aloud plan.

Edited August 10, 2012 by JenniferB

[Mommyfaithe]

:grouphug:

 

Can i help with anything? Can we share our plans so you can just stack books?

 

That would be cool! Right now my books are all out on the kitchen table and we are NOT eating a real meal until I am finished....(my kids have radar, know when I am lesson planning,....and try to divert and distract as much as humanly possible. They can live on peanut butter and jelly until I finish!)

 

I have to write out some kind of template for our history studies. I am not doing a heck of a lot of reading aloud this year. I was thinking of having my kids read from Usborne or Kingfisher encyclopedia on Mondays...make a list of topics to research further, do a map. Tuesday: hit the library and read. Wed and Thurs. read some more....write a summary page on Friday ( or do a poster, project or some other product of learning which they can finish over the weekend leisurely)

 

They are Not interested in spending their lives on history....(whose kids are these anyway?)...these guys are NOT like my first batch!

 

So, anyway....I sit down with these stacks of books and just turn into a blathering idiot! I have enough resources for 5 families! Problem is....looking at all of it is giving me a twitch.:001_huh:

[Mommyfaithe]

I feel the same way about 3 cycles of 4 years of Western history. For history I just follow my interests. Last year I became interested with early church and especially the Byzantine Church and Empire, so that's what we studied for the whole year, and it was soooooo enjoyable (for me :D). This year we are doing Russian history from about 800 to the Bolshevik Revolution (early 1900's I think). Anywho, I'm soooooo excited about it, because I desperately want to learn about pre-communist Russia. Next year we will study Communism. I'm already excited about next year too and gathering resources as they pop up. I was never much into history as a student, but now that I'm homeschooling I'm very interested in history, especially those mysterious times and places that I know nothing about. Maybe you could find a time or place or book that interests you, and then go from there for history? It's OK for mom to learn what she wants now and then isn't it? At least, that's what I tell myself. ;)

 

I'd be willing to share with you my Weekly/Daily schedule and book list from last year, if you want to study early church & Byzantine Empire history instead of Middle Ages. It's the same time period, but a little different focus. The focus is on Constantinople instead of Rome & the north/west of Rome. I set it up like Sonlight with a Weekly Schedule and a 4 day a week read aloud plan.

 

 

THAT's IT!!!! I am coming to your house.:auto:

[JenniferB]

THAT's IT!!!! I am coming to your house.:auto:

 

Srsly, I'll e-mail you my stuff if you want. You'll just have to buy a few books and then you are good to go. I just gave all my books to another mom to borrow, or I'd let you have/borrow those too. PM me your e-mail and I'll get it sent off right away!

[Mommyfaithe]

I am so with you this week, Faith! I'm knee deep in science, which is my least favorite subject to begin with. I have one week to figure out what the heck I'm doing. I'm using ck12 for my oldest and I can't figure it out. I'm getting there, but now I find out that the earth science I'm using, which I thought was complete, isn't. It's a flexbook system and I could build my own but I liked what someone else had already done. And it was, well, already done.

I haven't even started on my little man. I was hoping to find unit studies that go along with my ds12's so we can do some of the same labs and just be on the same topic, ya know?

Ugh. I hate figuring out science every year. I hate it!

 

I broke down and bought lesson plans for science. I will not do it otherwise....this year it is Elemental Science Physics for the boys....and dd is getting an Oak Meadow Syllabus for Bio. ( I was so happy it includes some projects AND and answer key...lalalala......).

 

Time for me to get my printer humming and my 3 hole puncher punching....

 

I feel like having a temper tantrum instead.

[Mommyfaithe]

Srsly, I'll e-mail you my stuff if you want. You'll just have to buy a few books and then you are good to go. I just gave all my books to another mom to borrow, or I'd let you have/borrow those too. PM me your e-mail and I'll get it sent off right away!

 

Thanks Jennifer! I will PM you....I have tons of books!:D

[klmama]

SOMEONE or SOME COMPANY to just put all this stinkin' stuff together for me into a reasonable laid out plan!!

 

Seriously! I don't want a darn smorgasbord....I don't want a writing assignment in every darn subject.....I don't want tons of overlap and then having to decide what stays and what goes.....I just WANT to have this DONE!

 

I am just so tired of culling and cutting and tweaking and planning and replanning and planning again......and adding and tweaking and pulling books and adding others in.

 

:iagree: Dd told me yesterday she would never homeschool her dc because planning took so much work. I told her the problem wasn't homeschooling or planning, the problem was I was never satisfied with the plans someone else laid out for me. I have many friends who don't even look at their materials until the week before they start school; they just order the next level in whatever program they've decided is best, open, and go. Golly, that would be wonderful! I've tried it with the programs they thought were so great, and I hated every one of them. I have to pick and choose, add and delete, and generally drive myself and everyone else crazy. When I'm done, I usually like what I chose, but the choices are never quite right for the next kid to do that level, so I have to do it all over again. Oh, well. It's the price I pay for giving my dc an individually tailored education, right? :)