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knowloveserve
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| Posted: May 23 2012 at 11:33pm | IP Logged
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How many of you out there have a great disparity in the type of homeschooling atmosphere or methods you WANT versus the type of homeschooling atmosphere or methods you HAVE?
I do.
Every year around this time I start getting excited about curriculum options and planning for next fall. I spend hours researching the best products/books/ideas and am eager to implement them in our home. I LOVE planning.
This year, I feel paralyzed by my choices. I feel like I've already messed my children up too much to do anything very effectively.
I've toyed with unschooling which they loved of course but I can't unschool myself to not let guilt eat away at me... so then I hear about this great book or that great product and I feel like we need it. So I implement some order in the day. And this is met with a power struggle to one degree or another almost every day. But I tell myself I can't just quit our workbooks and programs because that's the easy way out. So I march on and we fight on and I have to deal with angst and whining over the most trivial of assignments.
They seriously don't recognize how little I ask of them.
But then I tell myself that schooling shouldn't be painful or I read yet another enabling unschoolish book and I doubt my methods once again.
I have no trust in what I'm doing either way. I feel paralyzed with decisions. I feel like the kind of groove I WANT in my home is not possible. So I just deal out workbooks and assignments to make us feel like we are doing SOMETHING.
A calm, peaceful CM day, iced with lots of living literature and sprinkled with a bit of Classical memorization and unschooly rabbit trails... is my ideal. Notebooking and/or lap booking along the way.
My reality is Seton spelling. Seton handwriting. Teaching Textbooks. Apologia astronomy. Ancient Egypt studies via picture books and videos. Boys who love to read but hate to write. Boys who can do the work but hate doing the work. Boys who spend literally 2 hours doing a ten minute assignment.
I feel like we can never get to the nature walks, art studies, read alouds, science experiments or fun trips because we spend our entire day gutting through the "core" curriculum items. We go to Mass. We eat breakfast. We do some light morning chores. We argue and whine about school for a few hours. We do lunch. We do quiet time. We skip the walk because so and so never got their work done and the rest of the family gets held up. So we whine about school for another hour. The boys go to Hap-Ki-Do or do a piano lesson or go to a scout meeting in the afternoon. Come home. We eat. We do some brief evening chores. We sometimes pray. We fall into bed exhausted... well I do while they goof off in their room for an hour before falling asleep.
I feel like I'm "surviving" my homeschooling year rather than proactively loving it or living it. I can't wait for summer... but then my heart sinks thinking how far behind we are in all our subjects so we probably should work through summer.
(To be fair, my September 2011 baby really threw me off schooling for much longer than I anticipated. I was doing everything I could just to keep the house functioning and the children fed with this fifth baby. It's been a rough adjustment.)
Okay, so it looks like there are three main problems I'm boiling this down to:
1-So many choices are overwhelming me.
2-My family resists schoolwork all around. I hate the power struggles. It makes me want to give up and I believe I would if I didn't have a moral problem with my other options. The only thing they really "enjoy" is reading living books or being outdoors... which sounds fantastic but riddles me with guilt when I think of how underdeveloped they seem in the language arts/math areas.
3-I just need some gentle words of encouragement. Or a sharp rebuke to quit my sniveling and just buck up. Take your pick... feeling emotional and overwhelmed lately...
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Ellie
The Bleeding Pelican
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Martha
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| Posted: May 23 2012 at 11:38pm | IP Logged
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How old are your children?
What are your top education goals, over all and for each child?
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Martha
mama to 7 boys & 4 girls
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Martha
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| Posted: May 23 2012 at 11:44pm | IP Logged
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The questions seem overwhelming, but that's not my intent.
Sometimes we get distracted by the glitz of the idea and miss that it doesn't meet our needs. No matter how awesome or great or whatever it is, it's useless if it isn't meeting your needs.
Why do you buy workbooks if you hate them? What would you do if you refused to buy them and thus did not have them on hand?
Boys are notorious for hating to write. But they are also notorious for loving to create a new story.
Make your schedule reflect your priorities. If you want to do more walks and art, then go in the morning. It's too hot to bother in the afternoon anyways! And for boys, burning the energy early might actually help them focus in the afternoon. It might even jump start their imagination so they have more to write or draw about.
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Martha
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knowloveserve
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| Posted: May 24 2012 at 12:41am | IP Logged
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My boys will all currently 9, 7 and 5.
My top goals are (not in order):
1-Character formation and virtue appreciation in light of the faith.
2-Understanding the rules of logic. {ETA: this will be a high school focus}
3-Able to articulate a message effectively.
4-Love learning.
5-Know how to access materials to learn whatever they want to.
6-Love reading.
7-Appreciate the outdoors.
8-Develop their own God given skills to honor Him and serve others.
All this and I'll be a happy mama. Sure there are minor things I'd like for them to know... I'd love if they were math geniuses or linguistics majors or violin virtuosos... but those are all carrots compared to my list.
These goals don't really deviate for each child. My second son has some clear gifts that my first son doesn't that we want to really develop (music). He is very bright in all areas actually. I'm not particularly sure what gifts my first son has yet... he's really very good at altar serving if that counts. I do believe in my heart that He will be called to a priestly vocation someday; God has put many signs and "coincidences" in place to put that seed in my head... but time will tell. My third son is a prankster. Next fall, we'll be doing picture book studies FIAR style... I made up a bunch of excellent files for various books around the world and have found it makes the perfect holistic first grade curriculum.
I bought the workbooks because I get influenced seeing how other people's children can spell and mine aren't very good at it. And initially, they all loved Explode the Code so that worked for us. The first two are past that now... they like the idea of story creation tentatively speaking... but balk at writing anything. Anything.
(And afternoons are excellent for walks around here in the Puget Sound area because mornings are often drizzly, windy and cold... and it'll clear up after noon...) I do believe my kids need more large muscle movement than they're getting. I just feel crippled by laundry piles needing to get done or a baby's nap to prioritize or a potty trainer who can't be too far from home.
And so on. Do you see my excuses?! Crimeny.
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Ellie
The Bleeding Pelican
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AmandaV
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| Posted: May 24 2012 at 1:43am | IP Logged
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Ellie, no suggestions yet. Prayers. And empathy. And I totally hear you on the 5th baby rough adjustment. My little guy (born last July) is the cutest sweetest best guy ever but couple him with my gigantic 3 year old twins, a rough last few months of the pregnancy, and the rest of life with 5 kids 7 and under, and it has not been my ideal school year. I have accepted that we are schooling through summer. But every day is a blessing and a new day to start again and that is what I keep trying to do. :)
Actually, one suggestion... drop some of the workbooks, and do some of your ideal, one step at a time? Just to get some inspiration back and then plan for next year? But don't listen to me if that doesn't help.
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Amanda
wife since 6/03, Mom to son 7/04, daughter 2/06, twin sons 6/08 and son 7/11, son 1/2014
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: May 24 2012 at 8:34am | IP Logged
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knowloveserve wrote:
How many of you out there have a great disparity in the type of homeschooling atmosphere or methods you WANT versus the type of homeschooling atmosphere or methods you HAVE?
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EVERYBODY!!!
And even more so, everybody with an 8 month old baby!!!
I felt very overwhelmed when my youngest was that age, and just when I thought I couldn't handle it anymore (very, very needy, never napped on his on, lots of fussiness and food sensitivities, etc...), he started crawling, eating, and needing me less constantly. I got through the transition by the prayer of friends, so don't be afraid to beg for them.
It really was then that I revisited and revamped for a number of reasons. I've been slowly but surely digging my way out. It IS possible, and don't think that just because you've had to revisit things ONE MORE TIME that it means you've failed. You have a completely different family now than you did a year ago, so you might have completely different needs.
Now, I can really, really relate to unschooly tendencies and attraction to a hodge podge, and I certainly am NOT critical of those who use a variety of methods. I learn a lot from them.
But, in revamping and simplifying, I feel much, much less overwhelmed the more I become a Charlotte Mason purist. My education goals are similar to yours, and I feel that a CM education will meet them. My oldest is a bit younger than yours, so I'm not fretting about spelling just yet, but I do know that it would probably be too much to try and be disciplined about doing dictation AND follow a spelling curriculum, for instance.
And I do TRUST the methods.
Now, at 9, I can't imagine that you have messed your children up at all. Your boys love to read! They are already ahead of the peers by that alone. They are going to daily mass. Beautiful!
Now, you might feel a bit behind because your 9 year old isn't in the habit of doing all that you'd like to be doing, and that will take some work on both your parts. But he's still young and has time.
What I would suggest is really studying and pondering your daily rhythms. What are the things you always do. What are the things you WANT to do and don't. Do any of those two categories mesh well?
For instance, eating snack and doing seat work. Which end of that would be most motivational? Could you come together before everyone would be hungry and know that once lessons are done, we eat. Or perhaps the prospect of eating gets everyone to the table in a timely way and keeps them occupied while you read aloud before everyone does seat work following. And just think, you are almost to the age where finger foods and snack will keep the baby occupied as well! 
OR perhaps once a month, you go to a park before or after piano lessons or some other outing. We've started meeting friends at a local garden, and the time is fixed so they come straight from their piano lessons. They are interested in beginning nature journals as well, so in addition to play, the kids are all taking a bit of time to draw.
Now, I am blessed with boys who write, so I can't speak specifically to that struggle. I do know I've SORELY neglected handwriting, and so, I'm trying to establish our copywork habit this summer by doing ***very*** simple letter introductions in cursive (free printables) and then a few phonetic words so that it is a build-up to first grade for my almost 6 year old but handwriting for my almost 8 year old.
Anyway, I'm making the copywork super-duper simple this summer so that I can establish the habit somewhat painlessly and broaden it to more substance with our new year in September.
Perhaps the summer could be a similar opportunity for you. School through the summer, but don't worry so much about progress in the subjects (especially since you might have been taking it off anyway). Rather, use it to cement some of the rhythms and habits that will serve you in the new year. Perhaps use a timer with math lessons so that you can emphasize short lessons and try to teach them that a math lesson really can just take 10-20 minutes free from agony!
Any method alternatives to the traditional schooly routes do take a leap of faith and trust. The progress is not so easily measured as a workbook or text. I know from experience that it is easier to trust them if you find some way of practicing them habitually. There must be trust, though, I think, if you are going to have the commitment to follow through.
I don't think that there are enough hours in the day to do it all. Your ideals sound ambitious to me when adding in the other stuff you are doing. Without meaning to be a Charlotte Mason zealot, I do think that you would be happier settling in establishing your reality in her methods over an unschooly/classical ideal with a traditional schooling reality. As a "crutch", I think her methods better address your educational goals and ideals than a traditional curriculum.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: May 24 2012 at 8:38am | IP Logged
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Oh, and maybe put a potty chair in the back of the van with a cloth diaper in it so that you have an option for that potty training little one that affords you a bit more freedom!
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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SallyT
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| Posted: May 24 2012 at 9:03am | IP Logged
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Your kids are still really young. My 9yo boys have not been writers, either. Actually, now that I think of it, my now-English-major daughter didn't write that much when she was 9.
I think it might help, first of all, to separate out your big-picture goals (character/virtue, etc) from concrete academic goals, which can be much smaller and more manageable. I mean, when one of your goals is "understand the rules of logic," it's easy to get overwhelmed and frustrated by a 9yo who . . . doesn't. Never mind a 5yo. That's a fabulous big-picture goal, as in, by the time they leave your house, but it may be a bit of a burden right now.
I think I might say the same thing about a goal like "to love learning." I mean, that's certainly one of my goals. I think it's probably everyone's goal here. But the problem with these "love X or Y" goals is that our kids DON'T love X or Y every day, and we can't really control how they feel anyway, which sets us up to feel like failures when they don't feel the way we hope they will. So even though of course this is what we all want, maybe a helpful first step would be to ditch goals like this *as written objectives.*
Instead, focus on what you can do, concretely, in the form of a small core of non-negotiables: math, language arts, and religion, say. And make those non-negotiables as simple and success-oriented as possible.
For example, try copywork for your language-arts program. If your goal is for your children to communicate clearly in written English, let them spend five-ten minutes daily absorbing good written English through brief copywork passages. This exercise provides handwriting practice, spelling practice, practice in syntax, etc. Give each child a Mead Primary Journal, and pull short passages from their reading, psalms from the Daily Office, poems from a resource like The Harp and the Laurel Wreath, jokes, recipes, whatever they like. I write the copy passage on the left-hand side of each double-page spread (when the book is open flat on the table). Then they copy on the right and illustrate if they like. Let them do five minutes of quiet copying with some nice music on. This is language arts, accomplishing many educational objectives in five minutes' time.
Copywork really does help with spelling, by the way, though it takes time. My first child, the English major, went to school for four years, aced her spelling tests every week, and still could not spell her way out of a paper bag. She now spells pretty well -- when she started really writing in middle and high school, a lot of her problems self-corrected. My second child, who did copywork daily, and no other language arts at all, from the ages of 5 to about 11, is a very good speller and writer at 14. At 9, he could spell all right-ish, but hated to write. This is where my current 9yo is right now. My 8yo daughter seems to have inherited her older sister's non-spelling gene -- she loves to write, but I'm sure everyone to whom she wrote thank-you notes for First Communion was highly amused by her spelling of words like "skapyuler." I used to get more bent about things like this, until I started teaching the First Communion class and realized that most 8yos really can't spell all that well, particularly when they want to say something fairly sophisticated.
(NB: I do use some workbooks for things like language arts. I like the CHC Language of God books for grammar: they cover essential concepts in what I think is an age-appropriate way, with very short lessons. I've looked at the Seton books, and my personal feeling is that they're way too much. So it may not be workbooks, per se, that you totally have to ditch, but the particular ones you're using may not be a good fit).
Then something simple for math. When you're overwhelmed with small children, a very hands-on, teacher-intensive, and/or "living" math program may not be feasible for you, which again is where simple workbooks *can* be your friend. I keep falling back on good ol' unexciting MCP math (though we also use elements of MEP during our morning basket time), because it keeps them more or less on track, and it's easy for us to manage. Too elaborate, and it won't get done. But again, for a 9yo, 20 minutes' daily practice seems to do the trick. I don't worry too much about finishing a year's program, because the next year's will pick up and build on many of the same themes. My main objective in math for the elementary years is mastery of the basic skills -- addition, subtraction, multiplication, division -- without which much higher-level math will be harder. We do play around with concepts and try to have fun with it, but "to love math" is not one of my *written* goals (see above). Funnily enough, my kids mostly do like math . . .
Anyway, I think what I'm trying to say is that a) you're not messing up your kids, and b) I think you can be where you want to be, or closer to it, with really a very simple tweak of your day's priorities, spending no more than 5-20 minutes (depending on age and subject) on each segment of your "core skills" curriculum, with the rest of your time and energy devoted to the kind of relaxed life-learning you yearn for.
So your day could look like this:
1. "Morning Basket" time (I keep stealing Jen's term -- I love this concept, though ours is a little different in scope from hers) in which you do prayers, maybe some singing, and a series of short read-alouds including living books which cover religion, history, science, literature, math, etc. This could last from half an hour to an hour, depending on what you're able to do with the age spread you have.
2. What I call 'table work,' or 'sitdown work.' Start everyone on five minutes of copywork, with nice music. Follow this with something your 9yo can do independently for a while -- again, here's where I find, in my own home, that workbooks can have their place, though this could also be independent reading -- while you work with your younger ones on things like reading, writing, and math. *Or* if you need help juggling little ones, let the oldest either help a younger child with work, or amuse the littles while you work with whoever needs the most guidance. Right now I'm actually past the stage of having small children who need either amusing or that much help with their work, so the table work component of our day can be really short -- no more than half an hour, total. Mine always finish with about ten minutes of independent reading.
3. Lunchtime read-aloud. I don't always manage this, but it's a great way to cover more ground via literature, and the kids enjoy it.
Then the rest of your day is free. If you can tell yourself that you *have* covered the bases daily, via literature and via your short sitdown session, then you may feel much more relaxed about the openness of the rest of the day. I think of the relationship of the two parts of the day -- school and unschool -- this way: in the morning, I'm giving them some furniture for their minds, which they might not acquire in any other way besides my offering it to them (again, via either literature or the short sitdown time), and in the afternoon, they get to arrange that furniture any way they like and add to it.
Ultimately, I think your instinct to simplify, and to stop chasing the endless parade of curricula, is right on. Look at the goals you've set yourself, extrapolate from them what you can actually, realistically, concretely *do*, day by day, and limit your formal schooling to manageable daily practice in the non-negotiables, with the bulk of your day focused on sharing literature and life experiences.
Guess I should go do all this with my own kids now . . .
Sally
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: May 24 2012 at 9:22am | IP Logged
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SallyT wrote:
| Then something simple for math. When you're overwhelmed with small children, a very hands-on, teacher-intensive, and/or "living" math program may not be feasible for you, which again is where simple workbooks *can* be your friend. |
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Yes this! I really like Math Mammoth for this, which is basically a workbook I print out, lol.
SallyT wrote:
| 1. "Morning Basket" time (I keep stealing Jen's term -- I love this concept, though ours is a little different in scope from hers) in which you do prayers, maybe some singing, and a series of short read-alouds including living books which cover religion, history, science, literature, math, etc. This could last from half an hour to an hour, depending on what you're able to do with the age spread you have. |
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In addition to loving Jen's posts about her morning basket, I really have gleaned SO MUCH from seeing Sally's Morning Basket described in action.
The concept is helpful, and it is wonderful seeing its possible variations to better know how to hone it as a tool in my own arsenal!
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Willa
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| Posted: May 24 2012 at 10:22am | IP Logged
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Love the advice on this thread!
I hate the sensation of our homeschool not living up to my ideals, but have learned to live with it since it is more or less a constant in my life, even after two decades.
To me it is something like what St Francis de Sales said about morning devotions -- how after the heights of spiritual consolation, often a person living in the world would become irritated by some intrusion of "real life" onto the beautiful communion with God. He said it is a temptation to become either discouraged or irritable, so it's especially important to be aware of this and guard against it.
On a secular level, with regard to house cleaning, Flylady says something very similar. When a chronic "messie" starts getting a handle on her housework, there is often a temptation to get enraged at her "babies" or loved ones who just aren't getting with the program or keep making messes. Flylady says to remember that the housekeeping is about love and that love is more important than the details and glitches.
Something similar happens when you start a workout program. You start with high ideals "I am going to walk for an hour every day!" and then 15 minutes in, perhaps, you get exhausted and bored and are tempted to stop altogether. Or at least, that is
Anyway, I am not saying you are irritable with your kids.... in my own experience, because I'm melancholic, I don't get irritable so much as discouraged by the disparity between my vision and the reality of my life.
But the principle is the same. It is fine to have visions and ideals and aspirations -- those are (in my opinion) what keep the motor running, what make you reach rather than settle. But it is NORMAL to hit that wall of reality and have to adjust accordingly. It is a normal thing. It doesn't mean you are doing it wrong. It's the inevitable shock when the rubber meets the road.
I think some personality types actually LIKE that feeling and it challenges and energizes them, but a different temperament will feel it as a real disappointment and it will leach away their motivation. But really, it does open up opportunities too.
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Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
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knowloveserve
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| Posted: May 24 2012 at 11:12am | IP Logged
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(briefly sneaking in here between the breakfast rush)
See and then I hear about things like Math Mammoth and doubt what has been working for us: Teaching Textbooks. I love that program because it's so mom friendly. The kids used to love it... it was novel. Now they get annoyed at the drill. But it's so easy to say "Go do a math lesson" and they don't argue too much about that... and then there's the Life of Fred stuff I keep wanting to explore to make math enjoyable.
And JUST copy work as a whole language arts program? We've done it in the past some mixed with PLL... am currently trying to move into dictation a wee bit with the oldest but it's having disastrous results so far... he in tears about how awful he is at it and me frustrated that he gets so upset about it rather than just cheerfully correcting his mistakes.
More later...
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Ellie
The Bleeding Pelican
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: May 24 2012 at 11:27am | IP Logged
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Oh goodness, Ellie!  If Teaching Textbooks works for you, keep with it!!! I changed because what I was doing was too Mom intensive and not getting done.
If math is working, I wouldn't touch it!
Again, Jen says things so well, but here is her post about language arts. I do think that narration AND copywork and eventually dictation and written narration are all you need for language arts in elementary. And things like poetry memorization and picture study are also related and fill out the LA.
The oldest as a perfectionist is something we battle here. It was why I needed to move to math he could do independently (which, yours sounds great! don't touch it!  ). Jen has a whole post on dictation that might help you. You might also check out some of the samples of The Arrow from Bravewriter. She gives very step by step and gentle guidance in approaching the dictation lessons.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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SallyT
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| Posted: May 24 2012 at 3:46pm | IP Logged
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We have never done dictation that much, to be honest, just moved more or less naturally from copywork to independent writing. Not that everyone has to love every single moment of every single item of schoolwork, but if something is a battle, I would give it a rest for a while.
What helped my older son make that writing transition: fan fiction. When he was 10 or 11, we discovered a Redwall website where kids could post fan fiction, and he ate that up. I didn't assign it or anything -- he just wanted to do it. As your oldest boy gets just a smidge older, you might keep your eyes open for writing opportunities that aren't schooly and are related to things he's interested in. That was a huge corner turned for my formerly-reluctant son.
It's worked for us to keep our elementary years fairly minimal in terms of formal work -- I care that people have the mechanics of writing (both handwriting and composition), which they do acquire via copywork, and I care that they are math literate and reasonably competent in foundational skills. The meat of our learning is in the literature we read aloud together; the sitdown work we do to cover essential skills (which I think of as a category separate from knowledge). I think it's the skills we tend to worry about more, because that's what we see in other children: Child X is a better speller, etc. And while skills are important, and a child who *seriously* lacks them is kind of hamstrung, they are the kind of thing that can be practiced lightly but steadily on a daily basis, rather than swamping your whole school day. Think of the writing/grammar/math-skills stuff as analogous to playing scales in piano practice -- necessary for progress, but not the whole concerto.
And I agree: if your math is working, don't change it. Even full CM curricula like Mater Amabilis leave room for "math curriculum of your choice." What you ultimately want is for your child to transition relatively effortlessly into pre-algebra and algebra for high school, and you really don't need something magic to get you there. It's nice to incorporate "living" math materials, and we do that fairly regularly, but I think we all want what's going to get *done*.
Believe it or not, I really miss those homeschooling baby days . . . probably because I've glossed over how hard it also was! Hang in there!
Sally
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Martha
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| Posted: May 24 2012 at 4:41pm | IP Logged
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If it works, leave it be!
If it isn't, then change it for at least a semester. Don't bounce about. So much of learning is like sand in an hour glass, so slow to fill and suddenly you see it's all added up.
I agree with the others, it doesn't have to be all or nothing. If spelling is your worry area, then Natural Speller might be the perfect bridge between a text and nothing formal. Tho really spelling is an editing problem, IMO. Children who read frequently and write formally at least weekly will see a big improvement in their spelling. Dictation or copy work could be one way to make sure get the formal writing and editing process needed.
Most of your goal are not curriculum based, they are attitude based. CM might help develop those attitudes, so might a text or booklist or workbook.
And much of it is routine and habit formation. Which is a pain, bc those are MY problem so I can't blame anyone else. Or help with tht bc what works for me might not be t all your cup of tea. ;)
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Martha
mama to 7 boys & 4 girls
Yes, they're all ours!
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DominaCaeli
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| Posted: May 24 2012 at 5:56pm | IP Logged
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CrunchyMom wrote:
| I don't think that there are enough hours in the day to do it all. Your ideals sound ambitious to me when adding in the other stuff you are doing. Without meaning to be a Charlotte Mason zealot, I do think that you would be happier settling in establishing your reality in her methods over an unschooly/classical ideal with a traditional schooling reality. As a "crutch", I think her methods better address your educational goals and ideals than a traditional curriculum. |
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I just wanted to second this. Your goals are very in line with a CM style of education, and the way you have described an ideal day fits that as well...but you can't expect yourself to try to do CM *and* all the other stuff too...it's just too much. No wonder it feels like you'll burn out if you add it in! I also really like what Lindsay said about using the summer to take the traditional break from "school" and set up some rhythms that will, in time, *become* school for you all: morning basket with poetry and read alouds, picture study, music study, a little copywork, etc. All in really short lessons, since it's summer. 
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Blessings,
Celeste
Joyous Lessons
Mommy to six: three boys (8, 4, newborn) and four girls (7, 5, 2, and 1)
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knowloveserve
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The irony in all this is that I feel like such a whelp because some moms around here come to ME for advice and opinions on homeschooling methods. Sometimes I feel so confident and so at peace... other times I'm a slobbering fool. Because, you know... it's much easier to reveal your insecurities online than to real life peers. 
So much angst could be relieved if I didn't have the standards of others bearing down on me, tempting me to compare. (It doesn't help that we live right next to a private Catholic school where the students excel in many ways...)
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Ellie
The Bleeding Pelican
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asplendidtime
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Coming back to read this later... 
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Rebecca~Mama to
Noah 17,
Katie 16,
Mary 14,
Tim 13,
Jonah 12,
Josh 10,
Zoe 9,
Will 7,
Peter 6,
Laura-Mae 4,
Emily-Joy 2,
Genevieve & Gabriella 1
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Kristie 4
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I know I could have written your post many times over the last thirteen years of homeschooling- hang in there! Like anything, there is the ups and downs!
Great advice here too- couldn't add anything...
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Kristie in Canada
Mom to 3 boys and one spunky princess!!
A Walk in the Woods
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Marcia
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I'm beginning our 8th year of homeschooling (we are getting a start on the fall since baby #6 is coming in Sep) and I think I have finally found out what helps me.
Having a philosophy of schooling. In the past if I was looking at curriculum I would have high expectations and get bogged down on other's plans that didn't fit my life.
Now that I have nearly finished CM's series I have a better handle on how I think I can live the educational lifestyle with my kids. Yes there are days that we seem to be on two different planes, but overall if I live and talk virtue, read books that instill big ideas, ask for narration EVERYDAY from each child and give short lessons on Math everyday we reach my goals.
I find that reading through a gospel slowly with my kids each morning or attending Mass starts us up for a great day. It means I must be ready in the morning...I can't dawdle...or they mimic my behavior and it's 10am before everyones dressed.
If you haven't gotten a handle on what your philosophy of schooling is, maybe you can make it your goal to find it this summer. All learning flows from our philosophy. :)
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Marcia
Mom to six and wife to one
Homeschooling 10th, 7th, 5th, 2nd, PreK and a toddler in tow.
I wonder why
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Servant2theKing
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Ellie, !!!
In 20+ years of homeschooling the aboslute BEST counsel I ever received was dd telling me, "Be confident in your parenting"! Those words of wisdom echo in my mother's heart and soul any time I feel doubtful or discouraged in a homeschooling journey that is slowly coming into the home stretch with only 2 left!
I pray you'll be blessed with similar encouragement from the ladies who have shared their hearts here. May you experience a fresh measure of hope, peace and confidence in all that you do to guide and teach your dc.
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All for Christ, our Saviour and King, servant
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Ideals not matching Reality... etc
