Boy, I hate this feeling, but I am so confused about homeschooling. I wish I could just feel confident about our decision and stick with it. But I'm struggling. I think homeschooling is the best option for my kids, however, if I'm not implementing the things that make it great then it's just staying home. The advise I'm getting from my pastor is that I need structure in my home. I think that means a general schedule so my kids know when to expect things. I created one. It's great, but we have such a hard time sticking to it. Sometimes I find my creative personality cannot adhere to a schedule. That's one of the reasons I don't want to put them in school. I hated the rushed, frantic mornings trying to get there ontime and having to wake my babies from their nap to go pick them up in the afternoon.

Help me! I'm lost. We found a good Christian school which is really small and lines up with our faith. My husband and I both graduated from Christian schools and have fond memories. It sounds great, but it'll be $750 a month for 10 months to send all three of my kids there. My youngest son goes to kindergarten next year. He has listening issues. I'd like to send him somewhere for kindergarten. I did with the others and it helped get them reading and learning some of that structure.

Plus I am so lost at how to homeschool three children - 5, 7, and 9. My 9 year old is pretty good about working independently (of course, I have to stay on him or he'll wander to the video games). But my younger two demand almost constant teaching. Carly, my 2nd grader, has so many gaps in her learning, I'm feeling disgraced almost. I know all you unschoolers out there are thinking, it doesn't matter, but it does matter to me. I need to see progress. I need measurement. I'm thinking if I'm gonna continue this, I'm gonna need a structured curriculum that cover the basics then I can implement my creative ideas on those days when I'm up to it or the babies are cooperating or the house doesn't need my attention or I don't have a million errands.

Another thing is that we don't go places. We don't do things with other groups. I cannot find a group that is condusive to bringing to two 2-year old twins. I don't have a babysitter during the school year. I can't just drop off one or two of the kids to the functions. We have church, and that's great, but other than that I feel like we're in a vacuum, a cave. There are no other homeschoolers in our church either, so I'm very isolated. We're Youth Pastors, and I have a calling into music ministry as well. I don't want my family to be an excuse for not following my call, but I also feel my first calling is to my family. I mean how stupid would it be to help other people's kids and lose my own.

Should I just have fun with this homeschooling thing? Or do we need the structure and integrity of definitive schedules and lesson plans. I know it's a common question, and probably does not have an answer outside my own heart, but I'd love to hear comments from seasoned veterans who's kids are the model homeschooled children (lol).

By the way, all that wonderful organization and planning I showed earlier on in my blog? It's caput. The kids just never responded to the Ambleside Online stuff. It was like pulling teeth everyday. Help me!!

Posted by quietcajun

never never never give up. don't lose heart and dont lose vision... and if you ever need to know what it is like to try out public school... read the archives in my blog and then email me if you need to talk to someone who understands what you are experiencing!

just remember my method, or ambleside's method, or the homeschooler down the street's method... are not necessarily what will work for you...

go to http://familymanweb.com/audio.htm and order Todd Wilson's CD teaching... "Augg! I can't remember why I homeschool!" and "will the real homeschooling mom please stand up!" They are $7 each and worth every penny!

Posted by quietcajun

Read When you rise up: a covenental approach to homeschooling by r.c sprouls jr.



REmember that Godly character matters more than anything else!

Posted by

I understand...trying to juggle the educational needs of a lot of kids.
I have two and some days I scratch my head. I have a five and seven year old too.
Here's what has helped me...teaching history, science, geography, health and those kind of survey subjects together. What does that mean? It means getting books and reading aloud to them. Also, I give my older one books to read on his own. I just pick the higher level book and read. You'd be amazed what younger kids can pick up. If they'll hang out for a few good books, then you can do this!
Not HS, but teach them both at the same time. While your older one does independent stuff you can read or have them do their work. I start with copywork from the board and then they do their handwriting books and then we switch to language arts and the other 3Rs. Bible, science, health etc. CAN be done together. Your 5 and 7 yo are close enough in age. The nine year old could listen in too if you think he/she needs that info or you could assign reading or read to him/her later. It's not easy, but don't give up! If this IS the calling, don't throw in the towel, yet. If God wants you to HS, He'll give you the answers you need to make it happen. God bless and hope my two cents make sense and don't offend you.
Michelle

Edited by Jn1512 on Apr. 20, 2006 at 11:56 AM

Posted by Suzanne

I am by no means a "seasoned" homeschooler, but I wanted to leave a comment in hopes that you'd leave a comment on my blog, too. Why? Because I want to think about the questions and concerns you've presented here *and* my dh is wanting to use the computer sometime before midnite (and it's already 11:45). So, instead of making it easy on myself and bookmarking your page and/or adding you to my friends' list, I'm leaving a long, convuluted (sp?), irrelevant (sp?/usage?) comment. -- ha!

Speaking of friends' lists, may I add you to mine? :-)

Posted by Christina in GA

Why not take a break for a while and allow yourself to have fun? It's springtime, it's beautiful weather. Enjoy your kids for a while.

I also decided to use a curriculum with more structure. We went with Lifepac. If you ask the Christian school what they use, they probably use Lifepac, School of Tomorrow or Abeka. Any of those you can purchase on your own.

We are sticking with Ambleside though for the reading lists. We will use the books as free reading and read alouds over the summer.

Give yourself some time to have fun and you'll get your joy back, I promise :)

Posted by Panshrmu

and wanted to say, hang in there. I am not a seasoned hser by anymeans, I am only "officially" hsing ds1 who is 7.5yr. I have an almost 4yr old and almost 2yr old. We are missionaries as well.
We started a 6wks off/1wk on schedule and love it. Ds knows when to look forward to a break, knows that he has to hang on (it gets bad towards the last week). After the break, he is usually good for about a month:-) Little goals will add up, you will see what they have accomplished
I think the "is it enough?" or "is it good enough?" or the "I'm not cut out for this" mindset creeps up on everyone, even with those who send kids to school. Take a break, set some short goals and try to get to a park once a week. There were many times when I just said "shoes on, let's go" and they look at me......sometimes they just need to breathe too.
have fun
deana

Posted by dawilli

Get your hands on lots of encouraging resources. Good books, tapes of speakers from conventions, etc... you can find your vigor renewed when reading about so many great ideas.
Also, I recommend Managers of Their Homes, by Terri Maxwell of Titus2.com It's a great book about scheduling, not just school, but life. She talks about the lack of structure, the fear of structure... and explains how having a general guideline to follow most of your days actually frees up a creative person to use that creativity. Without planning and structure (a workable schedule) there are always things like laundry, baking, more dishes, ironing, vacuuming, crisis cleaning, need I go on...? to get in the way of doing anything fun and creative. It's hard to find the time to paint a picture if the kitchen's a mess and there's no clear table to work on... just an example... anyway, I've talked a little about it on my blog, but one of the biggest blessings I got from that book was a note from a reader that went something to the effect of - we've never stuck to the schedule 100% for a single day, but just trying to follow it the best we can we are getting so much more accomplished than we ever were without a plan- and I have found that to be soooo true!
Sorry this is getting long, but as far as curriculum goes, the life pacs are a good place to start if you're feeling like you just need a more structured curriculum that covers all the bases. You can always branch out from there as you gain confidence over the years, or you may just love it and stick with it... and you can always add extra "fun" learning things as they come up- look up the birds that come to your feeder, draw them, paint them, write a paragraph or two... anything works...
Well, hang in there! And just enjoy the spring and summer right now, your kids are still young, you've got time to figure things out, try not to worry about it too much,
have a good one,
ali