So, I began homeschooling with the belief that I knew everything.  I had been a classroom teacher for about ten years and had been a mentor teacher for another three.  KONOS was my first choice of curriculum because I strongly believe in the integrated unit approach, and I loved the concept.  www.konos.com provides all the details. 

Our first year with KONOS went well.  Dd was just in kindergarten, ds was about 3 yo, and we had a lot of fun with it.  The following year, though, everything changed.  My home based business suddenly required 30-40 hours from me each week, and homeschooling got pushed further and further aside.  I found that KONOS was too easy to ignore since there are no concrete daily lesson plans.  To make matters worse, dd and I had come to hate our 1st grade Saxon curriculum.  Day after day went by with very little homeschooling.  I was at my desk working and the kids were watching TV.    I began dreading the day when my mom would begin asking my daughter how to solve simple math problems or spell a word! 

Fast forward to last summer when I heard that a rep from My Father's World would be in a town about two hours from our home.  A friend had been raving about this curiculum for a couple of years, and I talked another HS mom into making the drive with me.  I had resisted the idea of a curriculum that would tell me just what to do every day, so I was pretty humbled walking into that hotel conference room! 

We've used My Father's World curriculum, www.mfwbooks.com,  for about six months now.  I LOVE having daily lesson plans already prepared.  We don't always follow it exactly, and I'm nearly always "behind" in one subject or another, but dd and I love being able to check off each subject as we do it.  Even on days, like today, when we take some time off, I like being able to say to dh, "We did math, spelling, and reading today."  I guess I'm the type of person who really, REALLY likes to see that I'm making progress.  It's a great feeling to see that we're more than halfway through this year's curriculum.

English is definitely in line with Charlotte Mason's model, and it took a while to get used to it.  Now, I love it.  We're using Singapore math and finding that it's a much better fit for us.  Our spelling text is from Rod & Staff, and dd has been able to do the lessons pretty much independently from the beginning.  She's also quite a reader, and American Girl books have been major players in our Reading.  Per our curriculum guide, we always have a Book Basket filled with books that cover the topics we are currently studying.  We've also enjoyed each read aloud recommended, and provided, by My Father's World.

The result has been a much, much more organized school year.  I'm finding a better balance between schooling and business.  In fact, I've recently revved up some areas of my business and everything is STILL in balance!  I love it!  Also, I'm a huge history buff, and our study of American History and the 50 States has been right up my alley.  It has also been very easy to incorporate our studies with our family travel.  Woo-hoo!  Thanks to this curriculum, I finally feel successful as a homeschool mom.