I think I finally get it!  The question is, what can I do about it now?

I’ve been frustrated by our homeschool.  It just didn’t seem right.  We do not enough time for fun learning games, not enough time to concentrate on new skills and concepts.  The kids are spending too much time on workbooks, which, in the end, is so much busy work (as much as I love the way Catholic Heritage Curricula has designed them!)  Only Noeo Science is shared between them.  And now that I want to add in PACE, where do I fit it?  Clearly, something is wrong.

I’ve come to realize that I am not sticking to the core principles of a Charlotte Mason education, with the focus on narration, dictation, copywork.  History is not to be taught as a chronological subject, but rather through a book of centuries.  The books themselves will inspire my children more than anything else.

I love the Mater Amabilis program, even if they did decide to stick with Our Island Story and This Country of Ours, LOL. ;-)  I realize that the hang up is that it is segmented into years, so each child has a separate schedule, some of which extends over two years.  But what if I had viewed 1B and each year of 1A as cycles instead of sequential years?  In other words, I should have had ds#1 and ds#2 doing the same history, the same earth study, the same literature, the same saints, the same New Testament.  So much could have been combined, which would have left so much more time to focus on the CM basics and other activities.

Now we have only 1 term left, and next year ds#1 moves up to level 2.  This split makes it particularly difficult to combine their work.  I will have to get to know level 2 better and decide what to do.  Certainly there’s a lot of level 1 we’ve not done so I can make some sort of hybrid.  I need to focus on term 3, and I have two weeks in which to pull that together.  I need to brainstorm--after I pray.

God, you know what is best for our family.  You will guide us to what is good and right.  Amen.

Looking back on all the wonderful events of Holy Week, and knowing that my kids “get it” and have gone to Mass joyfully, I have nothing to complain about.  That is really what matters.