I think I did it right this year.  I drew up my goals for each child, and then sat down with each of my two older kids to collaborate with them and determine if my goals matched theirs, and more importantly, if the methods and resources I had in mind to achieve them were acceptable to them. 

For reading, both my rising 1st-grade-age boy and 3rd-grade-age girl are excellent readers, so we decided they would both continue to read plenty of books of their choice from the library, as well as some that correlate with our history and other studies.  Each week the older girl will take 2 BookAdventure quizzes on books she has read, and my son will take 1. 

For writing, my daughter elected not to continue with Handwriting Without Tears but instead to use A Reason for Handwriting, so she can practice writing Scripture verses and color the border pictures when she finishes.  My son chose to continue with the 2nd printing book in Handwriting Without Tears. 

My daughter decided she wants to use the Write on Track textbook for grammar and composition.  Writing has been an area I have let slide for her up until now, and I'm not sure how much I am going to ask her to compose.  My son and daughter both decided they did not want to use First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained mind, which I was hoping to use. 

Both are happy to continue using ShillerMath, Story of the World history (finish vol.1, start vol. 2), and Considering God's Creation science (just started last month). 

For Bible I had wanted to do a Kay Arthur kids' study with them, but they lost interest quickly.  Maybe we can come back to that in a few years.  In the meantime we will pick up where we left off reading Hero Tales for the summer, and then continue with Community Bible Study and Awana in the fall.

The kids are enjoying doing art with their aunt, our nanny.  My daughter wants to do more collages, and my son wants to do art outdoors.   We will continue to correlate some art projects with our history and science studies.

Both kids (and even my 2-year-old) love Chinese class with our nanny, who was born in Taiwan and attended Chinese school as a child.  My son believes doing homework will help him learn better on the days he doesn't have Chinese class.

As for phys ed, both older kids want to continue swimming - my daughter can swim fairly well, and my son is still a beginner.  He also wants to go ice skating and bowling and ride his bike more often.

I want to introduce music to the kids, teaching primarily at my 2-year-old's level, using Keyboard Capers, with the assistance of the older 2.

It should prove to be a fun and interesting year.  I suppose my biggest concern is getting things together with my daughter's grammar and composition.  I just ordered the teacher's guide for 97 cents, so hopefully I'll find some good ideas in there.