You know, I really did mean to start that study on U.S. history.  It just hasn't happened yet.  I got the books out of the library, renewed them twice, and never opened them.  Most of the time I feel like my head is all fuzzy and I can't think straight.  By the time I get the kids in the schoolroom, I just want to do math and language arts and be done with it. 

So which is more important - having a curriculum that I'm happy with and I can use easily, or having a curriculum the boys are happy with and they won't complain about?  Because with the former, they hated school, but they learned.  We got stuff done.  With the latter, I can't consistently get things planned to the point where we accomplish anything.  I'm thinking of going back to an online curriculum, at least for some subjects.  I loved K12, but I couldn't afford to do all subjects for all the boys.  There are other options as well, none cheap, but it's got to be better than spending money on books I never use, right?

If you're not famiiar with the Homeschool Open House, go here.

Hi, my name is Christine (well, that's my middle name anyway) and I'm getting ready to start my sixth year homeschooling.  I have four boys, ages 11, 8, 5 and 2 1/2.  Through the last six years I've tried everything from boxed curriculum and cyber charters to making it up as I go along.  We all seem to be most comfortable with unit studies such as Konos, which we're using for the second year this year.  I also make up my own units based on whatever the boys are most interested in at the time (and if anyone has a good Bionicle unit study, let me know).  I'm planning on starting school Monday after a way-too-short summer break.

Typically my day goes like this:

• Everyone should be up and finished eating no later than 9:30.  I know that sounds late to a lot of people, but we are all night owls around here.  And even getting up at 7, it usually takes me that long to get everyone including myself dressed and fed.
• We do our "group lesson" first.  These usually involve our Konos unit work for the day, an art project, a video, or me reading aloud.  Sometimes these group lessons deteriorate into wrestling matches, at which time I quietly pick up a book and read silently until they settle.
• By 10:30 or 11 we're ready for individual Language Arts and Math lessons.  I alternate days making the oldest and the second sons go first, just to make it fair.  Usually we do one of them before lunch, and one after. 
• Lunch is from 12 to 1, after which we have the other Language Arts and Math.  This year, we'll have a kindergartner as well, so he'll probably get this time slot and I'll move the older one to 2 p.m.
• We are hopefully done school by 4, and then I relax and eat bon bons.  Um, or I pick up around the house a little and then start dinner.

We generally do five or six field trips during the school year, such as a museum, a zoo, or a factory tour.  We also participate in a co-op, which runs ten Tuesdays in a row twice a year. 

I'm lucky enough to have a school room in the house, a downstairs bedroom which we have outfitted with a desk and a ton of shelves.  It might actually be a ton, since my hubby made them out of 2x10s and 2x12s.  Anyway, he just put the shelves up a few weeks ago and I am loving having a place for everything.  The nice thing about the school room is that I can shut the door and thus shut out potential interruptions.  The bad thing is that the other three boys can get into all kinds of mischief while I'm in there.

So that's how school goes around here.  Sometimes, well, often, it doesn't work quite as well as I have it planned, but at least I have a basic idea of what I want to do when.  I'm looking forward to visiting other people's open houses and seeing what other homeschoolers are up to this year!

I met with the mom I was telling you about who's got four boys and is taking her oldest out of public school this year to homeschool him.  We spent three hours going through my bookshelves and talking about the pros and cons of all the different curricula I've used over the years.  We ended up agreeing that since her son is coming from a school background, something very structured would probably be good for him.  She's going to go with the AO Lifepacs for now and see how she likes them.  Maybe when she gets more confident she can move to unit studies or something with a little less structure.

My boys can't stand the structured approach.  I absolutely love it, because it means no or very little prep time for me, but this isn't about me, is it?  I'm planning on starting school on Monday, and I've already got about six weeks planned out on paper, so maybe things will run smoothly for a while (snicker snicker).  Sorry, I cracked myself up there.

I spent hours last night laying out my Konos lesson plans for the first few weeks of school.  This year, I really need to plan far ahead and know exactly what I'm doing, or it won't get done.  By the end of last year, all we did was math and language arts every day - no other subjects at all.  My evaluator kept telling me not to worry about it, and I'm not worried about it, as such.  But it does bother me that my fifth grader can't answer the questions on "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?"  Then again, my goal for him is not to get him on a game show!

As Kim (the evaluator) says, "Are there going to be gaps in his education?  Absolutely.  Is he getting a better education at home than he could get elsewhere?  Absolutely."

So, now that I've plotted out the lessons from the book, I need to start searching for web sites and other books I can use to teach the lessons.  I'm doing the Stewardship set of lessons, because we're really working on teaching responsibility with money, and it also has a unit on stewardship of the body, which my soon-to-be-adolescent needs.

I've also been trying to put together some Preschool Activities in a Bag from the book of the same name.  I think they will be really fun for the two year old, and even the kindergartner when I'm working with his older brothers.  But it's a lot of work up front!

And now I've got to run my oldest to the doc for his annual checkup!

Since yesterday was Valentine's Day, we studied chocolate.  We looked at how it's made, from cacao tree to packaging.  And then we made our own chocolates.  I used an alligator mold because it was all I had.  There was extra chocolate, so I used an ice cube tray to make little bars.  This lesson was a big hit!