Vocabulary.  I've looked for  pre-packaged and affordable consumable curriculum that will give my children an improved vocabulary without a lot of twaddle.  I happen to be one of those boring people who would rather have my children use a word rather than learn about using them.  All of the theoretical knowledge of words won't do you a hill of beans if you aren't comfortable actually using the word in correspondence or conversation.  Hence, my children's new and simplified vocabulary program designed and implemented by yours truly.

It's so simple it's almost embarrassing.  However, on the off chance that I've thought of something that is exactly something someone else is looking for, I decided to blog about it and save them hours of frustration and searching.  This is easy, straight forward, and guaranteed to be twaddle free- at least until the kids get done with it!

First, the books-

and of course... what is inside them.  (After all, they're cute but if cute curriculum was all it took to educate a child, my children would be the most educated kids on the planet!)

I told you it was embarrassingly simple.  Now I've chosen to write the words on the pages myself but you really don't have to.  You could do it all in MS Word, you could have the children write the words, or you could, I suppose, just talk about them daily.  I knew the talking wouldn't happen.  (Stop laughing, trust me, we've got more exciting things to talk about like Andra chasing Ethan with Lorna's unders.  For the full story see www.homeschoolblogger.com/havigs )

I got my list of words from:  http://www.virtualsalt.com/vocablst.htm

It is my intention for us to "do" all of them.  The program is simple.  From A-Z we write one word per page.  The children look them up in dictionaries (dictionary skills are an excellent by-product of this facinating program!), they write down the definition (can you say penmanship??), and then they write eight sentences using the word properly.  Why eight you say?  I'm glad you asked.  For the very scientific reason that ten sentences leaves too little room for some definitions and five sentences wasn't enough practice in my book.

There it is.  Chautona's Quick and Dirty Guide to a More Magniloquent You.  CQDGMMY for short.

Maybe I'll just stick to "Vocabulary".

I was looking for a specific kind of book last July while at the Modesto Homeschool Convention.  I wanted a book that listed authors and everythign they wrote from Gilgamesh through Robert Frost and F.Scott Fitzgerald (and beyond if at all possible).  I'm still looking for it.  However, when I asked the helpful woman at the Lifetime Books and Gifts booth she eagerly grabbed a book off the shelf and insisted it was exactly what I needed.  I took her word for it.  Once paid for, the woman then led me to the opposite side of the hall to introduce me to the author, Jan Bloom.  Jan kindly autographed the book for me and we chatted for a few minutes about good books.

The book?   Who Should We Then Read?  I immediately recognized the spin from Francis Shaeffer's How Should We Then Live.  Clever without being obnoxious.  I was excited and sure that I was on my way to writing the Literature Guide that I want for my children.  I settled on my bed in the DoubleTree, my girls clacking their cupstacks with rapid and rhythmic movements.  I opened the book and began perusing.  I was disappointed.  Terribly disappointed.  It wasnt' what I was looking for at all!  While it had some of the authors I needed (Dickens, Austen, Sir Walter Scott), its main focus was on children's literature.  Now children's literature is a passion of mine but it wasn't what I wanted!

Because of that initial disappointment, I didn't look at the book for over six months.  Recently, I realized that it would be a great way to organize my extensive collection of children's literaure.  I pulled out the book and two highlighters.  Green for "Buy"  and yellow for "Own".  I'd love to say that the yellows outnumbered the greens.  I'm only half way through the book though and I don't see an end in sight of the greens.  However, the yellows put up a good fight.  I've discovered and rediscovered authors that I didn't know or had forgotten existed.  Thanks to eBay our bookshelves are once again swelling.  My children are cataloging the books we have and prayerfully we'll soon see a nice orderly system for knowing what we own at a glance.  One can dream can't they?

Seriously though, I highly recommend this book.  My initial reaction was unjust.  It is apparent that I did not make what I wanted clear.  That was my fault, not hers.  Once I gave the book a half-hearted chance (and using it all wrong I might add) I fell in love with it!  I honestly believe that every homeschooler who enjoys children's literature needs this book.  Honey For a Child's Heart  and  Books Children Love never interested me the way this book does.  Though not completely comprehensive, she does leave out one of my favorite authors Josephine Lawrence, the book is almost perfect!

I highly recommend it.  Better yet, I think that any bibliophile will be thrilled once they  have this book in hand!

On Hearth Keepers today someone asked what we'd spend our money on if we received a 'bonus' of a substantial amount to be spent on anything for our 'little school'.

Some mentioned series of books, some scientific supplies like microscopes and telescopes, while others suggested passes to museums, zoos, and other educational places.  One woman wisely suggested that the money first be spent to make schooling easy.  Furniture, storage, decoration... nothing to be overlooked.

This took my own mind in a direction that I haven't been able to silence so I thought I'd write it out in order to organize my thoughts and share them in the hopes they encourage someone else.  My response began with a series of questions so I've bolded the questions I suggested she ask herself and then answer. 

Have you sat down and made a list of every item of curriculum that you own and when you plan to use it?    The task could take a very long time but it's worth every minute.  When my mind first went down this road the first thing I realized was that I have a curriculum, The Legacy of Liberty, that while I think it a fine curriculum and would love to use it to its fullest capacity, I won't.  I will probably allow someone else to purchase it from me who will use it.  They'll save a significant amount of money and I'll save a significant amount of bookshelf space.  I have a feeling I'll find many more things I've purchased that I now realize I will never use no matter how much I like the item.

Have you sat down and made a list of every item you WANT to own and when you would plan to use it?    This is a more fun proposition than the last and yet it is still a bit discouraging.  There are so many things I've always wanted to use in our homeschool but I know that without a plan as to when/where/how they're used... and a plan I can actually stick to, what is the point in buying most of it.  I admit having things without a plan WILL get used.  Children are nortorious for picking up this book or that and reading anything so having something is kind of necessary!

Have you sat down and made a list of every item that doesn't 'have a home' and decided where you should keep it?   This is another very unpleasant task.  Can you imagine the pages of colums of items that you'd have to record if you walked through the house every day for a week and recorded the items that were not in their home?  Some people are natural organizers and never have anything out of place.  Some of us don't operate as neatly as others and if the home isn't logical, it isn't used. 

My mother is one of those highly consistent people who could decide to keep her knitting bag 50 feet from the back door, in a shed, on the top shelf, to the left, behind the untouched paint cans.  She would go out every morning, get it, knit for a while, put it back, go back out later, get it, put it back, and even at midnight on a cold winter night, she'd trudge out there and put it 'away' because that is where it goes!   Me, I'd never put it away.  If I did, it'd be ages before I took it out.

So, I need to do it.  There are some things I do NOT consistently put away.  They need homes.  There are other things that I don't like WHERE they are.  They need new homes.  I have storage that is unused.  I need to find things that are stored elsewhere that could go into these lesser used places.

Have you sat down and made a list of EVERY item that you need to properly store, care for, and utilize your possessions?    One thing that drives me batty is the total mess created by all the miscellaneous junk necessary for the kids' paper routes.  There are large paper bags, and small ones.  Rubber bands, gloves, scarves, plastic rain bags, you name it, they have it.  And it's a mess every night all over the living room (our dining) table.   So, I need some place to store this mess.  There are other areas.  Projects need a place to be stored as I plan them and work on them.

Have you sat down and written up your dream life?   I've written down goals, but not dreams.  I need to do this.  How often do we assume our dreams are unrealistic or impossible when, in fact, they are within our grasp if we know how to seek them!

Have you sat down and compared your dream life to those other lists and made decisions on how to make it happen?   Well, obviously I haven't.  However, I intend to.  Actually, these last two questions maybe should be the first two.  If you acknowledge the dream, plan for it to become reality, then you will be able to assess what items you need, have, want, and how to properly store and use them.

I'm excited.  I see a new page in our lives.  Aren't those new pages thrilling!

I'm feeling a little proud of my title.  It has several meanings as you'll see.  Just an aside there... I was just so tickled that it turned out like that so I had to say something.  I know, pathetic.  You can take it I'm sure.

Math.  It conjures up mental images of triumph or despair.  Few people are ambivalent about math.   They remember struggle over percentages, fractions, percentages, long division, percentages, integers, percentages, polygons, percentages... I don't suppose anyone can guess where I had the most trouble in math?

Like many homeschoolers, I started with Modern Curriculum Press.  I was happy with the program until we hit book D.  Talk about a pathetic waste of intellectual time!  I quickly skipped that book and moved onto Saxon 54.  Ahh... finally, the curriculum I've been waiting for!  I confess, the girls had no trouble with the first book.  (Ok, Nolan didn't either)  The second book was so easy for them that they tested out of it and went to 76.  They plodded through that and moved into 87.  (We chose it over Algebra 1/2 on the advice of a math teacher.)  Then they hit Algebra.  My math whizzes stalled, sputtered, and stopped.  Dive CD's helped but they didn't solve the problem.  Suddenly children who had loved math and found it easy struggled.  I considered it par for the algebraic course and just pushed them along.  It was a little disheartening.  I had hoped for them to get through Algebra 2 before graduation... preferrably farther.  They were fighting to understand Algebra 1.  Challice never did understand it and simply moved onto Consumer Math without truly understanding what she'd tried to learn.

One day I stepped out my front door, opened the mailbox, and pulled out a new catalog from Timberdoodle.  I hurried to see if there were new Henty books, checked out the science videos, looked for games, and as I flipped to see what book they were sending out this time, my eyes were arrested by new math books.  I almost turned the page.  I really didn't want to 'go there'  Instead, I read the description thoroughly.  In some areas, I completely disagree with the owners of Timberdoodle.  However, as a general rule, I like their ideas and stick to them.  (Pathway readers are definitely a line of demarcation.  Those things are an insult to my children's brains!)

After reading their lengthy description of the math books, I typed in "Teaching Textbooks" in my nifty little Google toolbar.  I found the website and viewed demonstrations.  To my chagrin, I was impressed.  I didn't want to be.  I LIKED (and still do!) Saxon.  It is an excellent program that has proven results.  The DIVE cds are excellent tools to make the job of teaching the math easier.

I admit, I was tempted almost immediately.  Part of my girls' problem with Algebra was mental.  They'd determined that it was impossible to learn.  (And two of them were math whizzes!)  If I bought a new curriculum with lots of CDs then perhaps they could simply be convinced that this curriculum would be explained in such a way as they could understand!  It was easy to sell my oldest student on the idea.

I swallowed my pride, my plan, and the choke in my throat at the price and bought the books.  Excitement reigned the day they arrived.  Everyone wanted to see how they worked.  Immediately my third student asked if I could get the books for her level.  I cringed and said yes.  I bought them the following weekend. 

For several months now my math haters have done two or more lessons a day.  They love math again.  Everyone considers this curriculum to be the ultimate in mathmatical excellence.  I have a confession though...

It still bothered me that I liked the program so much better than Saxon.  Don't get me wrong, I still think Saxon is a PROVEN and excellent program.  It bothered me that we 'quit' something that I highly regard.  It bothered me that I took the 'easy way out'.  Whatever happened to sticking to something and working through the difficult spots?   Don't we learn character from that?   Isn't that a healthy and necessary part of maturing?  I even found myself apologizing to people for abandoning the 'tried and true'.

You know what?  I'm not going to feel guilty anymore.  People I highly respect who have done an excellent job in educating their children have used other curriculum that I didn't feel obligated to use.  Some people absolutely love Shurley Grammar.  I never felt the need to use it.  Some people do unit studies.  I've never felt guilty for not doing it myself.  I think the reason I was so bothered by this decision was because I don't have a problem with Saxon.  I find it logical, well laid out, and the 'lecture part of the book well written.  I would have loved to use Saxon as a student.  There was  just one problem.

My children weren't doing well with it despite it's excellent track record.

The guilt remained for several months.  After all, pride gets in the way.  I mean, if I hated the program now I could easily pick apart its faults and not worry about it.  I don't.   I still like it.  I don't know why I struggled for so long except to say that it's hard to admit that something didn't work for you.  One has to wonder why.  I know why.  I didn't TEACH the program.  I like a self-taught curriculum.  I'm not a natural born teacher.  I don't like teaching.  I want the curriculum to do the teaching and I do the clarifying if there are any questions.  I'm good at questions.  I'm not so good at introducing the concepts.

So, what finally encouraged me to give up the guilt?  It's so simple it's almost embarrassing.  In any other area of their life or mine, if there was a way to do the job easier, more thoroughly, and with great success, I would have done it.  If we needed a better frying pan to make omelets or a computer program to make lesson plans, or a better sewing machine or serger, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.  If I needed a specific pattern, pair of scissors, or kind of fabric, I'd not think twice about buying it today.  I like for Kevin to have what he needs to do home chores.  If he needs a new saw, a specific drill, or even need to pay someone to do it for him, I'm all for it!

Why wouldn't I do that for my children?  Why should they be forced to hand dig every shovel full of a swimming pool when they can use a back hoe, dig half of it out, and hand shovel where the back hoe doesn't do the job?

I learned my lesson.  It was a hard one.  I'm still smarting from the stab to my pride but two things are clear.

1.  I can survive wounds to my pride and

2.  I've found a math program that can truly compete with Saxon and, in our opinion, win!

Just don't tell me there is a better science than Apologia.  I really don't want to know that.  ;)

Someone on Hearth Keepers asked why TT over Saxon.  This was my response

We've used both. Both have integrated review. Both have the CD's. Both have a number to call for help. Both are good programs.


I'll probably never go back to Saxon because...

1. TT CDs cover EVERY problem, EVERY practice, have a LECTURE on every move in the book and the solutions CD does the same thing. If you get it wrong, it shows you step by step so you can find where you went wrong.

2. TT's CDs are much better quality. The program was written WITH the CDs rather than them being added later so it flows better.

3. TT's were written FOR independent study so they have much better and more thorough explanations of what to do, how to do it, and why it works.

4. My kids actually look forward to doing math again. They didn't hate Saxon, but they did hate MATH.

At this time of year it is common for people to make goals and evaluate priorities.  As I pondered the idea of priorities in education, I realized that the things I feel I fail in the most as a homeschool parent are things that are lowest on my priority scale.  I love music.  I believe it is important.  But it is not in my top five priorities.  Why then, do I feel so guilty when it gets put on the back burner with art, field trips, and similar things.

My top five homeschool priorites are...

• Scripture.  I want my children to know scripture.  I want there to be no doubt that when they graduate from Sierra View Christian School they know the Word inside and out.  I cannot infuse them with my faith, but I can infuse them with the Word of God by which faith comes.
• Reading.  I truly believe that the sub-foundation (after scripture) of all education is the ability to read comprehensively. 
• Writing/Composition.  The ability to communicate effectively is the backbone of relationships and evangelism.  In order to have a reasonably solid education, one must be able to articulately convey a comprehensible thought 'on paper'.  (Very unlike my previous sentence.  Ick.  I will leave it as a perfect example of what I hope to teach my children not to do.)
• Math.  Yes, the very prosaic study of mathematics is vitally important in my opinion.  Without the ability to calculate simply and abstractly, you are at the mercy of those who may chose to exploit your lack of knowledge.  The most basic elements of our existence require a solid understanding of calculating numbers. 
• Research Skills.  With an understanding of how to acquire knowledge, one can overcome any gaps in one's education.  A good reader can, if he knows how to pursue an independent study of a subject, learn anything he needs to know.

Why is it then, that I focus so much of my energy on my failures in areas that are not priorities to me when those that are suffer for it?  I need to enjoy the extras of education.  I would not be content to teach only the five areas outlined above.  Literature is also very important to me.  I want my children to know literature.  To appreciate writers like Shakspeare, Austen, Burns, Scott, and Twain. 

I want them to have a good overview of history and enjoy discovering lives in the past and how the decisions they made affect us today.  I want them to learn from the mistakes of the past so they may do their part to help those in the future to avoid a repeat performance. 

I want them to fully understand the basics of science.  To understand science is to begin to grasp the magnificence of our Lord. 

Call me a Providentialist but I want my children to know the legal system of their country and understand the importance of safeguarding the parameters our founding fathers put on freedom and government.  However, I don't want their study of civics to end with our own system of government... I want them to see the wise and the foolish political systems of other countries throughout history and the far reaching effects of them.  I want them to see where the decisions we make to day can lead us tomorrow.

It is an overwhelming task.  However, I believe it is an attainable goal.  I need to keep my focus on my priorities first.  I need to decorate them with the 'extras' without allowing the decorations to crowd out the furniture of the educational room I am building.

When I was in high school, I decided to become a teacher.  Specifically grammar and literature.  I loved what we now call "Language Arts".  In school, it was all 'English'.  I was going to teach students to 'see' grammar for the simple 'mathmatics of words' that it is.  Gerunds and participles are simply grammatical terms like quotients and decimals.

I became a mother instead.  I am not sorry that I did.  However with motherhood came this delightful experience I like to call homeschooling.  FINALLY.  I'm a TEACHER!  WAHOO!

Sigh.  Guess what.  I learned that I didn't like teaching.  I don't delight in imparting knowledge to students who don't understand a concept.  I do enjoy planning, choosing, researching, and every other part of the process.

I've spent 14 years homeschooling because I know it is what I am supposed to do.  It would violate my conscience to put my children in a public or Christian school.  Trust me, I've tried to do it several times.  I cannot.  However, I've also disliked the job for those 14 years.

I'm determined to change that.  If I'd spent the time and money it takes to become a teacher, I would have also discovered, too late, that I didn't enjoy teaching.  But, in that instance, I would have also taught myself to like it.  I would have found ways to enjoy the process of teaching and looked for ways to make how I spent each day interesting.  I wouldn't have given up and given into my lack of excitement.  Why?  Because I would be being paid to do something and it's a disservice to my employer not to do it with a good attitude inside as well as outside.

Guess what.  It took me fourteen years to realize that my children deserved the same kind of attitude adjustment.  No, I don't groan and moan.  No, I don't whine and complain.  But they know I do it because I love them and think it's best.  How much better would it be if they knew I'd taught myself to enjoy it!  What a lesson.

I'm determined but it may mean much more work for me... and that isn't something I'm all that thrilled aobut.  Sigh.

First budgeting, now this.  At this rate, I may be trying to learn to like pain next!

I read some sobering and unsettling things today over at Homeschoolchristian.com .  The discussion seemed simple in the beginning.  If you're going to participate in something that is costing a coordinator money, pay up, on time, and don't back out expecting a refund.  Things cost money to organize and to consider them 'optional' once you've committed is rude.

But the discussion, as you've probably surmised, did not end there.  I was appalled to see the reputation that homeschoolers have gotten for themselves.  Did you know some places groan when they hear a homeschooler wants to visit?  Did you know that homeschoolers have a reputation for being unruly because they don't know how to stand in line unless it's at a grocery store?  Do you know that homeschoolers have a reputation of not turning work in on time or paying their 'bills' when it comes to field trips and co-op classes?

This is shameful!  I am appalled.  I'm also nervous as I look over my life.  Am I guilty of this?  I could be.  I deliberately avoid things like this because I don't want to make that kind of commitment.  But, if I was honest with myself, I would say that I am not completely guilt free here myself.  I'm sure I've done the same thing in one way or another.

I have to think about this.  We are rearing the next generation of this country's leaders.  Homeschoolers can make a large impact on the world and they will.  WHAT that impact will be depends upon how we rear them and what we teach them just as much as what we don't teach them or expose them to.

Where do I begin?

That is the first question that new homeschoolers ask.  It's a legitimate question and one that deserves an answer.  So often, in response to this question, I hear, "You have to figure out what works for you."  How discouraging for people who are trying to do something new and unusual to have no idea of where to start.

Of course, there are those who are too eager to just jump in and take over a new mom's curriculum decisions without imput at all into the family's life or circumstances.  This is almost as discouraging.

Second to the advice of 'figure it out for yourself' as to WHAT curriculum to use is the advice to 'take it one year at a time'.  This is what I want to address.  It always seemed like such a good thing to hear.  "Make a decision to stick to it THIS YEAR."  Don't let yourself become bogged down and overwhelmed by next year and the years after that.  It sounds so very wise and there is great truth in it but there is something about it that can set mothers up for homeschooling frustrations that are avoidable.

I think it is time to tell mothers to make a general homeschooling outline for their starting grade and carrying it through to high school.  If they choose Abeka, they need to assume they'll be using it 10 years from now.  If they choose a hodge podge, they need to figure out what needs to be added or subtracted each year in order to cover all the bases that the family would like to cover.  Those who choose a unit study need to figure out what they'll use for cores that the main curriculum doesn't cover.  It is an overwhelming task on the one hand... almost as overwhelming as the thought of homeschooling for more than one year.  I really believe, however, that people wouldn't feel like they were floundering five years down the road if they'd taken a bit more time to look to the future when picking out their beginning curriculum.

So often, I hear mothers talking about how they tried this curriculum, and then that.  This didn't suit, that didn't suit, they finally attempted the other, and then found the ultimate curriculum for them.  A year or two into their 'dream curriculum' and they are, once again, floundering.  I believe this is because after a couple of years it is easy to see where you've created a gap here or there and now you have all of the current school work to assign and teach as well as trying to figure out how to fill in those holes.  Had you looked to the future, you might have forseen the weak spot in the road and avoided the pot hole.

^{Luke 14: 28-29}

²⁸ "For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?

 ²⁹ "Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him,

³⁰saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'

 ³¹ "Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

 ³² "Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

Why is it that we so often encourage someone to count the cost of having another child, or buying a bigger house, or choosing to participate in this activity or that... but we neglect to remind one another that homeschooling is not merely a knee-jerk reaction to a poor educational environment or a means to avoid such.  Homeschooling does not, in and of itself, produce an effective educational environment. 

We must make curriculum decisions, scheduling decisions, philosophical decisions, and that is only the tip of the homeschooling iceberg.  I think, in our eagerness to snag another 'homeschooling recruit', we forget that these are real people, real families, and the future generations of our country that are at stake when we impetuously encourage someone to jump on the homeschooling bandwagon with little more than a homeschooling catalog and admonishment to 'not try to copy everyone else'.

So, in order to live what I preach, I'm going to give some general guidelines for newbies and veterans alike.  These are meant to be helpful.  If what you are doing or planning on doing is working or seems like it will certainly work, ignore me.  If you're just starting and lost at where the starting line is or have been running this race and just noticed that you're on a track that isn't even a part of the race, perhaps my little steps might help.

1.  For children under age 10, please choose a basic phonics, penmanship, and math curriculum.   I highly recommend Modern Curriculum Press math (it's basically the same as Saxon in the younger grades except that you pay about 14 dollars and use forks, spoons, toothpics and m&m's for manipulatives at a fraction of the cost of the Saxon stuff.).  I really like Play 'n' Talk basic stuff for phonics but it's pricey and comes with a lot of things that I've never used.  I like Blumenfeld's 'Alphaphonics' but I don't like the calligraphy that is used for the words.  Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is another reading program but you need to follow up with some deeper phonics in my opinion.  Penmanship is well taught in  A Reason for Writing or Christian Liberty Press' penmanship series.  When these are strongly rooted in a child, then move onto things like Science, Math, History and other subjects.  I am assuming that your children are being taught Bible aside from extra curriculum but if not, by all means, add some kind of Bible into this mix.

2.  Choose your elementary subjects in such a way that you are ready, by about age 12, to start your children in Jr/High School subjects.  Be sure to remember to have lots of reading in books like those by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Louisa May Alcott, Daniel DeFoe, Rudyard Kipling, Thornton Burgess, Francess Hodgson Burnett, and even things like Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.  Children love series that they can inhale between science and history assignments.  While we don't want to feed them a steady diet of 'fluff' in their reading, if everything they read is heavy and difficult to digest, they'll soon discover that there are other things to occupy their time and decide against recreational reading.  A book list is often a great place to begin.  http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html   Basic science like that which is taught in Considering God's Creation is a good idea before starting Jr. High science but not necessary.  For history, reading biographies, watching historical movies, and listening to books on tape is an excellent way of learning a lot of historical facts that their history textooks in high school will put in chronological and relational order.

3.  Look at the high school requirements for a respected college and make a general outline.  You'll need Grammar, composition, and literature.  Math needs to be considered in light of high school requirements.  Most high schools require Algebra I now and it is wise for college bound students to take Algebra II and Geometry at the very least.  Science texts will cover general and physical sciences as well as biology.  Physics is also a consideration.  History will have to be studied both focusing on general world history and American history.  Civics and economics should be carefully studied in order to truly understand the world that they live in.  They'll need a foreign language and beginning young will help them toward that end.  Electives such as homemaking, art, music, fine arts, cultural events, mechanical studies, and similar things will be required by most states and colleges look at things such as scouts, CAP, participation in local theater etc to determine a student's acceptance..

Beginning now to figure out where you want to end will help you figure the roads you should take to get there.  If your educational goals are academically strong and college bound, you don't want to take a practical skills route or a road to self employment!  You'll end up lacking in areas that are vitally important.

Finally, what ever choices you make, don't feel obligated to stick with them forever.  Sticking to a bad curriculum just because you once chose it is just as bad as hopping from one to another with no final goal in view.  However, if you HAVE made plans with the future in mind, when you do change, you'll know exactly where you may have to adjust your future goals and you won't be left, reinventing the wheel every July as you make out your curriculum shopping list.

How often have you heard a homeschool mom comment that it (homeschooling) was too much.  She is going crazy, she can't take anymore, something has to give, maybe she'll put the kids in school.  It seems that every time I turn around, someone in our town, in my life, on a message board, or somewhere is burned out and needing a rest.

Generally, the first response that comes to my mind or that I hear others state is, "Take a (fill in the blank amount of time) off and just regroup."  This is a valid answer some of the time.  Especially back when I first heard it.  Ten years ago, if a mom was strugglign with the house, homeschooling, and child training, you could generally bet, that she'd been overdoing in all departments, while pregnant, and caring for an aged parent with some medical condition.  Today, however, it seems that if you get a hangnail someone will suggest that you take a week off and recouperate.

What are we teaching our children when we make something as important as their education 'optional'?  What are they learning when all they have to do is give us trouble, we fall apart, and someone says... "Take two weeks off, you need a break."  What was once a reminder that we can burn ourselves out trying to do too much, is now a license for laziness. 

Our children need to learn to persevere through difficult problems in their school work.  They won't learn to do that if mom dumps the school program everytime the laundry gets piled to the ceiling, the toddler throws a tantrum, or there is a really great sale at Mervyns.

I hesitated to write this because I know people in my life who DO need to be less overly concerned with each nuance of overscheduling and to see anyone question taking a day or two off when things are overwhelming is likely to encourage them to do the opposite of what they need to do.

I think that homeschoolers, myself included, tend to be extremists.  We are either trying to outdo the best school we've ever heard of... or we're too lacksadaisacal to put the serious effort into this endeavor that we should.  This is a serious work we've taken upon ourselves.  While I don't believe we need to try to create academic geniuses in order to prove ourselves, I do believe we need to be very vigilant to do the job our Lord has entrusted us to do.

Now don't get me wrong.  When someone tells a new homeschooler with out of control kids, that she needs to put the books away for a couple of weeks and focus on child training, I'm 100% behind them.  You can't effectively teach your children if they do not obey or listen to you.  When someone tells a mother with a new baby to take a few weeks off of hitting the books hard and focus on historical books, movies, and lots of read alouds... I'm all for it.  BUT... I hear it too often now. 

Our children will be the first to suffer.  The character training that comes with doing an unpleasant task, doing it well, and doing it repeatedly because it's the right thing to do, cannot be replaced by anything.  Some things you have to just do, and do correctly.  It's called self-discipline.  It is called diligence.  It is called self- RESPECT. 

I actually began thinking along this line as I thought of how I would do things if I was paid to do this.  It's the old Havig Haven Inn thing.  If this was my JOB/Career... that I needed for survival, (to eat and have a roof over my head) would I treat it as lightly as I can on 'tough days'?  If I was being paid to do this, I'd do a better job.  I would do a more consistant job, and I would certainly be able to keep a cheerful face on days when I just did NOT want to do it.

Wow.  I didn't realize how many areas my little mind game permeates.  It works though.  I really do live more joyfully, I do serve more willingly, and I am more fully reliant upon the Lord when I remind myself that this life I am living takes WORK, and it is my job to do that work heartily and as unto the Lord.  When I focus upon what *I* need, I forget that there is a world out there that is much bigger than I am.  I am much happier when my focus is off of self and onto others.