So does this sound like a really, really bad idea?
It took me years to get into a comfortable groove with homeschool. Our oldest hates "school" work but will participate if given that extra nudge, our second is a total self motivated learner that I have given probably a little too much freedom too early to and our third child seems to be somewhere in the middle. Our fourth child has multiple physical and mental difficulties. No way to know with our fifth just yet and #6 is still chilling in mama's tummy.
What we have been doing:
Early morning I do devotionals with each child, then I give out assignments for Math and LA. They are done by lunch. After lunch I ask the kids what they want to learn about today and then I come up with assignments based on their interest. They usually stay with a theme for several weeks at a time but occasionally something will not be as interesting when we dig into it as they first thought. We have a ton of craft/art materials on hand and a mountain of books, plus obviously the Internet. The public Library is a ten minute drive from us. Problem? Well this pregnancy is really, really draining me and I am having a harder time every day coming up with things that are fun and instructional ever day. It is really stressing me out. Add to that the fact that the older our second son becomes the more hands on attention he needs on a daily basis and you get one frazzled momma. We need some streamlining. I just dont see this going away with the birth of this baby. I NEED a game plan for next year.
What I am thinking about doing:
Sonlight. From what I gather I can still add interesting activities to the days lessons if I am having a good day but for the most part I can take a deep breath and let my mind take a little break for a year.
So what do you all think? Will the transition from our somewhat loose style to the structure of Sonlight be too jarring? It seems like a "perfect" solution but neh, you know how "perfect" usually turns out.
It took me years to get into a comfortable groove with homeschool. Our oldest hates "school" work but will participate if given that extra nudge, our second is a total self motivated learner that I have given probably a little too much freedom too early to and our third child seems to be somewhere in the middle. Our fourth child has multiple physical and mental difficulties. No way to know with our fifth just yet and #6 is still chilling in mama's tummy.
What we have been doing:
Early morning I do devotionals with each child, then I give out assignments for Math and LA. They are done by lunch. After lunch I ask the kids what they want to learn about today and then I come up with assignments based on their interest. They usually stay with a theme for several weeks at a time but occasionally something will not be as interesting when we dig into it as they first thought. We have a ton of craft/art materials on hand and a mountain of books, plus obviously the Internet. The public Library is a ten minute drive from us. Problem? Well this pregnancy is really, really draining me and I am having a harder time every day coming up with things that are fun and instructional ever day. It is really stressing me out. Add to that the fact that the older our second son becomes the more hands on attention he needs on a daily basis and you get one frazzled momma. We need some streamlining. I just dont see this going away with the birth of this baby. I NEED a game plan for next year.
What I am thinking about doing:
Sonlight. From what I gather I can still add interesting activities to the days lessons if I am having a good day but for the most part I can take a deep breath and let my mind take a little break for a year.
So what do you all think? Will the transition from our somewhat loose style to the structure of Sonlight be too jarring? It seems like a "perfect" solution but neh, you know how "perfect" usually turns out.
I've been looking at it as a way to acquire a bunch of groovy books to last us years, that the IG will be a nice fall-back if I'm having issues or need a little extra nudge/help/direction, and we'd make it flexible enough to be dealing with the insanity still coming at us this year (new baby, most likely moving, still canning/preserving a ton of stuff, etc.)
