I've been looking at Math U See and Right Start, among other things...so many choices! I love the Progressive Phonics site, thanks for that!

I'm already a long time member of Paperback Swap, just never thought of using them for this...hhmmm...hehe I've also been slacking there so I set my account to 'vacation' mode so I wasn't too big of a disappointment to other members when I couldn't ship a book. >.<

I've been looking at so many things I feel like I need a week's long nap at this point but I SO appreciate all your help and ideas!

We use Math U See and are really enjoying it.  I find that it has simplified things a lot.  It is something like $35 for the workbook, $20? for the teacher's book/dvd (we just watch the DVD and Mr. Demme explains it all) and $35 for the manipulatives that you use every year.  There are some online things you can use and I think there is even a free one that some of the families on here use.  I'm not much into online, I like the real thing in front of me.  You can look at a demo online of Math U See (mathusee.com) and decide if it would be a good fit for her or not.

For phonics we are using Progressive Phonics (progressivephonics.com) and it is free.  You can use it online or print off the books and flash cards to use.  We print them off.  You might try her reading Sally Dick and Jane which you can buy or get at the library.  Also, the Pathway Reader's are simple to read.  First Steps (the first one) has you read the first part of a story to her at the beginning, to "set the stage" and then she would finish reading the story in the more simple language that is easier to read.  You can get them at Rainbow Resource (rainbowresource.com) for $5-6 each.

Paperbackswap.com is a site that you trade books on.  You put on books that you are willing to send to others and they put on books they are willing to send.  You pay shipping to send your book, but pay nothing to receive a book.  That is a good way to get inexpensive books.  You can also buy credits to get books.  I look for books at second hand stores that I put on there or books that we aren't going to use anymore.

bookfinder.com compares different sites to help you find the best price on books.

Hope that helps.

Thank you ladies! :) I guess I need to hear it...Szadie (my 7 year old) likes to read easy books but nothing more challenging right now. I am SO thankful that she doesn't have a younger sibling who is reading better than her because I'm not sure how she would handle that! hehe Kudos to your daughter, Pangit, for being able to handle that!

My kids have run the gammut. My oldest, no problem reading. My 2nd, I was a bit concerned although for the life of me, I can't remember why but absolutely no problem reading. I mean, with those two, I didn't even have to sit down and try...they just magically 'did it.' My 3rd caused her teachers all kinds of angst. We continually got letters for interventions and special services etc...I never worried. I knew that when Lilah wanted to read, she would read. I told them all this repeatedly and other than that, I ignored them, much to their consternation >.< When Lilah (my little slugchild) wanted to read, she read and now does so voraciously. But Szadika...I could tell early on that she was having some kind of trouble that the others never had. She also has a different father than the other three and he has a history of dyslexia of which I have a touch myself. I also struggle with ADHD, as do all my daughters and my mother...or call it rampant hyperactivity...wild creative lack of being able to shut our minds down...whatever:) We have it. SO...here was the baby, unable to remember things in a very atypical fashion. Then in school, far more obviously and of course, the teachers were noticing it as well along with dyslexia and probable ADHD although after all the heavy duty testing at the UW, they are wondering if it will prove out to not be the case once other things are sorted out.

Anyways, I am SO glad to have found you all! I love this site. I've been researching homeschooling for years in various forms but I've never really looked into Charlotte Mason. I'm loving it though and it is exactly what I have in mind. I was raised with my Grandmother (and my parents, we lived together). She died just a bit ago at the age of 99. She was a highly educated teacher and her methods had deep impact on me and made sense. Charlotte Mason's methods remind me so much of my Grandmother and I love it, I love the connection.

I am going to go look up the resources you both mentioned. I've been looking at books and curriculums etc...I am trying to not go crazy as I'm very short on money right now. Do any of you have ideas on specific math programs? I've seen what is recommended on this site. Szadie would probably love the manipulatives but I'm very leery of anything that uses oddball language to explain math concepts, if that makes sense? I understand math very well but I have been wholeheartedly NOT impressed with many modern curriculum because of the language thing. I think I am going to have her redo most of 2nd grade math next year to solidify what she is good at and catch up what she never did get. I am pretty sure that we would be able to start 3rd grade math next year as well. I'm just afraid of spending a bunch of money on something and her not understanding it. Or worse, me not understanding the instructions >.< hehe

Confidence and joy...I wish you could follow me around whispering this to remind me:)

I just wanted to encourage you in your journey.  I, too, would consider pulling her out now.  You can do some basic things with her now.  You could do some basic math games or worksheets that are short and simple.  Also, do reading with her.  Even if it is not to further her reading instruction but to just keep her reading.  I love the Pathway readers suggested in the curriculum guide for my DD's.

My oldest DD who is 7 years old has not been diagnosed but I believe she struggles with ADD, Visual Dyslexia and maybe an auditory disorder.

Reading is a huge struggle for her.  It doesn't help that her 5 y/o sister has caught on to reading and is reading up a storm in the 2nd grade level.  We have changed our instructional materials several times to find the right fit for her.  I have also several times gone back and repeated stuff that she already knows just because it builds her confidence.  She sees that "this isn't so hard and I can do it!!"  Also, after the phonics instruction time she has a book she reads to me.  It started out being Sally Dick and Jane books and we may do some more of those.  That greatly boosted her confidence to be able to read a book!!  She is now reading the first Pathway reader, First Steps.

It is okay to go back and review if need be.  It will help her feel better about herself and maybe breakdown some of the "this is too hard and I can't do it" walls and help her to progress faster.  Also, to move at her speed and not be rushed through when she isn't ready will be a big boost for her.

I often have to remind myself that my DD is doing great, even though she is probably 1/2 year behind in reading.  She has progressed and isn't being overwhelmed by being rushed.

If she is only 7 (and even8), there is no reason that she HAS to be beyond 2nd grade.  Just start her where she won't be overwhelmed but will gain confidence and joy.  Then move on.  Remind yourself that she is where she should be and don't rush it.

Kittenbites I don't normally chime in but here I go :)  I also have health issues fybromyalgia and chronic daily migraines.  So there are days that I don't function very well.  On those days my son is a trooper and does his work quietly!  But when my son was doing just what your daughter is doing my DH gave me permission to homeschool him!!!  I jumped right in here and was like a sponge and the lovely ladies here give some of the best advise.  I also have a friend who has been homeschooling for years she has 8 children and two have graduated and one graduates this year.  She sat me down and said first because he hated school and lost his love of learning, and it was the last quarter of school, she suggested using 5 in a row, and supplement math.  That way he could see that learning can be fun again.  My son loved reading the books and activities, we did them together.  We read about Thomas Edison, we had a timeline, a lap book, learned about three states, three presidents, etc.  It was a gentle way of getting back his love of learning.  This year we did middleages through SCM and he has loved it and the books involved.  I am so glad we pulled him :)  I have a daughter who also has disibilities she has a receptive/expressive language disibility so what is taken in isn't always processed and spit out like it should be.  Right now the public schools are playing well and she gets special education support ie: speech, occupation therapy, a special education aide in the classroom just for her etc.  As long as that is occurring she will stay there, our insurance won't cover the speech or ot, and its expensive.

Ok I've babbled enough - check out five in a row it might be just right for the end of the school just like it was for us :)

Thank you, I appreciate your encouragement. I am nervous but passionate. I have long wanted to homeschool my older daughters but my ex-husband, who had previously agreed to them being homeschooled once the private school they attended (run by their own Grandparents, both teachers) closed, then decided to not allow it so I am very late to the game.

I was very excited to begin with my youngest daughter but during her pregnancy, my chronic but manageable health problems got entirely out of control, I lost my job and generally  just fell apart, as did my dream of homeschooling. I did get to finally have the home birth I had always wanted although that was touch and go the entire pregnancy as well. I have severe fibromyalgia, two types of arthritis, and I get knocked out sick constantly for whatever reason plus add on kidney problems >.< and of course, depression issues I won't go into but certainly not made better by these things. I struggle with really low vit D that doesn't respond to supplimentation and we get like, no sun here in lovely, lovely Seattle.

I've spent the last year working on revamping my world. I had teetered over into severe obesity, diabetes and just plain yuck. I've lost a ton of weight now, my fibro is MUCH better, I've totally halted and reversed the diabetes and after a huge kidney scare a few months ago, even they are behaving very well. I still get sick constantly so I'm working on immunity. I have to go tanning constantly because my vit D levels have to be up or I get sick, sick, sick. I'm so thankful...I spent 2 years drugged, in massive pain and asleep. I am endlessly thankful to be through that and now having to go through significant humility while rebuilding my relationships with my family and God.

So, that's me:) I have four daughters, 19 years, 15 years, 12 years, and 7 years:) I'm passionate about alternative food choices, natural health, beauty, food politics, my kids and now, if only I had a housekeeper:)

I don't know what your health problems are, but I've had my share too. And I know you can do it, even with health issues. Especially if you use the Charlotte Mason method instead of a rigid curriculum. If you haven't done much research on the method, this website is the best place to find out. Here's a good basic info page. Don't be overwhelmed by the number of things to do, because the method is quite simple once you understand it.

Really you just read and discuss, and use real things to teach. Then you enjoy nature, poetry, art and music.

You can do it.

You know, this is interesting because last year, something I noticed with my daughter was that contrary to what is taught...she actually was doing much better after a solid summer of doing literally NO school type work.

We had played, gardened, cooked, she had played with her older sisters a lot, we had read stories and done reading as play but not like work  and she actually had a much greater retention than during the previous year of constant drudgery and pattern of constant failure.

The school and University of Washington (who had done extensive testing on her because she is atypical in her disabilities) were both pushing a continuating program of reading etc during the summer but both my mom (a retired English teach from way back) and myself have been adamantly against this because of her lack of time to simply be a kid. The reading teacher who works with her individually this year seems pushier than the one we had in previous years and she wanted us to continue a rigid reading program with her over Spring break but we told her that while we would read with her, it wouldn't be in any rigid format because as it is, she hardly has time to be a kid.

I will talk with her dad tonight about the idea of pulling her out early. He is concerned about my ability to follow through (because of my health) but he is willing to allow me a solid year to see what we can accomplish, understanding that what is going on now is certainly not helping our daughter any.

Thank you ladies...I greatly appreciate your ideas and welcome more:)

Really sound advice from Angela, but I thought I would chime in by agreeing with her that you ought to consider pulling her out of school now.  It has been shown that children need time to "de-school" when they transition from brick-and-mortar school to home.  (I believe the recommendation is one month for each year they have been in school.)

If you want to start your academic year at home in mid-August or early-September, you'll need the time for both of you to adjust and later, to prepare for the school routine.  This is a beautiful time of year to spend a lot of time outdoors and to take advantage of less-crowded conditions at parks, museums, zoos, etc.

Sue

Oh, I'm so sorry your little one is going through this. I think if it were me I would take her out right away and end the stress now.

There isn't much time left in this school year, and I don't think I would try to make up anything in the next few weeks. I would just de-stress and read to her and play math games and have fun. She'll probably learn more in the next weeks doing that than if you were to leave her in school or try hard to "teach" her for the rest of this year. My advice for next year, also is not to use a boxed curriculum. It doesn't sound like that would bring the kind of change she needs.

Also, I wanted to tell you that a lot of us homeschool moms have health problems, and sometimes the kids suffer because of that, but I don't think mine have suffered as much as they would have by being away from me all day. There is so much more to learning than academics.

You'll be able to cater to her needs for concrete concepts so much better than a teacher at school. I'm really excited for you! Just think how pleasant your evenings will be, and this can start today if you remove her now!

Best of luck,

Angela

I am seriously considering homeschooling my 7 year old daughter. I have long had interest in homeschooling and have researched it for years but due to my own health problems, I took the easy way out. Now, my daughter is paying the price. The teachers at her school are kind and attentive but the curriculum chosen for the school is so ridiculous that even the teachers can't stand it. The children are all struggling with it and my daughter specifically has problems with abstract concepts so she is totally floundering.
I am wondering if anyone else has had experience with working out a plan for a child with some disability?
My daughter is categorized as having learning disabilities; however, she has a slightly above average IQ that the docs figure would be much higher if she could read. She struggles with reading because she has a very hard time remembering anything that isn't concretely related to something that makes sense to her...such as the symbolism of a letter and as it pertains to a sound etc...>.<
She has made great improvement this year but she is hating school daily.
Her entire life is homework and she fails spelling tests mostly because by the time we are done with math, reading and dinner there is no more time to study spelling before bed. This is after I've already demanded that her homework be reduced.
She is actually quite good at math but has a hard time retaining what she has learned without some kind of refresher so no matter how well she 'gets it' before a test, she often fails. You can imagine how well the story problems go if there's no one to read the problem to her.
I'm so frustrated, for her and for me. I hope I can do this. She is actually very bright but mix dyslexia, memory issues (which cause reading issues) along with the most ridiculous curriculum ever and I see no positive outcome.
I've literally sat with their parental instruction sheets and not had a clue as to what they were talking about but being fairly brilliant (hehe) I did know the math so I just taught her the old style way my Granny taught me. She didn't understand what she'd spent all day in class supposedly 'learning' but she quickly understood the basic, old skills.
So, any pointers on how to do this? I'm thinking of starting her fresh next year although I'm tempted to jump in now as she's still 7 but assuming I wait until next year for a clean break, I'm not sure where exactly to start her. I'm wondering if I should do something modified...sort of a mix of 2nd grade so she can actually learn something and 3rd grade so she doesn't get too behind but I don't want too much for her. Especially while we are figuring things out.

Thank you for all the kind advice and blessings.  You gave me quite a bit to pray over the last few days. 

My question is, did you start out with a couple of subjects a day? Or did you have a full schedule?

I did start out with a full schedule everday.  I did realize this week that the girls really dont get the difference between being home and being homeschooled.  I'm so afraid that my kids will fall behind somewhere that I've been trying to stuff tons of items in the day.  Ive also been dealing with feeling selfish about wanting to be done for the day...so thats an attitude issue for myself. 

I took the last few days off to consider what I need to just let go and what is important.  You all just confirmed what my close homeschool-mentor friend had been pressing me for.  Please pray for wisdom for our family as we work on our system :)

Thanks!

You have gotten wonderful advice, so I don't have much more to add. I do agree that you may want to cut back to 1 or 2 subjects per day and ease back in to a full schedule one day. I would do bible and reading first. The 3 most important subjects are reading, writing, and arithmatic, so make those your goal to do first then add in science, history (bible CAN be history--we follow SCM modules), poetry, art, music as you are comfortable.

I have young ones like you, ages 7, 5, and 3. While I am working on math with one daughter, the other daughters are playing a game on the computer, usually a spanish website to learn foreign language. It's a reward for working hard on math and that is their breaktime. That way I can concentrate on a subject with each daughter separately. My 7 yr old is more independent so I may have her do copywork (math, grammar, etc) while I teach reading to my 5 yr old. My 3 yr old doesn't have much school so she usually is playing quietly nearby. We always break at 11:30 after 1 1/2 hrs of work (with small breaks for each child) to go outside for an hour, then lunch, then finish up our work and done by 2 p.m. It's important I think to take frequent breaks!

Hang in there. You'll find out what works for your family. Charlotte Mason stressed the environment is important--so keep it less stressful. Doing chores with each other and learning character traits is school also!

Tara

I am right there with you!  It is hard to get it all done and my kids also, hmm, how can I put it nicely - lack focus?  I have ds6 and dd10.  

I have cut way back on the activities that I want to do with them - they just are not interested in any of the "fun projects"  I put together for us LOL - they just want to play.  And I know that play is very important, probably the most important part of our day.  

By afternoon I too am totally exhausted - I think I know just how you feel.  Only I expect it is harder with 3 than 2 to wrangle.

A while ago I cut back our schedule dramatically. I had to do something because I was starting to dread turning to the studies in the morning.  I spent some time deciding what was top priority for us.  I wanted the kids to get plenty of sleep.  I wanted to focus on reading with ds6 and math with dd10.  To help me cope with our school time, I wanted them to stop asking to play on the computer or play video games during breaks from schooling.  I also wanted to be done for the day at some point, if this makes any sense.  I had to give up my dreams of notebooking pages and handicrafts (for now LOL!).  

So our new schedule is : wake them up at 8:00, get done with studies by 1:00 (at that time I am done - put it all away!  if I didn't get all accomplished that I wished, I reflect on why? and try to do better tomorrow - but I need to be done at that time).  Read aloud from a good book.  Do math - both kids, reading (phonics) for ds6, grammar (Simply Grammar and Jr. An. Grammar combo)  for dd10, Queen's lang. lessons for both (this is very fast - but so good!).  If that gets done, I am satisfied.  In between these things is playing outside (nature study, I call it!) and snacks and breakfast and lunch.  And if they want to look at library books or watch a video about something we are studying that is great but I don't expect it.  If everyone seems receptive we might read on our science topic or our history topic, depending on which thing I think needs attention (this is happening more and more often, I am pleased to say).  No asking for electronic play before 1:00 (this has been very effective).  And the habit we are working on is "doing as you are told" - sounds simple, right? :sigh:  

These things are getting done.  When I am satisfied with this for a month or so, then I will add to it. Actually I am already breaking this rule by trying to introduce composer study LOL with Prokofiev (Peter and the Wolf) but very gently.   

One thing that I have done that has worked very well is to put my daughter in charge of art classes.  She will put together a little something for us to do a couple of times a week, just on her own.  It is usually just from her imagination and not related to our studies. She gets together the supplies and sets it all up, etc.  I would probably not otherwise be organized enough to do any art lessons so this is great.

I also love the idea above of the wall of character traits mentioned above!  

Since you have 3 kids in the mix, your days are likely a power of 10 more crazy than mine, and it may take proportionally longer to see an improvement in your schedule - I say make a long term plan to assess the effectiveness of whatever changes you make.  Like stick with it for six weeks at least.  I don't often see overnight results in our homeschooling life - but we are not looking for a quick fix, we are looking into the future.

You have received some valuable wisdom so far. I am going to take a stab at this from the kids' perspectives, especially the two girls who were previously in public school. This is a whole new ball game for them. They are each going from a classroom with 20-30 kids, lots of worksheets and busywork, and nothing of much value character-wise expected from them to being at home, having a teacher who is also their mom give them full attention, and trying to figure out how to accept their home environment as their school environment as well. That's a pretty tough transition for such young kiddos! Granted, I believe your decision to homeschool all of them was the right one, but I also think you would be wise to cut everyone (including yourself) a little slack.  

The others who posted were right on about starting more slowly and working your way up to a full schedule. You may even want to drop all your subjects except Bible (and maybe some fun ones like poetry or picture study) and just focus on habits for a little while. There's nothing wrong with that! If you can get all three of your children to develop and practice the habits of attention and obedience, you're going to be accomplishing so much more and in less time than you are now.

What you really have to be careful of is getting to the point where your children are hating school and where the older ones are begging to go back to public school. You want them to love learning and love being at home with you, not begging to get away. I used to get very angry and frustrated with my kids, and I realized that, as much as they definitely needed habit training, their lack of training wasn't their fault. It was MY fault! They couldn't pay attention well because I never taught them to! They didn't obey after one telling because I didn't expect them to! And I was taking out my anger on them for not practicing habits they were never taught to begin with. God really had to work some things out in my own heart, and that working out had to happen during a period when we weren't having a "formal" school time. 

Homeschooling has definitely been one of those things that I thought I was doing for the best interests of my children (and I believe it is), but it has ended up changing and forming my own character more than I ever thought possible. I have discovered issues in my own heart that I don't believe would have ever been uncovered had I not chosen to home educate.

I hope you know that I am really not preaching at you. I know what it feels like to be at your wit's end, frustrated, and angry, questioning if you're really doing the right thing or not. It's a horrible place to be, but I'm glad I was there once because I came out better on the other side. My children did, too. 

Be encouraged that you're going to look back on this time in six months or a year and be so thankful that you were once at your wit's end! Allow the Holy Spirit to work in your heart and let that work spill over into your children's hearts.

Blessings,

Lindsey