A Seasoned, yet Confused, Homeschool Mama

This has been our 7th year homeschooling. I have 3 kiddos, and they have always been taught at home. We love homeschooling, and it is truly a part of who we are.

YET — I feel like I am going crazy. This is truly not an understatement. Sigh.

We have tried both eclectic and “boxed” curriculum throughout the years. This past year, I have combined all kiddos together in science, history, art, music, etc. and the atmosphere of our home has been quite pleasant. Yet, I worry that my oldest daughter (who is an extremely advanced 11 yo) has not been challenged to her ability.  I also worry that my 10 year old middle son gets a little “lost” in the mix. He still struggles with reading somewhat and writing/spelling a LOT.

With a boxed curriculum, we have used Heart of Dakota. While I enjoy most of the choices from HOD, it is very hard on me as the Mama to run 3 separate guides. However, when my children are placed appropriately in their guides, they are most certainly challenged on their appropriate levels.

I am going crazy trying to determine the best method for us to continue in the future. There is so much independence built into the upper HOD guides that I feel like I don’t even know what my daughter is learning — and I’ll be honest that I don’t have time to read over every single assignment that she has to do each day (typically 11 separate boxes). I just feel really disconnected to her learning, despite the fact that she is perfectly capable of doing it on her own. Writing is built into HOD so seamlessly that my daughter is a great writer and she enjoys the beautiful note booking pages that come with HOD. (Of course, some of that is just her natural bent, she loves school…)  But I’m so worried that if my middle son does not continue with HOD that he will not develop the same writing skills.

The family learning style appeals to me most because I love for us to “learn and do” together. I enjoy our discussions and the fact that we can actually have discussions because everyone is on the same topic. (If we move back to HOD, my oldest would be in American <i>History, my middle would be in an overview of world history, and my youngest – 6 years old – would be just starting out with history.) </i>In my mind and heart, it makes so much sense to have us ALL doing American history for the next two years together. There are so many great books to read together, so many great field trips, so much great discussion is possible, and so on.

But I want to give my kiddos the best education possible. While I don’t believe in a “standardized” education, I just want to choose the best option. (I am a perfectionist…which is my downfall probably.) I want to make sure that my kiddos enjoy learning, and that they learn what they need to. How do I make sure to create good writing skills and research skills with a fully CM approach? My daughter was taught great written narration skills through HOD,  but how would I teach those skills on my own?

And one last thing…since my daughter is going into 7th grade, do I even try to combine them? Does she HAVE to learn separately/independently in high school? If so, should I just separate all kiddos now to prepare for the inevitable? Or is family learning actually possible for more years to come?

Thank you for your time. I write out of some fear b/c I don’t want to mess up my kiddos’ education or future. I pray about this all the time, but I waffle back and forth on what we should do. Any help/advice is truly appreciated.