Hello everyone,

It's been a while, but I'm back.  I had surgery in June and have suffered many complications.  I'm on the road to recovery (or so my doctor tells me), but still have a ways to go.

Now I'm back, and after having quite a bit of time to think about our homeschooling life, I have to wonder if I'm just beating my head against a rock with this whole BJU DVD curriculum.  It seems like we just don't get anywhere with it.  They move through lessons - especially math - so quickly, that I end up having to stop and start (to give them practice on the skills they're being taught) so much that we don't make any real progress with the program. 

For example, my 4th grader is struggling with memorizing his multiplication tables.  BJU moves through the tables so quickly, then expects them to move on to more complex problems before really mastering their facts.  This has resulted in a lot of frustration for my son and myself!

Reading is a whole other issue.  The kids love to read, but sometimes get bored with what they are being forced to read for class.  I have to agree with them a lot of the time.  Some of the stories are simply uninteresting.  Yes, most teach a good lesson at the end, but shouldn't they be reading stories that keep their interest?

I have been consulting my favorite homeschool book "Home Learning Year by Year" by Rebecca Rupp for ideas.  I love this book, and think it is a great guide if you're not going to follow a certain curriculum.  However, I think that unless you have extremely high academic expectations of your children, it leads you towards some pretty deep water at an early age.  Shakespeare in 5th grade?  We didn't cover Shakespeare until high school, if I remember correctly, and even then it was difficult to decipher a lot of the time.

I would love to be a more relaxed homeschooler and do a lot of the teaching myself instead of depending on a DVD to do my job, but with three children, I don't know where I will find the time to instruct all of them.  I know it can be done, but I just don't know how.  I guess I am on that road right now, as we've decided not to use the DVDs for English, Spelling, Social Studies, Science and Handwriting.

I would love to wean myself off of the Reading DVDs and just let the kids read whatever interests them, but I worry about how much they are comprehending.  if it's a book I've read, I can ask them questions about it, but if I haven't read it, then how can I casually quiz them over what they've read?  How do I know they are understanding?

The kids are all using the same English curriculum - second grade Bob Jones English and Writing.  Yeah, I know...second grade curriculum for 4th and 5th grade students?  The new BJ English books cover the writing process so well, that I thought it would be beneficial to my boys to use it.  The earlier English books (which is what my boys would be using with their grade appropriate DVDs) are the same from year to year.  They mostly cover grammar and hardly touch on writing at all.

Math...I'm not at all certain about math.  How much of the stuff they are taught is really necessary?  I mean, I've gotten by on not knowing geometry for a good 35 years.  I feel that understanding basic facts - addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, basic algebra, money and time are essential.  You use those skills on a daily basis.  Am I a terrible mother and homeschooler for blowing off the rest of it until they are in high school?

Spelling has been pretty easy for us.  Each week, the kids use workbooks, look up their assigned words in the dictionary and thesaurus, and try to write stories which include all of their assigned words.

Social Studies has always been a group effort.  We read from books together and watch History Channel shows.

Bible is easy - I don't feel they need a separate curriculum.  We read from Egermeier's Bible Stories and discuss each story.  There are often great shows about the Bible on the History Channel as well.

Science is found everywhere and we just fly by the seat of our pants for a science curriculum.  They are constantly wondering about things, so it's easy to find things to study about.  Again, this is a group effort.  I don't think I need to teach it according to grade level. 

So, I now that I've written down my thoughts, I find I'm really only relying on the DVDs for math and reading.  So, I guess I'm left to ponder two things:

Is advanced math necessary, at least at this stage in the game, or should we stay focused on the basics until the kids really have a good grasp of skills they will use in daily life?

Is there a way to ensure my children are comprehending what they're reading, without me first reading everything they put their hands on?  This is really only a concern for my oldest son, who has always struggled with reading.

I'm glad to be back to my blog and look forward to chatting with you all soon.