Homeschooling A Houseful

Well it seems to be the time of the year when many are homeschool planning. I am seeing posts and links everywhere, with tips and advice and so many ideas! Yes, even I am in this mode here. It just must be that time of the year! So as I'm planning, the first day is always hard. I have dreams, I have visions, I have ideas and....well Oh so many!!! I literally start thinking, how can I add more hours to my day? Let's see we could start our day, at 4:00, no that doesn't mean everyone will be cranky and tired. Definitly  not, and especially not me! Then we could school until 4:00- I mean the neighbors can't really plan until then anyways, by the time they get home, have a snack and work on school or home responsibilities, right?!?! REALLY, REALITY CHECK!!! Then I decided, no what I need to do is edit, sort and maybe even subtract!!! For some reason as a homeschooler, I think that our school needs to be extra special, at all times and...

We are a Summer School Family. Here's the main reasons why I choose to year round homeschool our houseful. First off I completely agree with public school moms, after a couple weeks of a summer break the kids are bored! They start complaining, being mischievous and/or driving me crazy!!! We like routine, we like routine with flexibility. Hence I like to year round school, because often in the homeschool world things come up last minute, or we just need a break one day when it's been a difficult week, or maybe it's the first nice/warm day of the spring- and let's face it no one wants to be inside on a day like that! Yes in my book, all those days can be and are included in schooling my houseful, however I still like to know where we stand in our curriculum and in our goals for the year. So if I know we have an entire year to complete something, not a school year, I feel more relaxed! I also detest having to review everything you learned last year!!! REALLY! If you...