Homeschooling A Houseful

Let's just say Spelling has never been one of Virtue's favorite subjects, nor has it been something she has ever caught on to. Noble and Charity have been using Spelling Workout, which is a recommendation in The Well Trained Mind. I used TWTM in the beginning with Noble, and just stuck to what worked for him... as long as I could. Noble and Virtue learn very differently, it's black and white, complete opposites. The last few years I have been simply taking words from Virtues writings, that she spells incorrectly, and using that list to make her spelling lists. This works, but it never felt like I was "teaching" her anything about spelling. I want it to be a bit more organized, but more so importantly teaching her the rules. I have been looking at the program All about Spelling. I am hoping to be able to get a good look at the program at our homeschool convention and curriculum sale in June. It is pricey, and I don't want to purchase it if it doesn't work a...

Since my decision to go to more of a textbook curriculum, I haven't said much more about it. How is it going?? Well I LOVE it!! I am not having to plan, and organize and come up with ideas and think, and be creative, and be on top of everything... all the time. It has really lifted a large load off my shoulders. I spend most of the morning teaching Peaceful phonics. I also spend a lot of time helping Valiant with his work, and mostly his reading. He has a speech impediment, along with being all boy, he has struggled with his reading. He is doing a ton better, but I work a lot on his speech. I also read aloud his Science and Readings with him, and Peaceful usually sits in and listens too. That along with keeping the two younger children busy, occupied, and somewhat quiet. I was having a hard time keeping up with my teacher prep time, and {honestly} my peaceful meek teaching spirit! It was getting very overwhelming. So I decided to give you a run down of how I do it. How I organize a...