I have a 3rd grader who has been homeschooled from the start. The first three years was mostly play and interest based. We had some bookwork and spelling last year, and this year I bought some awesome curriculum to help keep us on track.

The thing is, I enjoy it, but then I also don’t. I think I’m getting burned out and keep wondering if my child needs to experience more beyond what we’re giving him.

We moved from out of state two years ago so we have no close family nearby. It’s my husband and our son. He is wrapping up his third season of soccer and soon we plan to involve him in the Y, and we have a local homeschool meetup that should be happening soon. I’m excited about that and so is he. His friend across the street moved away this summer. He had never hold me he’s lonely, but I know he could benefit from being around more kids and not his parents all day.

I started a remote contract position this summer, and I work 20-30 hours a week. The schedule is flexible, which is great. But balancing that on top of homeschooling has been a bit of a challenge.

My husband is going to college and is not working, so he is able to take on some teaching responsibilities. This year we have a groove we’re getting into that is working - he does morning block while I work and I do afternoon block with spelling writing etc while he does school work.

But I’m still feeling burned out and like my kid may be missing something. That I may be missing time to myself - we are all home most of the time. My kid and husband both like to talk, lol.

I brought it up to my husband the other day after just exploding inside I guess. That maybe I can’t do this after this year. At first he was like we gotta move if so, and I’m like why? The ratings aren’t good, etc. You see this at the beginning of the year I realized I didn’t know our true why of homeschooling, and it sounds like it’s fear based. I don’t want that. I don’t want my son to think school is bad and he shouldn’t ever go there. I had my son right before my final internship in elementary education and I realized I didn’t want to work at a school (admin, testing, I get overstimulated easily and really everything is so much work; mad respect to teacher always) so I decdiddd to finish my degree and I got online teaching jobs instead.

Fast forward to kindergarten through now and we’ve just kept homeschooling. But now I realize that maybe I am just not cut out for this any longer.
I want to work, and I’m lucky I can, but it’s hard to shake the feeling sometimes when I’m at the table with him. I don’t want him to feel like his mom is begrudgingly doing this. Or that I’m annoyed with him because I signed myself and him up to do this. He used to tell me he didn’t like school, but this year since using structured curriculum he does (beast academy math and science, history quest, and simplified writing are what I use 👍🏻)

We get to soccer and I can’t help but think how these kids have friends and they can run like normal kids. I know every kid is different; but it’s like you can tell mine doesn’t have that kid-movement about them if that makes sense! I know comparison is the thief of joy, but I just feel like I’m falling short and he needs more. At his age I already had several best friends (I moved around a lot). Again, I know it’s not fair to compare, especially because the world is so different than how it was.

I told my husband how nice it might be to drop him off and we work , can go for a walk ourselves, I get to miss him, etc. He is more invested this year and I know he’s excited to be doing this, especially as before we moved he was working 40-50 hour weeks and on weekends.

I feel like an asshole writing this all out, and I know I am so lucky to be in my position. But like, I feel tired being the manager of everything I want weekends back I think to not think about next weeks homeschooling schedule. Etc. To be fair, since starting my contract position my husband has stepped it up and taken on most of the household chores, cooking, getting groceries, everything. He really is awesome.

Okay, last thing. I told my husband how do we know we can continue to sustain this? What about when he graduates and gets a job? What if my contract work runs out and I have to find a replacement? We are digging ourselves out of debt, as last year we fell behind. I am the sole provider right now, and I make good money, but it’s like I feel I need to bank as much as I can too.

It’s so layered. I also am worried if I were to send him back, would he be behind? Ahead? Etc.

Thank you for reading. I’ve kept a lot of this inside til recently. This year we started eating meat again after 8 years. I took the plunge after having deep cravings and nostalgia, and I was burnt out from having to make all the vegan meats and cheese and stuff from scratch. I told my husband “remember how good we felt when we started eating meat again?”

I want to finish up this year, but I don’t know if I could make it til twelfth grade. Or sixth. Or next year. I was perusing on the homeschooling recovery group, but that did not make me feel better at all. I still think homeschooling rocks, but maybe this just isn’t the right fit for our family in this season.

Any thoughts or advice is appreciated. ❤️

This year I'm using:

-All about reading

-Beyond the Page

-Dimensions Math

-Building Writers

I'm not liking Beyond the Page. Not exactly sure why. We are finishing the year with it, but I'm wondering if there are better options for next year. For me, Beyond the Page is hard for me to deal with as a teacher compared to the other curriculums we are using. Maybe it's the flexibility?

I like how structured AAR is and I like how both AAR and Dimensions are visually engaging for my kids.

Any secular suggestions?

So we've homeschooled since kindergarten and had no real issues. Always did her work and most had fun with it. No complaints.

Now we hit 4th grade and this last 2 weeks have turned into a nightmare. Idk if its a spurt or what, but she is being so defiant about finishing any work. She keeps complaining it's boring and she doesn't want to do it.

So since she was complaining-- we tried doing a hybrid of sorts. Half work on Khan Academy and then half in workbook/hands on.

Worked for a few days and now back to refusing.

Tried all computer, tried all hands on. Tried having more breaks, more outdoor time, more social time to balance the work.

Nothing is working and im feeling very defeated right now. Not sure if it's the age/phase, if there is some other parents who went through a similar thing that can relate? Any constructive advice or input appreciated.

I already have AAR Level 1 and am wondering if the letter tiles included in it can be repurposed for LOE. Looking to save some $$ here

My 7 yo has autism and public school was a horrible ride. They had her from 3 in their early intervention preschool and it was supposed to be a smooth transition and plan to manage her communication struggles and behaviors. It was not. Kindergarten went okay. First grade went awful. My kid was moved through 5 different school placements before 2nd grade ( this school year). After another refusal of a previously failed placement and then a subsequent transportation debacle *they wanted her to ride the bus for 2 hours each way wtf*... my brain just went... WE ARE DONE WITH YOU PEOPLE....

Fast forward into our first 2 months. My child has so many more strengths than those schools knew... they couldn't even get her to sit down for longer than 1 minute to complete assignments. She cried all day....I have managed to reach 45 minute pencil on paper or virtual learning sessions without her needing a break. We have almost zero task avoidance now. I've broken multiple bad habits brought on by the school's lacking control over behaviors... and Im seeing increased speech as well as more overall general interest in socializing with her siblings. A heck of a lot less stimming and meltdowns...All good things that should lock me in right? no....

Every day is different. One day I am confident and feeling like I got her. She needs this quiet 1-1 tutoring style. I'm filling her schedule with so many more opportunities...On the other hand, she asks to go see her friends at school. She doesn't understand that for one, she wasnt allowed to go back to the school she was just at.. and for two, that she only has a 2 week period of happy times at school. Then the stress sets in. The phone calls begin and I get locked into the house with the toddlers because we would have to wait around to find out if my kid could survive the rest of the school day or if I would have to drive half an hour across town to get her...... It was such an immense burden of stress.

Right now I'm incredibly booked up, but I feel like our worlds are signifcantly lighter.... I have a social/extracirricular activity, therapy or Co-op every day. I do craft time daily. We visit a park daily...We do 2 hours daily of coursework time and I give music lessons every night before bed routines begin. Each day we also get to spend 2-4 hours on a school bus (im a bus driver for my job) with private school kids who interact and talk with her. They mainly sing together the whole time, its her favorite part of our day...

Even with all that in there...... I feel bad keeping her away from the school atmosphere. How do I tell that part of my brain to shut up???? I guess I'm wondering how to build my own confidence. Homeschool is currently our only choice so we're in this.. but Id really love to not feel guilty about it

Do any of you work part time or have any advice on it?? I have a kindergarten and preschooler in homeschooling and think about taking a job (10hours) a week. It really isn’t about the money but o just need to do something for my brain that isn’t about my kids. Any advice or if you do work how are you scheduling everything ??

I realized that our life is a little out of balance. It is so easy to exhaust a little kid by just standing outside with them while they run themselves ragged. What do I do with preteens? It is super flat by our house so even if we go on a walk everyday it doesn't really exert any of us. I wish there was a hill close by, but there's not. :') What outdoor activities do you guys do?

Any input is appreciated!

This daily discussion is to chat about anything that doesn't warrant its own post. I am not a mod and make these posts for building the homeschool community.

If you are new, please introduce yourself.

If you've been around here before or have been homeschooling for awhile, please share about your day.

Some ideas of what to share are: your homeschool plans for the day, lesson plans, words of encouragement, methods you are implementing to solve a problem, methods of organization, resource/curriculum you recently came across, curriculum sales, field trip planning, etc.

Although, I usually start with a question of the day to get the discussion going, feel free to ask your own questions. If your question does not get answered because it was posted late in the day, you can post the same question tomorrow to make sure it gets visibility.

Be mindful of the subreddit's rules and follow reddiquette. No ads, market/ thesis research, or self promotion. Thank you!

He knows the letter sounds but doesn’t know rhymes or syllables. He’s a sensory seeker but no diagnosis. We’re Christian but open to neutral. Best language arts, phonics, or core all in one? We started the year doing an explode the code workbook. It’s okay but not really enough for blending.

Hi all

I'm homeschooling my 5.5 year old. We are about to finish kindergarten. I would have liked to put him into school as I don't believe I'm the best teacher but circumstances have made us homeschool our son. I am using the good and the beautiful as a curriculum and also reading eggs (we are in Australia). I just feel like I'm failing him. He's learnt all the phonetic sounds and is able to write/read basic CVC words. I'm in the process of teaching him digraphs such as ch, sh, CK etc. He's not really able to write sentences without me telling him each word and also spelling some words out for him? I'm just worried he is behind? I still haven't taught him other digraphs like "oa", "er" "ai". His reading is definitely better than his writing. Is there anything else I can do to improve his reading and writing? I know most homeschoolers say don't compare to other children but I need to know what kindergarten teachers teach so when he does go to school he's up to date?

Edit: Thank you all for your insight. I've been so stressed about this and I have a moderator (authorised person) coming next week to check in on me and my son for the first time after she approved me for homeschooling. I'm hoping it goes well. I will take all your advice on board. It has helped immensely.

My kids (1st&4th grade) are doing virtual school in Florida through the county. They do Math, Language Arts (no spelling), Science, and Social Studies. It’s part time and flexible, which is great because ADHD and Autism runs rampant in our home. We just started a few weeks ago, and so far so good! BUT, I didn’t realize that spelling wasn’t included in their schooling. I liked the idea of not having to do all of the teaching myself, that’s why I chose OVS. This isn’t a huge deal though, I knew I’d have to supplement some courses.

My issue is, I have no idea what to do. Both of my kids read very well for their age. BUT, they both have a harder time spelling words. My oldest also has a hard time using capitalization appropriately still. Their hand writing is also pretty bad. (Mine is too tbf 🫠)

Are there any curriculums specifically for kids who read well, but struggle in spelling? Is there a place where I can test them to see where a good baseline is?

We don’t qualify for state funding because we just moved here from out of state. So, we are in a budget.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

So, I’m homeschooling a very bright six year old whose generally very easy to get going on school stuff. She is sensitive to sounds and distractions though and gets thrown off pretty quickly when she struggles a little. My challenge is her generally very easygoing little brother. He just turned three. If we’re all hanging out as a family, he can easily keep himself entertained. He’s very creative and has good focus on play. I thought, given this, that he’d be the same way while I homeschool. Instead, he’s extremely disruptive. Activities that I plan for him or toys that I set out don’t really keep his attention and he makes so much noise and sometimes messes. This obviously takes away from what I am able to do with my daughter.

I’ve talked to him about this and it sounds like he feels left out. But I struggle to include him in her targeted ELA and math lessons for the whole time and he doesn’t have the attention for it either. We are living in this really challenging cycle where school is just off and on painful during the day and then we all get over it once we aren’t doing school. I can’t seem to find enough novel things for him to do, but they do help when I have them and he seems to like to be engaged when I can. I need ideas. I’m exhausted. My energy for solving this is all taken up by my need to have patience with him and his sister during these painful mornings.

Hello, r/homeschool!

I’m on the hunt for fun iPhone or iPad games that actually help younger kids build strong math skills, roughly ages 5 to 10. We’re working through the early stuff: addition and subtraction, then times tables and division. Any recommendations?

Are there any games that really stood out for making math click, and for getting a kid to actually enjoy it rather than dread it?

Do they line up with curriculum standards (K–4 / elementary), or are they more for practice and fun?

How did you come across them?

Thanks so much in advance for sharing what’s worked for your family!

Good Morning!

My wife and I have been disagreeing about homeschooling. I currently have a 5 year old in preschool, a 3 year old, and 1 year old.

She wants to do it for all the right reasons. She doesn’t want to miss out on their childhood by sending them to school 6+ hours per day. She’s done countless research on homeschooling and said she’s prepared. (Curriculum, etc) She’s talked about putting them in Gymnastics or Dance via the Hope Scholarship. She made an extra room in our house into a classroom style as homeschooling was always the plan. I said I was okay with it, but I didn’t give it as much thought as not that she wants to pull the 5-year-old out and put her back into school.

I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit, and I just can’t get over a few problems I could see my kids potentially facing if they’re lifelong homeschooled. I agree I’m a little old fashioned because it’s the way we were all brought up, you went to school, it was what it was.

- School taught me social cues. When to crack a joke, when it was time to be serious. How to handle disagreements and arguments, make up or cut ties with friends, etc. How do you learn that from being homeschooled? My disagreement comes from my personal interactions with homeschooled kids. I served with a couple in the military, and I can’t say they were positive interactions. He just didn’t understand how to fit in I guess is what I’m trying to say. Was this a direct result of homeschooling, or HOW he was homeschooled?

- I am concerned that my kids will miss out on their childhood as well, but from a different perspective. I played every sport, football, baseball, basketball, I was on the FFA team, and was on a National Contender team for the “We the People” competition. This eventually led me to join the military. I fear my children won’t get those opportunities. I know there are some teams for homeschooled kids, but not all sports.

- Discipline. I’ll be the first to admit that our kids have trouble listening. I’m with the wife on the gentle parenting side, I don’t think we should be disciplining our children the way my parents did. With that being said, I WANT them to get detention. Didn’t we all? You got caught talking or passing notes, or you fought a bully in between class, or you skipped class and hung out in the bathroom all class. I know it sounds wrong, but doing these things and subsequently getting in trouble for them taught me what to do and what not to do (and how to get away with certain things I suppose)

I love my kids to death, and I want what’s best for them. Is it homeschooling them? I know one day I’ll miss the footsteps in the house, the fingerprints on the glass, the laughter. But part of me also wants the empty nest one day. Not because I don’t love them, but I want them to be successful. I apologize for the long read, but I’m really torn. Any advice is so appreciated. I’d love for my wife and kids to be happy most importantly

I’ve been homeschooling for 8 years and this is the first year where I feel like we are all really struggling. My kids are 14, 11, 7, 5 and 2 months old. For those of you who have little siblings who don’t have a full schedule of work to do, how on earth are you keeping them quiet and occupied so the bigger kids can complete lessons? My 7 and 5 year olds are loud, energetic boys and I feel like my older kids are constantly distracted and interrupted while doing their work. It’s even worse when I’m preoccupied with the baby. My oldest two do spend part of their day in their rooms working independently but when they need help and rejoin the rest of us I feel like it’s just very chaotic.

Any tips to make the day go smoother and more structured? I prefer not to utilize screen time but if there are decent learning games for younger kids to do on a tablet, I’m not completely opposed.

I want to incorporate Spanish into my curriculum. My boys are 4 and 5 so still little-ish. The 4 year old is definitely mostly play based but my 5 year old likes workbooks and it’s doing AAR 2, AAS 1, and first grade Singapore math. He thrives with cut and dry instruction. I’m fluent but have miserably failed at teaching them since my husband and everyone around us only speak English. They’ve gotten some exposure like with tv shows and movies in Spanish, music and bilingual books but don’t really understand much and speak none. Any advice for both curriculum for my cut and dry kid and just how to start this in general?

Im considering Kumon’s reading program next year as a supplement for our homeschool curriculum. I noticed youtube reviews mention that kids often dislike it, but that seems to be because they attend after a full day at regular school and then go to this after school program. (My son will be in kindergarten next year, we are currently using tgtb preschool program).

This daily discussion is to chat about anything that doesn't warrant its own post. I am not a mod and make these posts for building the homeschool community.

If you are new, please introduce yourself.

If you've been around here before or have been homeschooling for awhile, please share about your day.

Some ideas of what to share are: your homeschool plans for the day, lesson plans, words of encouragement, methods you are implementing to solve a problem, methods of organization, resource/curriculum you recently came across, curriculum sales, field trip planning, etc.

Although, I usually start with a question of the day to get the discussion going, feel free to ask your own questions. If your question does not get answered because it was posted late in the day, you can post the same question tomorrow to make sure it gets visibility.

Be mindful of the subreddit's rules and follow reddiquette. No ads, market/ thesis research, or self promotion. Thank you!

Hello all
Next year we will be pulling our 8 & 10 year old for 1 year to travel. I’ve never homeschooled before and I am more of a “let’s go do” teacher then a “ let’s sit and learn” teacher, so I will need lots of assistance in whatever online portal we choose. Any suggestions for grade 3 boy and grade 5 girl for online? Thanks a whole bunch

I’m new to the whole homeschooling thing and I’m not sure where to begin.

I’m looking for Pre-K material that is primarily free or possibly low cost. I don’t have an income as of now and we barely scrape by as it is with the rising economy. I just looked into library cards, and go figure my community doesn’t have a library, and to get an “out of district” card costs around $150. I’ve scoured the internet left and right and I haven’t seen much that isn’t housed behind a paywall.

I would really like some direction of maybe possible grants or something I could find. I know it would be ridiculous to think I could find too much for free since someone should be compensated for their time, but I really just don’t have the income to spare.

As for public schools my daughter isn’t quite potty trained yet and she doesn’t handle change very well so I don’t think it would be wise to put her into that environment yet.

My daughters are 3 and 1 years old and I would really like to start working with them more than I have I just don’t have the guidance or materials.

TLDR: Looking for financial assistance for education for my toddlers, including free to cheap options.

THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME🫶🏻

EDITED TO ADD I’M RESIDING IN ILLINOIS
ALSO EDITING TO ADD SHES NOT POTTY TRAINED FROM LACK OF TRYING. If you have pointers feel free to share those as well. Kindness is free, negativity won’t get my children potty trained faster and it just makes things more difficult. I’m truly blessed by the outpouring of help from everyone while I try to navigate this new experience. I appreciate each and every one of you beautiful souls!😭💙

I’ve read a few posts about people that work full time and homeschool but everyone seems to have “flexibility” well I don’t really at all

I work remote and I’m slammed with back to back calls and some days I might have a few phone calls, but then I have actually work to get done that is measured.

I’m widowed and have a 13 year old, that has been bullied at school. We have moved schools and the bullies made sure it followed. I’m going to pull my kid from Public to homeschool but have no idea how I’m going to juggle this.

I by no means have the financial means for a tutor. My kid also works best doing hand writing and interactive work vs. everything on a laptop.

I’m not sure what to do to for homeschool. I feel like keeping it as paper and pen would help her significantly but I don’t have the support to make that happen.

I’m over the public schools in the area, the staff are great and do what they can, but the reality is the area has had a significant growth in population and it has gone from a “small town with manners” to just meanness and ill behaved adults and kids. OP

I have a 4 year old (turned 4 in August) and we are using Playing Preschool 1. Its simple and fun. His 2.5 year old sister participates in some of the activities which is a plus.

This being said, ive read some people saying its not advanced enough for a 4 year old and Playing Preschool 2 is better for that.

I feel sometimes activities are a bit simple for him and other times our days are stressful and busy so i think its okay because at least we are able to finish.

But after reading opinions im having second thoughts or a bit of guilt that maybe he should be learning more or doing more challenging things?

Should we just switch to PP2 and quit number 1 or just finish what we already started? We've been doing it for a couple of months.

Any advice?