Striving for Simplicity - Reading, Writing, Math

We began homeschooling our kids about 15 months ago. Before that, we had them enrolled in a virtual public school for a year and a brick and mortar school before that. I work full-time outside the home and CP is a full-time stay-at-home dad (aren't I lucky!!!). Having four kids to teach at different levels and one who is struggling wasn't going to be easy.

Fortunately, I work with a fellow who introduced me to Robinson Curriculum. It is a simple 3Rs curriculum that the kids can pretty much do themselves without much required intervention. The boys are using Saxon Math which is very well written and self-explanatory. They do one lesson a day and repeat it if they score less than 90. They then write a one page essay on any subject of their choice. Then they read for an hour (all classics with history, science, social issues, Christianity as topics).

The do practice their vocabulary with CP and CP grades their math, but that is the extent of his involvement. I read their writing on the weekends and if I see a problem with grammar, spelling, etc, I will provide a little extra work for them in this area.

SG is working on memorizing her math facts. She does this for 30 min a day. She then reads for 30min and copies one page from a book (right now, it is the McGuffey Second Reader).

HJ is working on learning how to read and getting down counting/numbers to 100. For this, she gets help from CP and from Grandpa. She then practices writing letters and words that I have modeled for her. After that she plays computer games, watches educational videos and does hands on play (play-doh, bendar**s, popsicle sticks, L*gos, etc). This is mainly to keep her busy while the others finish their work.

The three oldest also have music practice each day.

Keeping things simple in homeschooling keeps our life simple, but our kids are learning TONS!