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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I homeschooled 7 children.  The hardest year was the year that the youngest wanted to do school, but wasn't really mature enough to do much in the way of pages.  The 3 year old did 10 minutes of "school work" (pages), and about 3 hours of other work during the day (patterns, letters, letter sounds, matching, colors, counting, writing numerals and letters, shapes, basic Spanish conversation) through playing with siblings and/or me.  The 5 year old did 15 minutes of writing, 15 minutes of reading and about 4 hours of other work through play (her favorite was running around with the white board to make tally marks counting things starting with the same letter or adding large groups).  The 7 year old did 30 minutes of writing, 15-30 minutes of reading, and a minimum of 30 minutes working online.  The 8 year old spent 30 minutes writing, 30 minutes reading, 30+ minutes online.  The 10 year old spend 30 minutes writing, 30 minutes reading, 45+ minutes online.  The 12 year old spent 45 minutes writing, 30 minutes reading, 45+ minutes online.  The 15 year old spent 30 minutes writing, 45 minutes reading, 60+ minutes online.  (ages are end of October)

None of that includes chores, volunteering or interaction with anyone outside of the family, and the reading was split between personal choice and required.  Most days, we "did school" 6 am to 8 am and/or 3 to 5 pm; the three oldest might occasionally choose to also "do school" 7 to 9 pm (10 and 12 year olds) or 10 pm (15 year old).  When kids have the opportunity to choose what they want to do, work with whoever they want, be responsible for keeping track of time and accomplishments and reap the rewards for their hard work, they can surprise you.  We usually used the "school hours" to play outside in the yard, at the water park, at the regular park, go to homeschool meet-ups, etc.  We frequently did school for short spurts on the weekends when other kids had other things going on, and we had numerous "field trips" which were educational (some were more, some were less).  Every child had the choice to go to public school; every child chose to homeschool.

In one year, the children accomplished the following goals (any extra time was by their choice):

Oldest did geometry and algebra 2; units on history with 12 year old (Constitution, Renaissance, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece) and 10 year old (Industrial Revolution, Ancient China, early Australia, Ancient Rome); biology, basic astronomy (with 10 year old), discovery of elements; Spanish with all but the two youngest (from nothing to conversation, ability to do conjugations following the normal rules, no emphasis on accents); 30 books (5 with 10 year old, discussed at his level, then with me; 15 with the 12 year old, discussed with her, then with me; the other 10 discussed with me) discussed, researched and papers written; basic coding; personal writing; vocal music; drawing; CPR/first aid; volunteering with children, veterans and animals; chores (able to run house if absolutely necessary)

12 year old did math through half of algebra 1; history with oldest and 10 year old (US Civil War, WWI, WWII, Cold War, War of the Roses, 1066 in the British Isles); geology (with 10 year old), human physiology (beginning with 10 year old, then by herself), intro to biology; Spanish; 25 books (15 with oldest, 5 with 10 year old, 5 with just me); basic coding; personal writing; vocal music; drawing; CPR/first aid; volunteering with children, veterans and animals

10 year old did math (according to common core, ended at mid-eighth grade); history with oldest and 12 year old; geography and maps with 7 and 8 year olds; basic astronomy with oldest, beginning of human physiology with 12 year old, earth science with 8 year old; Spanish; 25 books (5 with oldest, 5 with 12 year old, 5 with 8 year old, 10 by himself); basic coding; personal writing; drawing; CPR/first aid; volunteering with veterans and animals

8 year old did math (according to common core, ended at beginning sixth grade); geography and maps with 10 and 7 year olds; communities and society with 7 year old; earth science with 10 year old, experiments and food science with 7 and 5 year old, numerous short units with 7 year old (insects/spiders, botany, gems/stones, electricity, etc); Spanish; 25 books (5 with 10 year old, 10 with 7 year old, 10 by himself); basic coding; personal writing; drawing; volunteering with veterans

7 year old did math (according to common core, ended at mid-fourth grade); geography and maps with 10 and 8 year olds; communities and society with 8 year old; experiments and food science with 8 and 5 year old, short units with 8 year old ; Spanish; 50 books (10  chapter with 8 year old, 5 chapter with me, 35 picture books); basic coding; personal writing; vocal music; volunteering with animals

It's hard to quantify what two youngest did in a measurable way.  The 3 year old went from no formal schooling to reading and writing all first names in the house, counting to 50 and counting one-to-one to 20.  By the end of the year, a kindergarten teacher said that only his maturity would separate him from other children in her class at the beginning of the year.  The 5 year old went from knowing letters and numbers to being able to read, write, add (with carrying, to 99) and subtract (from 99, no borrowing).

Because we structured the day the way we did, the kids got more time playing together than most siblings get.  They all did chores that many parents feel are too difficult, but the kids knew how to do them and did them without too much complaining.  Overall, they spent more time being kids and enjoying life while learning more than their counterparts in public (and most private) schools.  What can be wrong with that?

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This is awesome.[/quote]

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