I definitely relate to not being “fun.” I don’t actually enjoy playing with my kids. I love reading to them. I love crafting with them. So yeah, embrace your strengths and recognize that you are their mom for a reason. My husband can be the “fun” parent😂
I've been feeling like such a bad mom for not being the fun parent. Even when I was younger, children liked me and I was kind, but I didn't really like holding babies or playing with children. Not kids my own age either 😅. Now I have 5 kids! 😂 I've had to do a lot of mental adjusting, but I don't regret any of my children nor do I regret homeschooling.
This whole video makes so much sense to me. I am right there with you celebrating 🍾 you teaching TWO kids to read!!! Congratulations! My daughter and my son are in the trenches learning all the Phonics and sight words. It takes so much consistency and staying exposed to the things they have learned. I see myself in this post. Thank you for sharing this encouraging update!
I think you are doing great. We, as moms, tend to ask too much from ourselves. Nobody is perfect :). My biggest challenge is the parenting side when teaching. How to react when challenges happen. Thank you for the update and always being honest.
Thanks for sharing your update! I totally understand about having more fun as I struggle with that as well. I have 5 kids and 3 of them are teenagers already so there just isn't time or mental bandwidth to always be doing all the fun things. I have an update on my channel but overall, things haven't changed too much for us.
It’s okay that YOU don’t lead the fun! My kids often lead that on their own, like building a Lego sailing ship after reading about the Vikings, or grabbing costumes and acting out a story we have read. I’m glad you’re letting go of feeling sad about not organizing the extra “fun stuff.” 🙂 Thanks as always for the updates!
Same on not being a fun mom. I have a really hard time with that… then with the guilt of it! We are doing a play based preschool program and I’m literally struggling to get through it if I’m being honest 😅 but my little loves it so I just keep pushing through.
I totally get the “not a fun mom” type in homeschooling. I feel the same and I pass that off to others in co-op and field trips and that totally works. 🙂
I think you're wise to stay involved and engaged with the math learning even while beginning to incorporate online math instruction. My mom has had a similar experience with trying out online learning resources and having kids figure out how to just guess until the program says they got the right answer. Kids are smart, ha!
I also feel I’m not a fun mom but in our defense we are the ones exhausted from teaching them, cooking cleaning, and making sure they stay healthy. So, it’s ok for dads to take over in the fun department. 😂 we tend to be too hard on ourselves. You’re doing an awesome job with your kiddos.
I've often thought it would be a benefit if before we started our homeschool journeys we would take a "homeschool personality test" of sorts. The results would have told me "don't bother with crafts, outsource art and get a math tutor. You'll never use those nature notebooks and don't bother incorporating folk songs. You'll excel in teaching your kids to read so buy all the books, you love the Word of God so make its teaching a priority in your home. You might not be considered the "fun" mom but you will instill a love for learning and self discipline in your children." That would have been helpful five years ago when I started this journey. But, alas just as everything else in life we must learn as we go. :)
We had a similar experience with NTML and the online grading. It is also going much better for us now that I'm doing the grading. Really enjoy your updates. Thanks for sharing!!
Live for these updates! There is so much to learn from them. I also had to give up on some learning ideas. Charlotte Mason was one of them for me too. So hearing your journey helped make that decision. It doesn’t mean I didn’t value some of the things we learned from it though. May the second half of the year be just as good or better for you all.
I am also not a super fun mom! 😅 I love the idea of all the fun things but require more structure as well. It makes me feel better that I am not the only one! ❤
I had a few thoughts about the online grading for Saxon...if you still wanted to try to use it - you could turn off the volume for your 3rd grader and maybe have an incentive for your 5th grader getting it right with just one try and/or just limit him to two.
I'm pretty flexible and go with the flow. But when it comes to school curricula, I need structure and direct instruction. I've debated Bravewriter so many times, but the style just won't work for me. I love the idea of it, though.
Hi! Congratulation for your two readers! I'm interested in Essentials. I have a question: Do you teach it, or is your son using the online version? Ty!
I feel the same about Sonlight language arts. Don’t love it, but I am hesitant to switch to something more robust, because my kids don’t take to the little bit that we are doing. And more, or more structure, would backfire. So I use it as a guide, and brainstorm with my kids on what would intrigue them. Now they are 12 and 9, so I feel that especially my oldest can take some ownership. When he is ready, I could probably just hand him a grammar textbook and he will just learn it fast.
I am having a hard time with Horizons Math grade 2. To the point I feel anxiety. The dragging for my kid to complete it, constant questioning of how many pages. I feel that instead of the book mastering one single thing it throws curve balls which is good but I feel the book doesn't master one piece before moving on. Probably I am just burned out.
I absolutely love the idea of brave writer but like you said it’s just not enough structure for me. I purchased Jot it Down and I did some great ideas from it but it’s just not me. I tried poetry tea time and all it did was stress me out and my kids loved the poetry part but the whole making up the table and all that extra they didn’t have a care in the world. So if they don’t love it and I’m all stressed out, does it even make sense?
I’d love your input on abeka phonics. We are using AAR level 2 and while it works I feel like my 5 year old is taking off pretty quickly so I’m thinking we may need something with a quicker pace. Is there any kind of placement test? I also went to a private school that used abeka and I’d say their language arts is pretty solid.
I was going to leave a message for Angie thanking her for all of her reviews and advice and my situation mirrors yours! My son finished AAR1 and while I loved how thorough it was, I felt like it was holding him back because he really seemed ready to go! I got him Abeka K5, the reading hanbook, the blend ladder books, and the student readers to try out before continuing with AAR2 (which we already had ready to go). I opted not to get the full kit with the teacher's manual since we already had so much other stuff going on. He started with the reading handbook from the beginning and the K5 book about halfway through and he has EXPLODED in his reading. Halfway through K5 they introduce long vowel sounds and that was what he really needed. Abeka also does a lot of sound blending which really helped my son pick up his speed in reading and gave him a lot of confidence. Also, I think he does really well with worksheet reinforcement. He finished K5 in about 3 months and he loved it so much I got him level 1 along with the Language workbook. We are still using AAR2 for in-depth phonics rules and practice, but I LOVE Abeka. We are actually a secular family and I had never considered Abeka before, but I am so grateful to have found it. It is a solid program! THANK YOU ANGIE for your in-depth reviews and flip-throughs! You are my favorite homeschool mama to watch! Happy New Year!
@@marissarose5127 thanks so much for this response! I’m glad I’m not alone. We have AAR 2 ready to go but even after the first 5 lessons, most of it feels like a waste of time so I worry he will get bored quick. He actually loves a good worksheet. We prefer secular curriculum for content areas but for reading, writing and math we just use what works. I do have confidence in abeka language arts because of my own experience. Getting to the end of AAR 1 felt like it was just dragging along for the both of us. Perhaps I will look into abeka k5. Thank you!
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I definitely relate to not being “fun.” I don’t actually enjoy playing with my kids. I love reading to them. I love crafting with them. So yeah, embrace your strengths and recognize that you are their mom for a reason. My husband can be the “fun” parent😂
My husband is the fun parent too ... I'm the one that will sit and read with them for hours!
I've been feeling like such a bad mom for not being the fun parent. Even when I was younger, children liked me and I was kind, but I didn't really like holding babies or playing with children. Not kids my own age either 😅. Now I have 5 kids! 😂 I've had to do a lot of mental adjusting, but I don't regret any of my children nor do I regret homeschooling.
good data & clarity 👍
This whole video makes so much sense to me. I am right there with you celebrating 🍾 you teaching TWO kids to read!!! Congratulations! My daughter and my son are in the trenches learning all the Phonics and sight words. It takes so much consistency and staying exposed to the things they have learned.
I see myself in this post. Thank you for sharing this encouraging update!
Thank you so much for the encouragement - you will get there to, just keep going :)
I think you are doing great. We, as moms, tend to ask too much from ourselves. Nobody is perfect :). My biggest challenge is the parenting side when teaching. How to react when challenges happen. Thank you for the update and always being honest.
Ahh, thank you for the support!
Thanks for sharing your update! I totally understand about having more fun as I struggle with that as well. I have 5 kids and 3 of them are teenagers already so there just isn't time or mental bandwidth to always be doing all the fun things. I have an update on my channel but overall, things haven't changed too much for us.
I can only imagine it would be harder as everyone gets older!
It’s okay that YOU don’t lead the fun! My kids often lead that on their own, like building a Lego sailing ship after reading about the Vikings, or grabbing costumes and acting out a story we have read. I’m glad you’re letting go of feeling sad about not organizing the extra “fun stuff.” 🙂 Thanks as always for the updates!
Thank you for the encouragement!
Thank you for all your content!!
You are very welcome!
Same on not being a fun mom. I have a really hard time with that… then with the guilt of it! We are doing a play based preschool program and I’m literally struggling to get through it if I’m being honest 😅 but my little loves it so I just keep pushing through.
My littles were the same :)
I totally get the “not a fun mom” type in homeschooling. I feel the same and I pass that off to others in co-op and field trips and that totally works. 🙂
Love that idea!
I think you're wise to stay involved and engaged with the math learning even while beginning to incorporate online math instruction. My mom has had a similar experience with trying out online learning resources and having kids figure out how to just guess until the program says they got the right answer. Kids are smart, ha!
Kids are so smart :)
Thank you for sharing your curriculum updates. Consider talking about how you tackled those sensitive passages in scripture in a future video, please.
I also feel I’m not a fun mom but in our defense we are the ones exhausted from teaching them, cooking cleaning, and making sure they stay healthy. So, it’s ok for dads to take over in the fun department. 😂 we tend to be too hard on ourselves. You’re doing an awesome job with your kiddos.
YES! All good points :)
I've often thought it would be a benefit if before we started our homeschool journeys we would take a "homeschool personality test" of sorts. The results would have told me "don't bother with crafts, outsource art and get a math tutor. You'll never use those nature notebooks and don't bother incorporating folk songs. You'll excel in teaching your kids to read so buy all the books, you love the Word of God so make its teaching a priority in your home. You might not be considered the "fun" mom but you will instill a love for learning and self discipline in your children." That would have been helpful five years ago when I started this journey. But, alas just as everything else in life we must learn as we go. :)
I love this SOO much! We are so alike in the "buy all the books and teach them to love God's Word"
We had a similar experience with NTML and the online grading. It is also going much better for us now that I'm doing the grading. Really enjoy your updates. Thanks for sharing!!
That is so good to hear, thank you for sharing!
I'm a Charlotte Mason(ish) homeschool mom and tried Brave Writer once; it was an impossible mess and felt like pointless busy work.
Live for these updates! There is so much to learn from them. I also had to give up on some learning ideas. Charlotte Mason was one of them for me too. So hearing your journey helped make that decision. It doesn’t mean I didn’t value some of the things we learned from it though. May the second half of the year be just as good or better for you all.
I love that you can relate - it's ok when the learning styles don't work, it doesn't make them bad, just not right for us :)
Yay! Teaching someone to read is a huge win!
YES!
I am also not a super fun mom! 😅 I love the idea of all the fun things but require more structure as well. It makes me feel better that I am not the only one! ❤
Haha, it make me feel better that I'm not the only one either :)
I had a few thoughts about the online grading for Saxon...if you still wanted to try to use it - you could turn off the volume for your 3rd grader and maybe have an incentive for your 5th grader getting it right with just one try and/or just limit him to two.
Good ideas, thank you :)
I'm pretty flexible and go with the flow. But when it comes to school curricula, I need structure and direct instruction. I've debated Bravewriter so many times, but the style just won't work for me. I love the idea of it, though.
Exactly!
Congrats on raising readers!
Thank you!
Hi! Congratulation for your two readers!
I'm interested in Essentials. I have a question: Do you teach it, or is your son using the online version? Ty!
Thanks! I teach it, I considered the online version, but I haven't needed it yet :)
I feel the same about Sonlight language arts. Don’t love it, but I am hesitant to switch to something more robust, because my kids don’t take to the little bit that we are doing. And more, or more structure, would backfire. So I use it as a guide, and brainstorm with my kids on what would intrigue them. Now they are 12 and 9, so I feel that especially my oldest can take some ownership. When he is ready, I could probably just hand him a grammar textbook and he will just learn it fast.
I love hearing how you have adjust the LA to work!
I am having a hard time with Horizons Math grade 2. To the point I feel anxiety. The dragging for my kid to complete it, constant questioning of how many pages. I feel that instead of the book mastering one single thing it throws curve balls which is good but I feel the book doesn't master one piece before moving on. Probably I am just burned out.
That sounds really hard! Maybe try taking a small break and coming back with fresh eyes!
I feel the same about Bravewriter! It just doesnt work for this type A mama
I know, I really wish it would work!
We prefer My Math Assistant over Nicole the Math Lady. It's much more organized & easier to use in our opinion!
I absolutely love the idea of brave writer but like you said it’s just not enough structure for me. I purchased Jot it Down and I did some great ideas from it but it’s just not me. I tried poetry tea time and all it did was stress me out and my kids loved the poetry part but the whole making up the table and all that extra they didn’t have a care in the world. So if they don’t love it and I’m all stressed out, does it even make sense?
Haha, YES I couldn't agree more ... sometimes the "beautiful ideas" fall completely flat in my house as well :)
I’d love your input on abeka phonics. We are using AAR level 2 and while it works I feel like my 5 year old is taking off pretty quickly so I’m thinking we may need something with a quicker pace. Is there any kind of placement test? I also went to a private school that used abeka and I’d say their language arts is pretty solid.
I was going to leave a message for Angie thanking her for all of her reviews and advice and my situation mirrors yours! My son finished AAR1 and while I loved how thorough it was, I felt like it was holding him back because he really seemed ready to go! I got him Abeka K5, the reading hanbook, the blend ladder books, and the student readers to try out before continuing with AAR2 (which we already had ready to go). I opted not to get the full kit with the teacher's manual since we already had so much other stuff going on. He started with the reading handbook from the beginning and the K5 book about halfway through and he has EXPLODED in his reading. Halfway through K5 they introduce long vowel sounds and that was what he really needed. Abeka also does a lot of sound blending which really helped my son pick up his speed in reading and gave him a lot of confidence. Also, I think he does really well with worksheet reinforcement. He finished K5 in about 3 months and he loved it so much I got him level 1 along with the Language workbook. We are still using AAR2 for in-depth phonics rules and practice, but I LOVE Abeka. We are actually a secular family and I had never considered Abeka before, but I am so grateful to have found it. It is a solid program!
THANK YOU ANGIE for your in-depth reviews and flip-throughs! You are my favorite homeschool mama to watch! Happy New Year!
@@marissarose5127 thanks so much for this response! I’m glad I’m not alone. We have AAR 2 ready to go but even after the first 5 lessons, most of it feels like a waste of time so I worry he will get bored quick. He actually loves a good worksheet. We prefer secular curriculum for content areas but for reading, writing and math we just use what works. I do have confidence in abeka language arts because of my own experience. Getting to the end of AAR 1 felt like it was just dragging along for the both of us. Perhaps I will look into abeka k5. Thank you!
You are very welcome!! Happy the reviews are helpful ... and THANK YOU for answering this question so thoroughly - I couldn't have said it better!!
I second everything @marissarose5127 said!! Abeka really turned everything around for my kiddos :)