Am I going to go crazy?

[MotherOf5]

We are in the process of considering homeschooling our children. I have an 8 year old, 7 year old, 6 year old, 5 year old and a 2 year old. I'm planning on working at least one full day a week still and possibly one evening also. My husband will be home with the kids the one day I am at work and will help with the schooling also. Right now I feel like I spend just as much time on homework and dealing with advocating for my children at the school as I would just teaching them myself. Two of my children are having a very difficult time in school and are not receiving the extra help they truly need. the 8 year old and the 5 year old are pretty good at learning and working as independently as I request of them. So when I start homeschooling I expect to have one KG, one 2nd grader and two third graders (one ahead of third really and one a little lower than third grade really). I am very organized when it comes to school issues and learning time with the kids and currently outside of homework time they are receiving two days a week of tutoring and days they don't have tutoring spend one on one time with me essentially being tutored.

I love my kids....but they do drive me insane somedays...lol....I'm thinking this would help us a family to unite more and bond....and also take away are two most stressful times of the day which are am's rushing to get ready for school and the transition home from school.

Please give me all your thoughts...lol

[heidijo]

Yes, this is totally doable! With your children being in early elementary it will really not take all that long to homeschool them. You can do Science, History and Bible all together. Then they just need to do their own Language and Math. We enjoyed Five in a Row when my girls were those ages. You can even use all picture books for Science and History. I have lists on my site. Let me know if you need any help choosing other resources.

[hscoach]

In reality, you are already homeschooling. Like you said, you are spending so much time helping them with homework and being an advocate for them, you might as well go ahead and officially homeschool.

My children were in school at one time (my two oldest sons) and it was very stressful. I hated waking them up so early and then nagging them to rush, rush, rush in the mornings. The evenings were no fun either because they were grumpy and tired. Homeschooling does take both of those stressful times away! Your children can get the rest they need and you will all be in better spirits. You will not have to rush. You will not have to adhere to the school's schedule. You will make your own. You will have the freedom and flexibility to do what is best for your children. It will drastically change your life for the better! You will be amazed.

My kids drive me crazy sometimes too but I will tell you that you will LOVE spending time with them. One day you will look back with no regrets. It will cause you to be closer as a family. I am very close to my kids. We talk about everything. And my kids love each other. I attribute all of the closeness to being able to spend so much time together. This is our 11th year of homeschooling and we enjoy it very much. I think you will too! Best wishes.

[nickklein]

The previous comments pretty much summed it all up. I also suggest to use a 'hand-me-down' method for worksheets as your younger children progress throughout the years. This means create copies of worksheets and not actually giving them the same sheets hehe