Tanikit - What is BFSU1?  I am trying to figure that out but have no idea.

Good ideas, Mandy.  Another thing that helps my students work independently is the list of the work we have to do each day.  I have a plan for each one of them, so they easily jump around the list doing stuff they can do without me if I am working with another child and checking it off as they go.  They read their Bibles and do some copywork, typing, spelling, math, read poetry and book work on their own.  I have a lesson plan with the work for each day telling them what pages to read or what lesson to do.  I started a formal version of school with my kids between 3 1/2 and 4 years old.  Since they were early learners we skipped through a lot of basic stuff they already knew.

Mandy, we start school here at 5 AM.  I try to finish my part by 9 AM because we have family devotions then.  On a good day I do.  On an average day I finish at noon.  I also work from home so I cannot be tied up with school forever.  I would like it if my kids were up on their own at that time, but most days I have to wake them.  That is my least favorite part of our school day.  I like it when they are already up and we can start.

Since she is my youngest I spend more focused time with her than my 9 and 12 year old.  She does some things by independently, but a lot of them are done with me sitting there.  I love learning about history, so I like to read SOW with her.  The same is true for science.  She does her math by herself but I am available if she has a question.  I basically run a three ring circus with my homeschool.  Some subjects we do together and then I take turns working with each of them on their independent work.

I think she would be distracted if I was doing something with someone else.  I know that my older kids get distracted when we do things that they want to be a part of as well.  Erika from Confessions of a Homeschooler has a preschooler and she has lots of ideas for keeping the youngest busy with stuff while the other three kids work.  It is definitely a difficult job to manage.  Is there a way to keep the toddler involved on a lesser level?  Usually they want to do what everyone else is doing anyway.  My little ones used to climb on to the school table and sit in the middle of it.  Talk about making your presence known.  I hope you can figure out something that is helpful.  Juggling kids so each one gets what they need from you is hard work!

My 6 year old has a regular homeschool day.  She has a lot of stamina for school and is a great student, but she is the youngest of 6; which may account for her ability to sit for so long doing school.  She is doing third grade work for mostly every subject, but for grammar and writing she is working at about a 4th grade level.  We are working on:

A Beka Math
Classical Composition for writing
Writing With Ease
First Language Lessons
Latina Christiana
Spelling Workout
Vocabulary Cartoons
Story of the World
Apologia Science
Fallacy Detective
Building Thinking Skills
Typing
French
Little Musician

Our school day takes between 5-7 hours, depending on the day.  The problem I have is that there is so much more I want to do with her/them, but I run out of time.

I VERY much like your analogy, Mandy!

Oh, Mandy, I am finding comfort that I am not alone.  I was reading yesterday, out loud to myself, some passages again and again, when my daughter asked me what I was reading.  I told her if there was not a group here that was discussing the book, I would certainly give it up, but I am enjoying the challenge.   I have not noticed that it ever gets lighter. It is interesting and challenging and nothing I have ever been exposed to, so, I shall just keep reading...

I love hearing that Ian still likes MonkiSee!!!  We tried to do some puppets a few times, but they never looked the way they were supposed to.  I need to explore that again....  Thanks for the reminder.

Wow, that is so sweet.  Thank you for the compliment.  I love you too, Kizudo.  I think you already know that.

Thanks, Kizudo.  That looks super-cool.

I just read a few more pages.  This is a tough read for me.  I think I understand what they are saying, but then I am not sure.  I continue to look forward to this discussion and will most likely read the book more than once.

Thank you.  That makes it very clear.

Thank you for posting this.  Wow doesn't even get close to what this really is.  This is a lot of someone's time.  What an amazing resource.  I love book lists and this is definitely getting bookmarked for future reference.

Can you explain the levels and the meanings?  I am not familiar with these.  It looks like they go A-Z?  They must represent a grade level?  I am not sure.

Thanks, Kizudo for bringing this up here.   Actually this DVD is part of a new line of products (separate from MonkiSee) called Howie and Skip's StoryTime.  This is the first story but there are many to follow.  There will be Bible stories, regular stories and maybe some fables.  We are really excited about reading and sharing stories with kids.  This has nothing to do with teaching them to read - although kids that are read to do show signs of reading more easily.  We do feature the words to the story on the screen, but the focus is just having fun hearing stories.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/wkW8TWovas0&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/wkW8TWovas0&rel=1</a>

I have watched some of The Joy of Mathematics with my kids last year.  I need to get that again.  The guy has so much passion for math and its patterns that it is contagious.  Thanks for the list of books.  I will definitely look into them.

I love the twists and turns this group takes me on.  After reading this post I looked up Robert Capon and discovered that my library has 3 of his books.  The book on Parables looks interesting and I would definitely like to read it.  I just love getting recommendations from all of you here.  Thank you for starting this thread and sharing so much here.