Today's thoughts

Here's what I'm pondering today:

Skye is 8, soon to be 9 (early November). She is a "third grader" whatever that means in homeschooling circles, LOL. She does math on grade level, but is an advanced speller and reader. She is probably pretty average in terms of her maturity level. She's also very regemented and by the book. While she likes our read alouds and doing school the Sonlight way, she totally digs having workbooks and a schedule in which to complete them. She was in her element the year we did Seton (she was also finished with all her work in a flash).

All that is background for this question. Right now we are doing Sonlight's Core 4 with Rose (10 going on 11). History reading, a read aloud, religion, science, and silent reading are all done together (well, the silent reading is done separately but the book assigned is the same for both girls). Also whatever art and music we get to. Math and spelling are the only things done separately.

OK, here's the problem (finally, you are all saying!): Rose struggles with spelling, reading and math, the three things that we do separately, that she takes a loooong time to complete everything. We get behind. With life intervening we get through a weeks work in two weeks time. But most of that time Skye is just WAITING for Rose to finish! Of course, she is off playing (reading, computer being the biggies because she likes them). I feel like I'm holding her back. I also feel like she is not doing enough (you unschooly types are clicking your tongues at me right now, LOL!). She does seem bored a lot. The days we get to only math and spelling she is done in 1/2 an hour! The other day - our science/read aloud/history day, all she does is sit and listen to me read, and maybe draw a little. Being together all.the.time we are driving each other (all of us) crazy if we are not occupied in some gainful manner.

So here are my thoughts. I'd love to hear your thoughts:

- keep going the way we are. She's young and there's no reason to have her do extra work.

-buy a workbook curriculum so she can move ahead at her own pace...she can then join Rose when she feels like it for any subject that she has a workbook for that we used to do together (SL was expensive, however, I shudder to buy a ton more stuff that will just get trashed at the end of the year because it's consumable. And I worry about finding time to do 2 separate curriculums - but in this case I think Skye would be teaching herself...she's great as long as things are cut and dry and not abstract)

-buy a workbook or two for some time wasting (while my mind screams BUSYWORK! BLEH! BUSYWOOOOORK!!)

- tell her she needs to do X minutes of school every day. If that means she does 7 math pages and 5 spelling lists because she blew through the first few, so be it.

- tell her she needs to do X minutes of school OR X minutes of "gainful employment" (i.e. chores, or even exercise) ... so in essence X minutes of "work" a day.

- put the onus on Rose and have her do only a certain small amount of minutes on her hard subjects and all the rest becomes "homework" - after dinner or on weekends or something

- ???

Let me know your thoughts on any of these or the dilemma in general.