I started the homeschooling journey nearly three years ago when my child was in 6th grade. Everything was going smoothly. He looked forward to his daily lessons from me without any hesitations, resistance or arguments. All was fine, until now!
Now my son is 13 years old. Does something happen in the teens brains that all of a sudden, this year, the big attitude came with it. It seems that since we started this year, (8th grade), I have become a very frustrated teacher/mom. Everyday for the past two months has been a roller coaster of arguments, confrontations, and yelling!
I've spoken to other homeschooling mom about the daily challenges this has become. Apparently, they are also going through the same thing as I was and feel drained and ready to give it up! You know, back to a public school! Fortunately, with the help and the lending ears and support of other moms of teenagers, especially, in my case, boys, I'm still hanging in there.
This year is the first time I bought a curriculum. It wasn't cheap either but I like the daily schedules and teacher's guide already completed for me.
Since it is a purchased curriculum, the demands for daily studies are more rigid. Although you can tailor the schedules for your own needs, I found that you really have to skip a whole day's work in order to do that. The reason is all the books coincide with one another; so when you read a history book, your paperback book and language arts studies related to that subject.
I started to add my own videos, pictures, and old workbooks in addition to the daily schedule we have from Sonlight. Although, it was not always a biblical or Christianity view, I have found this eased the tension in our homeschooling routine. There's a lot of reading involved in this curriculum. My son loves to read but I am telling you, there is a LOT of reading! The books are great-- they are living books which is more interesting than reading your ordinary text-like history books. But be prepared to read a lot this year!
