I hate math

Ugh if I hear that one more time, I will go crazy.  We have tried so many math programs over the years and finally we seemed to have settled on one - Teaching Textbooks, it is wonderful, truly the best for my older two and my 11 yo seems to like it but today I heard those dreaded words "I hate math" from my daughter and I was telling her she did not and that everyone has to do math and now we are all doing this program and no one gets to change, but then I heard myself and remembered why I home school in the first place.  Why you ask?  Well let's see the main reason was because I wanted them to have a freedom in the way they learned, to not be kept in a box and that includes not using a program just because the rest of the family uses it.  So it hit me she loves to bake and shes loves the basic concepts and she doesn't have to have a program to get that.  To some degree I have lost track of my eclectic style and keep following along on the paths of others and that makes me so mad because I am truly my own style but over the last bunch of years I have lost me and my sense of learning from doing and learning at our own pace and style. 

All this from one little state, you ask, why yes can you believe it?  But it took her saying it with such persistence to make me realize I have lost our own path and begun to follow others and it's time for a change.

I will let you know what she chooses.

What's up next on the reading list? 

Using something new

I have found a new math product that we are testing and so far my oldest who is the one using it, likes it quite a bit. What I like is that it works in the areas of need, so while he almost has algebra down pat he needs quite a bit of work in Geometry, so the program covers more in that area. The program is called Aleks - check it out here - http://www.aleks.com/homeschool.

What I really love is I can see how much he is doing daily without being over his shoulder. He learned recently that I get reports bi-weekly and it shows me exactly how much time he has put in each day and how far he has progressed and what he has mastered and what is left to master. He has tried many different programs and seems to enjoy this process the best.