I'm homeschooling a huge family. Neither unschooling nor pre-packaged curriculum seems right to me. At first I make math worksheets, have them read out loud un

I'm homeschooling a huge family. Neither unschooling nor pre-packaged curriculum seems right to me. At first I make math worksheets, have them read out loud until they get perfect smooth-and-fluid phrasing, and have them write in cursive. There is a local homeschooling group that goes over history and sort of functions like a book club, and also has a weekly gym class. The next step, starting at age 7 to 11 depending on the kid, is to teach AP Biology or AP Chemistry. I take this seriously, with a College Board approval of my "syllabus" (their misnomer) and plenty of labs and a real focus on the test material. I don't wait for the prerequisite skills to be perfect; one could wait forever for that. I'll even start with kids who struggle to read or do algebra. The test provides a real goal with a measurable outcome. Once a decent score has been achieved, I use that as evidence to get the kid into dual-enrollment at the local college at about age 11 to 15. The deal in my state is that this is free college, and the local public school district will even loan you the books. That gets the kid to an AA degree, which in my state will guarantee admission to a state BS program and satisfy all the general education requirements. Although my state does mandate that my kids can participate in public school activities and classes, I don't bother except for one kid who needed speech therapy. There is a municipal band here that teaches music for free. BSA scouting provides activities, with the Eagle Scout rank actually translating into valuable things like scholarships and military rank. My state has an online virtual school that I use only for driver education. I almost used it for a language requirement at the state colleges, but taking the language at the college means 2 semesters instead of 2 years. I suggest looking into 4H as well; for me it was a bit too distant. Be aware that often it seems that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. I have trouble getting my kids to study... but my mom had that same trouble with me in a public school. Getting the kids to study is the most difficult problem, and that fact doesn't change no matter how you decide to deal with education. Bonus for homeschooling: flexible hours, flexible days, less communicable disease, better quality food, your choice of values, and usually a smarter instructor.