Hello I have had this issue come up in my home as well. My son did not love to read or spell. He loves to draw and tell stories. He can name many of the outdoor bugs and what they eat. lol I really wa not too worried about him though. I just read to him a lot! I brought home many books that set his many intrest on fire. He would spend hours looking at the pictures making up his own words to the story. Then recently he wants to read. He wants more information. He wants to cook and needs to read the recipe ( so he can do it without help) He is becoming quite independent. For my son I think the turning point was when he turned 8 and entered cub scouts and now he recieves awards for the goals he sets towards earning his wolf badge. He loves to read and Scouting set his moving. He is soaking up so much knowledge at this point and is moving right along with his reading. He has realized that mommy with 5 other kiddos running around can not always read the books he wants me to read. He has been voulunteering at church to read scriptures aloud even if is a bit slower than the other boys. The other morning I had dosed off nursing the baby and He thought I was asleep. I overheard him reading a book on Knights to his little brother. I in my dosed stated woke right up not letting him know I was awake. He can do it. I struggled with trusting the learning process too and now I have seen the results of letting him learn on his own time table.

Just last year I was on bed rest while pregnant with the baby. I was struggling to get school done in the fashion I wanted. I had the kids enrolled in a k12 online school. I went from unschooling to Public school at home. It did not go well at all. My dear daughter who has always been a very self taught learner by nature began to hate school. I would beg, plead, even bribe to get her to do school. Last October I said enough and unenrolled all 3 of the older kids from school. My oldest daughter was in a talent show in her church group I was nervous that she would feel she did not have any talents. She started piano lessons and then when they became required she would not practice. Well she decided Science was her talent. She went online and found a science experiment she wanted to to with her dad. Then in she made me a list of things she needed and off to Home Depot we went. The day of the Dress Rehersal I was really sick in bed again. And I was feeling rather guilty as moms do. My dear daughter instead of becoming angry with me just went in and put it all together by herself. When she could not find the one of many rulers we have in our house she google searched one and printed it off and completed her project. Hey it worked wonderful and she was so excited. I was so dumbfounded. Here I thought she was not learning anything. I was so wrong. I also learned she had been teaching her younger sister to read and spell her name. Hey my dd helped her younger sister get her very own library card. As a tradition in my family when a child can write her or his own name the hey can get a library card. So thanks to Arthur on PBS and my older daughter my younger daughter loves her library card and is also learning to read rather auickly so she can read up on all the princesses she can. lol.
The night of my older daughters Talent show my dd had left the wire attached to the battery on accident and her project did not work out. Intstead of getting upset or embarrassed as usual for her she went to the piano and played two songs she taught herself on the piano. And to think I thought I was the only one who could teach my kids.
I know now that these TJED principles are amazing. I am seeing the fruits of applying the principles in my home. Yes there are still days when I get frantic when I feel school did not happen. Then I am amazed all over again when I see just what my kids really know and hear all they have learned.
I know the kids mimick what we do in our own lives. My hubby and I are always reading, going to a book club or looking up questions on the internet.
I have even set and read a book aloud as the kids run a muck in the room to only find out how much they have truly soaked in.
I hope this helps some.
Rhonda mommy of 6 in Colorado.

It all depends on your definition of WHAT "should" be taught.

For us, it's about priorities. And here they are:

1) Have they been taught what is right? Do they have a good relationship with God?
2) Do they know how to WORK? Do they have chores? Do they follow through on them? Are they responsible?
3) Are they free to play, explore, create and imagine?
4) Are they HOME? Do they value their family? Are they being nurtured and guided?
5) Do they feel loved and accepted for who they are? Is their home a secure place where they are loved, and their confidence is built?

If the answer to any of these questions is negative, I don't start on ANY academics. Now, lots of teaching and learning can be FUN-- then it counts as PLAY. (No "requirement strings" attached.)

If I am concerned about what my kids are doing, I only have 2 places to look; to God for reassurance, and to myself to see what kind of example I'm setting.

Students study with passion and interest when they are INSPIRED. No one can require a love of learning into anyone. And if they study because they are forced to do so, they will obtain a hate of learning.

Mom, what have YOU studied lately? What are YOU reading right now?

These are the questions that will help your children.

With love,

Well, I am not an expert and my children are still rather young, so take this more as brainstorming than advice. With the time problem, is there any way that the older children could work with the younger children sometimes? I know I learn things better when I am teaching them. It also sounds like they have a lot of talents to share. On the inspiring problem, I remember that with the story about the boy only interested in motorcycles, the mentor found things to read about motorcycles that the boy found interesting and they planned a trip, etc. in order to use math in a real way that related to his interest. I can definately see how you could do a little class or two on fractions that would relate to both the cooking and the music (and maybe the sewing). Your children might find the connection intriguing and it could lead to a discussion of decimals. You could discuss a hypothetical family trip to someplace where there's a violin concert or cooking contest and plan what you'd see on the way, how often and where you'd have to stop for gas, etc. I think that's the type of thing you teach them all together when you're teaching them what's yours. It would take some thought and research to find a way to present it in a way that is interesting and helpful, but I think it is that thought and time that makes it yours to share. You could give your son a biography of a famous musician or "Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers." Your daughter might find "The Hundred Dresses" interesting. Try to find books that you think would be fun to discuss. I think if your children see you reading and enjoying math that would help a lot too.