I feel like my life is a treadmill. It’s always running ahead of me and I am always trying to catch up.

My book, Catholic Home Schooling, has a chapter on “Home Management” which has some ideas you might want to use. Also, we sell a great book by Ginny Seuffert called Home Management Essentials, which gives ten quick ideas about how to bring your home under control.

Do you mind if I send work to be graded only when all the children are finished with their quarter’s work?

You might save a little on postage this way, but it is not the best educationally for your children. It is best to have work graded as quickly as possible, since the concepts should still be fresh in the students’ minds, and grader comments will be most profitable. This is why we encourage taking tests online and/or uploading assignments on your MySeton page. Work graded electronically is often immediately graded by the computer. When it is not immediately graded, it is still graded and returned much more quickly than a mailed assignment…

My son has finished his math. May I buy the next book and have him start on the next grade level?

You certainly may do that, and we can record math grades for the next grade level. The next grade-level book will start out with a review of the lessons from the previous book, so he should do very well at first. However, at some point, usually about a quarter through the book, you will need him to slow down for the new concepts being presented. Sometimes the new concepts demand a little higher analysis skills for which your son may not be ready. With the higher level book, make him work out all the problems, not just some of the problems, at least initially.

Because of illness, we are not as far along in our studies as I would like. What tips do you have for us to catch up?

For some subjects, you can use a few shortcuts. For instance, to catch up in Spelling or Vocabulary, you could assign your student two chapters in one week, with the student doing only the essential work. If your student is very good in math, perhaps he could do two chapters in one week by working out only every other problem. You need to be careful that shortcuts should be used only for subjects for which you know your child will not be missing something for which he needs to take the regular length of time…

How important is it that I stay on the Seton schedule?

The Seton lesson plans set a schedule based on what we believe is realistic for the student to accomplish each day. In addition, the schedule is planned so that the student finishes the course in about nine months. However, a great advantage in homeschooling is for the parent to adjust the schedule according to the abilities of the individual child. If a child can do two days of math assignments in one day, let him do it. On the other hand, the same child may need to take two days to do one assignment in English.

May we mail in just some of the subjects which my 5th grader has finished, or do I need to wait until the tests for all the subjects have been taken?

If you are mailing in the tests, we suggest that you send the tests for all the subjects for the quarter at the same time. Sending all the tests at once allows you to check off every item for the quarter and make sure you have everything together. That tends to be easier and saves on mailing costs both for your family and for Seton…

The National Assessment Governing Board reported that only 24 percent of America’s 8th and 12th graders have “solid writing skills.” What can we parents do to help our children improve their writing skills. Is the computer helping or hindering?

It is important for our children to be writing every day. Seton includes several paragraph writing assignments within each English quarter, some almost weekly. At least one book report or book analysis is written each quarter. Beyond this items, writing skills can improve if whole sentences are written instead of one-word answers for the usual questions at the end of a chapter (for history and science especially) as well as for the reading assignments.

What is the best advice you can give to start off the new school year?

Daily family prayer is essential for success in Catholic homeschooling. Start the day with prayer, pray the Rosary at some time during the day, and pray frequent short prayers throughout the day. Daily Mass is important so everyone has a chance to receive Jesus Christ. If you cannot attend daily Mass, perhaps you and your children can join in the prayers at the daily Mass on EWTN…

Do I need to return my children’s lesson plans at the end of the year?

Yes, please return the lesson plans. Enrollments include the use of the lesson plans for the enrolled student. The lesson plans are copyrighted “intellectual property” and should not be used by other students. Lesson plans are actually rented rather than purchased.

I have been homeschooling for a couple of years, but I think that we could accomplish more with a better schedule and routine. What do you suggest?

The trick to accomplishing anything is first, to stay in prayer, and second, to be organized by following a daily schedule. Set up a schedule for what you want to do, including Mass and the daily family Rosary, and then do your best to stick to your schedule. Train your children to follow their daily plan; put it on the wall next to their desk or chair. The schedule can include the school assignments and the chores. There are always going to be times when things come up which require your immediate attention, but the children should keep going with their assignments.