Homeschool. The difficulty of it lies in trying to cram academics into a life already saturated with satisfying endeavors; good food, good Internet, good questions, good companionship, good sunshine, good stories, good soul searching, and good exploration. Children have no use for academics for the sake of academics. They have no use for academics for the sake of making their mother look good, either.
How to stoke their interest is my conundrum of the past ten years. I have arrived at a few simple conclusions. Manipulatives are essential. Manipulatives are things to touch and hold and explore. Discussion is supposed to be a two way street. You cannot have a discussion if the answer is obvious or if think you have all the answers. My kids have come up with some very good answers that I would not otherwise have come up with on my own.
Also, writing is a method of self revelation. The first time I taught my five year old son to clean the front room, he sobbed and protested so much, I wondered if he was too young. By the time we had finished, though, he was beaming. I asked him why the change. He said he just didn't know he could do it, but now he found out that he could.
That brings me to attitude- homeschool can be such a drag for mom when kids have bad attitudes, but one tool I have found to deal with attitudes is negotiation. Of course, I require that they bring a good attitude to negotiations, but I find that most things can be negotiated satisfactorily for both parties.
Illustration brings ideas to life. It helps to be a good doodler. I've made many a custom worksheet. I have my kids illustrate math problems and it is their first experience with summarizing.
Sharing makes the work meaningful, too. I was at the tail end of my workbook phase as a homeschooler; I no longer saved every page, we just kept a sampling of their work for their portfolios. One of my kids had completed a worksheet. I checked the worksheet and dropped it into the garbage. As I watched it fall into the can I had a distinct feeling of wrongdoing. I thought, why am I whittling my kids lives away with work that isn't fit to share or keep? What message does that send to my kids about their worth and when will they feel that they have reached the point that they are worthy to contribute? That is a threshold even I am struggling to reach still, and I am in my forties. I am working to make sure it takes my children less time than it has taken me.