Thank you all SO MUCH for all of your responses and suggestions on this...I feel such a weight beginning to fall off just reading them all and taking them in.
Could it be the 3R's stuff you are using? I can get almost all our schooling done from 10-12noon.
As I think on this a little deeper, I'm thinking the problems may actually be stemming more from my kids than from the actual school work. We start every morning with Bible, then move on to HW/Dictation, Math, SP then PLL/ILL. Here's how yesterday's Bible lesson went (which sets the stage for the day) and how most of the lessons also end up going:
We pile up on the couch and I begin reading a couple of pages about Dwight L. Moody from --Hero Tales. After about 30 seconds into it, dd 7 starts fidgeting and asking if she can get some paper and crayons to draw while I read. Realizing I should've anticipated that already I tell her, "yes, quickly go get some and come back so we can continue". Dd get's back maybe 2 minutes later after me calling her back in a couple of times, saying that she couldn't find the "blue, green, turquoise, etc." color. Finally that's taken care of. I begin to read again. A few more sentences in, ds 9 interrupts and proudly exclaims that he's heard about something in this story before! "Could it have been from
Fetch,
Aurthur...?" I tell him please don't interrupt until after he's heard the "entire" story and then we can discuss together. Ds seems to get this and we finally finish the reading. At the end of the story he has TONS of questions that I am all over answering but they're about DEEP spiritual truths or just details from the story that don't make sense to him. I understand them
for the most part and attempt to explain but he begins to rub his eyes and get frustrated because he WANTS to understand but still can't (I can hear Anna right now saying, "this sounds a little familiar".

) So I try to gloss over it a bit and move on but I can tell it's still weighing on him, so I try to take the time to sift through what he's confused about and it mushrooms into a 30 minute discussion in which at the end, ds is still not satisfied and dd is --rolling on the floor with the dog or something. This sort of sets the stage for the rest of the day.
I do actually set a timer (20 min. for ILL/PLL, 15 min. for WS, 15 min. for SP, 45- 1hr for Math) but I think since both dd and ds are so used to Abeka's workbook style which they did mostly independently, PLL/ILL/WS's simplicity and conversational style is confusing for them. When I tell dd that I'm going to read a short story to her from PLL and that I want her to "tell it back to me in her own words" she freezes like a deer in headlights. She acts embarrassed or something. It takes about 15 min. just trying to reassure her that this isn't a big deal. It's just a new, easier way to do school and all she needs to do is just pretend that
I've never heard the story before and explain to me what it's about. Ds also does this --questions methods and reasons for doing things they way we do them now. I'm so tempted to say, "because the books says so!" and leave it at that. lol
It's the same in Geo/Science and even Art! I think that because with Abeka they did alot of independent reading from their Science and History readers and now that we're supposed to be learning together, they both want to kind of take over and continue with that independent style when I'm trying to present the lesson. They have a hard time just sitting quietly and listening while I read or explain. There's lot's of, "why don't we do it this way, and that". They both interrupt with questions/things they've already learned about this subject before. They both question, "how" and in "what order" we do the lessons. --"Why don't we go ahead and do the activity first then read the book?" or "Instead of writing the names of only 6 states on the map can't I right ALL of them?" Even in Art they want to change it up to suit their taste --and I'm fine with that for the most part, but it just throws a curve ball at me and makes things take longer. I want to encourage independent learning but it's making things very disorderly and chaotic during lesson times.
I hope all of this makes sense --I'm noticing alot of facets to this which may make it sound confusing
I have schedule that I use for my kiddos and school, would you like to see it? I was going to put it in my blog next week, but I can show you now if you like!
Yes! Please do if you don't mind! I have been wondering how you do it!