I gave you my chemistry recommendations above. Physics.....Kolbe or Derek Owens. For astronomy, he used Great Courses lectures plus the recommended college textbooks (Alex Filippenko wrote 1 for sure.) FWIW, his U let him skip all intro astronomy courses based on the self-created courses he studied during high school.

He took algebra based physics in 8th, chem and astronomy in 9th, AP chem and astronomy in 10th, university physics 1&2 (so he was16) and astronomy 11th, physical mechanics 1&2, modern, and Thinkwell biology in 12th. He started DEing in math in 11th. He took AoPS precal in 9th and AOPS cal in 10th.

My ds graduated from high school having completed university physics 1&2, physical mechanics 1&2, and modern physics plus AP chem and 3 astronomy courses. For chemistry I highly recommend Connie's chemistry courses: https://clovervalleychemistry.com/ AP chemistry through https://aphomeschoolers.com/course/chemistry/ (Moskaluk's course) is awesome, too. Ds DE'ed through our local 4 yr universities for math beyond cal BC (he graduated with multivariable, diffEQ 1&2, and linear alg) and for all of his physics courses completed after 8th grade. He took biology in 12th (Thinkwell) along with his DE physics classes.

The best non-AP online chemistry class IMO is Connie's. https://clovervalleychemistry.com/ FWIW, anyone who wants to pursue biology is going to need to be rock solid in chemistry. Organic chem is an incredibly tough course. For "lightening" her load, chemistry is not the course I would choose.

Not familiar with TPS's chemistry and but wanted to share that Connie's is fabulous. https://clovervalleychemistry.com/

I know nothing about Alveary and I dont pay any attention to homeschool businesswomen, so my comment is strictly a general observation. There are a lot of bloggers/private school wannabes who profess to offer either classical or CM materials that make me wonder if they have a clue about grade/age appropriate content. Since there is zero regulation, they can make whatever claim they want and there is no one to hold them accountable. I recent followed a FB link to a supposed classical model and Archimedes and the Door of Science is one of the books listed for high school physical science. (I think my kids read it in 3rd grade.) And....SOTW vol 1-4 are listed for high school history. Vol 1 is for ages what, 6-10? Ridiculous content. People don't know what they don't know and swallow garbage as truth. (Same goes for a lot of supposed educational materials that qualify as junk by my standards. 😉 ) Guess what? On FB they are adored and hallowed as Great! Fabulous! You have to try it!! If you dare utter the truth that they are below grade level and subpar......not pretty. Sigh, so if someone just said something off the cuff about how poor the quality of something is, I sympathize with them. It is what the homeschool market is inundated with bc parents want easy, self-teaching, done in 2 hrs, and requires zero parental involvement/effort.

A to Z Mysteries

I have never found a writing curriculum that fit the needs of my kids. I found it easier to just teach them what they needed to know with the skills they possessed (which were all over the place with different kids.) It is easy to create simple assignments and use them to cover all basic writing skills. (I use this approach until they are ready for essay writing---analytical high school level essay writing, not the wishy-washy modern ed definition of an essay.) There are 2 very long sequential posts that I wrote originally when my now 25 yod was in 2nd grade. It still holds true to today except that some of my kids have been ready to write real essays as young as 6th grade (that particular dd, for example). But the over all approach works well in equipping students with strong writing skills.

Just repeating.....homeschooling is not school at home. My general rule of thumb is that academic seat time is approximately 1 hr per grade level. So 1st grade is about 1 hr-1 1/2 hrs of seat work. 4th, no more than 4. For grades K-2, I focus on math, handwriting, phonics, reading. I don't add science and history until 3rd grade. I personally wouldnt use MP at home bc kids do not need to spend time filling in worksheets. You can discuss things with them; they can draw pictures; the 4th grader can write summations or create booklets. I have been homeschooling for a very long time (since 1994). Making it work requires everyone in the family being on board to make it work. All of you need buy-in. Take time to deschool. Deschooling is allowing time to adjust to a new lifestyle. They will need time to adjust to not going to school just as much as you need to adjust having them home. Develop routines. Create a learning environment....reading times, nature walks and drawings, listen to music, encourage self entertainment, etc. Success is not checking off workbook boxes. Success is kids wanting to learn. "Education is not filling a bucket. It is lighting a fire."

I agree. The purpose of grammar studies is to ensure proper usage in speech and writing. It is far easier for students to master parallel construction, correct punctuation, and subject/verb agreement when they can be discussed in terms of grammar.

Just be aware that Prima Latina is not really studying Latin. Latin is a very grammar heavy language. True Latin study requires being able to conjugate verbs, decline nouns, understanding the difference between masculine/feminine/neuter endings (and being able to identify them), being able to cope with sentences that written in any order bc the word endings control its meaning (and sometimes the endings are the same so it can be difficult to decipher.) By the time little kids have spent yrs treading water with Latin waiting for their grammar/analytical skills to catch up, they are bored with Latin. Yes, I am biased. 🙂 Latin as a serious foreign language study is much better taught late elementary school than primary grades. (I learned with my older kids. I refuse to start Latin before 7th grade with avg kids or 6th grade with advanced kids. I have a dd who absolutely LOVES foreign languages and taught herself French to fluency in high school. She ended up majoring in Russian and French. And....no Latin before 6th grade even though she was a very advanced kid all around before that.)

I have had several kids take courses like geometry, alg 2, physics, biology, chemistry, foreign language 1, 2 or 3, etc in middle school. My 8th grader is currently taking geometry, biology, US history, and Russian (something.....I actually need to ask her teacher what it is considered. She has been taking Russian since 5th grade.) All of those plus algebra 1 from 7th grade will be on her high school transcript. She will not graduate early. (We don't graduate our kids early. One of our sons finished the equivalent of math and physics minors in high school through DE at our local 4 yr Us.) In terms of what she will take going forward, our approach with her is going to be different than with her siblings. I rarely outsource courses except when there is no better option. With this dd, however, we will probably have her DE at the CC starting in 10th grade to finish as many gen eds as possible during high school. The only reason for that is that she wants to pursue a music performance major and completing gen eds allows more time for pursuing music pedagogy classes on top of performance classes. (DE classes through our CC are easier than my homeschool classes, so her workload will actually be lighter via DE.) In terms of the OP, your student is not taking 2 yrs to finish 1 course. The student is taking 2 yrs to finish 2 with the 2 courses being integrated. I agree it would be dishonest to label as taking 1 yr if it were indeed a single course spread over 2. But that is not what you described. If both are fully high school level, there is no problem separating them out and labeling them separately simply for the matter of clarity. Is the 13 yr old your oldest child that you are discussing? If so, definitely be flexible in making decisions as you progress. Until you are putting together a college app for your homeschooler, everything is hypothetical. 🙂

I would simply put 1 on the transcript for 8th grade and the other as 1 in 9th. There is no reason to overcomplicate and no one will care if they were split in 2 simultaneously. FWIW, you completely lost me on no 8th grade classes being on the transcript unless there is something like an AP to back it up. I dont "back up" my kids' transcripts. It has never been a problem with any school. Their transcripts have been accepted at face value. But, really, most 8th graders are taking low level high school classes like alg, geo, biology, or a foreign language. There are no "proof" tests. If the only valid 8th grade high school level courses are AP level, then they must have completed all standard 9th/10th/and even 11th grade classes late elementary or early middle school.

Well, it can be. It all depends on your choices. People who outsource everything starting in K are going to be paying for it. I listen to moms talk about CC expenses (CC is huge here). They pay more for CC for elementary kids than I spend on high school (even paying for an outsourced class.) When I talk to new moms about not outsourcing, though, they look at me like I have 2 heads. It is definitely not the norm. So, in the outsourcing world, if that is whom your friend has been speaking with, yes, homeschooling is expensive.

It is one of those questions that really doesn't matter except for the individual family. For me, I would not have worked full time regardless of homeschooling or not. I have no desire to work outside of the home and my dh is fully supportive of my being at home. So, lost wages is not part of the conversation. Homeschooling is very cheap for our family. One main reason for that is that I rarely outsource. I only outsource when there is a compelling reason. So, that isn't a financial consideration. We rarely use textbooks except for math and high school science. So, again, not a huge expense there. Our biggest expenses right now are private voice and violin lessons. We would be paying for those whether they went to school or not. So, that's a wash. But, homeschooling was never about a financial choice for our family. It is about a lifestyle and academic opportunities. I have been able to offer our kids an education that they could never have achieved in a classroom. There is zero question in my mind that homeschooling has been the academically superior choice for our kids. Lifestyle-wise......hands down homeschooling wins for us.