Thanks for the info Batmanswife, I just took a look at both Building Blocks and the Focus on series. Which would be more in depth? Building Blocks or doing 2 "Focus On" books per year in middle school? Are your children finding them enjoyable or boring?

Derek Owens or Lynda. Edhesive has AP Computer Science

No favorites? I'm sure there are plenty of positive experiences to be share that will help many of us make good choices. ðŸ˜

We're doing elemental biology for grammar stage. My daughter is really enjoying it. Experiments aren't always useful. And we plan to do Earth Science next year. It just helps provide an organized framework to read about the topics in encyclopedias and living books, then writing simple narrations. It's pretty open and go. You can do as many or few activities as you want. I also add videos on the topic (magic school bus, Bill Nye, children's documentaries, etc)

Please share your (and your child's) favorite WTMA courses and the reason would be an added bonus!

Thank you! Rainbow Science and its reviews seem like a great fit!

My sixth grade dd is doing Holt and Technology Earth Science. Although she's doing very well in it, she finds it quite dry and boring. I'm seriously considering dropping it and switching. Suggestions please! Any reviews on Elemental science for Logic Stage, RSO or any other secular science that you found successful, or dare I say, interesting?

Love: Saxon math (87 and 54) IEW WWE SOTW Elemental science biology for Grammar stage Like: Saxon Grammar 6. Dislike: Holt Earth Science (6th grade) Any middle school suggestions are welcome (or much needed) please!

Great input! Keep posting; I'm all ears!

This is all so reassuring because upon seeing some threads about number of AP courses required by many universities, I began wondering if I'm doing something wrong or not doing "enough". Thank you all so much! As simple as it may seem, this advice is all invaluable!

That is so encouraging! Did you follow WTM recommendations for your science and history readings? Did you outsource at all?

My question this time is not about my high schooler, but about my 6th grade dd. She is bright, motivated, and needs to be challenged. I need a plan for middle school to best prepare her for success in high school and the ability to take AP's from ninth. I'd like past experiences of current high schoolers (hindsight is 20/20!), hence the reason I posted it here and not in the k-8 forums. She is currently doing very well in pre-Algebra (Saxon 8/7). For 7th and 8th, what do you recommend for Science and History / Geography? And to best prepare for high school writing, Bravewriter or WTMA or any other suggestions? (She did IEW). Thanks in advance for your input.

For those who took this courses, how did your kids do if they hadn't had prior chemistry classes? Should there be prior preparations in the summer before the course? And how much time did they have to put in weekly? Also we're doing Biology now. Is it easier to do AP chemistry then AP physics or vice versa? Thanks!

For the English sections Erica Meltzer's books are great. And for math, Steve Warner's series seem very good.

Haven't tried bravewriter but we had great success with IEW

Writing with Ease 2 and First Language Lessons 2 are great IMHO

SWB says you can guide them through the dictation and correct them as they make the mistake. This seems to relieve a lot of stress. My dd loves wwe 2 and has developed a love of reading because of it. She wants to read each book mentioned in WWE. But I skip the narration and dictation in FLL, as we get more than enough in WWE. I mainly use FLL for grammar.

We're doing very well with Saxon Grammar & Composition. My daughter is able to work through it independently. It also includes sentence diagramming. And with the continual review of Saxon my ds seems to retain it well.

My ds was homeschooled until third. Then I had to send him back to school. Pulled him out this year in 10th for many reasons, one of which is that he was not challenged in his private school. It was the best decision ever. Because we currently live overseas, he is registered with an accredited homeschool for record keeping purposes but we have the freedom to choose curricula- as long as they meet certain criteria. I also pulled out my third and sixth grade daughters because they had absolutely no free time and the education wasn't good. They're also really enjoying it. So am I. It was hard making the decision at first but I am so happy I did. The difference in quality of education, sense of responsibility, moral values, and the ability to lead a well-balanced life is great. Perhaps if he does take some online classes at first, it won't be as overwhelming and won't be as drastic a change for him and you. There have been great online recommendations on this forum. Wishing you the best.

Thanks for all the details. How much time did he have to put in a week? Because if I t'll be time consuming, I think I'll wait until next year.

Yes please! I'm all ears...

Any reviews or experiences you can share? Were they well prepared for the AP exam? Ds (10h grade) is computer savvy and has done a little bit of programming. So is it too late to join now and comfortably finish in time for AP? Or should we save it for next year (11th grade). Thanks!

Thanks! What grades were your high schoolers in when they took it?

Thanks for the input. And would you list Integrated Geometry on the transcript with Algebra 1 and 2? And if we do the integrated geometry we would have to finish their Advanced Math (vs another Precalculus course) right?

Great post! Taking notes! [emoji1303] Julie my ds is more STEM oriented. Do you think Center of Literature is would provide gentle improvement in literary analysis? And would it be a good preparation for AP English Lit? Do you get credit for it?