This is great! So helpful! Yes—we are big fans of reading native authors. I began a huge Chinua Achebe kick last year. He’s amazing. His prose floored me. And my son wants to read The Art of War! Also am looking at Gabriel Garcia-Marquez; it has been years since I read him so I’m going to preview. Also The Jade Mountain poetry collection, one of my old favorites….so many good things out there! For the US, we are going to read To Kill a Mockingbird. There’s so much there we can use for discussions on our country’s history. THANKS so much for these links! I can’t wait to sit down and compile our customized list.

This has been an enormously helpful thread and has really helped me with establishing a more workable framework for next year. Thank you all SO much. The suggestion to align some literature with the geography class is brilliant—why didn’t I think of that? My son is so enthusiastic about the idea, as it will blend his love of cultures with the literature course. *I* am going to self-pace the HHL literature course *for myself!* ha! At this point we’re going to outsource French 3, Spanish 3, Biology, and World Geography with live courses. I think we’ll do some sort of self-paced Algebra. And then we’ll pace ourselves with the in-house literature. I still think this will be a lot for my son, but it’s doable but doesn’t rely too heavily on my participation and supervision. (Also Spanish is a cupcake class for him: quite easy, & he adores his two native-speaking teachers.) We considered keeping Biology “in house” but my son really feels he’ll get a better learning experience if he does a class. I'm going to try to incorporate some writing into our literature class as well. Y’all, this has been tremendously useful. Thank you!

Thank you for reminding me of this book! I’m going to dust my copy off; I had to purchase it for some class in high school a million years ago, and I *loved* it! I’m going to look into incorporating it into my high schooler’s life. I haven’t opened in in a couple of decades but it was one of those resources I knew I’d always keep. And I have.

That's my concern, too. The literature course is very light in terms of reading quantity, which helps. I suspect the World G class will fascinate him and also involve some "busy work," which he would really enjoy but take forever to complete b/c he's a total perfectionist. We've always erred on the side of "less is more." I worked really hard to not schedule overwhelming academics for my children in their younger years! I think this has really helped because he has an enthusiasm to learn everything, BUT burnout is a real risk! He likes the drama and activity of having Lots to Do, but he also can get a bit overwhelmed from time to time. I had originally thought that we would add in one outsourced class per year so that eventually, senior year, he'd be at about 5-6 outsourced or DE classes. That seemed like a wise and sane plan! This year he's got 2 (both languages). But when my dad was diagnosed, 2 months ago, I began to have doubts about my own ability to "manage" and felt perhaps it would be better if we had more outsourced so that I could "facilitate/support." We are not in a race to the finish line, and I want him to have a balanced life with time to spend with family (especially my dad!), relax, explore interests, etc. I really do value a happy and relaxed child. He's a very curious, academically-oriented person, so I don't want to sell him short and not provide sufficient educational opportunities, but I'm not sure a lot of heavy pressure is a healthy thing for him. Sigh!!!! Where's my parenting manual???!!!!

Yes--correct! Only the French 3 is a college credit. The rest of the classes are high school level outsourced classes. And yes: he loves languages with a passion unspeakable. Currently also learning Thai and Mandarin in his spare time.

Thank you all! So much. This is helpful for me as I think through it all. The languages are French 3 (online) and Spanish 3 (in person), but French 3 is the college credit course. He's gifted at languages. Right now he's doing ONE online course (Honors French 2) and one in-person course (Spanish). Everything else is at home. I am very concerned about him getting burned out with too many online courses, and we have been in Heavy Negotiations over this for a few weeks!! The World Geography class is a thorn in my side. He saw a sample class and jumped all over it with enthusiasm. He LOVES geography & cultures (that seems to tie into his interest in languages!). He really, really wants to take that class; I'd be very content with him continuing readings in history and/or politics (he loves politics, especially international relations!) like we've done this year for that "social studies" credit. Maybe we could negotiate a delay of a year for that class. He might accept that, but it would put the class (which I consider more of a "fun" one, maybe? not super-rigorous, like AP History) to junior-ish year (not sure how to class his kid; I've written about this elsewhere). But it might be a compromise, especially b/c he insists on taking both languages. I am casting about for the best way to meet needs for Algebra and Biology in particular. He's in Saxon now & we use an online teaching "lecture" that he watches daily plus the lessons. He really enjoys math most of the time and is pretty good at it, and I feel like having an outsourced class would be fun for him (if he likes it with the dry Saxon book, I feel like he might LOVE it with a decent teacher). We are going through the Miller Levine Biology book together, focusing on the chemistry and physics of biology as a foundational course, plus lots of supplemental readings. I'm calling it "Foundations of Biology" and it's SO interesting, but I'm not able to be super-consistent with it right now due to circumstances. He's on his own a lot, which is okay, but maybe not ideal, especially for a kid who enjoys biology. My lab game is NOT STRONG. I was loosely looking at Wilson Hill Academy for both. Literature would be the easiest--HHL courses seem to have a pretty light reading load. But that's also the easiest class for us to keep in-house, because we enjoy reading books and discussing them. It's so tricky to cover the basics AND the other stuff he wants to do, without overloading, and while still honoring his need to have some freedom in his life. {Thanks for the kind words about my dad. I'm typing this from his living room right now (while my son does a virtual piano lesson, God bless his teacher!). Dad is thriving & active, totally normal, with virtually no chemo symptoms. Amazing!!! If it weren't for the fact that he's got terminal cancer, he'd be in pretty good shape for 73 years old. Whew. But we are trying to carpe diem and live part-time with him in SC, especially while he's still in good shape. Then things will shift eventually to more "caregiving." Hopefully not anytime soon, but this cancer is a wicked one.}

Without going into the specific details of what we're looking at for 10th grade, I'd love others' input on whether our plans are realistic. I am asking because my 14 year old is my oldest, and so of course I have no prior experience with homeschooling a high schooler! We are looking at taking 2 classes/day (1.5 hours each, for a total of 3 hours/day on Mon, Tuesday, and Thursday). On Wednesdays, he'd have 4.5 hours of classes (adding in Spanish 3, which I MIGHT convince him to audit). Fridays are totally off. It'll be 6 classes: math, literature, Spanish 3, French 3 (college credit), world geography, and science. Plus piano--he's advanced intermediate, and needs to practice at least half an hour a day. I think it's pretty reasonable, but we've never done this many outsourced classes (they will all be outsourced, and the only "lite" one will be literature--House of Humane Letters). Currently my son does Honors French 2 and Spanish 2 as outsourced, and we keep everything else in-house. He has a 100 average in both, so he does just fine! However, they take a lot of time. He's a very intelligent person and a slow, deliberate worker. Things take awhile! I just don't want him to be completely overwhelmed, but he and I have both agreed that he needs more outsourced classes next year; he enjoys them, and I am helping to care for my father who has incurable cancer, so I need to be Less Necessary than I've been in the past. 🙂 And he just tends to be more motivated to do the work for a "class" than he is for just me--which I don't consider atypical for a 14 year old boy! I can appreciate that! For a student who works slowly, but steadily, is this an excessive schedule of outsourced classes? Thank you! Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Algebra 1.5 French 3 1.5 Algebra 1.5 French 1.5 Biology 1.5 Literature 1.5 Biology 1.5 World Geography 1.5 Spanish 3 1.5 + piano 1 hour lesson 1x/week plus daily practice sessions

A little bump (is that allowed?) just in case! Thanks!

Hi! I’m wondering if anyone has used WHA’s language arts 1 or 2. I’m considering it for my daughter, who will be in 6th grade next year. This year she’s using LLATL & doing quite well, and she’s a very good reader. I’m just wondering if anyone has any experience with their LA 1 or 2 programs, & what you’ve thought of them. It would be a step up in academics for her, but I think it could be a useful next step for preparing her for more rigorous work in the (distant) future.

I think you could try it and see.... I purchased 2 levels a couple years ago (maybe 7 and 3? I think that's right). The lower level really helped my emerging/later reader--we used it for a couple of months, and then she was off and running. So it was quite helpful there. I thought it was very "pretty," but for both levels, I wasn't really impressed with it overall. Some of the stories, for instance, were genuinely poorly-written, to the point that my children and I would read them in order to chuckle at the overuse of certain words or the odd language choices. My older child used it for maybe half the year, and then we just jumped ship. That having been said, I think you can make anything work, especially in elementary school. I thought it was very "user-friendly." I remember that the mechanics/grammar aspects seemed solid. I think it's perfectly fine for the younger grades; I wouldn't use it for a high schooler--but, to be fair, I didn't purchase any HS level books! I just knew it wasn't for me when I looked at the book lists. I may be wrong about this, and it has been a year or so since I looked, but I think it avoided a lot of the books that I feel are essential for high school (Shakespeare! To Kill a Mockingbird!) & I was underwhelmed by the literature selections. But I suppose one could use it and then add in literature--I just don't love supplementing things. If I buy something, I want it to be pretty much complete "as-is!" We all vary on that point, though. With those caveats, I think it's worth a try!

Although my son is an acoustic purist, I’ve been really impressed by a good friend’s digital piano. It has a nice sound, a good “feel” to the keys, and doesn’t need maintenance! I really like it. We love our regular piano, but it does require regular tuning to be sure it is perfect—& he has an ear that can hear the slightest imperfection. So there’s that! It’s “one more thing,” which we don’t mind, but there you go. I tend to agree that a good digital piano is better than a bad acoustic one. Some acoustics are just so out of shape they can’t be brought back, but a good tuner can do wonders. However, they’re not miracle workers!

This is so helpful! Thank you. I do feel like the pacing of those courses might be a better fit. My son is going to be hopping next year with two higher-level language classes and I’m just a little afraid WHA’s GC course might be Too Much.

Thank you! I was wondering how Thomas Banks is as an instructor; I've heard so many people raving about Angelina Stanford. HHL's pacing seems imminently doable. It's hard for me to figure out whether the pacing is WHA's Great Conversation classes is going to be Too Fast or Just Right. The booklists are hefty, but of course, I believe they're a literature *and* history credit--so that would make sense. I'll look into Schole and CLRC; thank you!

Hello! I would like to hear input or suggestions on good courses for my son, who is in early high school (ha--see my other thread for my dubious interpretation of his grade level). This child is a thinker--a deep thinker. He's a slower processor. He's quite gifted in music and languages (including grammar in foreign languages and English). In his spare time, he studies languages or reads about cultures around the globe. (ie, he isn't curled up with a work of fiction, which was MY default in high school; his sister and I are the ones who can't get enough fiction in our lives. My son enjoys and appreciates fiction, but he's not bananas over it.) He loves politics, Big Theological Questions, and philosophical conundrums. I'm really puzzling over what to choose for him for English/literature next year. This year we're working our way through British Literature together--very slowly, a course of my own devising: A Tale of Two Cities, Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew, lots of poetry, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, a Robert Louis Stevenson (yet to be decided). And The Hobbit for fun. 😉 Next year he's going to be doing some heavier lifting in languages and math. I have a friend who raves about WHA's Great Conversation courses. These look so tempting! They are just what I would have loved as a teenager! The blend of history, theology and literature seems excellent. But I'm wondering if the reading workload would make him wilt. I don't know if he'd feel like he's being thrown into the deep end. He's also a slower processor, so I'm not sure he'd be a top-notch class participant; he tends to think and ponder, and then come up with the most brilliant insights! But they don't happen quickly. I have another friend who raves about Angelina Stanford at the House of Humane Letters. This reading list looks much more doable, I think. The pace seems slower and deeper, which may be a better match for him. Or I could keep it in-house, because this is very much a subject in my own wheelhouse; however, I'm really busy these days managing my life and spending time with my father, who is kicking the butt of an incurable cancer right now, but the tide could turn at any time. We likely have good months, not years, left, although I'm hoping he grabs the golden ticket and beats those odds magnificently! So I don't think that's the right choice, at least for next year. I'd really like for my son to have a rich experience with great books, but I don't want it to turn into a stressful box-checking experience that demoralizes him. And I don't want to under-serve him, either. Does anyone have thoughts on the WHA workload and whether that would be a good fit? Or shall we venture into HHL instead? Or other options that would fit a guy like this one? Thank you!

My son is 14. He has two totally outsourced classes (French and Spanish); I do absolutely nothing. He is completely in charge of these! Same with piano, actually—except that I do sometimes remind him to practice. He’s been playing for years now, so it’s not a big deal. For math and history, which he does on his own, we check in and discuss. Usually daily—but sometimes just a few times a week. He knows he has to do these every day. I work directly with him on literature and Biology, so I always know what’s going on there. He has a paper planner and is responsible for filling it out and checking things off. I definitely ask if I think he hasn’t done something, but otherwise I do not create a schedule. He’s in charge of the work and figuring out when to do it, but I’ll give him guidance if he asks. The exception is that I call the shots on when we sit down to do Biology or literature together, because I’m very busy and he can work around me! Next year we are outsourcing more, and I fully expect him to be responsible for those classes. He’s done great with the outsourced ones so far (much better than he does for anything I am “teaching,” ha). It’s a process, but he’s learning the consequences of procrastination and the benefits of getting after things. ✅

This is a great idea! Back in the day, as a rising junior in high school, I attended a month-long summer Governor's school program in Biology at William and Mary. That sealed the deal for me! I applied early decision and never looked anywhere else. I absolutely loved that month, and I absolutely loved my 4 years at W&M. 🙂

Whew, I have been through this also, and I want you to know I'm thinking of you and cheering you on! My husband had cancer in 2018 and we had to live in North Carolina for a couple of months for treatments. Plus there was a brutal recovery period and three surgeries, one of which was extensive and involved a week-long hospital stay. During that time, I wrote this. The next year I was asked to give a talk on this topic at a homeschooling conference. My primary tips are: *stay consistent with math. I wish I'd done this better! But, live and learn. I'd say this is the one thing to keep on with as steadily as possible. *simplify and make things easy on yourself in every way possible. Accept all the help you can get. Give yourself lots of grace. Don't expect perfection. It'll be alright. *audiobooks and lots of other books! Books, books, books. And those documentaries are great, too. 🙂 I was surprised at how much learning my children did during that year of our lives. Impressive! We are going through a similar situation now with my dad who has been diagnosed with incurable extensive small cell lung carcinoma. My approach has changed a bit because my children are older, but with younger children, I definitely stand by the above advice. Sending lots of love and healing to you.

The big hit for my son (14/9thish grade) is Honors French 2 through The Potter's School with Madame S. Great teacher, great course. LOVE! We're also enjoying the British Literature course I crafted myself--I'd say it's a hit. I appreciate that we/I set the pace, too, because he's got some intensive hours devoted to his languages, piano, and math this year! We had a bad miss earlier this year with an online science course, but bailed before too much damage was done. We're using the Miller Levine Bio text and reading through together, supplemented with The Way Life Works, some online resources, and some cool books (like Microbe Hunters). That online course was the only miss. All in all, we're having a mighty nice year!

Turkish and Mandarin--that's so neat! My son enjoys dabbling in Mandarin, but I don't think he's ever done much looking at Turkish. What interesting languages to pursue. Useful info about the test scores. I have a lot of optimism about my son's abilities in that department. 🙂 And as for your last sentence: YES! I agree 100%. I am really not worried about getting into or paying for college (although the latter makes me cringe a bit), because I trust that the right place/situation will unfold. I think it's good fun to do campus visits when we go places so that he can get a vision for what the colleges are like. That was the whole reason behind this thread--to get a list going of places geographically feasible for us, that might be interesting visits for him. I do think that it can be too easy to fixate on the competition aspect of this game, and, in so doing, lose the joy of what we are actually doing together day-to-day. We'll prep for college, but I'm not going to rob my child or myself of the next few years by looking at everything through that lens, or worrying over it unnecessarily. I feel like my whole life has been one big repetitive demonstration of the idea that approaching things with a peaceful and confident (dare I say joyful!) attitude really does create something that is more than the sum of its parts. And so far my son is the most interesting person I know, as well as being sweet-natured, deeply engaged in life and learning, and exceedingly polite and thoughtful. The diploma, wherever it comes from, doesn't guarantee any of that. It'll be fine.

So helpful! It is amazing how what we THINK might happen evolves and changes, even in the course of a few years. As the mother of a ballet dancer, I totally get that excitement. My daughter's dream is to dance the role of Odette/Odile in Swan Lake! She's in her first year (at 11) of our local ballet company and in her sixth year of classical ballet instruction, with absolutely no signs of stopping. I love that your son is taking his gap year to dance. What a great idea.

Including retirement contributions (401K? Roth IRAs?) just seems painfully wrong. We could get hit hard there; we've been pretty aggressive savers. ouch. And.....47%!!!!!!!!!!! Yikes!

I'll look into High Point--that's not very far from me. I had to laugh about the private jets. When I was in law school at W&L, we always knew when the undergrads had returned because suddenly the streets of Lexington sported a lot more BMWs and Range Rovers. Meanwhile back at the law school we were all chugging along in our Hondas and Toyotas. ha.

Yeah--we don't have a 529. We just put money into a mutual fund because we didn't want to have to commit the 529 to college if we didn't have to do it. And my head is swimming now!

Thank you!!

I've been looking at Wilson Hill for Algebra--instructors are George, Church, and Ohotnicky. If you've got experience with any of those teachers, I'd love to hear about it. He really wants a "real" math teacher next year. The Saxon videos we are using are solid and they work fine, but I think he'd like more dynamic teaching and explanations, especially b/c he really does enjoy math. Thank you!