I am not familiar enough with topoi and copia to be able to answer those questions. However... I used School Composition with my oldest and it was like you describe in this quote. It's like a simpler version of WWS. It worked really well for us. I don't know how old your child is, but you sound like you have a good handle on writing, so I think you should feel comfortable skipping and adding in whatever you want. 🙂

Do you mean she isn't through 3 lessons of MUS yet? The beginning lessons are supposed to be review. That makes me wonder if she is not solid with Algebra 1, but my son had a hard time with those, too. By the end of the review lessons, he was doing fine, but it was hard for him to jump back into algebra, when he'd spent a whole year on geometry the year before. I should clarify that we found MUS Algebra 2 to be difficult mostly because the course didn't seem to be very clear. Things would pop up on the worksheets (or even the tests) that hadn't been taught. There didn't seem to be as much cohesion between the videos, text and worksheets as I thought there should be.

If you had her write the placement test for Algebra 2, would she test into it? That might tell you whether she is solid in Algebra 1 concepts or not. That said, I found MUS Algebra 2 to be a difficult course when my oldest attempted it. He ended up doing very well with TT.

Videos as literature is a good idea. I also have one who has no patience for fiction. I've been dragging him through literature for all of high school. I finally decided to do minimalist lit. with him for his 12th grade year this fall, and for him that will mean probably 6 books for the entire year, re-reading at least one of his favourites that he would like to read again, and also reading quite a bit of non-fiction, like biographies and memoirs. I'm basically just trying to incorporate books he actually likes because I'm tired of making him read things he dislikes. He will just read them and discuss with me, plus we'll still do some short stories and poetry on the side, but no formal curriculum.

My boys have all enjoyed Mover of Men and Mountains by R. G. LeTourneau. It's an autobiography, I believe. A few other inspirational books they have really liked are And the Word Came With Power by Joanne Shetler, and The Hiding Place.

Resurrecting another planning thread to add mine. 😏 My rising 8th grader is a little behind what my older boys were, so I'm leaving a lot of "the usuals" for Grade 9. However, he may surprise me during the year, in which case, we'll speed up. That being said: Math - Key to Percents (after that we'll do a bunch of placement tests and see where he's at, might start MUS pre-algebra by the end of the year) English - Daily Grams 7, R&S Spelling 7, narrations, outlines and rewrites Science - he really wants to do Apologia Botany, after that I'll probably have him do at least part of Apologia General Science History - finish Middle Ages with R&S text, then start SOTW 3 Logic - various puzzles, Perplexors, etc.

This is what I've got planned for my youngest: LA - Easy Grammar, R&S Spelling, oral and written narrations Math - TT 3 (just the book with me teaching) Science - interest-led (she reads books and keeps a science notebook of drawings and narrations; currently she is very interested in zoology) History - finish R&S text about Middle Ages, then begin SOTW 3, and keep a timeline Geography - one or two Canada Map Books Extras - art from various sources (probably let her pick mostly), Scripture memory, piano lessons and hymn singing

This is for the kid who wants to be a farmer and isn't going to college. He might do something trade-ish like welding or CAD. Math - Mathematics for the Trades English - homemade, focusing on grammar and technical writing, but still with a few essays, literature and one research paper History - Canadian History for Dummies + extras Science - Conceptual Physics with or without Physics 101 DVD as supplement Electives - homemade health, and I'll probably give him some kind of work experience credit

A little late to this party but this is what I've planned: Math U See Geometry Homemade CM/SWB-style literature and composition Apologia Biology Notgrass world history part 2 with extras Python programming A Rulebook for Arguments

I need recommendations for an online intro to computer science course. I have used the free one from Stanford Online but for whatever reason, I no longer have access to it. Would anyone be able to suggest something? It needs to be a beginner course for someone with little prior knowledge (except for general computer use), probably a 9th or 10th grade level. Thank you for any ideas!

Yup, all the time. Always making little tweaks so that the subjects fit the kid better.

I agree that so many online classes are very expensive! The only things I outsource are online courses for things I know nothing about - computer science, programming, etc. And even there, I find pretty cheap options on Udemy or other similar platforms, like my 14yo is doing a Python course now that cost $23.99. I use math options that have video components like TT. I use sciences and history from homeschool providers but they don't have to be that expensive (for Apologia Biology, I just have the textbook and none of the extras). I make my own English courses, so all I'm buying are the books to read. There are definitely options out there that are fairly independent.

He did Automate the Boring Stuff with Python by Sweigart, and now he's doing Learn to Code in Python 3: Programming Beginner to Advanced by Gomes. It's much the same as the first course, but he wants to keep up the skills and learn the few new things. Maybe the one you mentioned would be a good next step. He needs a step up from beginner, I think. Thanks!

Misses: - Trying to learn math by reading out of a book with no teacher. Unfortunately, there is no video teacher option with this particular course, and he doesn't want to wait for me to be done with his younger siblings before I can teach him the lesson. But so far, he is getting through it and he is actually improving at this method. Got a very good mark on the chapter test today. - Any course that asks questions like, "What do YOU think about it?" or "What did you find exciting about this lesson?" 16yo boy hates that. 🙂 - the free beginner computer science course I was going to have my 14yo do online says I no longer have access to it, so now I don't know what to have him do. He just finished a beginner Python course at Udemy, but there were no suggestions of what courses to take next. Anybody have any suggestions? Hits: - TT Algebra 1 is working fabulously for 14yo - CLE Agriscience Everything else seems to be working out well. No complaints, except for the above.

Agreeing with everyone else's posts, especially Lori's. A couple of thoughts: - the samples of your son's work look very good to me. In 5th grade, I had to MAKE my boys write at least 4 sentences in a summary. - if you wanted to leave WWS for a year or two, you could have your son keep making outlines and writing summaries on his own (like from his science or history lessons). I believe SWB says 4-5 sentences for a summary in 5th grade. - I don't have WWS, but I've looked at the samples, and the passages to be read and summarized are not easy. They are long and complicated. There would be no harm in using easier books or shorter passages to help him summarize more effectively. - as far as mistakes go, yes, there are going to be mistakes at this age. Pick 1-2 things to point out to him from each summary he writes, so as to address the errors but not overwhelm him. - if it helps, you could have your son type his summaries. For one of my boys, typing greatly improved the quality of his writing because his hand would get too tired holding a pencil. I'm not sure if that is an issue with yours, but just a suggestion in case.

I would just skip those exercises and wait for WWS in Grade 5 to begin outlining. It's not necessary for Grade 4, and also, I think I read somewhere that SWB doesn't recommend outlining from SOTW anyway because it's too narrative/hard to outline. So I would just forget it and wait.

I like your 11 on, 2 off plan. That would be a nice break pretty often during the year. We do a pretty typical year, September to the end of May, with one week off each for fall break, New Year's, and spring break. We also take off a single day here and there occasionally.

With kids that age, I generally do history M-W-F and science Tu-Thu. That will work well for MOH but I'm not sure of the scheduling in Apologia. If they get really into it, you could just do more at a time on those days. I'd be doing math and LA every day, but you probably already are. Not sure how I would fit in the geography. If it's fun and they love it, you could maybe do a little every day, which might work well if you are doing something different each day. That's probably how I would do it, but everyone's different. 🙂

I haven't done it, but I think it would be possible. The lessons/chapters mostly line up (some are combined and some names have changed - for example, the chapter about Pluto is now just called something about dwarf planets). I looked through the sample pages at CBD of the 2nd edition notebooking journal, and I was able to find all the same activities in the 1st edition text. So I think it's doable. It might not be exact, but it looks pretty close. Of course, you could just do without the notebooking journal, as there are notebook suggestions in the text, and some of the journal sort of looks like busy work, but that's up to you.

Either The Runaway or Twice Freed. The Runaway is out of print, I believe, but I think it's a better fit for a 12yo. Twice Freed has more mature themes in places, as far as I remember. I adore Patricia St. John's books.

It's optional at my house but all of mine have ended up doing *something* for those subjects, whether that is just participating in science experiments/demonstrations, or listening in to history when I read aloud, or whatever. I do not require any kind of output, unless we get to narration time and I ask, "Hey, what did we read about in that science/history book today?" Or maybe I'll find a sentence out of a science book for copywork. But that's not really part of science or history time, that's writing time (if a distinction can even be made).

I always combined in elementary with the idea that for anyone younger than 3rd grade, it didn't really matter if they participated or not. It was their choice. I didn't really require formal history or science until 3rd. So the little ones would often come watch experiments, or do the other "fun" stuff, but then run away and play if it got boring or over their heads or whatever. So that would be another option to try - do the subject with your older child and let the younger participate as desired. That way there's no pressure and no extra work for you. Maybe if you give it a year, it will be easier to combine.

I want to start back Aug. 31. I think our local schools are only starting after Labor Day, so that's like Sept. 8 or something, but I didn't want to wait that long.

One of mine has done two Apologia books in a year in 7th, and I will have another doing the same thing this year. It works pretty well. I do add some writing to it, too.

I believe the Easy Grammar TM is actually the student text plus answers and tests all in one volume. So if you want answers, I'd get that one. If you don't need answers, you could probably just get the student book, but you don't need both student book and TM.