I just looked at Journey Homeschool Academy’s site and this is what it says in their “Questions” section: It’s important to note that Experience Chemistry is a rigorous math-based, honors level chemistry course. Students who have taken this course in 11th and 12th grade have had the most success.

My son used Experience Chemistry last year when it was brand new and we dropped it half way through the year. He was so confused and he’s not a struggling learner. We had to get my father’s help (he’s a former chemistry teacher) and Khan Academy for explanations. They are now advertising it as an honor’s chemistry course, which they weren’t doing when we signed up. It was very disappointing. Several of my friend’s kids used it as well and all four students hated it. Two dropped it. I found much of the note-taking to be tedious and mind-numbing. We switched to Guest Hollow’s Chemistry in the Kitchen which was a success for my young musician who has no plans to major in science. So I do not recommend it at all, and I like Journey Homeschool. My son took their astronomy course and it was great, and my younger child took their earth science and we were pleased with that one as well. Luke Gilkerson teaches both of those, but his wife, Trisha, teaches chemistry.

Yes, we are using it. It's pretty good. It's streamlined and clear. The only thing I don't like is the answer key. There's a lot of explanation in the answer key and I only want the right answers!

Oops! You are correct.

The standard is one credit is 120+ hours of work per week and .5 credit is about 60+ hours per week. From TWTM website: "The student needs to fulfill a minimum number of credits in order to graduate from high school. Traditionally, 1 credit in high school equals 120 hours of classwork, or 160 45-minute periods. Labs and projects, field trips, and independent reading can all count as classwork."

I saw 9 books plus poetry for the high school class. When my son took it, the class was pretty intense, but not overwhelming. A lot was expected from the students. They had to answer many questions on each book, properly keep a dialectical notebook, and write a number of essays. I actually considered it more of an honors course and thought it was definitely worth 1 credit. Maybe By Grace will chime back in on what she thinks.

Schole Academy has a year long creative writing course. https://scholeacademy.com/courses/23-24y_sa-wr-cw-us/

If you are Christian, Dave Raymond's Antiquity and Roman Roads Media are great. Also, Memoria Press's Classical Curriculum has it all covered.

My son was in the same same class as ByGrace's. Phaedra Shaltanis was the teacher and it was a wonderful class. He complained about it, though, because there was a lot of reading and responding and he was 15 and not into school. My kids usually take one Schole Academy course a year and we have never ever had a bad experience. I recommend it. As ByGrace said, the work was thoughtful and not overwhelming.

I will just comment on the difficulties of homeschooling junior high boys. This is a very hard time for them as they begin to figure out who they are while their hormones are raging. I completely understand where you are coming from. Some things that helped us through this stage were awarding (bribing) $5 for every A received on a test. It was a miraculous what a monetary incentive did for our son. Another thing that really helped was fining him for all the arguing. A little arguing is natural and part of their learning process, but it can be excessive and sometimes I think it is just to wear the parent down. Here are the wise words of Martin Cothran from Memoria Press regarding boys of this age. This is from their forum. "Boys are primarily plagued by two things: aggression and laziness. The thing that gets them up off the couch is not their own self-discipline, but some extrinsic motivation. They do things primarily through inspiration--by their father, or older brother, or a teacher or older friend, at least while they are young. At some point--between about 10th grade and sophomore year of college--they engage and the people and things they were exposed to when they were younger begin to take hold and at that point they internalize the extrinsic motivations they were exposed to before that. So the question is what do you do before that point to feed that later maturity. First, expose to good, strong, inspirational men. Again, sometimes this is the father. More often it is someone outside the home. It could be a scout leader, a sports figure or coach, a friend of the family, or some writer whose books he likes. If you are homeschooling, you need to make sure that he has this in some form. And, if necessary, you need to be willing to seek outside education help from a school that has good male teachers. Second, eliminate technology from your home as much as is practically possible. If your son is playing video games every day, I simply don't know how that can work. You need to reinstall boredom in your home. Boredom forces boys to do one of two things: read or make things, which is what they should be doing. It can also potentially give then an opportunity to get into trouble (I'm thinking of explosions here), but even that is better than video games. Third, he needs to be involved in sports of some kind. Boys thrive on contest (which is another reason a classroom in jr. or high school can help). James Dobson was right that a boy needs to be good at at least one sport. A team sport will help a boy know how to operate in the company of men. An individual sport like martial arts will give him confidence he needs to have among his peers. Fourth, boys need to spend time outside the house. If your son spends more daylight hours inside than outside (at least during the summer), then there is a problem. And if there is no place to play outside, then go camping on a regular basis (and if you can't do it, scouts is good for this). That's just a few things off the top of my head." I hope this helps you in your struggle. It will not last. My son has finally come out of it at 17.

I had one child do Art of Argument at home, then the other did it at co-op. Both of them enjoyed the course and learned a lot. My second child did the Canon Press's Introductory Logic with the video lessons, which was a success because the material is very clear and the instructor, Brian Kohl, is engaging. Child #2 will be doing the same next year.

We've really enjoyed the Writing and Rhetoric program. Neither of my kids have complained about it and they complain about almost everything.

My son is going through the Algebra Survival Guide by Josh Rappaport with a tutor and it doesn’t take him a terribly long time. There’s a textbook and workbook.

I'd like to pick a memoir for my senior son to read this semester and know you all will have some good suggestions. Something well-written, riveting, and has a message of overcoming difficulties is what I'm looking for. What have your sons liked?

Update: DS was also accepted to Lee U in TN.

Ds got into Anderson University (South Carolina) with scholarships, but is still disliking all things school and is trying to delay going with a gap year.

Padding the transcript is something I have been concerned about as well, but he wants to major in music, so maybe I should just give the credits.

Thank you for these. Very helpful.

What do you do on a transcript when your child has taken music lessons and orchestra all four years of high school? My son will have 4 credits for this. What about 3 or 4 credits of physical education?

My son is taking German through Schole Academy. They offer German 1 and 2.

I'm in the same boat first senior.

We don't have experience with this teacher, but have used Schole Academy for other classes for the past five years and both my kids are enrolled in classes this year. They are a wonderful school and we have never had a bad experience.

It is so frustrating that I cannot be that human. 😞

This looks like a good option. Do you personally know anyone who has used it?