Sounds like you are doing great in terms of how you are thinking things through. Trust your instincts! You said he’s doing well with math, so if he really wants to do the geography class, maybe math could continue to be done at home. That would save him 3 hrs a week of class time, and if something came up and he needed to slow down, he could extend into the summer. My dd didn’t take any outsourced math until she took DE precalculus the summer after junior year. Up until then she worked through the math books on her own, grading her own work and tests. It hasn’t seemed to hurt her any. She got an A in DE precal and DE calc 1, and is currently in DE calc 2. Also, if you enjoy doing lit together, that might help keep you feel connected to his homeschooling even with having so much outsourced and so much life stuff going on. Not having an outsourced class for that would give him a few hours for the geography class. You might even chose lit that goes with these different cultures he’s studying??? Anyway, just a few ideas. I am also a big fan of balance, and I think you’re wise to be careful about burnout. I have one kid who never seems overloaded no matter how much work is assigned. He works so quickly. At times I am baffled to see him just sitting around, but his work is always done. My dd is the opposite. Strong student, but likes to really take her time and go deep and absorb things and go above and beyond on her output. I have had to have some talks with her about knowing when and where to cut corners, lol!

My dd also did 2 languages at once, but only 1 was DE. She is the type of kid who takes her time working and also needs time to do things that are non school related. This looks like an intense schedule to me, especially since you say he is a slow, deliberate worker and also needs time for piano. Also, since you will be helping your father, neither one of you needs the stress of an intense schedule that you have to help manage. I would consider doing literature independently and saving geography for another year, so he has more time on Tuesdays and Thursdays to do independent work. You could do one class (maybe geography) over the summer. One of the benefits of homeschooling is that we don’t have to overload our kids, especially during times of great stress, so I would consider scaling back a bit.

@Lucy the ValiantThis info is very helpful! Thank you!!!

Do you remember what you had to include in the letter, such a specific reason, etc.?

15 ds did a typical 9th grade course load this year (biology, geometry, 2 DE courses, etc.), but he is thinking he may want to consider this his 8th grade year and do 4 more years of high school, taking mostly DE courses his final year. This seems fine to me, but this is mostly due to sports purposes, so depending on how that goes, he may also eventually change his mind and decide to graduate on the original schedule. How do I handle this from the perspective of PSAT? I was planning to have him take the PSAT 10 this fall and the PSAT the next year. I think his score may qualify him for the African-American recognition, which could lead to scholarships. Bama currently has a full tuition scholarship for this. Can I still proceed with testing as planned and reclassify him later? For instance, if he takes the PSAT 10 next year and gets the Af Am recognition, can I later add an extra year at the end and maintain the designation for scholarships? Trying to figure out if I have to tack this extra year on now (from an academic standpoint) or if it would mess things up if I wait and do it later.

Same. And that also holds true for middle school, high school, college admissions, etc. The oldest one looked so big, and everything seemed so important. But in hindsight, he was so young and still had so much growing and maturing to do. Your words are a good reminder to me!

I’m sorry you had a bad experience. Even if you did overreact, I’m sure it felt awful to be dropped like a hot potato and told you have emotional problems. I have been in customer service situations where my concerns were dismissed and no one cared if I took my business elsewhere, and it always stings. Venting helps initially, but I hope you can soon move forward and put this behind you. Maybe one day you will even laugh about it! (((hug)))

Dd was officially awarded a Stamps Scholarship to Ole Miss!!! She will attend there this fall, Lord willing. 🥳

My kids asked for them at the end of junior year. DS had one strong letter from a co-op teacher and one weak one from our campus pastor at church. DD had two strong letters from co-op teachers, a strong letter from a community service leader, and an okay letter from a community college professor. I found that my kids typically needed at least one letter from a teacher (or person familiar with their academic performance) and one letter related to EC’s or community service.

My oldest ds had 27. Dd who is graduating this May will have 32.

2 of my older kids used Saxon 1/2 and 1 of them used Derek Owens. I did not like Saxon at all. I really haven’t found anything I love yet, but I think Lial’s looks good. I really like Foerster’s for algebra I & algebra II and Jacob’s for geometry.

My kids have all used A Beka through grade 5. I love it for elementary, but I’m not a fan of their pre-algebra.

5th grade ds will do: A Beka Arithmetic 4 A Beka Language 4 A Beka Cursive Writing Skillbook CLP Building Spelling Skills 6 Lost Tools of Writing with US History historical fiction (along with big brother) Building Thinking Skills (finish 1, start 2) Science Journal based on non fiction reading and various activities Bball, piano

Had to drop our plans for co-op this year, so ds will do: Analytical Grammar CLP Building Spelling Skills 6 Lost Tools of Writing with US History historical fiction Lial’s Prealgebra Building Thinking Skills (finish 2, start book 3) Library books and monthly Kiwi Crate for science Bball, piano

Dd is #6 of 8. Can’t believe she’ll be in 3rd grade already! She’ll do: A Beka Language 2 A Beka Arithmetic 2 A Beka Cursive Handwriting Building Thinking Skills 1 Read alouds, audiobooks, picture books for science and history, crafts, playtime

Ds is our 7th of 8 children. We also keep it simple. Reading: A Beka Handbook for Reading, A Beka Letters and Sounds Math: A Beka Arithmetic 1 Handwriting: Pentime 1a Picture books, audiobooks, crafts, playtime

My oldest ds used Derek Owens. It was a great course, and I’ll likely have his brother take it, as well.

Dd has been accepted to 10 of 11 schools. Rejected at 1. UT Austin - offered CAP sophomore admission plan (basically a rejection) Accepted at: Texas Christian University UT Dallas Baylor U Alabama UT San Antonio University of Houston University of Arkansas University of Mississippi UNC Charlotte Abilene Christian University She is chasing merit, so only 5 of those schools are still in the running. She’s a finalist for 2 full rides, and she is waiting to see if she makes it to the interview round for 1 more full ride and also hear the results of a full tuition scholarship interview weekend.

Just an update because I find them helpful... We took a break from formal curricula this fall and just played math games and did worksheets/puzzles I found online. He said it was fun! He’s in 4th grade. We started his 3rd grade math book in January, and things are going much better. He still does some interesting things, but I’m learning more about the way he thinks. I have found that he needs to see things in multiple ways. He still balks at most hands on stuff, but finds youtube videos helpful. I have been supplementing with daily math puzzles. He and 2nd grade dd really like the puzzles from Tang Math. I might take an online course for math teachers from Tang Math this summer. Overall, I’m pleased with his progress. Just focusing on continuing to build the foundation move at his pace.

Just an update because I always find them helpful... One of ds’ assignments this week in Building Thinking Skills was to write a 3 sentence description for each of 3 different items. He was able to do this with proper capitalization and punctuation and only 1-2 misspelled words per paragraph. This is huge! Last year at this time, nearly every word would have been misspelled, and even simple words like “and” or “with” would have letters transposed. You all were so right about the rapid progress that can be made once vision is corrected! I’m just going to stick with what we’re doing for now. Next year, he’ll have a grammar review course at co-op, formal writing program at home, and continued work on spelling.

Planning on the following for my 10th grader: -Engl 1301 and 1302 at community college -Chemistry, Algebra II, Robotics, Economics/Finance at a college prep co-op -Spanish 1 (not sure what we’ll use - maybe Lifepacs, maybe something online) -basketball, piano, church for ECs

Oh, good! That’s really helpful to know. This would also just be exclusively lit without comp, so I think I’ll just have him do a journal, discussions, and a final project for each course.

What is the minimum output you would require for a one-credit lit course? We’re going to read and discuss 8 books, but I’m not sure of the minimum amount/types of written output I should require. We will definitely have 2 compare/contrast discussions (with 4 of the books) that he could turn into a written response. I was thinking maybe a reader response journal or maybe an end of year project or something creative. The reason I say minimum output is that ds is doing plenty of writing. He had a writing intensive Hist 1301 course, and is doing 4 optional extra credit papers this semester for Hist 1302. He is doing a comp class at a co-op using Windows to the World and The Elegant Essay. Next year, he’ll do Engl 1301 and 1302, SAT grammar prep, and probably a mini course on college essays. He is working hard, and I believe it is plenty. The written output for this lit class would not be for learning but to make it a valid credit. Mostly, I just want to expose him to some good books and give him credit for them. We would have 2 courses like this - African American Lit and 20th Century Lit, each with about 8-10 books. He’s a good, solid student, but will not be applying to any Ivys or tippy top schools. He’ll be a STEM major.

My 9th grader and I are reading through some books together - about one book per month. In the past, I‘ve just handed him books to read that I think he’d find interesting, and he likes that, but I want to group about 8 books together and assign a lit credit, so I feel we should discuss them formally. We have a good relationship, but our first book discussion didn’t go so well. It seemed like more of a question/answer session with him saying as little as possible. So I need to get better and guiding these discussions and making them interesting. I want this to be something he looks forward to. Any tips or advice?

I signed my 4th and 6th graders up for the Stanford 10 just to see where they are compared to their peers. It’s not necessary in our state, but I did this with my oldest 3, and it was helpful for me to have that reassurance that things were going well. My older children took a paper test, but I signed my middle 2 up for the online version thinking it would be easier to administer and might be easier for my ds who has visual tracking issues (and might struggle with bubbling in a scantron accurately). These 2 kids rarely ever use a computer, so I’m wondering if there are some easy things I can do between now and May to help them with computer skills so that does not interfere with their test performance.