Yes, absolutely that makes sense. And I agree with you and desire for our kids to be accountable to us first and foremost as their parents. Right now, it's helping us to have more accountability in his life than just us. We are very involved parents, but we're hitting some things with him where having some other accountability in his life for school is helpful, which is why it's not an easy decision whether we should pull him from his current school where he has a good relationship with his teachers. Basically, other authority in his life to back up and align with mom and dad. As for the expense, I guess in my mind I think purchasing all the classes would be expensive? The last I looked at classical homeschooling (when we were truly homeschooling, not online public school as was mentioned above), it was either expensive for the classes or required much more time and putting things together than I am able to do at this time. Granted, I only had elementary kids when we were homeschooling, so that's another reason I feel like I'm starting from scratch...both because it's been several years and because I've never looked into any homeschooling for highschool. 

I appreciate your candor. That's precisely why I came here...I need a sounding board and help knowing what's out there. Ideally, we'd prefer to homeschool (proper) classically, but that just may not be in the cards for us right now budget-wise. Because of my son's personality, I do feel as though right now he needs more accountability than just us, which is part of the reason we're considering pulling him...to spend time working on building his character. But you may be right...it may just not be the best solution. I feel like all of you have given me great options and suggestions and a lot to chew on, and I am thankful for that.

No, I don't think we have a copy of this. Could you give me an idea of how it works in a nutshell? What would be required of him and me?

He's currently in a public charter school. It's ideal as far as non-private schools go, but we are facing some things that are causing us to reconsider whether it is best for him. I'm not sure what you mean by this line - Also, almost ALL homeschool high school curriculum is written to the student - seriously. I can't even think of one that isn't. Can you expound please? Thanks!

Great questions. Thanks! When we homeschooled before, I taught every subject one on one (BJU and Veritas mostly). It was easier in the early elementary years so far as content goes, but it wasn't best for our family, especially for my sanity and for my relationship with this child. He works well on his own but does need some type of accountability. I think having an accessible teacher would be best, to answer questions or explain things I can't at this stage of education. He's extremely intelligent and can be self motivated, but one thing that has been very positive in the classroom setting is having teachers that have deadlines and expectations. So far as how his day plays out, I don't mind if he has structured class times or if he completes work at his own pace. My husband and I both work from home, and we can fill any extra time with extracurricular things. He is extremely extraverted, so we are also considering a couple of outside classes at a homeschool fine arts school nearby. He's a very logical thinker, wants to be an engineer, and works hard with the right motivation. When uninterested, he tends to cut corners and procrastinate. Currently, our main goal is to allow him to have more parental influence during a particularly impressionable time in his life. A love for learning is important to us, so I'd like for him to be enrolled in classes that are laid out in a way that is enticing and makes the information come alive...not just reading and test taking. In our experience, he's gotten this from a couple ofreally great teachers, and it's helped a lot. We also want to keep him on track for college and/or dual enrollment (which I know very little about). This is our oldest, so we are learning as we go. Again, this is a bit sudden, so I haven't thought through more goals than that quite yet. The reason I'm asking here is that the only programs I'm aware of are K12 type classes or something like Veritas online or self paced (which isn't affordable for us right now). I'm hoping to hear of more options to look into, and I greatly appreciate your help!

Hello, we are considering pulling our freshman out of traditional school. It's been many years since we've homeschooled, but I remember this forum being a wealth of information with so many willing to help with their experiences, so I'm starting here. I'm looking for something that is rather independent. Ideally, he would have been classically educated this far, but it's just not the path we've taken for multiple reasons. We're very interested in that route, but since this is pretty sudden and we haven't planned for it, we also don't have much of a budget to work with yet. I'd be so thankful if you could point me in the right direction as I'm not even sure where to start looking. I'm sure things have changed a bit since we last had our kids at home. Thank you!

Hello, My husband is looking for an online, self-paced curriculum that will take our boys through American history throughout the rest of the summer. They are entering 5th and 7th grades. Any direction would be appreciated!

It totally depends on the type of person you are. If you can commit to finding all the stuff and putting it together, it helps to have it all in one place before the year begins. I know me, and I'd rather pay for the kit than find all the random items. If it could all be done at Walmart in 30 minutes, maybe. But I don't know...I've enjoyed having everything in a box for Astronomy, and I'm not sure how much it would have saved for me to buy everything anyway.

I don't have anything to say to help. I'm looking forward to reading the replies. I just wanted to say thanks for saying this. Last year I didn't look forward to starting, and it was as hard as I anticipated. This year I look even less forward to starting, mostly because we don't have much community during the year, and it's like being in hiding for 9 months. I have loved summer. So just seeing that someone else despises those "YAY for school starting!" posts as much as I do right now is so encouraging to me. We're not alone! And yes, it is totally worth it, and I'm willing to fight for it for all the good reasons we are choosing to do this hard and tedious thing called homeschooling. (Envisioning Katniss holding up her fingers and whistling right now...we can do this!)

Anyone use Essentials in Writing? Thoughts?

IXL is fantastic for retention. We're using it for Math and LA. But yeah...it's just practice!

Last year was tough with two young children (2 and 4), and a lot of our work fell by the wayside. This year I've made our schedule, but I'm starting to think that I probably need at least one subject for the boys (3rd and 5th) that they can do more independently. 4yo is ready to learn to read, so I'm going to need a block of time with her as well...and probably include my 2yo who is freakishly almost on 4yo's level. So my one on one time with the boys is less and less. I'm happy with Singapore for math, and we have science covered in a co-op. I'm thinking we could all manage history together as a family, using SOTW. Grammar has been more teacher intensive the last couple years...have used both BJU and Easy Grammar. Finally with Easy Grammar my 5th grader has started to grasp a little better but it still requires me sitting and teaching, and I wasn't thrilled with BJU's writing sections. I totally let spelling go last year, which is fine for 5th grader who can see a word and never forget, but not fine for 3rd grader who needs to be taught the rules. I love AAS but gave up due to toddler. Both boys are excellent readers and narrate pretty well. I've picked up Writing Strands this year thinking it will be a better program for both boys, but may or may not use it depending on what I can find. So I'm thinking instead of picking back up either BJU or EG, I may be able to find something that is more independent? I think they both can learn that way as long as the instruction is laid out clearly. Any suggestions? It doesn't matter to me whether it is computer-based or workbooks. Thank you!

Hi, I'd love some seasoned moms to weigh in on online courses (or computer courses, if not online). I have two toddlers and am teaching math and grammar one on one with my older two (2nd and 4th), but that's about as much as I can manage. They do literature, copywork, handwriting, and spelling on their own. We are lacking majorly in science and history, so I would like to look for online classes for those subjects. I've dabbled in having them read books, but I need more organized learning than that so that I'll keep up on it. Have you had any experience (good or bad) with online learning? The only ones I know of are Switched on Schoolhouse, Veritas self paced, and BJU which is super pricey for us. Thanks for any help!

We used BJU writing & grammar last year, and it was a bit too teacher intensive for my time limits. So we tried Easy Grammar which was highly recommended to us for more independent grammar study. Great concept, but the student book does not lend itself at all to independent study. I probably would have done fine with it at his age, but he is struggling with understanding the concept of basic grammar. Because of that, I feel like BJU is a good fit for him, but I dread going back because of how long the lessons took us...also every other chapter is writing, and I've stepped back a bit from writing this year. Is there anything that would work for a bit more independent learning (I do still go through it with him at the start of each lesson and then leave him to do the practice.) but not so teacher intensive? Something that lays out grammar in an easy-to-understand way? Thank you!

Thank you all so much! We aren't in a homeschooling community, so it's difficult to get an idea of what others are doing. This has helped a lot, and I feel much more at peace about starting our year.

These are great tips! Writing Strands has my attention. It seems to get the student thinking about how to come up with material more than BJU does. My 4th grader is not natural with grammar. Does EG lend itself to kids who need more explanation? Thoughts on Rod & Staff?

If we use SOTW, do we need to use anything else? Like the VP cards? Or is it pretty much the same idea yet different presentations of history? I was thinking I read somewhere that there were gaps...or maybe that's if you're including Bible cards, which I was. 4th doesn't *need* AAS. He spells a word once and never forgets it. 2nd I'm not sure. He spells things as they sound, so often they're incorrect. Not sure if that's an age thing or if it means he's a bad speller. I haven't spent a lot of time working on memorization of spelling with him though. I do like AAS because it includes all the rules, so you can figure out how to spell a word even if you haven't heard it. This is all coming from a natural speller though...I can see a word and never forget it, also see words in my head or in the air as I'm spelling them. My sister (a teacher and homeschooler) has told me there are two types of spellers...those who can see it in their heads or in the air and spell more naturally, and those (like her) who cannot and have to look up words or write them out to see if they look right. Advice here is welcomed. I feel tension leaving my shoulders as I read your advice. Much less structure in history and science, yet it might be much more enjoyable for them to dabble in science rather than have it forced for now. I'm starting to feel as though reading is more key than lesson plans. My goal this year is to instill in my kids a love of reading. Maybe this would help to make it fun.

So we had a crazy summer and are starting school in September, and I've *just* started to work on fine tuning our curriculum choices for the year. I had assumed we'd stay with pretty much everything we had used, but now I'm second guessing myself because last year was pretty teacher intensive and I gave up on a lot of subjects toward the end of the year. A lot of my problem last year was my strict following of lesson plans and not enough flexibility to go faster or slower or cut lessons into chunks, etc. Another problem was that I was teaching every subject and there was very little the boys did on their own. With a 1yo and 3yo, this isn't working for us. I need the boys to do at least some of the work on their own, and I'm not sure how to make that happen. Here's what we have and my thoughts: Math: 4th-Last year we did Singapore, and he thrived. We will continue this. 2nd-Last year we did BJU math, and he did well. I'm considering moving him to Singapore, but not sure how he will do. Not natural in math like big brother, but still does quite well. We have the Singapore books already though, so... Both of these curriculum choices are, of course, teacher intensive. Science: We used Apologia last year and got through very little of it. I think maybe I was taking the fun out of it by trying to get through the lessons in the recommended time instead of just talking and reading and enjoying. Also trying to figure out how to put more of this into their hands instead of me hovering. Obviously, experiments would be done together. Spelling: Used AAS last year and we all loved it. More involved, but not much time each day. Literature: Used VP last year with (then) 3rd grader, and we both enjoyed it. This year I plan to have both boys using this curriculum but maybe have them do a bit more on their own than last year. Maybe have them narrate to me using these books? Latin: We used SSL last year and haven't finished the year. I was sitting with them for each video/song lesson and doing the workbooks with them while corralling littles. Grammar/Writing: Used BJU grammar and writing last year with (then) 3rd grader. I love how BJU is laid out and the ease of open and go. This is more teacher intensive though. And I'm wondering if the writing portion is what he's needing. Both boys have a lot of trouble figuring out how to take thoughts and get them on paper, and I'm constantly feeling as though I'm having to help them figure out what to write. I have no clue if this is normal or if there is something specific I need to be doing to guide them to learn how to do this. I've looked into IEW, but oh my word it looks like so much work. I'm also considering starting 2nd grader in grammar this year. We haven't done dictation and I'm not entirely sure I know how to do that. Copywork has been done in handwriting. History: Something has to change this year. We used VP Ancient Egypt last year with the scripted lesson plans. I thought those would make life easier, but we were all bored out of our minds. I still love the theory behind VP and want to use the cards, but I'm considering SOTW to make the history come alive. Not sure of other options? Overall in science and history, I'm thinking more reading of extra books would be helpful in making it more interesting. I've even considered having them do the online courses but struggle with not being a part of it. So here we are, and it feels like there is more work to be done each day that I will have time for. To clarify, I'm okay with some subjects being teacher intensive, but I don't know if I can have all subjects be so. I'd love any thoughts, advice, help. Please give grace as I'm not trying to say I want to be out of the teacher role. I actually love teaching one on one, and perhaps that's why I tend to be drawn to BJU :) ...my time is just limited with the two toddlers as I'm sure many of you can relate. Thank you SO much!

I'm trying to figure out if the Veritas history cards are the same as the Bible cards? I've always thought they were two different sets until now when I'm trying to buy them used. :) It looks as though, on their site, the Genesis through Joshua cards are the same as the OT and Ancient Egypt cards. Can anyone let me know? Thank you! Rebekah

AHHHH!!!! Big sigh of relief. I am LOVING this forum! These are things I have thought to myself but wondered, "Maybe poetry curriculum *is* necessary if all the packages include it?" Good to hear from seasoned moms! Thank you for all the suggestions. It is absolutely wonderful to have a place to come where I can get a wealth of information from people who have been there done that. Looking into all of it! :)

Okay, I should probably say...*I'm* not entirely sure of what I'm looking for! LOL So all suggestions are very much appreciated. I will say that I am leaning toward Veritas Press for history/lit/latin/etc if I can get it to where we can afford it! But I'm not thrilled about what I hear about Shurley English. That's why I was looking into a different curriculum for language arts. So far as writing, they have IEW in their package, but it seems like it may be a bit advanced for starting out writers, and that's why I was looking for a more basic, fun writing curriculum. I don't know much about their cursive curriculum, but I *think* it includes the copywork and uses Bible verses or the catechism, which I like the sound of. I didn't think about Latin being good for vocabulary...thanks for that recommendation! What I am really trying to avoid is having too many programs for different subjects (ie, spelling, vocab, grammar, poetry, writing all in different programs) so that it ends up taking more time in our schooling and costing a lot more. That's really the only reason I was hoping to combine some of those! :) Thank you all SO much!

Thanks. I really appreciate that reply. So far so good. I think I definitely had panic setting in. He was also able to welcome a new little boy to his class this week who was dealing with major homesickness (ie he actually cried), and he comforted him and was able to tell him that he felt the same way. I think it helped him to see that he is not alone. And maybe he has found a new friend? Anyway, we decided to really watch his attitude and behavior to see if it's affecting him before we pull him. I've definitely decided to keep him home next year, but as for this semester, only time will tell. I'm thankful to have the info ready, however, in case we decide it's time to come home!

I need a good grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and writing curriculum for 3rd grade. It doesn't all have to be combined, but I probably don't want to buy a stand alone spelling or vocab curr. (At least I don't think so! Should I need to?) As far as writing goes, I'd like it to include the how to's of structure but one that also teaches how to write creatively. I want it to be a fun or interesting program, as I have boys, and they can get bogged down with writing, but I think it's such an essential skill that I want them to know how...the fun way! :) I think I am going to use a separate cursive curriculum, so would I still need something with copywork or would that cover it? I am so behind on all of the HS lingo and info! What are your favorites and why?

Still researching over here and was looking further into VP today. Looks like there are some combinable subjects between my soon to be 1st and 3rd graders. Also I like that there is a thread across Bible and history for a couple of years. It's crazy expensive, but I think I'd be able to use most of it for all my kids and only buy consumables as we move further up? Does anyone have experience with more than just the history curriculum? I suppose it's mainly the history/Bible/lit/Latin that is VP and the other is actually other curricula that they use in their package (IEW, Shurley, R&S). Or maybe their cursive too. Thoughts? Thanks!

Thanks, everyone! I think that's the way we'll go if I pull them out. I'm really watching this week to see attitude, behavior, etc. I definitely need to get ready to have them home if that's what we do. We'll need routine and organization off the bat to be successful. Otherwise, it will end up being a fight to get into a routine bc they'll be used to being disorganized! Aimee, not in SC in body, but my heart is! :) Moved to TX almost 7 yrs ago.