ANCH is my go to relax game in the evening. I've played almost every night since it's been released. Sometimes just a few minutes and sometimes for an hour or so. My husband was just remarking the other night that since I've started playing I've stopped randomly rearranging furniture in our house as much. 😆. I am beyond excited for the paid DLC, I can't remember the last time I literally jumped up and did a happy dance about a game. I'd love to have some more friends if I can remember how to access my switch friend code 🙂

My son used the Science Mom chemistry videos along with her notes. Secular and free online. He had an absolute blast. He also just finished up Earth Science and we're planning on doing the Biology course coming up this Fall. The only thing I added were some library books and a couple of chem kits off Amazon.

I'm homeschooling, an 8 and 10 year old, and I'm hoping to continue all the way through middle school for the both of them. I'm not sure about high school yet. My son asked to be homeschooled after he was bored out of his mind in fourth grade. I started homeschooling my daughter when the pandemic began. Both my kids went to a lovely private school before we moved and I saw a sharp regression in my daughters work once she started public school. She was so stressed all the time even though she insisted she loved it. I've seen such huge gains in her confidence since homeschooling and I finally have her back on track to where she should be. My son was always the youngest in the class and also the know-it-all kid. Not the best combination. Losing one income, losing working years towards social security, and losing extra retirement savings wasn't something I wanted to do. So I've gone to great lengths to juggle both homeschooling and working.

Same experience here. My kids, 8 and 10, lost interest in a week. The web app also crashed one day when my son was working on a story and lost all his work on that writing prompt. He was devastated. So, yeah. I cancelled the subscription pretty quick,

So my oldest is going into 6th. Yikes! Here is my tentative plan. Language Arts: - Reading = Aiming for 16 books. A mix of classics, modern literature, and books tied to history and science. - Spelling & Vocabulary = Logic of English Level C with MCT Caesar’s English II - Writing = IEW SS Year One Level B and NANOWRIMO - Grammar = MCT Grammar Voyage + MCT Practice Voyage - Poetry = MCT A World of Poetry and a variety of poetry books. IEW Poetry Memorization Math = Math Mammoth 6 and finish Upper Elementary Challenge Math by Edward Zaccaro. Science = Thinking of Biochemistry for my chemistry loving son + other topics in biology. History/Geography = Curiosity Chronicles - Middle Ages For. Lang.: European Portuguese = Private lessons Art = Outsourced classes in watercolor and painting Music: Clarinet = Private lessons Logic = [undecided] P.E. = [Swim Team - maybe] and Kung Fu Typing = Typsey.com Philosophy & World Religions = [undecided]

I work a full time and homeschool two neurotypical and (mostly) compliant kids. It's hard. I work from home otherwise it wouldn't work at all. My job is very demanding (I write software and also manage other outsourced software teams for my company) but at least has some flexibility of when I get work done. My husband helps a bunch with the household and even helps homeschooling for an hour each morning before he goes to work. My kids are old enough to handle their own breakfast and lunches. They also have a small chore list each day. In the afternoon they do outsourced online classes for enjoyment. What makes it possible is money and my personality. I'm very type C and love project management and optimizing systems. In fact, I use project management software to manage our homeschooling. I think it's actually a bonus (for my kids) that I work, it keeps me from obsessing too much over schoolwork. I also have the income to sign them up for classes and hobbies that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise. That income also covers cleaners and landscapers to keep the yard and home in order. Also spending my homeschool time wisely. One on one attention to math and core ELA only. Content subjects are rotated through (yay loop schedule) and done together unless it's an outsourced class. I'm hoping to keep it up through middle school.

My kids (5th & 3rd) have done a few classes on Outschool. Sometimes we'll browse classes together and they pick what sounds interesting to them (mostly art, spy classes, and monstrous animal ones). We've had good experience with all the shorter classes (haven't done longer ones). My son has found specific teachers he really likes so I have alerts when they put out new classes. We've also done some private on-going classes for instruments (clarinet). We had one teacher that the teaching personality did not mesh with my son so we switched to another teacher.

I have a 5th grader and a 3rd grader and I work 40 hours a week from home. Here's our day: 6am - 7am: Wake up, breakfast and getting ready. 7am - 8am: Spelling and grammar. For the 5th grader it is MCT Town level and the younger is homegrown + phonics. I bought the package from MCT so I am following the written schedule for it. They are both at the table with me and I take turns going over everything with them. 8am - 9am: Math Mammoth for both of them. Still at the table. When the clock hits 9 they are done. 9am - 10am: They have some chores and then outside. I pull out my laptop and start working. 10am - 11am: Writing. We are doing IEW Structure and Style videos so I just need set them up and they are off. I do take breaks to check in with them and help with edits and drafts. They also work on poetry memorization during this time. 11am - 12pm: We rotate through the extras (like art, health, world religions ...). I probably spend 20 minutes hands on with them and then give them stuff to do/read for the rest. Or if work is crazy I have then watch a documentary. Lunch Time: They make their own lunch and then go outside for a hour. I work and usually put in a freezer meal in the slow cooker that I prepped on the weekend. Afternoon: They have a checklist of daily independent items. This includes things like typing and instrument practice as well as independent reading of classics and non-fiction (30 minutes for younger and an hour for the older and they come over a narrate to me when they are done). I also sign them up for a mix of weekly online classes for science and history during this time as well. They have instrument lessons with an online tutor once a week as well. They have access to tons of craft supplies, the outside, and once work is done some educational tv / games. This is when I get to focus on my job until about 6pm. 6pm - 9pm: Dinner, clean up (everyone helps) and then relax/family time until bedtime. Almost all of my prep and planning happens on the weekend. Hope that helps a bit. :)

Thanks for the suggestions! The Science Explorer series looks like what I was envisioning. Now I just need to find some copies to check out before I go buying a bunch :). Does anyone know if they have lab/experiment suggestions in the student books? Or would I need to grab a set of teachers guides as well? I'll check out TOPS Science since I do want to start adding in more experiments as we start to dig deeper.

I started homeschooling my son this year and I'm trying to plan things out for next year (5th grade - Life Science). I found the "The World in Ancient Times" series by the Oxford Press and its perfect for our history spine. Now I want to find something similar for science. I've gone through old threads but I haven't quite found what I'm looking for. It also might not exist. :) I'm looking for a multi book series that each focuses on a topic in one of the broader science domains. So like "Life Science" would have a book dedicated to cells, one on ecology, one on the human body etc .. I'd like them to all be similar in reading level (middle school) and have more detail than what you'd find in an encyclopedia. My son doesn't really like chopped up tidbits like the DK books use. I was hoping for a multi book series that way he could pick three or four topics to deep dive into. Most of what I'm finding on Amazon are textbooks that cover a broad area unless they are college level which is above his level at that moment. Any ideas?