I start with word building using a movable alphabet and a few of my kids were that age when they started. We orally sound out words, then pick the right letters to go with it. After they have been doing that for a while we move on. I used Progressive Phonics for the first time with my current 5yo, who was one of my 4yo word builders. He loved the online books and worksheets.

Not a curriculum, but my kids have learned a lot of programming by using project books. We own a few coding books and borrow others from the library. Our 9yo is very interested in Raspberry Pi and Arduino. We bought a few kits from Amazon with lots of parts for him to use. Sometimes he completes projects exactly as the books say and other times he changes things to do something else that he is interested in. DH is a software engineer, so he can answer whatever questions they have.

DD will be taking an AP exam with the students from Verona Area High School in Verona, WI. They have been very helpful.

This is my oldest dd's second year taking classes online with Kolbe Academy. Last year as a 9th grader she took Spanish 1, Honors Algebra 2 and Trigonometry, and Biology. This year she has Spanish 2, Honors Pre-Calculus, and AP Chemistry. The honors and AP classes are a lot of work. The regular classes require less work. I could not imagine dd taking all of her classes online with Kolbe Academy because the workload would be so high (but some families do that). The classes have been rigorous, especially the honors and AP classes. DD does enjoy the classroom interaction, especially in her smaller classes.

What does your dd want to do? After not wanting to have much input earlier this summer, my dd just picked British history and literature.

This sounds fun! Especially since dd and dh are planning a trip to England next summer, so they might be able to see some of the castles!!

Thanks, everyone! I have a bunch of books requested from the library and look forward to reading them. I'd love to hear any other ideas if you have them.

We just made a last minute decision to switch to British History this year for 10th grade dd. Now I need to plan a course! I think we'll use Winston Churchill's A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, though I'm not sure whether to use volumes 2-4 (we used volume 1 in middle school) or to use the one volume abridgement. I'm also looking for supplements and study guides. Any ideas?

I used part of Progressive Phonics with my 5yo. It's the first time I've ever used it and we loved it. As sbgrace mentioned, the books are meant to be read together. Some words are for the beginning reader and some for the teacher. DS also enjoyed the activity worksheets.

I definitely understand wanting to make special time for the little ones. For me, it's so much easier just to have it listed on the sheet along with everything else that I need to do. What works best for me is to have categories of activities to do with my 2yo each day. Games, books, puzzles, art projects, science explorations, simple math activities, letter and sound exploration, listen to some music. Some things are listed every day, others 1-3 times a week. DD's favorite games right now: Seek-a-Boo, Where's Bear, and Acorn Soup. Older siblings' math manipulatives work great for simple and fun math play. Sometimes she just plays on her own. Other times I talk her through counting, sorting by color, matching, etc. We also have lots of other manipulatives and games that teach various preschool topics like basic math and the alphabet that dd likes to use. Again, sometimes she does them by herself and sometimes she does them with me or an older sibling. We also love Brain Quest cards (they have sets for as young as 2yo now!) and the Usborne find it books (Very First Book of Things to Spot series for now; Picture Puzzle series when she is a bit older). Just brain storm what types of activities you would like to include and make a list of what games, manipulatives, and other hands on things you have (or would like to buy) that would be appropriate for your child. Put them into categories and schedule each category 1-5 days a week. I like to use the reading lists from the Letter of the Week and Hubbard's Cupboard websites. Both websites are free and have activities planned as well. We have used a few activity ideas over the years, but the books lists have been used with every child. The Hubbard's Cupboard program for 2-year-olds has suggestions for different sensory bins and play doh to make for each month. My bigger kids get excited about them, too! It looks like the op's ds is about to turn 3. By that age my kids also like to do cutting, tracing, and gluing activities. For tracing, wipe clean books are loved even more than regular books, and as a bonus can be used again and again.

Online classes are finalized but we're still deciding on the at home classes. Math: Honors Pre-calculus online with Kolbe Academy English: Not sure, but will include world literature and composition Science: AP Chemistry online with Kolbe Academy History: Not sure except that she'll probably be doing a one year study of world history Faith Formation: Bible, Catechism, The Hidden Power of Kindness, something by St. Teresa of Avila Spanish 2: online at Kolbe Academy Philosophy: not sure what we'll use for this yet Logic: Discovery of Deduction (haven't managed to start this so she'll be doing it next year instead)

My engineering boys love to get idea books from the library. Sometimes they make things exactly as the books suggests and other times they use general ideas and improvise. The older boys especially like Mindstorms and Technic. The younger ones use regular Legos. Some other somewhat related things that they enjoy: Scratch programming (she might like the regular or junior version at her age), Snap Circuits, and Botley the coding robot. They also like various 3D logic games, like Hide and Seek Pirates, IQ Fit, and Gravity Maze.

My kids haven't done it, but I took two science classes during two different years in high school (Biology and Honors Chemistry in 10th and Advanced Biology and Honors Physics in 11th). I would only do it if the student wanted to, though.

We use Harcourt Science grade 6 spread over grades 5 and 6, as suggested by Kolbe Academy. We find it to be a good overview before starting upper level science.

This is the game I mentioned earlier that dh (a software engineer) found for our kids to use.