I was just going to suggest this. DD has competed for the last two years. We love the study guides. She has an excellent understanding of chemistry now (not quite all of the mathy stuff, but she can even balance chemical equations). ETA: Check out this page in particular: https://www.chemed.org/programs/challenge/study-materials/ It contains last year's study guides and a link to a page with additional websites with study materials.

Have you tried any Great Courses? My oldest two love them. We are currently watching Experiencing Hubble. We borrow them from the library.

Oldest dd has taught religious education classes (one year as an assistant and one as the main teacher) and a week-long summer camp at our church (this will be her second year). She plans to help with the summer library program. DH also takes the older children to visit and help with activities at the local nursing home.

Our homeschool group has a mass and celebration for both the 8th grade and high school graduates. We'll participate in both.

Being able to use the library is great. That's what we have done so far. I know some people recommend buying audio only but our family is very visual so we do video only. My oldest two and I have enjoyed several of the history and astrophysics courses as well as the How to Become a Superstar Student course that you mentioned.

In addition to sets, I would also recommend Lego Technic idea books. We own a few and have borrowed most of the others from the library. Oldest ds's favorites: Incredible Lego Technic: Cars, Trucks, Robots & More and The Lego Power Functions Idea Book Volumes 1 & 2. Some of the sets that we bought had motors, switches, etc. and we bought some separately as well. The technic pieces and power functions are used with Mindstorms.

Pick whichever sets are of most interest. Oldest ds has many of the car sets. Our middle two boys like the construction sets.

DS is using Harcourt Grade 6. The goal had been to complete half of the units (one life science, one earth science, and one physical science), but it is his favorite subject so we met that goal kept going.

We did Art of Argument last year with a sixth grader and it was her favorite subject, too. I agree that this would work for some and not others. We'll be doing it later with her 5th grade brother (and it's too early to tell with everyone else).

Yes, it was for my 10yo son. We borrowed the first one about a year ago, right around his 10th birthday. The books aren't stories but they are more engaging than a textbook. Science concepts as well as information about the scientists who discovered them are included.

The number and even the ease of problems is not the only issue, though. I'll cut back on problems if I have to. I'm comfortable with that and have done it with her and my other students when needed. She also prefers the teaching portion of AOPS and BA. She doesn't want to be just told what to do and then have to do it. That is what I can't find anywhere else. And it's harder for me to add in myself.

And I totally agree about this not being the one and only approach for strong math students. I loved and excelled at math, but I would not have done well with this program. And I *probably* won't be using it with my other kids. It's just that this particular student needs something different. I don't know of anything else that would work for her.

This is what dd likes about the BA/AOPS approach: it does not have lots of practice problems, the problems are not too easy, and she dislikes the straight forward math approach (where a math concept is simply explained, then you do a bunch of problems). Even Crocodiles and Coconuts had too much repetition in the problems sets for her. As far as I know, there are no other programs like that. Has anyone found anything else?

My physics-loving ds enjoyed the Secrets of the Universe. It has been split into multiple volumes and we borrowed them from the library. I have not heard of the other books.

I'm curious, for those of you that switched from AOPS, what did you use? I'd like to have some ideas to fall back on if we need to. And I don't think my other kids will need to use AOPS.

I had been avoiding AOPS with my dd that has thrived with BA. I finally gave in and started it last month. She was able to skip the first several chapters of Intro to Algebra and what we are doing now is still mostly review. My dd doesn't love math and is not planning to go into a math or science field (her current plan is education, though she does love and excel in chemistry). She just learns best with the BA/AOPS approach and balks at pretty much anything else. I minored in math (as did dh) so I feel confident teaching her. I'm still not sure if we'll continue through high school, but I have no idea what we could use instead, hence the reason we started AOPS in the first place. ETA: So, I guess I'm not much help, just commiserating with you.

Math: RightStart A LA: HWT K, AAR or OPGTR, plus lots of read alouds Religion: Bible, saint stories, Little Acts of Grace 1 & 2 Science and Social Studies: various read alouds and hands on work, tbd

My only suggestion is to buy something with a ready-made schedule or make one yourself ahead of time. My rising 8th grader is pretty independent. I teach algebra and chemistry, dh teaches German, and she does the rest on her own.

Math: Singapore Standards 4 English: ELTL 3, AAS 4, CAP Writing & Rhetoric Literature: maybe MOSDOS if I like it (just started with older brother) Science: Harcourt grade 4, part 2 History: finish world history, then ? start Spanish and/or Latin Religion: Baltimore Catechism #1, part 2, Bible, and saint stories

I would just keep going. There are more in depth chapters on fractions in the later books. My oldest ds is using Singapore Math with BA, but for him BA is a supplement. He gets frustrated too easily to use BA as the main program. For oldest dd, BA was perfect by itself.

Math: Singapore Math 2 English: AAS 1/2, ELTL 1, reading books with mom History: ? Science: Harcourt grade 2, part 2 Religion: First Communion Catechism, Bible, saint stories

Math: continue Singapore Standard Edition, with BA slowly as a supplement English: ELTL 3/4, AAS5/6, CAP Writing & Rhetoric Literature: MOSDOS, if we like it (just started) Science: finish Harcourt grade 6, then maybe physics and astronomy History: finish world history, then? Spanish or Latin: ?? Religion: Baltimore Catechism #2, part 1 of 3, Bible History, part 2, and 57 Stories of the Saints, part 2

Math: Finish AOPS Intro to Algebra, then Geometry (not sure if we'll do AOPS or something else) Literature: EIL Introduction to Literature Grammar: ?? Writing: I have several books on the self. Not sure which ones we'll be using next year. History: Modern History with Light to the Nations volume 2 Government: Uncle Sam and You, part 2 Science: finish chemistry, then ?? (probably conceptual physics/physical science or biology) Logic: The Discovery of Deduction German: She's been studying German with dh using library resources this year. Hopefully she'll do something a little more serious next year. I haven't found much for German, though. Religion: continue church history and Chief Truths of the Faith, plus other sources

We are using Harcourt Science. I use the 4th book for grades 3 and 4 and the 6th book for grades 5 and 6. We've enjoyed it, especially my science-loving 5th grader.

We've watched quite a few courses already and my oldest two love them. In fact, they beg to watch them. I suspect that at least most of my younger kids will like them as well, though they aren't quite old enough to get much out of them yet. It hasn't stopped them from sitting in on a few lectures. That's good to know that not all courses are included. For now I think we'll just continue to watch them from the library. With our whole system we do have quite a selection, though there have been a few that we've wanted to see that they either didn't have or only had in audio. If Great Courses Plus includes the courses that we'd like to see I think we'll probably get it in another year or two.