Grab a few lesson blocks from Science is Weird. Gives lots to think about and plenty of extension activities if they want a deeper dive, but nothing you have to do other than watch the videos.

Mr. Q is great for science, I will be using physical science this year with my 3rd grader, but Life would be great for all of them to do together. SOTW as an audiobook is nice to have, less work on you reading, they can color or play with quiet toys while they listen. If your kids have a longer attention span I enjoy No Sweat Nature Study, you could even break the videos into smaller pieces if you wanted. Math, you really only need a "program" for the oldest, I like Math Mammoth. I would try to do as much together, as you said. Read alouds are great for this, the range of age appropriateness for most books is very wide. There are a lot of Charlotte Mason style book lists out there.

What is this?? Sounds nice!

In lost wages alone, with me being PT rather than FT employed it is very expensive to homeschool, even compared to private schools. However one might make the argument that I wouldn't want to be FT anyway because my quality of life is so much better with me and my husband both working PT than one working FT. My kids activities they would be in anyway, other than co-op which is only a few hundred a year.

Research Parent has a free math curriculum called Minimalist Math. Its just 10 math problems a week, but the point is you sit down and explain or have the child figure out how to get the answer to each one. That, play with a few manipulatives and work on memorizing addition/subtraction math facts should be enough. https://researchparent.com/learn/mathematics/minimalist-math-curriculum/

If you are OK with some mentions of religion Science Shepherd is excellent.

Math: Math Mammoth and Research Parent's Minimal Math Curriculum Language Arts (Reading/Writing/Grammar): TGTB is actually working really well right now and I have old editions around, so we are going to continue using those, as well as their handwriting and a Steck-Vaughn Language Arts 3 workbook. Literature: Exploring the World through Story Level D Social Studies: Notgrass Star-Spangled States and Steck-Vaughn Social Studies 3 workbook Bible: Christian Light Education Bible 3 Science: Mr. Q Chemistry and Physics, some experiments with sister Latin/Languages: maybe Latin's Not So Tough? Logic: start the Remedia Critical Thinking workbook series Electives: Evan Moor Geography and Daily Reading Comprehension Extracurricular: he has no interest in anything right now, we are still trying to find his groove, maybe an instrument?

Sorta thinking out loud here, these are my ideas based on what we did last year. Math: Easy Hard Science's Algebra Won and Too program, then start Triad Math's sequence. Maybe squeeze Learn Math Fast books 5-6 in there somewhere. Writing: Not sure, we will be piloting TGTB Level 7 and it depends on how much writing is included in that and the pacing. For sure we will do a little bit of WWS and Veritas Press Composition 1 and maybe start CAP Writing & Rhetoric 7 near the end of the year. Grammar: Fix-It Grammar Mowgli and Shere Khan, perhaps Vocabulary from Classical Roots A but honestly we are a little rooted out after two books of CTC Word Roots this year. Literature: Exploring the World through Story Level H, Christian Light Education Reading 7 History: Finish Christian Light Education American History (SS8) and a casual read through Notgrass Uncle Sam and Me. Bible: Christian Light Education Bible 6 (second 1/2) Science: Science Shepherd Chemistry & Physics, some Thames and Kosmos Physics and Chemistry kits and some living books. Latin/Languages: Visual Latin 1, maybe, we false started on it last year, I will see how it goes. Logic: Finish The Fallacy Detective/The Thinking Toolbox, then start CAP The Art of Argument. Electives: She is playing around learning various languages on an app, likes to code Minecraft stuff and make animated videos and characters, I also plan on teaching her some study skills stuff this year in a more structured way. I also would like her to do some formal typing because I think this will help with easing the burden of writing. She wants to be an engineer so maybe some basic drafting? I would love to do something with art or music but her schedule is pretty full, maybe just a gentle appreciation study, more Charlotte Mason style? Extracurricular: Dance. She is in classes almost every day, is part of their leadership in dance training program and assistant teaches at the studio. We also attend a mostly recreational Co-Op once a week.

I'm sure the ratios depend on region, what area of engineering and even what company. I have a coworker whos wife has worked in civil engineering for decades and she said there is a definite need for more women in her field. This has some useful statistics: https://swe.org/research/2024/employment/

Subscribe to his email list if you haven't already. I have seen at least two 50% off coupons sent out for the Algebra I/II bundle in the past few months, and I know there is a coupon at the end of the free pre-algebra course for just Algebra I if you try that and like the format.

My daughter wants to be an Engineer as well and keeps telling me how much she loves algebra and wants to get to calculus ASAP. LOL. She did Math Mammoth for grades 1-6 but didn't want to do their pre-algebra this year so we went kind of a random route. She did Learn Math Fast books 1-2 as a review. Then did the free Pre-Algebra class at Easy Hard Science https://learnwithdrscott.com/course/free-pre-algebra-won/, which only takes about 6-8 weeks. Now she is doing Learn Math Fast books 3-4, then we will move directly into algebra. We are planning on doing the Algebra I/II classes at Easy Hard Science since she likes his video format. I emailed the person who presents the courses, because it looked honestly too short and easy, and he assured me that, as a chemical engineer himself, it was plenty of algebra preparation for a child who wants to pursue an engineering degree with the exception of proofs if they are interested in that. We have a MiaPrep lifetime subscription so my plan was to have her take the Algebra tests they have on their site just to confirm she was retaining the information and just keep moving forward. 🙂

In the past I had nagging pain from time to time in my hips, lower back, sciatica. I started wearing zero drop shoes and I haven't had a problem since, I even feel like I have better posture and feel taller. LOL. I primarily wear Xero brand, but I also have a few no-name pairs from Amazon that feel good too.

I wouldn't skip a third lab science. Echoing the others that say do the labs separately and finish up where you left off from 8th grade. You could probably do a lab intensive two weeks this summer and knock out the entire years worth then take your time with the rest of the book material over the next school year.

You might like to explore this website for some free classes in that age group. https://athomemiddleschool.com/ I have an 11 year old homeschooler too. She did The Basics of Critical Thinking earlier this year. It will not take a year to go through so this is a great time to start this. Here is the other stuff she is doing, just for a reference/suggestions. She is fairly advanced (IMO) and very self-motivated so we try to pick materials that are more written to the student and need minimal input from me other than checking work or clarifying instructions. Literature: Exploring the World Through Story (also has a writing component) Level G Writing: Classical Academic Press Writing & Rhetoric Grammar/Spelling: Christian Light Education Language Arts 6 Math- She going through the Learn Math Fast Series as review as we plan to start Algebra next year. She is in the pre-algebra portion right now. I also have the Pre-Algebra book from Critical Thinking Company. Math Mammoth is also a great suggestion, we used that up until this year. These are all self-teaching materials. Science- We already have a Miacademy subscription so she is doing Earth Science through there, but if not I would have used Novare Earth Science. History- She loves Christian Light Education's Middle School History, this year she is doing World History (Level 7), it has a textbook+workbooks. We also listen to SOTW audiobooks on the way to co-op. This year we are cycling through Middle Ages. I also considered using Critical Thinking Company's History Detective, but I think I will save that for later.

We have been in the same Co-op for 5 years. It IS a total time suck, especially since its a bit of a drive from us so it eats up an entire day. BUT since I work full time it is the one day I have slotted to do things with the kids out of the home, otherwise we would be at the mercy of a crazy schedule and they wouldn't get to see the same peers on a regular basis. So I just take it for being a 100% social thing and don't expect too much out of it academically.