If you just want to supplement I would do the Guide Books and the new puzzle books. There is grade 2 and 3 out right now. All the teaching is in the guide books.

The one in Utah was ripped down by two athletes who were upset that people were damaging the area to go see it. Athletes say they removed Utah monolith, legal case unclear - KAKE

We did it years ago with my oldest. I remember it getting pretty repetitive. But we were doing it every day for a short break from other maths. I think the intention is to only do it a couple times a week over the course of a semester. My daughter enjoyed it and she didn't like math very much at that point. I think it would be a worthwhile purchase to add to your math options. It's digital so it won't take up too much room. 😉

I have found that the years when the kids really need more outside social time but can't get themselves anywhere is the toughest on me because I am being pulled in several directions at once. I work on keeping our schedule as streamlined as I can so I am not running around like a headless chicken. The middle years are also more difficult concept wise but their independent learning faculties are not very developed. We have routines and systems for getting the housework done with as little difficulty as possible. All the kids help with that. For my own sanity I make sure to do some learning alongside the kiddos (things I am interested in) and I volunteer at a homeschool library for "me" time.

Miss - Great Courses Geometry, it just didn't make sense to my daughter. We switched to school yourself geometry and she is enjoying and retaining that much more. Poor thing was crying over the old math when I told her that we would fire that teacher and find her a new one. She thought that was great and has told several people that I fired her math teacher. lol Hits - Most things are going fine, but we are especially enjoying the Great Courses World History (high school level lectures) coupled with art history. DD is an avid artist so she takes the time period covered in the lecture and researches the art of the time. Then she chooses an art piece to recreate herself. She happily does history now even though I was told she doesn't like the subject. We are doing a unit on Digital Photography for science. She is watching a Great Courses photography class and I have added in a lot of information on lenses, and light, and color. She tells me she is doing "labs" as well by taking pictures. We'll spend the rest of the year on Astronomy. Mix - A writing course at coop. I love not having to grade the papers, but DD isn't thrilled. She likes seeing her friends but the homework is annoying. She'd rather just write an essay a week. We probably won't return next semester. Hmmm, maybe I can pay her older sister to be the evil editor for me....

Have you looked at Mathematical Reasoning (Critical Thinking Plus)? It is very consumable but the problems are often more puzzle like, so similar to MEP in that respect.

Dad is officially working at home full time now. He stays in his office and can't interact with us when he is on the phone, so in essence nothing will change. We will have the extra interruption of him coming out at various times for breaks and lunches. But I think I can handle that. It is nice to have the extra time from not having to commute to work and the less laundry since he isn't wearing business casual half the day and jeans/t-shirt the other half. I guess I could now actually use the threat, "wait until your father goes on break".

If she is an avid reader, encourage her to read The Phantom Tollbooth and Number Devil, as they might help inspire an interest in math concepts. Also the book series by Danica McKeller, starting with Math Doesn't Suck, is a good overview of math concepts. For a one year cover of elementary arithmetic that isn't a huge textbook, I would suggest Mastering Essential Math Skills book 1. It's one worksheet a day and since mom can fill in the missing pieces of instruction it could get the job done without being overwhelming.

We enjoyed The Number Devil more than Penrose, but I would say Penrose teaches more (it has puzzles to try). At once a week you could get through both in a single year.

Rarely does the test show anything I don't already know. We have to take tests odd years starting in third grade. I only give them the CAT test, so we don't test for history or science topics. The last test taken was for my son who didn't really start reading on his own until this past year (he's 12). His spelling was really low, which is not surprising (actually none of my kids tend to test well in spelling). But his reading levels were at age level or a bit higher. That surprised me, I thought they would be lower since he was such a late reader. So I won't be changing what we are doing for reading and we had already started direct instruction for spelling. I guess all that to say, I don't do anything with test results unless there is something that actually surprises me.

My oldest two got theirs when they started driving at about 16/17. We have a "house phone" that my 14 year old uses often as an Mp3 player. But none of my youngest have one that is specifically theirs. Although three of them have kindles and two have laptops, so they are able to communicate with friends via apps, just not own their own cell phones.

One of the professors at our local university uses homeschool kids as guinea pigs in her P.E. classes (where she teaches college students how to teach). Due to the virus her students created short videos to teach instead. If you are interested you can watch the videos for free and then help them get some feedback by filling out a little survey for each one. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1by9xdq7WHloVWNXUCYExGYpdhygGXpT2AbT8M0I3b80/edit There are different videos for different age ranges.

There is a copy of the pre-algebra for sale on HomeschoolClassifieds.com for reasonable. Not an ideal way to get to see it but at least a cheaper way. Have you looked at Critical Thinking Press? Their books are colorful with some review.

I run a homeschool library and we get the most stuff in May and June. People are cleaning out and giving all year long but our biggest dump times are then.

DragonBox Big Numbers would be a good review of addition and subtraction with larger numbers. If they need shoring up with basic facts then do the DragonBox Numbers app. They are fun. www.dadsworksheets.com/ has some games as well as worksheets. All free. There are a ton out there. Google free math games and you'll find a lot.

A fun online game that really works the logic side is Lure of the Labyrinth. It's free. We have really enjoyed it here. https://labyrinth.thinkport.org/

There are free apps that take you through a 7 minute or 10 minute workout. Most of the time they don't require any equipment. You can also find kid workout youtube videos or at the library. I think those would be the simplest way to have PE each day.

Next year we are going to have the kids trade names. Up until this year the kids tended to give hand made things or toys their siblings like. Not a whole lot was added to the household. But they all have some sort of funds now and the pile of sibling to sibling gifts is considerably more substantial this year. I love that they are generous but none of us really need a bunch of "stuff". Especially since the younger three are still shopping at the Dollar Tree. I think a single, more thought out gift would be nicer. I'd also like to not be missing a loved one that passed away that year (it's been a regular part of the holiday for about 4 years now). Otherwise we already keep things fairly simple and I enjoy our traditions. Although I could give up decorating sugar cookies, so much to buy/mess/sugar for something no one is super excited to eat after the first one.

When my oldest complained about doing the science concepts classes I required (not math heavy at all, not even labs per se) instead of just letting her do more history and writing (her favorites), I told her I wanted her to be interesting at a cocktail party. And not be embarrassed because she didn't understand basic terminology used in a variety of fields. I wouldn't call our style rigorous at all, but I am trying to allow my children I have left to really shine in their strengths while still requiring a general literacy. With my oldest two I think I pushed the general literacy more and didn't encourage/push them to excel in the areas they really loved. It's a balancing act.

Yes, I guess unit studies can be rather contrived to make sure they add in everything. But your description just sounded like a quality interest based unit study since there wasn't a single project that was the foundation. But, like I said, I am not an expert and so my perception may be backward. But apparently what I considered PBL was much more complicated (months long projects where the child had to learn various skills and content to accomplish the project). Your description of science demonstration sounds, sadly, like most of the "labs" we did in high school. To me, demonstrations were things like blowing up balloons with different elements inside to show how you can get the various firework colors. Great fun, but not something the kids actually did. I'll just listen and learn now.

In the 90's and 2000's #4 would have been simply called a hands on unit study. I always considered PBL to be #3. #1 was what people did when they wanted to make learning fun or needed a way for their child to express what they learned without writing. #2 is something the teacher does to, well, demonstrate a topic, but isn't PBL since the child is just watching not creating the demonstration themselves. But I am no expert and haven't read the 'official' PBL books/web sites that have been created. I agree that they all have merit and can be enjoyable. But the level of actual learning is different (and dependent on the child).

I haven't used it yet myself but Layers of Learning would cover all three and you can choose how in depth you can/want to go for your children. https://layers-of-learning.com/

I agree that people don't actually research homeschooling much. I run a homeschool library and most newbies come in wanting "7th grade". Sometimes they have looked up curriculum, but often they have no idea what their options are. Then we have to do the twenty questions game to see if there is something I can suggest on our shelves. Although, mostly I just try to suggest focusing on the basics (reading and math) while they figure out the whole homeschooling thing in general. I wish there was a current Elijah Co style catalog. They defined the different styles of homeschooling and gave suggestions for quality materials in each style. But mostly they suggested quality literature and discussing them with your children. I started researching homeschooling in 1999 and the Elijah Co catalog was the first ray of hope as I muddled through what I though was an overwhelming amount of options back then. In our area we also have the "pleasing the charter school" conundrum. You can get reimbursed for some (mostly secular, state standard pleasing) curriculum. If you want to buy and use your own history curriculum, for example, that is fine, but your assigned teacher may require that you also must check some state standard off. So I often help moms find a simple workbook to fill that need. But it means more (busy)work for the family. It can often lead to overwhelm and stress too. The whole thing encourages buying grade leveled materials. Out of the box scope and sequences are not encouraged in any way, even for kids who are unique (in any direction). Very evident in the 5 feet of Sonlight/Konos/Weaver curriculum binders we have that never get touched.