I am not entirely sure how this is helpful on this thread -- There are scientists -- credible, intelligent, professionals who believe in Creationism. Yes, I understand they are in the minority. I understand the concern of "if you don't want creationism taught as an option go elsewhere" but to come on a thread where someone is looking for a Creation based biology course and say it is not "an actual scientific approach" or is "unscientific" seems a bit unhelpful. I get we disagree on this topic, and I am not looking to debate it, just gently tell you that your post comes off condescending to those of a different belief, especially on a thread specifically looking for Creation science options...

In our situation the SAT/ACT test is key. We live in Florida and desperately need her to qualify for Florida Bright Futures. We have our eyes set on the lower level scholarship which covers 75% of tuition. My dd needs about a 200 pt increase on the SAT to qualify. Great effort to make that happen will be very worth it in the end. We did take it at the end of summer after 3 months off of school and she tested poorly on math which was very surprising to me because in the past she has tested strongly in math with a weakness in LA. I think testing after the school year this year before summer will make a big difference. As soon as she hits that minimum score we are done. I just anticipate she will need to take it a total of 3 times to give her the best chances. I have heard 3 times is not abnormal.

Special needs definitely play into the self doubt here. All of my kids struggle in some areas. My husband and I do not. I don't fully understand the struggle and so trying to adjust expectations is a super challenge. My oldest is an excellent student with terrible comprehension and horrible test taking abilities. My middle is undergoing evaluation for APD this week. My youngest is diagnosed with dyslexia. No one just steadily and easily plows through curriculum where I can see a naturally steady box checking of "we are doing enough." Hence the doubts. I don't think a b/m school would benefit them . . . homeschool is definitely the best choice...but "am I enough/doing enough to teach them / meet their needs?" screams at me often. Also, I am a perfectionist my nature and well, parenting and homeschooling doesn't allow me any sort of perfection so it is easy for me to see regular failures as "failing." Homeschooling has definitely helped me to see my own flaws!

My dd is a terrible test taker so our plan may not be for everyone. She took the SAT in August and will take the ACT in December -- whichever she ends up doing better on, we will do significant prep in the spring for her preferred test and take that test end of spring/early summer. And then again in Fall.

All the yes. Often. Probably too often. Some days are great. We are confident in our decision to homeschool...moving steadily ahead ... and then bam. Massive wave of self doubt. I also struggle with chronic illness which has caused us to outsource more of high school than I anticipated but it has worked out great. Until I panic, lol. Any time my kids "fail" at anything in school or life I doubt myself and our choices... Thankfully my husband and children do not waiver. My husband firmly believes in what we are doing and while he would support me if I wanted to put them into school, he does not believe that best. None of my kids are asking to go to school either so ... it is just me. I think there is a healthy balance of self awareness but I know I am way beyond that to a point where it is often unhealthy. My kids failures are not mine. Cognitively I know the right answers-- know we are doing a solid job in educating our kids . . .and yet the struggle is real.

There is definitely a learning curve. My ds is taking 4 live classes this year and 3 of them are on one day. It is a lot. He doesn't like it (neither do I) but it is just how it worked out. There are so many different details for them to work with . . . I am finally now, about 6 weeks into school, starting to see some progress, They will get used to the different platforms . . . the biggest issue we have run into with different providers is different breaks. More than one provider means potentially not getting a (complete) spring break at all. Thus far, it has been worth it and we choose different providers, but I try to keep it limited if possible.

With my first we used Abeka phonics, next two used All About Reading. AAR is hands down our fave. I wouldn't want to teach reading any other way. The pre-level is perfect for younger kiddos that want to learn but still need some pre-reading skills.

My dd took the SAT on 8/28 also. No prep-- just wanted to see where our baseline was. Not sure if that was a good idea or not as she felt pretty defeated afterwards. Oh well, first kid. I'm trying. 😜

This, I facilitate and I outsource. I don't have time to read everything or be a master of all they are learning. This works best for us.

That was super helpful! Thank you!!!!

I am wondering if something is off with my access. I only have the right side of what you have listed here, not the left (unit resources). I am not seeing any worksheet pages, can't find any assessments, no audio files . . . I am not sure what is going on. Last year I was teaching and had access to everything but this year I only have the Lampost package . . . what am I missing?

We use Mr D. My ds is taking Geometry this year (live classes just started this week). It is a great fit for my average math students.

We are conservative Christians and believe in following the Bible. Therefore, we believe that sex is beautiful within the confines of the marital relationship. That said, premarital sex is a sin, but not the end of the world. I am very aware of purity culture. We keep open conversations with our kids-- that God created a certain plan that involves us remaining pure in all aspects of lives-- of heart, mind and body. Sexual purity is not to become an idol and people who have made mistakes or those who have had that taken from them are not broken or second class.

This is tough... immersion is by far the best way to learn a language -- but it is also nearly impossible to recreate outside of actually being with a native speaker for LARGE chunks of time. Once or twice a week in a class is not going to create a true immersion experience. This is why most go the textbook route. It can be accomplished more easily and steadily. Conversation with a fluent or native speaker is necessary with the text to make any kind of conversation progress. That said, I am not familiar with ULAT and how it works, so no help on that front.

Quite a few changes but I think we are all set now. The tutorial we were planning didn't work out but we will be getting together with 2 of dd's best friends for weekly writing and science so that should be good. I am also teaching a weekly Spanish conversation club in my home so I am excited about that as well. We start next week and I am not ready to let go of summer. I just ordered the last of our materials yesterday . . . never have I been this behind in planning. This will be our 12th year homeschooling and ugh ... I am the least prepared I have ever been.

This looks like it would be helpful for our family. Thank you for posting.

This can be a super frustrating experience. We have been there. I usually say something along the lines of "We decided long ago that we would reassess every year and wherever our kid would get the best education and experience-- that is what we would do. As of now that has been homeschooling." My mind is not super closed to brick and mortar school but as long as homeschooling is the best choice it will be our choice. And I don't see that changing. As my kids have gotten older and people see how awesome they are becoming as humans 😉 I face less backlash from those that know us. But when you don't have a fabulous 11th grader to parade around as "personal proof of the benefits of homeschooling" it can be a bit trickier. 😜 Stay strong. It is your choice whether to engage or ignore, but either way, be sure to have a conversation with your child who witnessed it. You don't want doubts to wiggle into their minds.

One more question! I see the premium option has the workbook online in an "interactive format" -- does this grade it? If so, it may be worth $20... Includes all activities from the Cuaderno: practica por niveles in an interactive format.

The did you get it pages are the workbook pages we used for reinforcement. Is there access to tests/quizzes, test audio files/text audio files?

So how do you get access to the teacher materials if the homeschool kit is out of print and they only are selling the student edition?

Did you click on "review lesson 1"? on my teacher's account there are corresponding workbook pdf's there.

Thank you for your help. I went ahead and signed him up for Excelsior. Because they don't have an attendance policy and you can take the class fully recorded, I think it will work. He will be able to do the live class most of the year, but will likely miss a lot during tennis season. I also signed him up for the composition and grammar workshop. Hoping they are a good fit!

This is very helpful, thank you! May I ask what you prefer of Excelsior over Big River Academy? The Excelsior Biology class was my preference but the time does not look like it will work. I appreciate the feedback compared to Schole. My ds is taking logic there next year but the Biology text doesn't align with our worldview unfortunately.

Anyone have any feedback on these? Which to choose and why? Specifically looking for high school biology and maybe a composition class.

I did order from HMH but I was only able to do so because I was working at a small Christian school...I am no longer teaching there next year but need to do Avancemos 2 with my ds next year. I will check out Kolbe as the student access is really what I mostly need I think.