I'd second Mod 1 Design from Youth Digital. He'll learn some amazing skills, make a mod he can share with friends/family, & have a great time doing it. It's pricey, but if you look for it over on Homeschool Buyer's Co-op you can get it with a lovely & hefty discount. :D

Oh yes, using a book list is a great idea too.. My eldest is using BookShark & we can obtain them all on audio via Learning Ally {vision disability}, but we can find a LOT from Bookshark 8 {similar to Sonlight 100} on audible. :D

I haven't read all the other replies so forgive me if I'm missing something because of that; I'm also going to be replying from the perspective of a Mamma with a child who does have a validated problem reading, but I also have a child who has no issue simply doesn't enjoy it. In our home our child with vision problem is often thirsty. It use to drive me batty, like I honestly thought he was being a bit obnoxious to need thirty sips of water to accomplish things. As it turns out, my child vision problem was causing dehydration & exhaustion. The brain scans of an average person reading compared to the brain scans of what my son's brain looks like are shockingly different. It's like comparing a small glowing nightlight to having your entire room lit up with 100watt bulbs. It made a huge difference in my attitude towards how he reacts in situations, kwim? Having said that, you did mention that he's often got an "excuse" for not doing things so I can understand why you'd be far more hesitant to think down that line. You also mentioned that he's not quite ready for "bigger" books yet & is much more on the line of the Magic Treehouse Books. what about: Polk Street Kids Series Humphrey's Tiny Tales A To Z Mysteries Barkley School For Dogs Stick Dog {really not living books, but they really suck my "non reader" in} Mercy Watson Encyclopedia Brown {getting a little higher in reading level, but as each 'chapter' is a new story/mystery it might go down well} Capital Mysteries Magic Schoolbus Chapter Books Geronimo Stilton {I know.. I know..} Flat Stanley {so many different levels depending on which ones you pick} Calendar Mysteries Third Grade Detectives Imagination Station One thing that really helped encourage my "non reader" to read during our recent term break was that I hung a sign up on the kitchen white board that simply said: Want a morning Wii Turn? Then Do... Daily Chores {red card} -- We do zones Read a book for 20-30 minutes & tell me about it Do something creative for 30 minutes Listen to read aloud There was no whining because it was clear what he had to do in order to get the electronic time. ;)

We own both Usborne & Kingfisher.. I think Usborne is more elementary where as Kingfisher is a bit more grown up.. Having said that I like Kingfisher better.. :)

Homeschool In The Woods Time Travelers.. Will take you from Explorers of the USA {not their best one at all} through WW2.. You could tie in with many books in audio format from Audible that are both on their book list{s} as well as scouting out some from other USA Book Lists. :) Another thought would be Drive Thru History USA

Oh Dear.. so many, I'll try to post them all, but seriously we have something like 23 pages of books in our Audible Library & at least that many in our wish list.. By The Great Horn Spoon -- different people play different voices, beautifully done Narnia {all of them} -- 2 versions to choose from BBC productions are like listening to a full cast radio show with sound effects, the other version is a narrator reading a book. Both are worthy, one is more abridged then the other. Anne Of Green Gables -- 2 versions to choose from, BBC Production or not. A Wrinkle In Time Poppy & Rye Series Hank The Cowdog True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle -- narrator is a little raspy, but we loved the story Harry Potter books -- we prefer the ones read by Jim Dale, beautifully done. Stephen Fry can't hold a candle to those Paddington Bear Books -- Stephen Fry does an amazing job to those ones Peter Pan Series -- ones done by Jim Dale, again fantastically done, but then I've yet to hear anything he's done, done poorly.. The Golden Goblet -- loved hearing those names read vs trying to get the pronunciation myself The Bronze Bow A Single Shard -- beautifully done Treasure Island -- we went with the one read by Neil Hunt my kids loved this book & couldn't get enough, I've never really enjoyed this story. ;) Daughter Of The Mountains -- again loved having someone else sound out the names {my kids didn't appreciate the narrator & said she sounded babyish, er my youngest said that..} Just So Stories Percy Jackson Series -- There was some language in them Little Britches Series -- Book one, at least, has some language A Little Princess -- LOVE, but then it's one of my favourite books of all time The Secret Garden -- there's a BBC production of this which is so-so because it's like reading the abridged version & since I so love this book I wanted the real thing Pippi Longstockings Fairy Tale Detectives -- There are foster children in these books so that might be an issue for some, as well as magic, & fairy tales being real. We've enjoyed what we've heard so far. Dr Dolittle -- love this book & my boy has enjoyed hearing it again The Series Of Unfortunate Events -- for whatever reason they do NOT have book 2, so annoying.. most of the books are a 1 man show, but Book 1 is available with many voices which was FUN Treasures Of The Snow -- again I love this book so I'm biased The Hobbit -- many versions available & I really don't like the book so I was grateful to find a way to "read" it "to" my kids Bible -- we have a few versions but the NKJV that is 99 hours for ONE credit was a TERRIFIC buy. It's read by many {different voices for different people} & has sound effects. My kids LOVE listening to it for our morning Bible reading {It's called The Word of Promise} Everything On A Waffle -- my boy loved this, but was annoyed at not having the recipes in hand Half Magic -- it was fun to listen to this while being lazy in the summer Ink Heart Trilogy -- all though I'm not keen on Brendan Frasier doing book 2, but that might be because the narrator from book 1 was just SO captivating Hunger Games Trilogy From The Mixed Up Files Or Mrs Basil E Frankweiler -- the only downer was an unexpected scene I didn't anticipate which was about drugs. Nothing bad, mind you, just the fear of someone they met being "one of those people". Miracles On Maple Hill -- many voices, in fact I think some that are also in Half Magic so if you listen to these back to back you'll wonder why your characters have new names! Gone Away Lake -- kids are asking for this again this summer All Of A Kind Family -- Oh, but I do so love the AOAK family books!! War Horse -- theres 2 crude words & one OMG in there Wizard Of Oz -- I think we have the one Anne Hathaway narrated which was free at one point, she reads it well, but lacks the time to take a breath between chapters which is a little weird. Little Women -- again another one I love Rodzina -- my boys still quote this book & we listened to it a year or so ago! 39 Clues Series 1 -- we've had a blast listening to these as a family Spy Dog Series -- we love Spy Dog, but I always feel I should warn that in one of the books {or two} the "baddie" is a drug seller Rangers Apprentice -- different narrators after book 5, but that might be because I had access to ones here vs there Fever 1793 -- beautifully narrated, all though my eldest freaked out about a getting a fever after we read that book a few years ago. :lol: Humphrey Hamster Books -- Well done! Lion Boy Trilogy -- we were riveted from the go, both with the story & the narration. It's more then a "once off" type listen book Olga DaPolga Books -- my boys really love these stories, & I agree they are well done City Of Ember -- of you've seen the movie you have to read the book, it's so much better & explains so much that was lacking The Evolution of Calpurna Tate -- love, love, love. If you have a naturalist amongst you it's a great listen for sure. Ramona Series -- It's Ramona, we love her. A Christmas Carol -- we have one done by Tim Curry and it's beautifully done. He does make an amazing narrator yes? Mary Poppins -- still struggle with Book 1 in that series because she's not the rosy cheeked nurse I expect, but it's well done all the same The Pennderwick Series -- I really love these books & the narration of them is great Nims Island Mr Poppers Penguins -- lots of sound effects The Water Horse -- totally different from the movie & oh so lovely!! My Side Of The Mountain -- really loved this, but I suspect if you have a copy of the book you might want to peek inside for a few portions {like when he describes his drawings..} Charlie Bone Series -- the first book sounds rough in regards to a bit of static in the recording, but it's still worth listening to because it lays the ground for th rest of the series. Hubs is so excited to listen to these with the kids this year The Miraculous Journey Of Edward Tulane -- well done, the narrator was perfect Despereaux -- I know some people found the story depressing, but we could not stop listening

We always have a poetry book going for the year, but it's generally the one picked with our SL Core. Bible wise we read through either OT or NT. This year it's OT while we do 90 Days In Matthew from AIO. Great Composers is a book we have that we'll be adding in shortly. Following along for some lovely Nature resources..

Yep, I was not a fan of W&R, not even a little.. I had hoped to be & now have a few of the books on the shelf I need to sell. I do love WWE & WWS though & perhaps was to comparative of the programme? Funny thing is, my child wasn't keen to stop W&R because he found it less work then WWE. That was all I needed to hear to put the book on the shelf & return to WWE. I've never thought twice about that choice.

No, I knew I'd seen longer samples once, but for the life of me I could not find them last night & was going crazy. I think I was looking for a SAMPLE section in the menu. Ha! Thank you for the direct link! :D

I'm curious, am I missing more in depth samples then the intros to the books? Just curious. :D

You could look for older iPods. They had ones that don't do anything, but music or audio books. You have to hook them up to the computer & transfer everything on to them. They had their place, all though I found them slightly frustrating for audio books because if you hit the wrong button or held the button to long you lost your place pretty quickly. Another thought is to just go to Amazon & type in ipod. They bring up all sorts of MP3 players that are as low as $20.

I do a "pencil in" over the summer. That means I map out our terms {past few years have been 4, 10 week, terms. Then I can divide up what we want to accomplish over that time frame. I make a big ol' spread sheet of it after it's all penciled in. Then during our 2 week break between each term I set aside a few hours to crank out my objectives & firm plans for each 10 week term. Usually it consists of 9 solid weeks of academics & 1 week to catch up on anything we've fallen behind on, tie up lose ends, projects, etc. Books, I try to order ALL at once, but if not I order 2 terms worth & then make a note in my calendar with an alarm to remind me of when I need to order the rest by. Everything for each term is ready to roll prior to starting because otherwise I limp.. badly.

Take a deep breath. It's not hard, it works in baby steps & for a while most lessons only take 20 minutes.

I'm really sorry you're not getting the support you need, that stinks. Have you looked at the Australian Homeschool Forums {Aussiehomeschool.com.au} you may be able to find some support groups in your area & people who can help provide you with information that might be informative to your family.

MUS has an entire Fraction book & so does LOF. :)

Core E is a beautiful core. The literature is all delightful. :)

We own 1 of those studies, obtained it when my children were much younger & I wasn't impressed with it to be honest. I really wanted Further Up & Further In, but at the time I didn't want to pay shipping across the big pond. We've used, & own ROAR, but I wouldn't call it a literature guide. It does have vocabulary, retention questions, Narnia Quiz, Quotes, Biblical Truths, etc. Fun basically. :) I wish I could find something like that for Harry Potter.

I wonder what the little girl would have said if JB had told her she could knit her some minecraft peoples/things. ;) Mine go through phases, but as electronic time isn't a free for all whenever you want it limits it. I have one who would have happily sat next to her & watched, the other would have rolled his eyes & said, "No, let's go play." ;)

I'm looking for a collection of fairy tales {book} for the older age range; 11 & upward. :)

Check pinterest, there's quite a few ideas there for Legos with math :)

:lol: Yeah, I told my husband the only problem I have is that I can't exactly go around stating it's initials. Imagine my embarrassment when I put the wrong letters together for AAS & then shortened BkSk. Oh my stars... Have you seen the Current History 8 booklist?

Hmm, interesting. I didn't realise you could purchase the Online IG separate, however as a forewarning something they did disclose is that after you open the online IG you only have 1 year to use it in or else repurchase. That rather annoyed me because it came "free" with the paper one so I didn't see the reason for the lack of access after 1 year. ;) Bookshark is a strict 4 day curriculum, where as SL has a 4 or 5 day option, all though their 4 day option isn't really only 4 days anymore. The LA is not included in the BkSk IG's where as it is with the SL IG's. BkSk will be renaming their IG's next year to levels {like SL} instead of having grades on them as they do now. They also won't have a Core 200 Equiv, but they will have highschool cores.

We abide by the country we live in as we are not military. It doesn't really bother me as my children are dual citizens anyway. To my understanding {as a US citizen outside of the US}, you have to follow the rules/laws of the host country unless you are military living on base.

What do you have that you can reuse? What can you use TOGETHER that will reduce your costs. For instance, can you use Volume 1 of SOTW & access your library for all those additional books that will help make it "More" for the olders. The test booklet & activity guide would give you some copywork, dictation, & retention questions for all. Tests for the olders, & a variety of activities. If you picked it up during one of their major sales you might save a lot.. unless they still have the scratch & dent sale & you could score something through there? Man, there are a lot of ideas out there but it would help to know your preferences.. For instance you could easily use something like The Word Snoop to cover grammar, but it wouldn't have a workbook & thus it might not appeal to you. Brookdale house just released a Grammar workbook that might cover your eldest three. It's available in PDF format & is all of $19. That would be pretty economical. Workbook wise you could also look over at Currclick as they often have sales {in fact they are having one now} & you might find things that would help you over there at discounted prices..