We liked SpellWell. Lots of different activities.

Noeo Science is also great, but much more money.

We liked Christian Kids Explore Biology by Bright Ideas Press. Love that whole series.

My daughter is thinking of transferring colleges. The college she wants to transfer to says to put your ACT score if you have it, but not to take the test now if you didn't do it in high school. Her ACT score is ok, not great, and not really high enough for this school. She is thinking of just not putting her ACT score on the application, even though she did take the test. I think that would be considered lying and a dishonorable thing to do. And then if it comes out that she omitted the test score even though she took the test, wouldn't that go on her record? What are your thoughts? Am I making too big a deal of this?

If you wanted to do Ancient History in one year, I'd think you'd need to add Ancient Egypt and Ancient Rome, at least.

We used Tapestry of Grace, also a Classical curriculum, and they teach states & capitals during the Anerican History portion...late 1700s through the mid-1900s. So it begins at the end of Year 2 and continues through the middle of Year 4.

The Apologia Exploring Creation books are great for teaching multiple elementary ages. They have Astronomy, Zoology (3 of these), Anatomy & Physiology, probably others. They are from a Christian viewpoint. Pretty inexpensive, too.

I second Mavis Beacon. My kids liked it. You can set up separate accounts for each child.

DuoLingo is a free app.

The Pendericks series by Jeanne Birdsall.

*The Ascendance trilogy by Jennifer Neilsen...The False Prince, The Runaway King, The Shadow Throne *Heroes of Olympus series and The Kane Chronicles, both by Rick Riordan *Sisters Grimm books by Michael Buckley *Chasing Vermeer, The Calder Game, The Wright Three, by Blue Balliet *The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer *Books by Esther Friesner (historical fiction) *Lady Grace Mysteries by Grace Cavendish *Theodore Boone series by John Grisham *H.I.V.E (Higher Institute of Villainous Education) books by Mark Walden *IQ series by Roland Smith *Sammy Keyes books by Wendelin Van Draanen

The public high school my rising senior attends requires economics for graduation. They also "strongly recommend" a personal finance class for graduation, meaning a parent has to give written permission to opt out their kids. In our homeschool, we require both of those 2 classes. I would agree that Econ is a better choice than accounting or psychology, if it's just a generic elective you are plugging in. But that said, you know your kids and situation best. I find it really hard to balance academics with delight-directed learning, so if psych is something your kid is interested in, then go for it! Also, he could take Econ in college...I took it as a college freshman.

David McCullough has several...John Adams, Mornings on Horseback (Teddy Roosevelt), Truman. Joseph J. Ellis...His Excellency: George Washington and American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson

This year for 9th (2015-16) for DS we took him out of the Christian high school over Christmas so only did 2nd semester with him, finishing up what he had started 1st semester... Medieval History w/Maps (TOG Year 2) (½ credit to combine with his ½ credit 1st semester) Medieval Lit (TOG Year 2) (½ credit) Geometry (MUS) (1 credit as he finished the book) Physical Science (homegrown) (½ credit) Church History (¼ credit) Writing (part of TOG) (½ credit) Fine Arts (TOG) but don't think I'll count it cuz it's pretty sporadic....or might count it over a few years 10th grade (2016-17) History and Literature-1800s (TOG Year 3) Algebra 2 (MUS) Biology (probably Science Shepherd) Economics for Everybody Church History (TOG) French 1 (at local PS) Debate (at local PS)

There is one at fiveJs.com. It's an excel spreadsheet for grades and other records, provided by a homeschool mom.

I would do Medieval for 9th grade. At least here, World History is a 9th grade course and the upper grades are for American History & Government/Econ. We are a TOG family and I know they say that Dialectic is perfectly acceptable for 9th grade. At any rate, I would make sure we did not skip Medieval in high school. In my experience, that is the history that gets lost once kids are in high school, since there are less history credits required.

I second Tapestry of Grace! It's great for multiple ages, covers a lot of subjects (history, literature, church history/Bible, geography, fine arts & activities, government, philosophy), has great literary analysis, is a Christian, Classical curriculum, and is academically sound. We love it.

Another option for a serious music student (or dance or theatre or visual art or creative writing or film) is a performing arts boarding school. Our oldest spent 2 years at Interlochen Arts Academy in northern Michigan for theatre. She was homeschooled 6th-9th and went there 10th and 12th grades. They have phenomenal teachers and kids get to really focus on their arts area. Interlochen kids get into the best universities and conservatories. They also have really good financial aid, which is the only way we could afford it. There are other performing arts boarding schools, too...LaGuardia in NYC, Walnut Hill in Massachusetts, S. Carolina Governor's School and several others. I know it's a big step going from homeschool to boarding school but we realized we needed to think outside the box b/c our daughter had so much talent and potential that wouldn't have been realized with the local resources. We do not regret the decision to send her and she just finished her freshman year at a top theatre school, Mason Gross School of the Arts @ Rutgers, making the Dean's list both semesters. None of that would've happened without Interlochen.

We have 5 kids and are still paying off my husband's law school loans, so the kids know we will not be paying for their college. We only have one in college now...she had to go out of state b/c there aren't good schools here for her degree (BFA in Acting). She got a 50% merit scholarship and took out loans for the rest. Having to deal with the money aspect of college has really opened her eyes and now she is working 2 jobs this summer to help pay for it.

We seem to be at the opposite end of the spectrum on this. We have 5 kids and they have all gotten a cell phone when they hit 6th grade. When our oldest got hers (she's now a rising college sophomore) it wasn't a smart phone. But now our youngest (rising 6th grader) has an iPhone 5c. On our plan (AT&T family plan) there is no cost difference between non-smart phones and smart phones. We LOVE the convenience of all the kids being reachable by text or phone. And the shared calendar feature is awesome...my kids know to put their activities on the calendar, cuz they are much more likely to happen if I can see them. And so many people don't have landlines anymore, so it's always awkward to borrow a friend's cell phone to get in contact with us. I personally don't like even my own kids to borrow my cellphone...there's so much on it. Also, around here at least, all their friends have phones, so they would lose out socially if they didn't have their own phone. Plus, we can teach them cell phone etiquette and it teaches responsibility.

Susan Wise Bauer also has upper level history books...History of the Ancient World, History of the Medieval World, History of the Renaissance World.

Thank you, Lori D.! This is a really helpful list!

If it were me, I'd go with Plan B, both kids together, to make it easier on myself. I'm sure you could research and find creative project ideas for the time period you're studying.

My DS is using MUS Geometry this year as a freshman. He likes it a lot. I plan on using MUS through high school, as long as it keeps working. We need to use something with the teaching on DVD for sure, plus MUS is pretty inexpensive compared to other programs out there. We've been very happy with it.

Definitely dress up for the interview! I tell my kids you should dress up for any interview, to show you are mature and realize the importance of the whole process.