I totally agree. I had experienced "burn out" last fall and placed my children in private school. It lasted four months until I brought them home. The one on one instruction wasn't there. When a concept wasn't grasped, the teacher told my son "We have to move on." and my son remained clueless. Many things were memorized and not learned. The teachers were very nice but I know my children and expected more than what the school had offered. Thankfully, some veteran hs moms came to the rescue when I brought my children home. It makes such a difference when the support is there and the time away from hsing really gave me time to focus and prioritize some things. Best wishes in whatever route you choose.

Blessed Heritage is a wonderful resource for African American Literature and the author, Belinda Bullard, also gives a wonderful list of resources and information at the back of her guides. These are literature based U.S. History guides. She has a lower elementary level and a junior high level. Her history guides are inclusive. She teaches African American history within History itself and doesn't exclude other contributions from other races. There is a youtube video of the entire "I have a Dream Speech" and History.com has some videos as well. There is so much more to African American History than Dr. King, George Washington Carver, Rose Parks, Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, etc. I remember learning about the same people, year after year, in ps. I always knew there had to be more info out there and there is. I'm so glad that I can teach this to my children. It was interesting to learn that an African American built and designed Washington, D.C. and many African Americans invented tools that we use everyday. Belinda's Guides are an awesome resource. African American history is all of our history because each race has contributed to the building of our nation.:)

You can't go wrong with either. Android has multiple free apps. Several have entertained my daughter in waiting rooms, etc. Both systems have Amazon Kindle, Nook, Audible, Borders and Android also has Google Books and other e-readers as well. I don't know why most Android apps are free vs. Apple but I guess that's something to consider. I have an HTC EVO 4G (android) cell phone which has a pretty huge screen so I use it to read e-books to my daughter. She loves it. If I were to invest in a tablet, of course, I would pick the Samsung Galaxy Tab. P.S. Someone mentioned that Angry Birds is free on android. True. Also, Words with Friends will be added this month. :D

If you can't find a writing class, Apologia's Jump In is a great writing program for a reluctant writer. The lessons are short and fun but get the job done.

We've always been year rounders. After a 4 month hs break (Kids tried private school), we are back at it but I'm going to school "lightly" during the summer. It's been a hectic year for us.

I would definitely go with Key to series. I have 7th graders also and the fraction books were really helpful and they are inexpensive as well.

Wow! This really encourages me to stick with ACE. ;) You've received some feedback here but as I said, you will find tons of support/answers on Homeschool Reviews.com, ACE and SOS yahoo groups from users also. There are many users via that forum as well as the yahoo groups that have used it and had successful graduates. One mom has several children and all pursuing their doctorates in their fields and one who is actually in medical school. I'm not here to sway one way of the other. I don't like people doing the same to me. I also don't like to bash a curriculum that doesn't work for us because it could actually be another family's blessing. It all depends on your child learning style and your goals. Just do your research, pray and definitely follow His lead. :) CLE (Christian Light Education) are spiral approached workbooks similar to ACE and Lifepacs also. We've used those as well although my children prefer mastery. Another great option. :-) Blessings to you!

We have used both. Actually, I've used ACE then went on my own "rigorous" route for years and now back to ACE. Unfortunately, life changes so our hs route changed also. You won't receive any positive reviews of ACE here because after all, this is a classical forum and ACE is not considered classical nor "rigorous" for that matter. Just as every curriculum, ACE isn't for everyone either. Yes, it's mastery, colorful and promotes indepedence just like SOS. I think ACE is easier to teach compared to SOS because SOS had glitches as far as the answers being placed in the computer. The system required the answer to be word for word etc. and Lifepacs left some teaching info out as far as explanations go . Very confusing for me. ACE is easier for me and no, I don't allow my children to score their own work. LOL! ACE is really slow in the early years because it builds a foundation for the latter years. The latter years, around middle school, pan out just as most Christian curriculum. ACE is a gentle mastery curriculum. My oldest had attended an ACE school in the past before coming home. The school actually "trained" their teachers how to use ACE properly as they were suppose to and they held education degrees as well so that may have made a difference too. From my experience, every ACE school is different, just as every ps is different. You have your good and bad in all. :-) You can use either as is or tweek. We add literature to our ACE history and such. No problemo. ACE also offers Standardized Testing each year (Standford 10 I think) to check your child's progress. Basically, you just have to think about your hs goals and your child's learning style along with your teaching style when considering using any curriculum. There are reviews of both on Homeschoolreviews.com and also some helpful yahoo groups on both if you need further info. There is a hs mom who has a blog with ACE samples. If you need it, just inbox me. Hope you find something that works for you. :-)

WG only takes about 15 minutes a day so yes, it can be used as a supplement. As the pp mentioned, it's grammar in all it's glory. Wonderful program!

Congrats to you!

Yes, that question has been asked several times but I understand why the board hasn't changed. Several posters have children in different stages so we would definitely hop around a bit.

CLE: Reading, LA, Math, Science and History Apologia: Writing (Jump In) and Bible (Who is God) Rosetta Stone: Japanese Logic: Logic games Art: How to Teach Art to Children Music: Vox Music Masters CDs and Piano lessons PE: Karate and Flag Football

Here's ours. Happy WW!:)

My youngest loved Kumon books and Starfall.com at that age. Kumon books taught her how to work scissors. I'm not sure if that was a good thing because she likes to cut up everything now. :lol:

I agree about dropping BJU Reading. Reading is a part of MFW as well as dictation and narration assignments.