Thanks! I'll take a look.

My 5th grade dd is in her second year of doing VP's self-paced history. Currently she is doing 1850 to present. I had thought I would have her do one of their earlier time periods (probably Romans) next year, as they are supposed to be for up to 6th grade. She loves the content and how the information is constantly reviewed, however, she finds the presentation a bit babyish. Is there another history out there for middle school ages that is not dry and has constant review? I also need it to be mostly independent. TIA!

Great suggestions! Keep them coming. Thanks so much!

No worries! I just checked out Cover Story and it looks like something my dd would LOVE! And your suggestion of a mentor made me remember a friend who does freelance writing and blogging on the side. She doesn't homeschool, but she has dc the same age as my dd, so she should know what level of work to expect.

Thank you for this list, Lori. I was hoping to be able to hold off on outsourcing writing until high school, but it probably is best to have more formal instruction before then. The Brave Writer classes look great!

Thanks. Dd enjoys writing and wants to be an author when she grows up. She writes all the time, but it is mostly creative (stories, songs, poetry, journaling). Yes, the tough part is how to address all the other forms of writing. I'll take a look at Wordsmith. I also just remembered Essentials in Writing is supposed to be pretty independent. I'll have to take a look and see what kind of writing it covers.

I'm not familiar with Climbing to Good English. I'll take a look at it. Thanks!

I am looking for writing, grammar and vocabulary that can be done as independently as possible until high school, when outsourcing will begin. My first thought for next year (5th) is Writers in Residence, but it's new and it doesn't seem like many have used it so far. Also, I'm not sure if the remaining volumes will be available in time. For writing, is it enough to simply require daily narrations and free-writes, and then to go over them together every week or two discussing mechanical and grammar errors as well as content? Is Wordly Wise beneficial for vocabulary? Or could I just find a list of good middle school level vocabulary to put on flashcards and have my dd memorize a few each week, using them in her writing? Thanks so much!

I am putting together a plan for my dh, should he have to continue homeschooling my dc without me. My dh only reads nonfiction and has no interest in literature. I would like a list of literature books that a reasonably well-read student should have read/listened to by high school graduation. I would like to break the list down into about five "must-reads" per year. After this year I will have only two school-aged children, one going into 9th grade and one going into 5th grade. Both of these children enjoy reading, so I am confident they will read above and beyond this list. However, the older one is like his dad and prefers nonfiction, and my youngest tends to enjoy modern literature (Holes; Harry Potter) and historical fiction more than classics. So, starting at 5th grade, what five books per year would you consider essential reading? Thanks so much!

Again, thanks so much everyone! I can't respond individually right now, but I want everyone to know I really appreciate the kind words, advice and prayers!!

So sorry, Margaret. The grandkids thing is hard. With my oldest graduated last year, I had really been looking forward to those days. Especially since we bought what I consider to be my dream house two years ago. It's the perfect setting for family gatherings with lots of grandkids.

Thanks so much everyone! A lot of great ideas! I am just brainstorming and plan on putting something together after the holidays. Right now I want to cherish every moment of this season and spend as much family time as possible. To be honest, my heart isn't really in to homeschooling right now. And I've always enjoyed it, especially the planning. My children are still plugging along, but we are taking frequent breaks to get together with extended family members and friends as much as possible. We will buckle back down in January and I'll get to work on my future plans. Thanks again for the suggestions. Very helpful!!

I've recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. I do intend to fight this battle with all my being, and I do believe God can heal me if it is His will. But I also have to be prepared for the worst. I have been given anywhere from 18 months to several (?) years. Our children have always been homeschooled and my dh has no intention of putting them in a brick and mortar school even if I am not around. He's very supportive of our homeschooling, but he has always left it up to me to do things as I see fit. He has asked that I plan out, as best I can, the remainder of our children's schooling. Our oldest graduated last year and our next one will graduate this spring. Our two youngest are who I need to plan for. They are 8th and 4th grades this year. We aren't exactly sure how this will work. My dh may hire a tutor to oversee their schooling, but he would like my input on what I would like the children to study and materials I prefer. Also, we live in PA, so the state requirements are pretty strict. I would love to know how others would go about this. We've always had a pretty eclectic style of homeschooling, dabbling in Charlotte Mason (Ambleside) and Robinson Curriculum at times. I'm happy now that I've worked towards getting my dc to work as independently as possible by high school.

Great! Thank you.

My ds will be a senior this fall. He's already earned two credits in Spanish taking community college dual enrollment classes. As it so happens, dh just got a job in Madrid and we will be moving to Spain in September. Could I give ds additional Spanish credit just by living in Spain for the year as long as he is using and improving upon his Spanish on a daily basis? We are planning to get a Spanish tutor for the family while we're there, but it may not work out for ds to participate. The rest of us are starting from scratch. We don't want to hold ds back. ETA - ds plans to come back to the US for college