I tried to make our first CC classes something that the kids would enjoy. DS1 did World History, DD1 did Geography, and DD2 did Drawing. All three helped pick these since they were some of their interests. After those, we moved to tougher classes like English and Math, etc.

I had my daughter do the Essentials in Writing book last year in 11th grade. This year, she was taking English through the community college for dual credit. I honestly don't feel that EIW prepared her enough for it. The CC class was pretty strict about using peer-reviewed, college level sources, as well as in-text citations, and that was a big jump for my daughter. For my younger kids, I'm going to research and find something more heavy to help them be better prepared. Just not sure what yet?

Yes, they do! Writing Research Papers: The Essential Tools Student Book: Lesha Myers: 9780984549689 - Christianbook.com

If all plans work out, I will be homeschool DS for 10th next year. Here's what we are planning to use: English- IEW's Essays and Research Papers, English from the Roots up Math- Saxon Algebra 2 History- Mystery of History 4, with tons of primary sources for literature to round it out. Science- Apologia Biology Spanish 1- undecided Programming- Python, and his engineer Uncle to help 🙂

Do you think she would do well with something more hands-on? If that's the case, Mathusee has a great program for Algebra, with maniupulatives. My son did well with it!

What do you all think is the best college prep writing program? Ive been a huge fan of IEW for years, and my older 2 used it exclusively, all the way through high school. They did fine transitioning to college writing. However, my next daughter has struggled with the transition. She has a few learning issues from spending her early years in foster care. She is 12th grade now, and taking English 101 as dual credit. I thought she would also do well after years of IEW, and we also used Excellence in Writing some too. However, it seems like the college class transition has been a shock to her. She has really struggled and has need quite a bit of tutoring. Thank God, I believe shes going to pass now! My next 3 kids after her, have also spent years in foster care, so I'm wondering about another program for them. Something that gives lots of practice in writing reports and essays, something that teaches how to find college level sources, etc. Any recommendations?

My oldest daughter did Dave Ramsey's course for high school and I gave her an economic course credit. She's in full time college now and has had no trouble.

Not a book, but the best resource we have found was a miniseries called "Into the West". Very tragic, but so educational too.

I think Starfall.com is the best for online phonics games. Several of my kids have used it when they were younger.

We used a program called "How to be a Superstar Student" that was great for teaching notetaking, study skills, etc. I highly recommend it. It is a DVD series, that could probably be covered in about 2 weeks if youd like. Maybe you could take a pause and do a program like that?

If you want the credits to be accepted, I would say apply to a state university. Unless he really has his heart set on MIT or GT? Maybe you could talk to those schools and see what would transfer before you apply. My daughter did community college in high school, but didn't fully earn her AA. She later found out that some of her classes still didn't transfer when she went to the State University. Most did, thank God! But she was frustrated about the few that didn't.

Thanks for all the recommendations everyone! It seems like there are several great programs to chose from. We need a program that we could count for a high school elective. Which ones would work best for that?

I need recommendations for a programming curriculum? Does anyone have experience with Khan Academy's programming lessons? Likes or dislikes? Or is there something else you would recommend for a kid who *LOVES* video games? I would like it to be something he can do easily on his own.

She has been evaluated by speech therapist a few times. She suffered from recurrent ear infections when she was younger and was delayed in her speech because of it. However she received ear tubes in 2018 and has improved greatly since then. I might look into having her reevaluated though now. Also, some of you mentioned the fact that she has been in foster care and that it could be related to that. We certainly agree with that. Although she has been with us for many years, we still see some trauma related behaviors in her. Also, it is suspected that she suffers from Fetal alcohol syndrome which we have not been able to get in official diagnosis for.

Thanks for all the advice. You guys are a treasure trove of information! I'm going to try some of the free tests you recommended during Christmas break. Then possibly discuss more with her teacher and principal. I never considered that she could be lacking in phonemic awareness, especially since she learned the letters and their sounds so early. But now you've definitely got me wondering.