In the online course I teach I use a lot of video - it is SO much more interesting "seeing" the geography rather than reading about it. Michael Palin's videos were favorites of my own children's. I also plan to get the students to read books set in other countries. And play online games (Seterra etc). And the Google Maps / Earth is a great way to explore a city / area. Instead of using tests to check mastery you can get your daughter to create posters, make websites, plan itineraries for trips etc. That's what I did for my oldest 3. It is actually fairly easy to create your own curriculum for geography. I had bought / seen almost everything available and found it all pretty uninspiring. I wanted my kids to gain not only knowledge but an understanding and appreciation of cultures.

I homeschooled my oldest 3 all the way through high school - my oldest was in 8th grade when I started homeschooling as that was when we moved to the US from South Africa. I had no idea what I was doing and didn't even understand the US school and university system of credits and APs and ACT and SAT and all the rest. I felt a lot more daunted than you can every imagine - but the local schools were just not going to challenge my kids. I took it one year at a time and got through by doing a lot of research. My kids all wanted to try for the harder to get into colleges so that scared me. So I understand how you feel. But I managed - and now there are so many more resources available than I had at my disposal. Online classes were unheard of then so my only options for outsourcing were our local co ops or the local community college. We chose the largest local co op - and then got the kids involved in 4-H, sports and our local homeschool group (they participated in Quiz Bowls, Science Olympiad and lots of other contests through our group). They all got into colleges with less than 25% acceptance rate - and I was just feeling I had it more-or-less figured out when my youngest decided she was lonely at home (she is 5 years younger than her closest sibling) and so last year she started high school at a local public school. This school now offers the IB program which they didn't when my others went through high school - so my husband and I felt confident she would be challenged and well prepared for university. The students from this school do get into a lot of really good colleges so we felt comfortable sending her. I must admit - she is not learning nearly as much as her siblings did at home, and there is a lot of wasted time and "stupid" stuff - but she is happy and we know this was the best option for her. Remember, whatever you choose can be changed. A friend of mine is letting her son go to a STEM school this year - and he is in 10th grade. At the same time her sister-in-law is bringing their 10th grader home for the first time. Nothing is ever perfect. I would suggest as the year goes on you draw up a list of pros and cons and most likely it will become obvious which is the way to go. And then if you do that and it doesn't work - try the other way :)

We did our 4th one today ... in Florence! It was called "Adventure Rooms" and this one started off with us handcuffed. We made it out in the fastest time in 3 months so we were very happy. To answer some of the questions above: I am not super claustrophobic but definitely don't like feeling confined and none of these games has made me feel at all uncomfortable. They always start off telling you how to get out if you need to. Today we were told to bang on the door, wave at the monitors or anything to get her attention. Others have shown us where the emergency key is etc. And when we haven't escaped the one let us try for 5 minutes more - and then came in and the girl running it explained where we had gone wrong. The other time we didn't make it out we were on the final clue and so they just showed us what the solution was.

A friend of my daughters just found this site that lists a lot of the Escape Games all over the US by state and city http://escaperoomdirectory.com/#US

We live in Knoxville so here are some suggestions Cumberland County Playhouse - it's right near Crossville and probably has kid-friendly matinees Lost Sea - It is an hour away and you go into caves and on the underground lake Mayfield Dairy - also about an hour away in the same vicinity as Lost Sea - they have tours There is also a cheese farm with tours at Sweetwater In Knoxville: AMSE - fun hands on science museum (in Oak Ridge actually) Escape Games - 4 different ones (see my post in this forum about them - not sure how old your kids are so that might not work) Fort Kid - outdoor playground in downtown .. you could also walk around downtown, go up the Sunsphere etc Ijams - outdoor center with trails and also kayaking

My oldest is now doing her Masters ... so it was a while ago when I first starting reading books. I pretty much read everything in the local library - especially those that related to getting in to the more exclusive colleges. And my friend whose kids also applied to those colleges shared everything she was learning with me - including some discussions she had with someone who had been an admissions counselor at Stanford. And then I did a lot of googling etc. After many hours you start to build up a picture of what they are looking for. And then you watch as your own kids and others you know apply - and there is a pattern at who gets in where and who doesn't. And who wins scholarships and who doesn't. So .. I know that isn't super helpful but basically I just dived in and spent hours and hours and hours researching and there is no one resource I can point to or even remember.

I laughed when I read your "non disclaimer" at the top of your blog post. Like you, both this post and the one on the Escape Rooms I wrote out of shear enthusiasm and with no other motivation. And like you I am a sneaky educator wanting to find ways for the kids to always be learning. This sounds a lot like Stray Boots. I am about to write a blog post on preventing the "summer slide" and I will link to your blog post when I mention scavenger hunts as well as to mine so people can see the different ones available.

You need a smart phone as you do it via the app. But you can download the Scavenger Hunt while you have wifi so you don't need data or wifi while you are actually playing

I used a Groupon and it think it was about $24 for 4 of us. You pay per person and the Groupon was for 4. They often have short ones that are cheaper if I remember correctly.

Seeing as I got such a great response to my Escape Games blog post, I thought I would share something else we really enjoyed that we discovered last year, and yes, I was excited about that too and wrote a blog post as well :) http://fundafunda.com/blog/scavenger-hunts-great-way-explore-city.html Basically its an app that leads you on a tour around a city (quite a few American cities are covered) - but you get to each destination buy solving clues. Works on iOs or Android and watch Groupon, Living Social etc for good deals. That's how I first discovered them. Am hoping to do another one soon. (This one exercises the body as well as the mind as you have to walk!)

There is usually a lot to do so they can't really prevent everyone participating. The only point at which the competitive people will take over is when you are down to solving a final clue to get out of a room (sometimes there are multiple rooms you move through). And that can be irritating when you might know better than them but can't get close enough to see and your input is ignored. But for most of the time you are in a room with a lot to do so everyone is working. In fact, the one time we didn't escape the problem was that there were just 5 of us and the one high school student (a stranger) really didn't do anything. There was too much for just 4 of us. One idea that might work is if your location has 2 rooms that start at similar times. You split up and do different rooms ie each group is 1/2 family and 1/2 strangers. We enjoyed working with strangers and it isn't weird and we felt it actually added to the experience.

We just had to raise $12 000 in 3 weeks to get our Science Olympiad team to the National Tournament in Nebraska. We weren't expecting to win our State tournament so had done no fundraising at all. We did it and I am actually about to blog about how we did it A lot came from corporate sponsors, but here are 2 other ways that should work for you are * Schoola.com - you send in used clothing and they sell it on their site and the school gets the proceeds. You will just need to be sure it goes to the Cheerleading team *Pearup.com - you select a campaign that works for you (we did the US Cellular one) and then you get friends and family to do various things eg liking their FB page and each action earns a dollar. We earned $700 like that.

Anchored, all the ones we did were family friendly. I don't recall anything objectionable in any of the three. Happi Duck - too bad! I definitely would not want to do a horror one! I also saw one someone in CA that is a zombie one and there is a zombie on a rope in the room with you and every second the rope gets longer and he gets closer to you. No thank you!! A ticking clock on the wall is as much as I could manage. My 22 year old son did manage to give himself a fright in the one we did at Pigeon Forge ... he was the first to so something so I am not sure if anyone else would have had quite his reaction. But it wasn't anything "horrible" or truly frightening. Glad everyone enjoyed my review - I wish these places had affiliate programs. I could make a lot of money :) As it is, my review was completely unsolicited by any of them - I just thought many of my readers would have as much fun as I did. And then I thought about you all on here - and many of you seem to like the same things I do so I figured this could be a hit with many of your families.

I had never heard of Escape Games till about 3 weeks ago. We had to drive to Nashville to meet my oldest daughter who was flying in there for a wedding and we decided to stay overnight. I asked my younger daughter to pick something to do while we were there. And she found one on Tripadvisor. I was a bit dubious as I was expecting her to pick something more typical - but went ahead and booked tickets. And oh my gosh! It was SO much fun. I wrote a whole blog post on it - so if you like brainy stuff and solving clues - either google to find out more, or you can read my post. We are heading to Europe for a few weeks and plan to do ones in Florence and London to see how that compares with the ones we have done here. So far all have been great and also quite different.

If you are wanting something project-based, why don't you let your dd compete in National History Day? Students can pick any topic that fits the current theme, and they can present their research as a play, exhibit, website, documentary or paper. Students learn how to do proper research, how to write a thesis statement, the difference between primary and secondary sources and much more. It is a great preparation for college. And - homeschoolers tend to do well. 3 of my 4 children reached Nationals (a fun 4 days in DC!) and so have 2 other students from our local co op. And I know of at least 3 other homeschooled students in our town who also made it to Nationals.

I used Critical Thinking Through US History as part of the AP US History course I devised for my own kids. That was an easy way for me to incorporate reading historical documents and interacting with them throughout the school year. ( I left out the parts that didn't focus on the history). I also did National History Day with my kids. Doing the research for their projects taught them to use historical documents correctly. And then, in the final 2 weeks before they took the AP exam, we used the Princeton Review book to go over the test - and added in extra practice as those above have suggested. Do keep in mind that AP US History is changing this year - not sure if it will affect the DBQ portion much though. It is the easiest part of the test in my opinion as students really just need good reading skills and the ability to assimilate the information and structure their essays in a logical way.

"Learning How to Learn" seems one they all should take. I started it and got too busy to finish and haven't had a teen do it yet, but from what I did I can highly recommend it.

One of my friends used Jeanette Webb from Aiming Higher Consultants and her children got into really good colleges (and one got into West Point). I couldn't afford that so just read every book in the public library and did a lot of googling. Doing it that way I managed to help my kids get accepted to almost every college they applied to including Stanford, Univ of Southern California, NYU, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Emory and UNC Chapel Hill. So you can do it yourself :)

Just to add a different option - maybe you don't need a specific course. All my older 3 did Sonlight and in 11th grade wrote AP Lang and Comp. Two weeks before the exam they worked through the Princeton Review book and then took the exam. All of them got 5s. They all felt it was the easiest of all the AP exams. If your children are good readers and writers and you yourself are "OK" in this area, I don't think you really need to sign them up for a course. On my recommendation one of my son's friends also just took it (and he was doing a different curriculum - don't remember what). He also got a 5. Take a look at the AP test for that one if you haven't already. It is pretty general and doesn't need the same sort of prep other APs do.

Italian - with DuoLingo because we are visiting Italy this summer Various programming languages through Coursera, EdX, Udacity and Udemy because I was a programmer in my pre-motherhood days and now I teach online classes and I learn so that I can then teach And then I redeem the time I spend in the car listening to podcasts - this has been the best thing I started doing over the past year. I listen to Planet Money ('cause it's interesting), On the Media ( I have been teaching a Media Literacy class at our co op), This Week in Travel (I love to travel), Every Classroom Matters (well, I teach and this has lots of great ideas), and then various marketing ones (I run my own business)

For Geography (other than ones mentioned which are all great) Scrambled States Flag Frenzy BrainBox games are great. I use the geography ones for a co op class I teach but they have them available in many different topics. I just spotted one on Vile Villians that I will get for the class I am about to teach on Historical Criminals :) My kids loved Set for math. And 24 which someone else mentioned. Blurt is good for vocab and there is a Bible Blurt too

Great!! I am glad he enjoyed it and it was worth it for him. My own kids taught themselves but I have come to realize they are the exception. Plus, I actually do better with a class too. And deadlines. I have never finished an open-ended course yet.

I teach programming online now, but I used to do it at our local co op too, and I also found there are two groups. I have been wondering if others are finding the same thing and so it was very good finding this thread and I just read the article you linked to. I have a hard time when a parent emails and wants to know what their kids can do to improve - and I try to explain that I just don't think they have the ability. And it definitely isn't linked to age. I have an 8th grader who had no trouble with my Python course and an 11th grader who twice came to see me in person for extra help and eventually dropped out. For this reason I have a 4 week Intro class now that costs very little so that parents can test the waters and not shell out a lot of money on a class that their child will fail. I think I will try and figure out how to incorporate some kind of pre-test using that assignment example and watch how the results correlate to how kids do on a course

They have speech and an essay. I have had 3 of my co op students (one being my daughter) win this at State level - a nice $2500. I posted contests on my blog (fundafunda.com/blog) for a number of weeks - for a while I shared one contest a day on social media and then blogged about all 5 at the end of the week. Then I got too busy doing contests (I coach our Science Olympiad team) and so that fell by the way but there may be a few listed there that haven't been mentioned yet. Our homeschool group, and my own kids have done a lot of the ones mentioned (including the hacking one!) and I can say the benefit the kids derive is enormous, even when they don't win. But the kids in our homeschool group do win. Many of them have won or placed in contests - and a wide variety of contests! It would be great to see more homeschoolers doing contests. Almost all are homeschool friendly.

I teach online classes, and the only way I can do it cheaper is to use Teaching Assistants to do the grading. I can do that as the subjects I teach are easy for Teaching Assistants to grade. So I spend my time creating the videos and course content. The first time I run a class (and probably the second), I am not really making much, but after that it is better. However, this wouldn't work for subjects like History and English with essays to grade. It would be hard to find TAs competent enough to do that. As has been pointed out, when you take lesson prep time and grading into account - plus overheads, it isn't as much as it sounds. And from experience I can say that creating videos for classes takes a lot more time than when I stand in front of a live class at our co op. I sometimes take and hour making a 10 minute video!