Since I'm pulling my daughter out of PS in a few weeks, I will be spending some of my Christmas money on school stuff. I'll need to get TT Algebra I and I'll be enrolling her in German II through OSU. But, I already spent some of my money on clothes from the Gap and LL Bean!

Well, we pulled out our son after his first semester of 9th grade (he had an IEP mind you), home educated 2nd semester 9th and all of 10th. This past fall, he went back as a Junior and the school accepted all the credits I had issued him (after much discussion with the principal). He will finish his high school career at the PS; I cannot home educate him anymore. My daughter, who was home schooled K-8, wanted to try the PS because she was going to be playing soccer anyways. They allowed her to take German I, an upperclassman class, Biology, Algebra I, and Wellness (they operate on a block schedule). We found that the academics at our high school were sub-par (my son has an IEP so this was my first experience with mainstream academics) and I don't like the way subjects were being taught and graded. My daughter has her college picked out and some serious academic goals. After talking with her about the classes she could do here at home (and the fact that they would be a lot more challenging and competitive), she has decided to come home at the end of the semester in January and she will never go back. She will do a combination of Sonlight, Apologia, and online classes, including AP classes, through a virtual online charter school here in NH. I agree with what a previous poster said; it would be difficult to go in mid year. Meeting with the potential guidance counselor during the summer before 11th grade and discussing classes/options then would be a lot better.

I didn't vote but we have done both of those programs. I have a couple of questions though....is your ds9 planning on reading the Narnia series himself? Is he a really good reader? We loved the books as read-alouds because there is some difficult vocabulary and to really understand everything that is going on, it worked better for us to read the books aloud and then discuss them and do the activities in FUFI. Just a thought...

My DD is doing the opposite of your son. Right now she's finishing up MUS Pre-Algebra and I just started her in LOF's Pre-Algebra with Biology. The LOF is a great review for her for the concepts she's learned working through MUS and she's getting a feel for how LOF is laid out. I would take a look at it; I believe your son can take a placement test from MUS's website to see where he should be starting.

I know that HST+ has a forum where you can get schedules and lesson plans. http://www.homeschooltracker.com/ and then click on Support and then Discussion group and it sends you to their forums.

Take my opinion for what it's worth but I wouldn't skip them. My DD14 is in 8th grade finishing up MUS Pre-Algebra and I have her working through LOF Pre-Algebra Biology as an introduction to how LOF teaches math. So far, it's been a good review of pre-algebra topics for her. I plan on getting the Economics book too so she can work through that before she completely switches over to LOF for Beginning Algebra. I know on the website they say this: Please don't skip ahead in the series. It would just be asking for trouble. The two pre-algebra books were written to make the transition from arithmetic to beginning algebra as smooth and as pleasant as possible. Among other things, we place a strong emphasis on learning how to do word problems, which for many students is the most difficult part of beginning algebra. The books also present an alternative approach to translating from the English into the equations (called "six pretty boxes") that is not covered in the beginning algebra book. Just a thought....

I plan on having my DD use LOF Beginning Algebra exclusively for 9th grade next year. She is currently finishing up MUS's Pre-Algebra and while she is doing that, I have her working through LOF Pre-Algebra Biology and Economics so she can get a feel for how LOF works. She is my "reader" and I understand the logic of LOF. I tell my kids all the time that "Life is world problem". You are not going to get very far knowing only how to do the math computation; you need to know WHEN to do each math computation and I think LOF addresses that by "doing math" in a story setting. I have my younger boys integrating LOF into their MUS work also in hopes that they will switch over completely to LOF when they get to Pre-Algebra.

I think your plan sounds great! My DD will be a 9th grader and this is our plan for her for next year: Math: Algebra I using either MUS or LOF Beginning Algebra Science: Apologia Biology History: BF Books US and World parts I&II for an American History credit Foreign Language: German I through Oklahoma State University online English: She's going to take BraveWriter's Kidswrite Intermediate class this summer so in the fall she will take their Expository Essay class while reading various books from SL's Core 100 & 200. But, I am on the fence about doing that or enrolling her in an online English class for 9th grade. Either way, she would still take the Expository Essay class. Electives: She will be taking an online class, "Health Opportunities through Physical Education" for one credit and an online "Digital Arts 1" for a half credit. That gives her a total of 6.5 credits for the year (my goal is 6.5 credits a year. Our local high school requires 26 credits for graduation and I want her to be inline with that so as to compete with the PS graduating class). She also plans on playing soccer and basketball and joining the track team at our local public HS. And, she will be working on scent training with our German shepherd puppy. She's going to be rather busy!

I'd be interested to hear too. Debra Bell spoke at my home school convention last month and I bought her book, "The Ultimate Guide to Home Schooling Teens" and I've learned quite a bit so far. But, I was thinking about enrolling my soon to be 9th grader in one of her classes for next year and I'd be interested to hear if anyone has done this too and what they thought.

Central NH!

I'm in NH, about 30 minutes NW of Concord. Unfortunately I'm closer to VT than Maine. :) Nicole