My rising 9th grader will do the following: 9th: World History - Modern Times Level Two from http://www.pandiapress.com/publications/history-odyssey/modern-times/ 10th: US History and Geography (curriculum tbd) 11th: US Government (curriculum tbd) 12th: Economics (curriculum tbd)

My son used Elemental Science Biology for the Logic Stage last year when he was in 4th Grade. This is geared for the 5-8th grade level. It took me a while to figure out how to use the program. The flipping back and forth between the student guide and the teacher guide drives me nuts. But once we figured out how we wanted to use it and found our rhythm, we liked it. We supplemented with videos on YouTube, Khan Academy, DK Eyewitness, etc. We made up a few of our own crafts (like making a heart and it's chambers out of clay, then shooting a video describing how blood flows through the heart). Next year we are planning on doing Elemental Science Earth Science & Astronomy for the Logic Stage.

I don't think more in quantity but more interesting subjects being used in the word problems.

My 10yo son used both for 4th grade last year. Here are my observations: Redbird Mathematics has more interesting word problems incorporating subjects like exoplanets and solar energy (what a welcome relief from the usual apples and potatoes from the grocery store!) and has more engaging interactive graphics than Khan. Khan is better at giving out reward badges as you progress, thus encouraging the child to keep going. Khan's progress dashboard is more informative and provides more detailed information than Redbird. The Redbird program is more challenging for the grade level than Khan. I like how Khan will show you what you have mastered at higher grade levels as you do lower-end work (due to overlap/repetition of subject matter in grades). For instance, after doing 4th grade with Khan, at the same time, my son also mastered some 5th grade work ... and now can skip that when he starts 5th grade work. I also like how Khan makes it more apparent that you are working for mastery. For example, if you get the first problem correct for a certain topic, you can move on. But if you get it wrong, you receive more problems for that topic and must get 5 correct in a row before you can move on. Get only 3 correct in a row, and the 4th one wrong, you have to start over again to get those 5 in a row. Redbird will also have you repeat similar problems until you can show you can get them correct before moving on but it's just not as apparent -- therefore, maybe the child does not work so hard at trying to get them right. Both programs say they are "mastery". Both programs allow your child to go as slow or as fast through the programs as they need. I think the Redbird program is very good, and our current choice, but wish that it incorporated more of what I like from Khan Academy (primarily better progress dashboards and ways to encourage kids to keep going like reward badges). Khan is also great, and in my opinion outstanding quality for a free program, but a whole year of videos with a black background on Khan gets old and motivation gets hard despite all those fun badges.

Hello, I know this thread is a year old but I am in a similar situation as @Juliegmom and I am wondering what she decided in the end. We are from the SF Bay Area (and still own a home there). We are living overseas for a few years and are homeschooling. We have been homeschooling for a year and a half now. As we get closer to starting high school homeschooling I am starting to worry whether or not my dd will complete what she needs to get into a U.S. college (she wants to be a veterinarian). She has her sights set on U.C. Davis (but I just read yesterday on some forums that getting into UC schools as a homeschooler is pretty darn difficult...but that's another topic for a different day). I am wondering if an umbrella school would: Help me to make sure I am making good choices for curriculum choices that colleges would prefer to see on applications. Provide transcripts that would hold more value to a college on applications. Also if we were enrolled in a private umbrella school, do she no longer "look" like a homeschooler and instead looks like someone coming from a private school? And, if we come back to California in a couple of years and enroll her in public high school, are there any benefits to have been enrolled in an umbrella/psp program? I would also like to know what PSP that Ellie used to own. Thank you so much!

This was our first year of homeschooling (and we received a hefty budget for it from my dh's company as we were living overseas...so I went a little crazy and there weren't any resources where we were living). I have a lot to report on to help others. DD 10-11 (6th Grade) Mild ADHD. Struggles with math, loves to read and write stories. Particular interest in animals. Hits: Math U See to remediate her on fractions (she really enjoyed being able to see the videos and be independent on math. As it got harder I had to start watching them and then showing her. She still does better if I show her but overall I think the program is good. We did not continue as I want to her keep aligned to state standards) Singapore Math 6A & 6B (The learn then do approach works well for her. Short enough lessons but occasionally we would break up a lesson over 2 days. I appreciate very much how the harder stuff is about 3/4 of the way through and then you can sort of coast through the end when you're burning out at that point). School House Rock multiplication videos (I bought the DVD but you can see them all for free on YouTube) Ipad Apps: Educreations. I found this a super help for me. It's an online whiteboard. I could demonstrate things to my kids but also when math got tough for my daughter, I'd have her demonstrate on it and record it (records your voice as well) and then send it to her grandmother as a "lesson". She really had to think to create a lesson out of a math problem! Baseball Math. My kids liked it. I never really looked at it to know what they were getting from it. Mathmateer. My kids like this even better than Baseball math. DragonBox. She enjoyed this very much but now she's at a level she's struggling with and has given up. Math Fact Master. My favorite. It's just a simple test of multiplication. We will work on memorizing (or remembering what we memorized but have since forgotten) then take the challenge on this app to test them. Simple but effective. Instant feedback for them. Evan-Moor Grammar & Punctuation: I personally love how it's easy for the kids to be independent and very small lessons. Story of the World I. I love it more than the kids. We did a lot of in-depth work and got through 3/4 of the book. I need to finish it this summer and will probably forgo the in-depth work so we can finish it. Ichabod Ink: A membership website to learn all about veterinary science. Fat Dogs and Coughing Horses: This is a free science curriculum for 6th Graders done by Purdue University. It's made for use in the classroom but you can do a lot of it for homeschool. I found it very difficult to put it together but she did it and enjoyed it. Evan-Moor Daily 6 Trait Writing: Simple, easy, every day exercises. I should have supplemented with more actual writing, which we will do over the summer. Rosetta Stone Spanish. My daughter enjoys this. She is totally independent and surpassed me on progress. Zaner-Bloser Handwriting. Had to buy several before I realized she needed the 4th grade edition. Now it's working very smoothly. Her penmanship is not great so I've also introduced her to calligraphy which she enjoys from time to time. Evan-Moor Vocabulary. Great program and mostly independent work. Evan-Moor Editing. DD is terrible at editing. She has certainly improved using this daily program. Type2Learn: We did the older version. The kids liked it for a long while but then I found another one that is an app on macs. I can't find the name of it but they like how there is less "yelling/loud voices" than Type2Learn. iPad apps: iStart Spanish: she does this occasionally. I use it for supplemental fun; not actual curriculum. iMovie: the kids are crazy over this. They do trailer videos on pretend movies they are going to create. They learn about organizing a story, creating suspense, etc. Mad Libs: for coming up with funny adverbs, adjectives, nouns and verbs. Horse 360 Bundle: veterinary science. Misses: Saxon Math 6/5. Too slow to keep her interest. Learning Wrap Ups- Multiplication (maybe because I didn't sit down with her to do them) Dean Vaughn Cube (we moved overseas in the middle of trying this and it fell to the wayside. So maybe it would have worked for us). IXL: I just never got around to using this! We had used a couple of years prior, just letting her play with it. She enjoyed it for a couple of weeks and then didn't care. I didn't push it. Donald in Mathmatic Land DVD. Well I hoped it would stir interest in math. No such luck. Math Detective Software. Horrible interface on mac. Just couldn't even figure out how to use it. Shurley Instructional Materials Level 6: It did a good job teaching some solid sentence structure. I was impressed with that. I did not appreciate how the books were structured that involved no independent work. I gave up on it after a while to go toward something that was correlated to state standards. All About Spelling: We got through the first session and then moved back to the US and I did not pick up again. Frankly I just can't get into teaching spelling. I'm hoping they just figure it out as they are great readers. Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide to Middle School. This is a book for educators to which you then form your own curriculum. I had high hopes. I never even read it. Switched over to Evan-Moors books that use this approach and the curriculum is already done. Spelling Workout. Life of Fred Books: She liked them in the beginning but soon lost interest. Jackdaw China, Hadrian's Wall, The Development of Writing, Tutankhamen. Some were more interesting than others. The kids just weren't that into. If I was paying with my own money I would not recommend. MindBenders: Hasn't been near the top of my priority list and no one was hugely into. WordSmith Apprentice. REAL Science: Would have been good for just my son but too basic for my dd and I wanted to teach science together as much as I could. Meet the Masters: This wasn't bad but it's boring. Good for learning about the masters but I was not hugely impressed with the art instruction. Ipad apps: Counting Coins Fraction Math Fractions App by TapToLearn Marble Math Math Board Oh No! Fractions Presidents vs. Aliens Scrabble 24/7 Tutor Spanish DS 7-8 (2nd Grade) Particularly observant and interested in school with strong draw to science and engineering Hits: Lego We-Do Educational Kit. Big success. Went quickly through it and than that was that. Mindstorm Educational Kit. I wish it came with structured lessons like Lego We-Do but he has figured out some things on his own and we've finding instructions on the Internet. Magic School Bus DVD Collection and any DK Eyewitness Videos. Big, big hit. Zaner-Bloser Handwriting. He doesn't love it but it's easy to do and he has learned cursive very well. Singapore Math. Not sure it is challenging him enough but he is still learning. I like how I teach it and then they try on their own. Evan-Moor Daily 6 Trait Writing: Simple, easy, every day exercises. iPad apps: Cursive Touch. Fun way to practice cursive. Flow Free: great for thinking ahead. My son enjoys it. National Geographic Magazine (we couldn't get paper magazines overseas and there is some interactivity for the online version which is a plus) Stack the States: I love it. They love it. They are learning. Stack the Countries. Tiny Countries National Geographic: Ultimate Dinopedia Frog Dissection Geared Touch Physics Lite Unblock Me BrainPOP (but we couldn't connect when we were in India) [*]CDs: Space Songs. My son loves these science songs. . [*]Teachers Pay Teachers: I use this to find one-off lessons to supplement something that isn't sinking in. Hit and miss to find something good and fun. [*]Science: My son picked topics of interest and we researched them and did reports and projects. But we have been doing some of Super Charged Science. We sort of like this program. Misses: iPad Apps: GeoBee Challenge: didn't really grab them. Lego Instructions Make Ten Mars Globe Math Bingo Parts of Plants Montessori Play Facto (make 10) Solar Walk 3D Sky View Free (he does like these but would need some encouragement and lessons from me to make this and Solar Walk 3D more interesting for his age) [*]Rosetta Stone Spanish: My son liked it in the beginning but was too much for his age or maybe his personality. [*]Puertas Abiertos: better for my ds than my dd (too babyish). But overall was uninspiring. Better for pre-K through 1st grade. [*]Meet the Masters: This wasn't bad but it's boring. Good for learning about the masters but I was not hugely impressed with the art instruction. [*]Mathletics: I found that we didn't need any additional work for math. [*]The Ultimate Homeschool Physical Education Game Book. As parents we didn't really put the effort out. We enrolled them in sports instead. [*]Science Detective. [*]Evan-Moor Geography Grade 2: Too easy for him. Whew. That was most of it. I hope it's helpful! I would appreciate any suggestions for next year curriculum!

Hi, I'm brand new to the board too. I have a dd who is 10. She has ADHD and was diagnosed when she was 7 (in 2nd grade). I don't remember the actual scores when she was first tested but I remember she scored very high in language arts and well in math. Over time the language arts remained high but her math began slipping. She has memory processing issues (very common with ADHD) which meant she has difficulty with multiple steps. So math is particularly an issue as she gets older and the curriculum becomes more complex. We use acronyms like DRACULA SUCKS BLOOD to remember the steps involved in partial quotient division. It helps but she will at times miss the micro steps in between. I have not chosen to medicate yet (I keep thinking about it!) I had 3 thoughts when I read your post: (1) Get help in math now, using methods that are good for ADHD kids. I am only now taking my daughter out of school now to homeschool because she has become so far behind in math. She will pass 5th grade but what a waste (in my mind) for someone who is gifted to just pass math and believe she is not good at it and never really apply herself as she goes forward. In retrospect I wish I had known this and would have intervened sooner. Obviously you are already doing that so good for you! (2) My daughter was always EXHAUSTED after a day at school. Having to sit down and do her homework was torture enough. I can't imagine having to do additional work beyond that. I would have done it over the summer break but not during the regular school year as that would be too much for her. By exhausted I mean she'd come home exuberant and ready to take on the world. She'd be running at bit too "high" and once she'd hit any frustration or having to sit down and focus on work would put her in terrible tantrums. Oh if I could go back and redo all that if I knew what I know now! So unnecessary. Her neurologist recommended we not have her tutored after school. She too felt it was just too much for a child who had to focus all day at school to have to come home and do more. (3) My daughter still doesn't know her multiplication tables. We had an IEP when we were in public school back in California and she had individual help a couple times a week. They worked at it but she never really got it. A special education teacher here in India told me to not bang my head against the wall trying to teach her. ADHD kids don't do well with rote memorization she said. After reading into homeschooling and learning more about the types of learning styles, we came up with a pattern of her making up her own song for each table, only after that do we work on flashcards and after that we do worksheets. We're only on our 3s now but for the first time she now has her 2s down! Also I am planning on trying Mathusee.com for my dd for the next school year. It's full of manipulatives which I think she will do well with and have more fun with math. Best of luck with your son. If you're here and elsewhere looking for answers, he is so lucky to have you as his mom!

All great recommendations that I completely appreciate. I am enjoying the research phase even though it does seem overwhelming. I'm still plugging through the Well Trained Mind and jotting down tons of notes. And I will be looking through all your recommendations as well. And thank you all for being so kind about my confusion of secular, non-secular and non-sectarian!!

Hi OhElizabeth. Oh I had that wrong then! I did look it up to make sure I was saying it correctly but the online dictionaries gave conflicting or unclear information. (some homeschool mom I'll be!) What I meant was: non-sectarian I guess or more simply put, not Christian based. There seems to be a lot of Christian based material out there that looks outstanding but it's not what I'm interested in. I had to look up what SOTW is (I'm still learning here!) and that looks very interesting to me! I can't find VP Online on the internet. Do you have a URL? I am planning on having my kids do math and grammar and other stuff separately. I'm thinking of MathUSee for my ADHD dd and possibly Singapore Math for my ds. But I hear your point about the work involved for unit studies. Actually I was thinking we'd do one a month. But...geesh, maybe back to the drawing board for me and something like the Calvert School would make more sense (but I'd still supplement the math for dd as that's one of the primary reasons why we will be homeschooling) I do need to finish reading The Well Trained Mind...maybe that will put me more on top of this. Thank you, thank you for all your help!

Thank you Heathermomster! It sounds promising. I will be looking into it.

Ah 4evercanucks I understand. And it certainly takes a lot of research! Best of luck with it all!

Thank you for the information. It's still worth checking out and I'm doing that now. Great that you're researching ADHD. Will you be publishing a book? I love your Plato quote by the way!

I don't know much about this subject so take it for what it's worth. I don't think IQ scores necessarily change?? I do know that my dd10 (who has ADHD) has seen her math scores drop significantly over time (I'm referring to her STAR testing at school). My theory is that as math has become more complicated as she gets older (more steps involved, memorization of multiplication needed, etc) her ability to keep up has decreased. And therefore why we are going to start homeschooling in a couple of months. Maybe that is similar to what you are experiencing?

Hi all. I just joined and this is my first post. We are going to try homeschooling for the first time in a couple of months. Eeks! I have a dd10 and a ds7. My dd has ADHD and she is not medicated (maybe one day). For history/geography/social studies and writing practice, I'm currently researching using Unit Studies. My thought is that I can use it for both children which will cut down on preparation and instruction time. So my question is: Are there any unit study curriculums you recommend that are: - non secular, - good for an ADHD student, - requires minimal preparation on my part, and - can span the ages of 7-10? It doesn't necessarily need to follow the classical model (I'm keeping options open since I'm at the beginning of my research here). We live abroad and we don't have access to the quantity and quality of local opportunities (like museums, etc.) found in 1st world countries. So we need our curriculum to not be dependent on those resources. Lastly dh's company should be paying for the materials so we are not on a limited budget. I have been looking through the boards, researching online, etc. So far the best I can come up would require doing significant prep work (identifying my own topics and obtaining books, instruction and materials needed) and then have the children create lap books. I'm hoping there's a better solution! By "better" I mean better for me (the above idea would be great for the kids). I think it would be unrealistic for me to do that work in my first year of homeschooling. Maybe something like a KONOS in a Box but non secular? We'll be coming home to California for three weeks in July and I plan on purchasing as much as I can before we head back here. Thank you so much in advance!