Very tentative here! MUS Algebra 1 English: Excellence in Literature: Intro to Lit, The Elegant Essay, some kind of grammar or review Science: No idea. Probably Environmental or Earth & Space, but she's really dreading it. History: Spielvogel World History/Western Civilization 1400-1800 OSU Spanish 1 Physical Education with Health Piano & Music Theory

Ds finally has some opinions about what he wants to study, but he's a lot more ambitious than I am! Hopefully he can handle everything he wants to do. AoPS Pre-calculus English: Excellence in Literature III: American (Honors, but switching out a few books), AG High School Reinforcement Zumdahl's Chemistry (AP) American History (maybe The American Pageant?) OSU German II Myers' Psychology (AP) Physical Education (he runs and swims excessively) Some kind of light intro to programming. He wants to take AoPS's online course. :rolleyes:

Do you plan to homeschool? Both of my boys (now 8 and 14) have August birthdays - the 18th and the 28th. My oldest was in public school through 5th grade and never had an issue being the youngest. Now, he's handling a full 9th grade course load at home and competing on two public school sports teams. He's always been tiny, but so has my daughter who has a January birthday, so I don't think that's a big deal. I just can't imagine him still being in middle school this year. My younger son has done just as well so far.

Both girls switched curriculum early in the year, but it looks like they'll both finish by the end of the year. Whew! Dsd 13 started out with Teaching Textbooks Pre-algebra, dropped back to TT 7, then found her groove in MUS Pre-algebra. Dd 12 tried AoPS, but ended up in Lial's, which is perfect for her. We'll be sticking with both for algebra 1 next year.

I'm working on coordinating sciences between my three oldest (two STEM, one non-STEM). It's not easy! Just playing around with it a little, what about something like: 7th/9th: Biology 8th/10th: Chemistry 9th/11th: Physics 10th/12th: AP or advanced Biology for ds, Marine Biology for dd 11th: AP Chemistry 12th: AP Physics Remember that your ds can complete more than one science course per year if he wants to. Adding astronomy to one of those years shouldn't be too hard for a motivated kid. :)

This is two girls together? Yes, I would allow it. If they're comfortable with it, it could be a fun, confidence-building experience for them.

Yes, but the younger kids have it very rarely, just because we don't buy it.

I think that no matter which way we go, most of us will always be a little uneasy with giving grades to our own kids. I'm on the other side of this now - ds14 is making all A's and I'm wondering whether I've been too easy on him, if my expectations aren't high enough and how he would be doing if he was being compared to other students.

For ds14 and dd12, definitely four-year university. I'm less sure about dsd13, but for now we're aiming for a four-year university and will re-evaluate a year or two into high school.

I voted 6th. My oldest used it in 8th, when he was already a fairly strong writer, and I think that was too late to get the most out of it. Some days felt like busywork and some days were so short that he combined them without even asking me. My 7th grader is using it this year and is finding it much better, but she was in public school until now and hasn't had any real writing "instruction". My younger kids will likely use it in 6th.

Probably 4 hours for my homeschooled 9th grader. - An hour or a little more in the morning - he goes for a run, then eats breakfast with me. - Two hours in the afternoon between schoolwork and swimming. - An hour after swimming before bed. In September and most of October, he ran cross-country three afternoons per week, and those days were pretty hectic. As it is now, he finishes his schoolwork around 2 and doesn't have to leave the house for swimming (coaching and practice) until 4. He gets home around 8:30. Weekends are completely free, except for swim practice on Saturday mornings and an hour or two of assigned reading.

That doesn't sound like too many to me. My state requires 24 credits for graduation, but 28 is typical for college-bound students in our area.

There's a lot of that going on here too - I have four kids in their first year of homeschooling. It's (very slowly) getting better though!

It's a challenge for us too. My oldest and I are both morning people, so we get some great discussions and planning in then. He gets up before 6am and goes for a run, then I wake up around 6:30 and we have breakfast together before everyone else gets up at around 7:15. I'm struggling to find the time during the day to have these discussions with my girls, but leaving the house sounds like it might help us. Thanks for the idea!

My 7yo's first year homeschooling: Math Mammoth 2 Nancy Larson Science 2 Story of the World 2 Writing with Ease 2 First Language Lessons 3 Handwriting Without Tears 2 Spectrum Geography, Spelling and Phonics 3

It's easiest if you compare the TOCs for 6, 7 and Pre-algebra. You'll see that 7 is almost a complete repeat of 6, while Pre-algebra introduces a lot of new topics. I think a strong math student could skip 7, but I don't see how you could skip Pre-algebra.

Are you looking for something hands-on, or more of just a textbook? I really like Interactive Science from Singapore Math as a textbook for middle school, but the labs are difficult and confusing to do at home. Rainbow Science would be very "open-and-go" if you want lots of labs.

:iagree:

8yo 3rd grader in MM 4a - 30-45 minutes (1 section) 9.5yo 4th grader in MM 4b - 45-60 minutes (1-2 sections)

My 7th grader is also doing very well with Lial Pre-algebra, so I think we're going to use Lial Introductory Algebra. She still wants to give AoPS another try, but I'm sure that Lial is a better fit.

No set bedtimes. Dd12 and Dsd 13 usually go to bed around 11:00 and sleep until a little after 8:00. Ds14 and Ds9 go to bed by 9:30 or so and get up by 6:30. Dh and I have a little sitting area with a TV in our bedroom, so we go up there after we get the youngest boys to bed and let the older kids have the family room for the rest of the evening.

I think BCM would be overwhelming to a younger kid for this reason. My 7th grader is doing fine with Lial Pre-algebra, but I think she's the type who would do well with any textbook. I know these books would intimidate some of my kids.

This is our first year using Hake, but I don't think the vocabulary is enough. We use Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary Workshop.

:iagree: That would not be worth it for us. My kids sometimes stay up too late with friends, but they also occasionally stay up too late reading, playing poker with Dad or watching reruns of Big Brother. They just grab a cup of coffee and get on with their day. I think of it as good training for college. :D

I've just started planning for next year. So far, for my upcoming 5th grader, I'm thinking: Math: Depending how far he gets this year, Math Mammoth, then AoPS Pre-algebra Science: Story of Science, My Pals are Here 5/6 History: SOTW 3 / K12 Human Odyssey / Famous Men of Modern Times Grammar & Writing: Hake 6, Writing Trails with Men of Science Vocab: Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary Workshop Latin: Latin Prep 1