My son is 9 years old and finishing up 4th grade Essentials In Writing (EIW). He is a reluctant writer and is not independent in any way. I've used EIW for the past several years and thinking about switching to a different curriculum. So far IEW and BraveWriter seem to be recommended by many and the ones I'm thinking about. I keep going back and forth between the 2. I prefer to find something and stick with it for a long time, rather than changing year after year. So if I change I want to make sure I'm making it for all the right reasons and it is the right curriculum. While I'd love for my son to be independent eventually, I don't mind spending time with him if he will get it. He gets bored easily and loses focus a lot. I also like the idea of reading a book and then using that for the writing. My son has never enjoyed copy work, so writing pages would not be a top choice. What I don't like about EIW is it's very repetitive and kind of dry or boring. I'd like to have something my son would enjoy and look forward to. He is a good reader and reads above his grade level. He prefers shorter books, but I think exposing him to some different authors and styles of writing would be good. I probably would do the IEW SSS this year and possible switch to theme based next year or BraveWriter with an arrow subscription. So tell me about IEW or BraveWriter. What do you like and not like about either of these programs? We also school year round with typically 4 days of school work in a week. Would either of these programs be easy to use on that type of schedule?

Anyone have a good list of books to read? Both secular and christian.

My son will be 6 in Sept. We went ahead and started Kindergarten this past year and he is doing well. I kept it super simple. Progressive Phonics for the reading. We completed the beginner books before Christmas and started on the intermediate books. It's going slower as he is also reading some easy readers from the library. Handwriting we do it either on a dry erase board or a printed page from a make your own worksheet site. Math we went with Math U See Primer. He's on lesson 25 of the 30 lessons. One of our reasons for our choices was also we are on a tight budget. Total cost was $20 for the used MUS primer. So things are going well and I'm looking at what to do next. I've already purchase Singapore 1A for our next math and continuing with the Progressive Phonics. I'm also thinking about adding in First Language Lessons. Or should I keep the focus on Phonics till that is mastered? I'm wondering if I should add in a more formal History and Science curriculum once we start 1st grade work. I used Story of the World with my daughter when she was in 4th grade and really liked that curriculum and it's not too expensive. All the science stuff I've looked at seemed rather expensive and nothing really jumped out and grabbed me. I am aiming at spending no more than $200 total for all my various curriculum. So far I've spent $35. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you everyone. I think we will take a closer look at the ck12. Something about a great price, especially since I already paid for 1 curriculum. We will see how it goes for my daughter.

The Kahn video was talking about evolution and apes having tails. Everyone knows monkeys have tails and apes have no tails. It was just bad information. I don't mind teaching evolution or creation, but I expect what they teach to be correct and not just wrong information.

I looked at the Khan videos and the first one had just bad science, so I wont touch them.

I need some serious help. I thought i had my curriculum for my dd13 doing grade 7 work. I ordered rs4k ms biology, but after doing 2 lessons discovered shes already knows what the book is teaching, and is masively bored. She loves science and is thinking about biology or zoology as a possible carrer. Any good sugestions. I dont mind if they teach evolution or creation. I want her to learn about both sides. Dh doesn't like aplogia.

Thank you for the suggestions. History Odyssey looks like a good fit for me. Still trying to figure it all out.

Actually at the moment I'm still on the fence about homeschooling. In the past we have home schooled using a traditional approach, done the virtual school, and now at a public charter school. I'm looking into the virtual school option as well as transferring my daughter out of her current charter school to the regular public school. So nothing has been finalized, other than I want her out of her current school. (very long story there) Anyway I'm getting stuck on the curriculum. Here's what I've figured out so far. Spelling- Megawords 1(I had ordered this planning to do some afterchooling) Math- Math-u-see Pre Algebra Science- Real Science 4 kids Biology Vocabulary- Vocabulary from classical roots 1 Latin- The Latin Road to English Grammar Logic- Critical Thinking 1 Music- Learn to play tin whistle Art- Artistic pursuits Grammar & Writing - Rod & Staff (Start at grade 5 as WTM suggests) But not so sure about this. Is there a better choice? My daughter needs to improve her writing. I'm getting stuck on the History and Literature. I understand the reading good literature in conjunction with your history, but I'm overwhelmed with the idea of not having a plan. Yes I'm a very planned and organized person. Is there a package out there that provides a good literature and history curriculum? I know I've looked at so much stuff my mind is spinning. I'm tempted to just get a complete curriculum and stop stressing about it all.