I haven't used it, but there is an online version of Wordly Wise 3000 vocabulary. (We use the workbooks and I really like this vocab program.) I believe I've seen the online version offered on Homeschool Buyer's Co-op.

I agree. I recently purchased from Elemental Science and the email they sent explicitly said to be sure to download promptly because the download link would expire in 3 days.

I think How the Weather Works is great for this. MANY fantastic photos in the section on clouds - I never knew there were so many types! This book also includes many science activities you can do. Your public library likely has a copy.

Bumping for you. I have these bookmarked but don't know if they would address your specific needs. Good luck! http://www.worksheet...ominatives.html http://www.dailygram...-Nominative.htm

I see that OP is deciding to go with Notgrass, but I just wanted to chime in for anyone else who may be reading. If you want the K12 teacher guides (now called Learning Coach guides) and student guides for the CONCISE version of Hakim's History of US, you'll want to search for them as I have listed below. They have copyright dates of 2011. Earlier than that and they don't go with the concise editions. (The ones that refer to "before 1865" or "since 1865" go with the full Hakim editions, not the concise ones.) Search for: K12 American History A Learning Coach Guide - semester 1 and semester 2 (each semester is separate) K12 American History B Learning Coach Guide - semester 1 and semester 2 (each semester is separate) K12 American History A Student Guide - semseter 1 and semester 2 (each semester is separate) K12 American History B Student Guide - semseter 1 and semester 2 (each semester is separate) Here's a link to one on Amazon. The learning coach guides do have the lessons scheduled out if you want that. IMO, they are open and go. Keep in mind if you are using them independently of K12 you will be missing the online activities and assessments that K12 offers to those enrolled with them but I think that means you just miss the busywork. You can pick and choose which offline activities/questions to use. Note it is designed to use the four books spread over two years but you could do it faster if you want, of course. Also, I know what PP was referring to about the political slant in Hakim. It appears that the concise editions have been edited (slightly re-written?) by someone else and they appear more politically neutral. As previously stated, they are also secular. I don't see the political slant in the concise books like it is in the full set of Hakim books. YMMV, of course. :001_cool: These books seem to be sort of sparse on Amazon used listings right now, but before Christmas I bought some and the copies were more plentiful at that time, so in a few weeks there may be more again.

Just to clarify, for you and for others who may be reading this thread, How the States Got Their Shapes is not the same as the series called just The States. I've seen both of them. Both are great - I just wanted to give you another option in addition to the one the previous poster mentioned. If you click on my earlier link, it takes you to The States, a set of 4 DVDs as listed for sale on Amazon. It is not currently available on Prime streaming, unfortunately. How the States Got Their Shapes is the other one you're looking at. As you said, the first season (10 episodes) IS now available on Prime streaming. This is a link to the first episode of that series. Just wanted to clear that up. Like I said, both of them are great!

We also like The States made by The History Channel. Amazon has the DVD set for about $15 currently, not bad for 4 DVDs. This series spends about 10 minutes on a brief summary of each state's history, industry, cultural tidbits, etc.

Thanks for sharing this!

Looks cool! Thank you!!!

Trillian, I haven't heard of The Great Gobal Puzzle Challenge with Google Earth. It sounds interesting . . . would you mind please sharing more about that?

Love these threads! Thanks for sharing, everyone! We school almost year-round and this is what we are planning for "6th" grade: Math: parts of Math Mammoth 6, then start Pre-Algebra (still researching) Writing: Writing With Skill 1 and Kilgallon's Paragraphs for Middle School (new release) when we need a WWS break Vocabulary: Wordly Wise 8 + English from the Roots Up (half the year) and MCT Caesar's English (other half of the year) Grammar: finish Hake Grammar 5 (then skip to Hake 8 and spread it over two years) + Editor in Chief (half the year) and MCT Grammar Town (half the year) Literature: Mosdos Pearl, Garlic Press guides for The Bridge to Terabithia and Where the Red Fern Grows, Figuratively Speaking, and an independent reading list which is a mixture of serious stuff and fun Science: Elemental Science logic stage earth/astronomy as a spine, CPO Earth for extra reading and enrichment activities, TOPS Rocks & Minerals with supply kit, weather study kit and fossil kit from Home Science Tools, Discover Nature in the Weather, Basher books, plus McHenry's Carbon Chemistry just because he asked for it History (in the middle of a 3-year cycle for world history followed by a year of American, so 6th grade will be late Middle Ages to 1800s, 7th grade 1800s to current, and a year of AH in 8th (& 11th - to free up 12th grade for 2 advanced sciences): outlining from white Kingfisher spine, K12 Human Odyssey V2 for additional reading, with selected questions from K12 teacher guide for comprehension and connections, continue DVD series from The Great Courses World History: The Fertile Crescent to the American Revolution, listen to SOTW audiobooks, parts of Famous Men of Modern Times Spanish: varying mixture of Visual Link, DuoLingo, Practice Makes Perfect Basic Spanish workbook, Easy Spanish Reader PE and Health: weekly homeschool PE class, baseball, swim team, karate, Harcourt Health & Fitness daily fun stuff: CNN Student News w/ discussions (August thru May only), Brain Pop app ($1.99 per month provides 5 new related videos every day) Home Ec/Life Skills: adding to the things he already does around the house - independently prepare at least one full meal per month, assist with basic vehicle maintenance checks, learn more home and lawn/landscaping maintenance extras - each usually once per week: Geography: various workbooks, The States DVDs, Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego DVDs, Stack the States/Countries apps, various online resources: seterra, sheppardsoftware, aaawhere, kids.nationalgeographic, 50states, neok12, Wakko's America song Logic/Critical Thinking: finish Perplexors, finish Orbiting with Logic, then Critical Thinking Book 1, CTC World History Detective (not aligned with history studies, used as history review and critical thinking activity) Art and Music: art and music sections of What Your 6th Grader Needs to Know, Artistic Pursuits (he prefers mostly reading/appreciation, not the hands on part), Smart Art: Learning to Classify and Critique Art, Connect the Thoughts: Bach to Rock, Music Appreciation SQUILT Volume 1 (Baroque Composers), American Popular Music activity book - I expect to use all these resources spread over 2 years since we usually only have time & interest for one day per week (edited)

I use and highly recommend Hake Grammar.

Thank you for sharing your plans and these links! Awesome!

Thank you so much, Lori D.!!!

Per Maria Miller's blog, she has completed the Common Core updates through level 4 and is still working on updating the higher levels. She stated you could email her (through her website's contact form) to get access to the updates. No need to re-buy and you can also keep the original.

I'm not sure if this is the type of thing you're looking for, but for science there are several books by Janice VanCleave with ideas for experiments/demonstrations. These seem to be popular and are mentioned here frequently. Also, my DS and I have enjoyed some kits from TOPS science that might fit the bill for you. Some are elementary level but many are labeled as middle school. You didn't say what area of science you're studying, but you can find VanCleave books or TOPS kits for just about every branch (physics, biology, etc.). Not sure what to recommend for hands-on history activities. (At this age, my DS prefers reading and documentaries for history rather than projects.) Hopefully someone else will have good ideas for you.

This blog post lists several programming resources to consider. I can't recall where I got this link, but it surely came from a previous post or member here some time ago. (Whoever it was, thank you! It is a great blog!)

:bigear: Learning a lot from all the great ideas here! Thanks everyone!

Ditto. Skills subjects rank higher than content subjects. So math and writing (including grammar and vocabulary) are priority here (in order to advance in content subjects), then science content b/c that's his main interest. If he liked history more, it would take a backseat to science.

Agreed. I think it is enough. For history my DS10 is reading Human Odyssey, making brief entries to a timeline, and watching documentaries. Once in a while reading a related library book. Not much writing. Definitely no tolerance for busy-work. (He does do writing assignments, just not a lot for history, generally.) I also have the K12 guides, but I use them only to guide our history discussions and to make sure he's getting what he should be getting from reading the HO text (me asking him comprehension questions, all done verbally). I feel no pull toward using the K12 online course at all. The method we're using is working very well here. I think he's learning more than I ever did AND he's enjoying it. For a 7th grader, maybe you'd want to do outlining/some form of note-taking, but perhaps you're already doing that plenty in other subjects. Not every subject has to be intense in middle school.

I agree, it would be easy to expand. I was just speaking to the fact that the OP asked for "a complete secular history program that includes workbooks" for a 10yo. I took that to mean OP is not interested in or able to juggle multiple resources. My apologies if I offended. :001_smile:

We haven't used either of the programs you mentioned, but my DS10 really likes Wordly Wise 3000. If we weren't using that, we'd probably be using Vocab from Classical Roots, the first one you mentioned. Wordly Wise does cover Latin word roots but other programs may cover that just as or more thoroughly. Anyway, just chiming in because Wordly Wise fits your criteria: independent, efficient, open and go workbook (definitely fits my DS preferences), inexpensive. My DS spends about 20 minutes on it two or three days per week, and that gets him through one lesson per week. There is also a free website that has "reinforcement activities", a.k.a. online games, built around the words for each lesson. That's his reward each week after finishing the workbook pages and he enjoys it. He's learning a lot and retaining well. I don't do tests, I just review orally with him. I only bought the workbook and the answer key. Wordly Wise also has an online-only option with exercises that fully take the place of the hardcopy workbooks but I believe it is quite a bit more spendy to access and we haven't tried it. If your DS is an advanced reader, you might consider going up a level (or two) from his grade level. You can see the complete word lists and online games for every level here (click on students). And workbook samples here at christianbook.com. Good luck! ETA: BTW, we used Spelling Workout also, through last year. Then dropped spelling this year in favor of the straight vocab program. It has worked out well.

I haven't used them, but I found that ChristianBook.com sells them. Here is a link to the first volume. Just click on additional views to see sample pages. IMO, they look good for younger kids, but not "enough" for a 10 year old, but you'll have to decide that for your own DC, of course.

You're welcome! :001_smile:

Volumes C and D are a bit shorter than A and B. A has 81 chapters over 388 pages. B has 76 chapters over 382 pages. C has 63 chapters over 306 pages. D has 69 chapters over 314 pages. All 4 have appendix, glossary, maps, index, etc. in addition to the above.