Thanks everyone for your input! I really appreciate all the replies! You've given me a lot to think about, and even some new ideas I hadn't considered. We're going to talk to his professors to see if they have any insight before making a decision.

Thanks everyone for your input! I really appreciate all the replies! You've given me a lot to think about, and even some new ideas I hadn't considered. We're going to talk to his professors to see if they have any insight before making a decision.

Thanks. I agree that he needs to be rock solid, hence my questioning sticking with this program. He breezed through the first year of the program, was challenged in a good way with algebra 2 and pre-calc, and then didn't really struggle until calculus. How did you account for 2 years of calculus on his transcript? If we went that route, should I list it once or both times?

Thank you for sharing that article and for your suggestions. In some ways, I feel the program we've been involved in is what they are talking about - it is a unique program, designed specifically for middle schoolers that are truly advanced and does provide a lot of support. That said, just because it was a great fit in 6th grade doesn't mean it will be a great fit in 9th. I'm leaning towards a year doing something like your suggestion (He would probably love that - he enjoyed MathCounts and took the AMC 10 last year and did well. He picked up the AOPS Counting and Probability book because it looked interesting to him, but he hasn't had time to delve into it. Because calculus.) Personally, my own math experience is limited. I did take Calc in high school but never entered a field that used it and so I haven't looked at that material in over 20 years. So I'm struggling to put my finger on what he is stuck on. My husband is an engineer so I'm going to have him work with my son to try to figure out where he went astray.

I'm at a loss as to what to do for my 9th grader this year. In middle school, he was fortunate enough to take part in a program specifically for advanced math middle schoolers - Algebra 1 and 2, geometry and pre-calc in 6th and 7th grade. He did great and was challenged for the first time. In 8th grade, he took calculus 1. The program continues for 2 more years with calc 2 and 3 in 9th and 10th grade and he is currently enrolled. BUT, it got REALLY hard last year in calculus. He got a good grade, but he really did not understand everything, especially the last half of the year. He would spend hours working on the homework with little results. He basically had no free time last year (and part of the reason we homeschool is to give our kids more free time!) He managed to score well on all the tests but he really did not feel confident about the material at all. He just started a summer review assignment and is not getting it at all. And the thing is - he's 14 - he has plenty of time for these classes, but I'm worried if he takes a break, he'll feel even more behind if he tries to re-enroll in a couple of years. His mental health did suffer last year (I don't know if it was math or just a combination of things) but has improved with a more relaxed summer. The program he's involved in is through our state university. It's a great program - he's with kids his own age, there is a lot of support, and a friend of his who graduated the program already is available this year to help tutor him. If he goes to our state university, the credits automatically transfer, so he already has the credits from calc 1. Some ideas I have: *stay in the current program, his friend will tutor him. I worry that he will still struggle. * skip this year and review calculus with other programs, take calc 2 next year through through the program we started with. I'm worried he will lose more and struggle to catch up. * be done with this program, take some time off from calculus and explore other math options. He likes AOPS and there are some courses he has not done there. Statistics is another option. Take Calc 2 if needed with dual enrollment in 11th or 12th grade. He does want to go into a science/engineering field. I don't know why this feels like such a hard decision. (For the record, my second child is mathy as well, and we're sticking to a traditional, slightly accelerated pace so we don't run into this problem!)

Good idea, thanks.

I'm at a loss as to what to do for my 9th grader this year. In middle school, he was fortunate enough to take part in a program specifically for advanced math middle schoolers - Algebra 1 and 2, geometry and pre-calc in 6th and 7th grade. He did great and was challenged for the first time. In 8th grade, he took calculus 1. The program continues for 2 more years with calc 2 and 3 in 9th and 10th grade and he is currently enrolled. BUT, it got REALLY hard last year in calculus. He got a good grade, but he really did not understand everything, especially the last half of the year. He would spend hours working on the homework with little results. He basically had no free time last year (and part of the reason we homeschool is to give our kids more free time!) He managed to score well on all the tests but he really did not feel confident about the material at all. He just started a summer review assignment and is not getting it at all. And the thing is - he's 14 - he has plenty of time for these classes, but I'm worried if he takes a break, he'll feel even more behind if he tries to re-enroll in a couple of years. His mental health did suffer last year (I don't know if it was math or just a combination of things) but has improved with a more relaxed summer. The program he's involved in is through our state university. It's a great program - he's with kids his own age, there is a lot of support, and a friend of his who graduated the program already is available this year to help tutor him. If he goes to our state university, the credits automatically transfer, so he already has the credits from calc 1. Some ideas I have: *stay in the current program, his friend will tutor him. I worry that he will still struggle. * skip this year and review calculus with other programs, take calc 2 next year through through the program we started with. I'm worried he will lose more and struggle to catch up. * be done with this program, take some time off from calculus and explore other math options. He likes AOPS and there are some courses he has not done there. Statistics is another option. Take Calc 2 if needed with dual enrollment in 11th or 12th grade. He does want to go into a science/engineering field. I don't know why this feels like such a hard decision. (For the record, my second child is mathy as well, and we're sticking to a traditional, slightly accelerated pace so we don't run into this problem!)

My son competes in MathCounts as well. Working through past tests has been really helpful for him, to see what kinds of problems he needs more practice with. For example, most of the problems my son got wrong at the chapter competition were dealing with geometry and probability so that's what he's focusing on as he preps for state. We noticed a similar trend last year as well, so I would say that geometry in general is a good area to practice. My son's coach also used the AOPS competition books. Good luck to your son!

UPDATE Well, one of the benefits of homeschooling is that kids can take an active role in making choices about their education. So I asked my son which path he'd prefer and he wants to take two years and go more in depth. So I guess that's what we will do. ? Our state requires one year of American History in high school, so his 9th grade year will be modern American history. If he wants to learn about a specific time period more in depth later on, he can still do that. Thanks for the replies!

UPDATE Well, one of the benefits of homeschooling is that kids can take an active role in making choices about their education. So I asked my son which path he'd prefer and he wants to take two years and go more in depth. So I guess that's what we will do. ? Our state requires one year of American History in high school, so his 9th grade year will be modern American history. If he wants to learn about a specific time period more in depth later on, he can still do that. Momto5inIN, I am going to check out the high school resources you listed for ideas to make sure our second year is fleshed out enough to count as a high school credit. Thanks!

Thanks for the input! (I remember seeing other posts of yours about using these books for 8th grade and that helped me decide what to use in the first place!) Did you do American History again in high school? Can I ask what your high school history course list looked like? Thank you!

I need some help figuring this out... We are entering our third year of homeschooling and my oldest, who will be an 8th grader, has not really had any American history (not covered much in PS, then we did a year of ancients and a year of middle ages.) So my plan was to go through it in 8th grade, then again in greater depth in high school. But I'm having a hard time fitting everything I want in a reasonable amount of work/reading for one year. (We're using Hakim's concise A History of US and I'm adding documentaries, novels, map work, etc.) So, do I cut back a bit this year, knowing we'll hit it all again in a few years and expect him to have a deeper understanding the second time around? Or do I do half this year and half in 9th? And possibly not do US history again? Also, how would I mark the 9th grade course on a transcript since it would cover the second half of US history? I'm probably over thinking this, but I appreciate any advice. *** I think this might be my first post on the high school board. Eek! Can't believe we're a year away from HS!

I need some help figuring this out... We are entering our third year of homeschooling and my oldest, who will be an 8th grader, has not really had any American history (not covered much in PS, then we did a year of ancients and a year of middle ages.) So my plan was to go through it in 8th grade, then again in greater depth in high school. But I'm having a hard time fitting everything I want in a reasonable amount of work/reading for one year. (We're using Hakim's concise A History of US and I'm adding documentaries, novels, map work, etc.) So, do I cut back a bit this year, knowing we'll hit it all again in a few years and expect him to have a deeper understanding the second time around? Or do I do half this year and half in 9th? And possibly not do US history again? Also, how would I mark the 9th grade course on a transcript since it would cover the second half of US history? I'm probably over thinking this, but I appreciate any advice.

My 7th graded is not a strong writer. We've done IEW and I picked up Writing with Skill for him to use next year. I feel like it has a lot of support and practice without being as formulaic as IEW. My younger son is a very good writer. We use Bravewriter and CAP's Writing and Rhetoric for him and I plan to use that through middle school for him.

Ok, I think that will still work. Thanks for checking for me.

Thanks for the replies! I have a lot of great options to look at now. We actually own this book (thank you library used book sales!) so while I do think I'm going to use Hakim's concise books, this will make a nice supplement. I had totally forgotten that it was on my shelf, so thank you! :)

Thank you, this is really good to know. I was considering other choices, but Hakim is what I really want to do as long as it's manageable. I don't need him to do much output at this point, I just want him to have some general knowledge of American history before we hit high school.

Secular is preferred but I am willing to look at others. Thanks.

I want to do an overview of US history with my upcoming 8th grader. He has some basic knowledge but hasn't really studied it before. (He went to public school through 5th grade, in which very little history was taught, then we did ancients and middle ages the past two years). I just feel like he should have a good background in US history before high school. Is Joy Hakim's series too ambitious to cover in a year? I've been looking at the concise version although it doesn't seem much shorter than the original 10 book set. Other recommendations? (I'm going to have my 5th grader do it too, but over 2 years, so I was thinking the 10 book series would be good for him.)

My 7th grader is enjoying RSO Biology 2. I feel like it's very thorough for middle school and has interesting activities. We will be using RSO Astronomy 2 next year.

We have MCT and she loves it. I'm thinking a combo of that, some BraveWriter (Jot it down for writing and some of the younger Arrow books), and not sure what else. Maybe that's enough.

Update- DD noticed me looking at Beast Academy on my computer and got very excited. We talked and I asked her which of her math books she enjoyed the best and she said she loves Beast Academy. We decided to use that as her main math next year. We'll work on 2B this spring, do 2C when it comes out and I have all of level 3 so we can dabble in that slowly. I still have a Miquon book for back up to review topics as needed and she also has a Math Seeds account that she likes to do for fun. Mix in some math games and I think we are set. Now I have to figure out her language arts, which I suspect will be pieced together in the same way. lol

GOod to know about the RS games and I will definitely check out that link!

I guess because she's not quite as "mathy" as my 10 year old that I feel like she needs a little more repetition than BA offers, but that's easy enough to supplement if I need to. Also, while she's quite capable, she tends to freak out when things get too hard and I worried that BA would just be too stressful for her. That being said, today I asked her which of her math books she likes best and hands down it is BA. So I think we will be going with that as her main curriculum and supplementing as needed. This thread really helped me think through the options.

Thanks, this was really helpful to think about. :) ETA - she likes BA because the stories are fun but she also likes the problems.