You really want the teacher dvds to go along with the teacher notebook. They do have a great resale value however. The teacher dvds teach you all the whys and hows of the program. From here, you "could" create your own, but I like the student materials as well. Some people only get the student materials, but I think you are missing out on a lot without the teacher material. I think IEW is a great step from Barton. I've moved away from it now, but it is fantastic at providing structure to those kids that need it.

I don't have much more to add in the lines of history suggestions, I just wanted to say hi as another person living in KY, but originally from Oklahoma!

I've done two Derek Owens classes - both on my own rather than having Derek Owen grade, so I can address some of your questions, but not all. We've done prealgebra and physics. The daily videos are not too long. They tend to be in sections that are 3-6 minutes and have multiple videos per day. Notetaking is encouraged during the video and it usually consists of filling in the blanks in the workbook and copying examples. There is not excessive note-taking. My son takes great notes, and never has any questions with physics. He can do the work on his own and I grade. My daughter doesn't take any notes (due to learning disabilities). Sometimes she gets stuck and then I go back to the examples and work them out with her (where she should have notes, but doesn't have any). My son will go slowly through the lectures that have a lot of new material, but then he goes double speed through other sections. I can't process the information that fast, but it works for him. I've been very happy with our DO experience, though I haven't used him for grading and help.

We've done Center for Lit and been happy. Make sure you try out a sample online. Also, when the book lists are published, don't be afraid to join a younger class if the books sound more interesting. You daughter can still learn the literary analysis from "easier" books - this is what my daugher did this year. I also have one in the high school class.

Count us in - Kentucky.

I have a friend that does this as well. My impression from her is that the quality is average.

What do YOU love? Whatever you're passionate about tends to make the best classes. I love math and science - here's some things I've taught for middle school/high school elective co-ops: Mystery Disease by Prufrock Press http://www.prufrock.com/Mystery-Disease-P194.aspx Mystery River (I like Mystery Disease better, but my background is medical) http://www.prufrock.com/cw_Search.aspx?k=mystery+river Mathematical Mystery Tour http://www.prufrock.com/cw_Search.aspx?k=mathematical+mystery+tour 10 Things All Future Mathematicians and Scientists Should Know http://www.prufrock.com/cw_Search.aspx?k=10+things Exploring Bioethics (put out by the NIH - it has 6 three week units) https://science.education.nih.gov/customers/HSBioethics.html Wacky Chemistry based on 101 Intriguing Labs, Projects, and Activities for the Chemistry Classroom by Brian Rohrig, though I'm not sure where you can buy this book anymore Math and Logic Fun - based on Mathcounts club materials Other classes for this age group taught be other people have included: PE, pottery, drama, creative writing, ballroom dancing, cooking, sewing, geocaching, guitar I tend toward more academic in my "elective" classes since I love math and science, but they are all self-contained elective classes without homework.

If her understanding is decent, but limited by the reading ability, then I'd pick something conceptual on a high school level and have her listen to it. Does she have a reading disorder diagnosis? If so, then she can listen to many textbooks through Learning Ally.

I've not actually been the student, but I've taken some alongside my son going over every transcript and doing all the homework along with him.

I'm eyeing this book now as it looks fantastic. I've been helping my son through AP calculus and I think he'd love this book.

My high school kids have started with Kidswriter Intermediate, though I'm not sure it fits the bill for what you are looking for. We've also done Expository Essay, MLA Research Essay, many of the family classes and my writing loving daughter has done a number of the fiction writing classes. Kidswriter Int - this focuses on word play and making connections that you would not otherwise make; lots of skill-building of how to go about gathering ideas and funneling them into something useful; no major writing work is shown at the end of class. It feels like you don't do as much, but both my boys found it very useful. (I'm not sure this is what you want however). Expository Essay - teaching how to write essays, make theses, defend your points etc. 2 essays are written over 6 weeks with several sub-assignments MLA Research Essay - excellent class; builds on essay writing to write a 5-7 page research essay. Excellent teaching in all aspects from how to pick a thesis, note taking and research, MLA formatting, outlining and drafting the essay as well as polishing it well. There are also options of literary analysis writing classes as well as other classes. These are all fine for high school students. My 11th grader is taking classes through them now and will continue next year. There are plenty of older high school students in the high school classes. Teaching is done in a forum setting. Assignments are posted to read and do. Typically you have 2-3 days to finish each assignment with 2-3 small assignments due per week. The assignments build upon one another. For instance you may research good quotes that could be used in your paper and then practice paraphrasing them. Eventually you'll use this work for your paper as well. The teachers have all been very responsive to questions that you can post to the classroom or email privately and all have the option of also texting and calling them. For the MLA Research class, I was not a good intermediary and my son needed lots of help. The teacher was invaluable in helping him every step of the way. I find the teacher feedback fabulous and appropriate to each child's writing. They do not try to conform the kids to one voice, but each person writes papers to their own personality. You can see and learn from the feedback given to others as well. The feedback is positive with the teacher finding good things to comment on as well as very constructive in how to improve. I've been impressed with how good the feedback is for any level of writing -- my son gets the feedback he needs, and students that already are very good writers get very good constructive feedback at their level. Feel free to ask me anything more about BW classes. They are expensive and worth every penny for my family. I can teach the mechanics of writing, but I can not give feedback at all on how to improve. My reluctant writer will say that he still hates writing, but if he has to write, he'd rather do it the Brave Writer way. :)

Brave Writer has done wonders for my reluctant writer -- he still doesn't like to write, but now can write a very good paper. It's been amazing how the Brave Writer instructors brought out his writing voice which is unmistakably his voice. I've used Center for lit for out literature portion and used Brave Writer for our writing courses. It's been a very good mix for us.

Easy to combine. You can do it at a level anywhere between the younger and older. I've done both. My oldest started with cores equal to grade level and moved all the way up with a brother 2 years younger (and then younger sister as well). I then repeated the cores with an older following with a younger. I'm now on my third time through with core equal to younger child and older listening in. Aim to combine for all read-alouds, history, science. Pick age appropriate readers either a part of the core or not. Do age appropriate LA and math.

Love Brave Writer here. It's done wonders for my kids writing;

Check out the co-ops. Often there are support groups either as a part of the group or a spin-off of families that have met through the co-op. It sounds like you might be interested in something like a gym class. I don't know how your local co-op is structured, but there are several in out area and they all have gym class. Here you can come to the co-op and take only one class if you want (gym or drama or pottery, etc) I like the co-ops that are purely elective and pick and choose what you are a part of. Personally I like to teach hands-on-science classes where we blow things up and mix chemicals etc. - no book work and no homework. Search the web, ask your co-op of other opportunities, ask the librarians, if there is an email loop or facebook group, they may point you toward what you are looking for. Don't be afraid to ask the big organized groups as most of them are generally interested in helping other homeschoolers find what they are looking for.

Agree with all of the above. It is one of my favorite books.:)

Oftentimes, I go to conventions and make a list, but buy it online as I can frequently get better prices that way.

I agree with the above, but would encourage you not to rush through prealgebra topics if your daughter is struggling. Getting this foundation set is the main thing that causes kids to succeed or not in algebra and higher math. She needs to know fractions, exponents, negative numbers, distributive property well before moving on to algebra.

I'd count scouting as an extracurricular. I might double dip just a little in that what is learned for a first aid merit badge may cross over with curriculum for health, etc. I would NOT count life skills learned through scouting toward anything on the transcript. Everyone in public school only counts scouting as extracurricular - I think it would look suspicious if you do anything else.

I'd like to be added as well.

We'll do Brave Writer classes at my home.

I'd be clear in the expectations of the class. Make sure that everyone knows when they sign up that there are expectations that work will be done outside of class. For this instance, I don't really think a study skills class would help as it is usually the attitude of the families in the "enrichment" co-op that they won't be work outside of class. I've always taught in this setting and occasionally I've taught classes that require homework - I'm upfront in my course descriptions before they sign up and then very upfront with everyone the first day. I also give them a chance to back out if they can't meet the requirements. It doesn't make sense to be in a book discussion if you aren't going to read the book or in a writing class if you aren't going to write. It does no one any good.

There is a big difference in difficulty between an algebra/trig based physics that is based on a hard physics book compared to an algebra based physics book based on a physical science book. They may both be billed as algebra based physics, but the workload and output may differ quite a bit (including the math expected).

HUGS! I try to tell people that these boards are a great place to get information, but they are full of over-achievers and don't compare yourself to everyone else. I know the way I sometimes describe my kids can be tough if you are comparing your kids. Sometimes my kids do speed on ahead. However, they also hit walls and throw fits. I have three kids with learning disabilities. I may sing their praises here on these boards, but I'm not always as open about telling all their faults. I'm a real life person and other people I know may read what I write - I don't necessarily want to tell the entire world (at least those I know) that my kids aren't perfect and they are behind and struggling in subjects. I want to choose who I tell all the details (good and bad) and I try not to write out some of those struggles so that my kids are not offended by what I write about them and share openly. I never write anything with the intent to hurt or make others feel behind. I generally try to be helpful and honest and I try to stay out of discussions that I don't have anything to add. I have found these boards very helpful over the years, both in making curriculum decisions as well as how to teach my gifted, struggling learners.

You can register for Center for Lit classes for the entire schoolyear or just a semester. Yes, the student reads one book per month and then there is a two hour discussion on the book. You can download a sample from the website to hear what it is like. The class is live, but is also recorded. If you can't make the live class, it is simple to download the recorded class and listen to it--you just won't be able to participate. This is very helpful if you have scheduling conflicts or if a book is just taking longer to read than expected.