In addition to online Bravewriter courses, there is Help for High School which is a pdf of the instructions for two of their online courses. It covers Kidswrite Intermediate and Expository Essay. It has great instructions written to the student. What it is missing compared to the online classes is the teacher support and the wonderful feedback that I cannot give my kids.

I bought my teen a used iphone for less than $100.

I'd pick something for anatomy and physiology (or any other science) and continue at home at your own pace. In public school, kids still get credit for a bad teacher/bad situation so I'd do the same. I wouldn't try to cram a full year into the spring, but I would try to go ahead and supplement to round out a credit. Maybe get some Teaching Company videos on the subject or start another book on anatomy and physiology (can avoid a textbook if you want).

I know some real life homeschoolers that have taken these courses and been happy with them. Edited to add - the tuition is significantly higher if you are out of state compared to in state for KY students. Be sure you are looking at the out of state prices if you don't live in KY.

I did BW freewrites with my kids when they were 9,11,13 (it was most difficult for my dysgraphic teen). I also had a little one dictate some to me. We would all sit at the table and do a freewrite (including mom) - usually from a prompt. We'd time it then share if they wanted. It was usually lots of fun and silly. It was wonderful to get my non-writers to get something on paper.

My oldest (and I) love AoPS and have gone through the series. My second is very good at math, but needed someone else to teach - I'm going to have him try out Derek Owens precalculus.

I ended up using Prentice Hall Exploring Life Biology. I waited until my oldest was 11th grade :closedeyes: , when he could do it with his 9th grade brother. It's a traditional biology book and is working much better for us.

AoPS Prealgebra might be too hard, but might fit what you are looking for. I found that Derek Owens prealgebra has been great in filling in the gaps for my VSL daugher (who also abhors computer learning, but is doing well with small chunks of computerized youtube lectures from Derek Owens).

I didn't read much of the biology book so I can't comment too much on how much he emphasized God, but my boys didn't comment on it. I really liked the labs that we have done so far with Shepherd Biology, but we ended up ditching the textbook for something more traditional. With my boys who are not so interested in Biology, I felt it spend too much time on the details and definitions and not enough time on the big picture of biology. I still wanted a lot of depth, but moved to something easier to read that didn't bog my boys down in the details so much.

When writing becomes soul-killing, then I often think that the best option is to take a break from writing altogether. It can be a break of weeks or months and a lot of writing related information can be learned, but you need to rejuvenate the attitude toward writing. For my non-writer, Brave Writer has been wonderful (he also tolerated IEW better than anything else). Brave Writer online courses have brought out his writing voice and taught him a lot of structure of writing. I've been amazed at the end result and he says that he if he has to learn writing he would like to do it the Brave Writer way better than anything else.

What would you add to the second half of AoPS Introduction to Algebra to make it a "sold" algebra 2 course?

My kids have used them and enjoy them. I've been pleasantly surprised at how much they've learned, retained and are able to apply what they have learned to new literature. We have not done any of the writing classes. I agree with downloading a sample class to get a feel for what you are paying for. I've heard some complain that there is too much teacher interaction (between Mr. and Mrs Andrews) and not enough student interaction, but it is great for my kids. My kids tend to not want to speak up in class and just listen and absorb the information. The first year the my oldest did the class (9th grade), I thought he was just listening and enjoying the class, but I had no idea how much he was learning. I was impressed over the next year how much he had learned and applied to all sorts of literary discussions with me. This past year (11th grade), he asked me to be able to take another class saying that the classes have really impacted how he thinks about everything he reads. I've also had one student take a jr high class and one an elementary class. Overall pleased with all. It is hard to measure the results, but it has made a huge impact on how my kids think about and consider literature. As I've said, we don't do the writing component of the classes.

Kitchen Table math is a math series that isn't curriculum that might be helpful.

How long did you do it the first time? The people I've talked to who talk about multiple rounds of vision therapy often have much shorter courses that we did to begin with. Our COVD doc recommends 30 weeks saying part of the time is learning the skills and the rest is making them become permanent so that you don't need more VT. I've been very happy with the long term results so far (over multiple years).

I've never heard this either and I don't think it's true. Maybe someone is mixing up tests as PSAT doesn't "count" in 10th grade.

Of course it's not "normal", that's why they require Barton. :closedeyes: My daughter was able to remember the sentences and phrases more as expected. (She has slow processing speed). My son has great difficulty remembering a string of words at all. (He is gifted with a very low working memory). I have no idea how difficult it is for others.

I'd just keep going for now. Having typed output is fine.Consider an OT eval for the hand pain with writing. Accommodate, separate handwriting out as a separate subject, Reevaluate (yourself) as you go along and things may or may not fall into place better with some time and.

I agree with the above Teaching Company suggestions. Also, you might look at Discovering Music by Professor Carol - it can be bought on dvd.

My library has the connections dvds so I just put them on hold. :hurray: Off to figure out what else I can get for free.

Thanks everyone. I'm exploring some of the options and will take the time to look at everything. Keep the ideas coming - I love it.

What are your favorite sources of audio-video teaching for bright kids. My 8 yo is extremely bright and loves to watch physics/engineering videos such as Teaching Company and listens to everything. He loves to learn, but he's a non-reader as his working memory is 50 points lower than his IQ - very slowly learning to read. What are your suggestions for things he can watch or listen to (when mom's busy teaching everyone else). Favorite teaching company videos Biographies Netflix streaming teaching history or science ideas geography free or paid?

I tried to pawn off some of the teaching of my younger kids to audiobooks and/or video driven teaching this year to free up some of my time. It hasn't been good for retention of material. I've gone back to needing to teach history and science by read-alouds - reading anything and discussing it as we go.

To answer your question, I'd pick Sign of the Beaver as it's an easier (more enjoyable) read. To "study" literature it is helpful to start with something that you enjoy reading (but don't ruin your very favorite books by "studying" them). Whether or not you want to do these books or swap them for something entirely different is up to you.

I also like Brave Writer - Partnership writing is great for this age. We also have liked some of the online classes such as Write for Fun as well as some of the family classes with younger children.

Favorites: Art of Problem Solving Bennett's 3 volume US history Brave Writer (if you have to write) Least - anything Latin