I think mom's instinct is usually right on - and if you feel that you've had a successful year, then I bet you are on the right track. I've dealt with 2E issues in multiple kids. (All test very gifted with learning disabilities). It's hard when you "know" you are doing the right thing, but friends, society, testing, scouts, etc. then look at you crazy that your child can't do something expected. My oldest is severely dysgraphic - I scribed through 9th grade (and expected to need to continue), but he started doing all his own writing this year. My third child is severely dyslexic - started reading fluently in middle school. My fourth is not a reader yet at 8yo. I'd encourage you to keep asking questions. Are you doing the right thing? Do I need to seek further professional testing? How do I build reading fluency? Just because one (or two or three) professionals say there's nothing more you can do, keep asking questions and seeking help if that is what you feel like you need to do. I had 3 people tell me not to persue vision therapy for my oldest for handwriting, but I kept asking questions and had a COVD doc convince me that he thought he could help. (At that time I wasn't even asking if my oldest could be helped, just my daughter with convergence insufficiency). After months of VT, my son started picking up a pen and writing on his own for the first time. Everyone will have advice (and most are well meaning), but you have to filter what is best for your child. Sometimes I will give an issue another year to see if it works itself out, but at some point you may have to go back and start asking new questions.

I wouldn't worry about it.

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My daughter has used BA at the rate it was published so we had plenty of time in between books to do SM or Zacarro. My youngest has just started BA. I plan on doing a little extra math alongside BA. For some kids I'm convinced they would need extra drill/review, but I'm not sure he is one of them yet. (My older boys went through the progression of SM to AoPS).

The answer to your question is that YES, Barton is very easy to implement. Level four is just as scripted as earlier levels and the dvd and Barton manual walks you through everything you need to know. However, I think it might hard for you as the teacher to start there because it is much harder for the student. If your child did levels 1-3 with a private tutor and then you started level 4 at home, you might be inclined to think it is "your fault" if all of a sudden Barton feels harder, when in reality it's that level 4 is much harder for everyone.

I'd either decide for him (you want physics) or ask his opinion.

For living things - take a look at the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock. It's a wealth of information. I would tell me kids to go outside and find something they want to learn more about -- then we'd look it up and learn more as well as find lots of questions to go back outside and study our source. We've looked at anything from ladybugs and dandelions, skunks, flowers, fish, etc. More than the facts in the book, I love the questions it asks for you to answer yourselves (by observation of nature).

I like MEP (for prealgebra), but I like AoPS better. You might try Alcumus on the AoPS website which is free to get a feel for the beginning of prealgebra and the type of problems and solutions (teaching).

I like AoPS. I agree that it makes you think and it's somewhat addictive.

Some of the schools in our area don't make it easy for homeschoolers to test, but we do have schools that are more than willing to have homeschoolers take tests, and don't even blink when I say my son needs accommodations. If there are extra costs, I am quick to volunteer to pay the extra costs. So far schools have paid the extra costs themselves. It's hard to predict.

We did it alongside algebra - essentially alternating books. The first several chapters of NT are fairly easy, but the thinking skills become more abstract as the book goes on. I would think you could do it before algebra, but it would be frustrating to some students in the last half of the book.

No, Brave Writer does not have any live sessions. For Kidswriter Int. and many other Brave Writer courses, the teacher posts both reading material for teaching as well as an assignment at the beginning of the week. There is usually a second or third part of the assignment posted as the week goes on. Students will have work due mid-week as well as on Fridays, but no work over the weekends. The comments/corrections from the teacher are excellent. They will find both positives in the writing as well as areas to improve and ask you to make an edit to the writing. It was amazing what the teacher could draw out of my reluctant writer. The students can read all the student writing and the teacher's comments for everyone's writing. Students sometimes chat about each other's topics but students do not critique each other. It is very helpful to read the teacher comments about other's writing as well.

My oldest is a very reluctant writer. What worked for him (10th grade) was Brave Writer Kidswriter Intermediate online class, followed by their essay class. I would also look at IEW.

I agree that photography would often be just counted as extracurricular no matter how many hours are put into it. If she is taking a specific photography class, then I would award credit. However, I would not award 4 credits of photography for 4 years of work - just count the rest as extracurricular. Also, I'd put all grammar, literature, writing into one English credit unless they are very specifically different courses with large amounts of work. It is not unusual for English to be a hefty credit as it covers a lot of material. Speech, I'd only count as a separate course if it is truly a separate stand-alone course. Otherwise, I'd probably just lump it into my other classes. I certainly had to do speech across the curriculum as I was in school.

Any type of read-alouds are snuggly. But don't limit yourself to things that sound snuggly. At my home we have done math orally for years. It's amazing how precalc can turn into couch time with my oldest who is severely dysgraphic. Math with some of my kids is table work, others do it on the couch with me. My youngest even likes to turn spelling into snuggle time - he props his feet up on me to write the spelling words and then gives be hugs between every 2-3 words. With my snugglers, I just take a pile of work to the couch and say come do schoolwork. For written work, if they start working on their own, I walk away and tell them to call me back for more reading after they finish whatever they are doing.

For a student that has completed AoPS Intro to Algebra, what more do they need to cover before moving on to a standard precalc course? I've taken one student through the AoPS series. My next son is very good at math, but doesn't like the challenge of AoPS. I'm thinking about what he will need to fill in for Algebra 2 (after he finishes the AoPS Intro to Algebra book) before moving on. He's likely to go into a STEM career so he definitely needs a solid math background.

My kids could share a book without problems.

AoPS and Beast MEP math (starting with level 7) Brave Writer Teaching Company videos - just a variety and telling my kids they have to watch something of their choice

I agree that I don't think the quality is teacher specific. I do see a little bit of different "personality" between teachers, but the math is all good.

We picked one month to try it out - this month. Assuming we like it, I am going to pick selected months next year based on the books - and maybe enroll different kids in different books. My understanding so far is that the first week is for reading the book (if not already done). The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th weeks are the discussion. Usually a new discussion question is posted every other day and some discussions go on much longer than others. Kids are encouraged to participate in the discussions, but don't necessarily have to post in every question. (I've told my student he has to answer at least half - probably more, and read all of the discussions). The teacher posts on some of the comments directly, but not everyone's, and posts comments to the general class as well. The class is not graded and no formal writing is done. I can tell you more at the end of the month.

I also don't schedule AoPS - it's too difficult to predict the speed your student will go through certain chapters. I aimed for one section (teaching plus exercises) per day with up to a week on the review problems. Sometimes we'd end up splitting one section over more than one day and frequently we'd do the review problems faster. Depending on the child, I'd start a different AoPS solving book (chapter) while still finishing the review problems from another book.

What does he want to do? Our first online classes were things like eDx courses (free), Center for Lit literature discussion classes, 4-6 week Bravewriter writing classes. (Actually our first classes were AoPS Mathcounts classes - but those ranked as fun). If you are worried, I'd be careful about how much work is required and what you are locking him into. Having an outside teacher/schedule is wonderful, but can also be a real hassle to learn how to work at that schedule.

It's a good variety. Whether or not it is too much is very dependent on the student - you know her best and whether she can handle this load. How many and what level of classes did she take this year?

I like the geometry chapters of MEP - look at levels 7 and 8. It is easy to pick and choose the chapters to work on certain topics. (It's also free on the internet - just printing costs).

As others have said, don't make him write about everything. You can do reading and discussion without writing. I'd limit the writing to a few good polished papers. I think it is better to do a smaller amount of writing, go through the editing process and end up with a quality piece (and take the time you need to do it). Over time of working on the writing process, your son with improve and speed up, but if he's at "fourth grade" level, I wouldn't expect him to make huge jumps suddenly. Add some unpolished paragraphs to improve speed.