I am trying to remember what we used way back when for 1st grade (that was so long ago). I think we tried K12 at one point, but dropped it, expensive mistake! One thing you may want to consider is McRuffy. They have math, phonics, science, handwriting, and spelling. We used the phonics program and really liked that. It is good if you are just starting out and want something a little bit more organized and scripted. If I had to go back again to 1st grade I probably would not stress about what curriculum I was using so much. Back then, a lot of the stuff we have now did not exist. I am sure if Winter Promise was available then I would have used that. They are not too bad in price if you just get the books elsewhere, Amazon, used bookstores, library. We really loved their Animal Worlds theme (did that one around 3rd grade or so) and now they have other themes for younger ages as well. I don't think 1st grade is that detrimental. You can try a few things see what you like, not that big of a deal if it does not work out. The more important thing is to spend lots of time reading, playing, exploring, doing activities, just letting them be kids. I also really like Rightstart Math as well, but not sure if I would suggest that to a newbie or not. It does not appeal to everyone. You would want to research a bit more, maybe look at some stuff at a homeschool convention, to see if it would be something you would want to try. I also think that "boxed" curriculum can either end up being helpful (help you follow a path and get to point B) or be a wash if you end up not liking it and maybe even cause stress and worry that maybe you are not keeping up with a certain pace or checking off things. I am glad I mostly stayed away from boxed curriculum it just was never my thing. I am sure with time you will figure things out.

My dd (age 14) is like this and it has been an interesting ride to say the least. The even weirder part is that I am like that too. You should see the two of us trying to get school work done with distractions everywhere. Our creativity comes out a lot and we can be kind of quirky. My dh just does not get it sometimes, kind of looks at us like we are from another planet, but we like to have fun and laugh a lot. I don't know yet what the future holds for my dd (right now she is still struggling with school a lot), but I am starting to see more and more lightbulbs go off. I am just going at the pace she needs for now and she might end up going to college or doing something completely different like starting a business or something in the arts. It is hard sometimes to be patient to wait for those things to come though. Just to give you an example of what happens to children that are dreamers later in life...I was totally like that throughout school and still sometimes daydream, go off on a tangent, etc. I initially struggled through the beginning part of college because all that daydreaming in high school was starting to catch up to me and I had absolutely no study skills. I took a break from college and worked for five years and then went back to college to finish my degree after having kids. Needless to say, I was much more determined and focused, I knew what my passions were, I had goals, and I did really well. Just finished a couple of classes at the local college and my grades have not been less than 97%. I study hard, but I also find time to have fun too. I am still a terrible procrastinator, but I am learning to deal with it a little better now. My future plans are to go into the medical field and eventually go to graduate school and be a professor and/or leader/administrator of some kind. I like to believe that all my experiences up to this point have greatly contributed to where I am now heading. There is no way I could have traveled this path earlier in life when I first entered college. The experience of working, living life, having kids, homeschooling, all gave me insight into what my strengths were and how I could contribute to the world. So, this is just one example of a dreamer type blossoming later in life. Would it have been nice if I discovered what I wanted to do earlier in life? Probably, but I would not give up all the time I have had with my kids and the things we have had a chance to do.

Back in the day when I took General Chemistry at Texas State I remember there being a lot of basic math stuff as well at the beginning. Really, I found Gen Chem I to be pretty basic. Once I got to Gen Chem II I started to appreciate all that extra work, the speed picks up tremendously and there is just no room for errors. I am not sure what type of chemistry course your dd is enrolled in, but there is also the intro chemistry course at my local community college and that one probably has even more of a review of unit conversions, etc. So, it may seem a little boring at first, but it really comes in handy later. I am sure they are also trying to level the field since some students may come in there not having as strong of a background in math. I am forever thankful to that first chemistry professor I had in college. It has gone on to help me in other classes like pharmacology and pharmacy tech classes, etc.

It looks good to me, although sometimes I end up cutting back on extras like logic, art, etc. You will have to just see what works for you. I have some similar things on my 8th graders schedule this year: Math: Derek Owens Prealgebra and then we will move into Algebra (not sure when we will switch) Art: Harmony Fine Arts Science: Earth Science (not sure what we are using yet) Literature: Literary Lessons From LOTR and reading several other books as well Grammar: We will either do Killgallon's Middle School Grammar or drop it all together so we can focus on writing (we are currently working through Giggly Guide to Grammar over the summer, so not sure if we will need anymore after that) I have one that needs spelling as well, so I understand that. We plan on finishing up spelling this summer and then just using spellcheck after that. Writing: IEW in coordination with TRISMS History: TRISMS History Masterminds, we might also throw in a more focused unit study on a particular culture like China Latin: Latin Alive 1 Vocabulary: If we have time might study some word roots or use the free vocabulary on Wordly Wise website

At that age my dd really loved any books related to animals. Some of her favorite series were Poppy and Bunnicula. She also liked a book called Socks (about a cat). She read several by Bill Wallace: The Backward Bird Dog, Watchdog and the Coyotes, The Flying Flea, Callie, and Me. She also liked the Catwings series. I am not sure what reading level your dd is at, but some of those may be too young, however, it may get her more into reading if you choose shorter chapter books at first (that worked for my dd). There was a time when my dd was barely able to read 40-50 page long chapter books (not because of reading issues, but because of her patience for reading in general). Now she is reading 300+ long books like it is nothing. She still is not a serious reader, but every now and then she really gets into a particular series. My dd tends to read a lot of nonfiction science books, so maybe you could find something related to topics that interest her.

There is so much good information on this thread that I will have to reread it several times to let it all sink in. I think for my dd she just prefers to not learn through textbooks or at least only textbooks. For her, that is the least interactive method of learning she could possibly do. The more I think about it I think she is just overwhelmed by the sheer size of the books. I think if she was only presented with a few pages at a time it would be doable. She might do better with an online text that she could view on an IPad or something, maybe just see a few pages at a time and not feel like she has to read it all. I also agree that there are multiple ways to read a text. I tend to read really fast and skim material in textbooks, finding answers as needed, etc and I described this method to her so she would be aware that you don't have to necessarily read the entire book. I have been going back to my local community college in the last few years to take classes and one thing I noticed lately is that the textbooks have not been used as much. I am sure this depends on the college and professor, but I was shocked that I was able to pull strong A's in science classes that I never cracked the book open. It was an entirely new concept than from when I originally went to college years ago. I guess now that there is so much electronic information out there, professors don't feel the need to stick to textbooks anymore. I also was one of those late bloomers. I don't think I really knew how to properly study, ace tests, and do well in school until I was older. I really started to take off in my 30s. My dd may end up the same way because I do notice that she sometimes has to sit on math topics for a while and despite the fact that she is 14 I have decided to hold her back from starting high school for one more year since I don't think she can handle the workload and all the writing required. She is extremely creative and bright, really smart kid, but just struggles with the drudgery of school, probably has dysgraphia because she complains of writing so much, would prefer typing on the computer. She shuts down when she has to listen to excessive amounts of audio for learning and I can relate because I have the same problem, used to fall asleep in lectures. I have to say my dd has no trouble reading about things she is interested in. She will get fully engrossed in a topic sometimes and lose track of time. A good example was yesterday. I had started reading a couple of chapters of White Fang to her a few weeks ago, but then got busy with other parts of school so she asked when are we going to continue reading that book. I had just bought a combined copy from Rainbow Resource that had both Call of the Wild and White Fang so I handed it to her and said go ahead and finish reading it (I often read a chapter of a book to initially get her interested and it works like a charm!). Well, she proceeded to read both books yesterday in one sitting. So sometimes for her it is just a matter of motivating. Thanks again for all the ideas and if anyone else has anything else to add I am sure it will make for an interesting thread!

I kind of feel the same way too, prep for what is to come later in college; however, she will probably pursue a career or college (whatever it may be) in the arts. I can see her doing web design, graphic design, she has even thought of doing jewelry design. I can also see her being more of an entrepreneur. So, she may need to take a few basic college classes that require a textbook, but it is entirely possible that she might go a route so different that she never takes those kinds of classes. She is just not academic in nature. I also told her about dual credit courses as an option, because this is a kid that just wants to get the boring stuff over with and move on already. So, she might go that route later in high school. I might be able to have her complete her science courses that way, although that would require a textbook...but I think she would be motivated by the fact that she would receive college credit and get those classes out of the way. I will have to look at Clonara more and Harmony Art mom's blog to get ideas. Just wondered if anyone else had a similar child and had been down this path before.

My dd is getting close to high school, in 8th this year. She is definitely an out of the box thinker, creative child, kinesthetic, visual spatial, loves art, hates most everything else about school. A lot of high school involves the use of textbooks (which we have not used in the past). Is it possible to get through at least most of high school without using textbooks? Learning from textbooks is just not appealing to her at all. She does not mind reading chapter books or other topical nonfiction books, just has a problem with the overwhelming dense quality of material in textbooks. I think the visual nature of them does not appeal to her as well because they distract her too much. Has anyone completed history, science, etc through some other method, reading books, doing experiments, etc and been successful in learning the material in high school? I guess I need examples of curriculum or accredited schools that might appeal to her style of learning more. We have done one year of Winter Promise in the past and I was thinking maybe I need to go back to that method for her. Any other ideas? I really want to have her graduate from an accredited school so have been looking at Kolbe and a few others. I like that Kolbe is flexible. Anyone have any ideas for an accredited school that would be a better fit?

I don't always stock up on a lot of school supplies because we often run out of room, but the extras I tend to keep on hand: whiteboard markers regular markers colored pencils mechanical pencils erasable pens spiral notebooks 3 ring binders highlighters tape (you would not believe how much of this my artsy dd uses up) scissors (can never have too many) glue clear sheet protectors (can use whiteboard markers on these) post-its or little flags to mark books we are reading, workbooks, etc arts and crafts materials like paint, construction paper, fabric remnants, yarn, etc printer paper (I tend to get this at various sales throughout the year, by the box/case) printer ink (I always seem to be running out) Also, when my dd was younger I would get pretty colored paper to print various worksheets on, but we don't have as much of a need for this anymore.

We have had to homeschool in pretty small spaces. When we lived in an apartment that was kind of tight, we used the living room and dining room (it was one big room) to put IKEA shelves with bins and a couple of desks and table tops. We still had a couch and TV in there, but just split the space in half and had our homeschooling stuff on the other side. Our next challenge was a 3 story condo that did not have much closet space and the entire first floor was a garage. We stored most of our overflow in the garage. The current homeschool curriculum we were using I stored in the master bedroom in an IKEA dresser. One drawer had school supplies, one had math, spelling, etc. We only used the really small handheld whiteboards at that time, just not enough room for anything else. We did not even use a desk at that time (kind of weird I know) nor did we have a dining room table (did not have room for one), so just sat on the couch or bed and did schoolwork. Maybe you could store overflow school supplies, etc in plastic bins under a bed or something. Everything does not have to be in the same room. I have so many books that I resorted to hanging up extra shelves in my master closet all the way to the ceiling so one whole wall is nothing but solid books. In our current homeschooling room, I also had to go vertical with the shelves all the way to the ceiling so I could accommodate chapter books and other small books. My current challenge is keeping everything neat and tidy and safe for my toddler, but still having enough stuff for my teenager. Here are some shelves we have in our school area: White Besta Wall Shelf - I have this hanging over a narrow desk. The shelf itself has very little depth so it does not stick out from the wall that much. White Lack Shelf - I also have this one mounted really high almost to the ceiling and it is horizontal. We have a lot of chapter books and reference books on it. White Trofast Shelf - We also put two of these together side by side, in the top section of the shelves we just have regular shelving for books, and then the bottom section of the shelves we put two large red bins (for toys for my toddler). These shelves are easy to fit because the depth is only around 11 inches.

I know you mentioned you did not want to go the dual credit route, but ACC has online courses as well. Check out their webpage for more information: http://www.austincc.edu/ecs/

I have not used it, but here is a review: http://blog.denschool.com/global-village-school-whole-child-healthy-planet-curriculum-guide/

I would suggest using lots of manipulatives, playing lots of math games, maybe some online games would help. It is good to take breaks here and there when they are at that age to give time for concepts to sink in. It also gets boring for kids to do page after page of math problems. If they cannot see those math problems applied to anything it is harder to make connections. When my dd was younger we switched to Rightstart Math, best thing we ever did. She is a completely hands on kid and RS does not have an overwhelming amount of math problems. RS has interesting ways of teaching math concepts, stuff I had never thought about. They also have a games book that you could do if you don't want to switch to a full curriculum. If I ever decide to homeschool another child I would pick Rightstart Math from the beginning and save myself the trouble of switching from something else. The only other combination I would consider is maybe Math Mammoth and RS Math, might seem a little overkill, but the drill in Math Mammoth could supplement RS Math and it is inexpensive to add on.

We are in the Austin area. There are tons of groups in the area. Here is one that is pretty active and has park days on Fridays (although park days will not start again until the Fall because of the Texas heat)! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LearningWithoutLimits/ Lifetime Fitness also has lots of classes for kids, swimming, rock climbing, raquetball, basketball, etc and they have had homeschooling fitness classes as well. We have not gone in a while, but I know in the past they had these classes at both the north and south locations.

I have to give another vote to Giggly Guide to Grammar. We just started using it and love it. It has hilarious sentences, covers everything in grammar, and if you get the version with the CD you can print out everything. I also like that it is geared towards homeschoolers. I always hated adapting classroom versions of curriculum.

This summer we will be doing a combination of Derek Owens Prealgebra (there are free videos online) and Jump Math. I ordered the Jump Math workbooks through Amazon and they have lessons that go along with them on their website.

Depending on how many kids and what ages/grades it can range from $50/mth to $500/mth. On that higher end, might be a high school level student that is taking more expensive classes. Also, something else to consider is extracurricular activities which become more important as a homeschooler, that can raise it even higher. When my dd was taking gymnastics it was around $50/mth. I have seen various other science, art, etc classes for anywhere from $30-$100/mth. We have been more frugal the last few years so have not splurged on these types of things as much. We also had a gym membership at one time (they had a pool, rock climbing wall, classes, etc) and it was around $140/mth.

I think we are a bit on the creative side in our house. My oldest dd decided to paint her bedroom a bright cheery yellow (pretty much goes with her personality, kid has lots of energy) and for our homeschooling room we painted it a pretty coral color. It is kind of in the middle of orange and pink, so still looks cheery, but not too bright. That room is one of my favorites in the house. We also put up white IKEA shelves and desks along with red IKEA chairs. Amazingly, the mix of red and coral go together well. We also hung curtains from IKEA that have a white background and then a bunch of different colors, so it breaks up the solid colors in the room a little. I can come back and post a picture later if anyone is interested in seeing our hs room.

Maybe you could try something fun like Giggly Guide to Grammar. I just started using it with my dd and she loves it!

I have been trying to find similar curriculum, not boring, not dry, something different. Here are a few things I have considered for this year: Giggly Guide to Grammar - I just bought this and we started it a few days ago. It is for grades 6-12 and it has really hilarious sentences throughout that are used to teach grammar. I ordered the book with the CD which comes in handy so you can print worksheets and other lesson info. I am glad I got the CD because the book is so nice I would not have wanted my dd to write in it. Igniting Your Writing I and/or II - We already have the first book, but I just have not started it yet. It looks fun and interesting. It covers quite a bit in such a little book and is really inexpensive. IEW's Rockets, Radar, and Robotics Technology - this is a new program by IEW. My dd likes technology so I thought this would be a different way to approach writing. Literary Lessons From Lord of the Rings - This looks like an awesome literature study, something different. I may wait to use it until 9th grade, so until then we will read the Hobbit and use a Total Language Plus guide. We have loved Key to as well, but needed something for prealgebra so I am debating between Derek Owens Prealgebra (there are free lessons online) or Chalkdust Prealgebra. There is also Kinetic Books as another option that is a little more interactive. Jump at Home Math - I picked up one of these workbooks on Amazon and it looks really interesting. There are free teacher's lessons online on the Jump Math website as well to go with them. We are going to use them in a supplemental fashion to look at math from a different angle. Patty Paper Geometry - I have heard great things about this, but have not seen it in person. Might be a fun way to introduce geometry. Trail Guide to World Geography - we are using it this year along with the notebooking pages and we might coordinate it with a geography text as well and go a little deeper on studying cultures. Story of Science - Joy Hakim books, different more historical way at looking at science. There are also study guides to go with the series. CK12 science online - free science curriculum for middle school and high school. I think they have a few other subjects as well. The material looks great and there are pictures on the pages so not too boring to look at. Excavating English by Ellen McHenry - kind of interesting history of English language. She also has curriculum for science and geography as well. The Accounting Game - I found this at a used book sale and the premise of the book is to use the idea of a lemonade stand to understand finance. It looks like it would be a fun way to learn about a boring subject. Inspire Motivating Lessons for Teen Writers - I bought this from Rainbow Resource and it is a really cool writing program that is geared towards teens. It covers descriptive writing, narrative writing, expository writing, persuasive writing, mechanics and punctuation, and spelling rules. Hope this helps a little!

I have HST+, but just don't love it. It definitely has a large learning curve, but even beyond that it seems cumbersome and does not do exactly what I want it to do. So, I started looking around this year for something new, and have not decided for sure, but I do like the one by Simply Charlotte Mason. It is simple and much easier to navigate. It already has tons of books, readers, etc that you can easily schedule for your child or you can add your own books/curriculum. It is super easy to add new books with ISBN, pictures, chapter titles, etc and then when you schedule the book you can easily move it around in the schedule. You basically mark stuff when completed and it automatically brings up the next lesson. There are still some features they are working on, but I am willing to wait for those if it does enough of what I need for now. My only complaint is the price $100/yr or $10/mth. I am doing the free trial right now, but I am thinking of maybe just doing the monthly plan in case I change my mind and find something else a little better, but so far so good. Also, I have been adding in curriculum into the Simply Charlotte Mason planner and what is cool is that once you add it in there you can share it with others. So, I put in Soaring With Spelling and Vocabulary and Thinking Through Grammar and I have a long list of others that I will be putting in there over the next few weeks.

I don't know if this will help or not, but I based the choices for logic stage science on what sequence we would most likely do in high school. My dd will probably be doing biology in 9th grade so we decided to do earth science in 8th grade. I think the ideal sequence is either life science in 6th, earth science in 7th, and physical science in 8th or life science in 6th, physical science in 7th, and earth science in 8th. We will be using Holt for earth science and I really like it for the 7th-8th level. Another option, if you have already covered life science in depth, you could spend a few years spreading out earth and physical science and taking lots of rabbit trails, maybe add in that geography you mentioned or you could do a fun unit study on topics your dd is interested in.

I just found something interesting in the Timberdoodle catalog. A book called The Writer's Toolbox and it looks really good. Here is the link to it: http://www.writerstoolbox.net/Home.html I tried Lightning Lit and did not like it, so I might try Writer's Toolbox this year before my dd gets into high school next year.

I have not read this entire thread to protect my sanity...too much arguing about nothing honestly. I would prefer a separate preschool subforum because I am in a unique situation. My older dd is about to go into 9th grade so I am mostly posting on the high school section and then I have a 2 year old. Almost 90% of what is posted on the K-8 board does not apply to me so I read it very infrequently. I would love to have an area where I could go right to what I want to find for my toddler. I hate having to weed through all the other posts. It does not really bother me whether someone is going to continue to homeschool in the future. I usually don't worry about what other people are doing. I just want good information I can find quickly. I am pretty sure that despite the negative turn this post has taken, many of us on this board would post regularly on a preschool subforum. I seem to remember a similar debate about the logic stage section as well...it has been going strong ever since.

The more I look into high school for my dd, the more I don't care what everyone else is doing. I think it is a time for my dd to develop her interests more and set herself apart from the crowd. Sure, there are minimal requirements, but there are a million ways to get there. My dd is not heavily interested in science, math, and does not care to attend a 4 year university, so what we are considering for her academics may be different from others. I am thinking of enrolling her in Kolbe Academy for high school and they allow a few courses completed in 8th grade to be included on the high school transcript...I think math, science, and foreign language. My idea is to let her take at least one of those courses in 8th grade for high school credit so she can get her feet wet before jumping into high school. We would still continue to do further credits in high school. For example, if we take Latin 1 in 8th grade, then we would continue on with Latin II in 9th, and Latin III in 10th. If we decide to do Physical Science in 8th (which can be counted as high school credit), then we would do Biology in 9th, Chemistry in 10th, and then at least one other science of my dd's interest, maybe Marine Biology or Environmental Science. I guess it depends on where you see your kids going as to whether to complete high school credits in 8th grade.