Write at Home has one semester classes, and So Verbose has quarterly classes he could do a couple of.

I keep going around in circles trying to figure out what to use for English next year. I've been researching for weeks (including many threads here) and can't make up my mind. I need to outsource it, because DD just works better for outside teachers. She loves creative writing, but really needs to work on essays. I want to use this upcoming year as prep for dual enrollment and she needs to be able to write well enough to pass the assessment test. Right now, my front-runners are Write at Home, CLRC's Intro to Literature and Composition, and So Verbose. Has anyone used any/some/all of these? I'm trying to get a feel for each and how they compare. Also, if you have a curriculum you love that's different, can you tell me what it is and why you love it? I'm happy to consider other options (except Brave Writer, I tried it and it's not for us). Also, since only CLRC's class has a literature component, I need to figure out what to use for lit if we choose something else. Help! :willy_nilly:

Physical Science. I would LOVE to do Conceptual Physical Science Explorations, but DD likes to do things by herself, so she's working through Acellus. I don't love it, but it keeps her accountable.

Un Lun Dun The Stranger at Green Knowe Momo (Ende) The War that Saved My Life (and the sequel) The Death Defying Pepper Roux Gypsy Girl (Godden) The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate and sequel The Birchbark House series (the protaganist is 11 and 12 in The Game of Silence and The Porcupine Year) El Deafo Smile and its sequel The Moorchild The City of Ember series The Prydain Chronicles Moon Over Manifest Wonder Flora and Ulysses The Tale of Despereaux The One and Only Ivan For middle school, authors I like are Rumer Godden, Geraldine McCaughrean and Neil Gaiman, but you have to be careful which books to pick because all write both kids/YA and adult books.

Probably at least a couple of years, though it does get a little better gradually. DD, at nearly 14, is finally growing out of most of the "brain dead" moments. She still has a way to go, though.

Some of DD's favorites, some have already been mentioned: El Deafo (I just had to buy a second copy for her because she lost the original after reading it 30ish times) Because of Winn Dixie The Wizard of Oz The Birchbark House series Understood Betsy The Tale of Despereaux Wonder Bambi Momo (Ende) The Little Prince Four Dolls (Godden) a lot of Geraldine McCaughrean's stuff, like Greek Myths, The Jesse Tree, Peter Pan in Scarlet (official sequel to Peter Pan) Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Black Beauty

I've got another sinus infection (had one 3 weeks ago), so the dr is giving me stronger antibiotics and yet more allergy medicine (I now take 3 by prescription). I am planning curricula/classes for next year since the school thing didn't work out. DD got all her schoolwork done, and is bathing the dog in anticipation of a sleepover with one of her besties. I made her vacuum the house and clean her room yesterday.

DD has a spring birthday, and all of her friends have always been younger. We decided to "officially" change her grade (from 8th to 7th) this semester because I was going to enroll her in PS next year, and after looking at their expectations, there was no way she was going to be successful in high school based on where she was academically and socially. Best decision ever. Now we don't feel the constant pressure to try to "catch up" and there is time to study subjects we didn't have time for because the basics took too long every day, and DD has extra time to mature. It's like this extra year of middle school is a gift. I know everyone says "just teach them where they're at", but honestly, renaming her grade took a lot of psychological pressure off of me, and therefore DD (because of my high expectations), and we are both happier for it. If she does accelerate during the high school years, she can always "skip" a grade and graduate earlier. I have no problem with either way.

I was finally able to track down the office that has DD's shot records, but they've been archived and they said it takes a month to get them from storage. So DD isn't going to school this upcoming year, which is fine, she needs another year before high school, and their 8th grade doesn't offer the electives she wanted. So now I'm planning next year! Anyone have some good suggestions for pre-algebra? :tongue_smilie:

My contingency plan, in case school doesn't work: Math Relief Algebra I CLRC Intro to Literature and Composition Spelling You See Acellus Middle School Personal Finance (fall semester) Oak Meadow Health (spring semester) Acellus Investigating Careers Acellus Spanish I Art - local co-op or online Continue gymnastics and competitive tumbling, or join a competitive cheer team. DD hasn't decided yet.

No immunization records. The doctor's office doesn't have them. The previous doctor's office might have them, maybe, even though they were supposedly sent over when they changed their practice *6* years ago and stopped doing general pediatrics, but it's not likely. So unless I can find my old partial records, DD will be getting a whole lot of shots in the near future. Or, if that scares her enough, I'll have to plan for 8th grade at home. :scared:

Today: started filling out forms to register DD for school next year. We found a charter school that does half days, so she will get the not-mom student experience with all the responsibility of having to get all her work done for the next day, every day. :laugh: Seriously, though, I think this will be a good thing if we can get her enrolled as an 8th grader. They study personal finance and either public speaking or a foreign language, and she will be doing a LOT more writing than she has previously. My only hangup right now is she was awarded a spot as a 9th grader, and there is no way, by August, she can be successful as a high schooler at this particular school. I have to wait until after they do testing to see if they even have and 8th grade opening. (She really needs "another trip around the sun", as it's termed in Rethinking School before she's mature enough for a full high school load.) Tomorrow: pick up immunization records and make sure I have filled out everything correctly, and drop off the paperwork early next week.

We didn't follow the history cycle. I felt like it was a good time to explore other things since we'd already done one rotation and there was so much that got glossed over, so one year was state history (home-designed), one US (condensed version of Hakim's History of US), and one was history of science (Build Your Library). Right now, it's world geography (Acellus).

Acellus - it gives DD the independence she's been craving, and I have the ability to check on her progress every day without making her feel like I'm grilling her on what she got done. Everyone knows the expectations and she can track her own weekly progress and plan her week, so if she wants to have Friday off, she knows what she needs to do Monday-Thursday to make it happen. Spelling You See - Not always fun, but the pattern is easy to keep up, and it's working.

I feel like a bad homeschooler just typing it, but most likely DD will be going to a PS charter next year, or we'll be using Calvert. Everybody is just burned out with the designing and implementing and keeping up with all the parts and pieces, and we need something different. We will probably continue with Spelling You See either way, because the child is a terrible speller.

Nothing has been a runaway hit this year, but stuff that is working: Spelling You See (still! yay!) Oak Meadow Environmental Science Paragraphs for High School (Killgallon) (but now we've finished it and I'm not sure what we are currently using is working) Iguana Art Academy Like pulling teeth: Horizons Pre-Algebra Moving Beyond the Page history (even though she likes the projects, getting her started is a pain) getting DD to write anything

Super-tentative: 9th grade: Algebra 1 (either MUS or with Jann in TX) Preparation for Rhetoric (WTMA) or The One Year Adventure Novel Biology of some kind, maybe. Maybe joining another homeschooler's science class (I think they're doing chemistry next year), or the local co-op World Geography (FundaFunda) or something else if the schedule doesn't work, but I have no idea what maybe local co-op for ASL and art gymnastics and tumbling

Why not an art class? We like The Virtual Instructor and Iguana Art Academy. Iguana does short classes, but you could do different classes with VI. Your local area may have painting or sculpting. She could also do a theater class, if there's one near you. She might enjoy making sets and/or costumes.

What worked for us: CLE math English Lessons Through Literature Sentence Composing for Middle School McHenry science (Botany, The Brain) Drawing with Children Theory Time: Fundamentals (music theory) We did homemade state history that year, so I can't recommend a curriculum for that.

Easy Peasy Homeschool might be what you need. It's online and free, broken down into daily lessons. A lot of people love Rod and Staff for English. It's very inexpensive.

I wish DD would love something about school. I was hoping this class would help with that. :(

Just FYI, she canceled all her spring courses to deal with a family medical crisis. Maybe we'll be able to try one out over the summer, or something.

Happy New Year! So far we've assembled my new desk (Christmas present) and cleaned up the area where DH keeps his welding stuff so he can weld while it's not 100+ degrees outside. (We had stuff leftover from the tornado last February that had to be put away.) I still have a bunch of stuff to clean up from the drawers of my old desk, but I feel like 2018 has been pretty productive so far. ^_^

Today's goals: keeping warm and the pipes unfrozen. Maybe break out the "strawberry daiquiri" mocktail I bought for New Year's Eve at dinner, since I'm pretty sure we'll all be asleep in our nice warm beds before midnight.

Merry Christmas! No school this week, but I really need to plan out next week, and clean up from our celebrations. I think planning is going to happen tomorrow.