We really liked the Ellen McHenry science modules. Homeschool in the Woods has some neat hands on history modules for those grades that I always wanted to try but never got to. You could do the US history ones and visit relevant areas in your state. Guesthollow has some nice plans and guides for history and science, too.

What about focusing on their interests? Hiking, geocaching, nature study, sketching, fairy tale study, etc. Do they want to travel? Build a tree house? Take singing lessons?

We are going to be using Oak Meadow's curriculum. It has A Sand County Almanac that goes with it. Silent Spring is supposedly a good ES book, but I haven't read it yet.

Edited yet again: Horizons Pre Algebra Galore Park English 3 with MCT Lit (Fog and Shadow) Spelling You See Bravewriter Kidswrite Intermediate, maybe one other OM Environmental Science CTC World History Detective Dyslexia Games C additional literature planned by me Hoping to do art and ASL through the local one day a week co-op. Tumbling and gymnastics, probably 3-4 days a week again Over the summer, I plan to do MCT's Vocabulary from Literature, Dyslexia Games and continue writing and math.

The Sonlight books for the early years are good. We used their booklist but not the program. DD really liked using the Jolly Phonics readers, which had science topics.

I'm in a similar boat. My current (tentative) plan is to have DD do Bravewriter's Kidswrite Intermediate followed by one semester of Write at Home's middle school writing, either level 2 or 3.

Holes (boys, but realisticish) Fortunately, the Milk The Invisible Dog Mr. Ape More advanced: Momo (Michael Ende)

Nothing extra for science. DD's fine with just reading, though. Some kids have to have experiments. We did BYL 8, though. I'd have done something else if we had done 6 or 7.

I think middle school is an excellent time to go "off sequence" and explore topics your child/ren is/are interested in. Or even just doing something other than the world history sequence again. We ended up doing US history (K12 A History of US, condensed version), history of science (Build Your Library 8), and next year will be doing the middle ages with a focus on British history during that time (A Picturesque Tale of Progress and Galore Park's Medieval Realms and Making of the UK). We will probably follow the standard high school sequence - World Geography (9th), World History (10th), US History (11th), US Government & Economics (12th). DD isn't really passionate about anything academic, though she likes to read, so I'm aiming for mostly get-'er-done type stuff with some extra reading thrown in. You could easily pick it back up in 9th and do the 4 year rotation again, or do 2 years of world history (maybe 11th and 12th grades), 1 of US and goverment/econ (it seems most colleges want at least a year of US history, and a semester each of economics and US government.

Worked: Going back to CLE math. DD hates it, but she actually retains what it teaches. Unfortunately, we lost a lot of time doing other things, so we're having to double the lessons until she gets caught up. Spelling You See Drawing Textbook - art that actually gets done reading and block scheduling from BYL 8 creative writing (currently using A Fairly Creative Guide to Telling Tales) Didn't work: language arts in BYL 8, or basically anything that involved doing anything other than reading French - we just didn't make foreign language enough of a priority. I think I'm going to have to enroll DD in a class to get it done academic writing - (Such misery! :svengo: DD really hated it, so I tried to make writing more enjoyable by switching to creative writing. I'm trying to transition to more academic writing by the end of next year.)

We've had success with Drawing Textbook by Bruce McIntyre. The lessons slowly build on each other and you can keep redoing the lesson until it's mastered, unlike some of the other curricula that expect the student to master the technique in one shot, or be motivated enough to do it over and over on their own. It's super cheap to implement - $13 for the little book, plus a ream of typing paper and some pencils. You need to find something else if you want to cover more than drawing, though. I'm no help with health and Bible. I'm still poking around looking for something for health here.

More finalizing: MUS Algebra 1 Spelling You See Galore Park English 3 (not using the suggested lit) MCT Lit, either Fog and Shadow or Time and Fog (I already bought the Fog set :laugh: ) OM Environmental Science A Picturesque Tale of Progress (vol 5-8 - Middle ages) Still up in the air: art foreign language maybe media literacy

I did purchase it. When I looked at it just before I bought it (the LAST day of the February sale because I kept going back and forth about it), there weren't any samples that were for the new syllabus. It is similar to the old samples, IIRC, but it's been awhile since I looked at them. I haven't gone over it extensively, but I like it better than the samples I saw for the old version. There is reading for each lesson and questions, and most weeks have one or more project/experiment(s) (usually several to choose from) to complete. I don't know if it has long term projects, since I only read through select lessons once I got the syllabus.

It's high school level, but I'm considering FundaFunda's geography course.

Some things are more final than others. Set: MUS Algebra 1 Spelling You See OM Environmental Science (I read through part of the syllabus and I really like it. I think this is what DD wanted.) Up in the air: history English/writing foreign language art (still waffling between stuff we already have and putting her in a class) I like the skills stuff that Galore Park has for English, but I really don't like the majority of their literature choices, so now I'm trying to decide if I want to do that with alternate lit choices, or go with something else entirely (maybe Moving Beyond the Page or OM? I don't know). I got Bravewriter Help for Highschool, but I don't know if I want to use it at this stage. DD would like that a whole lot more than essay after essay, though. I may or may not use Adventures in Fantasy, although DD did ask if we could do it (one time), but that's more than she's ever asked about any other curriculum. I never have found something I loved for foreign language or art. I've been reading through the resources we have for history and I'm not particularly thrilled. I'm thinking I'd like to do world geography, maybe. I don't even know if we're going to get to study skills, unless I drop history and do something like study skills one semester and maybe media literacy the the next. I swear, this year I've actually had LESS settled as time goes on instead of more. :willy_nilly:

Latin, if you're not already studying it. Health and kinesiology, maybe Psychology or Sociology Weight lifting (I only partially jest, nurses help move patients and they need to be strong enough to do it, especially since a lot of them are likely to be obese) something she can continue as a way to de-stress after work, like music, drawing or yoga? Volunteer at local hospitals or hospices, so she can see what it's like in an actual clinical setting.

Finalized a little more: MUS Algebra I Spelling You See Adventures in Fantasy, maybe also Lively Art of Writing Galore Park SYRWTL English 3 and related literature Shmoop Study Skills & Critical Thinking Oak Meadow Environmental Science SYRWTL History (British history) something more formal for French, or maybe moving to ASL Art of some kind, either Drawing Textbook or The Virtual Instructor, or maybe a live class

DD would be in 7th grade by age for PS, but has been doing "8th grade" this year. However, I'm concerned she won't be ready for high school in the fall, so I'm considering doing another semester or year of "8th grade" to get her ready. Tentatively, I'm planning on a semester. Currently we're doing: MUS Algebra I (just started this semester) Spelling You See Winter Promise 7th Grade LA Shmoop Five Paragraph Essay Build Your Library 8th Grade (history of science) Ecoutez! Parlez! book 1 Drawing Textbook Next semester would be: MUS Algebra I Spelling You See Adventures in Fantasy mom-assembled reading list Shmoop Study Skills & Critical Thinking still looking for something for English (comp (essays) & grammar) maybe Civics and Environmental Science - something out of the standard high school path something more formal for French, or maybe moving to ASL

You might look at Spelling You See. My DD is dyslexic, and had the same problems with AAS and Apples & Pears. We also tried Phonetic Zoo and it didn't work, either. SYS seems to be making a difference in spelling. She also started playing Epistory to learn typing, and it requires words to be spelled correctly, so I think that's helping a little, too, but she only just started Epistory a couple of weeks ago.

Changing math, switching from TabletClass to MUS after getting several recommendations. Trying to ramp up writing, but I think it might be too much. I should have started with the 5-paragraph essay before trying critical reading & writing. Oh well. I've been realizing that DD was doing WAY too little writing, so I've had to add more. Also, I'm trying to make sure we make more time for French and art. We're already on the second semester of the year and just started lesson 3 of the first book of Ecoutez, Parlez. :ohmy:

Shmoop has a European History course.

Emily of New Moon Coraline The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate Un Lun Dun A Little Princess If you are open to movies, a lot of the Miyazaki films have strong girls. Kiki's Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro, and Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind are good to start.

So, tentatively: this summer: Critical Thinking & Study Skills (half credit) MUS Algebra I Shmoop English 9 with Spelling You See Guesthollow's biology world geography - undecided provider Art 1 (local class throughout the year, plus art history a couple of times a week) Shmoop Media Literacy (half credit, fall semester) Athletics - tumbling & trampoline DD wanted tumbling as a school credit so she would have "something I'm good at", and decided she wanted to do biology for science. I recently realized that while she's studied the history of the world more than once, she doesn't really know anything about other modern cultures. :ohmy: Anyone know of a good cultural geography course?

Actually, we really like Build Your Library, but I don't like their subjects for 9th grade. We do have an option for dual enrollment, but I don't know if DD will be ready this upcoming year, since she's young for her grade. I will definitely keep it in mind for next year, though.

Anyone?