I'm starting to plan for next year and I'm trying to decide what courses would be good for DD. She does not enjoy academics, particularly science or math (especially math!), though she does like reading, creative writing and art. She's dyslexic. Humor or "fun" and/or highly visual classes work better than studying from a textbook. I've been lurking on the boards for weeks, and researching until I'm dizzy, but I still don't have a clear plan for some subjects. My current plan: Math: Algebra I (need help on deciding which program/class provider would be best. I'm really lost on this.) English: Shmoop English 9? (I have a 1 year subscription that expires in December, but I don't know if there would be some kind of fun writing/literature course that would also cover essay writing) Spelling You See (yes, she still needs spelling) Science: considering Guesthollow's chemistry, or biology at Fundafunda Social Studies: Big History Project or US government and economics with Fundafunda Foreign Language: she wants to study ASL, but I don't know where good classes for that could be found (might wait until 10th to start - my state only requires 2-3 years of foreign language) Electives: Athletics - tumbling & trampoline (she puts at least 7 hours a week in, athletics are her passion, and I want to give her some credit for it. Also, our state requires at least 1 PE credit.) Critical Thinking & Study Skills (Shmoop, half credit, fall semester) Media Literacy (Shmoop, half credit, spring semester) If she doesn't do foreign language, I'll probably enroll in her an art class and study art history for her fine arts credit.

Do you have to do religion and philosophy? Does typing have to be a school subject? Could you cover religion outside of "school" time, like do it a couple of times a week in the afternoons? I'd drop philosophy/logic and let him take an elective that interests him. Maybe do typing this semester and through the summer, so you won't feel so crunched.

Galore Park DD is loving Build Your Library, but it's a full curriculum, not just science. Then again, maybe your daughter wouldn't mind extra history or LA, and you can leave out the parts you don't want to do. Time4Learning and Khan Academy are both online, and IIRC, keep track of the student's progress.

Agreeing with others that WWS with a 5th grader can be hard. My DD definitely wasn't ready for it at that age. If you want, you could do The Creative Writer instead, and start WWS1 in sixth grade. Doing WWS 1-3 is plenty to get ready for high school. We used English Lessons Through Literature 4, which covered both grammar and writing, and it worked great for us. Plus it was nice to have both of them in the same book, instead of having a bunch of different curricula for one subject. SOTW was designed for elementary students. It's not really going to be deep enough for an approaching-middle schooler. Like Farrar, we did more interest-led stuff, then spent a year on US history and this year we are doing the history of science. I can't really recommend science. We did interest-led stuff for that, too. The McHenry units are good. We did the Brain and Botany as kind of a life science year, and I had DD read the Quark Chronicle books (a little below middle school level, but covers life science concepts. There are 3 - Botany, Zoology and Anatomy. They have teaching guides if you want to use them with both kids. The science in them is solid.) We only ever did Latin lightly, but DD really liked Minimus. If I were to start over, I'd do Galore Park's Latin Prep.

No experience, but I'm considering it for next year, too.

Do her math lesson in bed at 10pm. Take a horseback riding break after English. Read, using the dog for a pillow. Sing and dance whenever she feels like it.

We're on academic break this week, so I've been research stuff for next year, mostly lurking on the High School boards. :lol: :scared: DD doesn't even have any tumbling classes, so she's free from almost everything but chores.

Art Home Ec (cooking, mending, knitting, vehicle maintenance, grocery planning/shopping on a budget, child care with an egg or flour sack "baby", etc) Survival Skills Music (appreciation and creation - singing or recorder is easiest/cheapest) Nature Study Logic

Make it some sort of "preparatory school"? Westminster Preparatory School Lancaster Academy for the Gifted Eton College is a prestigious boys' school in Britain. You might play off that (or any other school), like Eaton Preparatory Academy.

Nice map pencils and colored markers several reams of unlined white printer paper US and world maps used books (saves so much money, especially as DD gets older and the texts get more expensive)

Still chugging along. We've been doing pretty well, so I haven't terribly felt the need to be accountable, but I'm starting to plan for next year. TabletClass isn't going great, so I got this No Nonsense Algebra book and DD has been working through that. Tentatively, I think we'll do Build Your Library 9th Grade next year, since 8th is going so well this year, and a co-op/one day a week school for English, math, foreign language and maybe art. I'm starting to feel like DD isn't getting enough feedback in English, math or French, and art would just be fun.

Fuzzy (preferably with prints) socks purse (not old-lady looking, according to DD) leggings in bright prints hair chalk/temp hair dye in unnatural colors (blue, pink, purple, etc) hair care supplies (nice brush, shampoo/conditioner, hair ties, headbands, etc) lip gloss, mascara

Oh, and in this week's news - DD broke her toe this morning (accidentally kicked the door frame) but taped it and insisted she was fine to go to gymnastics. She is physically WAY tougher than I ever was. I'm going to have to pick out a new read-aloud. Tonight is the last night for Swallows and Amazons.

I've been struggling with keeping up with accountability, and in some ways, it really shows. We've kept on track with schoolwork (mostly), though math has been a problem, but I'm trying to wait until at least January before deciding whether we need a change. We finally got our gym schedule worked out so DD is only going to the gym 4 days a week this year instead of 5, LOL. She's learning to love her Fridays off - enough that some weeks she does extra work Monday through Thursday so she can have ALL of Friday off to do whatever she wants at home - which is usually a lot of online games. I can't imagine where she got that from. :laugh: I've been slacking on my exercise and guitar practice. I HAVE to get back into it - I feel so much better when I exercise and play music, but between work, school and DD's gym schedule, I really haven't had time. That may end up being my New Year's resolution. Right now my mantra is "5 minutes is better than no minutes". :lol:

The Birchbark House series Little Britches Little House on the Prairie series (DD liked On the Banks of Plum Creek best, but there's also Farmer Boy, though his parents weren't pioneers) Sarah, Plain and Tall The Ballad of Lucy Whipple Sophia's War: A Tale of the Revolution The Matchlock Gun

We used the condensed version, and DD (then 11) loved it.

My DD did that (and still does to some degree). She turned out to be dyslexic. That may not be the case for your daughter, but it's something to keep in the back of your mind. Dyslexics are fantastic at getting the gist of things, but not so much the details, and as others have stated, some difficulty with word retrieval.

It's kind of early in the year, but so far: Love: Spelling You See (DD's spelling is finally starting to improve) Drawing Textbook English Lessons Through Literature (using as a supplement, started last year. I've really seen DD's skills grow with this book) Build Your Library 8th grade (history of science) Don't hate, but not living up to expectations: TabletClass Algebra (we'll give it some more time, but I may have to look for something else) Not sure yet: WP LA 7 Ecoutez! Parlez!

I've been so busy with work, I haven't had time to check in. School has been going well, we're a little behind, but last week had a bunch of appointments that don't usually happen, so I'm hoping we can catch up this week. DD's tumbling is going great, the handspring class I found is really helping get her series (multiple handsprings in a row), and Friday her team coach let her try round-off, layout (a no-hand handspring, basically) on the floor and DD did it! This week is more of the same. I need to be more accountable with my exercise. I've been really slacking on that, and I can tell. <_<

Maybe ask her what she wants to do? She might like US history, or the history of science or music.

Top five overall: Momo (Ende) Un Lun Dun (Mieville) The Secret Garden or A Little Princess The Magician's Nephew Understood Betsy Classics only: The Secret Garden The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Understood Betsy Bambi The Magician's Nephew

If you're OK with Catholic schools, Homeschool Connections has a spaceflight operations science class where the students are virtual astronauts. I keep drooling over it for my DD. From the site: Course description: This course is a jam-packed assortment of space-related sciences taught by a former NASA Space Shuttle Engineer. The variety of topics covered in this course could each be courses in themselves. The approach taken here is to present some very interesting aspects of the subjects in a way that doesn’t over-simplify the topics. Recognizing that homeschool students are exceptionally bright and are capable of understanding the fundamentals of complex subjects and researching additional material, the course material will be presented in a manner that captivates the child’s attention, makes them more aware of the depth of knowledge still to be gained, and then shows them how to learn more by providing a plethora of resources that the child will explore on their own and with the collaboration of fellow students. Class discussions will also be peppered with these subjects/topics: • Material science – why certain materials are used and why some are not • Circuits and electronics • Sensors and other instrumentation • Sun science: Sunspots, radiation, solar wind, solar flares, Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), and how “space weather†affects the Earth. • Earth observation science: Meteorology, Infrared, satellite imagery • OSS: Traveling from the Earth to the Moon and back • Use of computers and software in spacecraft, especially during long-distance trips • Work stories, lessons learned, and other valuable real-world advice • The importance of public speaking skills

Girl: Ivy & Bean series Clementine series Madeline series Eloise series Boy: The Dragon Book (Nesbit) The Tale of Despereaux The Neverending Story Odd and the Frost Giants

Oh, and about what to use to learn to draw, Drawing with Children is good, and we also like Drawing Textbook by Bruce McIntyre because the exercises are simple and can be repeated until mastered.

We used Crayolas until DD was in about 6th grade, then switched to Sharpies. Really good art markers aren't really worth it for kids that young, IMO. Too many dry out to be worth the price.