I think it sounds like a pretty great option too. Problem is, he wants to go full-time. Where we live, there just aren't very many homeschoolers and the there is no such thing as coops and large gatherings. I think he just finally wants to feel like everyone else. He just doesn't understand why his few good friends get to go to school, and he can't. No matter what explanation I give, he rolls his eyes and thinks I'm being overly protective. Sometimes I second guess myself and think I am..but then I run into someone who tells me the horribleness of high school, and then I rethink that. And funny thing is, those kids want to be homeschooled! But my kid doesn't (and never has) drunk the homeschool juice, sadly.

I appreciate you all chiming in. Here's where I'm at- I'm thinking that he WILL go. A little background-this kid is as social as they come. I mean, he used to wait on the curb at age 2 for the school bus to come and if the little neighbor girl didn't come over to play, he cried and cried. He's just wired to be around people. He was homeschooled until 5th grade and went for 5th and 6th. He loved it of course but each grade had some serious negative consequences. One was a newly born technology addiction/manipulation and another was just a watered down Catholic School that I was paying a lot for, and I was constantly disappointed in the leadership's choices. And so, because of a number of factors, he was brought home for 7th. I will say, things are going pretty well. I feared him to be a total monster because of the way he acted this summer when we broke the news to him. But all in all, it's been pretty darn okay. He's even working hard at Latin, so that's just a bonus. Now, our school does have dual-enrollment, which was mentioned above. Here's my hesitation with that (along with the fact that he's counting the days until he gets to go to HS)....someone told me that he thinks kids would have a really hard time fitting in, finding their "group" when only going 1/2 the day. What do you all think about that? Do you think there is any validity in that? It's a pretty awesome thing that we have here and I think it'd be the perfect compromise-unless I really am stunting his high school experience by doing so. Sometimes I think I just need to "let go" and pray for the next 4 years. Other times, I wonder what in the world I'm even thinking when I'm considering sending him there. I never set out to homeschool high school, but oh how things change. We have the added bonus of him being the oldest of 6, and so whatever precedent I set for him-I most likely have to follow for the next in line-who might surely sink in HS due to his low self-esteem and not so great social skills. Ahhh, decisions are never easy.

What has been your experience? I must admit, nearly every.single.person I talk to locally has horrible things to tell me about high school here. Everything from identity crisis to drugs to depression to low teacher expectations to no consequences...the list goes on. I'm pretty darn scared. Does anyone have an experience to share?

I'm trying to put together a serious, yet fun study for my two boys in 7th/8th grade. They haven't had much American history so I definitely want history, but with it being an election year some civics would be fun too. I tend to prefer things that are streamlined and simple, but like I said, I kind of want to bring history alive for them. This will be our 1 year sweep before they go to HS. I will definitely use Memoria Press's 200 questions to cement whatever program I go with. Also would love to hear about supplemental resources like documentaries or any other visuals that could add to our study. So, what do you love? And thanks :-)

I'm thinking this must exist, but I just can't find it. I want to be able to search out flights from our local airport to ANYWHERE (domestically, that is). I don't want to have to put in the destination because quite frankly, I would go just about anywhere if the price was right for all 8 of us. I'm seriously just trying to plan the vacation around where we can get to without breaking the bank. I know Southwest has a low-fare calendar, but I have to put in the destination. So...does such a think exist?

Okay, I think I've narrowed it down to either Novare's physical science OR Rainbow Science. I would love to hear from anyone who has used either!

This may help me think this through. My oldest guy will be in 8th next year, and will most likely head to public high school after that (tear). Math-Pre-algebra...(suggestions welcome. He struggling through BJU Fundamentals now)...Thinking maybe Derek Owens, but need to research a lot more) Literature-7th/8th grade MP lit. guides (doing these this year and they are a winner all around!) HIstory-MP's 7th grade American history with his brother and possibly Famous Men of Greece (as in MP's 7th grade plans) Science-Possibly Novare's physical science OR Rainbow (input welcome please!) Writing-IEW's new SSS program B OR Homeschool Connections Aquinas Writing Program (would love advice here!) Latin/Grammar-MP's 2nd Form with EGR OR if we do IEW, maybe Fix-it? Geography-MP's Geography 2 Faith/Catechism-MP's Christian Studies 2 (LOVE) and Homeschool Connections catechism class As you can see, I'm nowhere near decided but at least have some thoughts in mind!

Looking for reviews. First, if you've used it...was it successful? For the student? For you? I have a lot of questions but let's start there :-)

I've been looking at Novare! Can you tell me more about the physical science? I think I'm just intimidated by it. MPOA has an online class but it's kind of pricey, and if I did it with both of the kids we're talking $1000. What would a typical day look like? Are there experiments? Is it easy to teach? Anything you can tell me would be helpful.

I'm looking for something my boys can do together if possible, with the intention of going to public high school in 9th. I wouldn't mind a neutral book as far as OE/NE goes, but definitely not YE as that does not align with our beliefs. I'm also not really a math/science person myself so something that makes it easy for mom would be good. I'm open to online classes or really anything at this point, although finances are a bit of a concern. Thanks in advance.

I hear you. The video thing is tough. On one hands, it is a HUGE relief that I am not teaching him 7th grade math. On the other, there's no opportunity for a help cry during or after the lesson. He has to wait until my husband comes home to get the 1:1 help, and even then it's not rainbows and unicorns with everyone else wanting/needing dad's attention and my husband's sometimes lack of patience. I am considering Derek Owens. Can you tell me more about the grading? How does that work? I don't understand how they grade the daily ( I assume?) assignments.

Have you considered Derek Owens at all? I've also considered CoTR with Memoria Press. From what I can see, it'd be about the same amount of $ as DO. I think I prefer the recorded class option though as we cherish our flexibility, and they only meet 2x/week. Anyone know if DO is a recorded class every day?

Okay, I'm intrigued by Math-U-See and Derek Owens. I've watched a bit of the DO videos and I like the very explicit instruction. He seems to explain things very thoroughly and clearly. I'm not sure I understand from the website exactly how the program works tho-so, you print out a workbook and the he watches the video and does problems in the workbook? And there are tests? I wish the website gave a bit more information/samples. I am lost when it comes to MUS, so I will need to look that up. Since he's going to HS, I really just need a solid, traditional curriculum that will get the job done painlessly. No, probably no chance for a tutor. My husband won't pay for a tutor because he's an engineer and thinks he can do it. *But* I would do it in a heartbeat because he's an engineer, not a teacher ya know? And, they butt heads. So....still looking :-)

Background: My son (7th) struggles with math and always has. Poor thing is just like his mama-all language and no math/science skill or interest whatsoever. Early on, he did some BJU and CLE. He did CLE in 4th grade which was the last year before going to public school. He hated it. He thought there were way too many problems/pages and he just detested it. The next 2 years in school he did okay but struggled. Not ever to the point of flunking or any kind of learning disability-he's a bright kid who got almost straight A's in school (B in math), but math is just not his favorite. This year he is back home for 7th and is doing BJU's Fundamentals of Math for 7th. It's going okay. His average is a B- which is fine, but my husband has to reteach most things most nights of the week. So, I'm considering what to do for next year. I assumed we'd move to BJU's pre-algebra., I've heard really mixed reviews on it which scares me. The scariest was someone who said the whole program was a disaster and a horrible waste of money. As in, completely unorganized, difficult and pretty much a nightmare. Here's what I know- He needs- spiral or at least decent review of old concepts someone else teaching besides me some kind of video, he said he did not like CLE where he had to read/teach himself -orderly, visual and logical Can you think of anything that fits the bill?

I did, nothing happened. Just booted up normally to the login screen.

Calling, no begging....all techies to please help! All I know is that my daughter was on the computer and the next thing I know, it will no longer accept my password. It gives me a hint, but will still not accept it and I’ve tried EVERY possible password I can think of. It also seems to acccept it (says welcome with the circle going around) but then won’t log me in saying the username or password is incorrect about 10 seconds later. There is a link to change the password but it says “ This feature requires removable media, such as a floppy disk or USB flash drive.” We’ve tried both-still can’t get in. Please help-Monday is fast approaching and everything is on this computer!

Seriously. We spent all of Thanksgiving break taking stuff OUT of our house, and it's still not enough. Now with the looming holiday season, I'm seriously wondering how I can prevent going crazy with Christmas coming up. You can see the ages of my kids..kids that are used to a pretty big Christmas morning. Yep, wish I could rewind that one. I have 6 kids who seriously, do NOT play with toys. We hardly have any toys at all in this house. They are readers and we have 5 bookshelves overflowing. They play games, and we have several from last Christmas that haven't even been opened. They have bikes, scooters and everything our garage can hold. Their clothes are piling up all over their room because they have too many. So, you can see my dilemma. What does "Santa" get them? Some still believe so that kind of puts the gift card/experience idea into awkward territory. I don't want them to wake up and be miserable, but I am to the breaking point. i have spent the past 10 years picking up, organizing, pitching and buying "stuff". I'm DONE. 3 bags went to Good will yesterday. The thought of more coming IN makes me anxious. How do you minimalists do Christmas, and what do I tell my kids who are used to getting a whole lot?

Hmmm...therein lies my concern, the "formulaic" writing part. I probably have a few years before I have to worry about that, but I do kind of want to find something that I can stick with. Right now, I need to get my 6th grader to write sentences/paragraphs that make sense. Subject-very agreement type thing. And I need him to stop using words like "nice" and "good". Oh, and get him to write complex and compound sentences vs. simple sentences. Would IEW fit the bill for that?

I was wondering that exact thing. If we do American history next year, that U.S. History book looks amazing to go along with it. But...I would have to pretty much be an expert in the IEW way of teaching right? Looks like I'm a year too late.

I don't know what I'm missing, but I definitely am missing a lot. I need someone to spell out what this curriculum looks like long-term. For example, if I have the following grades next year, where in the world would we start? And then what would follow the next year? I'll have grades 2,3,4, and 7, 8. Our writing needs major help, but I just don't see the progression of year to year with IEW. Any clarification would be appreciated.

Memoria Press? i feel like it's a good solution for those who think science isn't really necessary in K-6, but they kind of want to be doing something. It's more of a nature study in my opinion, and feels pretty light. We're doing Birds right now. However, I love that the kids will hopefully walk away with some real world knowledge of topics that they will benefit from knowing about for their entire lives. Mammals, astronomy, birds, trees, etc.

And also-are you all under the impression that Andrew P. re-recorded all of the lessons? I didn't see anywhere where he says that, more like they just converted the whole thing to forever streaming. Did I miss that? And what will be different about the program compared to what's offered on the DVD's?

I'm not sure I totally understand either. I have a group of kids that would need the 3-5 and then the older boys would need 6-8. This would be two different programs? What exactly, would my kids be able to do after going through one year of this? I get the outline thing and I understand that. But, what beyond that does IEW offer? I need some selling here. I just can't really visualize what it is.

We're not users, but we sure are interested in what this could be. I need a writing program for next year so I'm anxiously awaiting! Anybody know?

Okay, please don't throw rotten tomatoes. We are using a mishmash of two different curricula. One says that there are 4, and the other says 5 (with Southern added in). My FIL said he has never heard of the Southern ocean. So, which is it? Are there 4 or 5 oceans in the world?