Wow! Thanks for the extensive feedback everybody! Sounds like an IEW class with OTA would be worth the $$ and that this is the direction I have been wanting to go in with DS for 9th grade—IEW as a jump off but adding in more variety in the types of essays he should be learning how to write and practice as he begins high school. I am concerned about the time commitment because DS is not independent enough for my taste as an 8th grader doing SWI B online with IEW. He still needs a lot of hand holding to complete even a two paragraph assignment (!) That said, the OTA IEW classes I am considering meet every two weeks I think (?) so maybe that will be enough time for him to complete an assignment and not feel overwhelmed even if (when) he has to do most of it on his own. I have no problem looking everything over and discussing things with him but I would like him to put in his own effort, independently, first. OTA is offering good discounts if you enroll in classes before March 15th which is why I am trying to make my decision about next year quickly.

I am considering enrolling my rising 5th grader DD in an Open Tent's IEW writing class next year. My DD currently is working with me on SWI A w/DVD's and a mixture of theme books. I am particularly interested in knowing if Open Tent offers anything really unique and special that my DD would not get already from using IEW's DVD's (with Andrew teaching) or the books. I also am interested in knowing about the the amount of work expected.Thanks!

I am considering enrolling my rising 9th grader DS (and maybe my rising 5th grader DD) in Open Tent's IEW writing classes. Both have experience with IEW already. My DS currently is taking IEW Online SWI B and my DD is working with me on SWI A w/DVD's and a mixture of theme books. I am particularly interested in knowing if Open Tent offers anything really unique and special that my children would not get already from using IEW's DVD's (with Andrew teaching) or the books. I also am interested in knowing about the the amount of work expected. If your children have taken IEW's online courses AND Open Tent's IEW classes a comparison review would be great!!!!

Some other options I have stumbled upon in my research this year. I am not evaluating these schools/programs just letting anyone interested know they exist: Rolling Acres School is classical and Catholic and offers courses for middle and high school students in Latin, French, German, Literature, Logic, Writing, Philosophy and Science (Grades 6-8 Only for Science). It appears some classes are offered live online and some are offered as a home study option that is self-paced and parent supervised: http://www.rasonlineacademy.com/ This is from their website: R. A. S. is an online academy fostering Catholic identity through a liberal arts and great books inspired classical curriculum. We use blended learning in an online educational platform. We strive to be essentially Christian, academically rigorous, and practically helpful to all families. We offer services for Pre-K to 12th grade homeschoolers through the Online Academy for 7th-12th and Schola Rosa Co-op & Home Curriculum for Pre-K to 12th.

I am using CLE Algebra I with my 8th grader this year after receiving good reviews from this site last year. It is working well so far. My son needs the spiral (he did Saxon Pre-Algebra last year) and CLE Algebra I definitely is spiraled. There are no "bells and whistles" —it's straight forward math but that works for my son who is easily distracted. The explanations are brief but if I need more I go to another reference (Mostly Keys to Algebra I that I got used at a curriculum sale). I plan on using something else for Geometry in 9th but for now, CLE Algebra I is working well!

What Arctic Mama and City Mouse said. Sounds like he is missing some crucial foundational concepts if he doesn't understand how 3/1 = 3 or 3/3 = 1. In addition to lots of hands-on experiences with manipulatives, playing games and using real life examples, we spend time with the idea of the fraction bar really being a division sign and if you turn it sideways it looks like the division sign without the two dots. So, 3/1 = 3 because you are really saying "how many 1's in three?" (division) and 3/3 = 1 because if you divide 3 by 3 the quotient is 1. We use Singapore and Beast Academy and those curricula really help with these ideas. The other thing is that multiplying fractions in Singapore is taught differently than I learned it which was to just do the algorithm (at least as far as finding a fractional part of a whole number). At first I thought it was odd but now I see the beauty in it : ). So with a problem like 2/5 of 20 (2/5 x 20) first my DD (4th) is being taught to find the unit fraction (1/5 of 20) and then multiply that by 2 because it's really 2/5 she needs. Singapore uses bars to show the number (20) divided into sections and puts the 20/5 to show that you are dividing the 20 into 5 equal sections first. Then you are taking 2 of those sections to find the 2/5 of 20. The standard algorithm will be taught but the above process is stressed first. I am finding that my DD is better able to visualize multiplying with fractions from this type of work. I also really stress to my kids that fractions are a way of describing relationships among numbers and are not specific numbers themselves per se. That probably makes no sense technically (the jargon), lol, but the idea is that young kids (K-2) have only really had experience with whole numbers that represent what you are talking about every time (i.e. count ten cookies and write 10 to represent the amount). But starting in 3rd grade or so, we are talking about different types of numbers that behave differently–fractions. The fraction 1/2 may be 6 if the whole is 12, or 1/2 may be 50 if the whole is 100, but it is still 1/2 you are talking about each time. This is an abstract and different concept and can be difficult for kids to wrap their minds around. Lastly, I remember and discuss with my kids (when things get hard) that fractions are heavily featured for about 3-4 years (between grades 3-5/6) so if something doesn't "click" right away, you'll have another opportunity shortly. Then, of course, you see them again in pre-algebra and algebra, etc....

But True North Homeschool Academy may have something valuable to offer once they come online!

Apparently, homeschoolworks4U is out of business. From the website: It is with both a heavy and glad heart that we announce homeschoolworks4u.com has been sold. As a result, HomeschoolWorks4U.com will eventually go offline. TRUE NORTH HOMESCHOOL ACADEMY (TNHA) is now the owner of this website and its content. TNHA is working to transfer the information from this site to their new website. TNHA will provide you with numerous choices for homeschool and tons of free information to help you, your child, and your family along the way. There will be a huge announcement once TNHA launches their website (anticipated launch date is the first quarter of 2018). To get in on any early-bird specials they may offer, email them and request to be added to their email list. The email address to use for this request is: YES@TRUENORTHHOMESCHOOLACADEMY.COM Thank you to everyone who has entrusted us with helping your child learn and succeed. May God Bless and Keep You!

Uhhhh, my DS who is in 8th grade, and will be 14 at the end of the year, is just now starting to be able to predictably do independent work and to do it without whining and complaining about it. He has some anxiety issues which delayed him because he would get very nervous about trying anything on his own due to fear that he would fail (for the record, no amount of reassurance from me that it was okay to make "mistakes" helped alleviate his anxiety). As he has grown more able to manage his anxiety he has expanded his desire and ability to work independently. Like your son, my DS is advanced with content (he is taking two high school level courses this year) but slower and more reluctant in skill areas like writing. He can discuss and analyze verbally far more than he can communicate coherently in writing. So, in skill level areas like writing I am going deep and taking lots of side-by-side time with him to lay a solid foundation for the future. I know it will pay off in improving the quality of his work and in boosting his confidence that he can be successful with independent work. Now, in contrast, my 6 yo does her independent work so fast sometimes (and often just finds it and does it without being asked) that I am consistently taken by surprise by her academic initiative. I think my DS is on the "slower" end of being comfortable with independent work while my 6 yo is on the more advanced side and what works just depends on the child. This is the beauty of homeschooling! 10 yo is not too old to still need you beside him for large portions of the day imo—I wouldn't worry yet : ).

My DS is doing SWI B online with IEW and the class is the whole course in 15 weeks. There typically are two assignments per week (plus Fix It Grammar) but they are only 1 paragraph each so far. It's fast but I think it's fine. He's in 8th grade.

Yes, my DS was HS K-3 went to a small private school for 4th, small public elementary neighborhood school for 5th and then our district's large public middle school for 6th. DS was sent to school in 4th because he had a very bad case of "grass is greener" and simply stopped working at home (by the end of 3rd grade). By the end of 6th grade he had had enough and really wanted to come home for 7th. That was last year. This year there was no question that he would stay home for 8th and he says he has no intention of going to a large, public high school in the future. Last year, in 7th grade, he went to a large HS co-op (400 kids K-12) once a week and also a science co-op (about 80 kids) once a week in addition to church youth group twice a week. He also fenced once a week. This was enough social time for him and he is a very extroverted kid. What he discovered for himself was that the amount of time spent with other kids didn't matter (quantity) what mattered was the quality of that time. He simply grew tired of what he saw as poor quality kid to kid interactions during a loooonnngggg school day (6th grade school day took 8 hours including school bus ride time). As I said, my DS is very extroverted but he has grown to prefer fewer overall hours per day spent with other kids as long as those hours are spent in quality, respectful (often multi-age) interactions. This year he will still attend the large co-op weekly but not the science co-op, and he will still attend youth group and fencing. I think my DS also is starting to appreciate the academic freedom of HS'ing more as he is getting older and does not want to give this up. For example, he is advanced in history and will be taking a high school level history class this year in 8th grade. This would not be an option for him at our local public middle school. He would have to take yet another year of grade level American History. I hear you regarding the concern about technology. When my DS started the public elementary in 5th, the teachers and principal were aghast that he had no keyboard skills (because all the students had been keyboarding since K). Of course, he picked it up in no time. One thing I did not appreciate was the sheer amount of hours they parked my son on computers "testing" him. I do live in a very test driven state and area and this was grating on me and him.

My 8th grade DS is doing IEW SWI Level B online this semester (recommended by a few posters above). He also loves history and science but does not enjoy writing and needs lots of hand-holding. My DS's biggest issues are with ideas and organization and IEW is great with overcoming those problems (in the past, these issues sometimes have been roadblocks to him even getting started writing). With IEW SWI B he doesn't have to come up with what to say and information is laid out in order already. Consequently, my DS is relaxing more and starting not to see writing as a painful, uphill chore. He actually excels with voice, word choice, and sentence variety so, for now, with the organization and idea "stuff" off of him he can just...... write. My hope is that weekly writing assignments using IEW SWI B will help instill a general habit of writing and cement feelings of confidence and competence in him. Then, next year, my plan is to use The Lost Tools of Writing (to help with ideas/content along with everything else), Writing with Skill (to continue to grow his ability to write various types of essays), and Kilgallon (for improving sentences/phrasing). I used Writing with Skill Level 1 with my DS last year and that worked well to a point. He greatly enjoyed the focus on history and science topics, and the narrations/summaries, but he still sometimes would get overwhelmed with the sheer amount of information to sift through. IEW SWI B, at least in the beginning, is very straightforward and easy to navigate which helps my son's attitude and confidence in regard to writing. I find when my son's attitude is sunnier, and his anxiety is quelled, he is far more teachable : p!!

Here are TONS of ideas: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/653945-critique-our-4th-grade-novel-list/

Very cool forums, thanks!!

Maybe a dumb question, but, what is this?: GRAPES, PERSIAN, and INSPECT

You have my sympathy. I agree with the idea of switching back to the old treats to see if that stops the smell. If it does, see if your local shelter would appreciate a gift of expensive dog treats and go back to what works!

My DD is doing an AG class at coop this year and she did it last year, as well. The curriculum is based on the books not the movies. Six dolls are studied per year, chronologically. There are three books for each doll (typically the first three books) and the girls are asked to read at least one if not all three books. The books are short so my DD read all the books. As described above, typically there is a craft, a food and also something like geography, history, music, etc., for each doll. Last year for Samantha, for example, the girls discussed the books, plot, characters, etc. Thy also learned about life at the turn of the century and each girl did a class presentation about an invention from that time period. They also were taught how to embroider and made embroidered napkins which they then used at a class tea party similar to what Samantha would have experienced at the turn of the century. My daughter LOVES this class!

Oh, and you might want to look at LitWits for ideas about really getting "into" books:www.litwits.com

A couple of your titles are on my 4th grade DD's list as well: Sarah, Plain and Tall and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. If are thinking that Sarah, Plain and Tall may be too boring/not relatable for him you may want to try Farmer Boy. I think the list is fine and varies in difficulty. I second starting with something your DS will definitely be attracted to, i.e., The Dahl book. Mr. Popper's Penguins may be too easy (?) but it certainly is fun!

Yeah, I had no instruction about "female" things either, which is why the Blume books were some of my favorites : ).

Wow! Thank you so much for the link. I am doing my happy dance!

How do I get the link for the sample?

Is there a link to get the samples? Thanks!

How do you subscribe to get the link? I can't seem to find anywhere to subscribe....

Where do you have to live (travel to) to see 100%?