Thanks, jjwoll! That is very helpful. We are starting a course with Outschool tomorrow. But I will know that W@H is probably a good option for next semester. Thanks also for mentioning TPS. I hadn't heard of it so looked it up. Why did you switch from TPS to W@H? It looks like a good choice too.

Did a search on here and got a few ideas which I've researched but still don't know what to choose. I need an online writing course for my 10th grader who doesn't like to write. He writes okay but not quite up to the level he should be. Writing does not come naturally to him and he does the minimum to get by. He needs a teacher other than me to learn from and be accountable to. Can y'all recommend something please? Needs to be something I can start now (many online courses are closed for spring registration) and at least 8 weeks' duration. Right now the only affordable options seem to be Time4Writing, WriteAtHome, and Outschool.com. Thank you for your help!

I used this with both kiddos in 9th grade and love it! I recommend it to all my friends. DS #2 needed to really improve his reading comprehension, writing, and critical thinking skills; he improved dramatically thanks in huge part to this curriculum. The hero theme is fabulous and it was a great exercise taking such varied literature and tying it together with this theme. The assignments are similar enough to make a nice weekly routine but varied enough that you aren't doing the same thing over and over. There are plenty of assignments making it easy to pick and choose and still have a full lesson plan. We even skipped one whole book and still had a complete year's plan. It's expensive but worth it. I highly recommend the teacher manual. There are Oak Meadow Yahoo and Facebook groups where you might be able to find used copies.

Anyone used Friendly Biology in a co-op setting? What about Elemental Biology? I need a basic biology text for teaching in co-op this year and have had a terrible time finding something appropriate. Apologia Biology is too advanced for the kiddos in my class. Plus, I do not want an overly YEC text. I'm not too interested in public school texts either as I worry that we won't have the resources required to do the labs. I appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!

Thank you all so much for your continued comments! They are all so helpful. I consider each one of them and do follow-up research to learn more. Since I have a younger son coming up whose math learning style is very different, I appreciate all this good info because what works for one may not work for the other.

The DIVE CDs are different from the Art Reed DVDs. I haven't used the DIVE CDs, but I think it is a teacher's voice explaining while concepts/problems are presented on something like a mimio board. In the other, Mr. Reed is teaching the concepts in person in front of a class/video. You can preview his DVDs here http://usingsaxon.com/onlinevideo.php.

If you decide to go with Saxon I recommend you read the newsletters for July and August here http://usingsaxon.com/newsletter.php. My children have used Saxon for years at private school and at home and I only recently discovered that neither us nor the school had been following the recommended approach. My son struggles with math mastery as well and after looking at this website and talking with Mr. Reed personally, we feel much better about getting back on track with math. Good luck to you!

Thank you all so much for your fabulous ideas! You've given me a great place to start and good options to consider. Had not heard of spiral vs mastery before so did a bit of research on that and found it helpful. Am awaiting a call from Art Reed to see if there's a solution for Saxon. And have checked out all your curriculum suggestions. No decision yet, but I am hopeful now instead of just plain frustrated.

This is our second year of HSing, and I am still trying to figure out what curricula to use this school year. My 8th grader doesn't care for math at all but is actually pretty good at it and was considered gifted in math by the W-J tester. (I question that assessment but whatever.) We used Saxon Algebra 1/2 this past year because Saxon is what they had been using at Christian school so it was familiar. But it is so boring. Sometimes he misses a lot of answers, I think, because he just is trying to push through to the end and doesn't really care. He has no trouble mastering concepts. His problem is lack of interest. So what to choose for Algebra this year? I have TT Algebra 1.0 (w/o the discs) and MUS Algebra but have been cautioned against both - not challenging enough (??). Do you agree? Can someone recommend a program that will be less tedious but also challenge him appropriately? Thank you so much! This forum has been a HUGE help to me this past year.

Thanks, Carrie. Can you share how you fit them both in your schedule? Do you do both sciences each day or on different days? Or do you switch off every other week? I wouldn't say my kids are excited about science but they enjoy it much more than the other subjects.

Yes, Coco, that is essentially what I'm asking and yes, it would be 3 sciences. The co-op science doesn't require much more than reading the chapters to be prepared for discussion though so I don't have to do anything more at home unless we want to. That's how I was able to get by last year doing multiple sciences. But I feel like it's a lot for my kids to absorb. I like your idea of keeping to the same scientific field. That might work sometimes with one child but not at all with the other. I was really looking forward to using the new science program so really want to figure out how to work it in. Guess I need to sit down with my schedule like Janet suggested and see if/how it's doable. Would like to know how others might have done something similar.

Does or has anyone done two or more totally different science curricula at the same time? I want to figure out how to do this successfully. We participate in a co-op every other week that uses a curriculum I don't care for. My children's grade levels prevent them from being in the same class so right off the bat we have two different science books. Before we made the final decision to do co-op, I purchased a science curriculum that I was very much looking forward to using with both of them. Last year we had this problem but managed to do the co-op curriculum (just reading the text, nothing else) as well as other science activities, not a real curriculum. It was hard to keep up with both though. Has anyone done something like this successfully? I think my younger student can handle it, but the older student's co-op science is more intense. We do co-op because my children really enjoy it and we have few opportunities for that kind of thing in our rural community. Thank you!

This is our first year of HS and I couldn't find a science curriculum I liked. We also are not YE and I dislike the condescending tone in many of the science texts. But basically, I was overwhelmed by all the differing opinions about each curricula so was scared to pick anything at all. We have done Apologia Elem and MS at co-op this year but I don't care for it at all and the kids have been bored with the text. Early in the school year, I found a DK book that had topics my kids were interested in and I build unit studies around that. We use lots of videos from Discovery Education, Netflix, and elsewhere, library books, the Happy Scientist website, and lots of online resources (Teachers Pay Teachers, etc.). The most awesome thing we have done this year is get a geology Traveling Trunk from the Grand Canyon. But after creating unit studies for several months now (for both science and history), I am TIRED. For next year, I plan to find a curriculum that, while it may not be perfect, will at least provide some structure that I can then add to so we can continue the unit study approach.

My ds has only ever done Saxon (using Algebra 1/2 now) so I don't have personal experience with TT. But I was considering switching to it and asked a friend who is using TT PreAlgebra. She said TT is weak and if she were really focusing on math this year she wouldn't be using it but because of their emphasis on other subjects right now she says it's good because it's light. I know Saxon has the DIVE CDs but we haven't tried them. They are a bit pricey even on ebay.

Thanks for the great ideas! I also like the routine plan. Maybe I can incorporate that with the chart. Thanks for the links to the pre-made studies. I am sure I don't want to write my own every time, but I have really enjoyed it and it has been a great learning experience so far. Thanks for the Blessed is the Man link too! That looks fabulous. I will dig deeper with that - seems like a good one for my oldest to start.

lovinmomma - I love popcorn too! But only cooked on the stove with lots of real butter. :-) Thanks, Ellie! I had not thought of it from that angle. That's a great idea!

First year homeschooler here with 5th and 7th grade boys. We figured out our homeschool is too much like real school and is boring. So we decided to start a unit study on 19th century explorers. We've chosen our explorers, and I designed a really great outline for studying our first explorer. I have included some great research topics, writing activities, websites to review, science topics, books to read, videos to watch, etc, etc. I've no doubt included way more material than we can realistically get to while still maintaining interest in the same person. But now I am stuck. How do I actually implement this study? How do I figure out what to do first and how to make sure I'm covering enough in each subject (literature, history, science, etc.)? I feel like most of our time will be spent reading, writing, and looking at the internet which seems boring. So I want to make it interesting too, but mostly I need help taking my outline and turning it into daily lesson plans. Thank you in advance!!

This makes me giggle. As mom to two boys I am seriously thinking of using this idea. Thanks for sharing!!

Thank you loesje and Rondi! I added your comments to my list.

I appreciate everyone's response. Thank you so much! I've printed it all out so I can mull over all the options you presented.

New homeschooling mom here to 5th and 7th grade boys. Things are going really well so far, but I am struggling with 7th grade literature. We are using BJU since that's what we've been using at Christian school up to now, and we wanted to keep some things familiar until we figure out what works best at home. But I despise teaching it! I find the teacher edition difficult to use - having to spend lots of time reviewing the lesson so I understand and can explain it, then me doing a LOT of talking and explaining before we ever get to the review questions at the end of a selection, it all seems like busy work. I feel like it is taking an unnecessarily large chunk of time out of each learning day. He likes to read and I want to introduce him to some classics and great books, but I can't figure out how to fit that in. I would love to know how others tackle this subject and how I might integrate literature in a more streamlined way. I've considered curriculum like Sonlight and TOG and love the idea of living books, but we already have a history curriculum that we enjoy. And with an integrated curriculum how would I teach the nuts and bolts of literature, i.e., idiom, irony, point-of-view, etc.? Maybe I'm overthinking this. Thanks for any ideas! I'm soaking it all up!