We used this for Chemistry and it was great. I could install it on both ds's and my computer and we read and worked problems side by side so that I could help if he needed it (my chemistry was rusty). It has the text, plus the animations/videos from the companion CD and is cheaper than buying the book set. It is a great deal if you don't mind reading on a computer (we don't).

There are links to Lial's in the pinned thread at the top, but here is another one to the student book. It is all you asked for. It has a ridiculous number of problems, is solid high school level, and can be paced to student mastery. It is also extremely cheap, so it is easy to try without financial pain. :)

I love this book. I didn't read it until i was an adult. It is definitely disturbing and there is no skipping over disturbing parts because it is the whole thing that is disturbing. However, it also holds a power and the relationship bond in it is so pure... I found it so compelling. This is a novella, around 100 pages. Read it yourself. I had both my kids read it, even my sensitive one. However, there is no way I would tell someone it isn't disturbing.

What are you using for literature? Is it something that includes writing? Excellence in Lit has great writing prompts and we liked the amount of writing included. Two papers a week would have been too heavy here, although ds worked up to 3 essays/week in AP English.

What about using Write at Home's per paper service to supplement the Power in Your Hands?. Choose a few papers to work through with a writing coach and get him thorough feedback on those assignments. I don't think it is about writing curriculum, but rather about getting students feedback on what they are doing that improves writing most.

So, you might consider going subject by subject. I would choose Teaching Textbooks math over SOS. It is DVD based but there is a workbook. You can't do math without paper. For English consider Excellence in Literature. It is available in PDF form and covers both literature and writing. Almost all the books needed can be downloaded to a computer or other ereader (phone, iPad etc) For history, they could go ahead and use something simple like SOS, knowing that the real social studies learning is going to come from the experiences they have traveling. For Science, what about Apologia full course CDs? They have Biology, Chemistry and Physics with everything (including the textbook) on one CD (one per course that is). There is a separate test/answer key CD, so it is actually 2 CDs. That covers core subjects. They could base some electives on travel, the country they are in, local language learning, etc.

The syllabus he has up for PH Physical Science he originally made for me. It works for the first half of the year and then is WAY off the second half of the year. I made my own and never asked for one to go with M/L Biology, I just made my own there too. It really wasn't too hard to line up his topics. I used the vocabulary that he has at the top of each student lesson page, found what section of the text covered that and made a reading schedule. M/L did have some areas that didn't line up well and it covers a lot more than DIVE does, but if you want to use anything but BJU, you really have to take control yourself. For a kid that doesn't like the presentation in DIVE, I think this is the best answer. For dd, DIVE did just enough handholding to make science click for her. For the other - it was torture. If you mention it to him to this day (he is my college freshman) he will shudder and say, "never again".

Fried Clams did a great job of discussing the differences between the two. I haven't used either for Biology, although I used both for Chem (different students). I just wanted to give a heads up that Apologia is known for a ridiculous amount of memorization in Biology. Search for Apologia Biology on this board and you will see complaints over and over. I really can't compare it to BJU which typically has much harder/more detailed tests, but I do think it is worth mentioning.

DIVE lectures are dull in my opinion. I always encourage people to watch the samples. They are representative. I also like to add to every DIVE thread, never, never use the "internet in place of a textbook" option. Always pair DIVE with a textbook the student likes. What I've looked at of his internet links are terrible! Pairing with BJU is always easiest. I won't use BJU for Biology, although we did use it for Chemistry where evolution isn't an issue. It pairs really, really well. But I used PH for Physical and M/L for Biology and for my kiddo that likes DIVE, I paired them both with DIVE. For the DIVE hater, I dropped it after the first semester of ICP and never went back.

This was us exactly. One hated it, one liked it. For the one that hated DIVE, I used PH as my primary and then just used DIVE to supplement instead of using it as the core of the course.

At those ages, that was exactly how we kept toys fresh. We rotated them. I kept some put away and some out, so we were never swimming in toys. When those that were away came out, they were new favorites again. Each time I packed away, I eliminated anything broken or that hadn't been played with since it was brought out. I wouldn't hesitate to clean out or let your kids do some cleaning out, but you might do it in sections... those they currently play with first, then bring up a new batch let them play with them awhile before weeding. Keep repeating. It may take longer, but you are more likely to keep the real favorites instead of just those they haven't seen for awhile. If you have space in the basement, keep two sets and rotate. It is wonderful.

I'll own up to having been there. I used the ps for preK-5th grade with ds. I only regret 5th. I am in no way anti-ps. Our is know as the best in the area for kids with disabilities and is well rated in general. It is a good district with wonderful teachers and administrators. It is well supported by the community, and well funded. We had a lot of good experiences there. My best friend is a director of Speical Education at another district 90 min away and they are wonderful. I can't say many positive things about any of the districts in between ours though. With that said, I'd start by researching your district. I'd meet with a counselor at the school he would attend. Information is power and I'd get as much as possible. Even after saying all of that, it is hard for me to imagine putting a 12 yo who has always been homeschooled into the pit of despair that is middle school. I would be far more likely to try to use some services for a couple of years and make the decision to enroll him full time for high school if you feel positively about what is happening there. Ok, now that I've released my negative, I'll swing back one more time. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do. If homeschooling is destroying you, him, your relationship, whatever, then making a change is necessary. Figure out the best change for everyone. It may be full time school. That may be what you both need and if so you should do that without guilt or regret.

i would plan to keep him in school at least another year or two. Those with disabilities typically stay in high school until 21 here. At whatever point you choose, you can give him a certificate of completion, rather than a diploma. From there, I would talk to the state Department of Vocational Rehabilitation (you could start that conversation now). They will be able to help with job training and/or placement. It doesn't sound like a job that requires college classes will be an option for him. The GED has gotten harder and if he is testing solidly at 6th grade level, he will not be able to pass it. Instead of teaching high school, you could start working on GED classes specifically and see if he can progress in them, but your odds aren't good there. I would see if he can find something that would be acceptable to him that doesn't require higher education. I would also look into guardianship.

I hope you have a great time! It's parents weekend for ds too, but we're still waiting for him to decide if he wants us to come. We're only 45 min away and have seen ds almost every weekend. He went to church with us once, to lunch with us twice and came home overnight one night during Labor Day weekend. I totally relate to how hard it has been to have him gone. For the first week I was a mess. I've gradually done better. Dd misses ds, but she stays busy and doesn't pine. She has gone to lunch with ds on campus and taken him a care package. The pets have missed him too. Our dog has been edgy ever since he left as if she is constantly looking for him. Ds's pet ferret was depressed for a couple of weeks, but has latched onto me now. They really leave a big hole behind don't they?

My favorite high school writing/literature is Excellence in Lit and it is flat out cheap. The books are almost all public domain, so there is very little cost added to the inexpensive curriculum. Easy to implement, good reading selections, thoughtful writing prompts.

That is the same result here. The scores came out a little late this morning, so we had given up on them, but dd checked while she was at work and found they were up.

There are colleges that would have inexpensive distance learning that DE students can participate in. One example would be Clovis Community College. Our local CC charges a higher rate if you are out of the area, but it is still very inexpensive and they offer a lot of classes online.

Yep. I don't know what I would have done without her while my kids were in high school.

I would be really surprised to hear they won't take a non-matriculated student. They may have a different name for it. I can't remember what my local State U called it. There was no tuition break, I had to provide a transcript and ACT scores, but they did let ds take classes. Dd took classes through the CC which does have an actual DE program.

Yeah, I don't think they got out anywhere near the normal release last Friday. We've talked to lots of people who are still waiting locally and I've never known anyone that didn't get their score the first day before. My kids always talk to their friends about it. I know it happens, but this was different. Here's hoping that they catch up tomorrow! Dd may not survive another let down lol.

I'm in the midwest. Only a very small percentage of students take the SAT here. Most only take the ACT. I think it is still a regional thing, but I don't think there are very many colleges out there that would hold it against her anymore.

The store where we shop gives a free cookie to every kid. They have been behind the counter and in a container on the counter at different times. I would think that if you see this a lot that the store probably gives out free cookies to kids and doesn't mind if parents do it themselves if there is no one around. Just because there is no sign doesn't mean they don't do it. Ask before you judge. Ds had food allergies, so we never even got the free cookies. I never allowed my kids to eat anything sold by weight before paying for it, but I have opened packages and let them eat something then paid for it in the checkout line.

I put it on the table untossed so everyone can see it, then I toss it when they get to the table. I just can't stand for no one to appreciate the beauty that is my spinach salads. :)

:hurray: I'm so glad this worked out. However, please make sure they have a plan for her moving forward too. You don't want to get to the end of this semester and face this issue again. Also, she can't keep getting NC forever.

My oldest dealt with ASD, ADD and dysgrapia. He was diagnosed with ASD at age 3. We pulled him from public school and started homeschooling in 6th grade. Why we started homeschooling: By 6th grade, he was no longer getting OT or speech therapy at school. He had graduated from those programs which had been tremendously helpful. However, he was immature and socially awkward and started being bullied severely (started in 5th grade). The upper elementary where he was had a principal that was horrible with kids that weren't typical. Gifted, LD, it didn't matter. She wanted everyone to fit in one nice round hole. If you were different, you were a problem. The school environment became progressively more untenable and I researched homeschooling and left. We thought at the time we'd probably put him back some day (in a different school). Why we never stopped: Homeschooling let us address ds exactly as he was. We took academics at his pace, some accelerated, some slowed. We were able to work continually on social skills because those he saw modeled were positive instead of those of middle schoolers. Also, since we were together so much if his social skills failed, I could support him in the situation and coach him through it instead of just dealing with the fall-out when he get home. Ds regained his confidence, soared academically, and grew more socially in a year than he had in the previous 5. We all loved it. In our family it was a fit. I can't claim I did everything right and there was never any negatives or repercussions from my mistakes, but overall homeschooling was a huge success here. Ds is now off at college on an excellent academic scholarship, living in the dorm and loving it. We had some testing done by the local ps district to support his accommodations request for college. The testers were stunned and pretty much told me flat out he would never have come so far if he had stayed in school.