Have you considered Omnibus by Veritas Press. You can purchase the curriculum and teach it yourself. They also have self paced classes and instructor led classes. Wilson Hill Academy also has online classes that utilizes the Omnibus. This is the list . I've pieced together a lot of our history and science curriculums up until this point for my 4th and 5th grader but I do plan on using a formal program for The Great Books. I've also considered this as an option for an older child along with the digital version of Harvard Classics. I've also considered materials from this site.

It's sort of sad that such a great artist is best remembered due to this incident that may or may not have happened the way we were taught growing up. But it does help you remember him. Maybe it's not the best memory peg but it certainly creates one. I try and cover different artist and styles of painting and Van Gogh is one of the few they remember because of the ear story... but they do know that he painted starry night also. My children aren't overly sensitive to those types of things so I haven't really had to censor anything I tell them but I suppose people should still be aware that some children are sensitive.

After a lot of research we've decided on the brock microscope over the amscope. The reason for us is it will last and we can take it out if we go to the beach, forest etc. And look at things they've found. I wouldn't want to take an electric microscope to the beach. It looks like something we will be able to use for decades and has different lenses we can add later if we decide we want to. The creater also has very good qualifications. Eta: this isn't a budget microscope but if you consider how long it will last I figure it is worth the money.

I think you and I are looking for the same thing. I was so thinking chemistry and physics along with a history of science. I looked at the Tiner series and I've considered reading it to my 6th grader and my 5th grader. My 6th grader really loves reading biographies though so I think she would enjoy the books with beautiful feet.

We also used treasured conversation. It teaches outlining using an already written paragraph then writing your outline without a paragraph and finally writing your own paragraph. It's a very good incremental approach to paragraphs.

I would also recommend analytical grammar. We are using it and my girls have learned more grammar than I ever knew. My girls are younge so I am taking our time. I plan on moving to the review once we are done and that will be the end of our grammar education. We used R&S prior to analytical grammar and while I love that it is an all in one program I dropped it because I wanted specific writing instruction that I feel R&S wasn't providing for my struggling writers. The box checker in me couldn't handle skipping parts or R&S and using a seperate program. When I looked at the scope and sequence of R&S, Analytical Grammar covered all of the grammar R&S did but only covered grammar. It starts with nouns and parts of speech most children will understand and moves you through to the harder concepts such as gerunds and different clauses. It's ment to be used as a three year program during the middle school years and the review and reinforcement covers the high school years. You don't have to follow their plan though and the book could be covered in a year.

I sort of think the problem with ancient history is you are cramming something like 5000 years of history into a year. All you can do is learn surface information about each culture. Since our basis in western civilization is Greece and Rome some people spend a little longer on that but its hard to really flesh put any part of it since you are moving so fast. I'm sure you could spend years and years going through ancient history of you really wanted to. Once you get to middle ages it slowes and then you spend 2 years learning about 500 years of history bringing them to modern where they can relate a little more. Plus there are a lot of opportunities to do hands on field trips with American history. My kids actually told me on a recent trip they didn't want to churn butter again since they've done it so many times lol. And they know how to make a few different rag dolls. Anyway, glad sonlight worked with you hope it all works out. We use SOTW as an audio lesson in the car. My kids love the stories so I would give Susan Bauer Wise two thumbs up on it :) there is no one size fits all curriculum so hopefully you will find your fit.

I'm considering using this next year but I've heard it's light. My 6th grader loves reading biographies and hates science so I'm hoping this program will be a good fit for her. I've read it is light on science though so I'm worried it won't be enough for a 6th grader. Has anyone used this program and have an opinion on it? Should I add something to beef it up? If so what would be a good addition?

Looks like you've covered everything! Math, writing, spelling, grammar, reading, science and math. I wanted to add from what I've read gifted children don't need more work they need work that will expand their minds in a different way. Beast academy, moving beyond the pages and Michael Clay Thomas are all curriculum made for gifted children. I'm not suggesting you use there programs but if you look at the samples of them you can see what I'm talking about. Beast academy will give you some really complicated puzzles using your math skills rather than 3 pages of multipication. It just makes you think deeper about a skill that might come easy too you. I pulled my kids out of public school 3 years ago and I feel like it took a year to realize I wasn't competing with the school system or trying to recreate the same environment at home. Last year I spent a year reading up homeschooling books and teaching books and this year I finally feel like I'm starting to get it lol. Only took 3 years. Of course if it's anything like parenting once you feel like you know what your doing everything changes and your back to square one :)

I haven't bought them but once my twins are able to enroll in our charter for tk I plan on getting them. If I remember right it was only $5 to add a second kid so for twins it wasn't to pricey. I loved the idea of 5 in a row but my organizational skills with craft are lacking. If it comes prepped with everything needed in a box I am definitely more likely to do it.

I think certain units could work with science and history. You would need to pick a specific source text for each unit. The units that are creative writing I would do separately from your science and history. There are a lot of people that use the twss without the student books.

I have no idea how I'm doing to be totally honest. I can say I have thrown myself hook, line and sinker into this homeschool thing but whether all of my efforts are achiving a higher degree of education than they would be receiving elsewhere or if they are truly meeting their full potential I have no idea. I have to remind myself constantly that we started off in public school and pulled them out for a reason. I know my younger daughter needs a one on one due education due to her ADHD. She has shot up academically from where she was at in school. My older daughter did really good in school. I like that they are learning about liberal arts at home since they never did that at school. The emphasis seemed to be language arts and math. I think I spent our entire first year trying to recreate everything they were doing at school at home. I had to let go of that and just do our own thing. I was really sold on the idea of classical education and I was/am convinced it leads to a well rounded solid education but whether I'm even achiving a classical education I don't know. I just give it my best and keep going.

We usually just do school honestly. Maybe a lighter day. We just had the stomach flu but it hit my twins who aren't school age yet and me. That was pretty miserable because there was really no reason to cancel school for my girls but I was taking care of my boys and sick myself. High fever or vomiting are really the only way I will cancel.

I ended up planning for the entire year on lesson trek (sincr I was able to get a free account) and printing it. I have a paper planner I fill in weekly based on my yearly plan. The reason I do that is because we often have things like a doctor visit or field trip that is not on the yearly plan so on paper I will move things around for the week.

Are you starting ancient hostory? A popular program is bible study guide for all ages. Biblioplan does ancient history along with the bible and you can use sotw as a spine. I ended up using rod and staff 5th grade and it has actually worked out nicely along with history. Another program I looked at was Veritas press bible since it was also classical.

We dropped mosdos press since it felt redundant with all we are doing. I also never started spanish like we had planned. We aren't loving english from the roots up but we plan on finishing it none the less. I planned out the whole year on lesson trek and printed it. I use it as a guide but I write in a planner weekly since my year plan doesn't account for field trips or life that sometimes gets in the way. I also remembered why I hate changing to many things. Everything has somewhat of a learning curve and it's hard to start a l9t of new curriculum l.

MUS wasn't a good fit for us and I think using it for 1 year and them switching made for a difficult following year. After a year of multiplication dd still couldn't understand how to do 2 or 3 digit multiplication and she was crying every day. The problem is the sequence is different from any other program so if you switch midway through the elementary program you are going to have to learn some concepts the other program already introduced while you may be ahead in another area. I also disliked that money and time are not introduced at all. The book we used didn't cover any elementary geometry concepts either but maybe the other books cover that? (Ie right, obtuse, acute angles, polygons etc) ETA: We switched first to math in focus (Singapore us edition) and it was too difficult so we switched again to MM. It was a good middle of the road for us. It gives very incremental steps. Our first year with it was not easy but ot was doable and this year, our second year using it has been much better. I now see why people recommend to stick with one program. Concepts are built upon and it helps to stay with one way of teaching.

Well my 4yo twins are often out with things on wrong, mismatched, rainboots with shorts on a sunny day or even a pirate costume. I've always allowed them to dress themselves. I bath them daily and wash their hands before we eat but they like to play in the dirt and one twin seems to always be dirty. It has nothing to do with homeschooling though because I waslike this before we homeschooled. I have bigger things to worry about than if a sweater, shorts and rainboots is an appropriate outfit. I want my kids to play in the dirt. They are kids and playing in the dirt meets sensory needs, imaginative play and I think exposure to germs is good to boost immune systems but like I said this is me and has nothing to do with being a home schooler. My kids are on target for their age level education wise, 2 are average and 2 advanced.

I listed motor skill activities (ie picking up things with tongs, beading string, lacing etc), sensory activities and creative play activities (legos, blocks, train set, marble set etc) and rotate those. I want free play but structured and purposeful free play. I need list and I also don't do so well coming up with things in my own. Last ywar I had boxes labeled mon-fri and on sunday I would fill them with different items. You can also keep toys up and rotate them down.

Thank you for this! Do they pay for music lessons and your field trips? Also, I don't mind meeting with teachers, but I don't want to feel like... I don't know.. like I am not the real teacher, you know? I love the fact that they pay for curriculum , and provide funds for other things though. Could the samples each month be a science test, or math test ? What if your sample isn't "good enough"? Do they provide you with the form to fill out? Do you like your TF? Also, my son is a bit behind in a few of his books. I am trying not to rush him. If we sign up will they question me on why? I have a few personal reasons why I want to do this, but I am wondering if it is worth it, ya know? Thanks for your help :) If you look on the website under vendor resources and vendor list you can see everything you can use your funds for. Music lessons, cooking classes, sewing lesson etc can all be paid for using funds . The teacher or school has to be on the list though so you have to check what is avaliable in your area. Sage oak is new so the list isn't as long as sky mountains is. My TF really lets me do my own thing which is what I want. She doesn't ever question me other than to ask what curriculum we are using so she can fill out what needs to be filled out. I think if people are looking for a charter that will help them with teaching or figuring out curriculum choices sage oak is not it. If you want to be in control of what you are doing and be more on your own then they are great. Test are fine as samples, worksheets, crafts, papers they've written, anything really. They just need documentation because they are accountable to the state and can be audited. I've never had my TF question a sample and I've used lots of different things. They don't question where they are at grade wise either so your son would be fine. The iready test we take showed my 5th grader in 3rd grade level for geometry but they give you the results for your own evaluation and they have never said anything about it to me. I only see or hear from my TF at the meetings and I am ok with that. I am just using the charter for the money so for is I would rather be left alone to do school how I want to. I like my TF she's very nice and I do use some Christian curriculum and she has never questioned me about it. I just can't use anything from the Christian curriculum as samples. That is the one thing they are very strict about. They don't allow curriculum even if it has one minor reference to God or the bible. Memoria press, CAP's writing and rhetoric, life of fred are all banned.

We are with sage oak. They broke off from sky mountain last year. This is their first year as a charter school but the people that started it are the same people that started sky mountain. They offer 2k and it is very hands off in the elementary years. They don't offer classes like some of the other charters do bit we weren't looking for that. The drawbacks, which pretty much apply to all charters, are required testing, meeting with a TF (called es with sky mountain) filling out monthly forms about learning and requires PE hours. The testing is the iready test at the beginning and end of year and state testing. Your TF will meet with you 8x a year and collect a sample from 4 learning areas including math, history, english and science. Samples could be pictures or videos if you are using different methods for teaching such as baking for fractions or crafts for history or experiments for science. High School is where they are much more hands on. You have to use an approved course and follow a strict lesson plan with deadlines. They do have different types of courses depending on ifnyou want AG classes or non AG classes. I don't have any high schoolers right now so my knowledge is limited on how all of that works. Let me know if you have any other questions :)

Im also using it as a supplement. I don't think I would like it as our main history. We have story of the world in the car and we are reading famous men along with doing crafts 1x a week from layers of learning. I feel like ancient history has so many components its hard to cover everything in a year. VPSP is just sort of Meh for me. It gets done and if we slack on everything else I still feel like history was done. It also gives me time to spend in the morning with my twins. It's predictable which can get boring but like I said it gets done.

Dd a few years ago asked me if any of the freeways went all the way to China... Apparently we missed the part where there is a big ocean between the US and China. I made sure to add in geography the following year.

Have you looked at analytical grammar? It is split into 3 sections. The first is basic diagramming (basic 8 parts of speech) and the second and 3rd sections expand and get into gerunds, verbal etc. The other program I've heard good things about is grammar revolution. I've only used the free sections of the site but it's very helpful.

We have school 8-12:15 then 45min lunch and school from 1-2:30. I encourage discussions and I feel like some of our best learning has come from those discussions. I try and incorporate those discussions in every area that we can. Arguing and just messing around is different and I am always trying to keep them on track. I don't want them arguing whether we are doing school or not and messing around just makes our day longer. Now if they want to follow a bunny trail on something we discussed in science or history then I don't mind that. We also have a loop schedule that we try and do daily with art,history crafts,science experiments, composer studies and poetry. We go outside for that and I feel like it breaks up our day and it's something fun my 4yo can join in on.