FLL 1 would work fine for that age, but Daily Language Review 1 from Evan Moor sounds more like what the kid is after. It's a workbook with five daily exercises on a variety of topics. Very gentle.

My current 7th grader definitely still needs spelling. He's dysgraphic though and it's likely going to high school with him. The older kids were doing well enough and just done with it. 🤷‍♀️

Not WWS then. It needs a kid who can spit out a couple paragraphs fairly comfortably. I expect my youngest (WWW user) would take longer than that. We break WWW lessons into half if it expects more than a basic paragraph, and he's welcome to ask for spelling help if needed. 6 Trait Writing is more gentle still. It's been the one book that got mine comfortably discussing writing concepts. Each week has four worksheets practicing a specific concept and a small writing project in the teacher pages. It looks like a formal school book.

Based on your last two sentences, I'd take a look at Winning With Writing. It has clear daily lessons, scaffolded skills, no fluff, and looks like a school book. Level 6 is average 6th grade level, but the covers say level. My dysgraphic kid uses them one level back. If he gets overwhelmed we set it aside for some 6 Trait or Nonfiction Writing from Evan Moor for awhile. If yours is the kid who simply doesn't have much to say but is on level across the board, I might also consider Writing With Skill. It's also broken into clear daily lessons with scaffolded skills and looks like a school book. It's a little more aggressive right from the start.

Too many little things, even the most worthwhile, have wreaked havoc on our daily schedules. If it can't somehow fit in one of the bigger boxes of the core subjects or a specific elective, I've gotten quite ruthless at cutting it out. Something about not letting perfect be the enemy of good should go here but I forget the quote. 🙃 My neurotypical kids were ready to drop spelling by 5th-6th grade and just review rules as needed in their writing. I aimed to have grammar wrapped up by or during 8th. This can also start moving to just review at needed in their writing. Logic/world religions: If he enjoys this why not just slow it down? Smaller bites. Make it fit in your schedule instead of making the schedule bend for it. Treat it as an elective course. Fwiw when I added Art of Argument for mine we didn't have room for another elective course so I made it squeeze into their writing block. It's obviously not writing but it did improve their writing. I'd also pick one language and do daily bites. It's just more effective to do one really well than to graze multiple, in any subject. Geography: Your description made me wish for more clearly defined fences. 🙃 My particular boys (7th and 10th) would be overwhelmed with something that open ended and would need so much hand holding they'd grow to strongly dislike it. Maybe a list of specific items to find for each country? Or provide a stash of spines instead of such wide open research? My 7th grader is also doing world geography this year. He has several DK encyclopedias and various around the world books (poetry, creation myths, architecture, etc) that I scheduled out for him so he's only reading in a couple each day. He didn't care for the Crash Course geography videos, but Geography Now on YouTube is working well. A big chunk of his assigned literature in English is from around the world as well.

I wouldn't touch it and can't answer the actual question. Would you interested in other book recommendations?

I was planning on avoiding that decision until you brought it up. 🙃 Jacobs' didn't publish an alg 2 book and I won't use anything from MB. Off the top of my head, Larson's Intermediate Algebra seems most likely to suit my youngest, choosing from that previously mentioned homeschool closet. Jacobs' geometry book is in there too. Or if Jacobs just doesn't work well, Thinkwell is our backup plan.

Not that I'm aware of. MB is just weird. 🤷‍♀️ We have the old textbook, this solutions guide, and the teachers manual. I didn't find the TM very useful but others like it. Solutions Manual for Elementary Algebra https://a.co/d/6jRI4RI

I'd assume this one. By Harold R. Jacobs Elementary Algebra https://a.co/d/e33Wldb You can read it at Archive but not print.

My spelling struggler uses Megawords to work directly with rules. It doesn't make him memorize word lists. Combining spelling and writing would hold him back in both. 🙃 Even now in middle grades dictation would go over like a lead balloon. Most of the time he knows the word looks wrong, but he can't sort out how to fix it on his own so he'd just get frustrated. He did use Writing With Ease in elementary, but always a grade or more behind and I skipped the dictation or made it copywork.

That car time is valuable! I start with whichever kid is getting dropped off first and round on the next one after that. It's really just a "So what'd you learn in your history book today?" starter. Maybe keep the family science and history if it's working well and give him something he can do on his own too. Science kits if he likes hands on, something on the internet that might feel more big kid, etc. I'd try asking him how he'd make those subjects better. Some kids that age will just shrug but some have really good insight. For my 7th grader it would be more mature books on the same topic. I gave him a few adult nonfiction books last year (6th) and just assigned them in him size bites. He's very much a "give me ALL the details" kid.

Yes. With my oldest kid and oldest kid only. It bored us to tears and we didn't get halfway through the first level. 🙃 My little ones have only done the CAP books.

Does he really need separate spelling and penmanship? Without knowing the kid I'd drop those little extras and make writing the primary focus. Just narration for writing could get monotonous though. An actual writing book would offer various assignments to shake it up, and make it easier for him to just do whatever is next. I like Winning With Writing for this age. If he's average for his grade you can just grab the same number book, but the covers say level rather than grade so it's easy to back up if needed. We totally just read and discuss for 6th grade literature though. I try to keep a wide variety of authors, genres, etc. I'm not sure why narrate and discuss are separate. We just discuss. 🤷‍♀️ If I recall correctly you drive a lot for extracurriculars? I drive someone to dance 5-6 days a week and that time in the car is great for distraction free discussions about their schooling. The history and science do sound lighter than what my little two did in 6th, but maybe that's just right for yours. If he's really balking maybe some more modern books would get him more engaged. It sounds like mostly older texts, which can feel dry to a kid. 🙂

Thanks! That site lumps religious and secular books together without marking them so it's a bit of a hunting expedition. 🙃 Lit based science above elementary is just harder to find. 😐 _____________ Unless something amazing or actually inclusive comes along I think we're set now. There was pile of biographies, Library of Subatomic Particles, etc already on the shelf for him along with books mentioned above. The wall table of elements linked above has been a fun addition! 🤘

If you don't have an hour for direct instruction I'd outsource writing (and math for that matter). Outschool has loads of well reviewed classes for that age. 🙂 If you can rearrange your day to provide more direct instruction I'd look at Winning With Writing from Jackris. Lessons are broken into clear days and skills are scaffolded. The WWE workbooks are loads easier to use than the hardcover text, but still require daily interactions. It can't be completed independently. For science we're in the "read a pile of books" camp too. Discuss them. By 3rd-4th grade mine were ready for literature based science and could follow a schedule I made ahead of time. My youngest two don't like hands on activities so I didn't bother with experiments.

My 10th grader is using Oh Freedom from WH mentioned above and we're both really enjoying it. 🙂 He's only doing volume 2. It schedules spines like Zinn, Stamped from the Beginning, A Different Mirror, etc, has suggestions for loads of extra literature, includes extra links/videos, and the research and writing assignments have been fabulous. If you're looking for something more traditional American Yawp is really well done. You can buy the books or there's a website with the complete text available, along with free quizzes, essay starters, discussion questions, etc.

Jacobs is on deck for my youngest. I hope he connects with it too. The writing style and smart numbers are right up his alley, and I have the pre-MB version with more comics in it. He's rather skeptical of textbooks so he's going to finish Keys to Alg first.

Our max limit is one really worthwhile thing during the school day, once every other week. Like a trip the natural history museum with a local group, but not a jump park or park day. Otherwise extracurriculars go in the afternoon/evening just like everyone else. My boys both have a heavy dance schedule but it all starts around 4 on average.

Depending on how much older maybe a writing guide they can check as needed instead. Like Norton, Writers Inc, etc.

Junior Analytical Grammar used to have a mechanics level that covered punctuation. It was short, like 10-11 weeks?

8fills - Not yet. Do you have a specific favorite? There are some Cornell note worksheet sets on TPT I've been considering for the older one.

Maybe something like Curiosity Chronicles? It's history and loads of good books. I wouldn't try to decide k-12 now though. Kids grow and change at a ridiculous speed. It's impossible to predict. Things that worked well for my big kids haven't worked at all for my younger two. Frankly I've grown and changed along with them and wouldn't want to go back to some of those. 🤷‍♀️ There's also a big shift in middle and high school curriculum made for homeschoolers. I find I'm barely using any of the same companies from when they were younger. Every spring I look at the kid in front of me and look for what's best for them for the coming year. Sometimes it's an old favorite and sometimes it's something entirely new to us. It's a mash. (There was a time I *wanted to like MP for the simplicity, but we never finished a single piece from them. 🙃 TGAB seemed watered down and "behind" when it was new. I'm not sure I've looked at it since. My boys wouldn't tolerate the overall vibe or religious tone anyway.)

If they're both doing fine with the lessons I'd leave them both where they're at. It sounds like nothing is in need of fixing. 🙂 You can always slow down with the little one if needed.

I'm on the hunt for a couple rather specific needs. Secular. Outlining, for the 7th grade dysgraphic kid. If the short Remedia workbook and an Evan Moor daily practice book had a baby together it'd be perfect. He needs well explained baby steps and repetition, and a certain level of independence. Or maybe something that focuses on summarizing. He is a thorough human with much to say and struggles to break it down. Note-taking workbook for the 9th grader. Middle school level is fine as long as it's not immature. He is neurospicy and will do best with a book giving him the same instructions I'm trying to give. A short unit is probably plenty. Usually he just needs nudged in far enough to realize it's not that difficult and then he launches ahead. TIA! ❤️

If typing helps go for it. My dysgraphic kid found typing to not help that much for papers, but he does better on the tablet for other things. His foreign language is there and the keyboard learns his commonly used words to suggest them in the autofinish options. I try to focus on writing during writing and reduce the writing in his other subjects. We do a lot orally. Otherwise it's just too much for him and he doesn't have enough left to give his writing subject.