Thank you so much for all your help and replies. I guess issue #1 has gotten us (school won't accept homeschool credits). BOO!!! I know I would do a better job ensuring that they're learning (esp. math). There's a chance they could "show proficiency" to move on to the next level, but it's not something they have set up, with rules, etc., so I can't count on that. The only option is an accredited online school, but that's going to be more or less the same as what we're experiencing now, I think. So I guess we just power through. Honestly, I'd probably be happy to homeschool my kids, BUT, since we just moved here, they have no friends and we have no connections to meet anyone, so I really want them to have some high school connections. Sigh. Bad year to have moved...

Goodness - I had no idea high schools might not accept credit! I'm looking into that now. The state website says districts can decide, so I'm trying to figure out who to talk to now. I should also add that classes don't have to be honors - just that's the level my kids had been working at previously. (Their current school doesn't have honors classes, so they aren't in any honors classes currently.) I will definitely consider all those points. Thanks for all the info. Honestly, I think our household would be happier if we were homeschooling, BUT I don't want to jeopardize the chance for them to go back to school next year if that's what we want to do. Honestly, we have nowhere to meet people and my kids don't have friends here, so I'm really bummed they aren't meeting people in school this year. So much to consider...

Some background: We homeschooled 2-5 grades (ish). My girls went to a private classical school the next two years. Then public school for two years, then we moved. They are in a new public school here, and it's all distance/online learning because of COVID. I just don't feel that it's working well. The kids say they don't get much feedback, don't really "learn" much. And I'm not happy because I can't keep track of what's getting done or not (esp. my 10th grader who has zero self-motivation). So I'm thinking we may need to homeschool for the rest of this school year. (The school district has already said they'll be online only through early February, and I'm guessing there's no way they'd send everyone back to school in February, with COVID likely increasing this winter.) I'd love for them to head back to public school next year, so I want to keep curriculum consistent enough that it won't be a problem to slide back in. I think the best learning solution would be classes that have a video component (so they're not just reading textbooks for themselves). But probably not an actual teacher/online class - because they'd prefer to move at their own pace. (Although I'm not sure about Spanish - will they need an instructor to properly learn Spanish?) Here are the classes I'm trying to sort out, and I'd LOVE any suggestions/advice. I'm thinking this may happen in the next week or two, so I'm kind of in a rush and can't spend weeks researching, like I'd usually do. As a working mom, I'd also love anything that self-grades or at least is easy to grade. 10th grader: Pre-calculus, Spanish 3, Chemistry 9th grader: Algebra 2, Spanish 2, Physics (because they do physics in 9th grade here, so I guess I'll stick with that, even though I'd prefer biology) I think we're flexible on history (won't have to do exactly what the school would) - I guess I'm not really sure what I'd like to do yet. 10th grader is currently in US History (for the 4th time or something, because we've switched schools so many times). 9th is in world history. For English, I think I'll try to focus on reading novels, writing skills, and grammar. Unless someone has specific programs to recommend for that? My students have always been in honors classes and are capable of that work. IF I can get them to stay on task while I'm working. I really appreciate any advice. I feel like I'm being thrown into this without the time to "research everything" that I'd prefer!

Well, she got A/B the entire time in algebra, so she was solid at that time. Just that it's not at the front of her mind. If I talk her through something, she remembers it, but when she reads the problem, it's not always clear at first. (Especially since it's worded differently than when she learned it.) The school we're at doesn't use a book (GRRRR - I hate that!!!) - my other daughter is in algebra right now, but there's no book. Otherwise we'd just borrow that and be set. :) You're right - there are sample tests online, and we are going through those now. Hopefully that gives us a starting place. I (myself) do better with a real curriculum that we could just go through and see where she's weak, but maybe we're not going to find that. For the FLVS algebra, from what I see, they have to be officially enrolled, and I don't think that will work. I don't want her to have to do the entire algebra course again - just the parts she's weak (or hasn't learned yet). Thanks for your replies (and keep them coming if anyone has more)!

My daughter took algebra 1 last year in Oregon (at a Classical Christian school), using Jacob's Algebra. We moved to Florida this year, and there is a requirement here to pass the Algebra EOC in order to graduate high school. She's already in geometry this year, but she still has to take/pass the exam. Unfortunately: a) she tries to forget everything she learns asap, and that was months ago, and b) the Florida algebra course seems to have covered a lot of topics she didn't learn last year (as it's supposed to be review in geometry but isn't for her). So I know she'll need to study to take the Algebra EOC. Does anyone have recommendations of what to use to study for this? Florida homeschoolers, any particular curriculum that you've found is better than others to prepare? We used to homeschool, and I was a math major, so I know we can do it - just need to know the best way to proceed. I was only told "Kahn Academy" by her geometry teacher - but I'd really prefer something more formal, I think. Although, if that really is the best method, I guess I just need to make sure she's doing it, since it's not something I can see/check myself. Thanks!

Quick math/education background: My DD12 was in public school K-3, homeschooled grades 4&5 - during which she did TT5, Saxon 6/5, and Horizons 6 (first 2/3 of the book, which started into some pre-algebra), and is attending a Classical Christian school this year, where they use Singapore 5A and 5B in 6th grade. I realized that it was a step backwards in math, but they don't allow options. AND she regularly missed problems from lack of focus (not understanding) while homeschooling, so I figured the review/practice in a different math program could do her good (which I think it has). For 7th grade, the school has two options: Singapore 6A/6B or Jacobs Algebra. (From Singapore 6A/6B, they go to Jacobs Algebra for 8th, so it's just a one-year delay for the "slower" option.) So, the "slower" option puts them in Calculus for senior year, which I think it plenty fast (and what I did, as a math major). I don't really see any reason to move faster than that. BUT we just received an email saying that they recommend DD to be in Algebra for 7th grade next year, based on grades, ability to learn new concepts, standardized tests, etc. They realize there is a gap, so they send home a large packet to be completed over summer. They also have an optional math summer camp one week. (And I'd be willing to buy a text book if we needed, too - something like Horizons, maybe?) My questions are many (on the same theme): 1) Does algebra in 7th grade seem like a good idea? Would this benefit her, or is it just rushing? 2) Is 5B to Jacobs a reasonable progression (with some extra work over the summer)? 3) Do you have any specific recommendations for what to be sure we cover over the summer (or texts to go through) if we decide to go with algebra for 7th grade? Thanks for any advice/suggestions!

This was fun. :) Okay, so it's a complex sentence with the direct object of the independent clause being a subject + infinitive. The phrase "the first time" acts as a subordinate conjunction (like "when") for the dependent clause. I think the last part is technically its own sentence (and grammatically should use a semicolon, rather than a comma). Not sure how/if the diagram will show up - fingers crossed....

(posted twice - oops - see below)

I love Classical Conversation's Essentials program. We went through it two school years ago with DD10 in a community, but I'm doing it now on my own with next DD (now 9) before school starts this year (going into private school). You could teach it yourself, without the community (although I'll admit that I was a bit overwhelmed my first time through - I'm finding it much easier now). But it's a great general grammar program with plenty of diagramming and even gets into ALL the details of how every word is used in every sentence, if you want that much depth. The program is scripted - has exactly what to say in each sentence to walk the student through it (for you to read aloud, walking through it together). It would take a bit of learning on your end at the start to get going, but it does a good job of explaining, I think. Edited to add: Just because I'm doing it with 9/10 year olds doesn't mean it's a simple program. It's more diagramming than I did in 9th grade (the only grade we did diagramming). It addresses up through gerunds, participles, handles ALL sentence types, etc. - it gets all the major parts of speech at some point or another.

That's exactly what we did when we went from 5/4 to 6/5 (or something like that) mid-year. Worked just fine. I did look through all the skipped lessons to make sure I didn't think there was anything we needed to discuss, but otherwise, I just let my daughter test out of the early lessons.

We used logic biology last year and enjoyed it for the most part. I didn't make the kids do any outlining - we just answered the questions (kids are 9 and 11 - technically the 9-year-old wasn't "logic" stage, but I knew she could handle most of it). I appreciated it all being laid out, having it tell us what to do each day. The experiments were mostly good. (I think we skipped a couple that were really obvious and/or I just didn't want to get supplies, so I found something online they could look at instead.) Overall, a good program that I'd recommend.

I think it obviously depends on the child, but also on the curriculum you're using. We chose a balance of independent vs. together curriculum, based on what I wanted for each subject. (And the "together" ones could have been done independently, but I chose that as our time to work together.) Starting in 3rd for my youngest, both girls did these independently: Spelling (Spelling Workout) Grammar (R&S grammar pages only, Easy Grammar) (When we did CC's Essentials program, I did that with my daughter every day.) Math (we used TT first, then Saxon - for which I did walk through the lesson with my 4th grader and did mental math with both, and some Horizons) Together we did science (which my 5th grader proved to me she could do a WONDERFUL job with alone, when I was busy one week - she did BETTER work that week than when we worked together!), history (they could do alone, but I chose to leave a lot out, so I wanted to participate), and writing (IEW). I'm impressed with people who had 5th graders outlining. I tried that with mine, but she either didn't really understand or pretended not to understand so I'd continue to help. ;-P

Transportation is a bit easier if older DD goes to public school - because we live 3 blocks from the public middle school. She can walk. And that school starts later, so we'd get to sleep a bit later. The girls would actually be in different buildings for one year only at private school - with different start/end times - but we can get to both places easily enough. But days off (besides holidays and part of spring break) do NOT line up at all if one is public and one is private. So we couldn't take long weekend trips - they'd have different days off. I've heard the public middle school is "good". Greatschools rates them 7 out of 10 (not excellent, but fine). We have one family member with a son there, and she likes it a lot - but he's in a separate TAG program - the kids have all their classes together, so I think it's different from the "main school" for him. We don't know anyone else with kids there - there are NO kids in our immediate neighborhood (so no parents I know to ask). :( I'm almost positive they don't have anything like that at this school. I could see my older DD wanting to drop out, too... Sigh...

You're right, of course: we don't have to send them there forever. I guess I figured 6th grade was an easy place for DD11 to slip back into public school without it being obvious that she's the "new girl" - because there are at least 4 feeder schools for the middle school, so everyone will be "new". But in 7th, it's more obvious she's new if she transfers to the public school. I was just thinking of easing transitions... But I appreciate the reminder that we CAN just try it for one year, then reassess...

(Sorry - long - but I appreciate anyone weighing in - it helps to hear other people's perspectives!!) We have been homeschooling for two years, and while I've enjoyed it, I think I'll be glad to have them back in school next year. (Although the piles of homework and early mornings will probably make me regret the change by week two!) This decision was DD11's choice initially - her request - but I'm a WFH mom and am really burned out on working and trying to educate two kids, so I'm ready to try something new, too. We initially looked at a classical Christian school just one mile from our house - great test scores, good curriculum (very similar to what we've been doing at home). But the price - $13,000 to send both kids per year. (I know there are worse, but that hurts!) So we decided to look into the public schools to see if we'd be okay with that option... (They were both in public school before, and DH and I are both public school graduates.) After much nonsense with the public elementary school, DD9 will be going to the private classical school next year. We have to pay for it - it's just where she needs to be next year. She'll be in 5th grade (much of the issue for the public school, because of her age). So we theoretically only have to pay for it for one year, then she'll be in middle school with her sister (and since she'll have an accredited 5th grade completed, the public school can't argue with her placement anymore). We decided that the public middle school was fine for DD11 (6th grade). And I think it will be "fine". I think they're past a large part of the common core nonsense by that point (although they still have all the testing, of course). BUT...is it really "good enough"? The private school is asking kindly: if they can help us financially (once we fill out financial aid paperwork), then wouldn't we rather send DD11 to their school? And YES by the curriculum and lack of public school bureaucracy, plus smaller class sizes and more of a "family" atmosphere, etc., I WOULD rather have my kids there. BUT, do I want to pay for private school for the next 8 years?? (Or maybe even just through middle school? Who knows...) I guess we figured it was what we had to do for DD9, so we just have to make it work. But we don't "have to" keep paying for both of them to go there. As for money, we have savings (inheritance) - we don't make enough actual income right now to pay for the school (depending on what they'll give us for financial aid - we can't find out for at least another week). But we could come up with the money from savings, if we have to. My question is: How do you decide if it's worth the money or if you just go with "good enough"?? I mean, it's as much to send one of them to school as it was for me to go to college per year! I don't want to "waste" money when the public school could be just fine for them. But I don't know how to know... I mean, I might really want a high-end car, but I don't want to pay for it and will settle for "good enough". But I'm not sure that my kids' education is the right place to settle... Any thoughts are appreciated. I just can't get to an answer myself right now and would love to have other people weigh in on how they'd decide if it were their situation... ETA: DD11 doesn't want to attend the private school for two reasons: 1) uniforms, and 2) Latin is required (and she'll be behind and have to catch up). But she is a "blend in" sort of person, and I'd rather have her blend in to a higher-end-standards Christian school than a middle-of-the-road public school. I've discussed this with her, and she agrees with my assessment and sees the benefits of the private school. Still isn't her first choice, but she would live with it if we require it.

The full name is "Lingua Latina per se Illustrata", but most people just call it "Lingua Latina". The first book is Pars I: Familia Romana. The school wasn't very helpful when I asked today (speaking to headmaster and principal), but it did sound like I should be able to be connected with the Latin teacher to talk to her directly. So hopefully she'll have more advice. I do think I'll order GSWL right away and at least get going while we're waiting for more info or possibly another program. Even just reading through a chunk myself to help understand the basics would be a good start for me.

My daughter will be attending a private school next year that begins Latin instruction in 3rd grade. She'll be entering either 4th or 5th grade (she's approved for 5th academically, but she's 9, so we're still deciding) - so she'll be either 1 or 2 years behind on Latin. (There's also a chance we might enroll my 6th grade daughter - so she'd be 3 years behind on Latin, if we decide to do that.) They offer a Latin camp - one week, 3 hours per day - in August. But I'd guess we'll need to study all summer. The school uses Lingua Latina per se Illustrata. That looks like a method that would NOT be my first choice. I think I'd prefer something more like First Form Latin (or Latina Christina) - something more parts-to-whole, I think. But I've never taught/learned Latin, so I'm just looking for the best way to make progress quickly. I'd really think learning conjugations/declensions and how to apply them would be most beneficial? I've also looked at Getting Started with Latin as an option, but I'm not sure how in-depth it gets. So I'm looking for advice. Does anyone have a "learn how to function at a basic level in Latin fairly quickly" plan? or some advice on which curriculum might be best to use this summer? We have 11 weeks as of today, and I'm sure it will take a week to get something ordered (at least - ugh). So 10 weeks at most to make progress... Thanks!!!

My daughter went from public school 1st grade into TT3 with no problems at all. I think Singapore 1 would transition nicely to TT3.

I totally agree with this. We dropped a lot of supplemental readings and outlining/summarizing (as in, we'd discuss it together instead). My kids are also 4th/5th this year, so I didn't want to burden them with the whole thing anyway, since they're on the young end for Level 2. But we officially finished Lesson 71 today (and are skipping 72, as it seems like overkill), so we made it all the way through! Woohoo!!! I did enjoy the program as we did it, and if my kids were older (7th/8th), I probably wouldn't feel so bad about more outlining/summarizing, too. We read K12's Human Odyssey and listened to SOTW along with the encyclopedia reading, rather than using The Story of Mankind.

This is why I feel like I've decided against public school. I don't want her to spend a year trying to figure out Common Core. That's not "learning" - that's just "performing to standards". So, hopefully things will work out with the private school. I think 4th grade will work in private school (even though we'll have her tested for 5th - but their placement standards are higher, so I doubt she'll make the cut-off there). It's a classical school, so I'll be MUCH happier with the curriculum there, I know...

The school is completely unwilling to look at the Iowa Acceleration Scale. I asked. :) I really appreciate all these thoughts, everyone! It's helpful to hear different opinions. As it happens, I skipped 3rd grade myself (January birthday), so she'd be exactly where I was in school if she was allowed to be in the higher grade. I had a great experience with it, myself. My parents were really strict, so I wasn't allowed to do a lot of things my friends did anyway - not because of my age, but because of my parents. I think that "helped" me to not worry that I couldn't drive/date/whatever when my friends were. But reading some of these posts have helped me to see that maybe being in 4th grade wouldn't be so bad (although I'm sad for her that she put in extra effort that is being overlooked by the schools). I'm not sure that 4th grade in the public school is the right place, but I'd feel fine about 4th grade in the private school, I think...

Yes, she does feel more comfortable with older kids. She has had few friends her own age her whole life - almost all were older. I just want her to work on level. I don't consider it skipping a grade at this point. I registered her last year with the district as a 4th grader, because we were doing 4th grade work (and the district's homeschool liaison told me that was fine - but it holds no weight for getting her into 5th grade this year). I have no concerns socially with her being a year ahead (really just 6 months ahead, since she's a February birthday). My main priority is for it not to be a "wasted" year for her, going over things we already did this year. She's motivated and wants to be challenged...

My DD9 decided to work ahead/faster over the past couple of years while we've been homeschooling. Basically, she wanted to "skip a grade", but she didn't skip work - she worked faster (well, on math, in particular - just kept pressing ahead). So, by age, she's supposed to be finishing 3rd grade right now, but here's the work she's doing now (two weeks left of school): Halfway through Saxon 6/5 2/3 through Spelling Workout E (5th or 4th grade level, depending on how you look at it) She did both R&S English 4 (not the writing - just grammar) and Easy Grammar 4 this year History Odyssey Level 2 Ancients Logic stage biology (Elemental Science) IEW Ancients (Logic stage because we do it with her older sister. Although she does most of the work, other than much outlining and real essays in science/history.) The public school wants her to be in 4th grade next year. They refuse to look at her current work at all. They just don't care. They did a small assessment, but it was based on state/common-core standards - to which homeschoolers are NOT held accountable here. So they asked her questions with terminology she wasn't familiar with (using their standard wording and no explanations) and then marked her down for items she didn't understand. I feel so frustrated that she's having all of her hard work ignored, because the schools won't "skip" kids ahead here at all (which isn't even what I'm doing - I just want her working on level). There is a classical private school that we're considering, too. She might end up in 4th grade there, too, depending on their testing - because it is a more rigorous school, BUT their placement test for 5th grade math is Saxon 6/5's placement test - which she clearly qualifies for, since she's halfway through it. And they may not be willing to let her work above grade level on math, either (take 5th grade math if they place her in 4th). But at least I'd feel better about MOST of the work she'd be doing at that school (if not the extra money...). Basically - the point of all this rambling - is just that I'm wondering if anyone else has been through this. And if there was any real solution? My DH says to homeschool again, but then we'll be at this same point next year. I work and homeschool and am just getting burned out. And the kids want more social interactions than I can provide when I'm working 5 days per week (and we have NO kids in our neighborhood). Any advice on how to get her placed correctly? And, particularly, on how to get schools to let her work ahead on math when they don't have that as a usual option? Thanks...

I do think Saxon is good, and I don't mind review. Although having a 5th grade math book start with place values and addition/subtraction seemed a bit rough to me. I'd let my kids test out of the first few weeks, I think, even if it was after a summer. But I like to be efficient (and I'm a math person). Funny thing is that I must have done this when I was in school, too, and I just didn't notice all the review? Maybe I was just relieved to have an "easy" few math lessons. :)

My DD9 is just now finishing Saxon 5/4. DD11 recently finished Saxon 6/5, so, since we have the book already, DD9 is going to continue on with that for the last 6 weeks of school. I knew there would be some overlap at the beginning (for review, when starting a new school year) - but since we don't need any review, I had to find the right place to start her, based on what she's studying in 5/4. There is nothing new in 6/5 until lesson 40! Can that really be true that a full 1/3 of the book is just review?? That seems disturbing - that publishers think that we need to review for a full 1/3 of the school year. Anyone else agree, or do you think this is normal?