My 7th grader just switched over to Thinkwell Algebra. Do you have your child do the worksheets every time? Every question? Or only if they got lower than a certain score on the practice problems?

DD12 is going into 7th. She was ready for Algebra last year, but we took a year to review and fill holes from public school. Ideally, I would use AoPS Algebra, but she is not ready for that method yet. She is very good at math, but it causes anxiety and she still lacks a lot of self-cofidence (bad public school experience with math). I'm hoping that using the second two books in the Jousting Armadillos series (I never remember the names) with Alcumus as supplementation would be enough to prepare her for AoPS Geometry. She does want to go into the sciences, so obviously math is important, but I really want to get back that self-confidence and joy she had in math before her final year of public school. TL;DR Are the second two Jousting Armadillos books with Alcumus enough to prepare DD for AoPS Geometry?

Keep in mind that it's a human history and doesn't include some major historical figures. I don't remember all the ones I looked up, but Alfred the Great wasn't in them. Which doesn't mean that the book isn't meaty, just that it's a different kind of textbook. We used a history encyclopedia alongside and that worked great for us.

Wrinkle in Time. Oh so horrible!!

Norse mythology is quite complex (at least to me), even a book geared towards younger students will give her plenty to chew on. I've recently read the National Geographic's new book on Norse Mythology with my DD and it was enough for me!

Jacob's Elementary Algebra was "the one" after trying Saxon and MM. We are really happy with it. I paid $47 on Amazon last November. It hurt to spend that much on an old used book, but I stalked it for a while and that was the best I could find and I got to the point where I couldn't wait anymore :)

Many many years ago, I taught middle school briefly and I used a series put out by The Folger Shakespeare Library called Shakespeare Set Free. It's been a while since I looked at it, but if I recall correctly, the first part is kind of a grown-up cliff's notes for teachers on the play, and the second part addresses the classroom. Yes, it's geared towards classroom use. I don't recall if any of the activities require more students (like, acting out a scene), as the focus of the books are to take Shakespeare off the page, since they are plays and were never meant to be read. Might be worth taking a look at. I'm not sure that they are generally available in libraries. It's not a curriculum, but a guide.

This Star Won't Go Out is the journal of the girl who inspired John Green to write Fault in Our Stars. Other than that, I'm in the same boat as you. My DD11 is reading Paper Towns, which I'm not thrilled about, but I think the sexual references go over her head.

How long is it taking to get through a lesson? Do you do all the practice problems and all the problems in the practice set? DD is taking forever with it, but also I think she is overwhelmed by seeing all the problems on the page. I'm new to Saxon, so was wondering...

Will the children continue to be homeschooled, or go back to public school? If going back to PS, it might be easiest to see if the local PS has textbooks that can be borrowed (this varies by state, but ours allows homeschoolers access to PS materials).

We used Science Fusion last year. DD did not like it. The questions were...weird. We only used the worktext though, nothing else. DD liked Pearson Interactive Science a lot better. It's the same concept, but better accomplished, in my opinion. Again, we only used the worktext for that too, so I'm not sure what kinds of other stuff is offered to go with the program. I guess, in short, I have no recommendations LOL. Just a "I was so excited about Science Fusion and it did't work for us either." :)

Well, I know how I'd like to think I'd react in that situation, and then there's how I likely would react. Given DD's experiences in PS last year, where she was treated so very poorly, shamed, manipulated, and ignored to the point of her thinking she was stupid and unlikable, I likely would have violated the noise policy in the library. And probably the language policy too. People don't expect me to be discrete with my younger DD's artistic ability, so why do I have to hide my older DD's intellectual ability? It's silly, and damaging, and unfair.

I think you would need a streaming device like Chromecast. Or maybe Curiosity Stream will come out with a Roku app. That would be awesome. I signed up for the free trial and I like the selection, but beware of appropriateness. I only wish there were some sort of rating system. The dramatized series about the fall of Rome had Nero engaging in orgies and forcibly castrating a slave/servant. I mean, we all know Nero was a nasty guy, but it seemed over the top to see it dramatized. Certainly won't be watching it with my 11 year old, and I am VERY liberal in what I allow her to watch :)

Oooooooh, I want that collapsible tool box thingy! DD homeschools at my place of employment so she needs to drag with her everything she needs for the school day. This would save our backs!

Thanks for asking this question! I've taken a look at the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, and I'm wondering why a person would bother outlining it. I guess it could be done, but why? It also certainly isn't a good place to learn outlining either. DD doesn't relish doing things just because.