We really liked "Science through Children's Literature" for early grade science.

My son is similar -- he is 10 and is a stiff reader. He is much more of a mechanic (very into Legos), so I figure he is developing skills in a different order than my other kids and am not too worried about it. I try to bring him to the library every week so he can get books he likes rather than just his school reader and assigned books. Also, I still read aloud to him before bed which I think fosters a love of reading, gets him used to hearing more complicated stories than he might choose for himself, and is also fun. We just finished the "Great Brain" series by John D. Fitzgerald. He also liked the Henry Reed books by Keith Robertson, and anything by Andrew Clements. A lot of the Andrew Clements books are available on cd at our library; your library might have them too. Hope that is helpful!

We do the ambleside literature and history lists, plus the free reading suggestions. http://amblesideonline.org/curriculum.shtml There are also really good lists here: http://academy.hillsdale.edu/academics/curriculum Hope that helps!

My son is taking both CLEP and SAT II in Chemistry -- the CLEP for potential college credit and the SAT II because it counts in lieu of a NY Regents exam toward a high-school diploma (in NY, one option is to take 5 Regents exams to get your degree). We figured we'd maximize the testing while it's still fresh in his mind.

We're getting some "extras" -- the pre-printed flashcards for the Memoria Press history, e.g. And the rest goes for boots.:-)

New labeled binders and fresh pencils. The fun begins when the new books come.

Ouch!

I did this for years, but put him in physical charge of paying the bills so he could get a sense of where the money goes. Still not 50-50, but we're working on it. ;)

We use a blank planner (from Rod & Staff) and list where everyone is in each subject -- checked off at the end of the week; test grades marked in red on date taken. When they start falling behind, I give them a printed assignment sheet I make on Word. In high school, I use HST, but just to track grades -- assignments don't go in there because I inevitably forget to input the next one, then the computerized grading is thrown off, big disaster. So, pretty low-key, but works for us.

:iagree:

If they are not taking Latin in High School, they can still get recognition for it by taking an exam -- this group offers some, but you have to find a sponsoring group in your area (our co-op ran it a few years ago): http://www.njcl.org/ Also, there are AP exams in Latin.

We buy mostly history titles; I pick up a lot at our co-op book sale and from library sales. I try to get great literature, Sonlight curriculum titles and random historical fiction that fills in a gap in our library. I use them for book reports to coordinate with our history studies. We have three rooms with walls full of history books for the kids! I don't bother with most elementary science titles because our library has tons and I feel like they learn more science from field trips than books. Hope that helps.

As a cautionary note, we joined a high school science class organized by a member of our co-op which was a total disaster -- half the kids dropped out by Christmas (and we should have!). It was a waste of money and cost her a year of science which she had to make up by taking community college courses (also expensive!) so she could complete each science in a semester rather than over a whole year. I would do it at home rather than waste your student's time, even if someone somewhere along the line questions her labs.

:iagree: That's how it really works on the ground -- even if you buy something, you end up changing it to suit your needs as you go. So, I would be cost-conscious and not expect everything to go as "planned" -- whether it's your plan or someone else's.

I would track it and record it personally once they start high school level work, but to show anyone I just worry about it from high school on. We're big testers here, though, so I have a letter/number grade for every subject starting in middle school.

The BJU Press Bible series is thorough and includes periodic study of hymns.

:iagree:

Education, of course. :)

wow, and you don't even have teenagers yet! ;)

The NY Dept. of Ed. allows you to substitute other exams for regents for the 5-test option, too. Here's the link (hope it works!): http://www.p12.nysed.gov/apda/hsgen/archive/list.pdf

We used the Spanish level 1 -- the kids HATED it; very slow and boring. But, as they say, every curriculum is perfect for somebody. Just didn't click with our family.

Thanks for the tip!

The best homeschool science program we found was from Kolbe Academy http://www.kolbe.org. I believe it is Pearson. They sell books, tm, and their own curriculum guide. We used it with my daughter who graduated last year, but have opted to have my son take science at our co-op because of the time involved. Hope that helps!

Thanks!

We haven't used the companion, but using Biblioplan off and on over the years I would say you can adapt it to any spine. It categorizes and organizes materials from a variety of suppliers and provides a schedule with writing assignment ideas for the topic of the week. Weaknesses I found were that most of the books weren't available from my library (my library's fault; not the program's necessarily) and also a lack of testing. As the years have gone by, I've found more of a need for concrete feedback on what's being absorbed so we've switched to more traditional textbook-y spines with tests and used our now-ample home library for supplemental reading.