Hi Friend, I do understand the challenge of teaching a child with a physical condition, my prayers will be with you and your daughter. I agree with the above comments about Physical science, and skipping general. If you wanted to: you could add in some extra hands on astronomy to the apologia physical science - and rename it Earth Science with lab. In my state, this fit the description for high school earth science credit since our state decided it no longer called physical science a high school level course. You may want to check your state and/or the college to which your girls wants to apply to see if that matters. Master books also has some sets that cover physical science content. It might be worth checking out. I personally have only used their astronomy. Memoria also has some 9th grade science options. http://www.masterbooks.com/homeschool-curriculum/create-a-bundle https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/science About history options: Beautiful feet might be a consideration as it is a literature based history program. If you daughter is not feeling well some days, she might still be able to "hack" some of the easier reading in these courses. http://bfbooks.com/Study-Guides

Terri Johnson's knowledge quest website has a free download for geography called global mania. It uses some of the ideas others have listed above. Also the homeschool buyers' coop has lots of geography products with many detailed reviews. Some publishers make a high school level geography course. BJ Press has one called Cultural Geography. http://www.knowledgequestmaps.com/Products.html http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/google-search-results/?x=0&y=0&q=geography http://www.bjupress.com/product/231514 If you want something lighter, you might look at the Evan Moor geography books. I have used the 6th grade one with a high school student to brush up on map/graph skills. They also have geography books for various continents, that have more detail. I have also used Memoria press geography for middle school students to just go at a faster pace than older elementary. They have 3 geography books. They are great for learning country location, and basic information. It is honestly similar to the Evan Moor books that specialize in continents. https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/american-and-modern-studies/geography-iii/ This is a link to one of them. It is for 7 - 9th graders. http://www.evan-moor.com/c/62/geography?pagenumber=3 I also like to look up a book on Amazon, and then see what else pops up and read reviews. You can usually tell the ones made by a conscientious teacher or parent, not just a disgruntled person. Good luck! I hope you can get some ideas that will lead you to some good options.

Another consideration: check into Dianne Craft's website for her right brain writing materials. The DVD demonstrating this is very good. These teaching techniques work for young people who do not have "disabilities" too. It is just an organization method for visual thinkers, and it has helped me personally. These ideas can be easily adapted to give instruction to any age level student. If I had learned like this, writing would have been much easier growing up. Now I use this with my own children. She will email the method instructions to anyone who asks. (See the article) http://www.diannecraft.org/right-brain-writing/

Thank you! I am looking ahead for quality video instruction options. Did you use the included worksheets? or did you have a textbook? Could you describe how it worked? I am considering this for Alg 2 and Trig.

Both Fortuigence website and Brave Writer have online options. Both allow for are individual and personal feedback. http://www.fortuigence.com/Fortuigence/Courses/ http://www.bravewriter.com/program/home-study-courses http://www.bravewriter.com/online-classes

Has anyone have experience or thoughts regarding the math program called Math Relief? It is taught by a Mr. Firebaugh. This is a mostly DVD instruction program that has very good online reviews. Worksheets and tests are included, no textbook. It is on sale right now, and though I am set for math this year, I am always looking for future options. Here is the link: http://www.mathrelief.com/

You could count the 9th grade ballet class time as PE, and list the shows and recitals as extracurricular. It sounds like she would have 12 hours (at least per month). For 10 th grade and up, you could count it either way. Carnegie credits are 60- 75 hours = 1/2 credit.

I am planning to keep my trivium cycle for studying the modern era in 11th grade with a focus on US history and the modern world. I am planning to name it carefully so it will meet my state requirement. Our book list has plenty of titles that are US history anyway. So, if I need to substitute anything else - I will. I may add in some additional reading or a report to make sure we cover America in this era thoroughly. We are not there yet, my oldest student is in 10th grade, so like you - I am also investigating this. This year, we are in the Rome through the middle ages cycle.

This book helps students learn how to organize information. It is not just teaching how to write an essay with an intro paragraph, 3 points with one paragraph for each point, and a conclusion paragraph. The exercises in the lessons require the student to make lists and then rearrange the list in various ways: most important reason to least important, spacial organization, chronological, one called psychological order which is 2nd most important reason, then least, lastly most important reason. The book discusses the actual work in takes to organize and structure a good piece of writing. The step by step approach is helping this student to "unlock" a little from the " I can plan it all just fine in my head" to seeing the value of using the a written list or diagram. Sharon Watson's examples make sense to my student. The book does not just teach a formula for writing, it guides the student through various exercises in learning a processes of organizing thoughts. The exercises are also "not personal," so that helps too. The examples are helping my student to see mediocre writing compared with good writing. We are only 5 weeks into our school year, so I cannot review the book yet as a whole, but so far, I am seeing progress.

I am currently using TPIYH and we love it. I don't have time to type right now very much, Did you see the thread from a couple days ago about this writing program? The structure is clear, pace is reasonable. I am adapting the writing assignments to apply to other content areas. Sharon Watson's website has a couple chapters available to download. This helped me. It teaches not only structure, but some style and a little psychology thrown in. It works well for my daughter who has such a distaste for brainstorming and prewriting. The book is written to the student, rather than an instruction manual for the teacher to communicate. I just read it aloud with my student, and we discuss it together. I am so thankful for a solid resource that is easy to understand and teach! Check out the other thread, my comments there are more complete than here due to time.

We like the Thinkwell professor too for Algebra 1.Last year, I ordered access as backup to our textbook. But honestly, the Thinkwell Alg 1 content did not even come close to the textbook I was using. The thinkwell algebra was way too easy. The video lectures did not have any of the harder concepts. ( I use BJ Press Math for now). I am trying to compare online and/or video sample options to our Geometry book for the purpose of switching to something else next year - possibly. I am ok so far to teach high school math, but I am always scouting for video options, past algebra 2. The reviews for CTC math are very good. I am investigating this to see if it is an option for us. I cannot afford the distance video teaching that goes with our BJ textbook. The math mammoth website's resource section was also helpful for me in making decisions for this year. I am also checking out CTC math, they also give 2 week free trial. https://www.ctcmath.com/how-it-works https://www.ctcmath.com/purchase/homeschool http://www.mathmammoth.com/complete/high_school_math.php

With your ancient lit semester, you might want to check the other discussion that on the boards right now about creating a mythology literature course. Some of the discussion contributions might add ideas for your content.

I am teaching this as a 1/2 credit course, so that I can use the book to teach structure, but still allow for my student to have time to apply these concepts in the essays for her history or lit classes. So, I teach short segments for about 30 - 45 minutes about 3 - 4 days per week. This book is just what my student needs so I may need to take a slower pace to allow time for cross curricular application. Some lessons are very short and some are longer, so I am not always able to finish a lesson per day. I aim for 2 - 3 per week. For my daughter, this course seems to be the missing piece she needs to make past writing teaching make sense. She has a disgraphia issue, so I am really trying to make sure she is a solid writer in order to prepare for college. We are spending extra time to work on this weakness. I sometimes use Sharon's assignments, and other times adapt the assignment to fit the needs of another subject area.

You could broaden the mythology to include mythology and ancient tales from various parts of the world. Egyptian Myths, Babylonian myths, Enuma Elish, Gilgamesh, Norweigan mythology, Celtic legends, German legends, mythology and legends from the Americas whether Aztec, Northwest Indian, Asian literature - the Indian stories about Brama and Seta (I forget how to spell their names). This kind of study will lend itself to expose common themes and stories from various cultures. It seems like all areas have creation, flood, giants/heroes, religions with a mother giving birth to a special child.... I think you have a great foundation for lots of later learning of world history and world literature in giving your student opportunity to study whatever mythology you choose. Another consideration would be to do some web research to see if you can find a syllabus for a similar class from a college or high school. The schoolhouse classroom website has 2 courses along these lines - classical mythology and babylonian history and mythology. These do not have the detail I would find helpful, but it might be a place to start. https://schoolhouseteachers.com/2015/02/high-school-courses/ These are better once you read past all the administrative info: https://www.scribd.com/doc/124765927/Mythology-Syllabus http://greenwaysacademy.com/documents/Syllabi/Mythology%20Syllabus.pdf

I am using it right now with my 10th grader, and the more basic version Jump In with my 5th grader. This is a great curriculum. Yes, it is open and go. I read through the student book with both of my students. This author walks the student through the writing process one step at a time. But her examples are fun, the topics she uses to introduce concepts really hold the attention of my two students. I am using Dianne Craft's Right Brain Writing approach with my youngest and also adapting it with my oldest who is using The Power in Your Hands. The book (Power) guides the student through various types of expository writing. This book makes it easy for me to give my girls the writing instruction in a clear, solid, consecutive way without me reinventing the wheel, so to speak. I have so much else to do, it is such a blessing to have such a well written resource to lean upon. This course teaches the students to be attentive to details in a good way. So far, I am very happy with it. We are not just learning writing process, but how to order the supporting points. I was never taught to write like this in high school or college! It would have been so much easier! In the past, I have used Memoria's composition program, Writing by Imitation with Fairy Tales, Robin Finley's Beyond the Book Report and her Essay Writing for Jr. High; this is a perfect fit for us for this season. It is helping my student to apply what she has been learning in the previous years. About religious content, this is only our 5th week of school, so I have not been through the entire book yet. From what I see, any of the assignments can be modified to fit in with your content areas. The discussions will be easier though if you stick with her subjects to write about. I have seen much more Christian subjects in Sharon Watson's free writing prompts. You get these if you are on her email newsletter list. Not in all of them or even most are religious, and so many are FREE. But some of them do definitely rest of Christian subjects, for example comparing the God of the Bible to Santa. The first assignment in chapter one is for the student to come up with reasons either for or against teens having credit cards. This definitely perked my student's interest. Have you downloaded the sample chapters off of the author's website?

I like several options: Memoria has several geography programs for older elementary + students. https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/american-and-modern-studies/geography-i I use Evan Moor Daily Geography Series to work on age appropriate map/chart stuff for my children http://www.evan-moor.com/c/193/social-studies Terri Johnson's website knowledge quest has many great map options: She has a free online curriculum for studying world geography one continent at a time. She used lots of free online games for this plan. I think she calls it Global Mania. I also ordered her Map Trek, which is a book of maps from most any historical era. I found about her resources because the Knowledge Quest maps are the maps used in the Story of the World volumes that I have. http://www.knowledgequestmaps.com/Map-Trek-Outline-Maps.html All of the above options are usually cheaper on the CBD website or Amazon. Sometimes the publishers have a better deal with ordering an entire set (the TE, the SE, quiz books, etc..) Homeschool Buyers Coop also has many deals with various geography programs. I like to read their reviews.

My 10th grader is taking the PSAT for practice this October. I was able to get her a spot with a local private school. This daughter has trouble finishing timed tests within the limits, I want her to have a practice run before it counts.

We use the self paced omnibus for my high school student and self paced history for my 5th grader.. It is not exactly the same as a live online class. We really like the content. I feel like my children are getting solid teaching in these classes. From what I have read, if a student does Veritas' diploma program and is under the umbrella of the online accredited school - the student has lots of scholarship opportunities. This online program has different levels with guidance counselor help in the paperwork and choosing courses. For the Online programs, I have looked at the descriptions many times. They look very good and solid. The teacher biographies also demonstrate well qualified teachers. I do like what I see there. For us the self-paced are more affordable. Are you considering a specific class?

So far, I do old fashioned hand written records: I keep grades in 3 places: First, I write grades in my lesson plan book written with a circle around it on the appropriate day and subject area slot. (short term) The second place I keep grades is on a fill in the blank sheet that lets me get the grades for an entire quarter (10 weeks) in one place. again - this is handwritten. (this gives me report card data) I just print 4 per year per student. (I make my own fill in the blank grade sheets) The last place I keep grades is a spiral notebook where I can write all the grades in columns and come up with my percentages for quizzes, tests, labs, papers, and daily work .... (This gives me space to group the report card data into percentages that accurately reflect the content of the coarse. It is a help for my course descriptions.) I take about 1 page per subject. The grade books I saw in teacher stores were hard to adapt for my homeschool, so I made my own sheets that correlate exactly with my lesson plans. I just print new ones every year. These are just table charts in a word document. They work for me. I like to use color and highlighters, etc - - so handwritten is easier for me.

We start school about the 3rd week of July. And I do 4 day weeks during the "summer." Once we get close to September, we switch to full weeks. We start early to allow me time for 2 weeks of breaks in fall and spring, as well as appt days to take off.

In our family, we use thinking putty for concert situations and public lectures. At home, anything such as drawing, brushing a doll's hair, petting one of our pets, jewelry making.... pattern blocks. This thread already has great suggestions, but wanted to add brushing a doll's hair because it works so well for my little ones. Silly putty is very similar to the Thinking Putty too. The ironing idea made me laugh out loud. Thanks "momee" for sharing such a hilarious idea. I told my 15 year old, and she got a bit quiet... I think she thinks I will really do it :).

Latina Christiana is Ecclesiastical Latin (Christian Latin) which is a little different from classical Latin. To switch from christian to classical latin or vice versa might be confusing for young students. If CC Henle is your goal, I would stick with LC. Henle is the Christian Latin type. You could switch to First Form after LC 1 or also do LC 2 before Henle. But Henle will review all the grammar from the ground up. If CC Latin in Jr high has not changed, then you start with the beginning of Henle 7th grade, and again in 8th grade, and again in 9th grade each year going a little bit faster and further into the book. I do not know this first hand, a friend of mine used to be a CC person. But we have gone through a lot of Henle this last school year with my oldest child so I am very familiar with the content. Also, if you use the LC, I highly recommend the Latine Ludere book of games and activities from Memoria. It gives extra activities that correlate with Latina Christina 1. Usually each lesson has a word search from the lesson's vocabulary, and then derivative or grammar form related matching, crossword puzzles, or hangman, etc. Memoria used to charge full price for the first Ludere book, and then a much cheaper price if you order a second copy at the same time. I think the cheaper copy is well worth the money since you have 2 students. The book of extra activities really gives some good practice and familiarization with the vocabulary and grammar. We really liked it for my middle child who was 4th grade last year. It happens to be on sale right now too. I don't see the part about the second book being cheaper - perhaps they do not do that right now. It might be worth asking about if you decide to order. https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/latin/ludere-latine/

Hi Friend, I teach art, but crafts have a lot of overlap. What I recommend is to build a craft box of miscellaneous supplies such as popsickle sticks, sheets of foam, pom poms, glue, old paper tubes, markers, found objects, paperclips, floral wire (if appropriate for your home), beads, rocks, paint, magnets, slide clothespins, shoe boxes, colored pipecleaners, wiggle eyes..... My children are constantly constructing things out of this kind of stuff. The authors MaryAnn Kohl and Kim Solga have written several crafty kind of books for children. I have seen many of these in my library. I have not looked for these kinds of websites lately, but these ideas in books are plentiful. Many regular content area curriculae have craft ideas in them. My children hate "kits" that they sometimes receive as gifts, but they use the supplies in their own creative ways. While I know that there are things that can be learned from following the steps in a kit, children can be creative on their own too. You will need to teach specific skills such as how to glue, paint, and anything messy - and of course clean up skills. -- but this might give you a start while you are checking the web. Your older child might enjoy latch hook rugs or wooden 3D puzzles. These are usually in craft stores and a 40% coupon can apply. Michaels gives teachers (even homeschool teachers) an additional 15% off. Since you are doing Earth Science, you could co crafts that coordinate. I have a book called Geology Crafts for Kids, by Alan Anderson, Gwen Diehn, and Terry Krautwurst. I bought mine used after really enjoying a library copy. Earth Science is awesome to do artistic things with! I will think about this to see if I have any other titles that might be useful for you. Just building physical maps out of a salt/flour dough is a lot of fun. It can be very artistic and of course, educational. If you do an Amazon search, similar titles would pop up too. If you are interested. Have Fun! This can work out very well for you and your children!

Sharon Watson's Jump In is a solid option. This teaches the students to work using the writing process, not just dictation and imitation. https://writingwithsharonwatson.com/jump-in/ Also, you might want to check out Dianne Craft's Right Brain Paragraph Writing Video. I just watched mine and it has made such a difference with my students! http://www.diannecraft.org/language-arts-writing-program/ http://store-2a930.mybigcommerce.com/writing-problems/

I agree about using Memoria's Latina Christiana. I did 1 and 2 with my daughter. Then we did First Form and part of Second form (the form series moved too slow for her) before we switched to BJ Latin for a year which was terrible in logical organization. We happily switched back to Memoria and their Henle guides. Latina Christina 1 will prepare you for Henle. If you have time to also do 2, it will give even more preparation. You do not have to go through the Form series to be ready for Henle. Memoria also has guides for Henle. We really liked working through these.