TOG or straight BJU? 9th grader and younger siblings...

[CountryGirls]

So I’ve homeschooled 4.5 years, but we put the kids in private school last January bc I was overwhelmed with 2 middle schoolers that wouldn’t listen, a preschooler and a toddler. And then of course everything got shut down and they ended up back home anyway 🙄 So now we’re back to homeschooling for this next year, but hopefully we’ll get off to a better start! I have a 9th grader, 7th grader, K and 2 yr old. I really never planned on homeschooling high school but for multiple reasons we’ve ended up with homeschool being our only choice this year. 

My big question is, which would be less teacher intensive for me with the older two kids? I really, really, really feel Socratic discussions and critical thinking are super important but I really need to concentrate on the little two that got pushed aside a lot the last year.   We’ve done  BJU reading and some writing and grammar before and while I think it’s a great curriculum I also feel it can be very  teacher intensive. I can’t imagine doing two full grades of that. If we go that route we’ll do 2 dvds each (Science and...?!) but they’re so expensive. If I do lit dvds do I still need to sit down and discuss with them? Should I just not worry about it and the books/worksheets are enough? 
 

ive been looking at Tapestry mainly bc of the discussion questions and book choices. But how long does the teacher prep take each week? Do I need to read ALL those World Book pages every week? I don’t mind the planning and can do that Ahead of time. It’s weekly prep and Endless grading that get to me. 

 Our internet is terrible so any type of live online classes are out. 
 
My 9th grader is very independent, a self starter and likes BJU. She matured overnight practically when I put them in school in Jan. My 7th grader is the opposite of that. She retains very little from textbooks and hates all things “school,” but seems to enjoy and retain a lot from living books. I thought of doing BJU with the older and tog or Sonlight with the middle schooler but that seems like so.much.work. Plus adding K and the youngest to that... 
 

Both are college bound, but the colleges we’ve looked at don’t require specific social studies or lit courses. I think my middle schooler will probably end up going to a tech school. She loves working on engines with her dad. 
 

I would greatly appreciate any thoughts! I think we’ll stick with BJU science and we’ll do mathusee for math. It’s the writing, lit and history that I’m struggling with. I’m so afraid of spending tons of money and then ending up with a train wreck and messing up my oldest’s high school transcripts.
 

Thank you! 

[MamaSprout]

So take this with a grain of salt because I mostly use secular resources... but two of my IRL friends use My Father's World for their core for high school and then add math (one uses Saxon the other Jacobs/ Forester) and science (Apologia/ BJU or secular depending on the topic).

I really like how the layout and there is some doubling up that can happen depending on levels. Might be worth a look.

 

[freesia]

Oh, dear, I’m not sure how to advise you. After 7 years of TOG history for high school, I’ve decided that my tenth grader will do BJU US history.  I do love the Socratic discussions and am hoping to continue that. I really like TOG for middle school, but don’t always love the book choices for high school—particularly year 2 and 3 ( and I’m only talking history—the lit was too intense—and were a family that does AP English!)

I would sat prepping for discussions takes about 30 minutes. 

We used Sonlight in the early days and I like it. In your place, I’d do BJU with the older and Sonlight with the seventh grader( probably the first year of the World History)  Then I’d do something like 5 in a Row with the younger kids. 

With regard to literature for the high schooler—if you went the BJU lit route, I would probably choose a few things to read and discuss with your child and not have it all written work. We use Illuminating Literature. I keep up with the lit by borrowing audio books and playing  them when exercising, cooking and being the mom taxi. Sharon Watson also has a writing curriculum that’s good. It’s called Power in Your Hands. It’s written to the student. Lantern English writing classes are very affordable, too. 

[CountryGirls]

Thank you all for your input, I greatly appreciate it! @MamaSprout I am now seriously leaning towards MFW with some BJU supplementing. We actually used it a little in the early years, I don't know why I never thought of it for High School. 

 

@freesia your post was EXTREMELY helpful. I think I've crossed TOG off the list for now. I'm looking into the writing programs you mentioned too. 

 

Again, thank you, I've been agonizing over this for weeks and loosing sleep over it. This has helped a lot!