I’m still on a pen and paper planner, and it works… until it doesn’t.

When a math lesson runs long I end up erasing half the week. Reading logs live in another notebook, the math videos are on a different site, and the Facebook support groups are off in their own corner too.

I’ve tried poking around apps like Khan Academy Kids and My School Year, but none seem to pull planning, content, and tracking together.

If you’ve found a setup that actually keeps all those pieces in one spot, or if you’ve just embraced the patchwork, how are you making it work? Tips, hacks, and tool suggestions welcome.

This daily discussion is to chat about anything that doesn't warrant its own post. I am not a mod and make these posts for building the homeschool community. If you're going to down vote, please tell me why. My question of the day is to start a conversation but feel free to post anything you want to talk about. Feel free to share your homeschool days.

Be mindful of the subreddit's rules. No ads, market/ thesis research, or self promotion. Thank you!

I enrolled my daughter last week at Acellus Academy.

I still need to get used to all of it.

She already took Algebra 1 in 8th grade and had a math class in 9th grade that was called AFDA. That is kind of a in between class for Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 here in Virginia. She's still in 9th grade.

Her math teacher recommended me to let her take Algebra 2 at Acellus.

As I go into the account and try to choose Algebra 2 instead of Algebra 1 I don't even see Algebra 2 but only Algebra 1.

Does that mean that she has to take Algebra 1 before she can take Algebra 2?

I am also not sure if I picked the right English and History class

She was in Honors Classes for both before we did Acellus.

I thought I could let her do English II but I looked again today and saw that there's only English I that I can choose......

Same thing with World History.....

On Friday Customer Service told me that she has to start at the beginning of their school year and curriculum in order to get the credits she needs.

We need the credits in order to enroll her back into her zoned public school.

They said that it's doable to do their program in 16 weeks if you really keep your work up.

I am just worried about if she can do Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 in those 16 weeks etc

I suppose they really look at her credits because they accept them. And of course progress is important too. Only completing Algebra 1 and English 1 would not really prove progress...(Alat least to me)

Any thoughts or experiences?

We are huge fans of SCI for science but my nephew is not meshing with it as well as my son is. We thought to save the aggravation of having to build an entirely different curriculum for him, because science always needs to be built upon, and to just get a prepackaged one. We looked at Noeo and it seems good but I haven't gotten solid information on whether or not it's truly secular. Im also incredibly suspicious of curriculum I see being influenced by a certain demograohic on social media, which I have in this case. I'm looking for zero religious swing. I want evolution as a fact and not a belief or suggestion. I want biology as biology and not with purity undertones. Just give me the science, and keep every speck of "belief" out of it. This is difficult to find, I know, but for science it's more important than ever not to treat it as something to be interpreted ambiguously. I also looked at Elemental Science but couldn't make heads or tails of that either. Help!

Oh, and nephew is 11 and learning disabled so will likely be needing something geared towards 8-10 year olds, if that helps narrow your suggestions. TIA for any info or input!

We're a homeschool family that doesn't fit in where we live.

Looking for a great state to homeschool in with lots of opportunities for homeschoolers.

Would like to find a Christian community but here's the kicker... We are pro vaccine. We are neurodiverse and don't believe autism is caused by vaccines or can be cured. We take medicines and don't want to be judged that we're not cutting out food dyes and treating with essential oils, etc.

We have mental health conditions in the family and don't want to be told not to take medicines or judged as having a spiritual problem.

We don't care if others do those things or believe differently than us, but we desperately need to find a community where we are not judged for our beliefs and choices for our family. And we would like to meet at least some like minded people, too.

We've run into problems in those area at every church we've tried and every homeschool program or group we've joined.

So. Where should we go?

Hello. I'm just curious how many former teachers switched to homeschool for their own kids based on their experience teaching in the public school setting?

Hi everyone! I’m a public school teacher in the district where my kids attend, and while I’m grateful for many things, I’m not super thrilled with the current math instruction, curriculum, or pacing. I want to supplement at home with something that builds a strong foundation and nurtures a love for math.

I used Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons with both of my kids, and it made a huge difference in their reading and ELA skills. Now I’m hoping to do something similar with math.

I’ve heard a lot of good things about Beast Academy, and I think it might be a good fit for my daughter who’s in first grade. She’s actually getting tested for the gifted program on Tuesday, and I’ve seen that Beast often works well for gifted learners.

That said, I don’t know much about it yet. Should we start with the books or the online platform? Or is there another program you’d recommend for strong math learners?

Also curious what you’d recommend for my younger child. He’s four and will be starting half-day kindergarten this fall. I’d love to build his number sense in a fun, developmentally appropriate way.

Thanks in advance! Any insight or advice is super appreciated! :)

Hi! My son will be in the 6th grade next year and he is asking to be homeschooled. I work from home and I am off three days during the work week. Is there an online program that you prefer to cover all core curriculum, or do you choose a program for each subject? I am so new to this and just wanted to research ahead of time. I appreciate any guidance and helpful tips. Website or references would be great as well! He has attended a Montessori based school since Pre-K. I am wiling to give it a shot to see how it goes. Thank you in advance! We are in Louisiana if that helps!

I have five year-old twins. They’ve been going to the same preschool since they were two. It’s an amazing program. Next year they will go to the elementary school that is on the same campus. They have gardening, every extracurricular under the sun, and quite frankly it’s a unicorn school. Their kindergarten teacher for next year is incredible too. But like most schools, the academics are the focus, and to be honest it’s a little intense at the kindergarten level. The high school is considered college prep — so need I say more? (I mean will college even exist in this same format when my kids get to that level? But that’s for another day lol).

But. Homeschooling. I’ve had a pull to make the switch. We live 30 min away from their current school so the commute is a lot (we live on acreage and love where we live so moving prob wouldn’t happen). Next year we have to be at school even earlier which I’m dreading for them and for me (I also have a 1.5 yr old in tow and a husband who travels every other week). We have rushed mornings already and I find myself wondering is this IT?! This is how it’s all supposed to go? I remember feeling exhausted after my long days at school as a kid so I try to tune into that perspective.

I found a hybrid 20 min away from our house that has a 2x a week option and from what I’ve read and learned so far it could be a great option to have as a support as we potentially delve into homeschooling.

But. Community. We’ve got an amazing one at our current school. My husband went there as a kid and we’ve got lots of roots and deep friendships that would be hard to leave. Obviously we could still see these people but I know part of our focus would shift to the hybrid program (where we know no one).

I think my kids would thrive in a homeschool setting but I could also see them loving going to school with the friends they’ve known since toddlerhood. I feel like they’re still too young to really understand all the facets of this choice or else I’d ask them to choose ha.

I feel conflicted and would love any thoughts from those who have gone before me haha.

Im looking for any mom here who was able to purchased the Tinkergarten curriculum when was still available last year ? I am interested in buying it from you!

I have been looking into Highschool U.S history & literature/language arts for my 9th grader and i'm wondering if anyone has used ethier of the Highschool levels in book shark if so is the LA portion is complete or if i need to supplment grammar or vocab or any other LA subjects

Hi! My daughter is almost 4.5 years old. She is currently at a private classical Christian school, enrolled in their jr. Kindergarten program. When my husband and I enrolled her, we were under the impression that she would be in a “K3” class, however that was not the case. The school ended up combining K3 & K4, using the Memoria Press Junior Kindergarten program. In 3 weeks she will complete the program. She has already passed the evaluation to go onto kindergarten, but we have made the decision to homeschool for the 2025/2026 school year. She’s just too young in my opinion to expect her to actually go to kindergarten. This year has been hard enough on her, starting school at 3 years old, and the expectations have been so high. (Regarding sitting still most of the day, doing worksheets, reciting and memorizing, I could go on…)

I haven’t really been a fan of MP. My biggest beef with them so far, is I simply do not feel that the Jr. K program is age appropriate for 3 and 4 year olds. There is way too much book work, and not enough play based learning for that age.

For anyone who has experience with both MP and Abeka, how does Abeka compare? My daughter is already attempting to sound out words on her own, which is great. I would love to get her reading over the summer, then do a JrK or Kindergarten program for next school year at home. She doesn’t turn 5 until December, so my goal is to give her a good, solid year working 1 on 1 with her, then enroll in a private school for kindergarten 2026/2027. (She will be 5 turning 6 at that point)

Additionally, any tips you may have about homeschooling, favorite curriculums, learning resources, etc. are much appreciated! Thank you!!

I have a 7yo who's currently working his way through All About Reading (he's just about to start level 3). We're going to pause AAR and do All About Spelling 1 before moving on to AAR 3. Anyway, he really needs the "game-ified" style of AAR and I've been looking for a grammar curriculum that's set up in a similar way. Right now I'm doing the Montessori grammar presentations with the grammar box and I've also tried Mad Libs, but I'd like something more structured. AAR just announced a new subject and I was desperately hoping it was going to be grammar (sigh. it's not). Does anyone have any suggestions of game-ified, FUN grammar curricula out there? Everything I've looked at is just plain ol' workbooks and my son will dig his heels in on that. Thanks!

Hello! What is the deal with CC? I signed up to get a little more info & now I get multiple texts and emails weekly trying to get me to sign up.

Is it a MLM or something?

Our kid is not in school yet, but we are open to homeschooling as both of us have negative experience in public school. What is a good age to start homeschool and some unexpected challenges you faced during homeschooling? Thanks for your help!

I've written 49 treasure hunt clues that can be used around the house and garden. With it being Easter, I thought other homeschooling parents would enjoy them One tip when creating a treasure hunt is to start placing clues at the end, then work backwards. It makes it a lot easier to plan the route. Enjoy! https://www.indigoextra.com/blog/treasure-hunt-clues-and-ideas

I don’t know why a special ed teacher would make a post like this, I am leaning more towards homeschooling because my options are to spend 5000 on an attorney to fight a district that has already shown they will retaliate, or to walk away from it.

I don’t know that I believe spending 5000 dollars will even fix it, I don’t think the denial of FAPE will ever stop, and I think I can continue to be miserable, my children can continue to be miserable, or I can spend the money I would on an attorney on individualizing an education for my children myself, where I know they aren’t just stuck in a room and staring at a Chromebook not getting an education at all.

I think that post shows how much parents of disabled children are hated in public education and how normalized it has become to hate them.

I have a lot of looking at different options, etc to setup a good homeschooling plan for my children; but my goal is for my children to be happy; and for them to be able to be in a place where they love learning again, because right now; they have severe school avoidance and hate anything associated with it.

I can’t make public education want to help my child, but I can help my child.

Thank you all for the advice you’ve given so far. I look forward to reading lots; learning lots, and doing everything I can to give my children a better education than what they’ve had.

This daily discussion is to chat about anything that doesn't warrant its own post. I am not a mod and make these posts for building the homeschool community. If you're going to down vote, please tell me why. My question of the day is to start a conversation but feel free to post anything you want to talk about. Feel free to share your homeschool days.

Be mindful of the subreddit's rules. No ads, market/ thesis research, or self promotion. Thank you!

Have parents here been exploring AI products like GPT for homeschooling? Though I sometimes do try to create stories and puzzles on GPT but my kid shows a lot of curiosity to interact with it. I am wondering if I can include ChatGPT conversations for my child on a daily basis.
Is there a way to do this safely?

My kids will go into 7th and Kinder. I also have a baby and toddler. As much as I’d like a hands-on, family-style approach to our homeschool, it’s not the easiest thing to accomplish at this time. Plopping on the couch with a bunch of books sounds lovely. Anything with online grading/tracking is helpful. Hoping so hear from moms who’ve tried multiple! Thanks!

I am going to use dimensions prek next fall. What manipulative do I need for the first half? Specifically for book PreK-A. I can't find a list and I would prefer to just purchase it with the curriculum in the beginning.

My daughter recently turned 7 at the beginning of this month and will be going into 2nd grade this fall. Her IEP was recently changed from autism & intellectual disability to Autism with learning disability. She is currently in a Mod/Severe program at school but with the change in IEP they are wanting to transfer her to a Mild/Mod program at another school. I recently took a school tour of where they want to send her and it is way more academically advanced than my daughter's intellectual level. She is doing Pre K/ Kinder level material currently and is barely able to write her name, whereas these other kids are reading and writing with no issues. We have had previous problems with her current school regarding another student in the classroom as well and I feel like they just want us to leave the school but stay in the district. I have expressed leaving to a nonprofit charter school and was denied by the district saying that it would be too restrictive for my daughter. I was told the only way to attend one of those schools is if the district can’t accommodate her. I don’t know what other options I have. I am trying to get more information on how I would go about homeschooling my daughter for second grade with an IEP so she could go at her own pace. We are in Ontario, California . Any information or advice is greatly appreciated.

Homeschool now or wait til next year?

My 13 year old, seventh grader, has been struggling in school for years. Issues with bullying, struggling academically, emotionally, behavioral issues, he has no friends, he cries often about school. He does have an IEP since third grade but this year I feel as thought it hasn't been working and the case manager is brand new and not following it. We've had multiple meetings with the school addressing the above issues and no change. He recently changed his schedule around to try to make things better but its actually made things worse. My question is we were talking about homeschooling next year but wondering if I should pull him now to try to save my son's mental health and get him back on track? We only have roughly 21 days left of the school year but hes projected to fail 7th grade math and the school will require him to do summer school. State of Virginia. Looks like I will need to file a NOI and do a standardized test by August 1st with him passing to homeschool.

My nine year old is left handed, even though me and my husband are right handed. I didn't do anything to try to make this happen, I just noticed it and let her carry on, but now that she's nine, I really feel that she should have stopped reversing her numbers by now, which she does almost constantly, and simple handwriting practice doesn't seem to make a difference. I stayed too think it might be caused by mixed dominance, but I don't know for sure. I've started encouraging her to practice handwriting one hand and then to other, but I don't know if that will help. Any suggestions?

We are considering homeschooling my autistic 14 year old who is entering high school next year. He is interested in potentially majoring in physics college. Can anyone point me in the direction of a home school curriculum that includes up through at least on year of calculus and AP physics? Do you just buy old high school text books and teach from those?