If you are willing to pay, there are classes your child can take where they meet live with a teacher and classmates once or twice per week and then are given homework for the other days. These are usually for junior and senior high but more and more schools are offering elementary classes! We did this a couple years ago for a Lord of the Rings class and last year for Renaissance Literature and Chemistry. This year we will be adding in a Latin class. I do not have experience with all the schools below. This is just a curated list from what I’ve seen mentioned elsewhere. You’ll have to do your own research about each one!

One thing to note: If your student is in high school and wants to return to high school next year instead of graduating through homeschool, check with your school district to see if their classes this year need to be accredited. Otherwise, don’t worry about accreditation! They can jump back into school without it. Here is an article on the topic.

Some schools to consider:
Dreaming Spires Home Learning
Schole Academy
The House of Humane Letters
Center for Lit
Well Trained Mind Academy
The Potters School
Wasko Lit
Veritas Press
Big River Academy
Open Tent Academy
HSLDA Academy
Outschool
Mr. D Math
FundaFunda Academy
True North Homeschool Academy
Excelsior
Heritage Online Courses
Leadership Education Academy
Bravewriter
Home to Teach
Hazelton Academy
Wisdom Homeschooling (Canada)
Aim Academy
Williamsburg Classical Academy
Homeschool Spanish Academy
The Thinking Kid

Language Lessons for Today (2-6) – We used a slightly less updated version of these books. They include copywork, dictation, narration, composition, grammar, poetry study, and art study. Only around 100 lessons per year which means you can do it 3 days per week. The other 2 days could be used for copywork/dictation, a spelling program, or written narration from other school books.

The Good and the Beautiful (K-8) – All inclusive language arts, plus art appreciation and geography. Levels K-5 are free if you are willing to use PDFs. Visually appealing. My one caveat is that it has a very moralistic tone. I couldn’t get past that, but, if you don’t think it will bother you, this may be an excellent choice! This is a popular option.

Writing & Rhetoric (3-9+) – This program mixes the best of Classical, Charlotte Mason, and Modern writing instruction. Great program! You may want to add a spelling and/or grammar program to this.

Copywork, Dictation, and Narration (Oral and Written): completely free

This is the primary method we have used. It is not for the faint of heart since there is no curriculum telling you what to do! It requires that you use high quality books (not textbooks, usually) so that you are copying, dictating, and narrating from the very best mankind has to offer. Any Charlotte Mason program will give you a good book list.

If this approach interests you, read more about it here. Or search the terms on your podcast app (probably with the name Charlotte Mason).

SPELLING RESOURCES

All About Spelling (for struggling spellers)

Spelling Power (for natural spellers or older children)

Or you could just have them study words they misspell in their writing! Periodically review to make sure they still know them.

GRAMMAR RESOURCES (if not included in your Language Arts program, though keep in mind that schools aren’t really teaching much grammar anymore)

Grammarland audio and worksheets – This is an old book written in the late 1800s. My kids enjoyed listening to it! Completely free.

Beowulf’s Grammar – I haven’t used this, but it looks fun for a kid who likes to cut and paste, etc.

MCT Island Level – This is what we used and enjoyed. Publisher says it’s for gifted 3rd graders or average 4th graders, but it covers everything that was covered in my advanced 7th grade English class (minus the diagramming). This is a sit-on-the-couch-and-read-together curriculum. Goofy. Thorough. After you’ve read through the books, you practice one grammar sentence 1-2 times per week for the rest of the year. All you need are Grammar Island TM, Sentence Island TM, and Practice Island TM (and student book if you don’t want to write out the sentences for your child – or we sometimes just did them orally, covering up the answers). Some people use this with their whole family during “Morning Time.”

Junior Analytical Grammar and Analytical Grammar – I am using this for my 7th grader this year. Thorough. Workbook format. Diagramming included. Video teaching if you need it. Here’s a review.

MadLibs – If you just want them to learn the parts of speech, this is a painless and inexpensive way to do that!

Math Mammoth (1st-PreAlgebra)

I am recommending Math Mammoth first to all new homeschoolers – especially those planning on only doing this for one year due to Covid-19. It is inexpensive, teaches conceptually (the WHY and the HOW) instead of just procedurally (the HOW only), aligns well with public school scope and sequence, teaches directly to the student with no Teacher’s Manual (so can be mostly independent for some kids), has lots of practice for those who need it (those who don’t can do every other problem), has videos to watch if you get stuck, and has excellent books (Blue Book series) for filling in gaps before beginning on grade level books (Light Blue series). Order through Lulu to get spiral-bound books that lay flat.

If your child gets overwhelmed when there is a lot on a page, check out Singapore Math. Very similar teaching style but more expensive. Worktext pages have more white space than Math Mammoth.

Beast Academy (3-7)

This curriculum is ideal for students who are mathematically inclined – especially those who always get 100%! Those kids NEED to be challenged. Beast Academy will do that. Online or paper versions. Paper has more practice. Online has access to teaching videos. Levels DO NOT align with grade level. Usually it’s best to start a level behind grade level. Level 5 can basically be considered a PreAlgebra course.

Miquon Math and Education Unboxed (PreK-3)

Miquon is what we used in the lower grades, and I have not found a better way to instill intuitive number sense than this program. It does NOT align with Common Core, so it is best used as a supplement for 2nd-3rd grade. This would be my #1 choice for K-1st.

Education Unboxed is a website (the one you’re on right now!) with videos that we made years ago to show how to teach/learn math with math blocks. Many people use this as their only math curriculum in the early years. Many schools are using these to train their teachers. If you used only these videos for math in PreK-1st, your child will have a BETTER grasp of math concepts than almost every child who has only used pencil and paper. THIS WORKS. And it’s free except for the price of the blocks!

Algebra – This page on the Math Mammoth site would be my first stop for Algebra recommendations. We have used Art of Problem Solving for Algebra and Jacobs for Geometry. Both were excellent. For high school math, I would look at the higher level books of the publishers recommended on this page (or do dual enrollment).

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MATH ADVICE

– Don’t just automatically choose a math program at your child’s grade level. Take the placement tests for your particular program to see where he/she fits. Sometimes you need to fill gaps. Math Mammoth Blue books are great for this.

– PLEASE don’t be afraid to meet your child where she is at. It is so much better to go back and build the foundation, especially in arithmetic (as opposed to geometry, time, measurement, etc.) than to keep pushing forward at grade level. Schools are required to do that, but you can take the time to help your child (because homeschooling is basically one-on-one tutoring) to find success where she is at right now – which leads to success further on.

– Kids’ (and adults’!) prefrontal cortex shuts down and they cannot learn math when they are upset. Please do not yell at your kids when they frustrate you during math time. It will cause them to move to fight/flight/freeze mode and literally be UNABLE to do further math for at least 20 minutes. Play math games. Find ways to bust through that math block they have. Snuggle and read “living” math books together. Consider that they may not be at the appropriate level and need remediation. Be on their team. You are their greatest ally!

– If your high schooler or college student gets confused, have him check out Eddie Woo videos on YouTube. This guy is a PHENOMENAL math teacher. Better than anyone else I have seen online yet. He explains the WHY, not just the HOW.

– Please don’t start your preschooler on writing down math facts. Please! This is developmentally inappropriate for the vast majority of kids. Talk about math throughout your day. Count things. Play with math manipulatives. Read math picture books. But leave the abstract symbol work for when his mind is a little more grown up.

– If your child struggles with multiplication, she may actually need work on mental addition. The Math Mammoth Blue Add/Subtract 2A and 2B are great for working on this. And then Multiplication 1 works on memorizing those multiplication facts.

– One of my kids found it helpful if I put my hand on her shoulder or braided her hair while she did math. She also enjoyed doing math with chalk in the road. Find what works for your kid!

– Struggles in Algebra are often caused by lack of understanding of fractions. Look at the Math Mammoth Fractions 1 and 2 books to see if they might be helpful. Also, a solid understanding of integers (negatives and positives) is important!

– Math is hard for everyone at some point. If your child is not being challenged, he is not at the right level. Math provides an opportunity for your child to grow in perseverance, work ethic, and having a good attitude when faced with something difficult. Don’t let the tyranny of 100% steal that from your child! (https://artofproblemsolving.com/…/perfect-scores-set…)