Homeschool Prep

We will be switching to homeschool next school year, and this is a very confusing time for us, well mostly for me. There are so many options out there for homeschooling curriculum, and I'm having a very hard time making up my mind what is the right curriculum for my two daughters. The one thing I know for sure is that the style I want to go with is eclectic, but isn't that really a way of saying, "I couldn't decide, so I'll just mix it up"?

My oldest will be in eleventh grade next school year. She has been in a private school, and has met more than half of the college entry requirements. She will still need to take two years of language arts, one year of science, and two years of US history, plus either two foreign languages or two technical courses. She is also planning on going to school for a degree that requires a lot of advanced math, so she will be taking a math course each year until graduation. In my opinion she should go ahead and take her college math, but she doesn't think she is ready for that.

My biggest challenges are the math courses she will be taking, and the chemistry she needs to take. I want to find something that will be robust enough that she learns what she needs to, but easy enough to follow that we can get through it with as few tears as possible. I did take college level chemistry, and college algebra, but it was a long time ago. I can't remember most of it.

For the rest of the subjects there are SO many good choices out there that I can't decide on one.

My fifth grader is a little easier. There are no advanced courses that I find intemidating, but still there are just SO many choices out there, how do I decide?

All that said, I think the easiest place to start this blog of our homeschool experience is to start with a list of books we would like to read either this year, or at some point. At least then I will not feel I'm just spinning my wheels.

These will be in no particular order. I'll worry about order later. :)

1. Simple Chemistry Experiments With Everyday Materials
by Louis V. Loeschnig ISBN 9780806906898