Curriculum Snag

This year has been the best year for me with our homeschooling. I've been schooling my boys since 2004 so this is our 8th year. It took that long to finally figure it out.. It was tough since there is just soooo much to curriculum to choose from, websites to visit, advice from every homeschool mother you know, or don't know and it tends to get overwhelming.

Last January I took a few months to research what I wanted to do for 2011-2012 school year and found Heart of Dakota for my youngest which we LOVE by the way.. With my oldest he is a middle schooler and I decided not to take the Heart of Dakota route to prepare him for High School. My daughter used Notgrass American History last year in her 10th grade year and I loved it. I found out there was a junior high American History curriculum so I purchased it for my son.

Absolutely love it.. I just recently went to their website to see if they were going to offer an 8th grade curriculum so I could just continue my son on with Notgrass through High School without interuption. Well, access denied!!! They won't have this new curriculum available for 2-3 years. So what to do, what to do? I had everything all planned out. I loved everything I was using so NOW I have to THINK!!! What!!! Notgrass wasn't just a history curriculum. It housed, writing, literature, geography, and history. It was much more than one subject..

With this not available for next year I literally have to find a curriculum to make up for the lack of this one. A literature curriculum, a history curriculum, a writing curriculum and a geography curriculum...ugh! So much for smooth sailing and simple homeschool planning.. ick!

So I've been wracking my brain on what to do. How indepth do I want to go. I even considered putting him in the last Heart of Dakota book but I already have his spelling/vocabulary curriculum and his grammar curriculum that we've been using this year and love so I already purchased the 8th grade sets for next year.

I also purchased his science for the next three years. Apologia General Science is what he's doing this year and I have his Physical Science all ready for him for next year. If I choose H.O.D for him, a lot of the components are already spoken for..

So that leaves me with Plan B? What is plan B? I haven't a real clue yet. I have been thinking of maybe Mystery of History or Diana Warings Ancient Civilizations curriculum.. I used M.O.H last year with my youngest son and I love how it's put together so I am familiar with that and I know he could work on this independently. Not sure about the Diana Waring curriculum.. I want his curriculum to be mainly independent so that limits my choices. I do know that he needs to study more ancient history since his focus over the years has been pretty recent history.. 1400's to current. I would like him to learn more bible history so these two curriculums came to mind.

I wish I could get my hands on both so I could look at them side by side to compare them. The downside of only being able to buy curriculum online!

For literature, I've decided to allow him to tag along with his brother's reading study. He will be using Draw into the Heart of Reading which is a component of Heart of Dakota and this curriculum goes through 8th grade. So this will streamline this subject and have them work on it together on their own levels. So one down for sure.. YEH!

I may also have him use the Write With the Best alongside DS10 next year as well as he works through this through H.O.D curriculum. I think putting them together for a couple subjects would be ok. I then can work with my oldest on his writing which he is struggling a bit on.. So maybe two down!! The jury is still out on this one! I am also looking into Writing Strands as an option too. I may also add Fix It . . . Write by, Nan Jay Barchowsky. He really needs some help in his penmanship..

If I choose either history curriculum, geography is included in it so I won't need to search for something else.. Which is really nice.. Music to my ears! I know it's only January and some of you may be going what's the issue? I just really like to have everything set in stone by February and be able to get what I need over the next few months before May so when school is out, it's OUT until August! I loved how I had all the books, curriculum and accessories purchased by mid May and it was all put together so I could truly enjoy the Summer without having to think about the next school year. It was such a wonderful feeling!

Plus I really like to spread my curriculum purchases out over a few months without breaking the bank. I then can look for deals and not feel rushed and then end up having to buy it full price.. ick! Well, my brain is turning and ideas are flowing so that's a good sign.. It's now time to get my ideas cemented and purchases started!