I am thinking ahead for next school year. The more I think about how Austin tends to learn, and how he is motivated, and how I can deal with him, and how he needs to take some responsibility for his actions... I am wondering if this might be a really good curriculum for us?

It seems to be lessons on the computer - and then quizes, and tests to make sure the information is being processed. He resists anything I am telling him, or trying to teach him (from ways to figure out multiple step story problems to sweeping the floor) - and I am wondering if this might be a good option for him to take a little more charge of his education - by completing the lessons on the computer.

I am thinking either this, or K12 virtual school for him again. I wish Sonlight would work for him, but he is so resistant to me, especially. I am determined to bring him back home next school year, but we need to really figure out some things regarding the discipline (of getting things done well) and the motivation (ie - not by just me telling him what to do when) and also for respect (accepting that I will tell him to do something once in a while and it's non-negotiable... he doesn't have to talk back to me about everything, and I mean EVERYTHING).

So, I have used K12 before and loved it... but I'm looking at SOS and wondering if anyone here has used it/likes it.

i just was looking at k12 -- i'd never seen it before. seems really pricey, but tell me more about it: pros, cons, likes, dislikes, etc..

a friend of mine is switching from sonlight to sos because of the ease of use -- they are stuck in a FEMA trailer for the several mos so they simply don't have the room for all the SL books :(
she's really impressed w/ sos, though. :)

As far as K12 goes, I just loved it when we used it. Loved the History (very very similar to Story of the World - Bauer also helped write their history). Loved the Math program - my kids all did well with it, whereas I have had a difficult time finding a math program that works well for all of them. The Language Arts included a LOT of stories, and I loved that aspect. And science was always interesting to my kids.

We did it as a virtual charter program... but because we are military we were using our home state of PA for the charter. Our home district was starting to give us a problem with doing the charter... because then they were not getting funded certain funds because they were being re-routed to the charter. I didn't want to fight (although, legally we were fine), and I was ready to go out on my own. But I have actually missed having a teacher to talk to and get ideas from for the kids.

So, I absolutely loved the curriculum. And the kids all did well with it, too... so... trying to decide what to do for next year. But I think once the kids are about 4th grade age the ystart doing a lot more by themselves - more self directed learning.

I wish there was one right answer to the never ending curriculum search - but I think there are so many possibilities.