When Homeschool Starts There's No Time for Fun

Just kidding - there's always time for fun here! Sometimes people get curious and ask me how I homeschool. They're not usually that interested in the details of the materials we use - maybe it's more of a rhetorical question. The ones who do want to know what materials I'm using are other homeschoolers. Since our official homeschool hours for this year start tomorrow, here's a list of the stuff we're using. Sounds kind of eclectic and school at home. By philosophy I'm child-led. Go figure!

• Foreign language - Rosetta Stone supplemented with reading and writing exercises
  
• Social Studies - free online high school textbook on American Government (we also plan to cover the election process) supplemented with TV and additional research and reading
  
• Science - CyberEd online - high school biology for my daughter and middle school physical science for my son - purchased through homeschool buyers co-op
  
• Math - Teaching Textbooks Algebra for my daughter and a British textbook for my son
• Reading and Writing for my daughter - reading choices from the Blue Valley schools curriculum, Writing Strands and additional materials for writing with possibly an online tutored class in the second semester
  
• Reading for my son - free choice
• Writing for my son - no official writing, more language arts - we are using software from The Critical Thinking Company which covers things like word roots, punctuation, grammar, and quizzes that are similar to what you'd see in standardized tests

You'll notice an emphasis on computer based learning. That's what has been working best here.

What are you using, why, and did your children help you to pick it out?