another curriculum question

[maizy]

I am going to hs my 3rd grade ds. He has been in public school, actually in Spanish immersion since Kinder. He just does not fit in the public school box and is bored 6 out of the 7 hours he is there. I want to try hs but want to find the right curriculum and am having trouble wading through all the options out there and don't have the $$ to invest in a bunch of things I may not end up using. I'd appreciate advice. I'll try and profile my son;

quick learner- not motivated unless self motivated to learn

introvert- not comfortable in large "forced social groups"

loves computers (interested in learning web design, programming)

strong reader/ loves reading

poor penmanship therefore poor writer but loves to write comic books w/ pictures

math/ science come easy

asks a lot of questions, likes solving mysteries or problems

strong opinions (he might make a great Toastmaster)- likes to speak mind

assertive

not really outdoorsy (but trapped in a very outdoorsy family)

I'd guess he is a visual and auditory learner.

I've looked at Moving Beyond the Page. I like how it uses character as a central theme. It looks engaging. He hated Time For Learning. He likes to look things up on Khan Academy and learn. We want secular curriculum. Any feedback from experienced hs folks would be great.

Thank you

[SundayCrepes]

We are on the unschooling  spectrum and he sounds perfect for that.

One of the things I do is buy books off the www.sonlight.com book list. I choose the secular books that I think will work for our family. Then I let the kids read the books they want. Our children are young, but this works for us.

Our son gets a couple hours every day that he can be on youtube (he loves "How it's made") or watch documentaries. He's only 5 and can tell you the physics of flight (at a 5 year old level, of course.) My husband is a pilot and says our son has it right.

We also do a lot of field trips with our homeschooling group. Today we toured a hydroponics research site at our local university. It was REALLY interesting. Recently we did a tour of the U's optics lab. There was the scrap metal tour where we got to see a car crushed. So many things to stimulate our kids' lives.

Your son sounds like he would take off if you will let him. (We don't believe in unlimited video games and such. We are not radical unschoolers. We believe kids will learn if we stay out of their way and provide them with enriching opportunities.)

[Lisa1970]

I have tons of books, science kits, activity books for other things too, around the house. I do not allow computer during the day, only in the evening for 2 hrs. As a result, my son, who sounds similar to yours, once he got over complaining and realized I was not bending on the computer rule, started doing his own science experiments, reading math books for fun, writing his own comic books, etc.