Question about homeschooling high school

Question:
Starting next month or the month after, I will be homeschooling my little brother. He will be eighteen, but he is at about a ninth grade level from what I've been told. I'm planning on having him take the test at my church (they run a school) to find out exactly what grade level he is at. But, does anyone have any suggestions for curriculum? I use BJUP for my daughter.

Answer:
-It might be helpful to approach the whole package from where he's at -- not just grade level, but his personality and abilities. Is he a good worker? Can he work independently? Or does he need a lot of 'hand-holding' or assistance with motivation? Just those distinctions can assist you choose curricula.

Also, where's he going after you're done with him? Community college? University? Apprenticeship? Trade school? Fast food?

There's a big difference between textbook-heavy curricula and unit studies. What captures his interest? In addition to a 'grade-level' diagnostic test, you could (I think *should*) give him a career-oriented test like the one offered by Crown Financial Ministries (formerly Christian Financial Concepts). That career-oriented test is quite detailed. My husband was a test-validator for it, and it was fascinating to take it and see the results. http://www.crown.org/ On the left sidebar you'll find "Life Pathways" and several career-orienting subjects.

-I have a 9th grader. I used to teach in public school high school and private school elementary. BJU and ABeka usually are not successful with those who are already behind the public schools.

I suggest you investigate the following:

Math U See (www.mathusee.com): by far the best math program for just about any kind of learner, with the benefit of leveling not graded programs so you can pick what level you need, work at the child's pace, and it goes all the way through Trig. It is manipulative based. It also has a video aspect, where the best math teacher I've ever seen teaches the concepts. This is not a "watch it every day" video. They only watch on the day they learn a new concept, then do worksheets to practice once they've watched and practiced from the video.

Learning Language Arts Through Literature (http://www.cspress.com/llatlpg.htm): I used this program from elementary through Jr. High, and with the older versions. The newer ones are even better I understand. It would allow him to work the Language Arts with little teacher involvement.

Alpha Omega Lifepacs (http://www.home-schooling.com/): These are self paced and guided, and easy for the teacher to grade. My kids would hate using these for everything, but we use them in the Jr/Sr High science co-op classes with our support group.

Robinson Curriculum (http://www.oism.org/robinson.htm): This is the basis for our home school program at this stage of our home schooling career (10 years now), but I realize it's not for everyone. However, it does teach the child to become responsible for his own education and learning, is literature based, and has built in vocabulary building for college/career.

I suggest you check out these and anything else you might hear about, but keep in mind that if he's 18, coming out of ps and still that far behind, the "grade level" approach is probably not gonna work for him. He's gonna need something he can start and work through without the stigma of "grades" attached to it