Summer-review homeschooling in France

[Credence]

Greetings! I am an American mother of 5 living in rural France. My oldest son spends the school year with his father, and attends the (awful) Los Angeles public schools. He is just finishing 9th grade, with a 1.75 GPA. NOT GOOD. After a lot of thought and reflection and discussion with my son's teachers (who have been very helpful and supportive), we have decided to home-school my son for 7 weeks this summer. Essentially, we need to do a thorough review of algebra, biology, English, and French.

I have got the English and French classes pretty much figured out, but am looking high and low for help with the other courses. In particular, I am no way no how qualified to be teaching algebra or biology, and I am trying to find an online "year in review" for those subjects, ideally reviews that are consistent with the California schools' standards, so that we are reviewing the subject as it was actually taught to him the first time around.

Has anybody tried Study Island's "End of Course" reviews for high-schoolers? I have heard pretty awful things about Study Island's English/literature/social studies offerings, but because algebra and bio are pretty straightforward, maybe they are better in those areas? I should probably mention that we have to stick with 100% SECULAR programs, because although I am Catholic, my ex-husband is Jewish, and any whiff of religion in our home-schooling materials would probably set off World War III and end up distracting from the goal, which is to get this child back on track!

Thanks very much! I look forward to participating on the forums and learning more as the beginning of our "summer school" session (June 15) draws near.

[Jamie]

I have never heard of Study Island... but I do want to mention Time4Learning to you. They are a secular curriculum, they are online, and they offer a self guided pace. You might just want to give them a look - Homeschool, Afterschool, Summer Study - Time4Learning

[Credence]

Thanks! Time4Learning is actually on my shortlist, too.

[snippets]

When my daughter went to virtual K-12, they required her to use Study Island for test prep. She hated it. Other than that, I don't know too much about it. I will post your question to our main FB page tomorrow, Saturday, to see if you can get more responses.

[jevgen87]

Some websites present a much wider spectrum of online courses such as Khan Academy and coursera.org that are at an in-depth level, yet slow paced. Some courses are presented in an interactive manner that is quite motivating. For homeschooling purposes I'd say it is a solid approach. Another great website is "breakingnewsenglish". It serves well with its advanced english lessons online as a milestone for knowledge on the subject of english. I am proud to have learned so much from the web. My children are also getting the hang of it. It sets for them a sense of merit. They both finished their English and Biology exams just fine.

[Jamie]

BTW... what is it like living in rural France... I'm dreaming that it would be so lovely...