I homeschooled my son last year for 8th grade. We had big problems with safety under the previous middle school principal. My son is now back at high school and took the time to give me a hug & kiss and say "thank you" to me for homeschooling him! Teenagers don't normally do that! LOL!
I used all the methods available for homeschooling in Wisconsin. I did this because some subjects were very fine with just handing my son the instruction book and he would "go to town" doing his school work. I used the Lifeworks by Abeka for those subjects. Abeka does come with a bible study but I didn't use it. Other subjects (Social studies mostly) I used the "unschooling" method. Discovery channels (I think there are 8 of them?), Military and History channels were a big help.
My son is also a boy scout so I used some of his merit badges he needed to earn as part of the curriculum because BSA explains all you need to know kind of like a mini lesson plan.
My area only had younger children homeschooling so we found it to be a bit of a challenge but worth it! Altho Wisconsin laws state you only need to teach the 5 core subjects, that doesn't mean you can't bridge out. My son and I learned Italian together. I have a ton of web sites on my favorites that could be of assistance and I will send those to you later. I have a few errands to run.
Don't be surprised if at some point your children get upset with being homeschooled. It seems to be common with 1st time homeschoolers that are older. Takes breaks when needed and remember that alot of hands-on life situations are learning/homeschooling situations!
