I'm looking for honest feedback. Please, don't hold back. I'm new at this.

My daughter is 12. We had planned to send her to the junior high her big sister attended, but over the summer we decided to homeschool.

To be honest, I didn't prepare much. I came up with a basic outline of what I wanted to teach (I did consult TEKS for what she would have been taught in public school), and then we went for it. Fortunately, we developed a routine quickly, and we've stuck with it, as it seems to he working. Here it is.

At 9:00 she starts with Bible study. She gets a star (more on that later) for getting herself up, and starting her lesson without being asked. She's studying I Samuel, verse by verse, using a wonderful program from a local church. We read the text together, she does a study packet which takes a few days, and then we listen to a lecture that covers the text. The series is intended for women, but I think it's also appropriate for girls my daughter's age.

We then move on to math. We're using Math-U-See, pre-algebra. My daughter isn't strong in math, honestly, but we're getting there. Most of what we've done so far is a review of what she did in public school. She seems to struggle particularly with word problems. She'll do well on a basic problem where she knows which rules to follow, but getting her to develop and think through the procedure for doing a word problem has been a challenge. Some days we skip the DVD lessons and worksheets, and just sit at the whiteboard to hammer random problems out together.

Then she'll hop on her phone and do some Duolingo (French). By the time she's done it's normally 10:45 or11:00, and I'll let her have a break.

After lunch it's Texas history. I've been using a kid's book called Stephen F. Austin, Wilderness Pioneer as a jumping off point. We frequently go off on tangents. If it mentions the War of 1812, we leave the book and find material on the War of 1812. If it mentions Comanches, we study Comanches. If it mentions the Mexican War of Independence, we study the Mexican War of Independence, and so on. I create quizzes for her myself. One week, I had her do a creative writing project based the Austin family's journey west. It's been fun.

One area where I really needed help was science. Fortunately, I found a private teacher who operates a classroom in a nearby suburb. She is taking his Life Science class once a week. It is all labs; there are no lectures. She has a textbook, reads one chapter a week, and then takes a test online. We are also doing life science stuff at home, like planning a vegetable garden and caring for pet mice.

She is working on a research paper. The subject she chose is the possible human habitation of Mars. She's at the computer right now, reading and taking notes.

I give her about one vocabulary assignment a week. She writes definitions, then we discuss each word and how it's used.

I enrolled her in Taekwondo. She loves it. I lucked out, as the place is full of other homeschoolers, including the owners. They've provided me with some good advice, ideas, and resources.

She has a weekly memorization assignment. I try to vary the subjects. The first week it was the 12 sons of Jacob, the second week taxonomy (kingdom, phylum, etc.), and this week it's the first five rights outlined in the Bill of Rights.

The work for each day is written on the whiteboard by morning. I've found that if she doesn't have every expectation literally spelled out, she drifts easily. I've tried giving her "free art" time during school hours, where's she's free to sketch, play the ukulele, paint, or whatever, but she won't use the time constructively.

The star system I mentioned earlier is a reward system based on initiative and self-management. They are redeemable for cash at the end of the week. She gets two bucks for each star. There is a cap of $20 a week and $50 a month, but she loses no stars. All stars earned beyond the cash limit are put into the kitty, to be redeemed at the end of the semester for a grand prize that has yet to be determined.

The only subscription I have so far is to Lesson Planet. It's been moderately useful.

Of course, we do other stuff to try to keep homeschool fresh and interesting, but that's the basic framework. If you've read this far, please tell me how I'm doing. I feel like I'm winging it, and although I'm not sure what else I could be covering, I'm aware that I might be missing something. Thanks.

OP, my wife, who is a certified teacher and who also homeschooled her son, says you are doing very well!

Sounds good, but keep in mind that you don't need to replicate a public school day. If you let her excel at the things she excels at, and move faster on those things, she can devote extra time where needed on things with which she struggles.

One of the beautiful things about homeschooling is it lets you shift things as necessary or desired.

Well put, thanks.

I'm in school to become a certified teacher (MiT) right now.  I was kind of pushed into it but am making the most of it.

You seem spot on.  You have an established routine, are reaching out for help when you need it, and have matched up what you are teaching with "state standards".  You are also getting her out with other kids.

A previous poster mentioned that you should take the lead off when she really likes and is highly capable in certain subjects.  He is spot on.  

You also might weave weaker subjects in with stronger subjects.  For instance, use her love of science to prop up a weaker grasp of math.  Don't look at the subjects as being individual avenues.  Look at the overall usage of skills beyond the typical curriculum.

Old thread I know. I hope all is still going well.

Coming from someone who was homeschooled his entire life, you are doing just fine. As said above you do not need to replicate the public school experience. My mother didn't and me and I was thankful about it.