Halcyon Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 My son has begun AoPS Counting and Probability and wow. It has really opened his eyes to how hard some kids work, and he wants to rise to the challenge. He is asking about other courses, perhaps in the sciences, that have a similar rigorous approach as AoPS. In Latin, he has taken Lone Pine and that definitely counts as something similarly rigorous to AoPS. Can we start a list? He is doing Derek Ownens Physical Science now but I think he would prefer an online class that moved at a "pace" so he could learn to work more quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weintz8 Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 I would consider Veritas Press's Omnibus courses rigorous. If you do the primary and secondary together it would be a very heave reading/writing load. It counts as three credits; history, literature, and theology. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 AoPS C & P was my son's gateway drug as well. I am trying to work my son up to a full rigor curriculum one subject at a time. Last Year was history, this year was science, next year is English, then Latin. Apologia's Exploring Creation series (EDITION 2 not the new third edition) when done in middle school provide AoPS style rigor for science. Not for high school, but they pair up chapter for chapter so well with AoPS it is almost spooky. Similar problem solving, very little repetiton. Definitely needing to apply multiple bits of previous learning to stack it all together. I was skeptical, but honestly have to give it to Mr. Wile. Never would have thought in a million years I would write kindly of YE science books (though I refuse to use Biology). The newer 3rd edition books are different. Apologia says they are remedying the dirth of religious content by making the new ones more Christian. This might explain why heathens like us are okay with them. MCT's English package is looking very much in the same ilk as well. We are starting that one next year with level 4 (beginning middle school level) I really want to use Omnibus, but after having looked at it, I cannot eliminate enough of the religious spin for it to work for us. Unlike Apologia, religion permeates how the student is asked to actually think about the content. Can't go there. So, we use their reading lists, add in lots of cultural mythology and religious texts of other traditions in the time period, Gardner's Art Through the Ages, and Great Courses. As far as I can tell from other parents it is very similar to Omnibus but without only one version of God. Lukeion Latin as far as I have heard is the AoPS level of Latin. I would love to hear what others have found! I still am coming up empty for Spanish... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 28, 2015 Author Share Posted February 28, 2015 Is Apologia's Exploring Creation a text or an online course--sorry for being a dunce. I'd always avoided Apologia due to it's religious content (I am Christian but use secular materials whenever possible) Thanks for clarifying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 28, 2015 Author Share Posted February 28, 2015 Oh, and we're using BtB Spanish also, along with learnpracticalspanishonline.com which is actually quite nice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Is Apologia's Exploring Creation a text or an online course--sorry for being a dunce. I'd always avoided Apologia due to it's religious content (I am Christian but use secular materials whenever possible) Thanks for clarifying. They are textbooks mainly. You can get bells and whistles, but we just use the book and the tests. Dh likes Ds to be tested, and in all honesty the tests have raised Ds' confidence quite a lot. I get them off Amazon for around twenty to twenty five dollars. Tests with no solutions are between 5 and 10 dollars. With solutions from Apologia it is around 25. Labs are just kitchen science, so we do not use the lab kit. There is a multimedia Cd, but I have no experience with it. Originally I had seen the middle school books, and those are very heavy handed. Another mom brought one of the Exploring Creation to CoOp and it is vastly different. You can see a sample of the physics book by going to the link and clocking on "view sample." Chemistry 2nd Edition is very, very similar in feel and tone. http://shop.apologia.com/physics/118-physics-2nd-edition-textbook-only.html There is a tiny bit of Divine Design here or there, but editing has been so simple that it really is no issue. We have even used it to discuss how facts can be used to support various ideas in many ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 There's a course based on the 1st or 2nd edition Apologia book at Virtual Homeschool Group. I haven't used it yet, but I really like the Saxon Algebra 1 class. The teacher is the same for Chemistry. The class includes video lessons and computer graded homework and quizzes. http://www.virtualhomeschoolgroup.com/course/category.php?id=76 The course is listed under at your own pace science. I signed T up for the prechem class at Landry during their summer session. That class uses Friendly Chemistry. If that goes well, she'll do the Landry regular chemistry using Spectrum. I'm planning on using the VHSG's Apologia class to prep a bit before the fall term begins and reteach any tough topics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Stanford a EPGY maybe? I have no idea what the admissions process looks like, but I am eyeing them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 28, 2015 Author Share Posted February 28, 2015 Off to look at stanford. thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Off to look at stanford. thanks. I am a little confused by their site, but their catalogue for online high school lists some middle school classes, including a science one. I also think it's possible to take just one class and not enroll full time. I just can't figure out how one goes about doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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