Thanks guys, these are all very helpful. I saw your response to this 8FillTheHeart, but I think that it is one of his underlying motives to avoid applying.He goes to a classical Christian high school and Lord willing he is heading to an Engineering program at whatever college he lands at. He's tired of the liberal arts. He does well with history and literature, he plays the piano well and enjoys classical music, but he's told me a few times he just wants to do math and science. He also has a fear of the unknown. He's only 16 yo and I really think this is a place where his father and I need to push him out of his comfort zone. I guess I was looking for validation, that it is worth it.

My youngest has been invited to apply to a couple of honors programs and he's dragging his feet. He says he's weighing the cost (extra-curricular events and service projects) vs the benefit (classes available). I've given him the additional benefits of priority registration for classes and graduating with honors. What advantages have you found? Any additional things we are not considering? Thanks, Karen

I would like to start compiling a list of gap year programs. We're not sure what my youngest will do when he graduates, right now we're proceeding as if he will go right to college, but we want to consider gap year programs. He's 15 yo, summer birthday, and a junior in a classical Christian school. He thinks he wants to go into nanotechnology so he's science and math inclined, but he also has had a pretty rich classical liberal arts education so not opposed to something not math/science related. Please share links below for any gap year programs you know of. Also, if you know of any colleges that have a program. Thanks! Karen

Umm, no idea how I came across this dead thread. :-)

If you are completing a course with enough credit for literature and history then simply title your history course accordingly. e.g. Literature of the Western World III 18th and 19th century World and US History

Kagan is not quite as dry, has larger font, but it also has good questions and original source documents. It was (may still be) used for honors or AP history (I forget which.) Balanced view of history in my opinion. Kagan is conservative, but fair. Side note: If you mourn the loss of the classical liberal arts read Kagan's retirement speech from Yale.

Hi Heather, I suggest Writing with Skill I with both boys. If Latin is only for vocabulary perhaps you should start off with a roots program. You may catch the latin bug as you gain confidence in homeschooling. If you want to dive in then get a grammar school level Latin and progress quickly though the first couple of levels before moving on to a high school level Latin. It's been a while since we've done grammar, but again, I would choose something you can use with both at the same time.

Do you have the Teacher CD? There are lesson plans on it. Not very in depth, but it breaks it down for you. We started our week on Friday so my boys could read over the weekend. In addition to meeting when starting a book, we met twice a week to discuss questions. Some had to be written down and handed in and some we simply discussed dialectically Typical week (when starting a new book): Friday: Student reads intro to new book, afterwards we discuss intro and prelude questions Homework: Assigned reading, questions Tuesday: Discussion Homework: Assigned reading, questions Thursday or Friday: Discussion Each book would have at least one extra assignment - essay, project, or activity We discussed history separately. With my oldest we did Omnibus and TOG. I met with Ds#2 one day a week to discuss history readings and questions. I didn't use Spielvogel, I used The Western Heritage (Kagan), various books I liked from TOG, and Teaching Company audio. Ds#3 did Omnibus I online - they met 2x a week to discuss so I figured I was on to something with my schedule.

Thank you Gil and wapiti.

Is there a list or search engine of child psychologists for gifted children? My youngest son is now attending a university model school and it is forcing us to face some issues with his emotional intensity. Most recently he has started laughing in one class, he says he doesn't know why. I have observed this behavior over the years as a nervous habit. Obviously this is an issue for the teacher. Anyway, I think it's time we talk to someone. Anyone know of such a site?

Many of these online courses offer early registration pricing too that one can take advantage of, the WTMA does.

Hoping this one is offered in the spring as well.

Hi everyone, My youngest son, who was in utero when I first started to post here (well, not here, but at the dancing mic, First! page), is headed to the Lego Robotics World championship in April. :hurray: He's looking for likes on his group's Facebook page (fb is his task). So I thought I pop in and see if anyone would be so kind as to like his page. Thank you :001_smile: Karen

Laney, you still live on in infamy :rofl: Sorry Susan that you are going through this.

We will be doing Physics first here, probably Derek Owens in 8th grade.

Thank you!

I work out in Lancaster, PA a few days a month. Maybe we can drop by when they are hosting an event or general open house. Thanks

Anyone know anything about Franklin and Marshall physics department? Very early investigation into schools for youngest ds so we can plan his high school years. His area of interest is theoretical physics. Unfortunately this kid has liberal arts and artist/musician parents. We're pretty much clueless. :001_unsure:

Hi CAMom, Depending on the internship, the company the student interns with does pay for the clearance. Last I heard, almost all of the SI graduates receive clearance (not sure who pays for them all). I know a woman who graduated from PHC in 2012 with security clearance (paid for by the company) and a job in the company where she interned. She is happy to connect with your daughter via email or on FB if your daughter wants more info. Karen (mom of a PHC history student, class of 2015)

How old/what level are your two children?

No science in TOG other than some history of science.

((Jennifer)) When my oldest left for his freshman year it took me at least a semester to not have the urge to talk to him every day. The summer after his sophomore year he began working on campus full time and without my summer fix I was sad again. We drove down to see him when we could and it got better. Now he's entering his senior year and he's in a serious relationship and I'm back to clingy mom mode in my mind. So I guess my point is for me it's been ebb and flow over the years. I am very thankful to live in the days of cell phones and skype.

Penn State did this to 2 different families I know.

Peace Hill B&B? I hear SWB will read you a bed time story. Or was it she won't read you a bed time story. I forget ;) In any case, it looks like a nice place to stay.

Does your child like "fun", sometimes "silly"? Or do they prefer their science straight up? BJUP Life Science video did not work here, way too silly for my ds11. My now 21 year old did really well with DIVE for chemistry and physics and if I have to choose one or the other going forward I would choose DIVE.