I agree - it's really expensive. I was able to get a brand new 2015 edition for $30 on ebay, Of course, that's still a lot more than an old edition of McConnell. If you're still interested, you can set up a saved search on ebay to monitor the new listings. I've seen some go for as low as $25.

Krugman's Economics for AP is a popular choice for AP Econ teachers because it is aligned well with the AP exams. It's based on Krugman's Economics texts for College but was modified into a more modular approach by AP teachers and incorporates AP type questions (multiple choice and FRQ). The modules are mini-chapters and usually cover just one or two concepts. One teacher suggested a pace of two days per module on average. Here's a link to a pdf of the Macro version of the book. There is also a separate Micro text and a combined text.

Teaching Textbooks and Math Relief might be worth checking out as well. Math Relief would definitely meet your criteria but I would have your ds preview the videos to see what he thinks. The videos look outdated but the instruction is solid and very incremental. The program consists of the videos and accompanying worksheets.

Did he like CLE? If so, I'd continue with the new CLE Algebra I course. My son completed it this year and it really is a solid, comprehensive program with clear explanations. It starts out quite gentle and gets more rigorous as it goes along. There were only a few areas with specific types of word problems where I felt it could use some more supplementation (i.e. a more tabular approach). Overall, I feel it's a well paced course with each lesson taking about 45 min to 1 hr a day of work. The early lessons in the first light unit might go faster.

Both Veritas Press Online Academy and Landry Academy offer live, teacher led online classes in High School level Statistics. If you don't need a live class, there are also some good online or video alternatives - many of them free. Great Courses - Meaning from Data: Statistics Made Clear ALEKS - Introduction to Statistics Udacity - Introduction to Descriptive Statistics and Intro. to Inferential Statistics (both free and IMO the most accessible of the online MOOC stat courses for a high school student) Learner.org - Against all Odds - Inside Statistics Statistics.com - Introduction to Statistics (more college level) OLI Probability and Statistics

I find the best way to consistently factor these types of expressions is the "Splitting the middle term method" aka "unFOILing" or "the AC method" referenced above. It's not always the fastest but it is effective in all situations in helping to narrow down your choices. Here's the best explanation and example I could find. There are many videos as well if you search on the two method names.

Haven't used it myself but I posted some links on another thread which have study guides to accompany the videos.

Here's some free guides for US History on Ted-Ed. Here's another source for free ones, look under the videos heading for a list of all videos.

Here's a link to free ones for World History.

After looking at a bunch of options for High School Lit, I'm planning on using the old Scott Foresman's America Reads series. It is a really well crafted anthology textbook series and includes separate texts for American, British, and World Lit as well as more general anthologies for grades 6-10. The American and British volumes follow a chronological order which can be helpful if aligning with a corresponding history course. They provide very helpful contextual readings on each time period or literary movement and also focus on literary terms There are questions at the end of each selection ranging from factual to thought provoking as well as writing assignments. These books are now out-of-print but can be bought very cheaply used including Teacher's Editions. The Annotated Teacher's Editions are very handy as they give suggested answers to the questions at the back, highlight important vocabulary (in bold), and provide annotated notes along the margins pointing out various literary elements in the selection. You can also purchase some supplementary books such as a Test Book which has multiple choice questions, a Study Guide which breaks things down for students needing more support in comprehending the selection, and a Teacher's Plan Book which provides scheduling advice, answers to questions (as well), and focus topics/vocabulary. Here's a thread with some more on this series. If this is of interest, you could try ordering the Ann. Teachers book for under $10 and see what you think. There is another contemporary textbook series that might have what you are looking for called Implications of Literature. This is a very similar anthology series to Scott Foresman's but is currently in print and supported by the publisher. It is quite a bit more expensive though. The American book however is not in chronological order. I believe members Susan C. and Janice in NJ have both used and recommend the Scott Foresman series while CyndiLJ uses Implications. CyndiLJ, on 08 Jun 2014 - 7:59 PM, said:

I haven't actually used this text but I do own the first volume of the American Lit book. Each week, the author focuses on one literary selection and one or more literary concepts (see full list below). The author covers quite a bit of ground in terms of literary terminology overall and tries to reinforce the literary concept(s) through the various activities for the week. The presentation of the concepts is basically limited to a definition in the student workbook (see sample) . In some cases, this would suffice but in many I believe additional reading or video supplementation would be required to gain a full understanding of the concept. From a cursory overview, there does not seem to be much repetition of concepts after their initial introduction. Overall, I think the text is a solid, well organized curriculum that attempts to cover all facets of an English course (vocabulary, lit. analysis, writing, grammar) with a moderate workload. It can be used independently by a student; however, to get the most out of the course, I would suggest supplementing with some additional literary analysis and writing instruction It appears this was originally developed for a coop setting and I think it would work best in that situation where a teacher can embellish and deepen the instruction in the book. A motivated student working on their own might obtain a similar result if they were willing to supplement via independent research. For a non-motivated student working independently, I think it could be a get it done light survey course - maybe not ideal in depth of coverage but comprehensive in scope. Currently, the American lit program is designed as a two year program (two volumes each representing 34 weeks of work). I think it might be possible to combine into a one year long course by dropping a few of the activities each week, eliminating a few reading selections and/or increasing the reading load. Here's a more extensive review by Cathy Duffy. Here's a sample of the first lesson (the literary analysis portion is on 2nd page). List of literary concepts covered: Synedoche, Personification, Narration, Point of view (1st, 2nd, 3rd, omniscient, limited omniscient, objective, stream of consciousness) Parallelism Metaphor and Tone Iambic couplet and Conceit Simile and Genre Anaphora Imagery and Methaphysical Conceit Diction Periodic sentence and Syntax Style and Aphorism Voice Alliteration Rhetoric and Rhetorical Question Theme and Symbol Satire, Stereotype, Round Character, Romanticism, and Transcendentalism Apostrophe, Blank Verse, and Elegy American Renaissance, Internal Rhyme, and Free Verse Prose, Allegory, Parable Foreshadowing Irony, Situational Irony, Dramatic Irony, and Paradox Crisis and Climax Conflict (Physical, Social, and Internal) Rising Action Didacticism and Denouement Denotation, Connotation, and Assonance Gothic Fiction, Detective Story, Protagonist, and Foil Antagonist Slant Rhyme and Enjambment Quatrain, Ballad Stanza, and Consonance Antithesis Hyperbole Motif Chiasmus Parody

I'm with Sue in St. Pete above. I had to take a geometry course in school which was heavy on proofs and it just killed the course for me. I'm very logical and have a background in programming but I think there are better alternatives for developing logical thinking skills such as studying programming or logic directly. I'm not sure other countries emphasize proofs as heavily as the US. I know Singapore's secondary texts have quite challenging geometry problems that do require you to use logic to solve them but not in a rigid format. They only have one short unit on proofs in an upper level text. I would show your son examples of a few books and see if he connects with any of them. Teaching Textbooks Geometry course might also be worth a look. I think it's a fairly balanced course and does include proofs.

I would try CLE. Definitely do the placement test and see where the issues are. It's okay if dc places back, there are ways of accelerating CLE if dc is doing well in it. If geometry is the only issue with placement, you could use CLE's Geometry Skill Development Book This is a single workbook which summarizes all the geometry lessons. Right now, CLE only has Algebra I at the higher levels in Sunrise format but they might have Geometry in testing by the time you get there. At any rate, you should be able to easily move on to other texts or programs after Algebra I if it's not available.

I have a very competitive 3rd grader and he's interested in doing an online math drill program where he can compete against other kids. This would be similar to a computer game with a leaderboard. Does anyone have a program they could recommend?

We currently have two cars but need to get a new car with AWD. I've been researching the trade in values and they are pretty low relative to the utility of the car. I have three sons (14 soon, 12, 9) and I'm trying to figure out if it's worth keeping the car (a minivan - trade in about 8K) for a few years until it can be used by my oldest son. DH just retired and I'm a SAHM so we have a lot of flexibility in scheduling and driving so Dh doesn't think we'll need a third car since we could chauffeur or let ds borrow the car. We generally don't need to drive long distances for activities. We could afford it to keep the car but DH thinks it's superfluous. I just hate to trade in a perfectly good minivan now and then just end up purchasing some smaller less reliable car for more in a few years. Anyway, I can't seem to sort this one out and would appreciate any insight from others.

I have used How to Solve Word Problems in Algebra and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Algebra Word Problems. They are both good and offer ample examples. I found it's nice to have both - sometimes they have a slightly different approach. The visual layout of The Complete Idiot's Guide is much better than How to Solve if that matters.

Sorry for the slightly off topic discussion above. I am not religious and have used CLE's Reading, Math, Social Studies, and Language Arts - all to some degree. The Math is the least religious followed by Language Arts. The Reading and some of the Social Studies have a substantial amount of religious content. I have used these programs in spite of that because I have found the other benefits of CLE outweighed the occasional discussions about religious issues or eye rolls from my sons. I would concur with other posters, that the spelling is not sufficient for non-natural spellers in the Language Arts.

Bill - While I respect your experience and opinions on math in general, I beg to differ on your opinion that it is a "Light" math program. I have used all the levels from 100 - 700 as well as the new Algebra I with my sons and there is nothing light about it. It is complete and rigorous and offers a solid foundation in math. A review of the Scope and Sequence will indicate that it certainly covers all the standard topics. Does it offer the same level of challenging problems as AOPS or Singapore's CWP ? No, but that does not negate it's ability to provide a solid foundation. It's incremental approach (bite-size introduction of concepts) and mixed review system are actually more effectively aligned with cognitive research on the best ways to master material.than most other math programs including the aforementioned ones. It might be argued that it is not as overtly conceptual as some other curricula but in my opinion it does strive for conceptual understanding especially at the younger grade levels. It generally uses a visual model much like Singapore to move to conceptual understanding. The Light Units are written largely to the student and generally explain things well in an appropriate easily understandable framework for the age level. The Light Units stand well on their own but like any math program including Singapore, Math Mammoth or MEP, additional teaching may be needed to ensure the student really connects the concepts and applications.I have supplemented CLE on occasion but, in general, I have found it requires less teacher assistance than other programs I have tried. It may be more difficult to assess the conceptual presentation in this program because it is spread out over many lessons instead of being presented in one unit. I have personally compared the 3rd grade Singapore Math book with the CLE 3rd grade and I find the conceptual presentation very similar. No math program, including CLE, meets the needs of every math student. While more conceptual programs (like Singapore, Math Mammoth or Beast Academy) may be more appropriate or effective from some students, they do not not necessarily lead to conceptual understanding in all students or long term retention. A successful math program is one which leads a student to consistent, accurate and flexible math performance. While not perfect, I think CLE does a great job of balancing student independence/ease of presentation with solid math instruction and the mixed review provides an effective basis for long term retention. Just a little personal background to put things in perspective - I currently own, have reviewed or used Beast Academy, Singapore, MEP, Math Mammoth, Life of Fred, Russian Math and numerous secondary math texts. I jumped around quite a bit with my first ds. I really like math and while I did have a "traditional" math education, I never felt like I struggled with conceptual understanding and am often puzzled by discussions about some common conceptual issues posted here. Generally, I find my sons and I learn best by intuiting the conceptual elements from actually using the math not so much by extensive explicit presentations. My sons while math adept just like to get it done. I have tried to get them more interested in math and competitions but that's not where their interests lie. I have learned some new conceptual approaches from the many different math programs and try to interject it where appropriate but generally I feel it's of marginal value to my sons. In the end, we use CLE because my kids don't mind it, I like it and their math performance and understanding is strong.

If you use CLE LA/English all the way through, your student will definitely have a very solid college prep foundation. Just take a look at the upper level Language Arts courses to see what they cover at each level. English 1 and 2 are the high school versions of Language Arts. In my opinion, you could even stop around 7th/8th grade and be better prepared than many high school students. I think the writing is adequate but weak. They do cover the typical writing assignments but I just don't think they provide enough practice.The spelling program is fine for many children. They use a combination of grouping by phonemes and topical words. My children all really struggle with spelling and so I have had to use a different program that is more methodical and slower paced.

I would just continue. 600 level of CLE really doesn't introduce a whole lot of new material in my opinion so there will be be time to review and consolidate knowledge. My ds is half way through the 600's and has found it easier than the 500's overall.

Funny, I saw a link to this article in the last few days as well but not on Facebook.

bump

We currently use CLE for math and supplement occasionally with other math items including some of the Singapore Process Skills Books. I understand they provide a visual representation and understanding of mathematical problems and this can be helpful but I can't seem to make up my mind on whether it's really worth it. For the simpler problems, it doesn't seem to offer much enhancement to my kids. They don't feel the visual model adds anything to their understanding - "I get it - we don't need to draw it, Mom" is the most common refrain. For some of the more complex problems, I understand that this method lets younger students tackle these problems without algebra but I often wonder why that's necessary. Many of these problems are very contrived and not realistic examples and ,in a few years, they will be able to solve them algebraically. Anyway just wondering how much value others have gained by using this method and how much emphasis you feel it deserves.

I'd be puzzled by those test results as well. There is definitely a disconnect with the CLE test performance even given the 1 grade difference between CLE level and test grade. The thing that surprised me the most is her strongest performance was on the Problem Solving and Data Interpretation. Especially with dyslexia, you might expect this to be the lowest. I might suggest you try a much more detailed online math assessment tool like ADAM. It's a relatively inexpensive ($20) adaptive math test and breaks down the results into detailed categories. I'd be leery of changing a program that dc likes but it does seem worth reassessing as you're doing.

Did the test given any results broken down by category? The ITBS breaks it down between concepts, problem solving and computation for example. Is there one area dc is weak in or are the results lower across the board? Was the test timed? I think speed and fluency might be an issue. One hour for CLE math with items crossed out does seem fairly long in my experience. Are you sitting down with dc and reviewing new concepts periodically? I find even with older grade levels this is important to ascertaining if they really understand things.