Here's a vote for Stanley Lombardo's translations - Iliad Odyssey Aeneid!

I just found this resource in the College Board AP literature section. Thought it might be a good source of essay prompts for a high school literature class. http://www.litworks.com/index.php http://www.litworks.com/bk/26/The+WordSmith+Prompt

FWIW to follow up - my ds took the SAT2 World History in Dec. and scored very well. We used Glencoe's World History by Spielvogel for his homeschool class, then he studied Princeton Review and Ethel Wood's AP World History http://woodyardpublications.com/ap_world_history to review for the exam.

My son worked through this book on his own over a period of about two months. On the SAT CR, he didn't miss any of the comprehension questions. It was a very helpful resource for him.

Thanks Regentrude for those helpful suggestions!

My ds wants to major in math next year at college; he isn't really sure what area in math he wants to go into. None of the institutions are elite colleges where you can assume that most departments are excellent. Here are some questions I thought of but I don't know if I'm being realistic in asking. Number of undergraduate math majors: Number of undergraduate math majors graduated in 2013: %Math majors who complete math degree in 4 years: Number or % Math majors who double major: Most common double majors: Number of years to complete double major in most common double majors: Number or % of math majors going on to graduate school in technology/engineering/math related field: Number or % of math majors finding employment in technology/engineering/math related field: Number or % of math majors who complete senior project/senior thesis: Number or % of math majors who participate in internships: Teaching evaluations done? By department? By college? How used? Thanks for any suggestions!

Ambleside has a week by week checklist for reading assignments for each year - they even have "lite" years with less reading. Maybe this would be a good lit/history/humanities curriculum that is all "checklisted" out for your ds.Also, I think a good portion of the readings are available in the library or online. I never used this but it seems very well organized and supported with a forum. http://amblesideonline.org/curriculum.shtml#years Also Bob Jones has Iowa Tests that you can administer as a home school I think. http://www.bjupress.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchView?type=product&q=iowa%20tests&size=20&start=0&sort=score This might be cheaper than the ACT? You could aslo start with levels below grade level. Good Luck!

Here is one resource that rates the honors colleges of 50 public universities - not real detailed but a good place to start: A Review of Fifty Public University Honors Programs (Volume 1) Paperback by John Willingham (Author)

Just note that the SAT 2 Latin is only available a few times a year - for example, May but not June.

My ds took geometry with Jann in TX several years ago as a freshman. The class was well-organized, the lectures were thorough and understandable, the homework assignments were helpful for practicing the material learned, and the tests were fair and graded quickly. I thought the level of the class was geared to an average to above-average student with good study skills. Jann was always willing to answer questions from students and communicated well with me if I needed to get in touch with her. My freshman son handled this class completely on his own without my assistance. My ds generally doesn't like on-line classes and we have steered away from them, but Jann's was an exception. A good solid class with reasonable assignments and content offered by a well-organized and experienced teacher!

My daughter took the Great Books 1 tutorial with Mr. Callihan during the second semester of 9th grade to supplement public school many years ago. She enjoyed the class discussion and the readings (in college, she is a classics major). The only difficulty I had was in communicating with Mr. Callihan - he would only respond to emails in which I expressed interest in registering my daughter for a class or paying her tuition for one!

My son used both Lial's Precalc and Thinkwell a couple of years ago. Lial's was his main resource. From what I remember, Thinkwell covered many of the topics at an introductory level and then the text went into more detail and had more challenging problems.I didn't have any problems integrating the videos to supplement the text - the topics lined up pretty easily. If you look at the Thinkwell site, you can find a detailed outline of the course so you can get a better idea for yourself of how you would coordinate the two resources. I used the tests in the text but my son viewed the videos and did some of the worksheets - they were usually very easy compared to the text problems. There were parts of the text that were broken down into small parts in the Thinkwell videos which was helpful. We did this several years ago so I can't remember details but I thought the two resources worked well together, but the text was much more thorough and difficult than the Thinkwell course.

My son is also taking the NLE 3-4 prose as well as the SAT Latin test in May. Here is a resource recommended by Kathy in Richmond which is great: Excelability in Advanced Latin (A Path to Success on Latin College Entrance and Latin Placement Examinations) [Paperback] Colakis (Author) Also have this which has a more detailed grammar review as well more specific SAT type preparation: SAT Latin Subject Test w/CD-ROM 2nd Ed. (SAT PSAT ACT (College Admission) Prep) [Paperback] Palma (Author) Both are on amazon. You will need the Excelability answer book which is purchased separately. I like the SAT prep book because the grammar is explained in detail with plenty of examples and quiz multiple choice questions. The Excelability has lots of translation practice though. Neither are good resources for the history/culture questions.

A friend of my son said that if you are applying to university with need-blind admissions that the FASFA ordering is not important. Maybe college confidential has some info on this.

Article about use of FASFA by colleges in determining admissions decisions. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/10/28/colleges-use-fafsa-information-reject-students-and-potentially-lower-financial-aid

My dd did a an individual writing class there many years ago to supplement the poor writing instruction at the local middle school. The center was well-run and the instructor was wonderful, but it was expensive. I think the quality of the Sylvan centers varies depending on who is running them and who is teaching there. For supplemental math instruction while my kids were in public school, we used Kumon. But again, the quality of the Kumon centers depends on who is running them. My kids learned a lot at Kumon and enjoyed progressing through the program.

My son used Ethel Wood's book AP World History for his World History SAT 2 and found it amazingly helpful in conjunction with Barron's. I notice she has an AP US Government study guide AP Comparative Government which is rated very highly. My son allowed about 6 weeks for review, but World History is much more comprehensive than US Government I think. He found her AP guide suitable for the SAT 2. Good Luck! ISBN-10: 0983176647 I ordered directly from Ethel Wood's publisher and ordered the teacher's materials as well. http://woodyardpublications.com/about_the_author

My ds doesn't like on-line classes so he has been using BJU Literature 9 & 10 to delve into literary analysis as well as reading complete works using Kolbe Modern Literature program (12th grade level). He's also starting the IEW Succeeding on the AP Literature Exam by Mary Pryor to learn how to write the essays required on the AP Literature exam which he'll take in May as a senior. We have switched out one or two of the Kolbe books and replaced them with works covered in Pryor's book. Seems to be working well and may be a good alternative to on-line classes especially for a mom who isn't well versed in literary analysis or the format of AP exams. The BJU Literatue 9 & 10 can be started early in high school so the student will be familiar with the literary terms in Pryor's book which can then be done in 11th or 12th grade depending on when your student will take the exam.

I had to send my son back to public school when he was in middle school. He took a standardized reading test at the beginning of the year and scored in the 90s percentile. At the end of the year, his score on the same reading test fell into the 80s. FWIW

Don't be afraid to tackle Latin! Studying Latin has been very beneficial for my math/science son, especially in the areas of learning English grammar and vocabulary! You don't need as much of an oral/listening component with Latin as you do with Spanish. You can study Latin too right along side your dc! The curriculum, Latin for the New Millenium (http://www.bolchazy.com/Assets/Bolchazy/ClientPages/LNM.aspx), was once recommended on this board as a friendly resource. We are using LNM 3 and some other readings for Latin 4 this year. LNM is pricey but the first level covers enough for almost two years IMHO, especially for beginning foreign language students. I don't stress about this class as it's been great for my son's thinking skills and SAT scores - and it gives his home school transcript a little boost(IMHO)! He'll take the Latin SAT2 in the spring to finish out his studies (the REA Latin SAT2 prep book is great ISBN-10: 0738610763.) Also, the National Latin Exam has different levels and is given in the spring- preparing for it can be a lot of fun for kids who like to challenge themselves (http://www.nle.org/) and the test can be administered in your home school.

Western Civ classes at local community college taught by gem of a PhD prof covering philosophy, history, literature using excerpts from many of the books recommended by SWB in the WTM- readings and discussion format too! Sort of an accelerated/abbreviated SWB WTM. Broken into just two semesters (wish it were more) - first semester covers through the Renaissance, second semester Modern Era. Gets it done for my math/science senior son. Also, I hate to say it- but BJUP Literature - it gets done!

We used a different biology text, but I did purchase the DIVE biology to supplement. My son also found it unhelpful and difficult to follow, and as a result dropped it fairly quickly. Using the Princeton Review and Barrons SAT 2 prep books to focus his study, my son went on to score a 780 on the Biology M SAT 2. I don't know about the Bob Jones textbook but there are other resources to supplement the text such as CK-12 online http://www.ck12.org/biology/ as well as Khan Academy https://www.khanacademy.org/. We used the Miller and Levine Biology text purchased used from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Biology-Kenneth-R-Miller/dp/013036701X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1380314176&sr=8-2&keywords=biology+miller+and+levine Kathy in Richmond also recommended an on-line biology lab package but I can't remember what it was - maybe you can search some of her posts and find it. The most important thing to do if your dc is planning to take the SAT 2 test is to plan a good month in advance of the test to allow him to study the PR and Barrons prep books. If he takes the test in early June, plan the month of May for study and review. Best of luck!

Erica's Meltzer's SAT Prep book "The Critical Reader" could be used as a general "reading strategies" book over a period of several months or even two semesters; It's an excellent guide to the specifics of the SAT CR test. But the WTM has great suggestions for rigorous reading and writing in literature, history, and the humanities which provide excellent prep for the SAT CR and Writing.

Why don't you use the "Assessment and Activities" at the end of each chapter? The Teacher's Edition has brief answers for each question. Also, there are some nice essay questions on the College Board website for AP World History. Here is the link: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/exam/exam_information/216943.html

You might try Educational Publishers website http://eps.schoolspecialty.com/# There are plenty of phonics workbooks, leveled readers in varied subject matter, the "Reasoning and Reading" series is excellent for struggling readers.