This is a great book! We used his Primary Challenge Math and his Challenge Math before moving onto Real World Algebra. I found this book to be the most helpful as a supplement to a regular math curriculum, probably not until the student has completed quite a bit of pre-algebra. With several of my children, I used it for math over the summer months when we did less structured schooling. In my experience, this book appeals to more "out of the box" thinkers -- some of the problems are quite challenging.

Thanks to you both for your input! Yvonne

I'm considering a last minute change to an online Latin class for my 10th grade son. He's done a little Latin previously, but nothing too serious. Has anyone used Scholars Online, and what has been your experience with it? Thanks for any thoughts and suggestions! Yvonne

My dd is interested in looking at both these schools -- she's definitely a liberal arts type. Music (harp), history, art history, and literature are her primary interests, but she does not have a specific focus and is looking for a school where she can get a strong well-rounded education. These two schools are on her radar because they are smaller, offer good packages for National Merit (her scores are well above the TX cut-off), and are within the one day's drive from home radius that she sees as optimal. Any thoughts/experience with either of these schools? We're hoping to make a trip next month Thanks! Yvonne

I have to agree with this! I didn't use any online with my daughters --- thought it was too expensive, but this year with my 9th gr. son, it has been tremendously helpful!

My 16 and 17yo dd's used this last fall. Because they are advanced readers and we've done quite lot of lit. studies, I let them do it on their own. Read, complete exercises, turn in for me to review- type of approach. One dd didn't not like the way the material was presented -- a little too conversational, I guess. I think she thought it was just a little condescending in tone. The other dd liked the course very much. Both of them agreed that the material presented was very helpful and thorough. I'm planning on using this with boys (14 and 15 yo) probably next year. We will do much more together work with some discussion of the material and more structure assignment schedule. Overall, I've been pleased with the course -- good introductory material for understanding and evaluating literature or good for summing up to make sure all the bases are covered before sending a child off to an outside literature course.

Just some random thoughts on the topic--- My children often tell me "Face it, Mom. We are geeks!" It truly doesn't seem to bother them. In fact, they are actually somewhat proud of it. Like so many of the other posters, none of my children still at home have an active social group. They enjoy being with the family. My oldest is a college freshman this year and has found a group of like-minded young people with whom she has really connected -- not surprisingly, several of them were also home-schooled. She's not involved in the widespread campus social life, but she is having a great time, interacting with many fine people, taking initiative in leadership, and doing extremely well in her studies. She couldn't feel better about her college experience so far. Definitely not suffering from the relative isolation of her homeschooled high school years I can't enumerate the number of times I hear comments from adults on my children -- how courteous, well-behaved, well-spoken, responsible they are. I can't help but feel that this is what will win out in the long run. We do spend most of our years as adults, and I'm not sure that being one of the "in" crowd during the teenage years is a prerequisite for healthy, rewarding and fulfilling adult relationships. The closer we move to having adult children, the more thankful I am that we have made the choices to parent and educate the way we have.

I agree that you should be fine without videos. We used Algebra I this year with the DVD's. I was quite disappointed in the quality of the teaching. Overall, the DVD's were a waste of time for my son, and we ended up discontinuing them.

My dd is a freshman in the U Scholars program at Baylor and absolutely loves it. She's strongly considering medical school, but her primary interests after the first two semesters are classics and philosophy. She has good friends who have concentrations in all different areas. The professors and support staff are top-notch, and my dd has been favorably impressed by the quality of the students. Not surprisingly, homeschoolers are well-represented in the program. I suppose the biggest downside is graduating with a degree in University Scholars which will have to be explained many times. Seems like most of these students are planning on additional schooling anyhow -- grad school, seminary, med school, law school. From what we have been told by both students and faculty, the benefits of having written an undergraduate thesis, having strong mentoring relationships with professors, completing rigorous study in several areas, etc., far outweigh any difficulties of explaining the unusual degree. I was also in the honors program at Baylor years ago, and what is available now is so far beyond what we had back then! Another exciting program, which my dd says is characterized as "university scholars for practical people" is the Baylor Business Fellows program. DD2 has been accepted into that program and will be beginning at Baylor in the fall. It is a business degree based on a similar model as University Scholars --- it looks really exciting, and DD2 met with the head of the program last week and was very impressed.

We travel quite a bit, and my children have always realized that the trade-off is year-round school. We do tend to be a little more relaxed during the summer months. I typically have about 6-8 weeks of work planned, and we flex the school days and assignments around company, friends' schedules, time with family, etc. Having schooled this way for a number of years, I find that it actually eliminates a significant amount of review time and material. Since many courses spend the first 4 - 6 weeks reviewing the previous year's work (especially in the earlier grades), I found that we were often able to skip through that work at a rapid rate because my children hadn't forgotten material as a result of extended time away from school. Yvonne

I have one dd who is a freshman university scholars majors at Baylor and a second dd who will be attending in the fall in the business fellows program. Our experience so far has been great. Tremendous interest and encouragment from the professors, great relationships forming, strong academic challenge. I am also a Baylor grad and truly believe that the school has become stronger in recent years and more intentional about its Christian commitment. Merit scholarships at Baylor are a plus. NMF received full tuition. I think the $46,000 figure is probably a little high. DD #1 is quite careful and frugal and is not spending that much above the tuition and room and board costs. Overall, we are definitely pleased with our Baylor experience so far! Yvonne

I looking for online options that are independent study and are not locked into a specific class time or period. Seems like most of the recent posts are for courses that have a definite schedule. My son (9th grade) is currently taking Omnibus I w/Veritas Scholars Academy and enjoys it, but we travel frequently and don't always have internet access which makes it difficult to attend scheduled classes. Does anyone have experience or suggestions for more flexible alternatives? Thanks! Yvonne

What type of information does the form require? If it just coursework verification, I would fill it out myself, sign it, and not make any issue about the fact that he is homeschooled; you are his academic advisor. If the form is asking for more reference type of material and your son has established a relationship with any of his CC instructors, I would consider asking one of them to provide this outside validation of his ability, work habits, etc. I know that a couple of my dd's DC professors have been willing to provide very complimentary recommendations! Good luck! Yvonne

DD was comparing OU and Oklahoma City University and found that both offer the same full ride package to Natl Merit.

After having used both approaches, I would have to agree with this.

Baylor University -- full tuition/fees for National Merit Finalists. Faculty scholarship (competitive) awarded to several attendees of Invitation to Excellence weekend which covers room/board/living stipend.

I would have no trouble counting Lials' Introductory Algebra as an honors course. I have used a variety of other algebra texts including Teaching Textbooks, Bob Jones, and a public school textbook (can't remember which publisher, perhaps Holt). In comparison to all of these, Lial's is much more thorough in its presentation and contains many more applied and conceptual questions. If your student completes this program successfully, I would definitely consider it "honors" level. I, too, would be interested in hearing the opinions of some of the "math-savvy" people on the board. Yvonne

I have to brag a little as well-- DD1 - First semester at Baylor (pre-med/university scholars major) -- 4.0. DD2 - hs senior -- dual credit courses at Angelo State University (honors chemistry, 3rd semester German) -- 4.0 DD3 -- hs junior -- dual credit courses at Angelo State University (Music Theory I, first semester French) -- 4.0 Congrats to everyone's students!!!! Yvonne

Daughter-- Elise. Applied to 4 schools so far -- accepted at one. Hoping for some good merit scholarship packages!

We visited Union a year ago (last minute decision while on our way to a Covenant visit). Our impressions were very good. We found the staff, faculty, and students to be very friendly and helpful. The head of the honors department sat down with us over coffee for about 45 minutes --we were impressed by his vision and direction for the program. My dd left with a sense that Union would be a very good fit for her. She was invited to come for the scholarship competition, but since she was unable to make the trip, they allowed her to interview over the phone. Physically, the campus seemed pleasant but, probably due to the damage from the tornado, not particularly beautiful. Still, the overall feeling was good. After all was said and done, Union was dd's second choice. The decision to attend Baylor boiled down to distance from home (200 vs 800+ miles) and the scholarship package (she won an additional scholarship from Baylor which made that cost less). Good luck with your search! Yvonne

We did use the online app. I found it to be fairly straight-forward, and, as Jenn mentioned, when I did have a question, the people at NMSC were extremely helpful. The main problem I had with the online app (as opposed to the paper application which we used for my oldest dd last year) was that there wasn't much room for explanation of variations in courses, activites, etc., which are so often a part of homeschool life. I absolutely agreed with everyone above -- get the application done! From our experience and what I have heard from others, moving from semifinalist to finalist is mostly about jumping through the right hoops and verifying that the score on the PSAT really reflects your student's abilities. Also, be sure that you pay attention to the dates in spring for listing your student's first choice college. Most colleges that give good NM scholarships require that the student has named that college as his first choice. For us, NMF meant full tuition at the university my eldest dd is attending. Good luck! Yvonne

I sympathize completely!!! My 14 yo DS also did not get assignments done this week. He too did yardwork this morning and spent the remainder of the day working on the two essays he did not complete. Tomorrow those rough drafts need to be revised and completed. Guess what he'll be doing as soon as we get home from church! Do I qualify for the "mean mom club" as well? Hang in there!! Yvonne

My daughter is really enjoying the Teaching Company course called The History of European Art. It's probably more art history than art appreciation. Yvonne

We visited both Covenant and Union Univeristy (in Jackson, TN). We were very impressed with both! DD1 decided Covenant was just too small, but she seriously considered Union. Ultimately she decided to stay closer to home and is a freshman at Baylor.