OK, I guess should first mention why I think I am qualified to give advice regarding physics. I have a PhD in physics, am actually a theorist, and teach physics at a four year university. If you are looking for a good place to do an undergraduate degree in physics you should look and see if the Physics department has a graduate program in physics. This is really a criterion for the best professors to choose the job; the quality of research is better if there is a graduate program. This does not mean that a professor teaching at a school without a graduate program is less qualified or not a good teacher; however, the opportunities to be involved in research as an undergraduate and to be exposed to a wide variety of current physics are better at a school with grad program. A physics degree is extremely versatile because by earning it you have proven to a potential employer that you have solid math skills, good analytical skills, problem solving and are able to grasp abstract concepts. In order to prepare your son for majoring in physics, you should make sure that his math is absolutely solid. This does not mean that he must have taken calculus in high school; in fact, the algebra and trig skills will be much more important. Obviously it would be a good thing for him to take physics in high school. However, it is my experience that it is not beneficial for students to test out of the introductory courses at the university - so I would not recommend aiming to CLEP physics or take the AP with the aim of getting college credit for it. While AP physics is wonderful and a good preparation, the contents is not necessarily the equivalent of the introductory physics class at the university. I would begin exploring schools by just looking at their websites and looking at the Physics department website. The faculty members typically have information about their research activities there as well. Good luck. Physics is exciting. I have read the discussion about research not being recommended and I do not agree with it. I am married to a very happy researcher who could not dream of a better job and I am surrounded by people who love their research. I myself have chosen to give up research when my children were young and to begin a part time teaching career because that works best in our family situation. But these choices do not need to be made at the beginning of one's college education or early in professional life.

Oh, I constantly worry we do not do enough, LOL. We had a tutor for French the last year and it was wonderful - not only because we had somebody to speak with, but more importantly we had somebody who kept us on our toes, so we had to be accountable. I am learning French along with DD - with the weekly deadline we would be diligent with our homework and be prepared... it is much easier to let the language slide if there is no outside commitment.

Many go into research or teaching- typical employers are universities, governement labs, defense industry. However, some end up working for software companies or on Wall street - they don't use the physics they learned, but are hired because of their abstract thinking and problem solving skills. How old is your DS? Is he in college yet? Often the preference for theoretical vs experimental really crystallizes when the student becomes involved in undergraduate research projects with faculty members. The degree is the same for both, btw- a physics degree.

It is always useful to work on a foreign language. Even if a student would become only proficient in reading and writing and not fluent in conversation, it is a HUGE improvement over not knowing the language at all. Also, with modern technology of computers, audio CDs and movies, you can get pretty far without a tutor. What I found absolutely necessary, however, is some disciplined approach. Just "exposure" as practiced in many public schools, which consists of 30 minutes a week listening to songs in that language, is a waste of time. Before the kids can read, immersion is great if you have a native speaker of the language available. This would be the easiest way to learn a language, but you need to have them immersed in that environment for several hours a day. If not, it is more effective to wait till the kids can read and then use instruction in writing/reading/speaking simultaneously. For this, you do not need a native speaker for quite some time; to become proficient in conversation, you will eventually have to have access. But that can be several years down the road. In the meantime, the student can perfect their vocabulary, grammar and reading comprehension.

I would make a list of the chemical supplies and find a local Canadian supplier who does not have to ship out of country. Then continue using Rainbow.

I have just skimmed the article and found already several issues I have trouble with, such as this one: "in order to have a long-lasting and meaningful relationship with another person, that person should be within about plus or minus 20 IQ points of one’s ability level. Outside of that zone, there will be differences in thinking speed and depth or span of interests, which will likely lead to impatience, dissatisfaction, frustration, and tension on the part of each participant." This would mean that parents of average intelligence would not be able to form meaningful relationship with mentally disabled children. Not my experience (I have a mentally retarded brother). I have no time or inclination to finish reading the article, because none of the gifted people I know suffer from existential depression. I have been depressed myself and resolved the issues (which had nothing to do with giftedness). I know that those kinds of feelings are typical for the teenage stage. I do not know whether my acquaintances had those phases and successfully managed to resolve them - or whether they never had those, perhaps because they lack the emotional overexcitablility (which I do not see as a general trait of gifted people.) If anything, the gifted people in my family are extremely emotionally stable and more rational than other people I know. It was also interesting that the long list of people affected by existential depression were almost all artists and writers (with the exception of Pascal)- most genius scientists seem to not have the same amount of problems. I just don't buy it that intellectually gifted kids (to narrow the definition, because the whole "multifacetted" giftedness is too wishy-washy and lacking a measurable definition) are predestined to become miserable depressed individuals. Just does not tally with my experience.

A positive outlook of the parents. Parents who are excited and curious about the World, who enjoy life instead of fearing it. Who love to try out new experiences, meet new people - but who at the same time are contented with their lives, jobs, families. Who don't feel threatened by new and unfamiliar things, don't envy others what they have, and take adversity as a challenge, not an unsurmountable obstacle.

My 11 y/o son is doing the following this year for 6th grade: Art of Problem Solving - Introduction to Algebra Earth Science (no curriculum; we use books from the library and he does projects; we have Tarbuck text as a spine; we'll see if he likes the lectures from the Teaching Company) History/English: Great Books Medieval and Renaissance Kingfisher history encyclopedia, read adaptations of great books (see reading list in WTM); writing assignments for English, creative writing Cambridge Latin Unit 1

Calculus is not "algebra based". A real understanding of calculus requires geometry. The concept of a derivative is developed starting from the slope of a line. The concept of the integral requires the calculation of an area under a curve. Both are geometrical concepts. Students who can not understand the underlying geometry may be able to memorize formulas for derivatives of certain functions - but that is not understanding calculus. In addition, the trigonometric functions themselves have, of course, integrals and derivatives who should be investigated in a calculus class. Another aspect is that it is typically the geometry course where students are introduced to the technique of a rigorous mathematical proof, because geometry lends itself very nicely to that. It would be beneficial for an understanding of the proofs involved in calculus if the student is familiar with mathematical proofs - learning to do those at the more abstract calculus material will be rather difficult. OTOH, not being good at algebra will give a student serious trouble in trigonometry. There is quite a bit of algebra involved. Are those people who use trigonometry and calculus for their daily lives and have a thorough knowledge of both on college level? If not, I would not consult them for advice regarding mathematics.

Gilgamesh (Geraldine McCaughrean) The Lion in the Gateway (Mary Renault) Tales of the Trojan War (Kandouri) The Golden Fleece Favorite Greek Myths (Mary Pope Osborne) also great: Famous Men of Greece Famous Men of Rome

It is completely impossible to understand trigonometry if you have not studied geometry. Trigonometry is introduced through relationships about right triangles (and later generalized to other situations). If you have not studied triangles, trigonometry makes no sense.

Do you think so? I always thought it had a lot to do with how well a person is able to perceive and differentiate sound. I would think it should be easier for a musical person to get rid of the accent than somebody who is tone deaf - because they can't hear their feed back and might not ever be aware of the fact that, for instance, their vowel quality is completely un-english. (case in point: both DH and I have spent the same amount of time in the US. My spoken English sounds much better than his; I am a singer - he is tone deaf.) This said, it always amazes me when I talk to people who have been in this country for decades and who sound as if they learned their English in a German classroom from a German teacher and never heard a native speaker ;-)

Trigonometry should be taken before calculus.

No, this does absolutely not agree with my personal experiences. My DH and his brother are both gifted (tested as children) and both are very happy with their lives. (I am happy too and I might be gifted, but never got tested and see no reason to) The are working in career fields that are their passion, have families, stable relationships, are well adjusted, have friends, hobbies, interests and a positive outlook on life. This agrees with the experiences of many of my colleagues who are gifted (somehow, under Physics professors there seems to be a bit of a concentration, LOL) One should keep in mind that most gifted people go through life without ever being tested and labeled. Often testing is done because of problems (which might not have anything to do with the IQ). So among the people who are tested and identified as gifted you already have a higher proportion of people with issues. I see giftedness as a blessing. Completely. The one step I had to do for my children to allow them to be themselves was to remove them from a school system where the academic level is pathetically low. If I had better schools, or lived in my home country, they would attend the school without problems. I find it important to give my children an opportunity to be challenged and to acquire good work habits (something the schools failed to do). I expose them to lost of different experiences and let them participate in what we parents find exciting about life. We have a positive outlook and find the World an interesting place, learning is our life style. I encourage them to select a profession they are truly passionate about because it is my experience that this is crucial to happiness. It is great if you can do your absolutely favorite thing for a living ;-) (I am surrounded by people like this) Can't think of anything else right now. Really, most gifted people are doing just fine. It is a few profoundly gifted people who have serious trouble with his world because their brains work so completely different, and there are gifted people who have other issues such as Aspergers that cause them problems. (But even there it is not the IQ but the spectrum disorder that makes the problems.)

I recommend having your student read a weekly magazine about current events. We have a subscription to the Economist which has great in-depth articles. my 13 y/o has started reading it; some issues she reads cover to cover, some issues she just picks a few articles. They put the events in context and have a lot of background information. The Economist was discussed on the general board a few weeks ago: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=201912&highlight=Economist.

I am not Ester Maria, but I find this pretty obvious. Most people prefer not to work hard and challenge their minds. Students are not truly challenged by the low academic expectations in public schools. Many college students would prefer not to put in the necessary two hours of outside work for every hour in class. The average adult spends four hours watching TV each day. Imagine what a person could do with his abilities if more time was spent productively, on self education (such as for instance mastering a few foreign languages.) I am not saying this to criticize- it seems to be intrinsic to human nature not to want to expend too much energy, and to be content with doing the required, but not more. There are probably good biological reasons for this. But the fact is: hardly anybody is living up to their full intellectual potential.

Thank you so much for the help. If anybody else is interested in the link: the address of the U Chicago writing program has changed a bit: http://writing-program.uchicago.edu/resources/collegewriting/index.htm

I don't think not doing math daily is really a problem. We have always done math 3 days a week and the kids are doing just fine - if the material is thoroughly understood, daily drill is not necessary. This said, your schedule looks like a nightmare to me because it is so fragmented by the many different outside things. Is there any chance you could bundle up something, reschedule the tutor - so he gets more continuous time at home? I find that for DD, going somewhere and coming back causes a lot of time loss because she has to refocus - we typically don't get as much done. Another thing that would not work for our family is the late starting time. We prefer to start at 8am and get most work done by lunchtime. My kids happen to be a lot more productive in the morning compared to the early afternoon. Not sure whether this is feasible for you . Your hours are light on history/english, and I notice you are not doing a modern language - are you planning to add one? Also, aside from the one hour of tennis I do not see any electives. How many credits are you planning for him for this year, five?

That's the beauty of homeschooling: you do not have to force her to do it the "slow way". Obviously she has a good grasp of the numbers and "sees" what is going on -so I don't see why she would have to do it some particular way. (If I subtract in my head, I would do it the same way as she, btw)

I'm not Jann, but let me have a try at this. I would assume he knows that the square root of two is not a rational number. The prime factors of 6 are 2 and 3. Thus, the square root of 6 is the square root of 3 times the square root of 2 and must hence be irrational, too. (So it would be non terminating, non repeating.)

What do you mean by guidelines? I will look up the standard way citations are done in the US. Other than that, she'll just have to come up with a topic that interests her, get material about it, find an aspect she would like to write about, make notes on her material, write, and properly cite the sources. I find this much more straightforward than writing formulaic persuasive essays. My kids have done research projects before and presented their results orally with power point visuals or a poster. So this time, instead of making slides, she'll have to write it out as a paper.

Thanks- I know about the basic structure of the persuasive essay, but I am wondering whether there really is only one kind, since most writing instruction I have seen focuses on this sort. Right now DD is working on an essay about the use of epithets in Homer's Iliad. However, it is not intended to be a persuasive essay: she does not argue a thesis that can be right or wrong. She examines the recurrence of epithets, their function, where certain characteristics of persons come from, how it can be used to fix the meter - but it is more explanatory about a specific stylistic tool. These may be dumb questions; however, in my home country the writing education was not as formulaic as in the US. I have never in my life written a 5 paragraph essay (I did not know such a thing existed until I started homeschooling) - even though I'm not an uneducated person. We certainly wrote theses essays, but we also wrote a lot of other stuff and the rules were never this rigid. - Just so you can understand why I am asking this stuff. Thanks for all the help.

We are doing Great Books and DD is writing literature analysis essays on topics related to the books (not research papers). What length (word count) would you expect from a 9th grader? Thanks - English is the one subject where I have no good feeling for expectations (I am not a native speaker and did not go through the US educational system.)

I could not decide what I wanted to do - so I decided to major in physics because I thought that this might be interesting and I would find out how the world works:) My first choice would have been opera singer but my parents talked me out of that one. It worked out OK.

College- definitely worth it. Attending a very expensive Ivy League school vs a good state school: the difference in education does not warrant the price difference unless you need the label for subjects like law. My personal opinion. Not all college degrees are created equal. Look for Return Of Investment. The graduates from our university have median starting salaries of 57 k. They are mostly engineers, so for them the college cost pays off within the first year.