Mr Connor from the Potter's School is teaching three classes this summer. Info is at his website. Intro to Python: 4 weeks, 8 class sessions Game Development w/Python and Pygame: 8 weeks, 16 class sessions Computer Programming with Perl: 12 weeks All classes will be recorded if a student can't make the live class. My son has taken two years of Web Design with Mr Connor and last summer he learned Python from him. Mr Madison also offers summer classes in Java, Visual Basic, and some Microsoft Office applications: http://mrmadison.org/ We've heard he is also a good teacher. My son has also taken a week-long summer course in C++ from Giant Campus.

Thanks, Karen! ~Laura

We listened to the audio book and read along. The reader (Frank Muller?) was excellent, with so many different accents & personalities for the different characters. I would say that really helped us enjoy the book. ~Laura

One of my sons wants to switch from German to Greek. So ... I'm researching Greek programs and my "other" is Greek.

Kathy -- I love the glare!! I wish I'd thought to put a 'glare' in my original post, heehee. Yes, Harvey Mudd. I didn't realize NC was two weeks. He didn't want to be away from home for three whole weeks, so he'll leave after two. I see that the third week is the "problem-solving" week -- we're a little afraid that the really cool guest speakers (I see they've had Richard Rusczyk and Art Benjamin in previous years) will come that week and he'll miss them ... we'll see! Sleepwalking outdoors -- eek! My son's problem is he's absent-minded -- came home from last summer's one-week computer camp with NO clothes in his suitcase -- left them all stuffed in the drawer of the bureau (where they apparently resided the entire week ... :glare:). He *really* wanted to do MathPath, which Kathy highly recommended, and had fun with the application test (sounds like your son!), and one of the draws was that he was really, really eager to fly alone for the first time. We decided Minnesota was a bit far and that the two-week option at Harvey Mudd would be perfect -- and we'll let him fly there alone, but go pick him up (and check those drawers!!). Thanks! Yes, it's a nice, nerdy bunch of kids. Even though the competition is serious and intense, it's mostly each kid against himself or herself, if you know what I mean, and there is a lot of camaraderie and a lot of math-nerd inside jokes at these events :001_smile:.

:iagree: Our local high school offers only about 6 AP courses ... while the next town over offers basically all of them (except Latin and a few others). I do know a very bright local girl (who attended the public high school) who took a bunch of AP classes online (because the high school didn't offer them), and she is now at Stanford. I keep meaning to ask her mother *which* online classes she took ... !! ~Laura

Richard Rusczyk has written: "I would describe our Intro Algebra as Algebra 1 plus much of Algebra 2, and our Intermediate Algebra as Algebra 2 plus the non-trig portions of precalculus plus some other algebraic topics that are omitted from the standard curriculum (some of these are described in the foreword as being inessential to the non-diehard math student, and can be skipped safely." AoPS Algebra books do not align with the standard curriculum, as they don't have to meet state standards. I am certain it would be "enough" (and way more)! You could ask Kathy in Richmond (who is busy right now with college visits!) -- her kids have done all the AoPS books and courses, and are TAs and graders for AoPS. We just began using the books last fall, but my younger son is eating them up. What impressed me the most is the teaching style of the books (took me a while to get used to -- they give you some problems to chew on, and THEN they talk about the concept) and the depth of the coverage and problems. They include problems in every section that will make a math PhD pull out the scratch paper & start puzzling ... if you watch the lecture Mr Rusczyk gave that Kathy posted over on the Accelerated Learner board, he talks about the "tyranny of 100%" (among many other topics) -- how kids should be challenged and *not* be able to get every problem in the book right. SO different from the usual math book. We love love love them!!!! Oh, and as Mr R says above, Alg. 3 is basically part of what is called precalculus. I was going to have my boys take the AoPS Alg. 3 class (we're doing precalculus now), but decided we should cover the topic ourselves first, as the pace of the class is quite brisk! We have their precalculus book, and it is mostly the trig parts of "precalculus." And one more thing -- they have pre- and post-tests for all their classes posted on their website. You can see for yourself if your child is ready for or has mastered the content of each course. ~Laura

I'm glad Kathy chimed in! She's been so helpful to us as my son started on the math contest road this year. And he's attending the Math Zoom camp this summer and can't wait! I can report back after he attends, if anyone has questions. I just wanted to add that we had no problem finding a school for my sons to take the AMC 10 test this year. I just called or emailed local math teachers. Our local school district no longer offers the AMC 8 (don't get me started; we have a *national lab*, for crying out loud, and one of the highest concentrations of science PhDs in the country ...), but the next district over was *very* welcoming, and their junior-high honors math teacher gives not only the AMC 8 (and had several perfect scorers as well as the state MathCounts champion) but also the AMC 10. This was also interesting -- I had arranged with the MAA to offer the AMC tests myself, as Kathy does, before I found this very helpful honors math teacher. I decided to go ahead and offer one of the AMC 10 tests myself to homeschoolers (there are two dates in Feb. for the AMC 10 and 12), and to my surprise, my son did 7 or 8 points higher on the test he took in the school setting -- the opposite of what I expected. He said he thought being surrounded by other studious kids made him focus more. Of course it could just be variation in the test or his energy that day, but it was interesting. So although it was pretty seamless to administer the test myself, we'll probably do it at the school again next year (which had the huge side benefit that my son made some contacts and new friends, which led to more math-contest fun, etc. :001_smile:) ~Laura

I suppose I can't change my username without creating a new account ... ?? Maybe I'll add a sig line ... speaking of that, Laurel, I hope your daughter is okay! Now off to tell my friends Lauri, Laurie, and Lauren that they should join WTM!! ;-)

I'm in the opposite situation -- two kids close in age, so they're doing the same math, science, English, & history ... I figure I get ONE shot at everything so I'd better do it well! So I really, really, really appreciate all the wonderful advice & ideas I've gotten from this board!!! ~Laura

You have dibs, Laurel, obviously -- you're a queen bee and I'm a total newbie ;-) and oops about Orange County vs LA -- it's such a huge area I get overwhelmed, but my brother just moved to the Los Feliz area and I'm slowly figuring it out! ~Laura

Sometimes I'll see a post by Laurel and I'll think, "I don't remember writing that ... oh, yeah, that isn't me!" ;-) Sorry -- I should've come up with a clever name ... but I can never think of one. I've emailed with Laurel-in-CA -- she's in LA & I'm up north by SF, but of course you can't tell that from our names ;-)

Our plans are being refined every day, but here's what my 9th grader will probably do next year: English 3 (Narnia) -- Potter's Literature discussion class led by Adam Andrews (Teaching the Classics) World History (Notgrass?) -or- AP US History (w/co-op) German 2 (OSU) Chemistry (Spectrum) AP Calculus (PA Homeschoolers: Larson's text) AP Computer Science (Derek Otieno) Ancient Greek & Roman Lit: Greek plays (w/tutor) ~Laura

The conventional wisdom I heard many times when I was thinking about grad school was that it was a good idea to 'switch coasts' -- which in practice for most people I knew meant going from California to the Northeast or vice versa. We certainly knew a few people who did their undergraduate, graduate, and postdoc at the same university and then became an assistant professor there - but that was pretty unusual!

Hi, Karen & April! Thanks for the info! That sounds reasonable (about having to take the test). It's what I'm planning, at least! ;-) And it's nice to know I can use AP in my transcript course title (if we have an approved course). Yes, it's a lot of information to wade through. Thank you, Karen & April, for your help! I think I'm getting there ;-) ~Laura

Check out Alcumus at Art of Problem Solving. It's FREE and will keep your son busy for quite a while. There are mini-tutorials (done by Richard Rusczyk, the founder of AoPS, who is very energetic & funny -- he definitely appeals to preteen boys ;-) You just have to create an account. I think the subject matter is counting & probability; algebra is in the works. You have to answer some questions right before you can access more videos. My son loves it, and has learned a ton. And did I mention it's FREE? ;-) ~Laura Oh, and hotmath is $29 a year and you can see all the Ed Burger videos (he also appeals to my boys, with his wacky sense of humor) on math topics from algebra to calculus. Another entertaining, instructive, inexpensive resource.

So, can a class taken through PA Homeschoolers, called "AP Something" by them, be listed as "AP Something" on the transcript? ... and I'm definitely planning to have my kids take the actual AP exam after studying the material, but in theory if one took a class through PA Homeschoolers, and if the answer to my first question is yes, and the kid didn't take the AP exam at the end of the course for whatever reason, could the course still be called AP on the transcript? (I know PA HS will issue their own transcript for the course only if the student also takes the exam, but these questions are about our homemade transcripts.) Thanks! ~Laura

I have one of these kids! Have you looked into Art of Problem Solving? It's been a life-saver for us. My son loves their textbooks, and they have books on topics such as Number Theory and Counting & Probability that aren't covered in detail, or at all, in the usual high-school math sequence. The website also has classic articles on The Calculus Trap and Why Discrete Math Is Important (which I'm pretty sure I first heard about on these boards!). Just a thought ... ~Laura

I was thinking I shouldn't complain -- some kids might have two exams on the same day. I would also be interested to hear if any kids survived doing two in one day! ;-P

Karen -- thanks! How handy. A lot of them are the same as this year, with some changes. This will definitely help us plan. Unfortunately next year Comp Sci and Calc are back-to-back ... oh, well, at least they're not on the same day! Thanks again! ~Laura P.S. In my reply to April I wanted to do the fancy embedded-link thing, and I see from your post how to do it. Yaay! Next time I'll try it ;-)

Yes -- here's the link: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/cal.html ~Laura

I was wondering if the exams are always given on certain days, or if every year is different. For example, this year the AP Comp Sci exam is given on the morning of the first Tuesday in the two-week window, and the AP Calculus exams are the next day (the morning of the first Wednesday). The AP Biology exam is the morning of the second Monday. Can I use this year's schedule to get a tentative idea of how much time my kids will have between exams if they are taking multiple exams, or will it be totally different next year? I couldn't find anything that talked about this, and I was wondering if anyone whose kids had taken AP exams several years in a row had noticed a pattern. Thanks for any information!! ~Laura

and found out, among other things, that his website is back online. http://www.acit.us.com/ My son has decided to take AP Comp Sci with Mr Otieno this coming year. I encourage anyone interested in his classes (he also offers Web Design, and some advanced programming courses) to give him a call. (678) 677-2517, and he's in Georgia, so Eastern time zone. ~Laura

Kathy, we'll be eager to see what school your daughter chooses! It's a good problem to have -- many great options ;-) and what wonderful news about your husband's job! Yaay! ~Laura

This is a great offer by AoPS. If you are wavering, you could have your son do the first class or two and see how he likes it. One of my sons *LOVES* AoPS, and the other doesn't. I've heard several times that their textbooks are pitched at the top 3%, maybe top 5% of math students ... if a student is outside that range by a bit, he will have to work somewhat harder than the other kids. If a student is far outside that (tiny!) group, he may become discouraged. :iagree:My younger son can't get enough of Alcumus and FTW (For the Win). And they're both free! ~Laura