So far, I'm impressed with the administration - I registered and for whatever reason, my pre-registration fee didn't get deducted. I didn't even notice it, but within 24 hours, I received an email from the director apologizing and saying they're mailing me a check for the refund. Hopefully the teacher is just as good!

Interesting! Thanks for the heads up. I just checked, and Wilson Hill doesn't offer French. Dangit.

We are signed up for the WTM Academy Chemistry for 2015-16. I've read good reviews on here about it, and dd was excited by the syllabus.

Thank you! It sounds like this school is having administration issues, also, which concerns me. I understand one teacher not being great, but I think I'll stay away from providers that have bad reviews of the administration.

Uh-oh, now that has me worried. I did a search for Scholars Online for French on here, and didn't see much of anything. I'll see if I can find anything negative, but if there are some specific threads you're thinking of, please post. Thanks!

I'm so sorry to hear that. It's sad that they choose to act so unprofessional, and I hope karma kicks them in the behind. :( We are looking at AIM, Scholars Online, and Veritas Press. I can't find many reviews for these, though.

First of all, thank you all so much. I feel a lot better after venting here; it was such a shock to get an email like that, and then to find out it was from the director of the school. Geez. Ugh, so much for "the customer comes first" mantra, huh? What the heck is wrong with people? My husband said the exact same thing. Also a good point. I guess I'm naive and tend to think the best of people, especially a school that is supposed to exemplify Christian morals. I got the message when I went to register, it said I needed to contact an admin to restore access to my account. And yes, as soon as I complained, they must have shut me down. Sadly, the email was from the director of the school, so there's not really anything else I can do. I did a lot of searching yesterday, and found similar snarky messages from as far back as 2006 being reported on various sites online. I guess I'm not the only one, but I certainly hope word gets out about the poor administration here. We definitely won't be going back, and will be spreading the word as much as possible. Since the email came from the highest level, I do not have any faith that this is a one-time exception.

Thank you all for your support. I on my phone now, and can't respond individually, but I will when I get home. I did some digging and the person who responded to me in such a rude manner is the DIRECTOR of the school. I am just shocked, and very glad we are not giving them any money!

Thanks, everyone. I was so upset and needed some validation. And Jean ,we were hoping that the bio teacher was an exception since we'd heard such great things about the foreign language classes. I was trying not to mention the name, but I will say the name rhymes with the hotter school.

Just need to get this off my chest, so pardon the vent: Last year, 13 yr old dd took a class from an online provider. It was labeled as an "honors bio" class, and after about 6 weeks of dealing with a disorganized teacher who did not get videos up when promised, did not grade papers when she said she would, the class was not rigorous enough, and lots of other issues etc., we decided to drop the class and figured it just wasn't a good fit for us. The school asked us for detailed info, which we provided (explaining in detail the issues we had with the teacher, but never once being rude or mean about it). Well, this past week, my daughter decided she wanted to take a foreign language from this provider, after hearing rave reviews about the foreign language teacher from several sources. I went to register her, and got an error saying I had to contact an admin. I emailed to find out why I couldn't register, and received a snarky response saying that my daughter "wasn't willing to do the work" for this first class, and I was deemed too much a risk for future classes. Mind you, this was the first and only class we ever took from them, and I was never rude or snarky in my emails to them, just stated the facts. I responded that I thought their assessment was inaccurate based on my thread of emails from six months ago. I received another snarky email back saying that, "The course is taught at a rigorous AP-prep level, and if your student was "under-challenged" and could not find it in herself to dig deeper and add to her own challenge/interest, then she will have the same problem with other courses." I was slightly shocked at this response. My daughter has taken AP classes, and has never had an issue. I think I must be the first person ever banned from this school.

Great tips & advice, thank you! Dd and I spoke about it today, and decided to wait till she has a year under her belt. Laura, if you don't mind my asking, what program did you go through for your exchange to France? A month would be great; any longer and I fear it would be too much.

Thanks, Karen. We were thinking the same thing - maybe a family vacation would be a better experience. It seems like reviews of the language immersion schools are inconsistent, and it's hard to shell out money for something without a review I trust.

I'm wondering if anyone has gone to France and attended a language immersion school for a few weeks? Dd 14 and I are thinking about it, but it seems like there are so many options. Dd hasn't had any French instruction yet (she's starting in the fall), and I had 3 years in college, but most of that is gone. I'm curious to see what schools might be good, and anyone's experiences there. Thanks!

Thanks, yvonne. How did you feel about the class size of TPS for French? I'm worried it might be too large. rhrice3 - TPS = The Potter's School

Dd is going to start a foreign language this fall, and while initially selecting Italian, I think she's going to end up with French due to the lack of hs Italian classes. I've been madly reading past threads and I'm really not sure which program is going to be the best for her. It looks like the following classes seem to be highly rated: - TPS - Debra Bell/AIM - Currclick/Mr. G - Classical Learning Resource Center Dd tried taking a TPS class this past year, and we were less than impressed with it. The teacher wasn't very good, she rushed through things, etc etc, so I'm not sure if TPS is going to be a good fit for us. That said, I *do* want a class that is very high quality, where dd can eventually get to fluency and speak/read/write well. We'd prefer a class where there was a lot of interaction and practice speaking, but at the same time, I don't want her to feel rushed through a class just so the teacher can get to the next lesson, if that makes sense. Dd is quiet and introverted, so I'm thinking a smaller class size might work best since she tends to not speak up and can get lost in a larger class. I'll stop rambling and hope that someone has some insight that will help. The classes are all a bit pricy, so I'd like to try to pin down those that would work best for us. Thank you!

Our schedule isn't entirely firmed up yet, but so far: AP Psych (PA Homeschoolers) Chem (not sure details here, yet - maybe WTM Academy) Algebra 2 French (also not sure of details) US Government (probably Saylor, in the summer) Essay writing Literature We're considering Interior Design, as dd has an interest in it, and Landry has a class in it.

Thanks so much for the excellent suggestions, everyone! We will definitely try to check out the homeschool store and the museums. If there's an offer, we'll be back and would love to meet up, momofkhm. Thanks again!

Dh has an interview in Raleigh on Friday, and 13 yo dd and I are tagging along to check out the area. We're looking for some fun things to do while we're there, and I thought I'd check in with locals to see what's recommended. Dd is a huge history buff, but we're open to anything fun. We'd also like to drive around to get a feel for the area - what areas would you recommend checking out? Are there certain locations that have homeschool teen activities? Thanks!

Thank you!

Wow, some great info here. Dh is talking with a company in Raleigh & they want him/us to come down next week for an in-person interview. He's waiting to hear on benefits before we commit, but this thread has been very helpful. Not to hijack, but if anyone has any feedback on teen activities/groups or numbers, we'd appreciate it. I have an almost 14 yr old dd. We'd love to know which areas would be good for having access to groups with teens, also.

Does anyone have suggestions on a care package for a college student who has access to a full kitchen? Our friend's daughter lives in a small dorm, and is a foodie. She cooks meals for the kids on the weekend, and has access to a microwave, stove/oven. We're trying to think of things to send, but I'm completely blanking on what might be useful, while not spending an arm and a leg.

When I had student loans they were amortized, like a mortgage. So you pay mainly interest first, and not much principle at all. Not sure this is still the case, but it was 20 yrs ago.

Has anyone had their children take this class? We are secular, but I've heard good things about TPS, and was wondering how religious of a class the Honors Bio is? We are fine with some creationism, but would prefer there be a mix of evolutionary perspective, too. Thank you!

MeghanL, this is intriguing. We were looking at the Dayton area, so I'd be interested in learning where you are and if there are many middle & high schoolers. This has been interesting to read. We're seriously considering moving (for many reasons, but lack of hs groups and activity in our area is one of the factors). Thanks for the feedback!

I know there was a topic about which state is best for homeschooling laws, but I thought I'd start a thread to see which states are best for secular homeschooling groups. I live in the Northeast, and have a middle schooler. There is very little for us here, and we're struggling with making hs'ing work as we move towards high school. Most hs'ers we know with middle schoolers end up sending their kids to public school, since there isn't much available in the way of groups/classes and it's even difficult to find hs friends. One of my friends just moved to the Denver area and has an amazing choice of hs programs for middle and high school. She sends me links to all that's available, and it's overwhelming. It seems like such an awesome place to hs. So, what states (besides CO, which is apparently awesome :) ) have amazing secular groups?