I bought it, planning to use it for 7th, but changed my mind at the last minute. We ended up using Conceptual Chem with a microchem lab instead. At the end of the year, I kind of wished that I had just stuck with the Mr. Q. I think dd would have gotten the same amount of learning for less work on my part. Have you used Mr. Q before? The pro/cons for this one are the same as the other Mr. Q subjects (which I have used). Labs are fun and it is easy to find the materials. The text is a little bit jumpy from week to week, but readable. Everything is already done for you - problems, vocab, discussion questions, tests, quizes, lab sheets, etc. It is scheduled for 3 days a week - one for reading, one for the worksheets/vocab and one for the lab.

My dd is also in the class this year. It is the best online class we have done so far. Jetta is very organized and quick to get things back. We have also been happy with the labs. The live class part has been helpful and dd says she understands everything better after class. DD was surprised at the amount of work at the beginning of the year, but since she adjusted, she has done well. If only I could find an equivalent chemistry for next year . . .

I use K12 HO with TOG and it works out fine for my D level dd. I don't think it would be an R level, if that is what you are asking about. I scheduled HO and AO along with a couple of the other multi-week books and she has done well in our discussions.

I like having both, but it is pricey. I like the print so that I can use the notes even if I am away from my computer or my internet is down. I like the DE because of the updates. I have not bought the SAP packs.

Thanks. I am glad to hear that I should be able to get back to ancients in a couple of years without too much hassle.

When we did TOG Y2 we spent some extra time on the heavy weeks and only finished Units 1-3. So now we will start next year with Y2 Unit 4 and then continue to Y3. Will it be possible to condense weeks in Y3 or Y4 so that we can finish out in 2 years or should I plan more than 2 years to finish our rotation? Which year would be easiest to condense? I am only going to buy Y3 this year, so I won't be able to see it all in front of me and plan it all out in advance. I have LG, UG, and D students, if that makes a difference.

I have Noeo 3 and RS4K 1 Physics. The main difference is that Noeo is meant to last for 36 weeks and RS4K is really only a 10-week unit. In terms of experiments vs. demonstrations, neither one is better than the other, but the RS4K "demonstrations" are somewhat more interesting.

Last year when I was doing my planning, I was inspired by these two threads. We have been doing Physics this year, so I chose 9 topics that I wanted to cover. For each topic, I made a list of books to read and then created a Discovery box. We have been reading together and sometimes take notes and then the my dc can do the science box on their own. Sometimes I just let them play and other times they have to design some type of experiment with the items in the box. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/334083-alte-veste-academy-can-we-talk-inquiry-based-science http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/144421-if-you-could-design-a-science-corner-in-your-school-room/

I tried to make it work for my family and it didn't happen. The problem is that the topics in the lower levels are too easy for the older kids and the topics in the level 3 are too hard for the younger kids. And the topics are too diverse to make them match up between levels. I thought that I could beef up Level 1 enough to keep everyone together, but even after I spent a lot of time tracking down extra books and demonstrations or videos, it would only take my older kids 5 minutes to understand the topic and be ready to move on. I really felt it was a huge amount of prep time on my part for very little learning on their part. I also contemplated using the different levels with different kids, but then you have 3 different teacher-intensive science lessons every time you do science.

I have used Singapore and Lial's and you should be fine, especially if you are happy with the other aspects of the online class.

Have you joined the yahoo group? You may have to e-mail her to ask for an invitation. That's where they were posted last year.

You can buy it from the AoPS website now.

I would tend to move over later rather than earlier. I got out my 6/5 to see and I don't think that a kid would transfer easily from 6/5 to AoPS pre-algebra. Obviously there will be kids who will do fine with that type of transition, but it would be a big jump. You would probably be safer finishing 7/6 and maybe doing some of 8/7 or Algebra 1/2.

I love TOG. I like the flexibility if offers. Every week, I can choose to focus on history, literature or activities and I can vary the level my kids are working at. I love, love the teacher notes and discussion outlines. I have a picture in my head of all of us sitting around the table having wonderful discussions, with all of our subjects integrated and spanning all of grade levels. TOG is the easiest program I have found for making that picture reasonably possible.

I think that it is great for GT kids. It is so easy to accelerate or pull back every week. If your dd is ready for mostly UG or D work, then plan that, but if you find a week where the LG or UG books are things that she will love, then give her those. If you have a light or heavy science week, then it is easy to adjust the load of TOG accordingly. Also, in the D and R levels, you do discussions which really help them to think and make connections between different things they have learned about.