You can try with your charter if your charter is open minded. Some are. Ours wasn't.

And just to be precise, CHSPE is the exam that your student takes. If they pass, it's the Certificate of Proficiency that the student receives that a CC might ask to see (for under-age students). Some CCs will also ask for the score report that the CHSPE folks send with the certificate. Yup, they want full evidence that your younger child passed a test meant for 10th graders. :glare:(I have a lot to say about that that should not be said on a public forum).

By the way, I believe the CAHSEE has been suspended.

It really isn't an issue to take the CHSPE and not graduate your child from *your* homeschool until you are ready to. It's meant for kids who want to leave high school and it's often used in place of (or to apply for? Please correct me if I am wrong) a work permit as well. Students who pass the CHSPE can re-enroll in school. It's stated right there on their site. If your student has the certificate of proficiency, he can enroll in the community college as a regular student to enjoy priority enrollment status. It's up to you guys whether or not you want to use the CHSPE (and enjoy full priority) or pass the CHSPE but continue to DE. I know folks who have done DE and then switched to full priority with CHSPE with the same CC. But if you use the full priority route, it can get tricky to ask to switch back to the DE route. I know one family who switched back to DE-ing (after the kiddo passed the CHSPE and did the full priority route at one CC) at a different CC to bypass scrutiny. No one cares much about the CHSPE after you have used it to enroll as a regular student at the CC. UCs don't look at the CHSPE either.

And in case you were wondering, you don't need an official seal but you could always make a cool looking rubber stamp and stamp the form. It's fun! :laugh:

If you have a current PSA you are fine. It says "The school official may not be a relative unless the school has a current R-4 or statement in lieu of the Affidavit." (emphasis mine).

They are different tests. You want the CHSPE. If you use a PSA to homeschool it's easy to declare your kid a 10th grader. However, I only did that because A was obviously working at that level/higher.

DE is also usually a semester or quarter long vs a full-year AP class (of course, a student could also self study).

Was searching for something else on MSRI when I stumbled upon this math-themed book list. Enjoy! http://www.mathicalbooks.org/2018/02/2018-mathical-prize-winners/

Updated the Algebra II Dolciani section with some additional information thanks to MamaSprout! Here's what I added: Not too clear on edition/copyright year but this teacher offers detailed lesson plans/homework assignments for Structure and Method Book 2. You can watch corresponding youtube videos here.

Coming back to update post #19 about kiddo's progress and to add Simon Singh's The Parallel Project as another junior high-high school puzzling resource for interested students!

There are supplements depending on the campus and major. E.g. UCLA architecture and nursing and UCSB College of Creative Studies require supplemental applications. Edited to be clearer: you would still complete the one all-campus UC application. The supplements are sent afterwards.

I graduated kiddo early and yes, I did list all that math. The rule of thumb is usually that if colleges see 4 years of math from 9th-12th, there's no need to list high school math done in middle school but for a kid who wanted to major in math and showed drive and passion early, I thought it appropriate to list all the nontraditional math kid did at younger ages (to show the many topics not usually covered by most students). I have a highly math spiky kid and this was appropriate for this kid. You don't have to if she has different goals.

I bought and read the book and had a different reaction from my initial one reading through the see inside function on Amazon. No, I would not choose this for my child. And my child started CC full time at 11 and university full time at 14 and is currently on the honors track and will likely graduate at 18. I would not have chosen my kid's major. Nor would I have spent a good number of pages in a book I am writing rationalizing that decision. I was cringing at the description of editing the essays line by line. When I started reading it, I thought, hmm, they seem like interesting parents with interesting values. Then they had the kids write about their experiences and it all felt a little over rationalized to me. There's honestly a big difference when the kid pulls you on to the path. Even a kid who is a reluctant writer. Because they want it so much that they will teach themselves the subject matter/practice the skill. You can't beat that. It's incredibly painful and also exhilarating to sit in the sidelines and watch your 13yo read and analyze literature to the point where they are almost in tears of frustration for both the difficulty of writing essays and in tears of joy for the beauty of words and philosophical value. And when they run out of a hall after taking AP Lit to explain so excitedly the link between jazz and a poem they had to analyze. I love sitting back and watching the teen talk...enthusiasm just leaking out of those pores. Enthusiasm for literature...not even math! I picked up on the fact that the parents wanted the best for their kids but yeah, I am glad our best was different. I can totally see how the book might have affected me if I had had a younger child and was new to homeschooling. But the last 10 years of homeschooling kiddo taught me some lessons I cannot forget. and the specter of my own parents forcing me one way when my heart yearned for another reminded me how it feels to not be able to do what you know in your core you are called to do. Fascinating that the kids don't seem to have rebelled (not mentioned in the book IIRC).

I'm not exactly sure how one uses The Conceptual Academy but they made this available about 4 years too late for my kid. :glare: So if you choose Conceptual Physics, make sure you take advantage of this resource! :laugh: https://conceptualacademy.com/

I won't list all the math kiddo did...just wanted to say it was a lot more than the traditional math sequence...number theory, counting, mathematical logic, group theory, abstract algebra, crytpography and then some of the same ones but at a higher level in subsequent years. If your concern is that she is already past algebra 2 in ninth, there's lots more math to learn and I'm sure boardies here will have ideas for that!

We didn't do anything as cool as Corraleno! I just wanted to add that my kid's least favorite output subject was history and I took some inspiration from the Paidea School course descriptions to create two much more meaningful, survey-style courses which were later followed up by history and government via dual enrollment at the community college. In fact, since we had an excess of literature credits, I wrapped one of our ancient literature classes as a social studies class! 9th grade ancient history was ancient civilizations through epics (and we borrowed heavily from Great Courses and Fagles' re-tellings as resources). My course descriptions went like this: The purpose of this course was to introduce the student to the civilizations of the ancient world, starting from the Near East with The Epic of Gilgamesh and ending with the epic traditions of ancient India. Instead of a dry, textbook treatment of history, we used a critical study of English translations and retellings of selected world epic masterpieces. We focused on intellectual growth by strengthening the student’s ability to read analytically and reason carefully, by reinforcing the student’s knowledge of the outlines of history, by making him conversant with major historical personalities, and by developing sensitivity to cultural diversity. For 10th grade, we did a world history survey that made heavy use of Larry Gonick's history series of graphic novels along with Guns, Germs, and Steel and several Mark Kurlansky mass market books. We focused on culinary history too. It was so much fun! Described this way: Instead of cramming the span of world history into one year, we surveyed key events, spanning from the Paleolithic Era (2.5 million years ago) to the end of World War II. We focused on world events from the 1800s to 1945. We were purposeful about studying world history as a story of connections between peoples, political entities, economies, dietary choices, and cultures. We explored specific historical episodes in greater detail, namely, the Industrial Revolution, World War II and the Jewish Holocaust. Here's 10th Grade literature: Science Fiction & Fantasy Literature Texts: 7 science-fiction texts: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley; War of the Worlds by HG Wells; The Invisible Man by HG Wells; The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by RL Stevenson; The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury; The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov; The Eye of the Sibyl by Philip K. Dick. How Great Science Fiction Works by Prof. Gary Wolfe, PhD (24 college-level lectures, 31 mins each). 6 texts by J.R.R. Tolkien: The Hobbit; The Fellowship of the Ring; The Two Towers; The Return of the King; Tales of the Perilous Realm (an anthology of the following novellas: “Roverandomâ€, “Farmer Giles of Hamâ€, “Smith of Wootton Majorâ€, “Leaf by Niggleâ€, and “The Adventures of Tom Bombadilâ€); The Children of Hurin. Supplemented with 16 hours of Sindarin and Quenya linguistics taught by ___________ (deleted for privacy), a Tolkien expert; the "On Fairy Stories" essay from The Monsters and The Critics and Other Essays by JRR Tolkien; and Tolkien: A Biography by Michael J. White. To round out his study, we pursued a highly enjoyable critical analysis of movie productions like The Lord of the Rings trilogy and sci-fi classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Back to the Future. Topics: Introduction to and critical analysis of science fiction and fantasy literature, with special interest in world building. He also studied Elvish linguistics and author biographies. Special emphasis on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien with particular focus on character development, and the themes of war, evil and friendship.

You and me both. :grouphug:

I agree with wapiti. Try the NPC. I'd rather not say which class this student belongs to (not 2021). The parents are well-to-do.

IIRC, Santa Clara gave about 10k in merit money to a high stats low need student I know. Student had perfect scores across-the-board. Chose SCU to be close to home.

No graduation requirements necessary on transcript. If you are interested in what's typical for graduation requirements, you can look up your local public high school's website. Most of our region's schools list their requirements clearly somewhere on their site. If you really want to put that info somewhere, you could put it in the school profile, usually with language like "our homeschool meets or exceeds the graduation requirements of our local public high school at _________ district) etc.

Just a jumble of thoughts from trying to catch up on this thread... A big yes to UCSB's College of Creative Studies. Great program from all that I've heard and my kid almost ended up there. I believe kids can double major with two CCS majors -- good to have a look and tour if you can. The head of the math department was incredibly kind when A applied and was admitted. She reached out many times to answer questions and invite A to visit her. We were debating between that and UC Berkeley but Berkeley was of course much more doable as we live much closer and would not have to move to yet another expensive area (SB's rents exceed or equal the Bay Area's and it would have been nuts to let go of the low mortgage we pay for a house we own! Not to mention we were choosing a great math dept anyway). Our experience (or rather my kiddo's) with our somewhat selective (17% acceptance rate), in-state and less expensive college: So glad to be able to take advantage of an in-state school like UC Berkeley -- it's a huge huge school but the math department is not as large and not as impacted as EECS or Economics or Chemistry. A takes only honors core upper division major requirement classes -- these rarely go over 30 students per class...it's been easy to be added even on a waitlist by just appearing at every class. However, no prof has taken attendance...not in math or in the humanities. A has not taken EECS classes yet so cannot be sure if they do take attendance in those departments. An UG could potentially sit in on those classes for interest. Other upper div classes A is taking/taken are not honors but have only about 20-35 students a class. A has completely bypassed the need to take those 400-600-strong lower division and general ed classes that Berkeley is famous for. SO glad A covered general eds via community college. Our CC was not excellent for math but was top-notch for the humanities. Just fabulous that A could jump directly over all of those requirements at a low cost and at a pace A was comfortable with. Big difference between honors and regular sections. A is now a grader (an opportunity open to students who have already taken the class) for a regular section upper division math class and is stunned by the difference between honors classmates' work and these regular section students' work -- all are math majors, many pure math like A, but still...it really shows when you've had practice with math research or at least with writing proofs and I keep reminding A that A's background is very different. A is learning to be patient. I pay $3500+ a semester, split 50% with A's dad (my ex) for a total of $7000+ a semester. A did not qualify for any aid as we have to report dad's income in finaid applications. Again, glad to be in-state! Commuting from home costs about $250-ish a month for train and food and little snacks/stationery etc. (A has classes every single day so the kid eats on campus not to mention it costs about the same for me to pack food for A from home). From March, A will receive about $300 a month as a grader which will cover train tickets and food cost, yay! Fingers crossed that A will be able to find a UGSI (undergrad student instructor/TA) position from fall onwards which will help significantly towards tuition (pays about $1000/month, possibly more). A has a grad student mentor now for the math department's directed reading program, which will hopefully lead to math research in that area in the very near future. DRP is open to all interested students and lots of students are admitted as long as they answer the application carefully and are specific about the kind of text/research they want to work on. A's research will probably center on algebraic topology. None of A's instructors were grad students. We were a little concerned after hearing from someone that UC employs grad students to teach classes. It might still be true in some UCs, not too sure, but so far in Berkeley Math, they are all profs/assoc. profs. Lots of research available as far as A knows...A's just having too much fun right now in input mode (vs output mode) and specifically wanted a lighter freshman year (mainly to deal with health issues). The culture is actually not extremely competitive that A can see. There's lots of collaboration. Someone asked how to know what a fit is like. I think at this age/stage, students create "the fit". Fit is just SO subjective that I don't think you can tell by hanging out at a campus for a few hours during a tour. In fact, A has taken math circle at Berkeley for years and it's still not been completely evident what culture/fit was till A went after opportunities. Yes, there are kindred spirits but they now know A's age so it's been a little uncomfy for A but I think those kids are getting over it. A is long past caring what anyone thinks about A's age. I think A's age though is making a difference in some other ways, one of which is that A cannot truly experience the college experience of collaboration/discussion by having to come home instead of living in dorms and meeting classmates at night/study hall/library etc. For now, A will commute from home due to reasons we cannot avoid. Lots of pizza! A loves pizza and I can't have pizza anymore (unless gluten free) so that's helpful. :) Every math meet (there's one at least 2x a week) has pizza. Profs appear when invited. A loves these in general. Going to UCB knowing no one has been a little hard...but it's getting better. A's classmates now text A for help and vice versa...that is a development I like watching. Otherwise, the main draw is the professors and A's had some pretty cool ones already just 2 semesters in.

Outschool has some great, short classes that they could combine depending on interests into a whole year of study. Their Forensics class was praised by a friend using it. When my kid and kid's friends were ready for higher levels of science but not yet ready for community college, here's what we did: Bought a great chemistry kit (http://www.thehomescientist.com/kits/CK01/ck01-main.html) and used the Illustrated Guide (All Labs No Lecture series) from the author. We parents took turns supervising labs. We used Kai's idea here to design our own experiments and gather data. We alternated the weeks - spent one meeting per week watching Great Courses and YouTube science videos with an hour or so of discussion afterwards. Based on feedback, we either carried on with the chemistry labs or asked the kids to design/create experiments based on the YouTube video/Great Courses science title that we watched. Employed a mentor to come in for some of the meetings to give the kids answers to inquiry-driven explorations and experiments. Basically, you will need: Motivated parents and a facilitator A mentor who can be present for as many meetings as you can afford to pay mentor A good kit (MEL Science is another good chemistry kit subscription) Wifi/TV/Large screen computer for YouTube/Great Course streaming A home or meeting place that is safe for use with option to have some downtime afterwards for kids to play board games or just talk and be kids. One rotating volunteer to be note-keeper/lab report compiler (or all the kids based on ability).

Oh I love this idea! This would have been my ideal for my kid...until of course I actually had *my* kid born with a very specific set of interests and tendencies and wants and dislikes. When I started homeschooling, I wanted to introduce this kid to nature and orienteering (until a fear of deer ticks meant kid refused to go deeper into woods), carpentry (why mom?), sailing (too expensive where we lived at the time). I then realized we live in a very expensive area and very urban and that it was just so crazy to be able to juggle this with all of this kid's other interests. And then, we found the community college! They have their own chef school! Oh my. A trade my kid would love, at last! At an affordable cost at last! Guess what, they refuse to take kids below 18. :banghead: So we just cook and bake at home. If the kid had loved baking as much as kid loves math, kid would have found a way to do it and find a mentor, I just know it. But you know what, it really is easier where I live to find math mentors than mentors in the trades. We heard of another child who does this and bakes all of his family's birthday cakes and I believe caters to local functions too. So cool. He's going to be a really cool food industry person some day. The argument about community college being a poor choice for in-depth high school learning is also based on geographical factors btw. We have some really good ones here in CA and we pay $46 a unit. Families I know who use CC also supplement with other materials at home, many being materials you guys would use in a heart beat. Kids CAN get a fabulous high school education here through the CCs. It also helps the parent-child relationship when you sometimes have those explosive kids. The kids are a lot happier answering to profs and having parents cheering on as facilitators vs teachers. So much depends on so many factors.

Thank you for the summary. I just purchased the book too but have such a long list of books-to-read that I knew I was not going to get to it soon. $3.99 was a fair amount I thought and why I bought it. And they offer quite a generous preview in the Read Inside function on amazon. I actually enjoyed the preview. It sounded like they really wanted their kids to love to learn and I am happy for them if this method was truly enjoyable for all the kids. I disagree that any kid can do this in the right environment because "right" is so subjective for everyone. The parents obviously seemed to have created a very learning-rich environment though and living in AZ with those resources might have also been what they meant by the "right" environment (for them). I would have died in the heat (I somewhat die in CA heat too). Sometimes, it's so hard to know what someone's life was like from what we read in a book or forum. I don't want to judge before reading the whole book. The only thing that strikes me as unfair is being very firm about what the kids choose to major in...this is not very different from what parents do where I am from, especially if they are paying for the kids' education, but it had led to more than one person I know being very bitter with their parents and depressed and on depression medication by the time they are 30. But who knows? Maybe they would have been depressed anyway...too many variables to tell for sure. Sometimes, also, people think that when kids start college young, it means giving up their childhood or teen-hood or whatever. I was cringing a little when SF Chronicle wrote that piece about my teen in Berkeley as a 15yo because you know, it creates all these assumptions about tiger parenting and losing precious growing up time. Nothing I say is going to convince anyone otherwise so I don't want to make the same error with this family. I wish the kids well. I really hope they will be happy with their choices.