We love the History of the United States lectures- they use three wonderful lecturures and are very informative.

I can't answer many of your questions, but did want to put in that my dd started to review and really study for the test in December/January.(Though she was actually enrolled in an AP course.) I also wanted to recommend a super review book, "AP U.S. History: The Essential Content by Larry Kreiger". It was really helpful to my dd in reviewing, though it doesn't have sample FRQs and DBQs like the Barron's Book does. Hope this helps!

Hi, I felt the same way about discussions,so my dd, grade 9. is doing Center for Lits online discussion this semester. She has really enjoyed it! We did Teaching the Classics DVD at the beginning of the year, so she was familiar with them, and their style. I only wish we'd started last semester. The writing part is new next year, I believe. It sounds good. She will definitely participate in the discussions next year. Hope that helps! Pauline

My dd is finishing up her ninth grade year: APUSH with PA homeschoolers Honors Geometry with Jann Perkins Miller Levine Biology Spanish 1 American Literature and Composition Public Speaking Basic Design Logic PE (cross country and track)

We are sort of doing something similar this year. We haven't translated anything as complicated as Harry Potter, but we have gone to the library and read Ferdinand, other children's books, and even found this mystery series that has one side of the page in English, and one side of the page in Spanish. This is hard sometimes, since we've found that a word or sentence differs from one book to another. So, we are going over vocab lists too, and verb charts we found at conjuguemos.com. We also are using a plethora of Spanish vocab and verb games we found online- and a Spanish reader that has questions we write out for the composition part of the credit. This isn't a tested and true approach, but it's what's working for us right now. Hope this helps. :)

You might want to check out Bravewriter, bravewriter.com. Her classes are asynchronous. I believe Deb Bell's classes, debraBell.com, are also, with an occasional live online discussion, which you may be able to watch later, on video. HTH! Pauline

My dd, 15, has been using it every day since we read about it on here. It is great! Thanks!

Nan, The girl from either Spain or France would come to our home, NH, in August, then both girls would travel to the other country in February. Our dd would come home the following August. Then, most likely we would stay in contact with the family and girl, having become like family. Pauline

Nan, She is taking Spanish 1 now, but is considering France or Spain. There are no language requirements with the program. There, she would attend school, because that's what the families do there. For us, since the primary goal is learning the language, at first, the student would watch movies she is familiar with in English, and have a very language rich environment, pictures with words, etc. The emphasis is not on academics. It would be really cool! Trying to work out the details. Pauline

Lanny, Thanks for the reminder that these types of experiences are invaluable. This program is all about becoming like a daughter to the family, and living a different culture. We know it will have it's difficulties and rewards. I don't think after 6 months she'll be bilingual by that definition, but we were told most kids can speak the laguage and do schoolwork in it. We're throughly checking it out and looking for other possible programs. Thanks! Pauline

Laura, Yes, it is the same program, and we have spoken to the North American coordinator. It sounds wonderful but we do wish we would have discovered it when she was younger. She had planned to do AP classes next year, and she's a varsity runner, most likely registering with NCAA. We have the application, and reviewing everything. Thanks for the positive review! Pauline

My rising 10th grade dd is hoping to be an exchange student with En Famille, an immersion program. She really wants to be bilingual. She'd live there Feb-Aug, and a daughter from the same family would live here with us from Aug-Feb, first. I would have to homeschool her. Anyone done this program or something like it? Thanks, Pauline

You might want to check out myhomeschoolmathclass.com My dd is taking geometry with Jann this year and algebra 2 next year. The 2 day a week class and tutorials have been great for her. This was our first time with an online math class. HTH! Pauline

Just bumping to hope you get a reply! I'm looking at those same classes for my 4th grader. Thanks! Pauline

My DD participated in cc and indoor track, and is in preseason for outdoor track, at the local high school this year. She loves it, and it gives her a reason to finish her schoolwork on time. Of course, there are trade-offs, like 2 to 2and 1/2 hour practices every day and half day meets on the weekends, but altogether it has been a positive experience. In our town, it's not required to take classes there (though she is taking an art class), so that's good for us, plus the girls on the team and the coaches are outstanding- which made our decision easy. Sports haven't affected DD's love of homeschooling either. However, like many other people have said, it really depends on your particular high school and the sport. Your son is still young, but a little further down the road you may want to start looking at the coaches at the school, and the kids on the team-to see if the fit is right for your son. Participating in a preseason might help you decide as well. Hope this helps! :)

Hmm, let's see. Digital History is a good site, it has tons of PSDs, an online text, and other extras, like film ideas and pictures. :seeya: http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/ Common Sense might be another good thing to read, to show the colonists' reasons for breaking away. http://www.ushistory.org/paine/commonsense/singlehtml.htm Oh, and for the French and Indian War, The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper is a good choice, I think you can find that on Librivox, along with the Pioneers, a good depicton of life in the wilderness. Rip van Winkle might work too, as a silly introduction to the changes of the Revolutionary War. Hope this helps! :)

My dd is taking it this year with Mrs.Richman and LOVES it!! I do not know the other teachers, but Mrs.Richman is WONDERFUL. :D She uses bonus points to encourage the kids to study more history, in order to get more points. She is so helpful in critiquing essays, and goes well beyond what is required for an AP course. My dd has learned so much this year, and as a bonus, her essay writing has gotten so much better and faster-which is good for us :) She has also become a lot more thoughtful, and is thinking about persuing a degree in history- best course ever!

@ Wildcat- thanks for your suggestion; you're definitely not overstepping. It sounds like a really good class- I will have to check it out. :) Can you tell me if there is a good amount of reading in it? Is there a lot of writing? We are looking for an intensive class, and any feedback you could give me would be very helpful. Thank you! :D

I'm not SET on PA Homeschoolers, but we have been very happy with them so far. Thanks so much for everyone's suggestions and ideas- you have all been a big help! :)

I'm sure there have been other posts like this one, but I can't find them! What are your opinions on the PA Homeschoolers AP classes? Particularly AP English Language and Composition? My dd is taking APUSH this year with Mrs.Richman and LOVING it!!! So we want to continue the trend with AP composition next year. Are the classes good? I've personally heard that Mrs.Inspektor is excellent, it makes sense of course since she is Mrs.Richman's daughter. :) Please tell me your thoughts!

I want my daughter to have at least 1/2 PE credit, and she is on on varsity cross-country and track, but she runs because she loves it, not because she wants to look good on college transcripts. I definitely agree with above posters, excercise is important even if not required. Plus, my kids seem to focus better with excercise on the schedule, it keeps them alert and helps break up the schoolday. We like to ice skate, snowtube, swim, play tag, rollerskate, bike, and just mess around outside. And, I know a lot of people are against/(can't for medical reasons) jog, but if you can, it's a great form of excercise. You control the speed, and its one of those sports you can do any time, with music! Plus, my dd is in the best shape of her life after joining xc/track. She thinks it's improved her ability in other sports as well, like basketball and soccer.

Hi, My DD is doing Apologia Biology with our co-op but she wanted something more in depth. We tried adding Red Wagon Tutorials (cd-rom), and I think it is pretty good. There are lectures for each chapter, reviews, tests, etc, using the same book. She still wanted more, so now she reads the Campbell Reece Biology 6th edition. We've had to rearrange the chapters to match up with Apologia. We also purchased the online resources, only $30. It is used the AP and is much more indepth. Hope that helps! Pauline DD grade 9: APUSH, PA homeschoolers; Geometry, Spanish, Biology, Logic, American Lit, LAoW, Cross country and track

Hi, Here is the link to the workbook. If you go to the second page, you'll find Mjbucks1 Michelle's website. Click on the language arts tab at the very top. My 9th grade daughter is using Lively Art of writing. We like it and the workbook is helpful because all of the assignments are written in there. The assignments do use out of date topics, like drag racing, so sometimes we make up our own topics. Hope that helps! Pauline http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/387632-freeuploaded-schedulesworkbooks/

My daughter is in 9th grade this year, her second year of homeschooling. She really wanted to take an AP class this year, so she did some research and decided to try PA Homeschoolers AP US History course, taught by Susan Richman. It is challenging, and she is really enjoying it. Hope that helps. Pauline

My dd is entering 9th grade, and we'll be doing Windows to the World, too. I just purchased Jill Pike's syllabus in the print form, just because I prefer it that way. She was supposed to take The Elegant Essay class at co-op, but the class got cancelled. We're trying The Lively Art of Writing, instead. We're doing R & S 7. She completed R & S 6 last year because we just started homeschooling, and her previous school did not teach much in the way of grammar. We're still playing catch up. The only thing we're doing that you didn't mention is vocabulary, but maybe you're all set here. Your plan sounds good! Pauline