Thx for letting us know that! Helps to hear that it isn't something just mentioned on a website but is actually true. :)

Sorry. This is a new area to me so maybe I am not understanding but this is a quote from the modern states site: "The courses are designed to prepare students for the major “Advanced Placement†(AP)* or “College Level Examination Program†(CLEP)* tests offered by the College Board, including subjects such as History, Computer Science, Math, English and Economics." I guess most of the courses are 4 weeks for 6 hours per week. So 24 hours of class which I guess is not a "full course". Sorry if I mislead. I hadn't really looked that intently at each course timeframe. It just looked like more than a "review". So if a person does one of these classes and passes an AP or CLEP test I would "think" that could count as college credit depending on if your college accepts it??? Still learning all about this.

Not sure if I am late to the party but I recently was told about a site that offers free full courses to prepare someone to sit for an AP or CLEP exam, whichever they choose. It's called modernstates.org. Their site says it is partnered with edx.com but they too offer courses for exam or certificate. Edx.com offers more courses and can also be for adults in certain fields to get certificates to show their employers or whatever. So my question is...if modern states is partnered with edx than what's the difference b/w the 2 for a high school student trying to test out of college freshman classes? Anyway, this seems too good to be true but I love that my student could take a full free course, take an AP exam, and earn credits, all for the price of the test! I can't afford AP classes and I was a little iffy about just studying for a CLEP exam b/c I really want my student to get full course learning. This seems like the answer. Anyone have any experience/info? I know all about checking with colleges first to see if they accept AP/CLEP so I don't need all that info, just info about these 2 sites. I am thinking of taking a course myself to test it out. I may sit for an exam afterwards, who knows. EDITED TO SAY: Sorry. I originally thought these were full courses but several ladies who have commented below have corrected my misunderstanding and they are TEST PREP courses. The modern states prep courses themselves say CLEP, not AP, but on their site it says these courses help prep for CLEP and AP so that is why I included AP in my description. Thx~

Great! That is awesome to hear. Makes things easy. :)

Anyone?

We are not doing CC but will be using Words Aptly Spoken British for our literature next year. My question is are there certain editions of the book selections that must be used or is it flexible? Thx!

Meena- I did see that I could buy the video code for $45 but no one is selling their books for less than $100 so that would total $145. Might as well buy new. :) Targhee- thx for the info on using the password. That is good to know!

I have seen a lot of people looking for second hand copies of The Lost Tools of Writing-5th ed. (newest), including myself. (Sorry Circe if you are listening). :) $147 brand new is a tough price to swallow but I am wondering if there is no way around it for the following reason. This edition does not use DVD's but has a password to stream the videos through Vimeo. My big hesitation in buying used is that I won't receive the password from the seller OR that the password is only good for the initial user and would not be transferrable to anyone else. Does anyone have any experience with this? I know I can get the 4th ed. at some great used prices but from what I read on the Circe site and elsewhere about the 5th ed. being so much more user friendly, I really think, since I will be doing it alone at home, the 5th ed. would be the best option for me. There are also so many out there looking for The LToW used and are seeing the 5th ed. and asking if the DVD's are included or asking if the 4th ed. is the latest edition. I am surprised that people are not doing their research before buying things. I had to steer 2 people so far in the right direction. :) Any info would be appreciated. Thx!

I agree. $395 does seem to be on the cheaper end of those things. I see many who outsource all or most of their high school courses and think, wow, that must be quite a big homeschool budget! Good for them! :) I am not criticizing but am just amazed as I try to keep the entire year of my high schooler b/w $500-$800 and I am sure even THAT is even a big budget for some. But at $400 a pop, if I outsourced even just 2 classes I am already at my max with several classes left to cover. I see what everyone else is doing and I will admit that sometimes I feel some pressure that I "should" be doing online or outsourced classes. I guess we all have different circumstances and some feel they have no other option so it's good they are being offered. But personally that's not for us. I outsourced biology this year simply b/c we moved to a new state and wanted to give my teen the opportunity to meet some other homeschoolers. But at $375 I hope I don't need to do that again. I feel we missed out on doing that subject together and I would have done some things a little differently. There is so much out there as far as curriculum that I just feel like, (again, for me/us), that there is no reason I need to go elsewhere.

Guest Hollow has math free high school chemistry and physics. It looks so "out of the box" rich that we can't wait to start chemistry next year. Another option is Environmental Science. I am not aware that one requires math. I wouldn't know why. Holt has a nice book for that. Forensic science is also another option. I found a course on allinonehomeschool.com.

Lots of writing threads on here which have brought me to LToW and Power in Your Hands by Sharon Watson. I am trying to decide for 10th and 11th grade and am not sure which one to do first. I love all that I have read about how LToW teaches the child to think which can stretch across the curriculum and that it is a whole to parts. I know many advise WWS series but I don't have enough years left to get all of the parts leading to the whole. :) I love that PIYH teaches many things like expository, literary analysis, biography, etc. We need all of that. So I want to use both but not sure if using LToW first would help with PIYH or visa versa. I don't want him to learn from one and then be confused the following year possibly learning a different "way". I am hoping they will somehow build on each other. This year in 9th we used MFW writing supplement. We did not do nearly enough writing and so I am disappointed with that. For 12th I was thinking of doing Writing the Research Paper and Sharon Watson's Writing Fiction b/c my son loves to write his own stories. Anyway, any advice appreciated. Thx!

I don't know if by online you mean someone else teaching and someone else grading or if it is just that your student prefers computer based vs book based. But I came across an iBook program called Breaking the Barrier (they also have a book version) and they have 3 levels. It is interactive and you can try a sample by going on to the iBook app I believe.

We are using a Foundations class which can be found at allinonehighschool.com. Here is a description of the course and it is free. We started it mid-year and are just doing one lesson a day and will finish over the summer. Each day is super short so you could have her do more than one "day" per day. I think it is geared for 9th graders to prepare them for the rest of high school. Some are counting it as ½ speech, ½ logic credit. I think I am going to just do ½ study skills and ½ logic. You could, of course, skip the lessons you aren't interested in her doing. Course Description: Students will gain foundational knowledge to apply to life and learning in the years to come. The major topics covered are character, critical thinking, logic, public speaking and study skills. Note taking, test taking, planning, reviewing and time management will be learned and practiced. Students will explore learning styles and a variety of study methods. Students will learn how to research, evaluate resources and use unique primary sources to learn about the past. Public speaking topics include active listening, overcoming fear, job interview skills, business communication, as well as preparing and giving a variety of types of speeches. Logical fallacies will be taught and examined in propaganda and in a variety of bias examples found in media and in the classroom. Daily critical thinking exercises as well as logic and brain training games will sharpen students’ focus and attention. A short daily reading based on a character trait will remind students of how their attitudes and actions affect others around them. Other minor topics include manners and etiquette, reading cursive, signature practice, money management, internet safety, personal information safety and spotting online scams.

Journey through the Bible by David Cook would also be a good resource.

Researching chemistry is exhausting. I have read a lot on WTM and elsewhere about many different programs. There are 3 programs I am interested in (at this moment-ha ha) that I haven't seen much or any reviews/opinons about: Guest Hollow, Holt Modern Chemistry, and Mr. Q's Advanced Chemistry. My son is in 9th this year and has no idea what he wants to do in the future although I really can't "see" him needing a college prep chem course at this point. Guest Hollow-love the practical/applicable learning with this one. Holt-if my son would prefer a more textbook style I like the looks of this one. Mr. Q's Advanced-looks good as well. No matter which we go with I will be adding Chemistry 101 DVD's as they look great and have gotten tremendous reviews. I am just hoping to hear of anyone who did one or more of these all the way or who started out with one but backed out and why. Thx!

I really like the Biblioplan Companion books for history. You can get all 4 or just the ones you want. Year 1 is Ancient, Year 2 Medieval, and in Years 3 and 4 they are world and U.S. history running together. You can download free 3 week samples of each one. I haven't used them b/c I just can't use everything that I think is neat-o. :) I may just get them for myself. :)

Wow. That is interesting. I have a 9th grader who has no idea what type of career he wants to pursue yet but I am already feeling a little pressure about making his transcript shine for when the time comes. But I cannot afford AP classes and maybe not even DE classes where I live (have to do more research) and so I was thinking of going the CLEP route to save him some time and us some college money. But maybe that isn't even a good idea...maybe just let him do high school to the best of his ability and then learn all he can from every required college course.

I have not used this but am considering it for my son. It can be found on cbd.com or homeschoolpsych.com. Homeschool Psych: Preparing Christian Homeschool Students for Psych 101

Oh sorry I thought you were looking to supplement. No there is no textbook. Mystery of History has their books on audio. I think the first 2 are gearing a bit more for younger ages but I have read that many use them for high school by supplementing. The last 2 books are more suited to high school.

American Testimony DVD 1 & 2 found at http://www.history2u.com http://www.havefunwithhistory.com/movies/index.html

Yes. It is allinonehomeschool.com Scroll down on the right and you will see Geography under History section. It is parent created but it has a schedule, tests, answers to tests and worksheets. Since we started late I can't follow their schedule as we wouldn't get done by the end of the year. I am doing one module (continent) over 2 weeks. There are 10 modules. They have built in study days that we don't have time for. There are some videos that can only be watched if you have a Discovery Education log in but I asked my school district and they gave me one. You print out the worksheets and tests and there are papers to do... well we are on the second module and there is a paper so I assume there are several more throughout. I actually have my son doing it in Power Point which was one suggestion since he never did one before.

AP classes, I am sure, look good on a transcript but, unless your child needs/wants that challenge, or wants to prove himself worthy to a college admissions officer, there is no reason to push that. And CLEP for any subject is not necessary. The reason people CLEP is to earn college credit in high school. So if they study American Literature at home and then take the American Literature CLEP then they don't have to pay $ to take that course again in college. It counts as both high school and college credit. It can save a ton of $ on tuition. But if they aren't headed that direction then there is no need. But if they are headed to college then they may only want to CLEP out of the subjects that are related to general college courses that everyone has to take and their chosen field.

Although I didn't use it, ACE Geography is another inexpensive and colorful option to look at. You can look at samples at cbd.com. We are using NorthStar...sort of. I like the book and my son will still read a chapter a week until it is finished. We started doing as much of the program as we could but I got frustrated with printing the maps and all the other parts each week. The CD didn't work well on my Mac and it would just clock and clock and clock and then finally print out what I clicked on. This happened for each section per week I needed to print. Ugh. I wanted him to label maps, which North Star does by continent but it doesn't really correspond to the chapter for that week. You can do some extra research for a country or 2 within the continent but it didn't take each continent and discuss the culture, religion, lifestyles, etc. in very much detail. There was a sheet for each continent that the child looked up longest river, population, language spoken, etc but there wasn't really any narrative about it in the book. The book has more of a general overview of human geography (2nd half of the book) which is a good base that I like and that is why I am having him finish the book.The activities weren't that great and we skipped most of them. The first half of the book was more like a science course with biosphere, lithosphere, ocean currents, volcanos,etc. I think there was even a project to make a volcano which we did in elementary school science. So what we are doing alongside the book is the GVL you mentioned. Easy Peasy All in One High School has a guide, tests, answers for GVL and so we started following that. It goes through each continent individually, has map labeling, video's, small papers, research, vocab. It's not Christian based but so far no problems with the info. And we started it a little late but can still do one "chapter" over 2 weeks and finish on time.

Thx Melissa B! I did not know that. I must have misunderstood the info I received. Well that's good news! :)

So I just stumbled upon what seems to be a goldmine. Georgia Virtual Learning site has many free online courses in just about all core subjects plus some electives. We just started a GVL Geography course and am looking at how much $ I can save on future high school curriculum, esp. for science courses. Has anyone used these courses for high school credit? Any issues? How do you write course descriptions to go along with the transcript since there aren't any "textbooks"? We aren't logging in or anything. Just using the free Shared Content courses at home. Oh I hope there are no negative b/c this seems great! I wouldn't use all of them but just a few to save $. They even have AP level courses. Now I realize I can't call it AP on the transcript or take the AP test and get college credit but it would be nice to get the AP level "teaching" for free! I would love to hear anyone's experience/thoughts about GVL. Thx!