Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML was a great book. This resource got me up and running a website within hours. (I would recommend any book by Head First, as I love that style.) Is he only interested in the programming part, or would making the website graphically appealing be interesting too? If so here is a place that offers free lessons in web graphic design and marketing, to help "sell" your product better. http://www.bigbrandsystem.com/

The Ring of Fire kits are excellent kits that are labs for a geology or earth science class. Each kit comes with several rocks with labs that involve classifying, identifying, and learning about each type of rocks. The AIG materials are really just materials that help you understand all the evolution material presented by the typical geology book but in a young earth perspective. Not a stand alone material, but rather a supplement. There are several high school earth science books and saxon homeschool has one with books, lesson and lab plans, schedules, and tests. (At a high price too!) I taught Earth Science at a coop one year. We just used a high school earth science book, and then supplemented with the AIG material and showed some of their DVDs as extra. The Ring of Fire kits were used for several weeks of labs meeting once a week. Earth Science covers a lot of material and goes beyond geology. I liked the high school science books for the younger grades, rather than use the college book. I used an old, old version of the Glencoe Earth Science book because it was cheap. This was full of photos from the National Geographic Society. The version used was: ISBN --0078215919 .

For the second year and the second time through, reviewing is fine. When you go through the system, you make vocabulary cards. The program gives you many different ways to review the cards. So if you did the roots one year, then I would just bring the cards back again the next year and follow the schedule to keep up with biology, or there is a list of the words that apply to each Module. The second time through you could just pull out all the words for Module 1 and go through them all at once since the student will be somewhat familiar with the roots. There is also a set of cards partially made and sold to go with the Biology words. I felt the cards were worth the cost. You can buy from the author or Rainbow Resource.

Since I have lived in several place throughout the US, I have noticed that different states, or areas require different classes. Where I grew up, Biology was a 10th grade class and still is a 10th grade class. However, where I live now Biology is a 9th grade class and has been for a long time. Apologia is written so a 9th grade student can take biology. This is especially true if an 8th grade student took Physical Science. Each Apologia book gets a little bit longer and a little bit harder. However, Biology is very, very vocabulary intense. If the student has a hard time with memorizing, then Biology can be very difficult. If your student had no problem with Physical Science, then I would continue with the Apologia pace and start Biology. Many college want to see three (and sometimes four) lab science classes for entrance criterion. Biology is always considered a lab science, but earth science or environmental may or may not be considered a lab science.

The Vocabulary Vine has included a schedule with how many words to study every day if you start the vocabulary program at the same time you start Apologia Biology. Vocabulary Vine also has an appendix that includes a schedule if you start the year before. The first 7 modules of the Apologia Biology book are very heavy with vocabulary. So with the vocabulary vine, they are learning both the definitions of the introduced vocabulary and the root meanings. This is a lot of vocabulary, but it is doable. The load lightens during the second half of the book. Starting a year ahead can be beneficial, but then the words do not really relate to anything the student is studying in science unless they are completing a life science. Mixing the science words up with the regular root words might also be a good fit if you start a year ahead.

My ds took biology in a coop class. He started out the year wanting to be a doctor and ended up the year hating biology, and never dreamed of becoming a doctor again. Not because of coop, but because of the book. My guess is there are many things happening as the students grow older that change their mind about what they use to love. We had a dear friend that wanted to be a marine biologist since 2nd grade. She talked about it all the time, and it was a big part of her life. When she took biology in 9th grade, she realized that a marine biologist would have to get wet and spend time in the water! Well she never talked about that career again. Since DS hated biology that year so much, I pulled him out of coop and completed chemistry at home the next year. What a flop! He hated that worse. Science at home was also no fun for him. He decided he would rather be miserable in the company of other students than miserable at home by himself. We completed Apologia Chemistry at home, because that is what the books are made for, he did most of it by himself with no help from me. Camilla

No, Until they want to be organized with an organizer, it isn't going to happen. Oldest DS missed a test in Calculus in first semester of college because the professor wrote about the test on the syllabus and never mentioned it in class. Son had to drop class because of an F on one test. I made him pay to take Calculus again the next semester. (Expensive lesson because it is a 5 credit class.) And the 2nd semester he still missed a few quizzes in other classes. By the third semester of college he started using a calendar on his phone. Every semester I made him read an organization book, or watch an organization video, or even take a study skills/ organization class. It didn't help! (These books, videos, and classes started his first year of high school.) And I can relate because I also do not have a "planner" gene. I cannot use a planner because I do not open it ever! What is the point of writing down stuff if you will never, ever see it again? Camilla

My first DS was doing so well in Algebra that I decided to continue on with Algebra 2 and then we did Geometry. He had no problems with this sequence until he hit PreCalc And just like Jann stated in an earlier message, Pre-Calc was a disaster. DS flunked the first PreCalc test, and we had to go into a major Algebra2 review for the next month to get him back to a decent level. (Every free moment we had was spent on Algebra Review.) To this day, I feel that the Algebra1 - Algebra2 - Geometry sequence really hurt his level of confidence and the good feelings about math. Algebra 2 has a nice built in review of Algebra 1. PreCalc just hits the floor running. Second DS took Algebra 1 in 8th and Geometry in 9th. He did great in Algebra 1, but again I see the huge growth in his mental capacity since taking Algebra 1. He is now so much more capable and I am so happy Algebra 2 starts off with a review. I am sure he will understand Algebra with much more clarity. Camilla