Try over on the High School boards. I've heard really good things about PA Homeschooler's AP classes.

In PA several of the degree granting organizations will designate if something is honors level. Basically, you have to surpass whats written in your curriculum, in depth. You should also write more papers, maybe do extra experiments. Go above and beyond. It's not you that marks the class off as honors, it's your evaluator. Then in the future, your transcript comes from the degree granting org, and will be marked as honors.

Dream come true! Can't wait to find out more!

This is great! Thank you!

I'll second Oak Meadow. My highly creative son loved the Oak Meadow middle school curriculum. They have wonderful assignment choices with each lesson, sometimes they are writing, sometimes they are more artistic. There are many times when they need to make a poster, or brochure, which would be great for a budding graphic designer. My son also wrote a lot of play and movie scripts about his history lessons (this was a choice often).

Thanks for the suggestion. Some of them are going on my list. :laugh:

I'm looking for some suggestions. What do you guys suggest for a 9th grade boy, that is an avid reader, and is advanced? I have my list of classics for next year, but I'd like to add in some fun modern books. He's in a dystopic literature phase right now, and is currently reading 1984. No Vampires, but Zombies are welcome. :lol: Thanks! Abby

I've never used OPGTR, but I have used 100EZ Lessons with my youngest two, and another little girl that I was homeschooling. It was quick, easy, and got them all reading very well. I did use some Hooked on Phonics a long the way for each of them, mostly for the cute little readers though.

Oh, also, to the Lesson Quizzes and Chapter Tests I add essays, and for science, short answer and maybe some diagramming.

ktgrok, Oh yeah, my son has definitely experienced that! The Activity Quizzes have 5, Lesson Quizzes have 10 and the Chapter tests have 20, I think. But yeah, he could sit and talk to me about everything he learned, in detail, and still only score a 40% on the Activity Quizzes. Not all the time, but enough to upset him. We decided to use the Activity Quizzes as if they are questions that come after readings in a text book, so I don't use the grades, and he's allowed use notes and his book. I don't do this for the Lesson Quizzes and Chapter Tests though. It's funny, he'll get a string of 100%s for the activity quizzes then a few horrible scores. Nothing in between.

We have been using T4L's Physical Science for my oldest. He's really happy with it and is learning a ton. I match the lessons up with a text book, and add in some more projects and labs though. He's also doing T4L's US Govt, Algebra 1 (a long with other supplements) and the English 1 (along with other sources). I started using it because I've been sick with Lupus, and I needed something easier for me, but, he seems to be learning so much more this way that we'll probably keep it up. That being said, we just got his standardized test results back, and he scored in the 90th percentile. So, he hasn't lost anything by using it this year. We've always used t4l in some capacity, not as a stand a lone curriculum though. I will say, Science is not my thing, so he always thought science was boring. This year he told me that he actually really likes science now. So there you go.

Education-portal, I just stumbled upon this the other day. What a great resource!!!!

Actually, World History has 325 activities. The demo that you saw was probably just demo legnth because most of the lessons are much longer than that. Each lesson generally has two lectures (about 10-20 minutes each), then other T4L'ish activities, then a few questions, which are all in one lesson, then an activity quiz that will be about 10 quesitons, after that, there is usually an oddysey writer that usually takes my son about an hour to do for homework (because my son really takes his time, or daydreams, not sure which) Here's a link to see the lesson breakdown... http://www.time4learning.com/scope-sequence/index.shtml Edited to fix web link.

Sure. We bought a lab kit from esciencelabs.com.

We are using it. My oldest is really learning a lot. But, it's just part of our curriculum. We also use labs, and textbooks that we match up with the lessons in t4l. That being said, he has learned so much with their Physical Science class, so much more than I could have ever done with him. We are not a science family, but now, all of a sudden, my son is. It's really sparked something in him. Also, I've really enjoyed the Odyssey Writer assignments in his Government course. They've really opened up a lot of discussions for us. All in all, I'm happy with it. It's made a good addition to our school days.

I do think it's enough for Middle and high school. But, just like the above poster, we've added readings, and labs. I have one son doing Middle School, and one doing Physical Science, on the high school side. I'm very surprised at how much they are learning. Def George Wolf, my oldest loves him. The woman is not as animated, so my son always groans when she's on. But, he learns a lot from both of them.

My seven year old has been married to the same little girl since he was five. They got married in the church parking lot. Sadly, I only found out about it after, so I missed the whole thing.

I was complaining about this to my husband today! It's all very distracting! I was excited about it, but now, I don't think so. Maybe if I view it as a normal teen melodrama, and forget that it's loosely based on real historical people (kind of), then it would be okay?

Yes, I have. I don't watch all of them. He's doing Physical Science and American Govt. They don't seem dumbed down to me, certainly more than I learned in my country bumpkin high school. He's actually really into Government right now, more than he would have been with just reading his text book. He talks about the US Govt all the time now. I don't have him do all of the literature coursework, just certain things here and there. It's interesting, because sometimes he gets upset, because the lecturer is pinging on something that he will find unimportant, so we'll discuss it together. The other thing it's doing for him, it's teaching him how to take notes while someone is teaching. For an 8th grader, he's getting really good at it. While the instructor is teaching, they will show highlights for the child to copy. For science, we are using Holt Science and Tech: Physical Science. He'll do the chapter in the book, that corresponds with whatever is next in the t4l lineup, and I have to say, they correlate VERY well. I was surprised. He's using Civics Today for Civics, we stretched it with other things to make it US Government. He's learning far more from the lectures on T4L than he was from the book. But, the book is a good Cliff Note for studying. All in all I'm pretty happy with what he is learning, but I wouldn't do it without a text book, and assignments. 0h, another thing, on assignments, they do actually have writing assignments, and they are actually thought provoking for him. And, they have "Authentic Tasks" which will be a worksheet to print out, to read and complete. So, we'll look at something that the President said, and pull it apart, and see how it relates to other issues. Right now, he has to choose five Amendments to the Constitution, write them in his own words, and tell how they can be used, and he just finished going through the Constitution and highlighting whether each amendment deals with Executive, Judicial, or Legislative. That said, I do add other writing assignments for him. He enjoys it, so I beef that part up for him. --ab

I use the high school courses for my 8th grader. They work for him, but I do beef them up quite a bit. We also use text books a long with them, and add writing assignments. I basically use them as a sort of "teacher lecture", then go further. He's learning a ton, so it's working for us. I also have it for my other two (both elementary), it's purely supplemental. I also need it as a substitute teacher when I get sick (Lupus).

My son is just getting over a concussion from heading the ball, another boy on his team has a concussion right now, from heading the ball. A girl on my husband's team has a concussion from getting a ball kicked in her face. I think we are instituting helmets, this is crazy. Soccer is brutal.

My DH is considered essential... for now. Word is still out on whether he'll get paid normally, or after all this is over. They have their meeting about it tomorrow.

We use it here, because I have Lupus, and have times when I can't do much. I heavily supplement. We love it, and it's been a life saver for me. Remember, there are worksheets to print out in math, so that makes it better, I think. With the language arts, I would definitely add in more writing, grammar, and literature.

I have a BA in Visual and Performing Arts, with an emphasis in Graphic Design and a minor in Art History and Theory. Worked for about ten years, but am home full time now, and I love it. DH was in the Navy, and now works for the Navy as a civilian.

I know this probably isn't the case with your son, but, my son seemed to stare into space, and zone out all the time. Turned out that he was actually having seizures. I finally realized it while watching him on the basketball court, he did it there. Just stopped and stood there, then came right back and started running again. He was having up to 500 a day, but they only lasted a few seconds. I would have him checked out.