I agree. I have done every core except 3 (which we will do next year) and have never purchased a full core. I would love to - but can't aford it. I have purchased the IG from Sonlight every time (I can afford that and feel I am leeping their excellent work going) and then I get the rest out the library (except the ones you need for the whole year which I look for used). Sometime we have to switch around the order of books we read, but it works out quite well. IT is so worth it - we love Sonlight. I just couldn't imagine using anything else. My kids love learning and retain so much. Meryl

I have never heard of anyone taking both CC classes and APs - they both serve the same purpose ie are a first year college level course. If you did the AP first, you would be covering the same work you would cover in the CC class (more-or-less). Meryl

My dd did it in 8th grade and my dd is doing it now as a freshman. I (and they) have like it though my son has had to get used to all the literature. SL does put a classic, then an easy read, then a classic etc ... so it is not as hard as it looks. We have only done SL in our 5 years homeschooling and we like it all. Meryl

My dd took AP World hist as a sophmore and AP Us Hist and Art History as a Junior (she took 4 others these past 2 weeks - but I can't tell you about those till her scores come out). She scored 5s on them all - and all were just done at home. We didn't even have a curriculum for Art History - she read Annotated Mona Lisa, she worked through a book Walsh puts out on 35 artists, she watched Sister Wendy videos, we wtahced Teaching Company videos on teh Louvre and then visited the Louvre (that was a nice field trip!!) - and then we foudn a AP test prep book on Amazon that had just come out and it had a CD with it with lots of pictures of art works. She loved studying for it, but felt there were big holes in her knowledge too. And she came back from the exam saying it was a nightmare - she'd hardly recognized any art works they'd given. So she guessed wildly and made things up. She is a good test taker and would have made educated guesses, but I would still say this can't be an extremely hard one to score well at as she got a 5. That said though, one of her friends who is at school did it as a school course and managed a 1! So, I guess my advice is - if she likes art, I would do it. Any AP looks good when applying for scholarships! Meryl

World magazine - all the latest news from a Christian perspective. We all love it. Meryl

My daughter has only used Apologia so I can't compare with anything else. She loved it, I am no scientist, so I was happy. She took the AP Chemistry test on Tuesday. On going through the Princeton Review book the few days before she said Apologia had prepared her really well for the test. She said there were no sections that she was clueless on. She was reasonably happy with the exam - I will have to wait until the results come out to tell you the end of my story. If she got a 4 ... I guess the Chemistry at least is adequate. I like the fact that she always understood what was going on - and the occasional time she had a question, she'd email Dr Wile and he replied within hours. Meryl

I have used My ACcess successfully with my high schoolers. SOnlight used to recommend them, but have stopped because too many people had technical issues using it (I didn't - but some people aren't good finding their way around computers) They have a new version out now that I will try with my 8yr old next year and one to prepare for the SAT writing portion, and I will try that too. It works on automatic grading and I have found it good as my kids write, the computer scores them, then I sit iwth them and we talk about how they can improve their writing (the program gives feedback). Then they make changes and usually their score improves and every one is happy! Meryl