Oldest ds (13) just completed the Kid Coder books. He absolutely loved them and can't wait for the HTML books to come out this summer. I don't know about high school credit for the Kid Coder as he just did them for fun. I can't really see giving high school credit for them without majorly beefing them up because he went through both of them in about 2 1/2 months. (It is his passion though!) Maybe someone will chime in about credit for the Teen Coder. In the back of my head, I am planning on using the Teen Coders for 8th and 9th grade and then an AP Comp Sci in 10th grade. I have no BTDT experience though.

Thank you very much! This gives her a place to start! :-)

Thank you. Yes, he is reading below level, but making improvement. Over the last year he went from a ~first grade reading level to a ~third/fourth grade reading level. I would expect that he's working below grade level in most subjects as this particular public school systematically scores well below average on standardized testing. I would love to be able to help her with recommendations, but realized that they might be totally wrong for a person with dyslexia. (For example, we use Sonlight Science 1-6th grade. I think this might be a little overwhelming because of the amount of reading for him. Maybe not?) I thought I'd check with you guys before recommending anything! Oh, and they are not religious people. They're not anti-religion, but I'm thinking many of the programs I've used might not be comfortable for them (e.g., Rod and Staff spelling & grammar). Do you have examples of dyslexia remediation programs? Do you mean programs recommended on this page? http://www.avko.org/...urces_hsers.htm

My friend's son is not getting the support he needs at the local public school and she is considering homeschooling him next year for sixth grade. Our state requires us to "provide a sequentially progressive curriculum of fundamental instruction in reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, and health." Do you have any specific curricula suggestions for these categories for a brand new homeschooler with a dyslexic sixth grader? It would be preferable to have programs that are not extremely expensive.

Thank you very much for this!

We have the documentary "National Geographic: Inside 9/11". I think it is extremely well done. To go along with it, we also purchased the book "Life: One Nation: America Remembers September 11, 2001".

I'm researching Civil Air Patrol (again!) for my oldest son and found this thread helpful. Thank you! We have a very busy summer ahead of us and the plan is to contact the squadron nearest to us in August.

I got to the point where I started looking for negative reviews & haven't come across a single product reviewed negatively yet in a homeschooling magazine! How is that even possible?!?!

So fantastic! Congratulations!!! :thumbup:

:bigear:

Ds received a no today, too. This is the first time he's applied for a competitive admission program, and we weren't sure what to expect. He's a little fish in a big pond, I guess.

I have no experience with MathTeacher.com, but my son is currently on Chapter 13 of Foerster's Algebra using Math Without Borders. I taught the first half of the year myself, but when we got to chapter 8 in February and ds had some questions that I was unable to clearly answer, I panicked and bought the DVD. I am so glad that I did! Ds has found his explanations to be very thorough and helpful. Mr. Chandler also introduced a couple of free computer programs (Graphmatica and Calc98) that ds found very helpful that I had no idea existed. I am very pleased with Math Without Borders. That said, I will be using Derek Owens for Geometry as I was nervous about correcting proofs on my own and couldn't find any homeschool reviews for the Geometry text Mr. Chandler uses. I plan to come back to Math Without Borders for Algebra II because I really want ds to use Foerster’s Algebra and Trigonometry. Hope this helps!

Thank you! We'll go with the online!

I have been completely impressed with BJU Earth Science this year, and want oldest ds to take their Physical Science next year (8th grade). I also want to do BJU Life Science next year with younger ds. I taught Earth Science with labs myself this year, but think doing two levels of BJU science with labs would be too much for me! Can you share the pluses and minuses of the Physical Science DVD vs. Online?

I feel exactly the same way! I'm tired and burnt out. The skies are grey and rainy. The boys and dog keep tracking mud into the house. Notebook covers are torn. Books are a little worse for the wear. I'm happy with our curricula, but tired of the routine of everything. I want to be on a hot, sunny beach. With any rum drink. Listening to the waves and birds.

See, to me, this article seems to make the case for what the girl in the WSJ essay was arguing. She had a 4.5 and 2120 SAT, which apparently are not competitive, yet people in the article with much, much lower stats were admitted to a competitive program because they had some sort of hook. Student with 1300 SAT V/M, one AP class, and a couple of C's -- admitted Student with SAT of 1220 and class valedictorian - admitted Student with 640 math/ 460 reading - admitted

I thought it was much meaner. Seriously, who stalks a high school student to the point where they identify online where she lives and to whom she's related? I think that is really creepy. I'm certainly not going to Google Caity in order to expose her online and put her in her place.

Love this family! Thanks for sharing!

I wasn't sure, but I found this on the website under FAQ: What is the typical grade level for students using SAM? SAM Animation is generally targeted towards children in kindergarten and up. What is the typical grade level of students using Alice 2? Alice 2 is generally targeted towards children in sixth grade and up. What is the typical grade level of students using Alice 3? Alice 3 is generally targeted towards children in tenth grade and up. ETA: This page http://www.cs2n.org/teachers has specific grade recommendations for activities.

Ds has been interested in DARPA after seeing this TED talk: We saw this posted by DARPA last week and ds has been having a lot of fun with it. I thought others here might have interested students as well. :) DARPA COMPUTER SCIENCE STEM PROGRAM SUPPORTS PRESIDENT’S EDUCATE TO INNOVATE CAMPAIGN In the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) comparison, American students ranked 21st out of 30 in science literacy among students from developed countries. The President’s Educate to Innovate campaign seeks to improve the participation and performance of America’s students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). One way DARPA supports the Educate to Innovate campaign is through the Computer Science – STEM (CS-STEM) program. CS-STEM seeks to help close the science literacy gap by creating online, collaborative networks of students that encourage CS education and skills through compelling games. The Computer Science Student Network (CS2N) is an online network developed by DARPA performer Carnegie Mellon University to help students and teachers learn to solve computer science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (CS-STEM) problems. Students may create accounts and learn CS skills to create animations, program virtual robots, build video games and more – all through fun and engaging activities. One of the most compelling features of the web application allows students to develop prototype software to control commercially available robots in virtual worlds without actually needing a physical robot. Thus, multiple students can develop software for a single robot or software development can be done at home and tested at school. CS2N also offers scenarios that allow students to develop software to control multiple robots interoperating with each other (multi-robot communications). At the same time, the site provides tutorials on the underlying mathematics and engineering concepts required for software/hardware development.

This is how I felt last year, but I'm so glad that I had my math/science guy do Omnibus! He is planning an engineering future and most of those majors leave little room for humanities. I figured that his only chance to go through the great books would be pre-college. Omnibus has challenged and broadened him more than I hoped for. My guy is doing the online classes, but I would think there would be similar benefits from the self-paced class.

We have no experience with First Form or the Latin Transition I, but my 12 yo is currently in VPSA's Latin I. My ds used LfC A-C and Latin Alive I. As a parent, I am loving the VPSA classes. They are teaching far beyond my level of teaching and pulling things out of Ds that I didn't know (but hoped!) were there. I appreciate the format (Wimba classrooms) especially after seeing how other online classes operated. I have found that the teachers communicate expectations/assignments/grades clearly. Ds is learning so much in his Latin class and he really enjoys it. I have already signed him up for Latin II next year.

Thanks, Kristie. :) We started ch 8 in Foerster's Algebra I last week and while ds did fine on the exercises, I knew I wasn't teaching it as well as it could be done. I panicked and bought the Algebra 1 Home Study Companion. We started ch. 8 over with the DVD yesterday and are enjoying it. And, yay for Graphmatica and Calc98! I very much appreciate Mr. Chandler's introduction of these programs! I had no idea they existed. Originally, I planned to teach geometry because I enjoyed it so much in high school, but this second half of Algebra I has made me rethink that decision. I hadn't heard the text Mr. Chandler uses for geometry, Geometry: A Guided Inquiry, mentioned here before and not many reviews came up on a Google search. I really don't have the expertise to know what makes a good geometry program. I was hoping someone here had used it, but it doesn't seem like anyone has.

I am really struggling with picking a geometry curriculum for next year. Ds loves math, wants a STEM-type career, and is going beyond my ability to teach well. (Algebra this year has really challenged me to the point where I feel I may be doing him a disservice if I continue to be his sole math instructor.) I am considering Geometry w/ Math Without Borders, but have not found many reviews. Is there a reason why this program is not popular? Is this a good Geometry program? If not, what might be a better text w/ a DVD or online class? Thank you.

I will try posting there. Thank you.