I have a just turned 3 year old who has been begging to learn how to read. I picked up 100ez lessons and started in mid January. We are halfway through (we do about 5-8 lessons a week depending on her interest). The lessons are just the right amount of challenge and the format suits her well. Each lesson takes 10-15 min to complete. My question is what do we do next. Do we just follow the list in the back of 100 EZ and read through those or should we continue with another curriculum? My thought was to get her reading at a basic level and then just read and enjoy that time. She's so young, I have no concerns about grammar or spelling or anything like that. The only reason I chose an actual curriculum is I wanted to make sure she had a good solid phonics background. Is there another curriculum I need to continue with to make sure that phonics base is there or can we wait until we get to spelling? Thanks!

Luanne -- I would highly recommend going the community college route. At least in Colorado, the community colleges are decent, the credits are guaranteed transferable (within the Colorado college system), and they even offer online classes. The prices are pretty cheap,too. She would need to apply and take some placement tests -- and she will most likely need to do some remedial work in math. That is perfectly fine -- they have plenty of those classes with good individual tutoring available (I know this from personal experience). They have counselor's available she can talk with who can help her select the correct classes -- for instance, she may be ready for introduction to Literature but probably doesn't want to take Biology I just yet. The community colleges also have excellent activities, ranging from student government to sports, that would give her an opportunity to get involved with other "involved" students (people who are older or working full-time don't usually do the extra stuff). Since she has graduated from high school, she is eligible for financial aid -- and make sure she checks out any transfer scholarships; for some, you have to sign up the first semester to get the most money. good luck -- and email me if you have any questions, I attended Pikes Peak Community College for two years and my son also took classes there. All the Colorado Community colleges are consolidated into the same system, so they all operate very similiarly.

I am on the college confidential website far too often -- but I have learned quite a bit over the past three years of perusing the board, and I have made some changes in our strategy because of what we learned. I post as hsmomstef (for "homeschool mom stef") which seems to confuse some people, but I post quite a bit. One of the best things I have learned from collegeconfidential comes from reading the "chances" threads -- I like to look at what some of these kids have done and if it is something that one of my sons might be interested in, I look into it. For example, I had never heard of a high school kid "interning" at a professional's office before. I had heard of assisting when doing research or volunteering, but never an internship. Some kids listed internships in very diverse areas -- psychology, archeaology, historic restoration, etc. My older son's passion is world religions -- so after reading about these different "internships", I talked to my son about it and he asked a local college chaplain if he could be an "intern". The answer was yes -- and the experience was fantastic! Other things I have learned about have been summer opportunities, financial aid -- and probably the most important thing our family has learned (which most of the kids that read College Confidential have not learned) is that following your passions is important, depth over breadth is respected and that just being a nice person who did everything they were told to do doesn't win awards or get you into top schools. They are looking for out-of-the-box thinkers who are willing to take a stand.

To address the issue of Dual Enrollment vs. AP testing -- The first issue is that many colleges will not accept Community College credits -- so you want to investigate that issue if it is important to you. My son took CC classes but is wasn't important to him that they transfer. AP test scores are accepted more readily by all colleges -- so if you aren't sure what colleges your students might want to attend and you have some elite or small LAC schools on the list, AP might be the way to go. As far as why a college would prefer AP test scores over CC classes it has to do with being able to compare students. The same AP test is given to all students -- so they are better able to compare how each student did. With CC classes it is well known that many are not even as good as a high school honors class -- with little analysis or writing involved in the learning process. There are also excellent CC classes out there -- but the quality is not even and colleges (other than the local one) do not have the knowledge or time to know whether an "A" at your local community college is worth a 5 on the AP test. One solution is to do both (which is what my son did for a few of the tests) -- take the community college class, supplement with some independent study and take the AP test. If your student doesn't have the opportunity to take CC classes (or you don't want them to), there are some excellent online courses. The PA Homeschooler's online classes are very well known and the kids do very well on the tests. FVS is also good -- but expensive, check out the online classes through the Center for Talent Development and some of the other online high schools that are associated through various universities. http://www.pahomeschoolers.com/courses/ http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/learning/coursesap.html (this program offers good financial aid, and requires qualification which can be done by testing or portfolio) http://epgy.stanford.edu/ohs/AcademicProgram2008-09.pdf (Financial aid is available) http://epgy.stanford.edu/courses/ (financial aid is available) there are many more options -- do a google search. Although it is a good idea to have some standardized courses when it comes time to applying to colleges, don't think you have to duplicate the high school transcript of your local public or private school. It is the uniqueness of the homeschool transcript that will make your student stand out. So -- even if there isn't an AP test that corresponds with Asian history, if that is your student's passion then that is the class he or she should take.

I live just north of downtown Colorado Springs -- have been here for almost 3 years now. Before that, we lived in Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana and Kansas. We homeschooled our boys using an ecletic mix based around the Well Trained Mind, but unfortunately both kids have moved on to other opportunities. My oldest is completing his first year of a two year IB program at the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales (full scholarship for all kids accepted). He absolutely loves it -- and his unique background from homeschooling really set him apart. My youngest is completing 8th grade at the local middle school where he is at the top of his class in a middle years IB program. Homeschooling was not a good fit for this kid (he is definitely extrinsically motivated!) but the years that we did homeschool set an excellent foundation and I would change a thing. It seems like the IB middle years program here takes quite a few kids who were homeschooled for elementary. He is applying to attend a boarding school for high school -- so we really don't know where he will be next year. I enjoyed reading the forums and I pop in every now and then to catch up -- I am now back in school to get my elementary education degree and teaching license, so hopefully I can be one of those "homeschool friendly" teachers in the future. Stef

I live just north of downtown Colorado Springs -- have been here for almost 3 years now. Before that, we lived in Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana and Kansas. We homeschooled our boys using an ecletic mix based around the Well Trained Mind, but unfortunately both kids have moved on to other opportunities. My oldest is completing his first year of a two year IB program at the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales (full scholarship for all kids accepted). He absolutely loves it -- and his unique background from homeschooling really set him apart. My youngest is completing 8th grade at the local middle school where he is at the top of his class in a middle years IB program. Homeschooling was not a good fit for this kid (he is definitely extrinsically motivated!) but the years that we did homeschool set an excellent foundation and I would change a thing. It seems like the IB middle years program here takes quite a few kids who were homeschooled for elementary. He is applying to attend a boarding school for high school -- so we really don't know where he will be next year. I enjoyed reading the forums and I pop in every now and then to catch up -- I am now back in school to get my elementary education degree and teaching license, so hopefully I can be one of those "homeschool friendly" teachers in the future. Stef

I am not familiar with UVA's summer program -- but I have heard good things about the new Middlebury-Monterey Language Institute that will be offered this year. http://www.mmla.middlebury.edu/ They offer programs for grades 7-12 and the Middlebury College language program has such a great reputation, I think that this one will be fantastic. My son is applying for Spanish for this summer -- so I guess we will find out. They emailed me a code to waive the $55 registration fee, so if anyone wants to know what it is just email me.

My 18 year old is reading Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand (his current passion is Tibetan Buddhism) and my 14 year old is reading Huckleberry Finn (and enjoying it). I am am reading Your Inner Economist (for my college class) and Shadow Music (I admit -- I love good romance novels!). It will be interesting to see how this post turns out -- I love the new format!