My science-loving ds really enjoyed his AP Econ class this year. It also pushed him into an unfamiliar area and was a nice elective for him. I would explore the AP French although some colleges will not accept AP credit for a foreign language if it is your native language. Here's just one school's policy that I quickly found: Students are not eligible to receive credit for AP foreign language exams that are the same as their native language. However, they may receive credit for AP foreign literature exams that are the same as their native language. Best to check with a few of the colleges your child might apply to first. Carole

Depends upon what the middle school chemistry was. For my ds' middle school chemistry we used a high school level chemistry book For his middle school physics we used a high school level physics book. He's a kid that for fun reads science textbooks. I don't foresee my next ds taking very many AP science classes or tests. He doesn't live-and-breath science.

DS took AP Biology and Chem with PA HSers. AP Physics he is doing on his own with the help of a Physics grad student (wish we had found him at the begining of the year) AP Biology was wonderful - great --- Dr. Gross was a great teacher, interacted with her students and while the students didn't interact a great deal with each other it was really a positive experience. The negative is that Dr. Gross' last year with PA HS'ers is this year. She feels the need to spend more time hs'ing her own dd and an online class is really, really time consuming for the involved teacher (I know, I teach AP Stat for PA HS'ers). I don't know that PA HS'ers has anyone else lined up to replace her. AP Chem was through PA HS'ers. Peter can also be found through ChemAdvantage. He was great to work with, organized class structure but little interaction between the students. If my DS had taken these equivalent classes at the CC I would NOT have had him sit for the AP test. The grade from the CC course is what I would have supplied to the college / placed on his high school transcript. There is a huge possibility that the CC class would not have prepared him for the AP test. Carole

I won't disagree with you --- my DS did just that. Strong chemistry and physics in 7th and 8th grade, life science course in 9th then: AP Bio 10th AP Chem 11th AP Physics C 12th Worked (and he enjoyed having the challenging courses) Carole

Thank you! Sounds wonderful. I can see myself using the online grammarian too. I just placed my order over at homeschool-buyers co-op: http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/grammarlogues Carole

We've had the "College Acceptances and/or Scholarship" thread, and the "College List" thread so I thought it would be fun to hear where our kids have decided to head and how they arrived at their decision. Today DS asked me to register him with the University of Delaware. Deposit was made. It wasn't his first choice but when he looked at the cost of attending the local school -- and the large merit scholarship -- verses going anywhere else the decision was made. We drove over to UD and walked the campus-a first for DH. Lovely place, DS seems quite happy too :) He's now looking over courses and trying to figure out how he might do a dual major: Chemical Engineering and Quantitative Biology. Carole

This was posted on my hs2coll yahoo group. The hs mom is asking other hs'ers to get the word out and vote for her son's project. Here is her email: Head on over to: http://www.conradawards.org/index.php?option=com_jreviews&Itemid=287 click on the button on the right side --- SUBMIT YOUR VOTE Use the pull-down to find RAMANA and cast a vote for him. Pass this on to others to vote too. I did receive one email after casting my vote thanking me for the vote. Carole

We just went through this process this past weekend. As others posted we used the online method of declining the offer if there was a means to do that. In addition DS hand-wrote a letter to each institution (7 letters) stating that he was declining their offer and planned to head to XYZ. For one school he expressed how difficult a decision it was but in the end, financially, he cannot afford to attend their school. All the letters were sent to the school's admission's office. The letters all went out in Monday's mail. He's down to two schools---the one he'll attend and the one he won't. Carole

Thank you Kareni and Kathy, :) The way I operate the class is that most every evening I post a Daily Message expounding on key concepts and explaining in greater detail statistical concepts and vocabulary they need to master, and the focus for the coming day--daily lecture notes. The Daily Message also lists the problems and readings the student should tackle for the day or discusses the activity we might be working through, or provides advice on how to study for an upcoming chapter test. Students ask questions of their peers and of me on our communication board. Obviously since we are not all meeting at the same time a student will make a post and sometime later that day or evening another student will come to the board and answer the question and post their responses. As Karen noted, I visit the board often responding to most every post. My DS has taken 7 AP classes from PA HS'er classes and I know how he enjoys quick feedback. That's why this past year I started IM chats via AIM, Facebook and Windows Live. Some students schedule a time to meet with me, others will notice that I am online and quickly IM a question to me. Either works. Carole

The last college letter came in the mail today, a big fat envelope with CONGRATULATIONS written across it. DS was so hoping Lehigh would come through with more merit aid then they did. DS was accepted to: University of Delaware, Case Western Reserve, CO School of Mines, Drexel (PA), Lehigh(PA), Rose-Hulman, Tulane, RPI (NY), Stony Brook University --- all acceptances. Merit scholarship from each: with most coming in covering a little more than 1/2 of their tuition cost. This still left a hefty sum for us to cover, except for University of Delaware. This past week U of DE totally shocked us by awarding DS a hefty merit scholarship. Far above what we had hoped DS might be awarded. Combined with a DE Engineering Scholarship DS won in early February, the two will cover about 90% of his tution cost. :) He / we'll still have to come up with room & board but the cost will be substantially smaller than any of the other schools on the list. I'm thrilled! DS really wanted to go some place COLD and SNOWY and far-away from home but has really warmed up to the idea of attending U of DE. He plans upon majoring in Chemical Engineering and the University's Chem E program has an excellent reputation, even outside of Delaware. He will live on campus and I promised him that I would not pop-in to see him. Now, how do I combat senioritis? :bigear: Carole

Blue Hen - ds - University of Delaware, Case Western Reserve, CO School of Mines, Drexel (PA), Lehigh(PA), Rose-Hulman, Tulane, RPI (NY), Stony Brook University --- all acceptances. Brigid in NC - ds - accepted @ Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, North Carolina State (attending) CherylG's ds-UCLA, graduated, UCSB, UCSD, Westmont, all accepted. UMD-attending for master's in engineering. CherylG's dd-SBCC school of nursing-graduated. Creekland's ds - Covenant College, Union University, Calvin College - all acceptances at this point. Deb in NZ's dd - Bay of Plenty Polytechnic (begin Feb 2010) dkholland- ds - Covenant College (accepted), Patrick Henry College (accepted) Grove City College Gwen in VA -- Washington & Lee (attending); acceptances from U Chicago, U Pitt, U Dallas, U Delaware, Hillsddale, UVA, William & Mary, College of Wooster, Case Western Kate in FL-ds-Cornell University (accepted Early Decision so all other apps had to be withdrawn) Kathy in Richmond - ds - MIT (attending), also accepted at Caltech, Carnegie Mellon, U Michigan, and UVA. Kathy in Richmond - dd - accepted at MIT, Caltech, U Chicago, William & Mary, and awaiting 3 more decisions Katia - ds- Ellsworth Community College (AA Computer Science) , Anderson University-attended , University of Northern Iowa (BA Computer Science), Kansai Gaidai University, Kyoto, Japan-attended Katia - dd#1- Hilldale College-attending , accepted at: Luther College, Ball State University, University of Northern Iowa, Oberlin College Conservatory of Music Katia- dd#2 - applying to: Hillsdale College , Warner University (accepted) Lady Lorna - dd accepted at Fordham University, Hillsdale College, The King's College, Middlebury College, St John's College, Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, Thomas Aquinas College. Still waiting to hear from Columbia University, Harvard University, Princeton University, Trinity College, Yale University, The University of Chicago LaJuana - dd#1 University of Dallas - graduated Summa cum Laude. Also accepted to Hillsdale. LaJuana - ds#1 University of Dallas - graduated Summa cum Laude. Also accepted to Hillsdale. Attending Westminster Theological Seminary (MDiv). LaJuana dd#2 Attending Oklahoma City University Bass School of Music (Musical Theatre and Vocal Performance). Also accepted at Samford University (AL), Whitworth University (WA), George Fox University (OR), Covenant College (GA), Houghton College (NY), Oklahoma Christian University. LaJuana ds#2 Attending Whitworth University. Also accepted at University of Dallas. (Except for dd majoring in MT and VP, my dc knew where they wanted to go, applied to two schools only, and were accepted at both.) Laughing Lioness - DS -Boyce College (KY) attending. Accepted to Augustana College (SD) and St. Mary's School of Nursing (SD). Lisa in TN's dd - Vanderbilt University - attending. Liza Q's dd - Saint Francis College - attending. Kings College, St. John's University, Brooklyn College - accepted Luann in ID ds1 and ds2 - LeTourneau University - attending (They both knew they wanted to go there, so this is the only place they applied.) Margaret in CO--dd accepted to Western State College for dual credit, accepted to Hillsdale College, graduated, accepted to CU Boulder School of Music, finishing Master's Margaret in CO--dd accepted to Western State College for dual credit, accepted to USNA, attending finishing Firstie Year, accepted to flight school, acceptances: Hillsdale College, USAFA, USCGA, ERAU (on NROTC), School of Mines Margaret in CO--dd accepted to Western State College for dual credit I'm going to stick my should-have-been-son-in-law (killed last spring), accepted to Hillsdale College, transferred to WVU, graduated, accepted to Toledo Medical College. Mary in GA ds: Clayton State University (attended & transferred) Georgia Tech (attending) Michelle in GA ds- University of Georgia (accepted); Berry College (accepted); Georgia Tech (currently attending) Moira in MA dd -- Acceptances at Dalhousie U (Nova Scotia), McGill U (Montreal) Mommyfaithe's dd #1 (accepted College of St. Rose (NY) attended Sage College Albany, NY Graduated Summa Cum Laude Mommyfaithe's dd#2 Attending Russell Sage College. Accepted SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Albany, waiting to hear from Simmons College in Boston Mass. MSPolly's dd- Acceptances at Covenant(TN), Union U(TN), U of MS, Belhaven U(MS) Osmosis Mom Dd 1, Wellesley College (attending), accepted to Merrimack College, BU, Simmons, Emmanuel College Sharon in MD's ds-Drexel University -attending; UMBC-Meyerhoff program, UMD-College Park-College of Engineering, Messiah College- acceptances Susann-dd-Rose-Hulman, Purdue, University of Evansville, Trine, Taylor, Cedarville-acceptances Susie-Knits ds1 - Rose-Hulman, Valparaiso, U of Evansville, TN Tech - acceptances TransientChris's DS- George Mason U,attending; Hillsdale College- attended, Abilene Christian, Hampden-Sydney, St. Olaf- accepted Valerie(TX) - ds UT Arlington attended Valerie(TX) - dd accepted Biola (CA), Messiah (PA), Belhaven (MS), Mary Baldwin College (VA), UTA (TX), Hardin-Simmons (TX), Univ. of Mary Hardin-Baylor (TX), and Ouachita (AR). I'm missing one. ?? Outtamyshell - BYU Provo

Our experience with GC was just for a week-class, two classes, two teachers. It was a live class, for 2hrs with the instructor guiding the boys through the programming. (DS "the one instructor ran through things way too fast and the other went way too slow. And one week was way too short") They then had assignments to work on prior to the next class. Both weeks they took class it was either very hot or very rainy here which was good. The boys wanted to stay inside and work on their programs. I'm considering using them for this coming year but haven't even looked over what they might have. Last year it was not an option---they didn't offer their classes to folks outside WA. Carole

Hi Sue, My kids both took a couple classes from Giant Campus last summer. They enjoyed both of them --- C++ and game design. They only lasted a week, 2hrs/day, sorta a summer enrichment type class. I don't know about the other ones. Carole

I've had kids in the class report to me on the time spent and it has ranged from 5 to 12 hrs/week. Some kids need the additional time to learn how to operate their graphing calculator or additional time working through the math concepts. I ask too because I don't want them spending hours upon hours on my course. My son took AP Stat, AP Chem and AP English Composition all from PA HS'ers last year. He spent far more time on the English (~4-5 hrs/day) than the other two subjects combined even on their most time-demanding days. Yet I know several students who spent at most an hour/day on the AP Eng Comp course. It so depends upon our kids. Carole

I would replace the spelling with vocabulary work. Perhaps Vocabulary from Classical Roots would fit her. Different ages different stages. Spelling is a stage. It isn't a subject like math or science or writing or history that you really should invest time in year after year after year. IMHO, Carole

My DS started guitar at age 5, with a $50 guitar we purchased at our music store. The owner described it as one step above a play guitar. He played and took lessons for 2yrs before I added in the piano. We purchased a 3/4 size guitar for him. He lost interest in both :( This past summer DH motivated DS to pick the guitar back up. DH agreed that if DS played an hour a day for 6m they would build an electric guitar together. He's been using Utube and the internet to learn songs and is presently also building his second electric guitar. For his birthday we gave him a mandolian. Now the problem is that he is always playing one of his guitars :) Carole

We were the only homeschooling family in our church. I often had to pass the bean dip..... minister was an ex-school teacher, most of the congregation were school teachers...they all knew that they were schooling the right way.......I had enough and now we do our own home-church. Carole

I received an email from HS Buyers Co-op this morning describing Grammarlogues. Sounds interesting. Has anyone here used it or heard of it? Thanks, Carole

In our homeschool we instruct to mastery so my ds has all A's on his transcript. He also has grades from several online classes on his transcript. Since these were all A's too, in my mind it backed-up my mommy grades. I did explain our grading system, that we taught to mastery, in the homeschool profile document. I also wrote an ~20pp course description booklet. The internet came in very handy for this project. I spent hours and hours reading over high school course description documents, gaining an understanding / appreciation for how a course might be described and then wrote the descriptions for DS courses. Mine were written in future tense since that was the style of the course desciptions I read online. My thought was that that was the form familiar to the colleges. I did include a list of textbooks or books read as part of each course description. I did not find that to be the case with the online high school course descriptions but I wanted the colleges to see exactly what DS had used. Carole

I had one college (University of Delaware) tell me that they would accept an AP score of 4 or 5 in place of an SATII score. I had another college (CMU) tell me that they required SATII scores. Period. It didn't matter how many AP scores in science and math the kid had, they wanted SATII scores. Ask the college.

Delightful news Sharon!

Physics C Carole

I cannot drink items with caffeine. If I do my blood pressure shoots up. My ds reacts the same way, so did my mom and so do several siblings. For coffee I can have one, maybe two cups of decaf in the morning but not any later in the day. If I have coffee later in the day I will be up all night. I might have heartburn in the middle of the night too. If I drink decaf coffee day in and day out PMS will be awful. Sure it might be from some other reasons but this winter I've had one cup of decaf a week and have not had PMS, no mood swings ---- strange and I have no explanation. Carole

I have a wonderful library that ordered this book in for me. I really enjoyed it last night although I did not work through all the calculus he has in the book. The Calculus of Friendship: What a Teacher and a Student Learned about Life While Corresponding about Math Carole

{{{hugs}}} I'm mom to a fertility-drug baby who turns 14yo next week. I remember those days/months/years like they were yesterday. Waiting and hoping that it would work this time..... No vents today. Today was a great day. Oldest DS had a tour of a nearby lab and may have a job this summer working in an area he loves. DH bought me a 24" screen for my laptop and a wireless keyboard just cause. And my baby-who-will soon turn 14yo finished writing a 3 page paper on WWI today cause he felt like it. Life is good. Carole