Let me know when you are ready to register her, or if you have any questions about the class just email me: carolemath at atlanticbb dot net Since she's completed pre-calc she'll have the math skills for the math in ap statistics. PA HS'ers now issues a course transcript too. They send one at the end of the year to the parent for free. For a small fee they will send one to a college or a cover school. Carole

Hi Michelle, I teach AP Stat for PA HS'ers and registration begins in April or May. My suggestion is for you to E-mail the course teacher now and express interest in the course for your DC. Ask questions of the teacher if you have any about how the course is run, interaction between the student and teacher, workload, whether the teacher thinks this course is a good match for your dc..... Ask if there is an application for the course and if she/he can send you one. It might still be a bit early for the application but you could ask the teacher to send you one when she/he has it ready. I don't have mine ready yet but I do have 6 students waiting to receive the application. Fill out the application and send it back to the teacher. That teacher will then let you know that you are in the course. Once you hear from the teacher that your dc has been accepted into the class then you head back to the aphomeschoolers.com website and click upon "Enter Store" on the side bar. It is there but the AP Classes are not listed at this time. You can either submit your payment with a credit card over the Internet or send in your payment with a check or credit card number. The payment goes to PA HS'ers and then they pay the teachers over the course of the year. Some teachers are having an 'Early Bird Special.' If you register and pay for the course prior to some date (I'm not sure if the date is May 31 or June 15th or ???) then you pay less. All classes must be paid for prior to mid-August. Unlike some other online class providers that require payment upon registration you can register for a class in early May and then wait until mid-August to pay for the class. However, if the teacher had an Early Bird Special and you waited to pay then you would lose out on the lower price. :) Carole

I don't have the TE, just the books. My 8th grader is working through Alg 1 so let me share our week (it has been a good one). Monday we started a new chapter. I read the first section outloud as he followed along. We worked the examples together and did the oral exercises, orally. :) We moved to the Written Exercises: he did #1 and I did #2. We continued for a few more problems like this and then he went off and finished ALL the problems by himself. He returned and I checked his answers. Tuesday, I read the section outloud while DS followed along. Ditto to the previous day. He does a problem, I do a problem and we switch off like this until I feel comfortable with what he is doing. He then goes off and does both the even and odd problems. Wednesday, I read the section outloud while DS followed along. He announced that this was really easy and just like some stuff he remembered doing in Key to Algebra. He demonstrated to me that he knew what to do in that section and the next section. Since I remembered him doing this also I was quite comfortable with us skimming over the section quickly. He sat down though and did quite a number (about 20 each) of problems from each 'skipped' section. Now two weeks ago DS had some issue with exponents and how to work with them. We put Dolciani aside and just concentrated on that topic until DS was solid on it. I have a shelf of Alg 1 books so it is always easy to find additional problems :) I'm fine with the idea of not finishing the Alg 1 book in June. DS will just keep working in it until he is finished. If he finishes early then we'll move back into NEM.

:iagree: Call and ask the schools. I have found administration personnel to be quite helpful. BTW, my homemade transcript was readily accepted this year by both state and private universities. DS did have grades from other teachers and test scores (AP, SAT Subject 2, and SAT) that backed up my mommy-grades. Carole

For those folks looking, I just heard that PA HS'ers will be offering AP Physics B next year. Carole

My oldest DS has taken through PA HSers: Biology, Chemistry, Lang, Statistics, Computer Science, Calculus and Economics. (I teach their Statistics course) This response really surprised me: I've had girls tell me that PA HS'ers AP Lang taken in 9th grade was really easy for them. My DS struggled with the course--often spending 4-6hrs/day on the course!---however he does not like to write. Personally I would never recommend it as a first AP course but I know several families who did this when their 9th grader loved to write and already wrote very well and the kids (all girls) loved the course. I cannot imagine doing this as a first course but these families still recommend it as a first AP course. My oldest loved AP Bio, really, really enjoyed the course, the teacher and I believe it is still his favorite PA HS'ers course. I would never, ever enroll my youngest son into the class. He just isn't into that subject. I am considering having my youngest take AP Stat next year as a 9th grader because he is really into statistics. I would suggest to think about what subject areas your child enjoys and then investigate that subject area for their first AP course. If you let us know some possible subject areas then we might be able to give you a bit more guidance. Carole

Hi Christine, I'm PA HS'ers AP Stat teacher (and long-time WTM'er). AP Stat is doable for a 9th or 10th grader however they must have completed Algebra 2 prior to the course. While AP Stat does not require the student to write essays there is a writing component to the course. AP Stat is a different kind of math course and one a non-math or science student can take and succeed. The stronger the math skills the easier it will be. I do not consider it an easy AP course but it is easier than some other AP courses. PA HS'er classes operate completely asynchronous using the "community of scholars" model in which students communicate with each other and the teacher through forum posts in our online classroom. This permits students from around the globe to be members of the class without being limited to a particular classroom time. This present school year I have two students living in China and another who traveled to Italy for a few months. This year my students are also IM'ing me via FB, AIM or Windows Live. Sometimes they schedule a time to chat while other times they just 'pop-up' and ask if I have some time to chat. For my class I schedule breaks for Thanksgiving week, two weeks at Christmas and Easter week. Anytime a family wants to take a vacation week they may, and time extensions are given to the student. I've given time extensions for college visits, debate tournaments, national science competitions, illness and really anytime a parent requests an extension. Glad to answer any questions you might have about the course. Carole

The CSS if filed along with the FAFSA. I had filed the FAFSA in early Jan with estimates and finalized it tonight. The two schools that reminded us to file the CSS have each received an email from me. The schools notify about actual financial aid in late March. Thanks everyone! Carole

BTDT. What I find just as annoying is when I'm clearing off the shelves and I find an item that I didn't realize I had and wished that I had remembered I had the item so I could have used it. And then in the clearing of the shelves I find this item again. Purchased twice and missed using either item. BTDT too. Or how about when you order an item in to look it over, miss the deadline to return the item and then are unable to find a buyer for the item even with a heavy discount. BTDT... Carole

Having PT start so soon will certainly help. The only problem I really had was swelling of my knee. Lots of ice after walking helped. Have a wonderful time! Carole

Do you have a physical therapist friend or can you have your doc refer you for PT now? I had orthroscopic knee surgery 2 years ago for a torn meniscus. My doc told me I didn't need PT and that I should just do some leg lifts (starting the day after surgery) and start walking immediately. :lol: he told me I would walk out of the out-patient place which I did not. I was walking without crutches after a week and walking several miles within a few weeks. The problem I ran into and why I recommend starting PT right away is that my knee locked and I could not bend it beyond 30 degrees. After 2-1/2 months and a visit to my regular doc I began PT. My regular doc and my PT were surprised / upset that I did not start PT right after surgery. While I had been able to walk I didn't have the proper post-surgery exercises so my mobility and strength decreased a lot. 12 weeks of intense PT brought it back. Others I have met started PT right after surgery and recovered really quickly. Carole

We're looking for a homeschool prom for high school kids in the Harrisburg / Lancaster / Phila area of PA. Do you know of one? Carole

Jane, DS visited some friends in Carlisle Friday / Saturday. They are hs'ers who live in Carlisle. Saturday morning the kids walked around town and all around Dickenson's campus. DS who does not like cities or towns told me on the way home that he really liked Dickinson's campus and expressed that he wished it had a chem e program. He enjoyed walking around Carlisle too. This from a kid who rarely likes a college campus and I think this might be the first town he has enjoyed walking. Just thought I'd share :) Carole

DS applied to nine. Early in the fall, senior year, when the letters came in from the schools with fee waivers he decided to apply to a few of them. If we had had to pay for each application he would have done 4 schools. One safety and three reaches. He's still deciding between those four schools. Carole

I walked through the CSS tonight and decided that I will not be relaxing tomorrow as I hoped but filling out the CSS. I could not believe the questions..... and then there is the cost! What a way to spend a Sunday :(

I thought I was on top of things. I remember reading through all the financial aid websites for the colleges DS applied to, noted FAFSA deadline dates and did not catch that any of them required CSS. I was even patting myself on the back for having filed our FAFSA by Jan 12th. Today we returned home and DS let me know he had an email from a school he is highly interested in wanting to know where his CSS was. :eek: WHAT!!! I went through the 9 schools DS applied to and found that 3 require the CSS. Their deadline date was Feb 1st. Did I really mess things up? I am kicking myself for missing this. At least the local university doesn't require the CSS..... Should I just :chillpill: Carole

CONGRATS!!

He has decided where he wants to go however $$$$$ between that school's cost and that of U of DE is huge. He's being very realistic though and is talking about cost and thinking about how much debt he would need to take on........ We'll see how everything turns out though---and who knows----I've heard of kids changing their minds between Feb and April too. Carole

Library in Delaware --- New Castle County is quite good. Online ordering system that emails you when the book(s) arrive to your home library too. Lots of programs for little kids up to late elementary age. Carole

If your DC is thinking about engineering as a field do check with your local colleges (or engineering colleges your dc is considering) to see if they have any special programs going on this week. Or perhaps the local engineering society has something special going on. Here's the national site: http://www.eweek.org/Home.aspx Drexel University in Philadelphia has events all week and high school day is Thursday. http://app.coe.drexel.edu/eWeek/schedule.html Way back in '74 my high school had a flyer "Be an Engineer for a Day." I signed up--against the wishes of my guidance counselor since he was sure that only boys could be engineers. My day, besides being featured in the Columbus Dispatch since a girl had never participated before, helped me find my careeer for the next 20 years. Feb 18th is National Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day. Carole

I'm in Delaware. We are our own non-public school, with an official school number issued to us by our state's DOE and my son will have an official high school diploma issued by his school. That school is our homeschool. It will have the DOE School number on it just like his official transcript has. I checked off homeschooled cause I figure the schools have all his stuff, they know he is homeschooled, and well, there are still folks who do not understand that a homeschooled parent can issue an official high school diploma. Unfortunately I could name quite a number of my local Delaware homeschoolers who fall into that category, but that is another story...... Carole

Drexel is still on the list but he wasn't thrilled with their inner-city location. We plan to visit again, so we'll see. His Granddad attended Drexel and I'm not sure how that is waying in on his decision too. Since U of DE is our in-state school the cost to attend is by-far the lowest for us. However, DS would love to GO further away from home then the school up the street. DS plans to major in Chemical Engineering and UDE ranks 6 or 10th in the nation in this major :) He'll have some decisions to make in April but right now he'd rather just see what is coming his way.

Wahooo! DS just won a $2000 scholarship, renewable each year, from the Delaware Engineering Society to the University of Delaware. It is their maximum scholarship too. He still is eligible for additional merit scholarships from U of DE which are announced in late March. I'm excited. Great way to start the day!

Great and wonderful news! Carole

Please share what you are using. I've spent the morning looking at Mapping the World by Heart, and Runkles, and looking at literature guides.