Right, sorry if I wasn't clear. I think their kids and their family look happy, they're going to real schools and pursuing bachelor's degrees that can lead to jobs/graduate school/whatever. What I don't like is their book tacitly saying that this is achievable or desirable for a random student.

Certainly, and I mean nothing at all negative about Jenny, her kids, and her decision. It looks like it's working out wonderfully for them, and I am very happy. But as you said, they knew very well what they wanted to do. I'm thinking especially about the people who are doing something like College Plus (loads of CLEP plus online courses) with the goal of graduating before high school would normally be completed, and then possibly going on for further study -- I don't know if you remember the delusional poster on the accelerated board before, who came back and deleted all her posts after getting banned for name-calling? In these cases, the goal is not "to educate the child" but "to tick the box as soon as possible." I think that's where it really falls into problematic territory -- when the goal is box-ticking rather than education.

Because a student has been happy and successful does not mean that they could not handle a more rigorous program. I, and everyone else, has been saying that if he can handle a more rigorous program, it will better prepare him for the tech school. If he cannot, he should continue working with MUS and prepare to re-take algebra at the tech school for a more firm foundation.

As far as the actual original post goes, I think that most (not all) kids who go off to a mediocre college and complete an average major (say, history, or math, or english) by age 16 are being done a disservice. They're not ready to work at age 16, and doing an average major at a mediocre college is not a path that leads to graduate school/medical school/law school, if that's in the cards. If a student is prepared to complete an advanced major (that is, entering with advanced standing at 12, ready to hold down more than 12-15 credits a semester of challenging, honors-level coursework in the major), that would be a very different issue. This is a complicated decision and one that really, really needs to be made on a case-by-case basis. FWIW, by "average major" I'm talking about something like completing 40 credits in the major with a 3.0 GPA or something like that -- in other words, doing the minimum necessary to get that bachelor's degree in as soon as possible.

There are a lot of people who think that kids are individuals and need to be treated as individuals and guided to the path that's best for them. Sometimes that might include early college. It's definitely the best choice for some. Sometimes that might include college at a more standard time with an impressive load of advanced courses. It's probably a better choice for many.

In blocks, most students take 4 per semester (so 8 per year) -- the extra time is usually found through cutting down passing time between classes and time for the class to settle down at the beginning.

Or block scheduling.

If he's doing well with it and can use it outside of the math book (i.e. if he has done subtraction, can he solve problems like "A boy had five cookies and ate 3. How many does he have left?") I really wouldn't worry at this age. If he gets a couple grades on and still doesn't know his addition facts cold, then I'd worry.

It depends on what your credits are. If you have (for a random and very overdone example) 7 math credits, and they are algebra 1, algebra 2, college algebra, geometry, trigonometry, pre-calculus, and analytic geometry, it's going to look padded. It's going to look very padded because there is so much ooooverlap between those courses, even though each one by itself is a legitimate course. If you have 7 math credits, and they are algebra 1, geometry, algebra 2, pre-calculus, discrete math, calculus, and probability/statistics (and a SAT/ACT math score to match), it's not going to look padded because those are obviously very different courses and this is clearly a strong student interested in math who has taken the time to explore different fields.

I would say more that there are some specific topics that people found did not have enough instruction for *their* children (exponents in particular have been mentioned frequently). I think you will know if your student is struggling -- if so, it is a good idea to have a cheap used book around of the same level from which you can pull additional practice problems.

If her overall load isn't too heavy, what about doing a rather light modern history course this year (as you planned), and another course in archaeology (a college textbook should be easily accessible for a motivated 9th grader)? Having two social sciences in one year is very reasonable for an interested student (after all, many students double-up in science or math). Also, for your reading pleasure, here are some amazon lists -- not mine: The first two are about ancient America -- North and South http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltguides/fullview/R2MQCGL6C7PLXV/ref=cm_syt_fvlm_f_1_rlrssl0 http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Americas-Conquest-Incas-Aztecs/lm/R1A417CYP0NK21/ref=cm_lmt_fvsy_f_1_rysdsd0 Here's a list about ancient pre-history: http://www.amazon.com/The-Revolution-in-Ancient-Pre-History-Pre-Ice-Age-Civilization/lm/R2JDO0AOPO6WS8/ref=cm_srch_res_rpli_alt_1

For once I completely agree with something put out by HSLDA.

In addition to what klmama said: The only benefit I could see to doing the minimum would be if a student genuinely couldn't handle any more. Even if they had a career plan that did not require college readiness, I would want them prepared to enter a college of reasonable quality in case they changed their mind. For most, six is not sufficiently onerous to preclude other activities.

What they've done is put what's normally in a college algebra class after trigonometry, and called it "precalculus". It's still four courses from beginning algebra to calculus readiness. It's unorthodox but there is no real reason you couldn't do that. (I looked up the course catalog)

I would suspect that this is because you seem to have a 5-course sequence covering all of high school math rather than 4 courses.

I'm glad I'm not the only one with a ridiculous and sometimes problematic pain tolerance. I remember separating my shoulder once at martial arts. I got back up and continued practicing, because it didn't really hurt that badly. I also sat around with appendicitis until it ruptured, got infected, and I fainted, because I didn't feel it really hurt badly enough to go to the doctor. I'm a lot more willing to go now that I know this is abnormal :p

I will also say that there are some people who could take the easiest curriculum that actually taught the basics, learn from it, and extrapolate to solve all sorts of problems. These people are naturally inclined towards problem-solving, and stereotypically what you think of as "mathy". There are also people who will never be able to go beyond the most rote level of arithmetic and struggle with word problems on a first grade level. But most people are somewhere in between -- on a continuum of mathematical ability. Many people along this continuum can be taught to solve problems as well as the naturally "mathy" people, but they need more explicit teaching on problem-solving and practice working successively harder problems to work on this. And that's where programs which are called "light" tend to fall down. They're absolutely perfect for the late bloomer or struggling student, and they WILL give a far better grounding in the basics than using a too-rigorous program will. They will frequently result in better understanding than a student of equivalent ability in PS, because they have been done at the student's pace and been actually understood. But for a student who could handle a more rigorous program, they're just not the most optimal course. They're not TERRIBLE. They're just sub-optimal.

This is not "writing about it" per se, along the lines of the "if math were a color, what would it be?" that you see in some elementary school curricula (which, btw, is complete and utter horsecrap), but rather explaining the reasoning behind the actual math they are doing. I also doubt that it will help them understand, but rather it will reveal their lack of understanding to the instructor for review and remediation purposes. Of course, the student should also be simplifying expressions, but many students become quite good at performing math procedurally and still haven't the foggiest idea what they're doing, which harms them when they need to move past algebra 1. As far as memorizing book definitions, they certainly don't need to have the precise wording, but for most of them, they need to know, understand, and use those definitions. For example, I would never ask someone to "state the zero-factor rule", but they need to know that you can only factor a polynomial and set both factors equal to the other side if it equals zero. (I just got done grading a bunch of algebra where they had something like 2x(x-1) = 4 and attempted to set 2x = 4 and x-1 = 4).

Nope! I was homeschooled. :)

You know, I disagree. There are a lot of students who really don't understand the difference between an expression and an equality, which results in giving a problem like "factor x^2 - 1" and having the student answer "x = plus or minus 1". Having problems like this as homework -- especially on a chapter review -- allows the teacher to better assess where exactly the student doesn't understand. I think that it can be taken to excess, but I do think it has a place in the curriculum.

This is also a topic that it's easy to supplement for a child who's understood algebra. For example, a book like this: http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/sku/052657/9e69ee891023003ab4b50d26 -- or even a semester-long statistics course.

OK, these I would definitely let him answer verbally or type -- if they are only words he doesn't need any special software. I thought you were talking about not wanting to write out his math problems and solving them mentally instead :)

Frankly, I'd still ask the doctor if you should have the shot, just because even though the chances of tetanus are minute, the treatment really sucks. But you can definitely wait until the morning. ETA: http://www.webmd.com/first-aid/puncture-wound-treatment -- notice that unless there's lots of bleeding, they basically say to clean the wound and watch it for infection.

Would you care to paste the problem and his answer?

Have him start learning LaTeX and using it to type his math problems. If he's planning on being a programmer and already learning C++ and Java (from your other thread), learning to use LaTeX should be pretty easy. It's free -- search for MikTeX and download the most recent version.