I like this idea. I thought math was easy but boring and just wanted to be done until I took discrete math/intro to proof.

I would still find the lack of prerequisite knowledge from algebra 2 problematic. College algebra provides brief reviews, but they expect that the student has learned it before and simply needs to be reminded. Your dd's ability is high enough (seriously -- I'm not being snarky in the least here -- the ACT score is REALLY good for her background) that she might be able to handle it, but why? If she were chomping at the bit, loving math, and begging to move forward faster it might be worth considering.

I'm not sure exactly what you disagree with, as I never stated matrices nor trigonometry would be in intermediate algebra. (furthermore, matrices are in the TOC you presented, although topics 5-9 on the checklist in your next post are not, please read chapter 3 more carefully). What I was saying is that intermediate algebra AND college algebra TOGETHER would cover the algebra 2 and part of precalculus. I will stand by this statement, as any topics missing from intermediate algebra should be taught in college algebra. Intermediate Algebra is designed to go between Beginning Algebra and College Algebra in the college developmental math sequence. While it does not necessarily cover everything that would be in an honors high school algebra 2/trig course (although there are VERY few topics missing from the algebra 2 checklist you pasted), it should be ample preparation for College Algebra at the same school, which in turn should be ample preparation for Precalculus at the same school. The trigonometry is sometimes taught in College Algebra and sometimes taught in Precalculus. Doing algebra 2 at home as you suggested is of course an option that is already under consideration, but the mother in question was attempting to choose between alg 2 at home and college algebra at the college, believing that it would be beneficial for her daughter to have an actual in-person teacher. If a teacher is desired, doing int alg + coll alg at the college is a superior option to going directly into college algebra and will still result in all necessary alg 2 topics being covered this year. If she decides to do this, the next year the child can do precalc + calc 1 OR precalc + stats (depending on intended major -- if STEM, calc, otherwise, stats) and be well-prepared for college.

HIG's will help. You also don't get a profound understanding all at once. You get a profound understanding by working the problems yourself and teaching it over and over again. And on your fourth kid you'll think of a way to explain something and say "Man, why didn't I think of this sooner? This would have helped kids 1, 2, and 3!" but that's the way it goes. Think about what your kids say. If they say "but why can't we do it this way?" don't ever resort to "because that's what the book says." If necessary, you can say "I don't know" and come ask here. Sometimes there will be an answer. Sometimes there won't, and they'll have come up with an alternate, legitimate way to solve the problem.

Ask your CC how well their transfer students do in subsequent classes. Also check with universities your student may want to attend. My brother transferred from a CC to an Ivy League school. He found that his "x for non-majors" classes were weak, but his "x for majors" classes prepared him well.

I was going to suggest Duolingo (I just started using it for German in February and it's improved my grasp on gender/articles tremendously -- I no longer just guess neutral on everything :D) but when I went through your older thread I see you've already been doing that. FWIW, I thought 'immersion' was a lot more interesting than the articles. If you're sick of the Romans, reading the last textbook chapter and saying "enough" sounds like plenty. Out of curiosity, might he find some social science courses more interesting than history? i.e. taking a year off history to do economics, geography, psychology, sociology, or something like that, while doing an unrelated literature class, and then returning to complete world history the next year? I also think the idea to do technical writing might work. I have absolutely no idea what you might use as resources, but perhaps he'd find the idea of writing "popular science" reports explaining and elucidating technical subjects for non-technical audiences more tolerable.

The ACT score is very good, getting that score after alg 1 and geometry indicates that she has a very strong ability, but college algebra may be too much for someone who's only finished Algebra 1, even if she places into it. The pace is very fast and everything from algebra 2 plus some topics from precalculus will be covered in only one semester. I would actually recommend doing intermediate and then college algebra at the college. That will cover her algebra 2 and part of precalculus.

8/7 has been beefed up a lot in the latest edition so it depends on which edition you're using.

Dual enrolling is one idea. She should definitely take the placement test, should she decide to do so. If that doesn't work, I'd actually choose AP stats (should be accessible after alg 2 even, so definitely after precalc) over a further precalculus course. I consider it more useful for non-mathy students. However, another precalculus course is not a bad idea either. The only thing that I really would not do is take the year off math, which it doesn't sound like you're planning to do.

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UCSMP is a lot less fuzzy than Everyday Math. Pre-TM was a pretty standard pre-pre-algebra text in the last edition I saw. I know nothing at all about the course.

I would not plan to skip chapters based on difficulty, but rather on the necessity for future coursework COMBINED with difficulty. That is, difficult chapters that are necessary for future study should still be struggled through. ETA: Aha, now I see what you mean! Sorry, can't help there. But if you are struggling unduly on the starred problems in a section I would definitely consider moving on to another section and circling back through.

Don't look for the pattern with 'how many drugs are there', but instead look for the pattern as nmoira has laid out. It should end up being 2^17 - 1, but I will leave it to you to figure out how to get there. Have you had any sort of work on probability or counting recently? ETA: Also, your answer for 5 is wrong. You're missing one somewhere.

If they can continue sending her up for english, possibly adding extension in mathematics, but leave her where she is, I think that that would a) allow her to gradually integrate into the higher class, paving the way for a transition at the end of the school year, and b) provide enough knowledge that she shouldn't have any significant gaps. Furthermore, I would be surprised if there were not 'summer math' workbooks available in stores as there are here -- she could go through a second grade one just to confirm she hasn't missed anything. I think she'd be a lot more enthusiastic about moving up to join her new friends in the higher grade if she got to know them better.

Ok, after seeing your second post -- I'd drop either the MUS or the Abeka, whichever one you think he's getting less learning from, and just go through the other, working as far into the summer as necessary to complete it. I think that having just one curriculum would make you both more likely to complete it and able to move through it more quickly. Neither of these is a terrible choice for a second grader, and both you and he are used to them, so I wouldn't go switch. You might be suffering from grass-is-greener syndrome. Despite the fact that it seems like everyone here uses two (eta: or more) math curricula, it's really not necessary for most children, and it adds hassle and planning to your math.

I really don't think catching up is something you need to worry about. Just start a second grade curriculum (if you haven't done so already) and work through the summer. If you've already started, great! But just work through the summer.

Would either program let her defer for a year? I'd start by trying for that. But I think both would be great and she should pick the one she really wants.

While a GED is probably a good idea at this point, I can't think of any circumstances where she should go to college without working first. At least now, she has the possibility of college in the future, but if she goes off now I would say there's an immensely high probability of flunking out and having both bills/loans and bad grades on her permanent undergraduate transcript. She will probably not be able to get admission as a freshman to a competitive school without a serious 'hook'. In the future, though, she should be able to get into a non-flagship state school or community college without much difficulty, assuming her test scores are okay, and a year of good performance should let her transfer to most places.

Then it is going to totally depend on the rigor of his high school calculus class. Some high school calculus classes are very rigorous. However, I also see students in my precalculus and calculus classes at the university, who supposedly had calculus in high school, but the only thing they appear to have learned is how to use the power rule to differentiate polynomials. I would ask the teacher he has now for guidance. If he has covered nearly all of the AP syllabus, self-studying for the test would probably be a better plan than taking the course. If, on the other hand, he has been taking a calculus course aimed at a light introduction to calculus, intended to be followed by a more rigorous class, it might be a good plan.

Is he taking calculus at a college now? If he is, I would think that taking the AP calc *class* would be a complete waste of time, although a few people do take the *exam*.

I would be more inclined to get a richer undergraduate experience for the student who's looking at graduate school (especially PhD), unless their undergraduate simply isn't able to offer them enough advanced courses -- and in that case they should look at a better undergraduate school. It would also somewhat depend on the field -- mine is mathematics, and I don't think I'd graduate early unless the student is ready to enter a rock-star graduate school after 3 years. This would probably involve either coming in as a junior or taking summer courses, but then STEM curricula are a little more sequential than some others. It also depends on how fixated the student is on a particular major and whether they want to include coursework in other, related fields.

The BC test also has an AB subscore, so it is possible to get credit for AB even without passing the BC exam fully.

I know of absolutely nothing like this. Here's a supplement that's about math and engineering, but it's designed more for classrooms. http://legacy.mos.org/educators/classroom_resources/curricula_and_research&d=2020 Here's an interesting program that teaches astronomy and connections to physics/math/humanities -- http://www.fun-books.com/books/Math%20&%20the%20Cosmos.htm

If MUS isn't working, doing Key to for decimals and percents would be fine, but if MUS is working, why do you think it would be faster for him to learn the same topics with Key to rather than MUS? He really really needs this material before pre-algebra/algebra.

Man I'd love to work at a place like that. Don't get me wrong, my job is great, but maaann.