An adult is thought to be able to decide for themselves whether something is reportable, whereas a child (or sometimes, elderly) are thought to be less so.

Many people have been able to move directly from SM 6 (or even earlier) directly into Jacobs as it contains a lot of pre-algebra review. If you decide to go with Lial's, Lial's pre-algebra would be a reasonable choice and certainly wouldn't hurt you if you chose one of the other options (it would just mean you'd accelerate through the pre-algebra sections of Jacobs if you went that way). Singapore's Discovering Mathematics is another pre-algebra option which would mean continuing in the primary mathematics 'style' for another year. For AOPS it isn't at all necessary to use the online stuff. Many people choose not to do the online classes as they wish to proceed at a slower pace and/or make time for life interruptions.

I believe they usually recommend that geometry should come after the other beginning level books as they consider it the most challenging of the lot. One of the reasons for doing algebra in 9th, geometry in 10th, algebra 2 in 11th is so that students have geometry in time for the psat. Another is so that students have algebra 2 to review algebra before heading into precalculus. Neither of these should really be an issue with AOPS, as if a student is just starting algebra 1 in 9th it's probably not the best choice (for one thing, it wouldn't result in the completion of precalculus by the end of 12th grade, just algebra 3), and AOPS has algebra 3 to review algebra before precalculus.

He MUST go through disability services ASAP. In most cases, professors simply cannot offer accomodations without documentation from disability services. Disability services will usually provide a letter to the professor stating the nature and extent of required accomodations.

It does not fit into the standard sequence. With the possible exception of some material on conic sections that may be covered in precalculus, there is virtually no overlap. It is, however, an excellent choice for a young, gifted child (ten? impressive!) who is accelerated in mathematics and may be looking at mathematics competitions or studying it seriously later on. I have not used it myself. Suggestion: Get the book now, since the tutor's recommended it and wants to try it. If he's not ready for it yet, put it back on the shelf and do something else until he is. (AOPS's discrete math courses should definitely be at a good level for him as well.)

If he has been doing well with Horizons, why switch? Why not do their pre-algebra (which I have not personally seen, but have heard good reviews of) and then move into the algebra you want?

Why not put it off? Maybe his interest will increase, and if not, he could dual enroll as a senior, take a bio for non-majors class and then not need to take it at university. (Of course, ignore that if he IS a senior) :P

http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Mechanic-Makes-Toys-Amusements/dp/1588166392 As the reviewers mentioned, the equipment assumed is dated, but there's enough in there that you CAN build that I still found it a fun resource. I actually bought this for my adult brother who loves tinkering and building.

I would cut down on the review. I really don't think he will end up with holes if you cut down to only doing one main and one supplemental curriculum :P

There are good and bad points to such education. Firstly, remember that she was one of the better pupils. Many others were not achieving as well or had already quit school. Secondly, it is altogether possible to memorize the text of something, without understanding WHY it is important, how it mattered, what it meant to people at the time and people later, etc. I would consider the second far more important. Thirdly, the arithmetic problem mentioned is frankly an elementary school problem. While I do think you should be able to come up with a quick estimate in your head, I really don't see the point of training to be able to do elementary school arithmetic in your head rather than training to be able to do middle school/high school mathematics with a pencil and paper. These kind of things were far more important when paper was rare and expensive.

This (tuna + other stuff in cream sauce) is also good over rice or mashed potatoes. Some people like it over toast as well (I hate soggy toast, so that's a no-go for me). I add whatever spices I feel like and whatever frozen vegetables I found on sale.

I would add furthermore that Latin's one of the languages which is both helpful and where the student doesn't need to worry much about accent/etc. This makes it easier for a parent to teach without worrying about native speakers/accents/dialects/etc.

Another good option could be Russian Math 6. http://perpendicularpress.com/ Furthermore, based on his response to this (which is harder, but not as hard as AOPS) you could see whether AOPS would be a good fit or a different pre-algebra.

As long as they didn't look or smell moldy, I'd try one. Look at the ones in the center of the bag as well as the edge.

mater amabilis has some nifty picture book suggestions for geography. http://materamabilis.org/ma/prep-2/ (scroll down to the geography)

I wouldn't let the high school credit thing throw you off -- you could always plan for it to take more than a year. Actually at that age my tentative plan would be to spend 3 years doing 2 hs credits.

No. But a student who isn't ready for Algebra I in 9th grade may need to do one of the following: a) work faster and/or year/round to get through math, b) set their sights on a different level of college, c) take an extra year if neither of the above work.

I know a lot of people who still sing the alphabet song while alphabetizing. Is it that big of a deal? :p

Here's the TOC for BCM: http://www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/product/Basic-College-Mathematics/9780321557124.page Here's the TOC for Pre-algebra: http://www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/product/Prealgebra/9780321567925.page As you can see, the pre-algebra gets into far more algebraic topics than the BCM. However, both of them really are 'pre-algebra'. I would regard the pre-algebra as a course for a student who has a solid grasp on arithmetic but needs some more time before algebra.

I wish we could control where we lost it from by exercise :P

Yeah, ditto :P

FWIW, the quotes from Robin West (Georgetown) are factual, but non-contextual. She certainly is pro-homeschooling regulation, though. Her article is linked here, for those of you who fancy seeing the quotes. (loads of ads, sorry): http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+harms+of+homeschooling.-a0214999687

Haha!

Ayup. It is more common (and frustrating) to run into the sort of student who wishes to be fed the answer. It is especially frustrating when you are attempting to help a student learn to work a longer, complex problem, and the only question at each step is 'So, is this the answer?' The 'thinking for themselves' professors *don't* want is the kind which consists of parroting what their parents/their church said without ever having thought about it for themselves, or the kind which is rudeness masquerading as 'thinking for themselves.' (e.g. if you disagree with your professor on something, repeatedly interrupting his lecture to interject your own points is both rude and counterproductive.) Referring to 'liberals' as a monolith is also incredibly obnoxious. I've met people who were far left who said 'You homeschooled? That's so cool, I wish my parents could have homeschooled me/I wish I could homeschool my kids.' I've also met people on the far right who lectured me about how horrible homeschooling was.

TT is much, much easier than AOPS, and their scope and sequence runs a little behind other programs. What'd he do for algebra before? Was he doing AOPS beginning or intermediate algebra?