If he's the primary math teacher and going to be gone for a week, tbh, I'd designate the week as "review and consolidation". Keys are good and cheap. Life of Fred is also cheap and would be good review for when primary teacher's out of town. If you need something for tomorrow, here is a free worksheet generator. You could have her do some review problems on what she learned last week. http://www.math.com/students/worksheet/algebra_sp.htm

Get out -- those grades will follow her for a long time. I agree, the prof's being a jerk. The Shakespeare really wasn't a good idea though. If she'd just given a picture of her mother and talked a lot about one person, she'd have grounds to file a discrimination complaint against the prof. ETA: It may be better to be evasive about her age in future if at all possible. Sometimes people feel very threatened by younger students.

Hands on Equations.

mountain dew it's simply horrible the number of times I've attempted to stop drinking only to get sidetracked by a tiring day on the plus side, I have pretty much quit any other kind of pop, any kind of candy, and any kind of chips, and reduced consumption by 90% of the dew ... that counts for something right? :D

I think the reason they wrote it that way is to show what a high percentage of the "top 100 novels of the century" were banned/challenged.

After a google search, it seems: There is a list of the top 100 novels of the 20th century. Banned books are bolded. The Wind in the Willows is not bolded on any copy I could find with the bolding intact. Some sites have merely copied the list and listed it as "banned books" without including the fact that it was only the bolded ones which were banned. Therefore, other people reasonably conclude that the Wind in the Willows is banned based on this miscopied list. I can find no original source for the Wind in the Willows, but imo this is the most plausible explanation.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Algebra-I-Expressions-Equations-Applications/dp/0201202425/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252800948&sr=8-1 I searched for foerster algebra i (algebra 1 gives a different set)

I just looked on Amazon.co.uk for you. There are some priced as low as £22. They are shipped from the US, but they said the price to ship to the UK was 2.75. That's only the book, and it's an old edition (1984), so wouldn't include modern calculator usage. However, just thought I'd let you know in case you wanted to look at it. FWIW, I've heard very good things about Foerster's explanations.

If she really really really wants to use Saxon, she'll have to supplement for Stats and Mechanics modules. Mechanics might partially be covered under physics but according to my SO (took physics/maths A levels) the questions asked in the mechanics part of the mathematics course were more difficult than the questions asked in physics. Because of the incremental development of Saxon and the difference in order of topics covered, I'd probably choose to work through the Saxon first, then review through an A level exam prep book, rather than working through both concurrently.

I was hoping someone else who knew better would answer this, but I'll give it a shot and bump it for you. :D In general, the course is modular, modules by exam board are listed as follows: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_level_mathematics "Core" encompasses Calculus and Precalculus, in general. "Mechanics" we wouldn't often cover as part of a mathematics course, it would be physics. "Statistics" would in most cases be a separate course. "Further Pure" seems to cover additional topics in Calculus and Precalculus, with possibly an introduction to DiffEq and Linear (at the very basic level). "Decision" probably wouldn't be covered, if it were, it would be in a Discrete Math course. Which modules you have available could depend on where you sit the exam (here I really don't know, students in schools often have some each of mechanics and statistics chosen to supplement the core). If you choose to study independently, you'll need to arrange somewhere to sit the exam, which again I can't help, look it up with your local home education group maybe? If you choose to study through distance education, they'll probably have a textbook that they expect you to use. Even if you study independently, I wouldn't use the Saxon textbooks. Although if you used Adv. Math and Calculus, you should cover the material from core and further pure modules, it would be covered in a far different order, meaning that she'd have to learn and remember everything at once to take all module exams at once. They also may use slightly different terminology, which can be crucial when one is taking an examination. They also wouldn't have sample questions from A level exams, as many UK books do. The wording of the word problems can make a huge difference, and Saxon (imo, please don't shoot me) is often weak in training the students to do word problems presented in a non-standard way. Here is an example of differences in vocabulary at IGCSE. http://www.cie.org.uk/docs/countries/usa/IGCSE%20Mathematics-US_terminology.pdf

Only commenting on math/science. If he's 4 yr university bound, you may wish to consider geometry before algebra 2. If he's taking geometry as a senior, he'll be taking those big tests when he's only halfway through, and this may hurt. I'm not sure what you're using for adv. bio, but I'd check first to make sure that it didn't include significant chemistry content. Many do.

There's a free resource aimed at logarithms here: http://www.mathlogarithms.com/images/ExplainingLogarithms.pdf Somewhere in the PDF, he states donations are welcome, and suggests $6 for a student 18 or under. Caveat: I've skimmed it, but not gone through it in detail. The parts I did check in detail looked good.

Frankweiler's good and interesting. Another one I really like is Mrs. Frisby and the rats of NIMH. Could also try, although it is a bit lower (3+) Ralph S. Mouse series or Henry Huggins series from Beverly Cleary. Might work for getting him actually interested in something. Finally, is there anything (non-reading) that he is actually interested in? If you could find a book involving that somehow, it might help. My non-reader sibling turned into a reader because of books about war and battles.

Something off the dollar menu is sounding like a really good idea right now :D. Kidding. Mostly. More seriously, what about some sort of veggie stir-fry with optional meat?

If MUS is working for you and him, why not finish the arithmetic levels and switch afterwards? That would give you plenty of time to just generally keep your eyes open and watch what people say about higher level math. It's also a very natural transition point. The BEST program is the one that makes sense to your child and you. The best program will be different for different people. There is no best program for all people. :)

Another option could be to use the placement tests until you get to stuff he doesn't know, even if it's above his grade level. For memorization of multiplication tables, if you allow games, you might consider the free download of Timez Attack and see if it works for him. It's definitely a lot more appealing than working math problems. I pretty much agree with Jenne.

That stuff's hugely cheap if you buy a decent-sized jar, and will mix well. I've used the lemonade/pink lemonade as a midway step to weaning myself off soda.

The Lost Prince and Little Lord Fauntleroy are by the same author as the Secret Garden. The Lost Prince especially is still one of my favourites. (Edit: She also wrote a book called "The Good Wolf", but I'm pretty sure it's far out of print. I love this book too. ) If he likes older British children's books, you could also try some of Noel Streatfeild's shoes books. Some of them are really, really girly (he might not be interested in ballet) but others are less so.

Ditto what Jann said -- is it at all possible for you to find someone to tutor? If money is an issue, and you're near a university, you could call the math department and ask for recommendations -- at my undergrad, people (sometimes homeschoolers, sometimes not) would do so quite frequently and be directed to the most reliable of the upperclassmen. They were quite a lot cheaper and (IMO, self-promoting :)) did an adequate job.

1) Speeding up passing through college, as many universities grant credit. 2) Reducing number of gen eds to be taken, allowing greater focus on the major. 3) Admission to highly selective schools. 4) Extra challenge for a child who is unchallenged by the high school curriculum. None of these are necessary per se, the community college should have an open admissions policy.

Life of Fred's fractions/decimals books are intended to be self-teaching, written to the student, clever and amusing, don't move slowly, and should cover Pre-Algebra. They're also relatively inexpensive and ship FAST. You can see samples on the author's website. Caveat: As I recall (I haven't the book with me ATM) the answers are in the back of the book. You may have to black them out or something, or remove those pages.

If you want him to get used to the ps system, you might consider seeing if you can find their syllabi online (some do) and reading a few to get a general idea as to how much they weight things.

Hey SCS, Many people argue over whether Geometry or Algebra II should come first. I doubt you're going to find a consensus. One of the issues with taking Algebra II first is that you may be rusty when you reach Precalc, and need extra review, whereas Algebra I review is built into most Geometry programs. One of the issues with taking Geometry first, especially if you're young, gifted, and never had any issues with math before, is that geometric proofs are a bit different than most of the math you've seen before, and may require an extra degree of maturity. Personally, I did Alg I/Alg II/Geo, and I'm glad I did it that way, but others have had different experiences. I notice that your signature says that you're also interested in computers. I would strongly recommend that you consider supplementing your mathematics studies with some discrete math, as many computer science students struggle with this at university, so having prior exposure would be excellent. It's also just plain fun :D. Art of Problem Solving has some textbooks which are designed for junior high/high school students and can be taken after Algebra I. If you're thinking of possibly majoring in mathematics, make sure that whichever programs you choose to use are solid. The geometry should include proofs, as if you've never been exposed to them before, Linear Algebra/upper division proof-based courses will likely be extraordinarily difficult at university. The algebra/trig courses should prove concepts rather than presenting them as a series of formulas to be memorized. It should include more pencil-work than calculator-work. The word problems should include problems which go beyond "look at the example in the book, and change the numbers". Finally: Make sure you can do fractions! :D Good luck!

In general, I had no restrictions either ... but when I was about 10, I found my Dad's copy (from when he was single) of a rather ... non-mainstream ... erotica book on a back-shelf, rather dusty ... rather than a litter of pigs, I think my mother delivered a litter of elephants when she found me reading it. That shelf was hastily cleared :D. I'm taking a slight bit better care with what's left lying around!

Might be off-topic, but the series is one of my favourites. (Being obsessed with King Arthur as well helps :D)