I have no personal experience with the Spanish 1 or 2 classes at FundaFunda, but my son took Travel Spanish (introductory Spanish) with them last summer and he enjoyed it a lot. Their Spanish classes cost $184 per semester, so probably more than you want to invest in another class, but I know the teacher is friendly and kind, and she was very patient with my DS. She's a native speaker with years of teaching experience. Her name is Ms. Suzette Laporte-Ayo and she teaches all of FundaFunda's Spanish classes, at least as of last summer and currently. I got the impression that she's very willing to work with her students on correct placement. Might be worth a conversation with her to see if your son could place into one of her classes after the winter break. Her email per the website is suzette@fundafunda.com. Maybe worth a shot? Here's a link to the courses page: http://www.fundafundaacademy.com/product-category/semester/ (My son has now taken four classes with FundaFunda and we really like them.) Sorry if this isn't what you're looking for. Hugs to you and especially to your son. Sounds like he's miserable and so stressed out and I feel badly for him. :grouphug:

Derek Owens will send you a placement test if you send him an email and ask for one. Since you're considering switching to his program, just tell him you're considering his Algebra 2 and you want to see if your son is ready. If you explain the situation, he might be able to send you an Algebra 2 mid-term exam as a placement test and see how that goes. Mr. Owens is friendly and easy to work with. (He sent me both a pre-algebra test and an Algebra 1 test when we were in the process of switching to his program.) Per his website, inquiries and information requests should be sent to: help@derekowens.com

LiveOnlineMath.com has live algebra classes 3 days a week. http://liveonlinemath.com/classes/alg.html (They also offer recorded classes only, and a third option that uses mixture of live and recorded classes every week, all at different prices.) My son was enrolled with them for one class and we were pleased with the experience. We switched to something different only because the teacher used built-in spiral review in the assignments and it was more review than my son wanted/needed. But it might be a great fit for others. We found the instructor, John Bovey, to be very responsive and helpful, with clear instruction. They offer a free trial.

That was neat! Your DD sounds like she has a very bright future. Good job, mama! Thanks for sharing with us.

That was awesome. :hurray: Your boys must be hilarious, caring, and lovely young men. Thank you for sharing that slice of your life with us. :001_wub:

WriteAtHome.com http://www.writeathome.com/Learn_More/Writing_Courses.aspx She could start in one of the shorter "workshop" classes or do a semester class starting in January. Every paper gets detailed feedback and is then revised, instead of just graded and never touched again. My son is taking a lit class with the WriteAtHome founder, Brian Wasko, and he loves it. He's getting really valid, helpful feedback on his writing, and he's become much more motivated in terms of his level of effort in writing. I'm very pleased with the course and because of our experience DS is also now signed up for HS Comp 1 in the spring.

Thank you for sharing this. I always enjoy reading your posts. I appreciate the wisdom and experience you share with all of us, and I almost feel like I know you. So it was nice to put faces with names. You have a wonderful family. 😊 Happy Birthday to your son!

Try pixlr.com. It is free. My son learned about it from his photography class. It's very intuitive to use, and while it can't do everything Photoshop can do, it is quite good.

Oak Meadow. Not overly involved nor time-consuming, and well-done and pretty interesting to boot! 😀

My son is really enjoying Wasko Lit's Great Books ancients class this year. DS has been taking online classes for three years now, from various providers often mentioned here, and this one definitely makes the favorites list. (For those who may not know, Brian Wasko is also the founder of WriteAtHome.com.) http://www.waskolit.com/ ETA: Updated link http://www.writeathome.com/wasko-lit/

Aw, that's fantastic! Congratulations! And thank you for posting this encouragement.

Thank you, Arcadia!

My son is taking the photography class offered by FundaFunda. http://www.fundafundaacademy.com/product/photography/ He loves it so far. Classes start this week (but the website opened early last week so DS got a bit of a head start). You can still enroll and not be behind. The photography course is a nice mixture of video instruction and reading online. No separate textbook to buy. DS has taken two other courses with FundaFunda previously and had a great experience in both. The courses are asynchronous (NOT a live class) but there are weekly deadlines to keep the student accountable. You can contact the teacher anytime there are questions or if help is needed. We've rarely needed to contact an instructor but when we do they have always been very quick to respond and friendly. I know Landry Academy also offers photography but they are much pricier (unless you buy generic credits far in advance) and require sticking to a certain schedule.

That's wonderful! Congrats to you both!

This BuildYourLibrary.com blog post lists many geography resources that we're going to use this year: http://buildyourlibrary.com/multi-grade-teaching-an-example/ Also highly recommend Material World and Hungry Planet.

That's amazing and so inspiring. Thanks for sharing the story.

I looked at that class for my rising 9th grader but I ended up enrolling him in a similar course with FundaFunda. You might be interested in taking a look, just as another option. http://fundafunda.com/blog/fundafundas-computer-fundamentals-class.html I don't have any experience with HomeSchoolProgramming.com, but based on the syllabus, I think FundaFunda's course covers more ground, teaches skills that will be more relevant for my son (he's past needing some of the beginner "basics"), and will fit our needs better. It costs more than the one you linked above, but FundaFunda also gives your student weekly accountability deadlines - although work is completed asynchronously with no live class component, there is still a deadline each week - and the weekly assignments are submitted to the instructor or TA for grading, and they also answer questions if the student runs into an issue. I didn't see where the HomeSchoolProgramming.com course offers outside grading/accountability but I could be wrong. The outside accountability is a big plus for us. 😉 If you don't need that, then the additional expense might not be worth it to you. My son took a Scratch programming course with FundaFunda last year and he's taking a Spanish class with them this summer . . . both courses have been positive experiences for us. HTH. Edited to correct a typo.

That's great news! I remember when you posted here before the class started and you were wondering if the delayed class would work for your daughter. I'm glad you came back to update us and I'm so happy for your daughter that it was a success!

My son and I share a OneNote folder for this purpose. I list out the assignments and he clicks through them, checking them off when he's finished. It updates on both of our devices (laptop, iPad) in real time. OneNote is free.

^^spam reported^^

Thank you so much!!! We loved your US History plans and I will be sure to keep track of your AP Human Geo list as well!

Since you aren't getting any responses (or many views), I thought I'd mention that a board member who posts under the name "Lanny" has a daughter who uses TTUISD, I believe. You might try searching for Lanny's posts and/or send a PM. Also, your post ended up on the logic stage board; you might have better luck cross-posting on the high school board since you're interested specifically in high school courses. Or just consider this a friendly bump. ;)

Any chance you are thinking of the schedule created by Luckymama for her accelerated then-8th grader? I used it with my DS and we both loved it! Here's a link: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/484179-us-history-using-the-american-odyssey-k12-and-primary-sources/

I think Level B would be great for him. The Fellowship of the Ring is an 8th grade level book according to Scholastic and the writing sample you posted is quite mature for a 4th grader, IMO. (Tell him good job!) And IEW levels are based on reading ability/vocabulary (not necessarily writing skill). The levels do not build on each other, either, you just jump in where you fit best. My DS is young for his grade, and did SWI-B as a young 5th grader, and was able to handle the input and meet the output requirements with ease at that time. If your rising 4th grader finds the B level output too challenging at first, which I doubt he would based on what you've posted, just require less of him at the beginning and build it up slowly. IEW is flexible and easy to adjust down. In fact, I always find it easier to adjust a curriculum "down" if it is just too much of a stretch as written, rather than trying to beef up something that is too easy for the student.

Well, unfortunately I'm really not qualified to give an opinion on DO Geometry (using the 3rd ed. of Jacobs) yet . . . DS just started it a few weeks ago, getting a head start on his 9th grade year and planning to continue math through the summer. I read probably the same mixed reviews you're referring to so I'm reserving judgment for a while yet. : ) But DS finished up Alg 1 with DO, which was a great experience, and he really likes DO's teaching style, so I let DS make the call on trying DO Geo. We need math that takes me out of the role of providing critiques/feedback and also prefer a course that is asynchronous. Unfortunately there seem to be few that fit those criteria.