My son is using Thinkwell Chemistry this year. It's supposed to be college-level chemistry, "a college-level course that's accessible enough for introductory college chemistry courses, but rigorous enough for science majors." We've been kind of disappointed in it. It seems shallow, not enough depth. We started off with the intention of it being our sole (or at least main) curriculum, but we're now using DoctorTang.com's materials and just using Thinkwell as a supplement to introduce the topics, like an overview at the beginning of each chapter. (Doctor Tang doesn't have videos.) Also, strangely, the Thinkwell "exercises" focus on some insignificant, nit-picky details, with odd wording that doesn't jive with the way the concepts were taught in the lectures, and at the same time the exercises completely avoid a lot of the significant concepts. It's like whoever wrote the questions for the exercises wasn't completely up to speed with what is covered in the lectures. FWIW, DS has already had basic high school chemistry, so this is a course in "Advanced Chemistry" for him. (He intends to major in a science-heavy field.) It seems like the quality of Thinkwell courses may depend a lot on the subject.

For my DS, only about 3 days. After that, he wanted regular food and he just chewed carefully, not in the back. Also, just in case they don't tell you, be sure that your DD doesn't use a straw to drink for a day or two after her surgery.

No personal experience with either of those teachers, but I know that Becky Frank has a reputation for being well-loved by her students. My son took chemistry and biomedical science through Excelsior, as well as German club for 2 years. Very good experience with all three. We thought Excelsior was really professional and did a great job administratively . . . just in case you haven't worked with them before. Hope you get more feedback about those two particular classes.

I'm sorry, I'm not sure what the date was, and I no longer have the book. You should be able to confirm the edition before you buy.

We tried it as a summer review/bridge curriculum. The first edition was full of mistakes. It was really frustrating. I don't know if there's a second edition out yet, but I'd recommend to avoid the first edition if you can.

For us, yes, definitely. Math skills and writing skills are the things we've invested in most heavily in our homeschool (in both time and money), and those two subjects, for us, needed to be taught by an outside teacher instead of by me. (It has paid off in many ways, including coming back to us financially many times over in the form of merit scholarships.) No regrets. ☺️

Yes, he did well with DO Geometry. I had read multiple poor reviews from one poster here, but we did not share that negative experience. (The one I'm thinking of was a student who was much younger than the typical geometry student and needed additional support.) DS is a good math student, but not a math genius, if you know what I mean. He had to put in the work, but he did well. I do think geometry is a different beast, no matter which provider you use - requires a different type of thinking. If he had struggled a lot, we would have used something else for geo, and then gone back to DO for alg 2 and forward.

OK, I understand. Yeah, I do recall that MM recommends Foerster next, but I never really understood why. I mean, it is a well-respected textbook, but there are lots of other really good textbook options out there. Supposedly it is good for self-teaching but that didn't work for us either, and I don't think it is a good idea anyway. (Seems kind of cruel to tell a kid to teach him/herself algebra, LOL). But I think if you're game to work with her, Foerster would be a good place to start. Is she ready to start now, mid-school year? Is that why you're only considering Foerster/MWB vs. DO right now and not looking at live online options (since you mentioned MyHomeschoolMathClass)? I'm not sure about assessing readiness . . . so much depends on the individual kid, whether they do their work without dawdling, motivation, adolescent hormones/brain fog, etc. Have you asked her what she'd prefer to use for Alg? Maybe if she got to choose it would work out even better.

My son used Math Mammoth for several years and then when he started Alg 1, we used Math Without Borders for about half the course. It wasn't a good fit. DS struggled with the teaching in the videos. He did fine for the first several chapters but then the trouble started. (I had read here that some kids are able to effectively self-teach with Foerster, because the text is so clear. Even with my help, that didn't work here either. And I needed to not be the teacher anyway.) So we switched to Derek Owens, starting over at the beginning of Alg 1, which was great for solidifying the basics. DO seemed expensive at the time, but we have stuck with DO ever since, and it has been a great investment for us. DS is finishing DO's AP Calc AB course now. I wish he offered BC too. Anyway, we are Derek Owens believers. He's a talented instructor and provides a great service to HSers. 😊 (As an aside, I signed up DS for Mr. D.'s (a different online math instructor) ACT Math review course and DS didn't care for it. He finished the course but he said he just really prefers DO's teaching style, his manner, the way he explains things.) Are you already familiar with Foerster? What's your plan for math after Alg 1? MWB geo did not get good reviews either, as I recall from back then. In your shoes, I would consider what your plan would be for after Alg 1 and geo, no matter what program you use. The best part of MWB is that it is inexpensive, so if you try it and it doesn't work for your student, you're not out too much. DO can be started at any time and is a month-to-month payment, so there's a lot of flexibility there too. In case the cost of DO is an issue, you may already know this, but just in case you don't, you can use DO's course at half-price if you do the grading yourself.

I came in here to suggest the same. My son took this class, the year after RootAnn's daughter took it, I think, based largely on RootAnn's recommendation. It was a good experience for DS.

I agree with you. There's also the econ course from The Great Courses, but it is a bit dated and doesn't include discussion of major economic events in the last decade-plus. FWIW, my son is using ACDC (secular) videos and a (secular, well-regarded) textbook, and his course is going well.

I'm not familiar with TPS English, but if you're asking if it is too much alongside the other stuff, it might be. I am familiar with WAH (Write At Home) and it was not a heavy workload for my kid. Now that my STEM kid is about to finish 12th grade, I can say that I'm a firm believer in quality output, rather than copious output . . . in writing, and in pretty much everything else. Good instruction and feedback has been far more valuable for him than churning out an essay or multiple writing assignments every week. Looking back, I regret a lot of the things we did when DS was younger in the name of so-called completeness. For a while (fortunately it was short-lived), I bought in to the belief that DS had to write an answer to the review questions in the book. But I learned that busywork does not result in more authentic learning nor build good habits or skills. Busywork can mean worksheets, as well as other things: study guides, too many short-answer questions, even a lot of the stuff required in many AP courses. Responding to short-answer questions is a skill. Assigning them excessively isn't necessary. Teach the skill, practice it occasionally, no need to drill it excessively. Fortunately, we evolved to the point where we studied history mostly by reading, discussion, and watching documentaries. Assessing learning by engaging in discussion (instead of requiring things like written study guides and end-of-the-chapter review questions) is one of the best parts of homeschooling. Those study guides and review questions are for classroom teachers who have no better way to gauge learning. I made sure DS built some skills by writing essays and research papers for history class, but we didn't do more than a handful each year, and this allowed us enough time to do them right. (Another poster here told me I was "doing history" incorrectly. Based on results, I'd say that assessment was incorrect. 😄 ) That's my two cents. Now that he has built good habits and skills through good instruction and feedback, and has more maturity, he can write quickly when needed. It was not necessary for him to practice writing quickly or under time pressure throughout high school. He has successfully completed DE credits, including humanities/social studies subjects, at two universities, one with lower academic standards and the other with significantly higher standards. He's prepared for the writing requirements of college. And I'll add a plug for Mr. Roy Speed's online writing classes here. Wonderful instructor. He expects a lot of his students, gets them to write at their individual best, and does not assign any busywork. Excellent discussions and feedback. Logical Communication and Essay Writing & Appreciation. You can check out the links to see what type of work his students do. (Mr. Speed is also genuinely caring and wants his students to do well. He's written multiple college/scholarship recommendation letters for my son and has also worked with him to submit one of his recent essays for publication!) Best money we've ever spent in our homeschool.

Congratulations!!!!!!

DS got his letter in the mail today. 🙌 (insert party & celebration emojis) Huge congrats to all who have received/will receive one.

That stinks. And is sad. Our local high school usually has at least a couple of NMSF every year. The counselor's office, which coordinates PSAT/SAT, ACT, and AP exams, has fortunately been easy for us to work with as homeschoolers - very accommodating and friendly. The school usually has at least a couple of NMSF named every year. However, for this latest round, there were zero NMSF kids from that school, while three(!) homeschoolers from our town were named NMSF. I hope that doesn't cause sour grapes among the decision-makers within the school district next year and result in homeschoolers being forced to find other test locations at private schools in the future. I understand some states have it written into the law that homeschool kids must be allowed to test at their zoned public school (Texas, maybe?), but that is not the case here. @RootAnn, my local newspaper didn't publish anything about NMSF last fall when those were announced in the media, so I submitted an article, photo of DS's letter as proof, etc. They never published it. So I submitted it again. Still nothing, no article, no response to my email. My guess is that since the public school didn't have any NMSF, the newspaper didn't want to talk about any HS'ers being NMSF. 🤔 The big city paper nearest us published a story though, which included the names of the three NMSF HS'ers from our small town.

Thank you. For us, I'm still kind of pinching myself! We started homeschooling when DS was in 4th grade. His teacher at the time understood. She had a lot of experience and was more than ready to retire. When I told her we were going to pull him out of public school and start homeschooling, she nodded and said "I know what he needs, and unfortunately he can't get it here." She had her hands full with two particular kids acting out all the time in the classroom (flipping over desks and chairs, throwing books, etc.), and still trying to teach some of her 4th graders to read. The school's guidance counselor declined to test DS for admission to the GATE program even after I met with her and the principal about it. (Side-note: Our public school, DS's former classmates, had exactly zero NM semifinalists this year! I wish I could send a copy of DS's NMF certificate to his former guidance counselor who pre-emptively decided he wasn't GATE material. 😆) My son was also being bullied and the principal's only advice was "Put him in karate classes so he can defend himself." Seriously. One of the very first things I did in preparing to homeschool was check out a random homeschooling book from the library, called The Well-Trained Mind, and then I found this forum. At the time I didn't know anyone else who had experience in HS'ing. We homeschooled primarily for academic reasons, but never "taught to the test" or did much test prep . . . DS would not have tolerated that. And NM was not ever our end-goal, but it does feel nice to have a little external validation in an endeavor that provides very little of that. I could not have homeschooled without the resources and support available here. I've been feeling especially sentimental and reflective lately (preparing myself for DS going off to college this fall),and I just wanted to share that because I feel like this achievement DS has earned also belongs in a way to all of us here in this community. 🥰

YES! Congratulations!!!!!! And, yes, such a huge relief!

I got the principal's letter and DS's certificate today! Woooo-hooooooooo!

Same here. At least we're in this together!

I love that your DD is so happy at her school! I see your posts about her and it sounds like she is really thriving. Excellent advice, as always. Thank you.

Yes, DITTO everything you said! Please let us know when you get any word. Fingers crossed for you!

Thank you, RootAnn! I didn't know they sent letters last month to those who didn't advance. That does help calm me down. 😊 Yes, the big $$ school has admitted him and accepted him to their Honors College. It's his top pick or maaaybe #2. It will definitely become #1 if he gets NMF because he's level-headed and the money will make the difference. It's our state flagship, not selective, but he spent four weeks there taking two classes last summer, and he likes the size and the resources they have to offer . . . including that he would get to live in one of the fancy newer dorms and not one of the regular (old and not well-maintained) freshman dorms. Thank you for reassuring me!

We're waiting on pins and needles to hear whether DS (12th grade) has advanced from National Merit semifinalist to finalist status. This is way harder for us than waiting on admissions decisions. 😊 One of his schools gives big $ for NMF. From what I found on the NM website, NM mails notifications to high school principals on Feb 3. Not sure if homeschoolers would get notified on the same schedule. And then on Feb 10, NM notifies finalists of their status at their home addresses . . . is that date when the letters are mailed or supposed to arrive? Has anyone else been waiting and received word yet? ETA: Found an old thread where someone said their kid got a finalist letter on Feb 14. So maybe another week of waiting? DS did his part but I'm so worried that I might have screwed up the application. This is killing me.

I don't think there is one correct way to do it. Sources seem to vary all over in their suggestions. It depends on how you want to play the game. Our local public high school shows the fall semester grade for full-year courses in the body of the transcript for a mid-year report, but does not recalculate the cumulative GPA to include fall semester grades for those full-year courses because those courses are incomplete. Their position is that the mid-year report is meant to show colleges that the student is not slacking due to senioritis (or maybe the student is slacking, whatever the case is), but it is not meant to provide an updated cumulative GPA. The cumulative GPA gets updated for year-long courses only on the final/end of 12th grade transcript. It's a conservative approach. So, bottom line, fall semester grades are listed but not incorporated in to the cumulative GPA on the mid-year report. However, one-semester courses via DE are handled differently. The course is complete, so the credit counts and the grade gets averaged in to the GPA mid-year. I followed the same process, since I didn't want to be perceived as padding the transcript compared to public school students from our area, and it felt right to me to do it that way. I explained it in the notes section of the transcript: "For Mid-Year Report, GPA and cumulative credits were updated to reflect only the 12th grade one-semester courses completed as of 12-20-2019." For others reading, based on others' BTDT advice here on this forum, I had also planned ahead and formatted DS's transcript to have a column for 1st semester grades and a column for 2nd semester grades for the 12th grade year (but only a single column for grades in prior years). DS's transcript is a blend of by subject and by year . . . by subject group in rows down the left margin and by year as you move left to right in columns across the page. It has worked out really well.

As for your question #2, we have seen some advantages at some schools to paying the deposit before May 1. For instance, at one of the schools on DS's list, you can't register for a summer appointment in new student orientation, which is where you'll enroll in fall classes, until you've paid your deposit. That summer appointment slot registration opens tomorrow (Feb 3) for everyone who has already deposited, obviously well in advance of the May 1 decision deadline. So first-come, first-served appointments for freshman fall enrollment is dependent on paying your deposit ASAP, at that school.