This was not a problem when he was younger, but honestly, you can not predict what the tween/teen years will look like. I could not have predicted my sweet, agreeable boy would be the way he is right now. I still teach my kid but in only certain subjects.

Actually, I would say the model that will likely be followed will likely be an outsourcing model. While I didn't think that I would migrate towards this as much as I have. My son was asking to do this. Relationally, it is better for us because he really wants a lot more independence right now.

FWIW, I can tell you that there is a big uptick in Asians looking into homeschooling who can't afford to pay the cost for private school. This is big deal because Asians who homeschool are outliers in our communities. It really goes against culture for a number of reasons. I also see lots of Asians making the jump to private schools as well to secure a spot for their kids. They are really aware of the trends elsewhere and often live in similar areas and are making decisions because they see what is coming. Education is always a hot button topic in our circles.

I find this a little odd. I agree the look seems more East Asian, but the name of the doll "Aja" is Hindi name.

I came back to give you a really honest answer about this. Given the current climate and trends in public education, the likelihood that public schools will appropriately accomodate is decreasing. If you have been following trends in public education in the name of equity and access, gifted programs are being outright eliminated, significantly decreased or diluted. Advanced study in mathematics is being done away with as well.

You could pursue testing privately, but you could opt to do CogAt test which is avaiable to homeschoolers. This is a commonly used test by school districts to test for gifted programs. https://www.bjupresshomeschool.com/category/homeschool-cogat

I'm going to answer this question based on pre-Covid experience. Last year was really weird across the board in terms of online classes getting flooded with public school kids, so there was unusual stuff I observed going on as the student population changed. Our family has done the Athena's and Online G3's classes. IME, 13 would be on the older side for that class series. It's grouped with their Jr. High classes which usually means you are getting on a lot of kids between 7 to 11. Usually look at the grade range and think minus 1 to 3 grade levels. So if the class says 6 to 8, you are getting a lot of chronologically 3 to 5 graders in there at the beginning of that 3 class series. The class ranges describe the level of the material...not the age of the students. These gifted kids are working 1 to 3+ above grade level. Beyond 10/11, that's when students start looking at some of the upper middle school offerings and starting to go looking at the high school offerings at Athena's or have started classes over at OG3. Hope this helps!

try taking a look at Crewton Ramone's House of Math. It's basically Mortensen approach to math. https://www.crewtonramoneshouseofmath.com/

I thought I would point you to Kitchen Table Math books. It's a lot about playing with math. Maybe Right Start math card games? There's math based board games as well like Prime Climb for example. I remember doing logic a lot as well (lollipop logic, logic safari) and other materials like math analogies, balance benders, mind benders, logic links, balance benders, etc. We also did coding apps at that age as well. It did help a lot to invest time into reading level. My son was motivated to do so when he realized that would unlock a whole world of things for him to access on his own.

Does anyone have this on their shelf? It has a green cover. The copy I got used is missing pages 11-14. Would you be willing to scan these pages for me? TIA!

I can tell you that my son did EW1 last year, and they did not do every writing assignment in the book. They did go over the tools and techniques during their class time and exercises like practicing the outling, etc. I can tell you which writing assignments were skipped below if that would help you save time from where you are today. 13, 14, 17, 19, 22, 26, 33 The last 3 weeks of class were devoted to helping the students write their final paper which is covered in ch. 35-36 which basically incorporates the skills that were taught through the program so you can save time here if you don't have him do a final paper. I hesitate to tell you to not cover the skills...perhaps try to at least get through the Part V as you really need to have these skills in place. I do think if you skip the writing assignments I listed above that you may very well be able to finish. Look through the chapters I listed for these skipped assignments to check to see if there is anything new he needs to learn or something he needs more practice doing. If you can, try to get to the Poetry section Part VI, this was challenging and perhaps the hardest for my son who does not have a literary bent and zero appreciation for poetry. Learning to read and understand the use of symbolism, metaphors, alliteration, meter, etc. in poetry wasn't something he would naturally ever intuit. However, it gave him enough for what he needed to know in this area. I am assuming that the actual writing assignments is where your son probably spending the bulk of his time so hopefully knowing which ones you can skip over and still be in line with the rest of his cohort in the fall helps you.

Perhaps the two taller chests wouldn't be an issue if you have the younger take the bottom drawers in both.

Depending on where you are...and riffing off the chex mix idea, this might be a good option. I might be hesitant to do it if you are in a area where Asian foods/flavors aren't popular. Furikake Chex Mix is so good! Hugely popular Haiwaiian snack mix. Trader Joe's has furikake now if you aren't near an Asian market. https://onolicioushawaii.com/furikake-chex-mix/

Banana bread is pretty easy.

I have ours still from 2013...still in the garage. Still doesn't stink. We did a Cornish game hen instead of a full chicken though. It was easier to deal with. We did the papyrus activity as well. We had papyrus plants in our front yard until we redid our yard. I do know where to get some papyrus stalks though.

I chose Pfizer for my family including my 12yo because the reported side effects are less severe.

@Spryte I thought I would point you to this excellent book I read when I was coaching food science for SO last year. He is very inspirational in his writing about fermentation. https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Fermentation-Flavor-Nutrition-Live-Culture/dp/1603586288/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw47eFBhA9EiwAy8kzNJA7GvFKtEZmiIFkB-4JNYMTNMdJf7MhTpCnQj4pYLOd6J7nOje0vRoCZpYQAvD_BwE&hvadid=177144917952&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9031350&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=3479670802225147924&hvtargid=kwd-132948962&hydadcr=16156_9795893&keywords=wild+fermentation&qid=1622045333&sr=8-1 and https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fermentation-Depth-Exploration-Essential/dp/160358286X Anyways, I actually like kim chi, etc. Unfortunately I am sensitive to histamine so I had to stop with anything fermented as it was triggering migraines and hives in me when I "indulged."

I don't recall seeing you say whether or not you are solely looking at secular providers, but I will tell you that there is an AP bio class at Wilson Hill Academy taught by Sylvia Chen. I know she has been teaching there for years at this point because I remember seeing her name when we first started with them for Latin 3 years ago. For the most part, the instructors at WHA tend to get good reviews on here. It seems like they are pretty selective in their hiring process.

She's brand new AFAIK to the platform. Maybe you can write to her and ask her for a sample class to watch. That's a pretty common request these days.

Just to clarify, the instructor who shall not be named is still teaching as well. Just be specific about which one you are NOT recommending. Unfortunately, the course is at a terrible time for West Coasters.

I noticed that PAH has a new teacher offering AP Bio with a live class meeting now in addition to the one that shall not be named. Ivonne Heapy is the instructor.

This absolutely...not being behind from the start. It's not necessary to sit for the exam, but getting the same coverage and depth. Those were huge weed out courses at my school as well with brutal grading curves. Like you got a B if your grade was less than 97%.

I plan to cover what is skipped independently during the summer. I figure it will also serve as deep review. We are going with WTMA for geometry this fall. I'm making sure we cover all the chapters of Intermediate Algebra text that WTMA's Algebra 2 syllabus covers. He dislikes geometry topics and so a class will motivate and keep him engaged. He's a bit competitive that way.

AOPS online classes cover the whole textbook Introduction to Algebra. WTMA Algebra 1 covers Ch. 1- 13. WTMA Algebra 2 covers the reminder of this book Ch. 13-22 and 7 selected chapters from Intermediate Algebra.

I think it comes down to whether or not gov't funding is tied to it. The big issue that I am sure you are aware of in CA is the use of funding via charter schools for said programs for charter students. There are these quasi class days set up by enrichment centers which are operated outside of the charter school which are predominantly paid for by gov't funds. The current Assembly bill looks like it will drastically affect these centers as well as the other vendors serving the charter market.