I used this as well and definitely felt the 5-8 book was really more like 3-6. It is accessible though and not difficult to use.

I do know that Harold Jacobs suggests moving on to Foerster after completing his Algebra and Geometry. There is no way his MHE and what is in his Algebra text would constitute an Algebra II credit. I did use MHE and would consider MHE more on the level of a pre-algebra course and outside of the "traditional" high school math sequence. Without pulling my copy off the shelf, I also remember that the first 1/3 of his Algebra text is pre-algebra topics.

There are West Coast friendly times for Veritas Press Online Academy, Wilson Hill Academy has some as well. You have to just look around. Cathy Duffy has a pretty good list of providers: https://cathyduffyreviews.com/homeschool-extras/online-schools-and-courses

Cathy Duffy maintains list of online providers here. She has separate lists for secular and religious and also full schools versus individual course providers. Hope this helps your search. https://cathyduffyreviews.com/homeschool-extras/online-schools-and-courses

@eternallytired Have you considered the other AOPS classes out there? Like WTMA or Royal Fireworks? I'm planning to get my kid through what WTMA covers for Algebra II according to their syllabus to do Geometry in the Fall. If you are looking at WTMA, they indicated that they were able to rotate through waiting lists if you got on one for February as they are committed to adding sections to meet need. Many of their AOPS sections are full.

@CondessaThere are two other options for classes. Royal Fireworks and WTMA. With WTMA, it is less intense than AOPS online courses. This is WTMA's philosophy about AOPS. https://www.wtmacademy.com/questions/how-are-your-aops-classes-different-from-those-offered-by-the-art-of-problem-solving-website/

I don't have a suggestion, but have you asked Mr. Hummel for his feedback on whether or not your son would be ready for Rhetoric 1?

Try checking out Shin's AP Calc classes over on Blue Tent. She used to teach for AOPS Academy in San Diego and ran a math circle here when she was still homeschooling/afterschooling her kids.

For us, we needed to do ch. 10-13 again because the first pass through was pretty rough. We just took as long as it took the second pass through and just keep at Aclumus until he passed. And, yes, there were many days of frustration, but he made it through and I survived (haha). It is tremendously helpful to hear where others have hit the proverbial wall because up until this point PA and Algebra was pretty smooth for him. As I reflect on what was going on, I think it was difficult because he has reached a point where he really wants to be independent, and he clearly needed help. The idea of being forced to slow is way down and work a problem at a time and check in to make sure he is on the right track has been frustrating to him. AOPS is so tricky in how the problems build off each other because if your solution is incorrect, continuing on without knowing this just compounds things since you usually needed to learn something from that problem in order to solve the next one. On this second pass through, he felt a lot more confident. That being said, we decided that we will finish working through the text and do the 5 chapters of the Intermediate Algebra to cover what would be covered in Algebra II and go with WTMA for AOPS Geometry in the fall. Plan B is to look at Foerster using Math WIthout Borders lectures and worked solutions.

Would it be possible if reviews could note if the class is live or asynchronous since not everything is at PAH is asynchronous any more?

Hmmm...that's interesting because my impression was that it should be delayed to avoid potential adverse reactions.

I'm curious about the timing of his vaccination. I thought they were recommending at least 90 days post Covid infection as the earliest to do a Covid vax.

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If Foerster, possibly Math Without Borders teaching videos and worked solutions might be enough support? https://mathwithoutborders.com/ Integrated doesn't exist AFAIK probably because IM was never adopted by homeschoolers. A basdic demand = supply or in this case a lack of demand.

Bionaturae used to have the best GF pasta made from soy, rice and potato flours. No one could not tell the difference at all. Then they ruined it by reformulating last year to be a rice and lentil pasta. You can see all the people complaining when they started getting that shipped to them instead of the original. I have since begrudgingly gone to Barilla GF. We haven't liked Tinkyada, Banza, Jovial, Ronzoni, Cascaidan Farms, Ancient Harvest, whatever is at Trader Joes. I will chose to buy Safeway Signature Select (the generic grocery store brand) over these. And a third choice if I had to would be Ronzoni.

We are a returning family and registration opened on Wednesday at 12 EST. There was so much traffic that the system crashed. They actually paused registration for several hours in the afternoon and early evening, and some point in the evening restored it. I am personally relieved I persisted through and got the class that I was trying to get. When I noticed that registration had been restored, there were no more seats left in class I wanted which around ten EST. They did say that students should add themselves to the waiting list and that historically, they have rotated through the entire wait lists for most classes. They said that they are committed to hiring to add additional sections of classes after they review waiting lists in February. I have seen them add sections as cohorts on students progress through so that there are seats to meet the needs of continuing students. I know that you can't see the available seats right now. French 1 - section 1 appears to have no open seats. French 2 - section 1 has 1 open seats Both have a TBD section 2 for both classes. French 1 shows 10 of 15 seats open. 13 of 15 opens for French 2. This usually means that they are committed to hiring for this position. I believe French has been offered longer than Latin at WTMA. Latin 1 - Section 1 has 6 of 15 available, Section 2 12 of 15 available. Latin 2 - no open seats. All have higher level sections. I have found that usually when a time has been determined, a provider will notify the existing registrations to see if anyone is interested in switching sections. Hope this helps.

So Schola Tutorials and Romans Road Media both have migrated to Kepler Education... Has anyone done any classes with Kepler? In particular, the ones using OWC (Old Western Culture)?

There is another option is that WTMA is offering an AOPS Calculus class this year.

I know of more than one privately homeschooling family who was asked to substantiate their science courses and provide the specific labs completed with lab reports. The large state unis were asking for this information.

It's interesting to see what is happening in various districts. San Francisco and Berkeley went the other direction and made a controversial decision to eliminate algebra in middle school. It's taught in 9th grade now. Previously CA has a statewide policy of Algebra 1 taught in 8th grade which was dropped in 2010 with Common Core standards adopted. I know that the friends and family I have in the area are paying to go Algebra 1 and beyond outside of the school system. Though technically there is no Algebra 1 for most of CA since most school districts follow an Integrated Math sequence now. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/a-bold-effort-to-end-algebra-tracking-shows-promise/2018/06

In public school with a traditional algebra, geometry, algebra II, pre-calculus/trigonometry, calculus. Or the Integrated Math track would be IM 1, 2, pre-calculus/trigonometry, calculus. The minimum highest required math would be algebra 1 by graduation. Standard accelerated track would have a student do AP Calculus AB or BC by senior year. Some schools offer only AB, others AB and BC each over one year. Sometimes, a BC is offered that compressed AB/BC into one year. Beyond that is possible, but you are usually at a very high performing school that offers multivariable calculus or doing DE or outsourcing to do this. You work backwards from where you want to be. If AB, then you need to start IM1 or Algebra 1 by 8th grade. If BC by senior year then 7th grade.

For the math sequence, it is important to find out if they follow Integrated Math or traditional math sequence. You don't want to start down the one when you need the other. This is also an secular accredited provider https://www.williamsburglearning.com/

I would definitely say that since you plan to possibly transfer as a sophmore, then you should use an accredited provider. Otherwise, you run the risk of having credits denied. Even if you transfer as a freshmen, it will go better as well to get your math and language credit to transfer. There are so many providers out there, but as soon as you start looking at accreditation, it narrows it down a lot. Since you are looking at the full slate of classes, it might be better for you to look at single provider. Cathy Duffy has pretty good lists going of online providers now on her website. You can find it here. It's sorted between religious and secular and individual course providers and complete schools. https://cathyduffyreviews.com/homeschool-extras/online-schools-and-courses

It depends on the kid whether or not AOPS PA is a good fit. The text is written to the student, so I tended to only help with asking leading questions as needed for the occasional challenge problems he had problems with. The solutions are full worked with explanations and if there are alternative solutions, those are provided as well. It is a very text dense book though. Nothing about it is remotely visually appealling. It's like reading a college text in a lot of ways. There are some kids who won't react well to that aspect. I thought looking at the sample chapters (later chapters, not the intro one) would give your student a good idea of what to expect.

All to true for me...though I wasn't in a STEM field so I got away with it longer because I was in business. ETA: So I wouldn't say I hit a wall...I just know I didn't get what in hindsight I should have out of my courses. I was doing enough to do good enough, but not enough to be at the top of my game. I just didn't have the study skills at that point and was honestly having far too much fun doing other stuff to significantly change my ways. This is actually why I homeschool my son. He would be this way if I didn't force situations that require developing EF and study skills.