My dd is taking Algebra 2 with Jann currently. Originally, I had signed up for the 1 day per week course. I then realized that I had messed up in my figuring of time zones, and due to that, I had scheduled my dd for another class at the same time. This was not too long after I had signed her up. Jann kindly allowed me to switch my dd to the 2 day per week class and my dd actually is very glad that it worked out that way. Regarding mid-year switches, you would need to ask Jann.

Just wanted to say thanks for this thread! It is so incredibly informative and helpful!!

Pm'd you.

I completely understand what you are saying with the 4 year sequence and not being able to get finished earlier due to when courses are scheduled. However, would you agree that by going into the 4 year uni with most of the gen ed coursework completed through DE, that a student would then be able to use that extra time to complete a double major or other types of specialized coursework along with their major that keeps them in for the 4 years? This is what I am hoping as I plan for dd this coming year and her DE courses. She may end up STEM, but I still would like her to get her gen ed through DE so that she is able to do more than just the required amount for whatever her one major might be.

Advanced Economics I and II with Alex Newman through FreedomProject Education. My daughter cannot say enough good things about his courses! She has loved them and wants everyone to take them. They are, however, a great deal of work -- daily -- so not for the student who doesn't want to write a lot.

My dd is going to start it this coming fall, hopefully. There are a couple people on these boards (or used to be) that have had kids go through the program and absolutely rave over it.

Blessings to you and your precious family!! I am so very sorry to hear of your loss. May God comfort all of you and hold you in His arms.

My oldest dd is taking a high school level class this year. I'm pleased with everything so far. I'd definitely recommend MP.

Could someone please tell me if this is legitimate or a hoax? it seems too good to be true (which usually means it is). Has anyone had any experience with this? Have any of your kids taken classes with them? www.kingswayclassicalacademy.com If it's legitimate then it seems quite odd that there's not a lot more talk about it on these boards. Thanks!!

I have a question. I always hear that proofs are important and need to be studied because they take logic and students learn to use logical thinking. If a student has had quite a bit of logic and seems to do well with logic, would said student have a better (or at least seemingly better) ability to solve proofs? Is said student did not use a "proof heavy" geometry curriculum, but did great and has excelled in all other math (up through Alg 2), would it be safe to say that the student could pick up some type of book on geometry proofs and without much difficulty work through it if needed? Maybe this doesn't even make sense. I am ANYTHING but a mathematician, so I am quite clueless as to how this all really fits together. Thanks for any insight!

Are there any very good world history DVD curriculums or online curriculums (similar to digitalhistory.com) that you know of?

I would like to host a murder mystery for my girls' birthdays this year. I am having trouble finding anything for free online that is appropriate for teens (without characters who are having affairs, are alcoholics, etc). I see some promising mysteries for teens online, but they cost at least $30. Thought maybe I'd check to see if any of you might know of any other options. I know that sometimes these things can be found at places like 1/2 Price Books, but those oftentimes aren't appropriate either and I don't want to purchase one to then find out it won't work. Any suggestions?

Would you be willing to share what you did with your son in that year to increase his score by that much? My DD just took it for the 1st time this year in 9th. She is in the 99th percentile in all but math -- sounds like she's not alone from some of the responses on this thread. if she could raise her score like your son in the next 2 years she would definitely be in the ballpark. Anything specific you suggest to improve those math scores? And why is it that students are struggling so much with the math portion? She's in Algebra 2 in 9th and is not struggling at all and never has, but she does not do well on any of the math portions of those stinking standardized tests (ACT, SAT, or PSAT).

Hoosiermom -- Do you happen to know based on your DD's score what the cutoff for IN is this year? Or maybe she scored much higher than cutoff. I only have a freshman and am wondering how much effort to put into her working to raise her score in the next couple of years. I'm not sure when they actually release the cutoff scores for the individual states.

This is a great one as well. I use it a great deal with my speech and debate club class.

I highly recommend both IEW's Speech Boot Camp and Dr. Jeff Meyers Secrets of Great Communicators. I've used them both (combined them) and they are good. There was another program that I saw briefly at a convention last year that looked rather promising, but I can't remember what it's called now. Maybe someone else on here can help jog my memory.

Hooray! Thanks so much!!

Feel free to pm me.

We have the Chemistry DVD and it is very good. My daughter really enjoyed using the DVD and we just recently loaned it to a friend who was struggling. Once she watched the DVD, she understood the material and said it has been a lifesaver.

I too would think that "creating" a fable would not be following the progym, but other than pulling your student(s) or just have them do the assignments as asked (knowing it's not what the progym really is) I don't know what to tell you.

Have any of you purchased a refurbished MacBook Pro online other than from the Apple store? I've been watching for many weeks and nothing is coming available at apple. I'm wondering about trying elsewhere but am very afraid to do so. Is there any way to know if the source is good? What about warranty? Caould we still pay for AppleCare? I would greatly appreciate any insight. We are really needing to purchase, but I don't want to find out we wasted our money on junk.

Thanks so much! I really appreciate that link!

I realize that the scores vary from year to year for those who receive the NMSQT finalist status, but is there a list of those scores from past years somewhere? I see where the lowest any student could score to be a qualifier in any state last year was 201, but where can I find out what scores the finalists actually received? ETA: I just found the qualifying minimum qualifying scores from last year. Is there somewhere to find them from previous years? Just curious about our state scores. I'm quite shocked at how much the qualifying scores vary from state to state. It definitely matters what state you are located in, doesn't it?

"So, where can he watch the labs? Are they on one of the CD roms available?" I know that on the DVD that Rusty Hughes has done for Apologia Chemistry, he does the labs on there.

I haven't posted anything about this yet, but since you have specifically asked, I will share some information that I learned a couple weeks ago. The Engineering & Technology department of a college close by put on a homeschool workshop day that was one of the most informative and well-planned out homeschool events I have ever attended. This is a fairly well-known college in the STEM fields. They had a panel of 7 students who are all in the Honors College, 6 of which had been home educated. At least 4 (if not 5) of the home educated students had received the HIGHEST scholarship award that the college offers -- full tuition, books & fees plus 2 years of room & board. All of the students were some type of engineering major (biomedical, chemical, materials, etc). There were all levels represented -- from freshmen to senior. When asked which science programs they had used in their home schools to prepare, each and every one of them said Apologia. They all agreed that the program had prepared them very well for their courses of study. Remember, these are all STEM majors taking higher level honors courses. This is a secular university BTW. They all had taken the first 3 courses you have listed, and then they all had chosen whichever higher level Apologia course they were most interested in. I have read so many posts regarding STEM kids and Apologia -- negative and positive -- and have been so concerned because I may have some STEM kids myself. I no longer am worried about using the Apologia curriculum. I realize that others may still feel differently, and we're all entitled to our own opinions. The students that spoke to us the other day definitely provided me all the assurance I need. In case this may help, my daughter & I also questioned the senior (he was one who had received the highest scholarship and was obviously a leader within the department) what he did about labs with Apologia. He said that for most labs, he just watched them, but did not necessarily do them himself. He said that the most important thing is to make certain that students do the lab reports and that they understand them completely. He told my daughter that if she is completing a lab report properly (and he went over the steps in detail), anyone else should be able to use the report to recreate that exact experiment and compare the results without a problem. He reassured us that if the lab reports are done well, there should not be any problem with doing labs in college classes. Again, this was the experience we just had a couple of weeks ago and others may still disagree about the curriculum, but I figured I would go ahead and post this in case it would be of some help. Blessings to you!