Does anyone know of any other universities or schools that offer high school/honors/college level online courses that are truly classical Christian integrated programs. Meaning the courses cover subjects such as History/Bible/Art/Geography/Theology/Philosophy/Literature/Composition together? I am familiar with VP Omnibus, but I'm looking for something more along the lines of the Belhaven University High Scholars program or Torrey Academy program from Biola.

I have been looking for something like this for a LONG time! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING THIS RESOURCE!! It may have been posted before, but I've not seen it.

Over the holidays I made a huge batch of our own dry mix for "cream of whatever" soup. All I need to do is add water to the mix (over heat) and then supposedly use it for any recipe that calls for the cream. I haven't tried it yet, but I am hopeful that it will work. I can post the recipe I used if you'd like. I will tell you that it is NOT a more inexpensive way to go (as I was hoping). It was costly to make, but if I don't have to go out to the store or have to use that junk, then it will be worth it.

I have absolutely no knowledge about culinary school, but it made me think of commercials I see a lot here in our area. I am not sure if this is the place I am thinking of or not, but here is a link. http://www.thechefsacademy.com/ I will also try to figure out if this the place that has the commercials, or if there is another school.

I am trying to figure out any way possible to record myself teaching classes so that the kids in the class can then watch it at another time -- or even doing something live online would be fine. This is not for purposes to sell or charge for others students. I have been teaching a group of friend's kids since September. My kids and I drive about 40 minutes to get to the location where they take my class as well as 2 others. There are several reasons why I may need/want to not drive over there anymore, but I won't back out of my commitment. There is no reason we all physically need to be in the same room for this class to continue. I need some recommendations. The other moms aren't wanting to try just Skyping/Dell or anything live such as that. They think it won't work. So, I am trying to figure out if there is any way for me to prerecord my class and then the kids can watch it when the parents want them to, then email me their assignments. I found something called Mindflash.com but don't know anything about it. Do any of you have any suggestions or have you successfully done anything like this? In case it matters (which I'm sure it does) I have a Mac but the others don't. My dd does have PC, so if I need that I could use it. Thanks everyone!

I am trying to figure out any way possible to record myself teaching classes so that the kids in the class can then watch it at another time -- or even doing something live online would be fine. This is not for purposes to sell or charge for others students. I have been teaching a group of friend's kids since September. My kids and I drive about 40 minutes to get to the location where they take my class as well as 2 others. There are several reasons why I may need/want to not drive over there anymore, but I won't back out of my commitment. There is no reason we all physically need to be in the same room for this class to continue. I need some recommendations. The other moms aren't wanting to try just Skyping/Dell or anything live such as that. They think it won't work. So, I am trying to figure out if there is any way for me to prerecord my class and then the kids can watch it when the parents want them to, then email me their assignments. I found something called Mindflash.com but don't know anything about it. Do any of you have any suggestions or have you successfully done anything like this? In case it matters (which I'm sure it does) I have a Mac but the others don't. My dd does have PC, so if I need that I could use it. Thanks everyone!

Ladies, Thanks for your quick responses. Iucounu -- thanks for the link. Describes her quite well, unfortunately, I've already done just about everything suggested in the Wiki article -- didn't have time to look through other resources yet. JenneinAZ -- thanks for the pm. KAR120C -- funny that you should mention the SAT math because while I was typing the question to post, I had her doing EXACTLY that! No matter how many times I tell her she hasn't even been exposed to half of the material so there is no way she could be expected to know the answers, she is still discouraged and upset (for a myriad of reasons). You did understand what I was meaning about the setting her up for failure of some sort. Trying to figure out what I could use for the mini-failure course if a stumbling block though. I am going to think about this today and see if I can come up with something. Thanks again!!

Hi, I usually hang out on the high school/college boards, but have a question that I am hoping some of you with older kids here may be able to help me with. A little background -- My dd will be 14 in Feb. She is not extremely gifted but rather smart and highly self-motivated. She has been this way since she was little (running full speed at 10 months, having complete conversations like an adult at age 2, etc.) She is my oldest and although I've home schooled from day one, I've never actually TAUGHT her anything. Besides "introducing" or "presenting" a concept (phonics blends for example), I've never really had to teach her -- she just watches something or reads something and then usually understands it and does it. She does work at an advanced level (and possibly could be working at an even higher level -- I'm beginning to wonder if I haven't held her back). However, she has also always been a perfectionist and highly emotional. She takes right after her dear ol' mom. Unfortunately, as she has gotten older these traits have gotten much worse. This past semester things have gotten almost unbearable with her perfectionism and now adding to that her procrastination (another trait of mine). The problem lies in her absolute inability to cope with not being PERFECT in regards to anything. She sets high goals for herself (as I do) but has breakdowns when she is not perfect. If she cannot do something perfect the first time, if she gets anything incorrect, if something doesn't come out looking fantastic, or if it requires any type of practice to get "better", then she is discouraged, upset, crying, defeated, etc. This has been a theme all her life, but has escalated this past semester. Add to all of this the fact that she has now decided it's great to wait to the last minute to do anything. She struggled with piano lessons for several years because she wasn't perfect. She doesn't like playing the flute and doesn't want to practice because she isn't perfect so she doesn't want to do it. If she cannot be PERFECT the first time out, then she wants no part of it (although she is now a good intermediate pianist and I've made her stick with flute). I have had NUMEROUS conversations with her and we have discussed her problems till the cows come home. The problem is that this is now becoming crippling for her academically (as well as in all areas of her life). She wants to be challenged and I am trying to make decisions about this coming year and whether or not to put her into several college courses (which will mean contacting guidance counselors and requesting special permission). I am fairly certain she could keep up academically in anything we would choose, but I am convinced that emotionally she is not able to handle it. When I say things have gotten worse this past semester, I mean SIGNIFICANTLY worse. Here are just a few brief, specific examples: 1. In Sept she starting Geometry and I told her it was a year long course, she could schedule it out however she chose, but it needed to be completed by the end of May. She FLEW through it and was completely finished 4 months later (too easy -- possibly -- but that's not the point). She was getting almost every single problem correct in every single lesson. If she ever missed anything she immediately went back and figured it out and realized her mistake. Her grades were always 100% or 98% -- even on weekly tests & unit tests. However, near the end of the course I graded an exam and she ended up getting something like a 90% (still a fine score). She had a breakdown -- crying hysterically, berating herself, etc. I told her it was fine -- not to worry about it. She checked her answered, realized she made silly mistakes and that just sent her into even more hysterics -- cried for over an hour, gave herself a headache & was miserable the rest of the day. These types of scenes have been occurring more & more frequently. 2. If she thinks ahead of time that she will not do something PERFECT the first time, she puts it off and puts it off. This is going to be her 1st year in Varsity competitive speech. (I happen to be the coach). She is a good writer and did just fine writing & presenting about 12 speeches last year. She loved it. We have always had issues with her accepting editing of her writing -- she cannot accept that it's not PERFECT the first time it's written. Well, this semester she needed to write one speech (after researching) and "cut" another piece for an interp. She was so excited to begin with but when I told her she needed to rework the speech, she was at breakdown level and has been for the last couple of months. Whenever I tell her to work on the speech or she does work on it, she is in hysterics -- doesn't want to do it because she "knows it won't be perfect and she can't do it right" and on and on and on (her words). She has missed several of my "due dates" for school work this past semester due to these types of issues. These situations are happening weekly (sometimes daily). We have discussed, argued, butt heads, and so forth. I have removed privileges, tried to help her work through feelings, accommodated her, made her redo things, given serious consequences -- everything I can think of to do. Do any of you have any insight into how to proceed? Have you experienced this with any of your kids? What would you suggest? I cannot fathom putting her into college courses with these emotional issues -- it just doesn't bode well for success. The only thing I can think of that I haven't done is actually set her up in a situation that she would most likely fail and let her fail -- and continue to make her follow through with the failure (not sure this even makes sense the way I am describing it). Any ideas or suggestions at this point would be greatly appreciated!! Blessings! **As an added note, we are strong Christians and I do see this as a pride issue on her part and would love ideas about how to deal with that, but I am also looking for any suggestions from all perspectives. **

ma23peas -- UofA Early College looks very promising. Thanks for posting! Have any of your students taken their courses by chance? Their website states that the tuition is set prior to each fall semester and is different each year. However, nowhere do I find how much it actually costs even for the current year. Anyone know what the prices are? Thanks, Angie

I forgot to mention that my dd would be a 14.5 yr old freshman (chronologically speaking). Would this be a problem with Clovis? She took the ACT and scored well enough that she would be admitted easily if she were older. Also, their website only shows courses for the Fall 2010 semester. Do any of you know where to get the current online course offering list?

For those that have used Clovis -- what did you as the parent and your kids think of the courses that they took? I have been to their website and am very interested but am very gun-shy with all of the negatives I've been reading lately about online courses. I don't want to waste my money, and I am looking for quality courses that my dd could find success with. Any information you all are willing to share would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Angie

Anyone??

I am curious if anyone is familiar with the Duke TIP independent learning Algebra 2 course. It is discounted now because the book is no longer being published. The course uses Heath Algebra II: An Integrated Approach (1998 edition), by Roland E. Larson, Timothy D. Kanold, and Lee Stiff. I am wondering if anyone has a student who used this, or if anyone is familiar with this text and can provide some insight. Also, do any of you know what exactly is included with this Duke course? Are ALL of the answers to EVERY problem provided and are they worked out so the student can understand how they are done? There is no DVD to go along with the course, so just want to be certain it would be worth it to purchase their "course". If its's nothing more than a syllabus with daily assignments planned out, it would definitely not be worth the cost.

Thanks for all of this info. This is all very helpful for my planning purposes!!

Terri, Out of curiosity (and preparation for next year), how did your dd do on the exam? What did she use to prepare? Thanks, Angie

I know that CLEP tests have no age requirements and that once taken, the scores should transfer (if the college accepts that test). However, I don't see anything about this on the College Board regarding AP. Is it okay to study for and take an AP exam when one is in 9th grade? What if the child would chronologically only be in 8th grade if in public school? Does it matter to a college when the exam was taken if the score is one that school accepts? TIA!!!

I was in college 24 years ago and there were no cell phones, laptops, iPads, iPods and all other such devices. BUT there was NOTHING even close to what you are describing as the wanted "college experience". Things were loud, parties all the time, doors slamming, people running up and down the hallways, we only had our food service meals or hot pots to cook junk, very few people studying -- at least in the residence halls. I can only imagine that things have gotten worse instead of better. I don't know where you'll find the type of environment your daughter is looking for, but please let use know if you do! I would love something like that for my dd when she goes to college, so I really would like to hear from others who may actually have found some colleges that offer a more quiet study atmosphere.

You might rethink sending the books back. As soon as I saw that MP was publishing the books, I went and looked as I am needing to purchase additional levels. Unfortunately, MP only has the BETA version of Fables available. Now it looks like I'll be buying mine straight from Mr. Selby without the extra expansion that MP is going to be adding.

Regina -- I am assuming you are talking about DePauw? If so, thanks for the info. It's just a 30-35 minute drive for us, so we can easily visit -- I just know it's not a Christian school like I've been looking at so far. I have all daughters, so no all-boys schools for us!! Thanks!

Well Susann, Are you willing to share some thoughts about Rose-Hulman since you have a child there? Thanks.

I have been busy gathering lists of potential colleges for my dd, but my focus has been solely on Christian colleges. Since DePauw is just 35 minutes from our house, I figure I might as well see if any of you have any thoughts or information about it? Thanks, Angie

Think there will be any lawsuits filed against the schools and principals? This is just a nightmare!!! Makes me sick just reading about it.

I would probably 2nd Pam's response. We've used MUS for every level through Geometry thus far, so my kids are fans. When my dd first started the course it was very troublesome in that I felt the questions made too many assumptions. For example, here is the 6th question from the very first lesson: "Peter is paid $27,000.00 salary per year. How much per hour does Peter make?" My dd struggled with this, and I believe rightfully so. There is not enough information provided to complete this problem. In real life, we need to first know how many hours Peter works. Nowhere is that information provided, but if you look in the answers you will find that they based the problem on a 40 hour work week. Great. But that's not real life. My husband does not work a 40 hour week. I explained to my dd that if she replaced the name Peter with her dad and then attempted to do the problem based on an assumption that he works a 40 hour week, the answer would not accurately reflect what her dad makes per hour in real life. She would be wrong. I believe that since this is supposed to be a stewardship class based on real life scenarios, there should definitely be more information presented and covered to account for real life situations. IMHO it falls short of the mark. I would also agree with Pam that it's more fill-in-the blank regarding basic definitions, which might be fine if there was more math involved as well. It's not very "mathy", and that's what I believe is necessary for kids to be well prepared for their futures. I, too, like the devotional and that it's written from a Biblical perspective, but unfortunately I think there are probably programs out there that would better prepared the kids for real life.

My dd did Duke TIP last year and it was a great thing for us. I had no intentions of ever doing anything they offered, and we haven't. She took the ACT because: 1) I didn't want her to do the writing portion as there was no reason whatsoever to do it 2) We got registered at the last minute and I needed her to take the test on the date as far out as possible 3) I had taken the ACT myself, so that is the test I am a bit familiar with. My dd has been home schooled her whole life and I've never done any standardized testing. The only thing she did was read about taking the test and then we talked about how to eliminate answers (to answer every single question), and how to fill in the circles & erase properly. Then, I sat her down and did 1 timed test (not all in one sitting) -- I made sure she practiced NOT looking around the room and to put her head on her desk if she finished a portion early. She did great test day. The school we went to for the test did take all the talent search kids into their own room, so that was good. It ended up being a great experience and really helped me in our high school planning for her.

1togo -- We haven't done Cheria/Maxim as yet. Should be starting that by January though. I am planning to seat and read through it all again very soon. Go ahead and pm me if you have some specific questions and I'll see if I can answer them.