If you go to various AP course websites (google for them), you should be able to get huge listings of primary sources, most of which are short. Here are some websites that I found helpful: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/ http://thecaveonline.com/APEH/Documenttitle.html'>http://thecaveonline.com/APEH/Documenttitle.html http://thecaveonline.com/APEH/Documenttitle.html For American primary source documents I mostly used a book, "A Documentary History of the United States" by Richard Heffner

y kids have both used the Giancoli book titled "Physics". They both liked the text VERY much. Dd will actually be selling her Giancoli physics text at some point, but only because her freshman physics class in college uses an even better text. (Why keep both?) She compared the two texts on the basis of clarity and the humor of the author, and her freshman text won. That text even references my dd's FAVORITE unit -- furlongs / fortnight! Does anyone else have a favorite unit?

We just bought it and will start within a few weeks.... so I can't help you!

My kids have always prepared just using 2 prep books.....working through one in entireity and then using the other as a quick review and doing tests from both. Ds is just starting the review process..... Best wishes!

Valerie -- Thank you so much for pointing out that's to some extent the burden is on ds for seeking out people and opportunities. Thanks for the words of wisdom!

EKS -- Wow! All the time! Were you at a small LAC? I guess I'm frustrated by my son's reluctance to go to a prestigious LAC because he feels there will be few "intellectual' conversations (based on obviously very little experience). Instead, he feels he will find more at a 18,000-student state U.

And I started out my college career as a French major at a LAC and ended up as a matrials science & engineering major at an engineering school! But my dh knew from the tender age of 7 that he wanted to be an engineer who worked with airplanes! And that's what he does.....

Dd thought she would be a history major for years and years...and then she took physics in 11th grade and LOVED it. She also took calculus and fell in love with it! She is now double-majoring in art history and chemistry in order to go into art conservation. So in a weird way she has stayed with the history interest, but she has certainly switched from being "pure" humanities to being more of a science person. (When we were looking at colleges, we were amazed at how many schools require the student to apply to a particular "school" and then limit the number of classes you can take outside of that school. She didn't apply to any schools that did that -- she is too much of a "renassance woman" to be limited in that way!

Congratulations to your son! That's awesome! And you are the Latin teacher -- so congratulations, Teacher!

Comparing cc classes with "real" 4-year college classes -- and this is just OUR experience -- Dd took calculus 1 at William & Mary. Ds took it through the local community college. 1) Both classes used texts by the same author, but the W&M class used the more "advanced" version; the cc class used the easier version. 2) The cc class stuck very much to the rote problems; none of the challenging problems at the end of the section were assigned. The W&M class assigned the more difficult problems (in the more challenging text). 3) Dd and ds are VERY similar in math ability, but dd had to work reasonably hard for her A; ds cruised through doing about an hour a week of homework. There was a difference in the classes. Ds is now taking calculus 2 at William and Mary because we realized that otherwise he would probably have to retake calcululs 1 in college. The first few weeks of the calculus 2 class were quite difficult for him because the W&M class had covered the calc 1 topics in greater depth so he had to go back and relearn some things. There are undoubtedly four-year colleges where the classes offered are no more difficult than cc classes, but there are definitely colleges where the introductory classes are significantly harder than cc classes. Which route you go (AP or cc) should depend heavily on the college your child intends to go to!

Absolutely. AP's are definitely more presitigious. Dd received 15 credits from various AP's and fulfilled almost every distribution requirement in the process; she would have received NOTHING had she taken cc classes instead! To praphrase the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz -- HOW you navigate through high school depends on WHERE you want to go!

My kids also worked through Dolciani almost completely independently. I did grade the work. Then we would go over missed problems together, but I have probably only had to actually "teach" a handful of concepts -- and this is for 2 1/2 kids! (Ds2 will start Dolcani algebra 2 in the fall -- which explains the 1/2!)

I guess whether or not cc classes are worthwhile depends on 1) the college; 2) Your motive for taking cc classes. Some colleges do give credit; some don't. The college dd attends gives NO credit for cc classes whatsoever. However, cc classes might still make your child look better to the college so the cc classes might be worth taking. My younger son doesn't test as well as his older siblings, so while he will do some AP's, he will also do some cc classes as well. We are not expecting he will get any college credit for the cc classes, but if they help him get in to the college he wants to attend, they will be worth the extra $$.

Grace -- I LOVE the Cheese Shop too!

I hate to say this, but contact the school, or ask here about specific colleges and see what other folks' experiences have been with those colleges. All the schools my son applied to REQUIRED course descriptions. Our course descriptions did include the textbooks, so when my ds applied, the textbooks we used were part of his appication package.

Actually Kareni, I meant to be asking about non-classroom conversations. Sorry I wasn't clearer! That is a hoot that you are married to a Ph.D. in philosophy and don't enjoy abstract conversations. :) My son toys with getting a ph.D. in philosophy, though his first love is government (theoretical, of course.) I don't want to actually definite what I mean by 'intellectual" -- I guess I figure that any conversation not dealing with the trivial or mundane might count. Our dinner conversations will go WAY down in intellectual content after ds leaves for college!

I'm sorry -- I am posting a lot with all kinds of college questions. I pray these are either amusing or helping folks! My question -- did you have any "intellectually-stimulating conversations" at college? Never? Rarely? Infrequently? Frequently? I would set this up as a poll, but that is WAY beyond my computing ability! (Don't ask -- yes, I'm an engineer. Yes, I should probably have stayed a liberal arts person!) My answer -- rarely. I went to Smith College and then MIT, and I have to say that I had them rarely. Our average dinner-table conversation is MUCH more "intellectual" than almost any conversations I had at college!

Just to complicate life, ds just received word that he received the Chacellor's Scholarship from UPitt. Choices are good, I guess. I'm feeling overwhelmed by choices. The difficult thing is that UPitt wants to hear back from ds by April 11, BEFORE Echols Day at UVA or accepted students day at W&L. Aaargh! I woke up with a headache; it just got considerably worse! :glare::glare: I do thank God for choices and I pray that God will show us the way He wants my son to go -- quickly!

We still are waiting for U Chicago's final fin aid offer, but given the preliminary fin aid offer, we are not hopeful. It is frustrating -- ds would go there in a heartbeat. If he went to U Chicago, he would probably graduate with about $50K in loans (about $30K as part of his official fin aid package and about $20K because we can't pay the out-of-pocket portion that U Chicago thinks we can!) And graduating with $50K in loans just isn't smart -- even from U Chicago! :glare: Essentially we are wrestling with U Pitt, which ds is in love with. He doesn't feel that W&L is intellectual enough and he thinks that UPitt would be (?????) (?????) (?????) Dh and I strongly want him to go to W&L. As a back-up to W&L, I would accept him going to UVA, though he would probably need to graduate with a little bit in loans -- $5-10K. But I guess I just don't get UPitt when you have these other options.

Yup -- we live about a mile away, and ds is at a caulculus 2 class right now. It is supposedly a "nerdy" school, though there are lots of fraternities and sororities, and they definitely have a social life involving tuxedos and formal gowns -- we see them walking around town! W&M certainly has a good reputation, and for VA residents it is quite cheap. It is a public school, so it definitely has classes with LARGE sections (ds's microecon class had 120 students) but the profs are quite responsive. If you have any specific questions, ask away. I may or may not be able to answer, but I can give it a try!

My kids suffer from "don't want to show the steps" - itis as well. I divide the credit for each problem in half -- 1) I give half-credit for showing the steps (no more than one thing done in your head -- if Mom can't follow it there aren't enoughs teps!) 2) I give helf-credit for the right answer. That way even if they get the right answer they still need to show the steps. I do end up doing problems occasionally with the kids to show what I actually mean by "show your work." I think that should be intuitive, but my kids don't!

RUF = Reformed University Fellowship No, dd isn't in a sorority. Two reasons -- 1) She didn't want to. 2) $3500 per year. Since she didn't want to, dh and I didn't have to form an opinion about either sorority life or the $3500. W&L is #2 in % of guys in fraternities and #3 in % of girls in sororities, but despite that, dd has found many non-Greek friends. After talking to ds this afternoon, ds says that he does not feel that W&L is "intellectual." But this is from a bright motivated kid who has found both of his classes at William & Mary to be "boring." (He aced one and is well on his way to getting a strong A in the other.) Somehow I don't think UPitt is the answer to a perceived lack of intellectual conversation at W&L! Is there a college out there that is "really" intellectual? Okay, maybe Reed and St. Johns and U Chicago.....? He could go to U Dallas, which seems pretty intellectual, but he is concerned about size and distance and being in Dallas. He will visit UVA on its Echols Scholars Day, and hopefully that will provide a different perspective.

DDand girls -- Thank you SO much for taking the time to write that! A lot to think about. We are trying to influence ds in the LAC direction, and your writing makes us feel more confident that we are pushing him in the right direction. Hilary -- Yes, the W&L population is primarily southern and wealthy. HOWEVER, there is LOTS of scholarship money that brings in different kids -- almost all of dd's friends are also on scholarship. Someone just gave $100million to the school, so now over 10% of the freshman class is on full-ride scholarship. That will hopefully bring in lots of different kids of kids. My dd has made some great friends. The RUF community is VERY strong. She belongs to a great church -- I wish I could join (it's three hours away so a bit far for a Sunday morning drive!) And dd's profs have made some amazing connections for her. And the school has money grant money for research and internships coming out the kazoo. Honestily I don't see how she could have had a better freshman year! I strongly recommend W&L!!! We had a LONG talk with ds a bit ago, and he is sounding more open to W&L than before. We also mentioned the caliber of student. I am well aware that SAT scores aren't everything, but the difference in scores between the schools is VERY striking, as is the % of the student body from the top 10% of their high school graduating class. We'll keep pushing. Thanks again for all your words of wisdom!

I had never even considered that he might be intimidated by dd being on campus with her own group of friends and activities. Wow... That's why it is so wonderful to have people to bounce ideas around with. I'll mention the possibility to dh..... Yes, we are very blessed to have problems like these. I know some families with seniors right now where things aren't going very well......lots of fin aid problems and waitlist problems. Thanks for all of your comments!

Schools in question -- Washington & Lee vs UPitt (I think ds is probably the first senior ever to sit and have those two as his top picks -- out of a good field of schools!)