I'm partly joking, of course, but I guess I'm wondering: why would I want to bother with AP classes and all the testing, etc., if my student is not guaranteed advanced placement in college at the end of it? Is it just to be a more competitive freshman applicant? (My understanding is that not all colleges accept AP classes for actual credit, or some colleges only accept a top AP test score to get out of, say, freshman English.) Wouldn't it make more sense to do DE with a community college, which (in my understanding) guarantees that your student gets the college credit? (In other words, why would I take AP English, if my student could just get her English 101 out of the way through DE?) I know I must be missing something obvious (forgive my ignorance; as I said in my last post, I'm a total newbie to the high school stuff!), but I guess I'm trying to figure out the pros and cons of AP vs. DE. What is your take? What are your kids doing? Thank you! ETA: Okay, I've just learned in my other post that DE does NOT guarantee college credit 100% of the time, so now I'm even more interested to learn when and why I might opt for AP vs. DE.

Wow, that is awesome! Congrats to you and your kids! I'm fascinated by these alternative ways to navigate college.

This is so fascinating!! So it looks like she earned an associate's while still in high school? (You can earn an associates with DE credits?) But what you describe is the sort of thing DH and I are thinking about - it seems easier/smarter/beneficial in many cases to get an associate's first, then transfer to the state school. (Especially, because like you say...your daughter got to figure out her major along the way.)

This makes sense - thanks!

Ah! The scholarship thing is important to know--thanks!! I hadn't thought about that part of it. (It's interesting to think about whether it would be cheaper to go to CC after high school for an associate's degree first, then transfer to a 4-year university, OR to plan on going straight to a 4-year university, but apply for a billion scholarships as a freshman.)

Okay, that makes sense. My question then is...if your daughter will have 85 DE credits and she applies to college as a freshman, I can see that she would get accepted as part of the freshman class, but...won't she technically have enough credits to be at least a sophomore? (Does this just mean she's just lucky and she'll finish a bachelor's degree in three years? Or, does it affect her in any other ways?) I guess it just seems weird to be accepted as a freshman, but not really be a freshman. (Thank you for sharing; just totally curious!)

My oldest is going into 7th grade this coming year, so I'm just starting to look into what I'll need to know to homeschool high school. (It's a lot to think about and figure out. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, and I'm still two years out!) One question that's popped up for me: If a student takes community college classes in high school (I guess these would be dual enrollment courses?), do you then apply to college as a regular incoming freshman or as a transfer student? (I recall hearing a million years ago that as soon as you take a college course, you become a transfer student, but I'm not sure if that's accurate?) Does having x number of community college credits make you a transfer student? I guess I'm wondering: at what point do you shift from being a potential incoming freshman to being a transfer student? Where that line is drawn? Does it "matter"?

Yes, the newer models support Audible! This page shows which Kindles support Audible.

Oh, I'm so glad it was helpful! Good luck with your device search!

My kids each have a Kindle Paperwhite, which they use exclusively for our Audible subscription. The only thing is that you need bluetooth headphones or a bluetooth speaker to go with it (there is no headphone jack on the Kindle Paperwhite). (I'm sorry I don't have a link for the bluetooth headphones; my husband bought those in person, not online, so I'm not sure what kind we have. But any bluetooth headphones would work.) I have to say we love this set-up for audiobooks! We get a ton of use out of our Audible subscription now that we have them. My kids listen to audiobooks every single day, mostly using the bluetooth speakers in their rooms while playing, doing LEGO, making art, etc. Those little speakers are fantastic, and the sound quality is excellent. (They do have headphones, too, but tend to use the headphones for long car trips, not so much daily.) The other reason we chose the Paperwhite is that there are no video features or internet, etc. on it. The device can only be used for e-books or audiobooks. Plus, we were able to lock down all the parental control stuff, so literally all my kids can do on it is access our Audible library. (In other words, we've fixed it so they can't accidentally purchase anything, etc. The control factor was super important to us, since this is our first foray into devices of any kind for the kids.) ETA: Ack, I'm sorry; I misread your OP. (When I read "audiobooks," I always assume the person means Audible, but you were asking specifically about library audiobooks.) Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm not 100% sure if you can listen to library/Overdrive audiobooks on the Paperwhite. You can definitely get library e-books on the Paperwhite, but I think you might need a Kindle Fire to access Overdrive library audiobooks. So, a Kindle Fire might be your best bet.

This is a great point. We've gone through all the levels so far very smoothly and with no problems, but it's good to remember that might not always be the case. Thanks!

Thank you for all this information and detail! Much appreciated!!

Thank you for sharing this!!!

Thank you so much for pointing this out. Super appreciated!

THIS IS SO HELPFUL! I had not thought about that, and didn't know how MUS lined up with standardized testing, so this is so good to know! Thank you!

Ah! Good to know. Thank you!

Thank you for so much sharing; it's super encouraging to hear from someone who used MUS!

This is very encouraging to hear, thank you for sharing!

We are homeschooling with the goal of college readiness, but we are not a particularly STEM-y family. (Definitely more about the humanities/arts in our house!) That said, I don't want to put my kids at a disadvantage at all, in terms of what college admissions expect nowadays. We have used Math U See all along and have been very happy with it. My oldest is about to enter seventh grade. She is halfway through Zeta, and is on track to begin pre-algebra by Halloween or Thanksgiving. But, looking ahead, I just realized that if she continues on her current path (assuming she progresses steadily), she will complete calculus by the end of 12th grade. On the one hand, I think that's great, but on the other hand, I'm thinking, is calculus in 12th grade necessary for a non-STEM oriented student? (Do colleges nowadays expect calculus for non-STEM students?) Part of me is thinking it might be smarter to slow things down, really take our time finishing Zeta, and plan to start pre-algebra in 8th grade instead. (This would position her to finish 12th grade with pre-calc instead of calculus). This plan would allow us to just work slowly and deeply and incorporate other sorts of math, like personal finance--I'm thinking of doing something like Dave Ramsey's Foundations in Personal Finance (you know, math that a person actually needs to know, lol). Also of note: my daughter is "young" for seventh grade. (She has a June birthday, so most of her friends in school--who are only a month or two younger--are actually just going into 6th grade this year. She is a great student and has never struggled with math, but I'm wondering if she'll find high school math easier if she's a year older when she gets to it.) Thoughts? Pros: I think I would feel less rushed if we slowed things down, and it would give us room to do other sorts of math I think are important. Cons: I'm worried about losing momentum and/or inadvertently putting my child at a disadvantage as far as college/the big picture goes. Just looking for advice or insight from those further along the path. Did your student go all the way to calculus? Was it "necessary"? Would love to hear others' experience. Thanks!

We are headed into our 8th year of homeschooling (!). As a general rule, I love using binders for storing our completed schoolwork, but I'm trying to figure out the best system moving forward. Thus far in our homeschool, I have used one large binder for each child. Each child's binder is divided into various sections (a math section, a language arts section, a history section, a science section, etc.) This has worked really well and has been manageable because it was just one binder per child and I can easily put materials from all our different curricula into it. (For instance, I pull our Math U See pages out of the workbook as we use them, and file the completed ones in the binder in the math section. Ditto for other subjects; it's a really easy way to mix and match all the different resources we use.) Then, at the end of the year, I pull a few samples from each section for the kids' review portfolios, and recycle the rest. (I generally don't save anything year to year except for a few gems, otherwise I would be drowning in paper!) The problem is, now that my oldest is headed into seventh grade, it is getting harder to fit everything in just one binder. I also think that certain notes and lessons are becoming more valuable (such as notes on writing) and I think it is likely we will continually refer to past notes, etc. as the kids get older. (In other words, I think they will want to save some Latin stuff year-to-year, some writing and vocab, etc., for reference moving forward.) So I'm considering switching to one binder per subject (that is, a math binder, a language arts binder, a science binder, etc., for each kid), but if I do that, each child will have like, 5 or 6 binders, and then I'll have a shelf with 10-12 binders on it. This is fine, of course, but it does seem like a lot of binders. Is there a more logical way to go about this? I would love to hear how you organize your children's work, especially if they are older/middle school-aged. Thank you!

YES! Thanks for sharing this! We totally operate on a "Maker's Schedule" in our homeschool; I had just never thought of it in that way before. I definitely experience the feeling of total interruption not only with extracurriculars in the evenings, but also with any appointments. For example, if someone has a dentist appointment at 10:00 AM, I swear it blows our whole homeschool day! (We usually manage to get, say, math done on a day with appointments, but still...the whole day feels used up.) And in our urban area (with crazy traffic), we really do need to take advantage of homeschooler availability and take daytime appointments, otherwise we'll just sit in rush hour traffic to or from the appointment. (With a child in braces, we have pretty frequent appointments lately....) I do try to schedule extracurriculars strategically - I try not do extracurriculars more than one or two days a week. I know lots of people who have extracurriculars every single week day, and I always wonder how they do it, because that would make me bonkers! (I think I would feel rushed or "behind" every single day!) I am also super introverted, though, so that surely plays into it, too. Anyway, thanks for posting; this is a good frame to use when thinking about scheduling and planning!

Math U See! It just works for us. (Occasionally, the program will teach a particular method that is not my favorite, and I'll then teach my kids what I believe is an easier way to solve something, but far and away, it just works. We have used it since Kindergarten and now my oldest is going into 7th grade. Hope it continues to work for us!) I don't use a whole lot of formal curriculum beyond this, except Lively Latin. We're also trying out Elemental Science this year. But pretty much everything else I create myself (library books, etc.)

Thank you so much for sharing all of this! (And best wishes to your little boy!)

This is great to know; thank you!

Wow! Yes, I've been looking at all sorts of areas on Realtor.com, trying to get a sense of various Columbus suburbs and neighborhoods, etc. (We're hoping to take a long weekend visit to Columbus in the fall, to finally see some things in person, but for now, all I can do is internet recon, lol. This whole thread has been so helpful!)