Maybe a on-line program will work better. Stanford's Redbird without tutor is $60/qtr. Much more engaging.

Afterschooling for us started in pre-school.. Our local community college (East Los Angeles) has an excellent weekend "Childrens' College". Math, phonics, grammar, reading comprehension and writing offered by grade level. Kids start or move up to any level at their own pace. We started with math, and phonics, and later added reading or writing year round. By the time my son reached the 3rd grade, he had completed pre-algebra, and 6th grade grammar, and reading. left to start with CTY/ Thinkwell for math. Now afterschooling consists of advanced math 45 minutes 4x per week, vocabulary (wordlywise online); and thanks to tip from our forum-- Duolingo French (15 minutes 5x week). We add in a group golf and tennis lessons for sports.

Though not act/sat level yet, we start preparing for all standardized test several months before the day. A few months out, I'll tear out a page of math, a page of reading, a page of analogy out of a practice guide. We do 3 or so of these packages a week.. This helps me determine our area of focus. About 2 months out, we add in a whole section of the practice test ( e.g. reading comp) on Saturday, then another whole section (e.g. data analysis) on Sunday. Finally, on the last month, we start doing timed whole practice tests. The last couple of the practice tests, we do in places where there will be noise and distractions (parks, malls, in front of the television) . Well, this is what we do. My son has always had excellent test scores.

For a pi-bot, try STEM Center USA (pomona, CA). the program was on SHARK TANK and got funded for $250,000.00. Their pi-bot is $99.00. My son takes classes at the center.

Thanks, all. I have hesitated on aops because all of his math has been video based. Seems like a good time/reason to try. thanks.

My new 6th grader has completed Thinkwell alg 1, and another book based program with a solid B+ average. Took a break and went to TW Geometry. He does not seem to be having any problems with geometry and will soon complete. (He will then redo with Tablet Class). Since we are a little ahead of schedule for taking sat/act by 13 y.o., is there anything to be gained by taking alg 1 over before starting intermediate alg. There is no major area of weakness in alg or geom. Just doesn't seem to be able to hit 100% on tests.. BTW he is in regular school, and will start the math track in 7th grade. thanks

The online pre-alg, alg programs that my son loves did not have enough problems for mastery. So we did the classes with A-Plus Notes for Pre-Algebra & Algebra (by Rong Yang) for the '500" hundred problems--Actually, the book has something like 10,000 problems. It is not a math textbook per se, and it is not simply a problem workbook. Rather, it summarizes the solution, then follows with 50-100 problems.

My son attends the fantastic private school in our area. I would assume that the most important part of k-4 education , perhaps even 5, have little to do STEM.

I've been involved with the growth of two boys. One I started with when he was in the 4th grade. He and his mother already had a routine. She would check all school work before he handed it in. Corrected everything. If she did not like it, he had to rewrite. The routine lasted to about the 10th grade. He got "A"s on everything he turned in, but now struggles to write 5 paragraphs on a college level. The other I started with in pre-k. got her to stay out of the process. Only to check if his assignment was completed on time. Even had to bite her tongue, when he wrote such folly as how she had flown him to the Super Bowl for the weekend. This kid is now in the 5th. He can write pages with no effort. Writing is a long process. Can't get bogged down with the details at the beginning. All of the writing programs (Athena, L3, Attuneup) , even at the middle school level, emphasize that they are more concerned with getting the words flowing, than with the mechanics or perfection.

I have no experience as a counselor, but the last three kids I helped with their colleges essays got into top UCs, My opinion is that accomplishments that are obvious from awards, records, transcript should be just touched upon. Leave the explaining for the not so obvious-- uniqueness, character,, commitment, adversity, independence...

I don't know about the ap class, But I'll let you know about tw chemistry--college level at the end of the summer. I am helping a struggling freshman get on track.

MASH, thanks for heads up about awards,

check out wordlywise 2000. regularly available at homeschoolbuyercoop for 1/2 price.

My soon to be 11 y.o uses legos at school. I got him a used nxt (8547) for 1/2 retail at the unofficial lego exchange:"bricklink". My experience with the exchange was good, but use caution. I paid through paypal for some additional insurance. I then got somel lego nxt books off amazon. the books cover far more than the Legos offered classes and were only a few dollars.

I strong recommend TW's 6th grade, pre-alg, and alg1. My son is up to Chapter 4 in TW geometry. I am not impressed. There is just way too few problems for mastery (a common criticism of most TW classes). Will probably switch at the next Tablet Class sale.

You should review a lesson to see if the ASU format meets your son's needs. The alek part is used for assessment, review or supplemental homework by a lot of colleges.

About 1 1/2 years ago, my then 4th grader completed an honors 6th grade math (pre-alg) with CTY/thinkwell, then did alek pre-alg as a stand alone class. Worked great for review and covered many things not covered by CTY, or most pre-alg textbooks (by exercising "additional topics" option--all alek classes have this option ) . We still go back to alek pre-alg a couple of months before standardized testing. Great for review, but cannot recommend as a primary class. Very limited instruction.

I used the hsbc discount a couple of times. Thinkwell is on sale every few months.

for fifth grade, less than 10% are national winners. It was a tough year. my son place 19th with 92% percentile.

Two sons with piano lessons starting at 6y.o.. The older one played to the 11th grade before track and girls took over. The younger one is about to stop at 6th grade. He has too many activities to practice regularly.

No problem logging in at 6:30 a.m pst. My son is a national winner. A curious result though -- 13 percentile points higher than last year, but a fall of 2 places in ranking.

I've been after schooling my rising 6th grader since kindergarten. Basically, it is 4 one- hour long sessions a week consisting of advanced math, vocab, and standardized test practice. he has excellent grades and test scores. I was approached by a group of parents to tutor their children. I agreed to assess and prepare individual program for the 4 kids that would have them one grade level ahead in math in 6 months, They all left, when I told them I wanted $1000/month each. They were thinking $1000, or less. for all.

STEM CENTER USA (featured and funded on SHARK TANK) sells a nice pi-bot ardino based robot kit. Their site has all the videos for assembly and programming. If you are in the Pomona,CA area, they have a fantastic selection of entry level robotting class. my 11 y.o. realy enjoys them.

I've posted before that reading comp is full of test tricks and traps. I spent a considerable amount of time teaching my rising 6th grader the test taking strategy. First, simply cannot read the passage once, and then go on to answer the five questions. Must re-read/skim for each questions. Then, on the last question which is usually the "inference" question must stop and think. For example if the passage was on bird wings, the wrong answer is the one that summarizes that bird wings come in many shapes and sizes. The correct answer is something like birds adapt to their environment. On fill in the blank questions, look for the answer clues in the questions.. They are there. Then watch out for the modifiers ---the all, some, but, however, since, etc, --that negates the most obvious answer. On multiple blanks question, one word will be perfect, but the other word makes no sense. Must check that each word works, by reading the sentence back with the fill in words. . Most of the time the correct answer is not the one with the perfect word. We practiced for several months with a passage or two each week from isee, psat, sat and kaplan materials. This is now the cruise part of the exam for him. good luck.

I've posted before that reading comprehension is full of test tricks and traps, especially painful for the overconfident. Spent a considerable amount of time and practice test with my rising 6th grader. Had to teach him the testing strategy. Simply cannot read the passage once, then go answer the five questions. No, must re-read/skim the passage again for each question. Then, the last question is usually the "inference" question--- if the passage was on bird wings, for example, the wrong answer is the one that summarizes that bird wings come in many shapes and sizes. The correct answer is something like birds adapt to their environment. On fill in the blank(s), must read carefully for the answer clues in the sentence. Then watch out for the modifiers in the sentence,-- the but, however, since, alll, eventhough etc, that could reverse the answer. On multiple blanks in a sentence, have to check that the other word makes sense using the clues and watching out for those modifiers. My son did a practice passage or two every week from old isee, psat , sat test materials. It took him a while to get the knack of test taking. Now, he has exceptional performances. good luck.