Ah! Gotcha! I believe the discussion boards are not actually new. They are super helpful, and I think that the way that you get access to them to them is by submitting a syllabus through the College Board course audit process at getting that approved. Once you have an approval syllabus, you'll then be able to join the discussion forums you're interested in. Take a look here: https://apcommunity.collegeboard.org/getting-started/ I hope. that's helpful! ☀️

Could you share a link to the board you’re referring to? I’m not finding a reference to it when I Google it. Thanks!

I'm also flabbergasted at this. There is NO WAY this information should be available for others to see. As an online teacher, I have an online provider code from the College Board that is a separate entry on bubble sheets--and is in addition to the school code that students enter. I get my students' scores based on my online provider code (that students enter on their bubble sheets) and then analytic reports a few weeks later. If my students enter a homeschool code for their school AND an online provider code, I'm betting their scores don't show up on the homeschooler educators report mentioned above. That may be why the AP exam numbers look low. I know PA Homeschoolers and other organizations teaching online have their own online provider code, too, so there are probably many more homeschooled students taking AP exams than are showing up on the homeschool educators report that 3andme--and others--are seeing. But, boy, that homeschoolers names and scores are so public is truly shocking.

Where did you find your state's homeschool/AP exam numbers? I'd love to see those if they are available in other states!

If this is a class that has already been taken, then my suggestion is moot. But if your lab question relates to a future class, could you supplement the class and its virtual labs with a few highly "do-able" hands-on labs at home during the year? It seems like a combination of the two might check a box for you.

Keep in mind that if you will be filing your taxes jointly--as a married household and your husband has taxes withheld from his wages--you do not need to file quarterly estimates as an independent contractor. The reason for quarterly estimates is that the IRS wants its money/taxes as you go along, not in a lump sum at the end of the year. If you were filing as an individual and this was your sole source of income (you were not having taxes withheld elsewhere), you would need to file estimates. If you do not want to pay more in taxes at the end of the year, estimate whether your joint income will require you to pay more, and you can have your husband raise his withholdings a bit to account for your additional income. Or you can just pay the difference at tax time if it is not significant. If it is significant, you will definitely want to up your withholdings. I taught in co-ops for many years with a variety of compensation arrangements. It's tough to make a "decent" wage in those situations. In many classes, I would have been teaching the same material to my own kids at home and just wanted more discussion and accountability (so it wasn't so much about the money). In some years I "traded" teaching English with homeschooling friends who taught my kids in their own science and math classes. So no $ was exchanged. The best payment scheme ever--for me--was "working for food." Families would pay me by alternating bringing me a full dinner each week. That was awesome! Good luck with your teaching plans!

We did that with DS1 after he finished his dual enrolled chemistry and physics classes, and it worked well. DS took two semesters (fall and spring) of each subject at our CC, so the content was fresh in his mind at AP-time. He also took the SAT2 at the end of the school year for both of those topics since he thought he wanted to apply to Georgia Tech--and at the time, Georgia Tech required three SAT subject tests from homeschoolers. Ds prepped for the AP exams and SAT2 tests using test prep books. He thought his CC classes prepared him well, but he found there were definitely holes he needed to fill. Since so many colleges have different requests and requirements, we found it to be a great way to preemptively cover the bases. DS was motivated--but WHEW! It was a lot of testing!

I like to pull out information from the the AP Coordinator's Manual and the Proctor Instructions to help my students visualize what exam day is going to look like. The more that students understand the process, the more they can reduce their stress levels and focus on the exam content. If you're interested in perusing the process, here are a couple of resources you might find helpful for things like timing, calculator policies, bubble sheets (what they look like and what the sticker process is), homeschool and online provider codes, and proctor instructions. AP Coordinator's Manual Proctor Instructions (what proctors are supposed to say and do on exam day, subject by subject) College Board is notorious for changing links. So if these links don't work in the future, just let me know, and I'll relink them. I hope this is helpful--particularly for AP newbies!

With permission from Quark, I'm adding Blue Tent Online math classes to this pinned resource For families in California, Blue Tent math classes are a-g approved if taken through several homeschool charters listed on this FAQ page. The Blue Tent OnLoan program offers students the option to borrow their textbook free for the year. BLUE TENT ONLINE - ALGEBRA 1 Textbook: Elementary Algebra by Ron Larson. Ebook (hard copy option) offers embedded videos and demonstrations throughout. Online Class: Yes. Online live classes. A Moodle classroom, ZOOM, and WebAssign. Full-year class with live instruction 2x/week (classes are also recorded for asynchronous viewing). Class description here. Resources, objectives, and demo video here. Where to buy: Register at Blue Tent Online. Teacher Guide/Additional Materials: WebAssign; Desmos.com; Blue Tent OnLoan BLUE TENT ONLINE - ALGEBRA 2 Textbook: Intermediate Algebra by Ron Larson. Ebook (hard copy option). Ebook offers embedded videos and demonstrations throughout. Online Class: Yes. Online live classes. A Moodle classroom, ZOOM, and WebAssign. Full-year class with live instruction 2x/week (classes are also recorded for asynchronous viewing). Class description here. Resources, objectives, and demo video here. Where to buy: Register at Blue Tent Online. Teacher Guide/Additional Materials: WebAssign; Desmos.com; Blue Tent OnLoan BLUE TENT ONLINE - GEOMETRY Textbook: Glencoe Geometry Online Class: Yes. Online live classes. A Moodle classroom, ZOOM, and WebAssign. Full-year class with live instruction 2x/week (classes are also recorded for asynchronous viewing). Class description here. Resources, objectives, and demo video here. Where to buy: Register at Blue Tent Online. Teacher Guide/Additional Materials: WebAssign; Geometer's Sketchpad; Desmos.com; Blue Tent OnLoan BLUE TENT ONLINE - PRECALCULUS Textbook: Precalculus Functions and Graphs: A Graphing Approach, 5th edition, by Ron Larson. Ebook offers embedded videos and demonstrations throughout. Online Class: Yes. Online live classes. A Moodle classroom, ZOOM, and WebAssign. Full-year class with live instruction 2x/week (classes are also recorded for asynchronous viewing). Class description here. Resources, objectives, and demo video here. Where to buy: Register at Blue Tent Online. Teacher Guide/Additional Materials: WebAssign; Geometer's Sketchpad; Desmos.com; Blue Tent OnLoan BLUE TENT ONLINE - AP CALCULUS AB Textbook: Calculus for AP by Ron Larson. Ebook with hard copy option. Ebook offers embedded videos and demonstrations throughout. Online Class: Yes. Online live classes. A Moodle classroom, ZOOM, and WebAssign. Full-year class with live instruction 2x/week (classes are also recorded for asynchronous viewing). Class description here. Resources, objectives, and demo video here. Where to buy: Register at Blue Tent Online. Teacher Guide/Additional Materials: WebAssign and other interactive resources; Blue Tent OnLoan BLUE TENT ONLINE - AP CALCULUS BC Textbook: Calculus for AP by Ron Larson. Ebook with hard copy option. Ebook offers embedded videos and demonstrations throughout. Online Class: Yes. Online live classes. A Moodle classroom, ZOOM, and WebAssign. Full-year class with live instruction 2x/week (classes are also recorded for asynchronous viewing). Class description here. Resources, objectives, and demo video here. Where to buy: Register at Blue Tent Online. Teacher Guide/Additional Materials: WebAssign and other interactive resources; Dr. Chung’s AP Calculus BC; Blue Tent OnLoan

I recommend contacting Shin Yen. She has many years of Calc AB and BC tutoring. You can read about her teaching/tutoring experience on the Blue Tent website HERE, and you can read some parent and student feedback about her HERE. She'll be teaching Algebra 1 and Calc BC through Blue Tent next year. Feel free to PM me if you'd like more information.

That is exactly the way I would cite it in MLA 8. I'm sure you know that you'll put the website title (Internet History Sourcebooks) in italics. Looks perfect other than that!

By the way, there's a fabulous unabridged audiobook of the Fagles Odyssey--read by Ian McKellan (Lord of the Rings Gandalf ?). There's also an excellent audio reading of Fagles' Iliad--but sadly it's abridged.

?? Fagles!

No. We have age/grade guidelines for all of our classes--not just the AP classes. We are always happy to talk to parents (by email and/or phone) about exceptions if they contact us--especially if the student is one year away from the grade/age minimum we request. We ask for writing samples and offer our candid feedback. Some younger students have been our absolute tip-top students, but we have also found that younger students are often more challenged by the workload, pacing, and online environment than their older counterparts--so we really do want to help students enjoy and succeed in our classes--and help families find the best fit. ?

Thank you for posting that! I love this quote: "When administrators can trade on the cachet of their school’s reputation to help get their students into college, it’s really not that bold nor courageous to abandon a metric that can contribute to leveling the playing field.” Right from the start, the cynic in me wondered whether their AP scores were not stellar enough to satisfy the parents who are shelling out $$$$ in tuition.

Hi, all--in the past few years (I'm not sure how far back, but I don't think more than a few years) when I 've gone to renew my syllabi (which much be renewed yearly), I have had to sign a statement saying I would abide by this. It always causes me a bit of angst--but I have never had any students in my AP classes that are younger than 9th grade. I just wanted to put this out there for you to read in case you have not seen these CB guidelines. I am **definitely NOT** advocating for "this age" or "that age" being right or being a minimum age to take any AP classes. This is just fyi so that you are aware of what the CB is telling AP teachers about classes that use the AP label. I assume that if I did not sign the agreement to abide by this, my AP syllabi would not be renewed.

I'd like to add a bit of information about Blue Tent Online, since a lot has changed in the five years since this thread started--including our website location: Blue Tent Online. We now offer a number of classes for middle schoolers: One-semester Creative Writing classes for budding novelists and poets Introduction to Literature & Composition Biology and Chemistry classes Algebra 1 & 2, Geometry (and Precalculus & Calc)

We read a translation by Wilbour, too, but we read an abridged edition (pretty sure this is the only abridged novel I ever recommended that my students read. ?) They all loved it. It was recommended by Tapestry of Grace--which was the curriculum spine we were using at the time. This is the version we read (and this updated edition seems to have lots of great supplementary instructional info): https://www.amazon.com/dp/141650026X/ref=sxbs_sxwds-stvpv2_3?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=3233965245922079678&pd_rd_wg=TqpTY&pf_rd_r=8YVQAGBA6V0TD2JNG9KJ&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-bottom-slot&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_i=141650026X&pd_rd_w=vmPL1&pf_rd_i=null&pd_rd_r=7ffdcc0e-5eaa-47e1-83ba-5d3bfa929c8b&ie=UTF8&qid=1531312281&sr=3 I just noticed that the cover says "unabridged." This version is definitely abridged (656 pages--there's no way that is unabridged). Odd! I compared the 'Look Inside" pages to my older edition, and the edition above is definitely the exact same abridged text that we liked--from everything I could see. This is the older edition (on my bookshelf): https://www.amazon.com/Miserables-Enriched-Classics-Victor-2003-02-25/dp/B01K13XHFA/ref=tmm_mmp_title_1?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1531312281&sr=3

Q1: Because there are so many different ways to designate credits and gpa weightings on transcripts (and so much time can be taken up thrashing around through all the options--which I did ?), in the end, I applied our local school system's credit and gpa weighting standards when creating transcripts for my ds's. That ultimately made my life easier and eliminated self-doubt. So for our transcripts, one dual enrollment class = 1 high school credit (a full year) My kids still took a full load of classes each semester. I did not lighten their load based on the DE class credits. DE gave them them the opportunity to take more classes in their areas of interest. They took the same number of classes each semester but earned more credits on their transcripts. If it were me, I would be very comfortable giving a full-year's credit for one semester of DE history, and then--if my student did not not want to take another DE history class in the spring--I would have that student take some other course to fill that slot--DE or otherwise. Q2: I would not give credit--or indicate anything at all on the transcript--for testing out of a class. I would just show credit for the English class your student did take. The 4-year college your DD decides to go to may offers credit for a freshman English class based upon SAT/ACT/AP test scores, but I have not heard of high-schoolers including the exemption from taking a DE class as a recorded class on a transcript.

Here's another site I came across yesterday. It's not new--and it has been mentioned in a couple of older WTM threads--but I thought it might help to add it to this list: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/scholarship-search

Sounds like you are winding up this thread. If I'm not too late, I have one observation for you: it looks like you have removed The Grapes of Wrath from your list, but if you decide to add it back, I wanted to give you a heads up that the novel may be problematic, depending on the age and maturity of your co-op students. Some families may find the salty language, character points of view, and certain situations objectionable. I teach this novel in an 11th/12th grade English class--so based on that, you can tell that I believe it to be an important work. But families in a Christian co-op may have issues with the book and prefer to opt out of this one. Just wanted to give you a heads up in case it has been a while since you've re-read the novel and you opt to include it in your class. Good luck with all your wonderful options!

Adding one more chemistry course to the list! Name: Honors ChemistryProvider: Blue Tent OnlineWhere to buy: https://www.bluetentonline.com/honors-chemistryLevel: HonorsType: Online provider; asynchronous format using Moodle LMSAdditional Materials: course resourcesTeacher Resources: N/ALesson Plans: N/ASecular/Christian: SecularProgram includes labs: yes: hands-on and virtualLab kit available: YesMath background needed: Algebra 1

Could I add two more biology classes to the list here? Names: Biology and Honors BiologyProvider: Blue Tent OnlineWhere to buy: Blue Tent OnlineLevel: Regular and Honors (two separate classes with different curricula)Type: Online provider; asynchronous format with Moodle LMS classroomAdditional Materials: Biology information and resources; Honors Biology information and resources; Blue Tent OnLoanTeacher Resources: N/ALesson Plans: N/ASecular/Christian: SecularProgram includes labs: Yes: hands-on and virtualLab kit available: Yes: offered by instructor

Audio books might make it easier to fit both in. We liked both these audio versions. Fagles translations (which are wonderful) and stupendous narrations. The Iliad (abridged), narrated by Derek Jacobi The Odyssey, narrated by Ian McKellen (LOTR's Gandalf--as EndofOrdinary pointed out :) )