My kids have taken many classes with PAH (12 to be exact), and we have loved them all except one. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with AP US Government (and which instructor might be good), AP Physics 1, and AP Environmental Science. Did your child enjoy the class? Was it a good class layout? I would also like to know the workload in each, although I now that can vary quite a bit from student to student. My dd has already self-studied for AP Human Geography and AP Psych, and has taken AP Chem, APUSH (Susan Richmond), and AP Lang (Inspektor). If you prefer to private message me, that is fine as well. Thanks in advance!!

I can't speak to the TPS class, but I did this class at home with my ds when he was in 8th grade and absolutely loved it. It really teaches the student to look at worldview carefully.

I also think it is good to know that even if your child COULD get credit for the course, it MIGHT be beneficial for your child to go ahead and take the beginning CS course if that is their major. Ds could have taken credit at his university for CS 100, but chose to take the course instead because it taught programming in C (or C+, I can't totally remember). AP CS teaches Java. Many people at the school fail the intro course, but ds felt well prepared as was glad his first programming course was easy. If ds had a lot experience in C, he probably would have taken the AP credit. He had 55 credits he transferred in, so it was not a big deal to not take the AP credit. Calming Tea, I am sure that was so frustrating for your son and I would have never thought about that, especially with him having taken the second course in a CS sequence.

My ds is 9+ hours away. His freshman year he came home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and spring break, and we went to visit once. This year he just came home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and we have gone to visit him once. He will be home only for a few weeks this summer. He had a really great room mate his freshman year (another homeschooled student) and he is rooming with him and two other friends this year. I think a couple of things helped our ds. First, he is VERY laid back. Virtually nothing "ruffles his feathers", so to speak. He is also solid in his faith and right away found a church and became active with ministry on campus. I think "finding his tribe" and making good social connections has made all the difference for ds. Initially he did not want to go more than 3 hours away, but he loves UA and I don't really think he misses home at all!!

Yes! That can be an issue. Our local high school has been so great. They will proctor exams even if they do not offer the class. They have proctored AP Latin, AP Comp Sci, AP Physics C, AP Human Geography, and AP Psych for us. I always check with them before I plan a class because that can be an issue.

kokotg, that is a great website!! Thank you! And cuckoomamma, that is helpful to know that someone has taken the class and recommended it. I am like you and would like to save money, if possible, as dd is taking a couple of other outsourced courses next year. Anyone else?? I know this is not the most popular AP class!

Has anyone taken the class with PAH? Both of my older children have taken many classes with PAH, and we have had wonderful experiences with all of them except one. Dd has taken AP Human Geography (self-study at home), AP Psychology (self-study), and AP Chem, APUSH, and AP Lang with PAH. How difficult is the AP History class and exam?? I like the look of Khan Academy's Art History resources, but uncertain how easy it would be to self-study. It does not appear to be one of the easier exams to self-study. Opinions???

I thought students sitting at the same table had different tests, making cheating difficult?? I also thought ACT was so much better than SAT at test security. Maybe not! My dd has a baseline of a 28 from her freshman year. She will be a senior next year, and I was going to have her take the July exam with some test prep, with room for another try in the fall if she is not happy with her score. Now this is making me nervous. I would hope her baseline score is old enough that there would not be any red flags if she improves a good amount!!

My children have not taken any online classes before AP Lang or AP Lit. My ds and I did TOG for 3 years before AP Lit and he scored a 5 on the exam (after taking Maya Inspektor's class at PA Homeschoolers). My dd is taking Mrs. Inspektor's AP Lang class this year, and will take AP Lit next year with her. I used several different programs with her, so we will see how she does. I think the class that has helped my children with writing the most has been debate :001_smile:

AoPS Calculus with AP Calc BC exam AP Chem with PAH or Chem Advantage Advanced Composition (Honors w/ TPS) elective (APUSH) and grade 12: DE college math (depends on what is available and fits with schedule) AP Physic C with PAH AP Eng Lang and Composition AP Latin My kids have taken all of the above classes with PA Homeschoolers, except AP Latin which was taken with Lukeion. I think the schedule is a lot, but doable with a motivated student. One thing that would be nice is to take AP Lit before AP Latin because that would help with the essays. But 4 AP classes junior year would be a lot. Also, I think AP Language and Composition would be nice to have for APUSH, but again that would place 4 AP classes in the junior year. APUSH and AP Latin are time consuming, so I would not place them in the same year if it were me. As an aside, my son hated lit analysis until he took AP Lit with Maya Inspektor at PA Homeschoolers. He loved the class and finally enjoyed lit analysis!

Center for Lit also has a writing component to their courses now so you can choose just to do the literature component or do the lit and writing. I always felt like it looked solid without being too overwhelming, but I have never used them.

I do think it would be worth taking the PSAT. My ds scored in the 99th percentile every year on the ITBS from 2nd to 4th grade. For fun I had him take the real ACT in 5th grade and he scored a 22 without prep. By the time he was a sophomore he scored a 32 on the ACT without prep and at the commended level on the PSAT. I had him do test prep the summer between his sophomore and junior year, and he scored a 34 on the ACT and scored high enough on the PSAT to make NMF. He now has a near full ride at UA. It was definitely worth the time he spent during the summer doing test prep!!!

Could you offer to go over to her house and help her upload the information? The folks at National Merit are extremely helpful. If you are still having trouble maybe you could call them while you are there. My ds has the National Merit scholarship at the University of Alabama. There really is a lot of money at stake.

My ds graduated ha in 2016 and was a NMF. As others have said, most will move on to finalist. Unweighted grades are fine. They really look more at the letter grade. In the past, one "C" has been able to keep some form moving to NMF (depending on the state), even if that "C" was in a AP class. It appears that NM wants to see mostly "A"'s and "B"'s. I am not sure what the current SAT score is, but usually it is not too high, especially when compared to the PSAT score needed for NM. Also, feel free to call the folks at NM. I called them several times with questions, and they were incedibly helpful!! Congratulations!!

Congratulations!!! When I dd that a couple years ago I was SO nervous, but so glad to have it done!!!

DS was a NMF and received very good scholarships from University of Kentucky, University of South Carolina, and University of Alabama. He received a $25,000/year scholarship from Case Western, which was good, but it costs $65,000/year to attend (and we could not afford that!) Many colleges do decrease awards if outside scholarships are used. I know University of Alabama does NOT and allows scholarships to be stacked. University of Kentucky did not allow ds to stack the engineering scholarship he received on top of his merit scholarship (which was full tuition and room + a stipend) Ds actually received a refund from school last year after all scholarships and stipends were applied.

I thought I would post my dd AP scores because they are less than stellar and maybe someone needs encouragement! Dd took AP Chem with PAH and received a 2 (her practice tests out her in a solid 3 range). Dd also took APUSH through PAH and received a 3 (practice tests out her in a high 4 range). My ds took 10 AP course in high school and received 1 three, 7 fours, and 2 fives. I know dd is just not as great of a test taker as ds. She worked very hard in her classes and really enjoyed them. I am disappointed she will not receive credit for chemistry, but she did learn a lot and ended the course with a B+ (and almost an A-). The class average was a low C (I believe). Honestly, sometimes it is hard to not compare ds and dd (ds was a National Merit Finalist and tested extremely well). Ds has always struggled with memorization and takes an increased amount of time when testing. She did take the ACT in June with no prep and scored a 28 (which was very good, IMO). This coming year she is taking AP Eng Language with Maya Inspektor. We are also thinking of self studying for AP psych. Even if she does not receive passing scores, I think the classes are wonderful prep for college. And I should add that I do not think her scores are any reflection on PAH. Both Mr. M and Mrs. Richman are wonderful teachers!!!

I used TOG for my oldest when he was in high school. It was a lot of work, but very much worth it! We read so many wonderful books. I read most of the literature books, but relied on the teacher notes for the history component (I too ably spent 8 hours/week at least on reading and peeping for discussions). I do think it takes a special kid to persevere through TOG because it is a lot. Our middle dd absolutely refused to do TOG. She did APUSH this past year through PAH. It was an excellent course, but I still think TOG gives the best education in history and literature for those who can persevere. I did have to be careful not to overshedule ds. Many weeks I did not assign all the questions, but we did discuss them. I scheduled the history books, history in depth, and literature books. I think ds also did year 1 church history. I really miss it and hope my youngest will do it when he reached high school!!

This is what I suggest, especially if timing is an issue for any section. Have your child take a practice test, allowing 10-15 minutes extra time. Then your child should go over every answer, even if they got it right. Sometimes they get the answer right, but for the wrong reason. Then have your child slowing decrease the time allowed to take each test. This helped enormously when my ds was taking the ACT. He was able to raise his score from a 28 in 8th grade to eventually a 34 by the fall of his junior year. He also used the Chalkdust review videos for math. My dd just took the June ACT. She raised her score from a 23 at the end of 8th grade to a 28 for this past June by doing nothing (even though I implored her to study). I hope to have her study like my ds did and to get her composite score into the 30s. Practicing and getting the timing down really does help!

I know it seems odd at first that a class that does not have any live meeting times could come so highly recommended. Mrs. Inspektor sends out VERY detailed morning messages every day with responses required by the students (not EVERY day required a response, but most days did). Mrs. Inspektor gives wonderful feedback on assignments. Because she lives in Israel she is able to grade the students work while students in the US are sleeping. She also requires several book club assignments (students pick a book they would like to read from an approved list, fine 3-4 other students who would like to read the book, and discuss). Ds always liked to read, but HATED to write about literature. By the end of the school year he loved analyzing literature and scored a 5 on the exam. Mrs. Inspektor is so gifted in communicating her love of literature to the students, even though that communication is only in a written format and not live lectures.

Our ds attends Bama currently on the NMF scholarship, and I was hoping things would stay the same for Dd as I do not think she will attain NMF status. Before it was full tuition for an ACT score of 32 or above (I can't remember the SAT score). I believe they increased the scholarship for those that score perfects on the ACT/SAT. And I don't think they changed the NMF scholarship. Even though it has decreased a bit, it is still a very good scholarship!

Thank you, Joules. I did check and it is credit for the same course. Dd is not aiming for tippy top schools...mostly state schools.

Is she taking both AP Physics C courses or just mechanics? That would make a difference in workload. Dd took APUSH with Mrs. Richman this year and loved the class. She felt very well prepared for the exam. There is really not a lot of memorizing facts, but more synthesis of concepts. There is writing every week, but in the form of answering essay questions. The students must also read 9 primary source documents each week. There is reading due each month, but that can be spread out each week. There are more assignments due each week, such as watching video lectures and completing quizzes. There is also one big essay for a national competition (if she is taking AP Lang with Maya Inspektor, they will also write a paper for a national contest). Dd spent about 12 hours/week on APUSH. I think it really depends on the other activities your Dd has going on throughout the year. For some, 4 would be too many. My Dd took APUSH and AP Chem this year (she is a sophomore), and that was plenty, but she also swims competitively and practices 3 hours/day. Some kids struggle with calculus, but my ds found it easy (as your Dd might as well). If your Dd is motivated (and it sounds like she is) she will probably be fine. PAH has a pretty generous refund policy, so if she starts and finds it is too much she may be able to drop it (but you would need a back up plan).

Thanks everyone!!

Dd took the AP Chemistry test last week. Although she did well in her online class, she does not feel 100% confident she will get the 4 she needs (ds took the test several years ago, felt the same way, and did receive a 4). I was wondering if there are any negatives to having her go ahead and study for the chemistry CLEP test while the material is still fresh so she could possibly get college credit (the colleges she is looking accept CLEP or AP). She is not going to be a chemistry major in college :).