<p>Hi, I am new to this forum, and soon to be new to homeschooling in general. I'm withdrawing my 8th grader from regular school and am looking at enrolling him in the Indiana U Online High School's academic honors diploma program. Does anyone have any experience with the school - good or bad- before I make my final decision? </p>
<p>FWIW- he's academically talented and is looking to be desirable by selective universities down the road.</p>
<p>Yes- I have one graduate who's a senior in college and she has done well. She said she was well prepared. I pulled her out in eighth grade also. She took most of her classes through IU, but they are great about accepting other accredited programs towards your requirements. We also used U. of Missoui, and she took a few courses at our local high school which were able to be applied to her IU transcript. The IU counselors were wonderful during the application process and helped expedite the necessary grade posting in May and June when she was getting course work done in time to go to college. (they only had the 40 credit diploma back then) Actually the type of diploma isn't particularly important since that comes after they are done with high school and on their way to college. What's important are the classes you choose. I recommend some of their college courses if possible--they are tough, but fair. You could even look to supplement with LSU or BYU, their courses are reasonable, but they only offer courses, not diplomas. The selection is great with all the different programs you can use. IU has very good quality courses and the teachers grade the papers and exams, not a computer. They go over the courses for clarity of instructions, we have only found one typo in about 6 years. (we're on second daughter) My advice--start now and get going on some of the easier classes. You can contact me for more advice if you'd like. I'm a real IU booster--and my daughter did great her freshman year.</p>
<p>Thank you! That's exactly the kind of info I'm looking for! I have pretty much decided that a university online high was the way to go for my son, I just wasn't sure of the quality of the program. Some of the others, University of Missouri and Nebraska, look good, but something about Indiana just stood out to me. But it sounds like I can mix and match anyway. Did you start your daughter off with a full course load or ease her into it? I don't want to overwhelm my son before he has a chance to get his feet under him. We've never homeschooled or done independant learning before so I'm not sure of the strength of his self-discipline. I'm expecting to be very involved in the beginning with time management. I'm open to all advice!</p>
<p>I know about the IU high school. It's wonderful. The online communication is very effective (teacher's comments, etc.), and everything is well organized and simple to navigate. It allows a student to get a high school degree, and accumulate college credits from a good school, at the same time. </p>
<p>You may find this article about IU interesting, from the standpoint that it is nice to start a college transcript with credits from a decent institution:</p>
<p>From</a> Bloomingdale's to Bloomington - WSJ.com</p>
<p>IU's rep is getting better and better.</p>
<p>As for course load, the high school classes are about as challenging as a typical high school class would be. You already know what your child can handle in that department. If you choose one or more college level courses (I would start with one at most, at least until you see how your student performs in a homeschool environment), you should of course peel back the number of regular hs classes. Start with less - you can add on later. You want it to be a positive experience.</p>
<p>Thanks! I've enrolled him and am now even more convinced I made a good choice. The reputation of IU as a university is really what swayed me. Like you said, if he's going the dual enrollment route later, it should be with a well respected school.</p>