<p>We're looking at options for AP courses while homeschooling and wondering what others have tried. </p>
<p>Have online options been satisfactory? Any experience with Apex Learning ( <a href="http://www.apexlearning.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.apexlearning.com/</a>)?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>We like the Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY) </p>
<p><a href="http://epgy.stanford.edu%5B/url%5D">http://epgy.stanford.edu</a> </p>
<p>courses from Stanford University a lot. They have great financial aid (= discounts from list price) by the way. EPGY has AP courses for calculus, computer science, physics, and English.</p>
<p>tokenadult how do you sign up for EPGY as a homeschooler. Secondly, how to schools know your grades from Homeschooling if you did not take courses like EPGY or CC courses?</p>
<p>Generally you get into EPGY via a gifted kids program such as the one sponsored by Johns Hopkins. Visit their web site (<a href="http://www.jhu.edu/gifted%5B/url%5D">www.jhu.edu/gifted</a> , I believe) to find out more.</p>
<p>We've done AP (or similar) courses in five ways for our kids:</p>
<ol>
<li>EPGY - I like this the best of the structured programs, but your kid has to be diligent and keep himself on schedule: they don't bug you much.</li>
<li>CTY - Well we haven't done AP here, but similar stuff. This (for us) was a much more high touch program that worked well for one kid who needed lots of immediate feedback.</li>
<li>APEX - well, sort of mixed report here. Good teachers, but the toolset did not work for our kids...it was far too light on detailed knowledge and on practice problems.</li>
<li>CC - This worked out well, but...we sent one kid to community college and then "upped" the content using study guides for the AP test. This worked out, but it was a lot of work for the student. Might not work if the student is not a self-motivated worker, in my view.</li>
<li>Self-Teaching. Buy a good book with any extra guides you can find, and let the kid teach him/her self. This worked for us, but it took two years to truly master some subjects (like Calc BC), and the parent needs to be able to tutor, or you may need to hire one.</li>
</ol>
<p>In Pennsylvania there is another option: PA Homeschoolers has online AP courses which are absolutely the best we have found, bar none. But it may be only open to PA residents. It is certainly open only to homeschoolers. So I guess that's really six methods tried out in our family.</p>
<p>My son has taken several courses from EPGY and has enjoyed most of them. (He didn't like pre-calc because it was mainly a review of algebra he had had at home.) Most courses consist of lectures on CDs and a text. The CDs are excellent, as well as being fun. Homework is not always graded, but questions throughout the lectures are. Tests are usually done with pencil and paper returned via fax or surface mail. They form a high percentage of the final grade. Intermediate tests can often be taken multiple times, with the highest score counting. There are limits on retakes of the final tests, although I don't immediately recall what those limits are.</p>
<p>EPGY does not require students to adhere to strict schedules. They e-mail polite reminders if a student doesn't send in a weekly reports, but no one seems to care much if the student skips several weeks. However, AP tests are given only once per year, so you'll have to take that into account before enrolling. </p>
<p>EPGY's calc and Physics B courses consist of three 3-month courses. Start the first course on August 1 to be ready for the AP tests. January is fine for beginning either Physics C course. Warning: EPGY's comp sci is C++, but AP changed to Java this year.</p>
<p>EPGY's courses have been excellent AP preparation for my son. Tutors are quite knowledgeable and helpful, as is tech support. However, dealing with administration can be frustrating. Be patient; you only have to deal with admin at the beginning of every course. </p>
<p>It's not necessary to take part in a talent search program to enroll in EPGY. However, students do need to take standardized tests. For high school students, either the PSAT or SAT is required. </p>
<p>To enroll in EPGY, go to <a href="http://epgy.stanford.edu%5B/url%5D">http://epgy.stanford.edu</a>. </p>
<ul>
<li>Ellen</li>
</ul>
<p>I'm a homeschooled junior and I'm taking a course at the local community college. I was at a public school last year and took AP European History, and that class was actually a LOT more challenging than the CC American History course I am taking now. I am going to either take the US History AP exam at the end of the year, or I'm going to take an SAT II in this subject (though I haven't looked into it.. do they even offer it??)
Last year I started homeschooling half-way through the year, and finished the year doing my AP course as independent study. I did well (got a 4 YAY!!) but I wouldn't recommend it. It's really hard to do that (I had nothing but my textbook from school and a study guide). But it can be done:)
Good luck!
~Emily</p>
<p>Re: EPGY reduced prices. Please give me more info. We've been paying full price. :( Love the courses, though.</p>
<p>Re: EPGY reduced prices. Please give me more info. We've been paying full price. :( </p>
<p>EPGY courses are thorough and well-done - great prep for AP. If only they had chem, bio and stat.</p>
<p>my son self-studied and has taken 10 AP exams (over 4 years) with great results. He did distance learning and classroom courses for other subjects, but specifically not for AP subjects because we felt there was no need. The AP subjects are particularly well suited to self-study because the topics to be covered are well defined, and there is lots of material geared specifically to the test. I did not "teach" him in any way. But I did research and find appropriate materials. Then I set a schedule to make sure that he would get through the material on time, and kept track of his progress so he didn't end up trying to cram at the end. We started with subjects he was interested in and already knew quite a bit about, and moved into subjects that he actually had to learn over the course of a year. I don't think this would work for every family. It requires some self-sufficiency on the part of the student. And someone (student or parent) has to be organized and self-disciplined enough to keep to a schedule. But the parent certainly does not have to know anything about the subject to keep the student on track.</p>
<p>(PA Homeschoolers courses are open to homeschoolers anywhere, not just PA. And nosx, anyone who meets their requirements can sign up for EPGY. A school does not have to be involved in any way. The AP score takes the place of a course grade when you apply to college.)</p>
<p>"Re: EPGY reduced prices. Please give me more info. We've been paying full price." </p>
<p>Apply for financial aid according to the procedures outlined on the EPGY Web site. A lot of homeschooling families have one parent only earning a partial income, and so lots of homeschooling families qualify for EPGY financial aid, which extends up into middle-class income ranges. By contrast, JHU-CTY only offers aid to families that are really poor--different policies for different programs.</p>
<p>nosx asks: "... how to schools know your grades from Homeschooling if you did not take courses like EPGY or CC courses?"</p>
<p>I'm not the one you asked, but I'll answer anyway. We don't grade! My umbrella school won't even accept grades from parents. They say they've never had a problem from colleges with this. Colleges have other things to look at from homeschooled students -- any outside grades (just to show academic potential, not required for everything), AP/SATII/CLEP scores, course descriptions, work samples, essays, recommendations, etc. Our umbrella schools ranks students when this is necessary by looking at standardized scores, available grades, etc.</p>
<p>My daughter just got her acceptance from her safety school. We sent them a transcript with no grades (except for two college courses) and ACT scores -- that's it. Now the selective colleges got a more extensive package of information. We will see if my impression of the process is accurate, won't we? I've had this discussion before on a number of homeschooling forums. Some of us say that colleges disregard parental grades; some say grades are necessary.</p>