Thanks HowlerKarma for the detailed analysis. I am interested in the virtual school situation. I'm also interested in all other school types, since we may not always be in virtual school (and it's an interesting general topic). I am interested in experiences of what honors courses are and aren't, and opinions about what they should be or shouldn't be. I want to fine tune my radar to help look out for a quality high level education.
I didn't understand the comment about choosing between honors and AP. From what I see, all the high school courses (and some middle school courses) have honors versions, but AP courses only appear at the end of the sequence. So as you move through the sequence you choose regular or honors. Then if you get far enough you can take an AP course. I don't see honors or AP as a choice that arises.
In my own schooldays, we didn't have courses called "honors" but we had ability tracking, so I was always in the top class which would typically be top 20% or so. So these were not "gifted" classes, but the difference between top 20% and bottom 20% class was absolutely gigantic. I do not remember homework or voluminous work at all. I did feel that I was learning.
