Hi CFK,
I have a couple questions/issues to bring up. Yes, I agree, Univ of Missouri looks great, is inexpensive and has gifted level courses. Stanford costs a bunch more (if you opt for the high school rather than EPGY courses) but offers a community, clubs and a full program. I don't know the others, but there's also K-12 International Academy & 26 states have Virtual Charter Schools (free!), Aventa, APEX Learning, and probably lots of others. According to Forbes, within a decade, more students will be online students than those in classrooms. We have had good experiences with online classes in my family, though I think math is tough without someone "mathy" at home.
Do you plan to have your DS re-matriculate to school when he's older or have him complete his High School ed online/homeschool? This is key for us. In my district, if I want my kids to get a HS diploma, their policy is that they'll accept credits from up to 2 online courses, and really the only entity guaranteeing credit is from another state-certified high school. Maybe this policy will change, but that's how it's written currently. So you might want to check your district's policies if you plan to re-matriculate. Secondly, the other benefit we see from high school is sports, science club, french club. Our district won't let homeschoolers participate in extracurricular activities at the high school. Maybe this is not an issue for your DS, but I think my DS goes to school for French, soccer, and golf (sad to say)...and he's not even a big athlete!
I still consider the Homeschool option for my younger 2 DS's, so I'm not trying to discourage.
Cym
