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I'm thinking about EPGY math and language for Wolf next school year. He'll still be doing Independent Study, but his teacher should go along with the idea, still have to talk to her.

I know there is a group on here that gets a lower price. I was wondering how that worked and what everyone thought of EPGY in general.

Is the fee just for one grade or could a kid work through k-7 math in one year for one fee?

Also I haven't heard much about their language arts program. Does anyone use it? What do you think of it?

I'm guessing Wolf will be about 3rd grade in language arts, maybe 4th. His reading might be higher. Math will be 3rd or 4th or higher depending on the subject.

We paid $135 for DS to do EPGY this year - we started late, in October, and that goes through end of May I believe. He started at K lvl and is currently at 3rd grade lvl. I believe it's k-7 and now you can pay extra ($50 I think) for Algebra as well.

We've started working on the language arts/writing but aren't moving too quickly on that one. It seems decent though. Starts at grade 2 and works on nouns, writing complete sentences, finding the main topic of a paragraph, etc.

I do like that on math at least it moves them through fairly quickly if they get it. DS did K in just a few days, 1st in maybe a week, longer on 2nd, and he hasn't done much in 3rd because he just wasn't fully ready for it yet (he's 5) and has just been more motivated for it lately.

Is there any chance or rumour that this might get extended to cover the full range of middle and high school courses, does anyone know? And has anyone's DC tried the Algebra course that's available in this?

My ds did EPGY algebra years ago- I think he was nine. He did well in it, but didn't find the course very enjoyable. The feedback from his tutor was minimal and he could have done without it, for all the extra $$ it costs. I may look into this for dd 9 when she is ready for algebra, because I do feel it is a solid program, and at the discounted rate, it will be a bargain.

Thanks Lorel and Gratified. Hmm - we could definitely do with a alternative to ALEKS but I'm not convinced this is it! Maybe Thinkwell. Is there anything else in the interactive computer-based market (for algebra and up)?

Wow, that's a huge difference from the $435 per quarter that I saw on the site--I wasn't sure if that was quarter of a year or quarter of a school year, but either way it's a bundle. How does this work?

You need to sign up through open enrollment - melmichigan(I believe...) has a group that you should be able to join. We are currently signed up through DS's elementary school though it has nothing to do with the school.

Alternatively you could form a group and request to start your own 'school group' to sign up under but I believe someone would have to be to go to person for any issues if you do that.

http://epgy.stanford.edu/district/info.html

Ha, thank you! I had never heard of Alcumus. I'd looked at AoPS generally and in fact have just bought a couple of the books (Intro to Geometry and Intro to Algebra - but not Intro to Counting and Probability which is the only one currently available in Alcumus, so that may be on my shopping list soon...). I had looked at the online courses, but they won't work for DS because of the timezone (even if they'd work with DS's current keyboarding skills, which I'm not sure about). However, looking again just now, I see that they plan some "homeschool and Europe"-friendly timings for courses in the autumn, which is great news. Maybe DS will learn to type over the summer, lol.

I have talked to a few people who have used Thinkwell, that is what CTY uses for the higher grades. Many had some of the same problems as all the other programs, coverage. If you go that route make sure to check www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org for a discounted price. VideoText is on a different scope and sequence, again mixed reviews. We just opted not to Beta Test with them so you might be able to get in on that. They are also going to an online format, but you commit to the whole thing. Kinetics books has a homeschool package for their Algebra, you do have to call and ask, it isn't on their website. There is also ChalkDust, although definately go the route from the publisher versus ChalkDust, saves you oodles. They have CD-ROM's to go with their books. Let's see, Lial's also now has DVD's or CD-ROM's with an interactive teacher. AoP said by email they are going to be adding to their Alcumus, as it will eventually cost money to access. They are just starting to add some daytime classes for homeschoolers to their regular schedules as well.

Are you beginning to see why we always run two math programs for coverage? Happy hunting!

Thanks Mel, that's useful input and I'll follow up those leads. I'm in a lucky position in that I'm actually not in the least bothered about coverage; we're not homeschooling, just trying to make sure he doesn't die of boredom! Eventually he'll need to take standard public exams (GCSE and probably Cambridge Pre-U), and he can fill in any syllabus gaps then (in fact, since he'll have to do some past papers to know what question types to expect, it'll be better if there *are* a few gaps). If you're getting updates from AoPS please do share any news! I made myself an account and had a look at the one course they have on Alcumus at the moment and liked it enough that I might not mind paying, although it would be nice to think it'd be priced to be comparable with ALEKS rather than at the level of their human-tutored courses.

I've watched several of the videos and have enjoyed them. They're still over my son's head, but I know he will benefit from them when he is ready.

In addition to wishing/hoping that EPGY & ALEKS will combine forces, I've added to my wishlist that AoPS will get together with one (or both) of the above and/or the folks from Thinkwell.