DS had a high-level intro to Chemistry in middle school. He wants to take AP Chemistry next year in 10th grade, which is a full year course, and his high school has agreed to waive the typical pre-req of Honors Chemistry.

Does this seem like a bad idea to skip Honors Chemistry and/or have others done this?

Any ideas of a program he could do over the summer that would equate to a Honors Chem course? KhanAcademy?

Thanks

Self-study sounds like a great idea, especially as Chemistry appears to be an area of his personal interest. Khan Academy is usually quite good. A collection of online resources is also found at HippoCampus.

As the prerequisite Honors Chemistry course may vary, and AP Chemistry is subject to changes by College Board, there may not be a definitive answer to your question. That said, here are some resources to examine:

- Your local high school course catalog (high level description of Honors Chemistry) and the Honors Chemistry course syllabus (detail description).

- The source of AP Chemistry: the website of the College Board. There are several web pages for students, which are dedicated to AP Chem class information and AP Chem exam information. Information for teachers/schools can also be found, regarding the college board "audit process". For example, one college board web page refers readers to the Learning List website, and lists several possible AP Chem textbooks.

- Old text books and exam prep guides can often be found at used book stores.

DD and DS are skipping the GT Chem/Physics courses and going straight into AP Chem/Physics next year as well. They are touching briefly on Chem/Physics in their science courses this year and we figured the pacing will probably be slow enough as both APs are double periods/credits. I suggested that they can do a quick run through Khan Academy for basic info if they feel insecure.

I suggest that you look at some of the classes offered by the CTY intensive studies program, too. Not only will your child study at the pace more suited to them but they will also be able to experience total immersion into the nerd/geek culture.

A startling contrast that I noticed was the excitement of the kids in the college bookshops at the start of each session - at a time (summer holidays) when most kids were ecstatic not to be in school anymore these kids were stoked to be 'going to school'!


Our DD12 has done several classes at CTY now (was only old enough for the intensive studies last summer) and has loved the experience - we live in a low density population area so sending her there gave her more chance to find her 'tribe'. She made solid friendships there and wants to go next year too.