22B, I hope that you've seen Val's post in the other (pre-calculus textbook request) thread:
secondary math and textbooks and pedagogy, oh my...This has very definitely been our experience. I'm sure that you won't overlook it, given your background and the fact that a parent is home with your son-- we certainly didn't miss it, that's for sure (we're with Connections).
The pluses of such online programs:
* you go through the ENTIRE textbook each year-- including those ending chapters that B&M schools usually skip
* self-pacing means that you can rip through the material at whatever rate seems appropriate
and the negative:
* it's the SAME (watered-down) math instruction from the same awful textbooks that B&M schools use
* there may be little-to-no actual instruction from a live teacher for more advanced mathematics, which is only okay for
true autodidacts.
When DD was seven, I'd have predicted her to be in calculus last year, too (that would have been when she was 12). Didn't happen, and I'm glad.
I do think that you're right to be considering what to do when he runs out of math... because the asynchrony is going to be a real bear... but my personal opinion (our DD has two parents with PhD's in the physical sciences, btw, and she's a rising HS senior as of the end of next week) is that primary and secondary mathematics teaching/pedagogy is weak and getting worse by the minute.
I absolutely would begin making a plan to supplement with authentic materials. Depending on the type of learner he is, maybe Great Courses has something he'd like, too. We've used a few of their things, but DD's learning style isn't terribly compatible with non-live instructional methods.
I also hope that your DS continues to tolerate the pacing/level of 'instruction' via K12. My DD has NOT tolerated it very well. It's been a continuous battle for over 7 years.
I was
seriously angry over the gutting of geometry, and so was my DH. It ruined that course. Ruined it completely for kids with the math ability to fall in love with it. Gaaa.
Oh-- and the other thing to watch for since we're using that same virtual schooling model? Make sure that he can continue to work at his own pace in secondary. That's a huge catch with Connections. They can't; they MUST work synchronously and in order once they reach secondary math. Also make sure that if you're going to venture outside that system for enrichment/alternatives, that you've satisfied the requirements for graduation and have the requisite coursework listed on a high school transcript somehow. This may mean that your DS
has to take "high school" geometry when he's 9-- which also means that any age-appropriate flakiness has lasting consequences. If they tell you that you can use local university credits to substitute for AP Calculus--
get it in WRITING. We've found that national is surprisingly (or not, perhaps) stubborn about "you should take OUR class... we offer Calculus/Chemistry/Econ/Psychology"
Yeah, but your version is a canned JOKE... and I want my DD's first experience with this subject to be, you know... authentic. "We offer that class."
Just noting that. BTDT. My DD has had to take some really worthless electives.
Anyway. I mention all of this because it was absolutely NOT obvious to me when my DD was in primary grades just how awful the secondary math instruction has become.
If K12 is anything like CA, they also won't let you do much "previewing" of course syllabi, either, nor of content. I mean, it's great to have a parent to offer direct instruction when that is a major deficit in a program (we have that problem here), but it only works when there is some real content within the course. Otherwise, you wind up shooting them in the foot because the assessments are aimed at something totally different than the level that they understand. Don't even get me started on "front end estimation" and ALL multiple choice assessments in this model.
