Do you know anything about the teacher who would be teaching the in-classroom class? It sounds like your ds is in school (classes) for his other courses - if that's the case, I wouldn't purposely choose a classroom math course for him unless there was another reason to do so. JMO, but the one thing that I see that *might* be a reason to choose the in-school math class would be the *teacher* experience - if it's an inspiring teacher (and yes, they do exist!). That's the one thing I feel like my kids has missed out on with the online classes they've taken - even when they've had great online teachers. There is just something a bit different about the environment of being in a classroom with a teacher who is a really good teacher.
I also would consider the ability level of the kids in the class your ds would be participating in. master of none brought up that the pace might be too slow for your ds, which might be frustrating. My ds is subject accelerated in math within school and has been in math classes with kids who are a similar grade level spread - and there were times that he was very frustrated with the pace. OTOH, his school did not separate honors/high achieving kids from other students for math instruction, so he was in a class that included students who just weren't naturally good at math. If your ds is able to take an honors math course with high ability kids, pace might be ok enough. I'm guessing that an 8th grade geometry class is only going to include higher-achieving students - it would be considered a 2-year subject acceleration in our school district.
Let us know what you decide to do - good luck with your decision!
polarbear
ps - do you know the actual cost of your ds' current setup? I am sure it's expensive, and I'm very impressed that your district has offered it!
