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What about Super Charged Science with Aurora Lipper?

Your child works through whichever of the topics they choose at their own pace and the online live classes are optional as and when the topic grabs your interest.

You can always e-mail for help and suggestions on anything you are working on.

I have just received a mini-package that I ordered from them (3 x dvd's) with Magnetism (23 lessons) electricity (26 lessons) and energy 1 (33 lessons). So far we are impressed!

And if these work well for us this year, we will be getting the full program from next year on.

That is one reason that I am really glad that my children are okay in public school and that high intelligence seem to be less of an issue in general the higher you go up in schooling. On the other hand, it does seem that lab work in general at the high school level has been reduced compared to when I was a high school student.

My son has taken 2 science classes from Stanford OHS, one was a physics course in 7th grade the second was a follow up survey in 8th grade. Each week in his 8th grade course they did an experiment which was focused on the topic they were discussing (i.e. physics of light) and very well organized, and they keep a lab book of all their experiments. I did not like his 7th grade teacher because while he was likely a brilliant man he did things like have them watch youtube videos and have discussions for 3 weeks, and then at midterms assign an experiment that literally took 16-20 hours of hard core data to do, while also studying for midterms. Poorly organized. Both classes, however, were not light weight at all. My daughter does science course work (Astronomy and earth science) through Northwestern University's online program, she is younger, but enjoys it, this summer will be doing a 2 week genetics camp on campus. Also, starting in 9th grade at Stanford, there is a 2 week summer session to supplement all labs, so you go on campus and do the lab work in August. NEither programs are cheap, but, you get what you pay for. And, both have needs-based scholarship programs.

Oh my gosh - these sound incredible!!

How did they organize the labs, in terms of materials and setup? Is it all do-at-home? In reality or "virtual"?

His Stanford courses through the OHS are LIVE classes that meet twice a week for 1 hr 15 minutes each class. The class is very interactive with a central screen for lecture, a window for whomever is on the live video feed (instructor, students) a text chat box, and emoticons by the class list to raise hands, vote, etc. The weekly experiments do require adult supervision, and some outside materials. They have weekly quizzes after their second class over the weekly material and the instructor (who have PhDs in the subjects area) are very open to questions, Skype conferencing, etc. For the high school level, like chemistry biology, they have on campus labs for 2 or 3 weeks in the summer.

Classes are year long, from August through May, with midterms and finals each semester.

That sounds (to me) like a really worthwhile experience. Based on what we know of how synchronous distance instruction and learning virtually can actually work, I mean.

My DD would love that.

I think HK and others make important points about science pedagogy for kids interested in science. For the reasons they suggest, any self-paced online course with DIY labs probably cannot be adequate for a really motivated science kid who wants to learn at a high level.

I'm writing just as a Laurel Springs Academy (that's the GT branch)("LSA") parent to suggest gently that we have found that LSA is a bit better than other online options, at least in the humanities areas that my HG child loves. LSA is definitely a self-paced model (except at the AP level, which has real-time weekly lectures/discussions). Teacher interaction is something you ask for, and the teachers have time to offer it (unlike other places, where they are on the clock a bit more). Still, a distant teacher is a distant teacher, and so IMHO, LSA is best for (a) autodidacts who want a curriculum as a baseline for outside learning and (b) kids with an in-house teacher (with higher education in the field). I am a fan of LSA *given our situation*. But I would NOT rely on online courses by LSA (or any other provider) without significant home support from a highly-educated parent or tutor. To their credit, the LSA staff are upfront about this, even if the catalog seems puffy.

So LSA for us is what I consider "semi-homeschool." They provide a good curriculum, but we teach it and provide real-time questioning and consideration. HK is quite right (good catch!) that the science offerings are not UC-approved; the other subjects generally are.

I have found that, as with any school (real or virtual), the parent needs to be an educated and involved consumer. But what I love (and what I have not seen in any other online or bricks-and-mortar school) is that involvement results in tailoring rather than bureaucratic stonewalling (as in our prior public school). My child and I have full power to choose among course options and, in consultation with teachers who "get" gifted kids, to redesign curricula to enrich or deepen. We rejected the standard Geometry text (induction) in favor of Jacobs' Geometry (full-on, no-excuses deduction), and it has been a pleasure. The school was fine with it and helped us redesign the course.

I hope I'm managing to give a nuanced account here. For humanities-oriented kids with expert (humanities and math) parents at home, LSA is great, as long as you understand what it is.

By contrast, I have had first-hand experience with K-12, Apex, and Aventa. The K-12 quality was mixed but not bad; the major limitation is that it was very "grade-level" with no honors options (at that level, anyway). Apex was very rote and multiple-choice-based, and Aventa was affirmatively poor in quality. (I am judging history and English grades 5 and 6 at K-12 and HS-level language and math offerings through Apex and Aventa.)

But I would NOT rely on online courses by LSA (or any other provider) without significant home support from a highly-educated parent or tutor. To their credit, the LSA staff are upfront about this, even if the catalog seems puffy.

REALLY great point-- and good information about LSA.

It's a good sign that they were willing to work with you to flex the geometry course to meet your needs, too. That won't happen with most virtual charter schools, which are decidedly "married to" a particular curriculum, whether it's good, bad or ugly.

Great information, thanks.