Help concerning AP courses

[Christine in FL]

WOW...I've already learned so much from reading the previous posts that I thought I'd ask for some help.

As we plan ahead for the best educational options for our high schooler, I am trying to find ways for him to take AP courses. Our local high school does not offer them (we live in a very small school district); instead, they guide students to take dual enrollment classes. As I researched this option, I have found that colleges look more favorably at AP courses than at dual enrollment courses. The only option I have found for him to be able to take AP courses is through the Florida Virtual School.

If you have had any experience with this, I would truly appreciate hearing from you.

(I posted this on the accelerated reader board, but noticed that many on this board mention AP courses. SO...you may read this again on the other board :eek:)

[Jan in MO]

We do a "roll your own" approach. I buy a textbook, buy some prep/study books and then sign up the student to take the AP exams through our local high school.

We've never done anything like the FLVS or PA Homeschoolers courses. My dds have taken 4 AP exams between them with 3 more to come in May.

[kathleen]

Yes, you can absolutely do it the way Jan does. There is lots of information about course syllabi and exam content on the internet (check with the college board). We plan to do just that next year with AP economics.

My son has also taken (or is taking) AP courses through Scholars Online (Latin), and PA Homeschoolers (English literature and composition).

[FloridaLisa]

Hi Christine,

My son is taking AP Biology through FLVS. This is a hard class, so I'm not sure whether it's a fair gauge for *all* FLVS AP classes. The pluses: free :), course laid out for us, book and lab stuff provided, teacher is easy to reach and returns calls quickly. Minuses: At least one of the module tests (graded on the computer) had 3 questions that were incorrect! My son marked the correct answer, but had to spend a lot of time looking the information up and sending the question and answer to his teacher. She changed it, but acknowledged that there are some kinks not worked out. In that same vein, the second or third module was excrutiating! There were waaaay too many labs in the module and ended up being very time consuming.

Despite those first two red flags, my ds decided to stay in the class (you have 30 days to drop with no penalty). He seems to have found a rhythm and has been able to stay on top of the workload.

Our other experience has been with PA Homeschoolers (Human Geography). Pluses: great teachers (ours has her doctorate, was a HG grader for years, loves the subject); asynchronous (a virtual must in our house); history of successfully having students earn good scores on the AP exam; wide range of AP classes, some with multiple sections. Minuses: it's expensive! But in our opinion, it's been worth it and I'm planning on this expense as my dc move into high school.

My ds will likely take another AP class through FLVS and one through PA Homeschoolers next year.

HTH,
Lisa