Homeschool College USA News and Updates

Moving the website.

2011-12-02T12:55:00.002-05:00

I am in the process of moving HC USA to a new host. (It's a work in progress, but if you'd like to see it, you can find it HERE.) The design has changed a bit, but the information is this same, with a few updates here and there.

Once the site is fully built out, I will transfer the domain name so that www.homeschoolcollegeusa.com will take you to the new site.

PLEASE NOTE: Many of the internal links will *not* have the same URL address once the transfer is complete. If you have bookmarked a specific page on the site, such as an individual course page, you will need to update it after the move.

I am sorry for the inconvenience this may cause. I made the decision to move to Weebly from my current host because they offer a free ad-free webhosting package, and while I intend to upgrade to their pro account after the move to take advantage of some nice features, their price is about 1/2 of what I pay now.

Just as a side note - If you have ever wanted your own website but avoided it because of cost or because you are not a coding expert, Weebly may appeal to you. It does not require any HTML/CSS/coding knowledge and you can build your site completely with templates and "drag & drop" components. They have blogging software that is user-friendly as well. (If you do know HTML and CSS you can make changes to your site using either.) Their free package has a few limitations such as file-size on uploads and the requirement to have their icon in your page footers, but unlike the vast majority of free hosts out there, your site is not overloaded with ads. You can choose to include Google ads if you wish, but that is optional.

English Literature.

2011-11-03T23:04:00.001-04:00

I have added a new course: ENGLISH LITERATURE, which can be used as CLEP prep.

ALEKS Math.

2011-11-03T14:45:00.003-04:00

If you're a homeschooling parent, you can request a free two-month trial to use ALEKS math, by VISITING THIS LINK. If your student is planning to attend a college that accepts ALEKS credits (such as Thomas Edison State College), you can use this free trial to work on one or more college-level math courses*.

Just be sure to check with your school of choice before starting any courses, to make sure they will apply for credit.

*(If you have the flexibility, you can use this two-month period to completely finish one or more math courses, by working on them exclusively or almost exclusively, in a "summer school" type schedule.)

FEMA Update.

2011-10-18T13:01:00.002-04:00

There were two broken links on the Emergency Management page that have now been fixed.

English Comp Textbooks.

2011-09-29T22:55:00.003-04:00

In another pass through Amazon looking for cheap textbooks, here's what I have found for English Composition.

A Writer's Repertoire - used starting at .08 cents.

The Bedford Guide for College Writers - used starting at $2.35.

English Composition and Grammar: Complete Course - used starting at $7.16.

College English and Communication - used starting at a penny.

The Composition of Everyday Life: A Guide to Writing - used starting at .08 cents.

World History Study Guide.

2011-09-15T16:37:00.005-04:00

THIS is sort of interesting. (If you open it, it may take a bit of time to load. It's a large file.) It's a "note-taking guide" for a common public school world history book. The book can be found HERE, listing as used starting at $8.65.

Or, for a different version, THIS is a note-taking guide for THIS BOOK which is listing used starting at $38.45. (Ouch.) If you click on the chapter links, you are taken to a page that gives the chapter note-taking guide, but also something called "concept connector worksheets," which may spark essay assignment ideas. (Also, FYI the note-taking guides for this book include section summaries which, even without the textbook, can provide good review/study materials.)

I'm not necessarily saying, "Quick! Run out and buy one of these books and then download the study guide!" because, frankly, I would imagine the ink cost of printing out the guide would be quite substantial. However, if you have a student who is very new to self-directed learning and is struggling with what to write in the study journals, this sort of thing may be a way to ease into how to take notes from written materials, and much of the world history studies carries over to the Western Civilization exams, and also the Social Sciences & History exam.

Oh, and one more thought: If you think you may *ever* find a use for these files, download them now and save them somewhere. There really is no telling how long they'll be available.

Note-taking for your Study Journals.

2011-09-05T19:21:00.003-04:00

THIS LINK takes you to a short (10 page) "Reading Skills Handbook" that gives tips for reading for study and retention.

Within the document, there is reference to the Cornell Note-Taking System. (Read more about it HERE and HERE.) Using such a system can be very beneficial, especially when taking notes from audio or video files.

The difficulty is in finding the paper. You can PRINT YOUR OWN CORNELL-STYLE PAPER, but there's an ink and paper cost consideration there, or you could ORDER NOTEPADS at about $25 for 250 pages. Ouch!

The least expensive way to use the Cornell Note-Taking System is to modify it slightly to use regular notebook paper. You have two options. Option one involves using your notebook paper upside down, so that the header space is at the bottom, to become the summary area. The other option is to leave the paper right-side up and use the same header space for summary, but at the top, rather than bottom of the paper. In either option, you want to use the margin space opposite the holes as your cue column. Although it is narrower than the recommended cue-space for the system, it provides an area for you to make a quick note or list important terms from your note-taking session, without requiring you to draw new lines on your paper. (You may want to draw a line down the page on the side of the paper that does not have the red line on the margin opposite the holes, if you don't like relying on seeing the line through the paper from the other side.) Your cue column will be either on the right or left, depending on whether you are writing on the front or back of the page. You may also want to consider writing sideways on your cue column, so that your individual words don't end up "cramped."

If you decide to utilize the system, just be sure you remember to save space at the top corner for dating your work and adding a title. (Like "Geology - Igneous Rocks".)

New links.

2011-09-03T13:15:00.003-04:00

Depending on what courses you might be using/following, you may have noticed some new links. We've been adding links for several days now, and will continue to do so through the Labor Day weekend holiday. Thank you to everyone who has recently emailed us with link suggestions. They are much appreciated!

PASS textbooks further update.

2011-08-22T18:50:00.002-04:00

The option to request a free copy of the PASS textbooks on CD-ROM is no longer available. A visit to the new PASS site says that free copies are mailed to Florida schools, and other schools may purchase the books.

The individual courses that use PASS books have links to previous editions that you can download for free. I will change those pages to no longer say, "See the main page for information about ordering free copies." as soon as I can get to it.

Earth Science resource.

2011-08-22T16:51:00.002-04:00

THIS LINK takes you to a textbook companion website to "Explore the World of Earth Science." It includes animations and interactive lessons ("investigations").

High school math help.

2011-08-18T01:01:00.004-04:00

This is a textbook companion site that has practice problems, tests, and video tutorials. It covers Algebra 1 & 2, Geometry, and PreCalculus. Click on the textbook cover and you're taken to the chapter links. The video tutorials are topic specific, so you can find exactly what you need.

FIND IT HERE.

Study resources.

2011-08-13T18:40:00.001-04:00

SAS CURRICULUM PATHWAYS has moved out of the Beta stage and into a full launch. This link takes you to the main page, where you can create a free account. This program covers core subjects - mathematics, English/language arts, science, and social studes - and Spanish, as well. Within each subject you will find short activities or audio files on specific topics, such as an interactive tool dedicated to "Exploring Graphs of Linear Systems" in the algebra section.
Whatever course you are studying, you might want to visit the SAS website to see if there are any activities that can help you.

Along the same lines is McGraw-Hill's PRIMARY SOURCE INVESTIGATOR, a program centered on history studies. Simply choose a book title based on which history you are studying (such as U.S.) and then you will be taken to a list of topics with short readings and/or interactive clips.

Inexpensive world history/western civilizations books.

2011-08-13T13:41:00.003-04:00

Just like with the science books below, I did an Amazon hunt for history books, for anyone who prefers to have a printed textbook to read. As always, these links are merely FYI. They aren't affiliate links and you don't have to buy anything here.

World History to 1500, 2006 edition, used from $1.20.
World History, Volume II: Since 1500, 2006 edition, used from $3.00.

The World's History, Volume 1 (to 1500), 2005 edition, used from $3.00.
The World's History, Volume 2 (since 1100), 2005 edition, used from $0.36.
The World's History: Combined, 2000 edition, used from $11.99. This is a combined volume of the previous two books. It's actually, (even with shipping), still cheaper to buy the separate, newer books, but I included it because there is, as of right now, one seller selling it new for $18, if you prefer new books.

The Heritage of World Civilizations, Volume 1, 2008 edition, used from $2.00. (There's a 2002 edition HERE starting at $0.08.)
The Heritage of World Civilizations, Volume 2, 2008 edition, used starting at $9.56. (The 2002 edition HERE starts at $0.51.)

Western Civilizations, Volume 1 2002 edition, used from $0.34
Western Civilizations, Volume 2, 2005 edition, used from one penny. (No, really.)
Western Civilizations, Brief Edition (One-Volume Edition), 2005 edition, used from $1.99. (This is the condensed version of both previous volumes, combined.)
Western Civilizations, Single Volume Edition, 2002 edition, used from $1.78. (This is the full version of the two volumes, combined.)

Western Civilization: Brief Discovery Edition, 2005 edition, used from $0.51. This is a different textbook than the other Western Civ books above. (And keep in mind, this "brief" book is over 700 pages long.)

The Western Heritage, 2000 edition, used from $0.98.

Back to school sales.

2011-08-13T09:21:00.002-04:00

I'm looking over the flyer for my local Wal-Mart and it lists 1-inch "Economy" binders for $0.92. I believe they only come in black or white, but in any case, it's a very good price for binders for the study journals. (The economy binders don't have the plastic coverings that allow for cover sheets, if that's important to you.) 1-inch binders are a little on the small size for a full-year course, but you could consider buying one per semester, if the $1.84 price for two is still less than anything you can find in a larger size.

Just to note: Spiral notebooks are $0.20. Of course this may be a regional thing and vary by area/state. In any case, I'm pointing it out because the pages are perforated, so your student can remove the paper (70 sheets per notebook) as he uses it, to place in his study journals, if you want to save a little bit more money. Notebook paper is selling at $0.75 for 150 pages, so $3 = 600 pages. On the other hand, if you buy 10 spirals, at $2, you'd get 700 pages. This may be getting a little too penny-pinching for some people, but it can be an option for those on a really tight budget. Also, the cheap spirals make good scratch paper for working out math problems.

Speaking of spirals, there is a reason I do not suggest simply using them for the study journals. As your child builds his journals, working around an exam outline, he will find information for individual topics in more than one place. By using binders, he can add notes on each topic to any previous notes he's already written, to keep everything grouped together. For instance, if he's studying biology and has a section of his study journal devoted to the topic "Root, stem, leaf, flower, seed, fruit," as listed in the CLEP outline, any time he comes across information pertaining to this topic, he can add it to his study journal in the appropriate spot.

Side note: The flyer has 3-shelf bookshelves for a "roll-back" price of $12.48. They aren't terribly fancy or anything, but they do make a good place to keep study journals and any books you purchase for the year. We don't have space for a dedicated school room, so each child has a bookshelf where all binders, books, and supplies like pens and pencils (kept in dollar store baskets) sit. There's also a box on the top of each bookshelf to hold library books. The rule is, you can take a book out to read it, but it goes back in the box when you're done. This way there's never any scramble to find all the books the day we go to the library to return them.

Free Audio Books.

2011-08-12T17:33:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to give a quick plug for a great site - LIT2GO. Lit2Go has a nice offering of free audio books in downloadable MP3 files. My daughter has dyslexia and reading for any length of time can give her severe headaches. Thanks to sites like Lit2Go, we can download audio versions of classic literature for her to listen to on her MP3 player.

Foreign Languages... Things that make you go, "Hmmmm."

2011-08-12T12:00:00.005-04:00

(Remember THAT SONG?)

If you've visited the Spanish, French, or German course pages, you've seen a link to the FOREIGN SERVICE INSTITUTE'S FREE LANGUAGE PROGRAMS. If you poke around, you'll see there are dozens of different languages offered there. Anyone up for learning TWI?

Recently I was given a copy of BARRON'S MASTERING SPANISH 1. As I flipped through the book (from 2003), I thought, "Well, this looks awfully familiar."

The main page of the FSI Language Courses website has this to say: "These courses were developed by the United States government and are in the public domain."

The front cover of the Barron's book says, "Developed by the Foreign Service Institute. The same course used by the U.S. Government to train diplomatic personnel."

Yes. Yes, it is the same course. The exact same course. The free, public domain course that Barron's is repackaging and selling (because, frankly, they can; anyone can.) So, you can go ahead and spend the $46 or up to buy it on CD and get a printed copy of the book, or you can download everything for free. The files on the site are MP3s and we've been able to transfer them to my daughter's MP3 player without an issue.

Just as a side note while discussing foreign languages: The free Destinos and French in Action videos from Annenberg do coordinate with textbooks. Right now you can get the textbooks used through Amazon for less than $15, if you'd like to have them.

Florida homeschoolers: It's tax-free weekend.

2011-08-12T01:05:00.003-04:00

Just a reminder to Florida homeschoolers that it's (sales) tax-free school shopping time, now through Sunday. CLICK HERE for a printable list of all the items that qualify.

Pssst... PASS Textbooks update.

2011-08-10T14:59:00.002-04:00

Any course that uses one or more PASS textbooks has been updated with links to previous free editions available for instant download, thanks to ERIC (Education Resource Information Center). You may still want to send away for the CD-ROMs if you can, but this provides you with another option. (Especially helpful if you are just getting started and want/need to begin your studies as soon as possible.)

Study Journal Covers.

2011-08-10T14:22:00.004-04:00

It's my son's birthday and I have a small gift for you. (Isn't it cool how that works out sometimes?) Consider it a "Back to School" special for those of you who follow a traditional school-year calendar.

If you use the type of binders that have clear plastic tops that allow you to slip a piece of paper in the front of your binder, these covers especially work well, but you can use them as a first page in any kind of binder you have. Keep in mind, study journal covers are completely unnecessary (and arguably frivilous)- you don't have to spend the ink to print them, but if you do want a set of covers and don't have the time/desire to make your own, you can use the ones I've uploaded for you here: JOURNAL COVERS.

Just a few notes:

1. I made covers for every course currently available on the site. This includes making covers for all the courses my children themselves didn't/haven't completed, because, obviously, I didn't already have those to share with you and I wanted to create a complete set.

2. All the covers are together in one zip file. I really didn't want to spend the time uploading them individually. There are over 50! (There's even a cover for your Record of Study, as described in the Getting Started portion of the website.)

3. There are two "Art-Drawing" covers because I made different covers for my own children, since they disagreed on which graphic they liked best. Choose whichever you want.

4. The images used in these covers all came from the same royalty-free website that I pay a subscription fee to access. This means you are free to download and use these covers if you like but you cannot reuse the images. Speaking of, these file represent hours of work. They are given away freely here on my site but they should not be repackaged or hosted elsewhere. If you want to share them with friends, please simply point them to the link here. And absolutely - these files are NEVER to be sold in any form. NO EXCEPTIONS!

5. When I print covers for my children, I also include their names and school year info. I have removed that from all the files for you for obvious reasons, but here are two examples of what they would look like with that included: ONE YEAR COURSE EXAMPLE and SEMESTER COURSE EXAMPLE.

If I add any more courses to the site, I will make a new journal cover for it, accordingly. By the way, I'm also adding the link to the covers to the FREE PLANNING FORMS page. That page is a relatively new addition to the site, if you haven't already seen it. It includes blanks calendars of various types, subject planning forms, and even forms you can use for report cards and transcripts.

Inexpensive science textbooks.

2011-08-09T02:06:00.005-04:00

In keeping with the earlier post I made about finding inexpensive textbooks, I've done a little digging around on Amazon and found the following. Even with the $3.99 in shipping costs per book, none of these books would cost you more than $17, if you purchased the least expensive one for sale, and most of them would come in under $10. Although CK-12 provides free science textbooks, if you don't want to be reading everything on your computer or mobile reader (Nook, Kindle, etc.), buying a used textbook like any of these is cheaper than printing out the free books, when factoring in ink and paper. (Reminder: These are NOT affiliate links - just here FYI):

Environmental Science: Principles, Connections, & Solutions - 2007 edition, used starting at $1.79.

Environmental Science: A Global Concern - 2007 edition, used starting at $13.00.

Earth: An Introduction to Physical Geology - 2002 edition, used starting at $0.35.

The Good Earth: Introduction to Earth Science - 2007 edition, used starting at $1.99.

Biology - 2007 edition, used starting at $4.93. (According to the description, this book has 1259 pages and weighs over 7 pounds! Sheesh.)

Biology: Concepts & Investigations - 2008 edition, used starting at $4.49.

Introductory Chemistry: A Foundation - 2003 edition, used starting at $10.86.

Chemistry: An Introduction to General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry - 2005 edition, used starting at $4.00.

Astronomy: A Beginner's Guide to the Universe - 2006 edition, used from $3.50.

Astronomy: The Evolving Universe - 2002 edition, used starting at $7.97.

Physics - 2004 edition, used from $6.41.

Physics: Principles and Problems - 2004 edition, used starting at $13.00.

Environmental Science.

2011-08-09T00:22:00.003-04:00

I have split out ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE from earth science as its own course. This can be used to study for either the AP Environmental Science exam or the DSST Race to Save the Planet exam, or as an alternate 1-year high school science course.

SAT & ACT Prep.

2011-08-08T12:32:00.002-04:00

Depending on your college of choice, you may need to take either the SAT or ACT exam. (Many scholarships also require these scores.) I have added a SAT & ACT TEST PREP page to the site with several links to free resources to help you prepare.

If the materials here on HC USA aren't enough....

2011-08-04T01:27:00.009-04:00

NOTE: All links in this post are used for reference only. They are NOT affiliate links; if you choose to purchase anything mentioned here, I will not profit from it. I am not attempting to make money off you by making this blog post.

There may be a point where you either feel that the free resources available online are not enough, or you may simply want additional materials to study. In that case, there are a few options that can help you.

Cheap textbooks. Believe it or not, they do exist. You have probably heard college students (justifiably) complain about the costs of books, but that's because they are often forced to buy the latest edition of whatever book their course requires, and this can often be $150 or more. When you are self-studying, this is not the case. Not only can you buy used, but you can buy the used previous edition. While sometimes books really do go through major revisions, often the changes are minimal. We have in our house an environmental science textbook that, when reading through the preface and introduction pages, we learned has undergone rewrites on an average of more than once a year. (17 in 12 years.) I think there's something to be said about the belief that books are "updated" frequently to keep the prices artificially high. Colleges do get money from the sales, after all. As frequently as science can change with new discoveries, I find it awfully hard to swallow the idea that it changed so much to warrant the need for THAT many new editions of our book!

How do you find cheap textbooks, and how do you even know which one to buy? You want to start with a visit to a college or university website where you can scroll through their online catalog and course descriptions. For an example, let's suppose you are interested in taking the Biology CLEP. You visit the THOMAS EDISON STATE COLLEGE WEBSITE and discover that the Biology 101 course uses a book called Biology: Concepts and Applications (8th ed.) This book is being sold new for $145. Ouch. However, a perusal of Amazon's website reveals you can order a PREVIOUS EDITION OF THE SAME BOOK new for under $18 and used for as little as $2.99.

You can use this method of finding inexpensive textbooks for any course you are undertaking. Alternately, you can also find textbook titles by LOOKING AT A SPECIFIC EXAM GUIDE to see what textbooks are recommended for study, and then also look to find a used previous edition.

Study guides. The obvious ones here are the "Whatever for Dummies" and "Idiot's Guide to Whatever" books, but there are other series out there you might be interested in. Many of them include chapter quizzes, and some even have tests and final exams. If you're in a state/situation where you need to keep grades, this can be especially helpful. (Keep in mind, if you plan to use the quizzes, you should consider buying new, or make certain the used book isn't written in, because someone may have already marked the answers otherwise.)

1. THE DEMYSTIFIED SERIES. These books generally cover math and science topics, though there are some other subjects.

2. HOMEWORK HELPERS. These cover a wide range of subjects.

3. (WILEY'S) SELF TEACHING GUIDES. Mostly maths and sciences.

4. NO NONSENSE KNOWLEDGE. These books come with titles like "Chemistry Made Simple."

The nice thing about the study guides are you can often get them new from around $10, and used for half that (or even less.)

Practice Exams. While, unfortunately, it seems that the free practice exam sites keep disappearing, you can pay to take them. You can either look at BUYING A PREP BOOK THAT COMES WITH PRACTICE EXAMS or TAKE A FEE-BASED ONLINE PRACTICE TEST. If you are particulary worried about the exam, this is a good option. After all, the $5-$25 you invest here may make the difference between a pass or a fail, and since you do pay to take the exams, you definitely only want to take each one once!

(You should also check your local library. Ours has many exam study guides you can check out. Interestingly, these must be books that have a high rate of not being returned, because our library has a policy now that you must leave a $20 deposit to check any of these books out, which is given back once you've returned it.)

What about AP exams?

2011-08-04T01:07:00.003-04:00

I have not addressed AP exams at all on HC USA. Here in Florida, (and in at least some other states that I know of), the free online public school, FLORIDA VIRTUAL SCHOOL offers AP classes homeschoolers can take, so generally, I have pointed people I know in that direction if they have interest in using AP tests for credit.

That said, you may not live in a state that has this option, so here are some things you might like to know:

1. Yes, you can take an AP exam without taking an AP class, if you are a homeschooler. THE OFFICIAL AP WEBSITE says this: "If you are a homeschooled student or attend a school that doesn't offer AP, you can still participate. Each year hundreds of students participate through independent study. Some states even sponsor online AP courses." *

2. You may want to look over the AP EXAM LIST as there are some exams offered in courses that do not have equivalent CLEP/DSST exams.

3. Remember that with AP exams, unlike the other college-level exams, you only have a certain time during the year that you can take the tests. THIS CALENDAR shows the AP dates for 2011.

4. SPARK NOTES offers some AP Prep. Scroll down the screen for a list of tests.

5. If there is enough interest in self-studying for AP exams, I can look at putting together additional electives on HC USA to cover those tests that are different from the CLEPs, etc.

* This applies to homeschoolers. If you've already graduated high school, I do not believe you would be eligible to take an AP exam. I suppose you could contact the College Board and ask.

We've gone "viral," Part 2.

2011-07-29T11:56:00.003-04:00

Since we suddenly have a LOT more visitors, I thought I'd now go ahead and ask:

Are there any courses you'd like to see on HC USA that aren't already covered? I based the current list on 1) A comparison to what Florida public school students take to graduate and 2) What my own children want(ed) to study. Beyond that, I'm only guessing on what others would like to see.

Also, would there be any interest in some sort of forum for users where parents/students can discuss the courses? I am not opposed to such a thing and can certainly add it to the site, but I would be VERY strict about users and types of posts. (No spamming, no even-marginally-questionable language, no flaming, etc.)

If you have any thoughts about either of these topics, you can make a comment here on the blog or use the email contact information.

Electives & Test Prep Only Pages.

2011-07-29T08:22:00.002-04:00

The electives courses and test-prep only pages have been checked for broken links and updated. All other pages have been checked, as well.

Language Arts.

2011-07-29T05:47:00.000-04:00

The Language Arts section has been checked for broken links and updated.

History.

2011-07-29T05:04:00.001-04:00

The history courses have been checked for broken links and updated.

Sciences.

2011-07-29T04:36:00.001-04:00

The courses of the sciences section have been checked for broken links and updated.

Mathematics.

2011-07-29T03:31:00.002-04:00

The courses of the mathematics section have been checked for all links and updated where needed.

We've gone "viral."

2011-07-29T02:40:00.003-04:00

In the past few days, traffic to Homeschool College USA has exploded, somewhere in the neighborhood of 25x as many hits per day. As such, I believe it might be time to get a little more personal, based on some emails I have received.

This site is run by three people: myself, and my two teens. In trying to trace back where all this traffic has been generated, I came across a nice post on a forum that called HC USA possibly "too good to be true." I want to stress absolutely that this website is NOT designed to make money, bait-and-switch you with offers of freebies then push you into purchasing something, or anything like. I fully understand the challenges of homeschooling on a very limited budget, and after doing so myself for years, I simply wanted to pass on all the information I've spent hours upon hours gathering, as well as the system we used to create our own studies.

Links and websites come and go on a very frustrating basis. We are doing our best to keep up with this, but please be patient if you find some dead links. There are literally hundreds for us to check on a regular basis and when they do not work, we have to edit our web pages to reflect the changes. It's very time consuming, as I'm sure you can imagine. We do this ourselves. We pay a nominal fee for hosting the site, so that you aren't hit with a lot of ads, but there's no wonderful tech team maintaining it for us. When we need to change a link, we have to edit the code ourselves. These past few months, I haven't had as much time to devote to this site as I have wanted, because my eldest child was finishing up and graduating from high school and this naturally required quite a lot of time/attention.

If you find a dead link, you would be doing us an enormous favor if you would use the broken link contact information on the contact page and let us know.

Also, if you find a broken link, don't assume the information is gone completely. Often, the website has simply moved their content around. For instance, Free World U seems to constantly redirect things, so while a link from HC USA's Geometry page to Free World U's geometry flashcards may no longer work, you can go to Free World U's main page and find their geometry section. Of course, we will still be working to make sure our links are updated, but in the meantime, this may allow you to use a resource, even if our link is no longer correct.

I will probably, for now, remove the classical site from the main page. My children and I have so much work to do, just updating the links from the main site, we simply can't devote time to continuing the classical page. This does not mean I will remove the page itself from the site, so anyone using it can still find it, but it will remain on hold until we can get back to it.

Finally, as I've mentioned, this site is free. We don't make any money from it (and in fact, lose a small amount of money because of the web hosting costs), and if I ever do mention a book to purchase, please note that it will not be through an affiliate link - I will not be attempting to make money from your purchase - and the recommendation will ALWAYS be optional. My goal is to continue to provide a variety of free resources for all high school grades.

I'm going to close with a plea: If you've ever wanted to get involved with something on a volunteer basis and you like this site, please consider pitching in to help. With my son graduating, his availabilty is going to lessen, so even if we had one more person on our "team" this would be a real boon. You don't need to know coding and you don't ever have to field emails or contact anyone. All I'm looking for is someone(s) who would be willing to, on a monthly basis or so, check the links and let me know of any that aren't working. I am aware that there are software programs that do this; unfortunately, these programs can't catch if a link is still working but no longer pointing to the content as described. A live person is needed to manually check and confirm the links. If we can get two or three people, this would be even better, as the site could be divided among us all and lighten the load.

Thanks for taking the time to read all this! If you do have questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

INSPIRE website.

2011-07-28T17:10:00.003-04:00

Unfortunately, the websites that have been providing free practice tests are slowly being taken down or blocked to most users. You may want to check to see if your local library allows access to free tests. Meanwhile, we will search for alternatives.

PASS textbooks.

2011-04-27T15:53:00.001-04:00

The PASS textbooks are no longer offered online. The website will be shortly updated to reflect this. Meanwhile, see the main homeschoolcollegeusa.com page for information on how you can request a free copy of the textbooks on CD.

Link Check.

2010-09-27T12:56:00.002-04:00

I have checked and verified all the links on the main site, including the course pages and main pages. I have not checked the Classical Education links yet.

Side bar: Google has finally announced (two years late) the winners of the 10 to the Power of 10 contest and KHAN ACADEMY will be getting $2 million to add/update the materials offered. If you haven't already visited this website, you should do so right away, especially if you (or your children) are needing math or science help.

Finished Link Checking

2010-08-06T05:33:00.000-04:00

All links on the site have now been tested.

Link Checking

2010-08-04T06:44:00.004-04:00

All pages in the following categories have been checked for broken links:

Mathematics
Language Arts
Sciences
History
Test Prep

Over the next few days, I will test the links on the courses in the Electives section.

German

2010-07-18T07:11:00.000-04:00

German now has an individual page on the main site.

French

2010-07-15T22:59:00.000-04:00

French now has an individual page.

Spanish

2010-07-15T21:42:00.003-04:00

I've put Spanish up as its own page, with a few additional links. I will be shortly doing the same for French and German.

The Civil War and Reconstruction

2010-07-02T11:24:00.001-04:00

The Civil War and Reconstruction has been added in the "test-prep only" section of the website.

Music Appreciation and Theory

2010-06-20T11:18:00.001-04:00

Music Appreciation & Theory has been added as a 1-semester elective course.

Calculus CLEP Prep

2010-06-17T09:33:00.001-04:00

Calculus has been added as a mathematics course option, and includes information on CLEP prep.

Emergency Management

2010-06-07T23:26:00.002-04:00

Using the free courses offered at the Emergency Management Institute (through FEMA), I have added a 1-semester elective in Emergency Management. Please note: These courses can be used to earn college credits once the exams are passed.

A History of the Vietnam War

2010-06-05T16:03:00.001-04:00

A History of the Vietnam War has been added in the "test-prep only" section of the website.

Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union

2010-06-02T22:23:00.003-04:00

I have added study materials for the Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union DSST exam. There is one online book, several articles and websites with information, and a large (592!) set of practice flashcards that were created specifically for this exam.

This is intended as exam-prep only, not as a full, credit-worthy course, and it is recommended that the reading is supplemented with library materials.

(A trip to our local library yielded several juvenile books that provide good background information, and a handful of works in the non-fiction section, including one book that was almost 500 pages long.)

Personal Finance

2010-05-30T21:08:00.002-04:00

I pulled Personal Finance out of the Economics course and created a separate course for it. (There is a DSST exam specifically for Personal Finance, which I'd previously listed on the economics page.)

Honestly, IMHO, while understanding micro and macroeconomics, and how things work on a country and world-wide level is good, between the two, I think most students would be better off with a personal finance class instead. If all students were required to take a personal finance course, I think we'd have a lot less problems with young people defaulting on student loans and the current mortgage crisis.

Course Updates

2010-05-30T01:00:00.001-04:00

Geometry, Geography, Computers, Biology, Chemistry, Economics, Health, and Psychology have all been updated with new online courses.

General Anthropology

2010-05-28T01:11:00.002-04:00

General Anthropology has been added as an elective.

NOTE: Semester (1/2 credit) courses are all designated on their individual course pages. All other courses are considered full-year, 1-credit classes.

Public Relations

2010-05-27T17:10:00.000-04:00

Public Relations (TECEP Prep) has been added as a 1-semester elective.

Course Updates

2010-05-27T01:45:00.003-04:00

Sociology, Critical Thinking, and Psychology have all been updated to include links to a new site with quizzes, essay questions, audio files, and study guides.

Public Speaking

2010-05-24T21:42:00.000-04:00

Public speaking (DSST Prep) has been added as an elective.

Journalism Exam for Credit

2010-05-24T15:44:00.001-04:00

The journalism page has been updated to include information about the TECEP exam: Introduction to News Reporting.

Introduction to Sociology

2010-05-22T18:41:00.001-04:00

Introduction to Sociology has been added as an elective. I am currently undecided about the next elective to work on, so I may leave that up to my son, depending on exams he still needs to take.

Technical Writing

2010-05-21T03:40:00.002-04:00

Technical Writing has been added as an elective. Just to note: There are some project ideas included for students to produce "grade-able" work, if needed. The course is fairly short (1 semester), and was included mostly because my son's long-term goal is to be a professional writer. If you are choosing between writing courses, do not bypass the Essay and Thesis Writing course for this one. This is more of a supplemental, specialized course. On the other hand, even non-writers could use technical writing, as it addresses such things as memo and business letter writing, as well as resumés.

New Practice Tests Added

2010-05-20T23:26:00.002-04:00

American Literature; Language Arts 1, 2, & 3; Algebra 1 & 2; Biology; Chemistry; Computer Technology & Website Programming; U.S. History 1; and Introduction to Psychology have all be updated to include links to downloadable practice CLEP exams and answer keys.

Astronomy

2010-05-19T13:44:00.001-04:00

Astronomy (DSST Prep) has been added. It can be used as an elective or in place of Earth Science.

Introduction to World Religions

2010-05-18T21:52:00.004-04:00

Introduction to World Religions (DSST) has been added as an elective. I will continue to add more electives using the oh-so-scientific method of, "This is probably a test my children will take." (Also known as, "random guessing.")

Photography and Psychology

2010-05-18T02:01:00.001-04:00

Photography (1 semester course) and Introduction to Psychology have been added as electives.

American Literature

2010-05-17T01:34:00.001-04:00

The American Literature course has been added. This completes the high school curriculum. Electives will continue to be added, based primarily on CLEP, ECE, and DSST tests.

Journalism

2010-05-16T21:47:00.001-04:00

Journalism has been added as an elective course. It is a 1 semester course that can be combined with photography (coming soon) to earn a full year credit.

Ethics

2010-05-16T00:00:00.001-04:00

The ethics course page has been uploaded to the website.

ETA - The critical thinking page has been added. This finishes the junior year courses.

Website Update

2010-05-15T19:10:00.003-04:00

The Language Arts 1, 2, & 3 page has been added to the site. (This finishes the freshman and sophomore year courses.) In addition a downloadable file of High School Exit exams has been added.

Economics

2010-05-14T04:57:00.001-04:00

The economics course is now posted on the website.

Essay and Thesis Writing

2010-05-13T23:10:00.000-04:00

The essay and thesis writing course has been added to the website.

Today's Site Updates

2010-05-12T19:45:00.003-04:00

The statistics course has been uploaded to the site. In addition the health and art appreciation courses have been updated with DSST exam information.

U. S. Government

2010-05-11T15:32:00.001-04:00

The U. S. Government course has been added to the website.

Physics

2010-05-10T23:06:00.000-04:00

The physics course has been added to the website.

Western Civilization 1 & 2

2010-05-09T14:19:00.001-04:00

As per my husband's ~~continuous~~ gentle suggestion, I have updated the Western Civ page so that it is no longer in a .pdf format and "matches" the other course pages. I will shortly do the same for the Foreign Language page, though I plan to let that wait until I have finished the other high school courses.

Happy Mother's Day to all moms out there. Today is also my 40th birthday, so I am going to spend the rest of the afternoon/evening reading and watching bad TV. Ha!

Welcome to Homeschool College USA.

2010-05-08T19:43:00.001-04:00

I've you've stumbled across my website, you've probably noticed that it's not fully complete. I have been working steadily to upload courses as quickly as possible. My goal is to have the basic High School Studies page finished no later than May 22nd. After that, I will begin building additional elective courses that correspond with college-level exams.

Just to note: Yes, everything at HC USA really is free. Any time I suggest something that requires a payment of some kind, it will always be optional and I will always do my best to make sure the cost is very reasonable. For those times that I do point you to something that is not free, you are NOT being sent to an affiliate link. I honestly do not have any problems in general with people who make a little money off being affiliates for various websites/services. I do have a problem with them when they don't make it perfectly clear that they will profit from their "recommendations." That said, I wanted to make sure you understand that when I recommend something you have to pay for, it is only because I genuinely feel the product/content is worthwhile and I will not be getting any sort of compensation for doing so. And again, it is always optional.

Please feel free to look around and ask me any questions you might have. I hope this information proves as beneficial to your family as it has to mine.