Link Check.

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

All links on the site have now been tested.

Link Checking

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

German now has an individual page on the main site.

French

French now has an individual page.

Spanish

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

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

Music Appreciation and Theory

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

Calculus CLEP Prep

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

Emergency Management

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

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

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

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

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

General Anthropology

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

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

Course Updates

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

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

Journalism Exam for Credit

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

Introduction to Sociology

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

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

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

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

Introduction to World Religions

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

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

American Literature

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

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

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

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

The economics course is now posted on the website.

Essay and Thesis Writing

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

Today's Site Updates

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

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

Physics

The physics course has been added to the website.

Western Civilization 1 & 2

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.

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.