As a quick introduction, I am the recently-single-again mother of one son who will be 13 in February (born in 1986).  John has been homeschooled all his life except for last school year when his father and I decided to try him in a supposedly accelerated program through the Houston Independent School District (HISD).  That didn't work very well--it may have been accelerated for average students, but John didn't feel challenged until right before the end of the year when geometry was introduced, which he proceeded to fall in love with.  The program also insisted on a lot of group projects, which John found extremely frustrating, since most of the rest of the students were more interested in fashion and social activities than in getting the project done.  He's back home this year, although most of his schooling is now conducted at the office where I work fulltime (I've got a GREAT boss!!!)

        His current big project is developing a series of Quake "movies" based on an idea he had.  He has to write the story which he will tell in the movies, design and program workable game levels, write a radio-style script for voiceovers, figure out how to record the voices and cue them into the action, etc.--an ambitious project, even if it does focus on Quake.  He also works out of a math book I don't remember the name of, is studying comparative mythology--anything from the Greek classics to Paul Bunyan--and is plowing through a college-level geology text we acquiredsomewhere.

        I'd like to enroll him in an umbrella program that will result in a diploma, but money has been a bit tight.  That situation should resolve after the first of the year, though, so I'm currently researchingprograms.  If anyone has any suggestions, I'd greatly appreciate them.

Jane