Do help the child set a schedule for school. Last minute cram sessions to complete assignments are no fun! Also, many correspondence programs come with assignment due dates. Clarify if these are postmark dates, or the day the lessons need to actually arrive at the institution.

Books
Close your eyes and sign the check. We paid $350 for the books needed in two classes. Their resale value after the course was laughable. Only two books could be used again, the others had been replaced with newer editions and our total buy-back check would have been $7.50 – minus postage, of course.

An alternative to buying the books from the correspondence institution is to contact local college bookstores to see if the books you need are available through them, in stock and at what price. Used books are an even better bargain. Make sure the correspondence college will allow this option or if you must buy from them. Some policies are negotiable. Online bookstores might also carry the books you need.

Questions
Unbeknownst to us, the college we were working with lost their math teacher. Our assignments were never returned and we were not informed of the situation. There was no communication with the professor, so we were drifting and wondering about the grades, wanting feedback concerning quality of the assignments.

So, we came up with some things to ask the contact person (liaison or professor). If you are considering the correspondence option, you might ask these questions of those in charge:

• How often are assignments returned to the student? (weekly, bimonthly, monthly, at the end of the course)
• If there is a problem, whom do you contact and at which hours?
• Is there a phone number to reach this person, or an e-mail address?
• How soon can you expect a reply?
• What constitutes an "official" delay? Sickness, death in the family, or a doctor's letter? If you need to delay a due date or test, whom do you contact?
• Get everything in writing and document each contact with the date, name of person you spoke with and what was decided. Keep this information in a folder for handy reference.

Proctor
Sometimes there is a need for a proctor or someone to oversee testing, essays or other official work. We ran into a problem when our proctor was contacted by the Christian College and asked to donate her fee to their "ministry." Since this institution is a for-profit business, our proctor asked if their president worked for free, and declined the donation option.

• You will need to clarify if the proctor needs to be a state-certified teacher, someone in the education field, a (related) parent, church official or just anyone.
• Find out who pays the proctor's fee: do you pay directly, pay the college and they reimburse the proctor or is there a separate check written to the college for this fee.
• Does the college set the fee for the proctor?
• How much is it and does the proctor agree with the amount?
• Ask when the proctor will be paid and follow up with her to verify she has received payment.

Test Sites
Also, query the institution about test sites. Does it need to be a public location, or can it be a school, church, home or anywhere?