I bet its common core related. There is a facebook group for people who are very against common core. Christian Homeschool Oasis maybe? Not everyone on there is so gung ho against it and I joined before I realized. I was called a Nazi by one of the admins for defending various publishers of so called aligned common core curriculums and then promptly banned for commenting on a thread where the admins were critizing parents sending their kids to Harvard or any public colleges. I pointed out Harvard was not a public univeraity but was told it was even worse with the liberals coming out of there. One admin went so far as tell another parent on there that her (the other parent) needed to pray more about God's will for her child because his dream of attending an Ivy League school and becoming a lawyer could not be God's will. She was very against college at all, but if you MUST attend college make sure it is a Christian one and not one run by those liberals. I got the feeling only places like Pensacola and BJU or even more conservative colleges would be acceptable. These are people that will not use Usbourne books because their website has a place where they list the areas where their books align with the CC standards. Note that Usbourne did not change single a word in a single book but merely points out where they already aligned. I posted a letter from the CEO that explains all this and they also sell to schools and libraries so need to provide the information. She actually said they shouldn't even list it on their website, it means they support it and they should have just closed down instead. Now granted this admin was way over the top and I have heard she is no longer an admin. But she had the majority of that group agreeing with her. Now these were the people on the extreme end of hate for CC. But its out there and its a reason a bookstore may say they have a moral objection to Singapore. Anything even mentioning where they align with CC, even without changing a single word, gets a bad name in that world. Even the Sonlight group I was on has some (not all by any means, maybe around 25%) that skip the Usbourne books that are part of the curriculum for this reason.

Pell is a different animal. Pell cannot be reduced even if given a full scholarship that puts a student over COA. Pell is the only federal financial aid that has this benefit. COA includes tuition, fees, room and board and an average amount for transportation and personal costs. Each college has their own policies on how this is handled. In general, loans are reduced first and then institutional aid. Some do it when close to the full COA, some reduce when close to the direct costs. At the college where I worked we only reduced institutional aid if outside scholarships, federal and state grants put the student over COA. When Federal or State funds are involved, federal and state regulations must be followed. If it is pure institutional and outside scholarships, have to go by those policies. I can't speak to individual cases as I don't know all the details of an aid package or the school policies at the time. But that is generally how it is done. Us financial aid people are really and truly trying to do all that we can to help the most number of students. We are parents worried about college for our kids too. We aren't out to get you :) I am on my phone so can't give the exact page but go to the IFAP website (ifap.ed.gov) click on Publications and the Student Aid Handbook. You will probably want the Awarding and Packaging volume. The handbook has everything you could ever want to know about financial aid. Great reading if you have trouble sleeping.

I can probably help if you still need it. My mind thinks in Excel ;) I am will be back later tonight.

We attended a similar school this past year for my DS. He was 5 when we started and has just turned 6. I started regretting the year long contract we signed within the first 6 weeks. He didn't love it and I got tired of fighting him to go so we are riding out our contract and haven't been in weeks. In a few years if he wants to try it again, we will find a different school. His was more exercise class with a few moves thrown in. My nephews attend an excellent school that focuses on character and really training them. We live too far away to go to that one but that's what I was expecting. If you can find another school, I would move. Its too much of a commitment to not be happy there or feel like you are getting out of it what you want.

DS is 6 and this is his 3rd year on the summer league swim team. He has talked for the past year about wanting to join the year around team. For his age group, practice is twice a week and meets are not required but offered if he wants to do one. He LOVES his summer team and looks forward to it all year long, as do I. We decided last year not to do it as twice a week seemed like too much at his age and I wanted him to be able to try other things. We tried martial arts and it was way more involvement than I realized and he didn't love it. Our hesitation is he is still so young and don't want him burned out. He loves to swim and we don't want to ruin that. Pros for joining the team are it would really help him improve the technique of his strokes. Its not cheap but martial arts was more expensive. What age did you start? Pros and cons? Thoughts?

I usually just politely decline when offered an alcoholic beverage. Usually nothing more is said but occasionally someone will say I notice that you never drink. Why is that? and I will mention I don't like the taste. Which then leads into oh but you should try ___, you can't even taste the alcohol in it! Here, try it! I understand people are just trying to be helpful but seriously drop it. I can guarantee I will taste it and if by some miracle I can't, why would I spend that much money on something that tastes like juice when I can get regular juice for a fraction of the price? I just smile and politely refuse again. My ILs have pressured me on this in the past. They are not alcoholics by a long shot, very much have a glass of wine with dinner types. But MIL told me I needed to drink so that our (future at that point) kids don't turn into alcoholics since they need to see it being used responsibly. I can see that kids MAY need to see it being used responsibly but I don't think you forcing me to drink is the way to go about it. My parents didn't drink or have alcohol in the house when I was growing up and yet neither myself nor my siblings are alcoholics. I have also been told that it makes someone uncomfortable if they are drinking and you aren't so the polite thing to do is drink as well. Nope, its not my responsibility to make you feel comfortable by drinking. No one ever says, oh lets not drink because it makes ___ uncomfortable so why the pressure on me to drink? Usually people will accept a polite no thank you and let it go. But those that don't drop it it are seriously rude. So sorry you were put in that position OP. ETA: On my phone so correcting typos

Our district has an AIG magnet school and part of the process involves potential students being evaluated. I put his name in the lottery nefore I had all the details but after learning more, we feel sure we won't send him. They sent a permission form home for us to give permission for him to be given an aptitude test. Since we know he won't be attending the school I was going to just tell them to take his name off the list. However, it might also be an opportunity for him to be tested and get more information for the future. He is currently in Kindergarten. I know that he is bright but don't necessarily believe he is gifted. WWYD? Just trying to gather pros and cons.

We belong to a pool and its $500. Worth every. single. penny. I hate hot weather so things like going to the park are torture. I love that I have somewhere to go every day where ds can burn crazy amounts of energy and play with other kids. Plus he adores swim team. Its been a wonderful experience for us. Do it!!

Ah insurance. I have been offered more hours at my job (work from home part time job offering full time hours) but if I get any more hours they are required to offer me insurance. If I am eligible for insurance elsewhere, my husbands insurance will drop me. The difference in premiums versus rise in pay due to more hours means I would lose money. So I stay at my part time hours just for the insurance. The author would probably call me lazy. But I don't see the point of working more hours and bringing home less money. There are many factors that play into the decisions people make every day.

I used to work at a trade school that was also a for profit. Generally I don't recommend for profit colleges but this one was different. It fit a small niche and has been around for over 50 years. The current owners have owned it for at least 30 and they all have years and years of experience in the field. Tuition is reasonable and has not gone up in the last 5 years. They have an internship requirement before graduation and that leads to full time employment after graduation many times. They are upfront and honest on job prospects in the field and potential salary. Quite honestly, they are more honest and upfront on things than the community college where I worked. The community college has a program in the same field but graduates of that program do not have the field experience or induatry contacts that the for profit school grads have. So not all for profits are the same. I think there are questions you need to ask and you need to do your research.

Yes loved to read back then and still love to read. I always, always, always carry a book with me. Dh does the same thing. Someone upthread mentioned reading at meals. Yes! I remember going to a friend's house and they DIDN'T read at every meal. Once a week everyone was allowed to read during the meal. This horrified me as I read at all meals, and at all times. My sisters would pull pranks on me like moving my bookmark if I left my book in their vicinity. My parents would take away my book and send me outside as punishment. I read in school when I finished my work, in the car, in the bathroom, pretty much all the time. I still love to read and am working on finding more ways to make time for it. We are doing all we can to make ds a reader too, time will tell I guess. He is just 5 and I told him the other day that once reading stops being so much work, he will enjoy it more. He does love for us to read aloud to him.

As I mentioned upthread, I worked at a large community college-the largest in the state. Specifically I worked in financial aid. The admissions office, registrar office and financial aid office would team up every year and visit every public high school in the city. The admission counselors visited every senior English class and then we were set up in the library with computers. Students came in and "applied" to the school, got admitted and registered for classes. I gave them information about what fiancial aid would cover, answered questions, handed out paper FAFSAs. Also helped them complete the fafsa if they had the information and promoted our FAFSA day where we would help anyone complete a FAFSA no matter their intended school. We went to rich schools and poor schools. The information was there for anyone that wanted it. It didn't cost the public schools anything and the only real cost to the college was a bit of gas money. Something like this I feel would be more meaningful than a piece of paper /box to check off to graduate. Those that had other plans didn't apply. Those that had not considered college a possibilty learned their options. Win for everyonem

I could see adding a lecture requirement or a post graduation planning type of class. A class on applying for college, non college options and financial counseling like how to budget, etc would be great. But applying to college and bringing the acceptance letter is overkill. I have worked at many colleges, including a large CC and the amount of work this would add to the college is staggering. And I don't believe just filling out an application will do that much good for the students.

We are currently afterschooling ds and have loved using Singapore. I am ready to buy the next set but not sure what I need. I see textbook, workbook, teacher guides, home instructor guide and tests. Not sure what I need to purchase. Help! DS loves math as do I. I do not need step by step instruction for teaching him the concepts so would probably not use the teacher guides unless its not possible to figure out what they are asking for without it. Thanks!

Not a history lover (but loving it more now than I used to), don't like seafood and the first time I went it was so awfully, terribly hot and humid lol. I think the combo of feeling sick from the humidty plus smell of seafood pushed me over the edge. I am born and bred in NC so I am used to heat and humidity but August in Charleston is something else entirely... Honestly though, I don't know why I don't love it. I want to love it, everyone I know just goes on and on about how amazing it is and I'm over there like eh it was ok. :D. Definately some beautiful parts but I am much more of a mountain person.