My youngest dd did Calvert art in 6th grade and really liked it. SHe would like to do a similar type of art program in 9th grade. That is, a history of art program that might have occasional projects but not necessarily. She liked the style of A Child's History of Art and would like something similar to this but for older children. Any suggestions?

I have been worried about dd's reading speed. She does read slower than I do but then so does dh. But neither dd1 nor dd2 who is a much slower reader than her sister have any problems whatsoever completing standardized tests where reading is important. I know that isn't the case with kids they have tested with particularly dd1 who has done ACT testing and PSAT testing too. She never has problems completing the reading and science portions but others do. I have decided that my fears about her slower reading speed are probably misguided by the fact that I simply read much faster than average.

Actually Asta I understand this thinking very well. We are having the same conversations with our dd. There was a college she was very interested in. So much, that until we got some news, she was probably going to apply ED to it. Then we found out that they count Yellow Ribbon scholarships by total at one time. Since they only offer 5 and two got them in year one, and three are getting it this year, she has no chance of getting one unless someone is not going to use their GI bill or one of the previous students graduate or they decide to expand their program. But unless they expand it prior to her applying, I don't really see a reason to waste 50 for an application fee. I also am not having her apply to any college where either the GI Bill alone or the GI Bill plus Yellow Ribbon program don't pay the full or almost completely full cost of attendance. There is no reason for her to do that since we aren't paying for her college. Now if she decides to apply someplace looking for a full ride merit package and she pays the application fee, fine. But she knows the rules. As it is, she is much luckier than probably 80% or more of her graduating seniors since she gets that full ride to many, many choices. But not to all. Now why am I going to encourage her to apply to a FLorida state school even though it isn't someplace she would rather go? Because we don't know all circumstances to come. Her first priority is getting a college education that will help her get into law school. That comes before fit. As long as we still have the GI Bill, we can have the luxury of fit. Without the GI bill, we have to go with affordability and for us who are near full pay according to the calculators at collegeboard, that means Florida state schools. (THe EFC calculators are so far out of left field that it isn't funny. We get EFCs in the 40K range and I can well assure everyone that without owning a house and me being disabled, there is no way we can afford anything close to that now. Oh, and our income has only increased to this level in the last few years where we have been paying for an older child's education already and so could not save up much).

A friend of my son went to U. of Arizona and is now in grad school in University of Georgia where he has a fellowship.

Asta, maybe our situation will explain things to you. My dd will apply to at least one Florida state school. Yes, we will try to chose the best fitting school from the choices but none of them will be the best fit overall. Why will we do this? Because in life you can't count your chickens until they roost and we can afford our state school with no aid. (OUr chickens are hatching today so I've got chickens on my mind:001_smile:). Now she may get aid from them, she may have the best offer from them, but if she gets a good offer from a school she likes better and is a good foot, she will choose that. We have a bit of a difference from other people since dd will be getting her education financed by the US Govt so offers aren't anywhere as important. But with us, one consideration she may make is special offers like funded summer programs, special dorms, full ride scholarship, or guaranteed acceptance to law school (a FSU possibility if she keeps up her GPA and scores x on LSAT). The reason we may chose full ride is that way she can keep the GI bill for 3 years of law school plus 1 year for second dd.

I think times will be tough for a long time and for a number of workers, particularly older, less educated ones, it will never be the same. We are moving to a different style of economy and what drove our country in past times like manufacturing and farming before that, will not be the large economic engine. Will there still be manufacturing- yes but with a lot less people. Machines are cheaper than humans. So people need to be thinking about jobs that machines can't do. Those jobs tend to be either personal service or jobs that require a high degree of education. There is a reason that the federal government has been pushing No child left behind and all those other education programs. THe policy makers saw the writing on the wall. I think we are going to have a greater divide in our country between those who are skilled in the remaining and new areas and those who are not. I think for many, the good economic times are past and won't come back. It makes me sad but I don't know what to do about it. All I can do is urge younger students to study math, learn to write, and generally get a good education. My thirtieth hs reunion is next year. Some of the jobs they were encouraging students to train for like data entry operator and secretary. One has disappeared and for the second, many, many positions have disappeared. THe deal with secretaries is particularly striking. My dh has been in the AF for 23 years. When he entered, majors had secretaries. Now, even colonels (two ranks up and probably about 10-12 years higher in seniority) often don't have one. THis is in the federal government where the recession hasn't been affected. I think it is worse in the private sector. I read an article recently where the author stated that file clerk jobs have also disappeared. It just worries me that so many don't see this coming.

Praying for all of you in these trying times.:grouphug:

Our first car was a 1987 Toyota Tercel station wagon. We ordered it new and I was so nervous becaue it wasn't arriving and I was supposed to be moving with it from Chicago, to VA where we registered it, to San Antonio where I was picking up dh from OTS to our first station= LA Air Force Station. THe Toyota dealership go the car to me with one day to spare.

I have to agree with Elizabeth that any time serious consequences are threatened by the law including jail time, serious fines, or suspensions and many other things, a lawyer is very advisable. Most of us who are not lawyers don't have much experience with courts. Just like in many other specialized institutions, there are rules of conduct that aren't spelled out to all newcomers but are well known by the participants. The only part that I could see you having a legitimate complaint is the misreading of the law about who can be in the car, if that is correct. While I think a judge or someone acting like a judge should know the law, it isn't something that would result in any disciplinary measure beyond maybe telling that person what the law is. So next time, she can yell and spout the correct law. I would listen to your daughter and drop it.

Actually I think that volunteer job and/or a paying job have a lot to do with traffic violations or any violation of the law. Judges like to see teens having outside activities besides school and particularly ones that engender responsibility like volunteering or working. My one suggestion for anyone whose child has any traffic infraction or more serious charge is to hire a lawyer to represent the child in court. Will the child get a lecture- maybe - but your rights will be protected and it will all go so much easier. If the OP's poster has confidence problems and anxiety over this issue for six months, I suggest that the girl needs counseling. That is abnormal and this comes from a mother of a child with anxiety issues who does get counseling. Even her anxiety isn't to that degree.

I had no problems letting my 14 yo dd go to a concert with youth group where they walked around with buddies but not an adult necessarily. So what I am about to say has nothing to do with a concert, per se, but the individual park and circumstances. I think your dh is completely right. In one area we lived in there were about four amusement parks. Two had no problems normally, one had only some problems when they had a certain type of concert or activity, and the last had a problem almost every day in the summer. IF I was living there now, I would have no problems with parks one and two, careful with park three and no way with park 4. I think you have a park 4 situation here and I think you should listen to Law enforcement husband. Your son nor his friends need to be doing anything wrong in order to get caught up in some very bad situations. I would prevent that from happening.

Wonderful news!:party:

I did call and will call with some things I consider a parent's role or a GC role. Like I get the info for homeschool applicants if it isn't stated clearly on the web page or we haven't gotten it before like at a college fair. I have also coordinated college visits though much of that is done online now. I do think I had to call one or two because of some problem or scheduling question. I expect dd to call or more likely email counselors with regards to her questions. She has many and if she doesn't find the info on the website, she will email the admissions counselor.

No, read the book you want to read.

WE tried Foerster's and everyone in my family found it not very friendly to use including my husband who has a phd in physics and lots of advanced math work. We had problems understanding what some of the questions were getting at and some of the problem solutions were done in strange ways. I ended up switching to Saxon Advanced Math and simply skipping the geometry that he didn't need. He did very well in Calculus after this in college.

This will be very bad news for homeschoolers. Specifically what they didn't like was self learning and self pacing.

WHether it is an Accuplacer type test really depends on the school he is transferring into. I know that at my college, the test was significantly harder than the Accuplacer because almost all the students were ready for calculus or higher level course. We had only one math class that was lower than calculus and that was only for humanities majors.

I would keep good records and pray that he be more flexible as he gets older. I know my d who is not an aspie but has a few of those tendencies has gotten more flexible as she has gotten older. Admission to Columbia University or any of the very selective schools isn't a given for anybody, no matter how high scoring. I wouldn't get into any arguments about it now, so many years out, but just keep it in your mind that he will need to apply to more schools unless he gets ED to Columbia (and I don't know if they offer it since some Ivies have gotten rid of ED). I do know it won't be the same class. My dh took AP Physics in high school and then physics in college, starting with class one. He wasn't bored, he was challenged though probaby not as much as people who didn't have AP Physics. Our college, at that time. didn't allow AP tests any credit. They wanted everyone to take their classes and while my AP English class had been at a high level, very similar to college, other students had AP classes that weren't up to par at all. I met one student who had graduated out of Houston TX public school and had never written a single paper. He was a nervous mess his freshman year because of his poor preparation. THe point is that there are good reasons colleges want everyone who graduates to take certain course expecially in their major.

Well we don't do the SAT but my dd scored very high on the reading portion of the ACT. I simply attribute it to her vast reading of many kinds of materials including things like court cases, scholarly articles, and many kinds of books.

NOw I am in a strange predicament. I am living in Northern Virginia. In fact, I am living in the same postal code I was living in when I graduated from high school. SInce high school, I visited for two summers then never moved back. 27 years later, came back with dh and family due to his being stationed at the Pentagon. Do I consider myself a native here? No, not really. WHy? Because since the time I left to the time I came back, 2.5 million people moved in and I haven't lived through those changes. This place isn't so completely different but I have only met one person I probably saw since I used to live here. A teacher in my high school my senior year is now a homeschool mom in my co-op. Since I had a class in the same hall she taught in, I probably had seen her and she me but she never taught me and so I presume I never talked to her. No one else here do I know from back then. THey may be around but I don't think I would recognise them. Anyway, since we are Florida legal residents and that is where we lived last, we say we are Floridians. We were Californians for 19 years before that.

I don't know about how similar my courses are to what is taught in VA but I think i have the basics down. On the other hand, when we were in Florida, the requirements changed drastically. It was all about getting career orientation in high school. Or, if the student was academically inclined, getting high school done in three years. We didn't do either. My dd is academically inclined but we did high school in four years. I had no reason to rush her out the door and she is already younger than almost all other kids in her grade (mid August birthday). SOmetimes states add in strange requirements but most of the colleges continue to require just the basics. What do the Texas schools want?

With our son it didn't impact him. Because we were overseas and mail took too long, he ended up getting his diploma in August, right before college. However, his schooling actually ended in June. It was just an administrative problem. Since my kids start June or late May before fall of 9th grade in 9th grade, they should end and I think will end by June or late May in 12 grade.

So my dd is interested in marrying someone who resembles her ethnicity or a closely related one. My ds thinks that is racist. My dh and I are very closely related ethnically and obviously we were attracted to each other. DO you believe having a preference for certain physical attributes racist if you have no objection to anyone else having mixed race marriages or having other preferences? I don't see it any differently than someone liking dark haired, dark eyed men or someone else liking very tall guys. WHat do you all think? Oh, and we don't have any problems with it if any of our children marry someone of a different ethnicity as long as they are Christians.

In our college house. We were married three years later. Our 25th anniversary is this Sept.

This is just one more question we have to add to ask the admissions office. It seems that just like with our first one, we may very well be overseas when our second one will be going to college too. My preliminary plan is for her to have one of our cars and either drive herself to college or drive herself from an airport to college. IF we are overseas, her stuff would be transported to the college by the US govt. The questions for the admissions office would be what do they do with international students at a) small breaks like Thanksgiving b) with summer break in terms of storage c) with regards to cars. I want her to have a car at most campuses because of her medical conditions for which she needs to get prescriptions and visit specialists. I would pay good money for someone else to do the counselor stuff for me. At least I have a dh who is an excellent writer, is very used to writing great recommendations, and is willing to do that part for me.