We checked out ethnic areas in cities we were near - Koreatown, Chinatown, etc. We explored ethnic grocery stores and often ate at ethnic restaurants. It was fun, and our dc were able to see, smell and taste differences. One thing my kids liked were the Michael Palin series of tv shows. You can get them from the library. He has one on Pole to Pole, where he traveled from the North Pole to the South Pole, one on the Pacific Rim, Around the World in 80 days, etc. He didn't travel first class and eat at expensive restaurants, and always spoke with people on the streets. It introduced my kids to how life is very different in various countries, and we would follow along with a map or globe. He travels to many countries, and uses various forms of transportation, including riding on the top of a train (the cheap seats). It was eye opening, and my kids loved the series, always wanting to watch just one more episode to see more interesting places. Inviting missionaries or people you meet from other cultures to your home for dinner is also interesting because you dc get to hear stories about life in other countries. Use a calendar that has holidays from other nations on it, or find dates of holidays and put them onto your calendar and incorporate that into your lessons or daily life. Sometimes I added a lesson that went along with that holiday. Boys' and Girls' Day in Japan, etc. are easy to mention and look up on the internet to see pictures, etc. It doesn't have to be time consuming, and you can introduce these various celebrations in a few minutes. At one time I used a world map and printed up a title and photo or something to go along with the holiday, and we placed them around the map with string leading to the country. It was easy to do for a one year study, but was not time consuming at all. Read books set in other countries. Read folk tales from other countries. I once got a book from the library that was all Cinderella type stories from many different countries. We were able to discuss why there were differences in the story that varied by culture. It was easy, but introduced my kids to different lifestyles in various countries.

It is hard to say. I'm not in IL. I know that in my state, my oldest son was supposed to go to a state school. In August the school notified him and several thousand other students that they would not be able to take classes there this year even though they had been admitted. It was too late to go to any other college, even community college. They also were not admitting students for winter semester. So, my oldest has wasted an entire year that he could have and wanted to be in college. He decided that the state colleges are not reliable and will be going out of state to school this summer. The state colleges are now telling students to plan on a minimum of 6 years in order to get their degree. That is if nothing changes again, and given the financial situation, it is likely that more classes will be cut, and that time could be extended. So the question becomes, is it worth going to a private college that costs more and graduate in 4 years or take a chance with a state school and pay costs for at least 6 years - if you can finish a degree in only 6 years? Many private colleges give more money for scholarships and grants than state schools. I have another son who opted for a private school. He will be able to graduate in 4 years. When considering the academic scholarship he received and a small grant the school gave him (state schools offered no money at all!), he pays the same amount yearly that a student at a state university, living on campus, would pay, but the state school student will have to pay for 6 years, and my son for only four years. So my son, at a private school, will pay less. It won't always work out that way, but it can.

CA state schools are in a terrible financial place. Last summer they reneged on their acceptances to tens of thousands of students who planned to enter the universities after receiving acceptance the prior fall. Students were told not to apply for spring semester. Students showed up for the first week of classes to find out that many of their classes were canceled. Imaging registering for 5 classes to find out the first week of school that you will actually only be taking 2 that semester. One state university had a dorm filled with freshmen students who couldn't get enough courses to meet the minimum number of credits required to enable them to live in the dorm. Community college counselors are telling students to transfer to state universities as a last resort, and to try to transfer to private colleges or go out of state.

My dd has not been experiencing what you have experienced, but we keep laughing at her college mail, received from taking the ACT. She listed her major. She has no plans to change that major. Only about 10% of the universities that are contacting her offer her major. Why are they wasting their time and money emailing her and sending her so much advertising? She just laughs and throws it away.

Here is a website to give you ideas.Maybe it will jump start your creativity, or perhaps you will see layouts you want to copy: http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/ Click on Member Gallery, Layouts for ideas

My friend had this problem with her smoke detectors that are wired into the house. Removing the battery backup only makes it beep regularly. You can't turn them off. After weeks of the alarm going off at all hours of the day and night, one night she finally called the fire dept. She told them it keeps sounding the alarm and she couldn't find a problem, but wanted to be sure. She also told them that she was worried that her dc were now sleeping through the fire alarm because she had to keep saying, "It's just the smoke alarm. Don't worry about it." That's not a safe situation, either. The fire dept came, investigated and found no sign of danger. They weren't mad, though, and laughed when she told them that she is being held hostage by her fire alarms. They suggested she vacuum them because, they said, sometimes dust particles get into it and fake the alarm into thinking it is smoke. She did that, and the false alarms stopped. I hope you get the problem identified and solved - quickly!

I know a couple high school grads doing CollegePlus. They didn't do anything special during high school years. One family used a lot of literature based curriculum and the other used a lot of Alpha Omega and other DVD and computer based curriculum. Both students decided that they didn't want to spend the money to sit in community college classes, and one didn't know what he wanted to study, anyway. Both of these students started College Plus after they graduated from high school, not during high school. They speak on the phone with an advisor who motivates them and helps them stay on track. They use books to study from for specific tests, and have a basic time frame goal to complete each study book and test. They are both liking it. It suits them, and they are passing the CLEP tests. The main thing I have seen is that the student must be personally motivated and organized to do CollegePlus. A student who needs a lot of direction and supervision may not do well. A student who procrastinates won't do well. But for a student who is motivated and learns well on his own, it can be a good option.

One thing I have noticed is more families deciding to live on one income. Some laid off women are realizing that they are saving money they previously spent on babysitting, clothes and eating out by not working. They are realizing they are saving money because by not working their families are in a lower income tax bracket, resulting in less income taxes paid. There ends up being less paid out. Of course, there is not the second income coming in, but in some cases this is almost offset by the savings (or maybe more precisely, what is not being spent). There is the realization that they were really working for little net money. I'm sure this also depends on the income level of the woman. I know others who are choosing to have only one spouse work because having both work throws them into a higher tax bracket, resulting in too much of what the second job brings in just going out in higher income taxes and loss of some tax breaks. They are just making do now with less money because the second job is not worth it. It would be interesting to know how many people are making this choice. Sometimes the job is not worth having. Other times it is essential.

I love digital scrapping. I started out paper scrapping over 15 years ago, and several years ago moved to digital. I use Photshop Elements. Digi scrapping allows me to do all sorts of things that are not possible with paper scrapping, like blending and other effects. I love that I can decide what size I want my photo and crop and enlarge as I scrap, instead of sitting down to do a paper scrap page and realize that I really need a 5x7 instead of a 4x6, so I have to get the right size photo before I can even start. With digital I always have the colors I want and I never run out of paper or elements. I can print whatever size page I want to. I have printed a 12x12 size that had 4 6x6 layouts on it. I can make a 12x12 page for me, then print the identical page as 8x8 for grandparents. I love the flexibility. Digi scrapping is not more expensive than paper scrapping, but it can sometimes seem like it because you print the entire page or album at once. I print at Costco and slip the pages into a binder. I can spend 2.00 printing a 12x12 page, which seems like a lot of money. But, if I spent .80 for a piece of cardstock, then used a couple other colors of .80 paper for mats, then add cost of embellishments and adhesive, and then add in the cost of the photos, including enlargements, that paper page could cost a lot more than $2.00. Plus, with digital paper and embellishments, I can reuse it as many times as I want to, and change the color to be whatever I need. With paper, I buy it, use it, and it's gone. I use a lot of free items that I get weekly from http://www.designerdigitals.com. They have 3 free items per week, then other weekly specials with items from .25 - .99. I do buy from them, too. These are the nicest kits and embellishments that I have seen online, and they work with Photoshop Elements.

I am all for parents sending toothbrushes and toothpaste to preschool so their dc can brush after lunch. I support a preschool deciding to include tooth brushing and hygiene education as part the daily schedule. It is totally inappropriate for a state to force this mandate on schools.

Debate is very time consuming, and the coaches should have prepared you for that. That is why many debaters start researching and writing cases beginning in July. They need that time to prepare. Many debaters try to complete classes during the summer so they have more time for debate during the school year. That said, my dc have thrived with all the research, prep, and competition. We counted it as one semester of Debate (essentially their novice class), and the other years as extra curricular. Debate may not be going on the transcript, but it is very valuable as an extra curricular when it comes to colleges. There is great value there. But the biggest payoff is what your dc learn while debating, including incredible logic, research and writing skills. Our club is run the way yours is, as are all but one I know of. It is hard for me to imagine an entire club working on one case and plan, then everyone running it. It is a lot of work for a team (2 for policy and 1 person for LD) to do, but that is where the learning comes in. Besides, when a entire club runs the same case it is very easy for other clubs to write briefs against all those teams. We have competed against a club that does this and their debaters usually have weak research and cases even as varsity because they never learn to do it all themselves. They usually rely on a few strong debaters. You learn far more by doing it yourself. Then our club and others will come up with briefs against it and that club will often lose every round. You wrote: He got his 1ac done but has to do a negative for it for the club. Not sure why he has to do that. I think it is a moot point. Not really. A negative brief will make him consider all the DAs, etc. that a negative team will run against him and force him to come up with answers and evidence to support them. The other thing writing the negative brief will do is allow him to come up with negative evidence against his case that he can run should he come against another team running the same or similar case as he is. He could be negative against essentially his own case and needs that evidence and strategy. Writing the negative brief allows him to accomplish both strengthening his own case by anticipating what will be run against him and enable him to run a strong negative against an Aff team with his case. This is a common thing to happen, especially among novices. It is not a waste of time, but I can see why it might seem like one to you. It is actually a valuable exercise. I would encourage your to help your dc complete this year. It is hard to spend so much time on prep work without experiencing the actual debates. Our clubs start practice tournaments in October. Working from September till March without ever debating could be discouraging. It's like practicing, but never playing the game. The game is where it all pays off and they realize why what they have been doing is important, and it is motivating. You could give a credit for Debate on the transcript, and if your ds won't be continuing, then you may want to do this. If he does continue, then extra curricular may be a better place.

I have made it a point to discuss sales pitches and advertising with my dc from the time they were young. It has never been a one time conversation, but one that comes up as we see ads, hear sales pitches, etc. When my db and I were young - early elementary school ages- an encyclopedia salesman came to the door. My grandparents were over, and my father answered the door. He started his pitch, and my father told him no, he was not interested in buying anything. The guy kept talking and said he just wanted to show them off. My father said okay, come in and show them to us, but I will not buy any. The guy was there for 30 min - an hour (a long time, I remember) and the salesman made those encyclopedias sound like candy to me, and I spent the time looking through them. At the end of the show and pitch, the guy asked if my father wanted to pay for it all at one time or put them on a payment plan. My father told the guy that he wasn't going to buy any, and said don't you remember that from before he came in? The guy got really mad and my grandfather was laughing at him and said, yes, he (grandpa) remembered my father saying he wasn't going to buy and that the guy insisted on showing them the encyclopedias anyway and said that my dad didn't have to buy them, just look. I think that was my first and only lesson in sales pitches. When dh and I were celebrating our first anniversary we were in a lake resort area (staying at a relative's shared vacation house for free). We had very little money, but didn't need much for that vacation since we would have eaten anyway, and cooked for ourselves. There was a timeshare that we thought sounded like fun to tour, and they would give us a gift certificate for $100 for dinner at a steak house and $50 in tokens for gambling. We decided it would be a good way to get a free anniversary dinner and went. It was a very hard sell, but we had already decided we wouldn't buy. The salesperson finally got frustrated that we kept saying no and finally said that we could put the downpayment on a credit card. Dh said he didn't have one with him. The guy looked shocked and asked how we could be on vacation without a credit card. Dh said that he had this special card that goes into an ATM machine at the bank and it gives him his money. The guy got mad, but let us leave. We had told him before his pitch that we were not going to buy. We did get an excellent free steak dinner, with appetizers, drinks, salads, and desserts and we still didn't spend the entire gift certificate because we were there during early bird dinner specials and meals were cheaper. Dh played blackjack with the tokens and gave me the 'real' money chips and stopped after he spent the free tokens, and we had $80. This gave us enough money to see a show - the Chinese acrobats. Then we felt spunky and went to a different timeshare presentation so we could get 2 free tickets for a 3 hour lake cruise. We again said no to buying, but enjoyed our lake cruise! My mistake (that I prefer to forget) was a phone sale that would give us a monthly service of some kind, free for the first 30 days, I don't even remember what it was for, and we had 30 days to cance to pay nothing, and could keep $80 in free gas coupins. I thought it would be a good way to get $80 in free gas. But, by the time we received the paperwork in the mail it was past the 30 day date of when I signed up for it, so we ended up having to pay for one month's service of whatever it was because I couldn't cancel in time. The gas coupons were for a gas company that didn't have any gas stations in our area, so we couldn't use them. Bad, bad decision. I haven't done that again, and have taught my dc never to buy anything from a salesperson who calls them.

Go to both places. They are unique and both are interesting. You won't be repeating anything.

We always hsed and did not have transcripts from any accredited school. My dc have been accepted to all the schools they applied to, and received scholarships. No college, state or private, has said anything about wanting an accredited program, so in my experience and that of friends, the accredited program is unnecessary. The transcripts have not been questioned. My dc did have good SAT or ACT scores and also took community college courses. I think the combo of transcript and test scores and community college transcript all provided a picture of their ability. Their test scores and community college grades validated their transcript gpa.

I'm probably posting too slow here, but my dc have done it. My ds's team returned with a fully decorated Christmas tree (guess the owners didn't want to put it all away) and a cat (in a cat carrier). They won. His friend now has a cat.

Many colleges begin giving academic scholarships at about a 27, so a 29 is well within scholarship range. If your dc did not take the ACT again, a scholarship would very possibly be offered. Taking it again to try to raise the math score would be a good idea, and should also take the writing portion, even though many colleges don't use that score for scholarship purposes. Many colleges offer fully paid scholarships for scores of 30 and higher, so it is very possible to raise that score one or two points by improving the math. All in all, you can be very proud of the score.

Study Skills (add to the SuperStar program to create this course, perhaps add research skills) Speech (public speaking, or perhaps a semester of Speech and one of debate) Keyboard skills (touch typing saves so much time!) Basic software: Word, Excel, PowerPoint Photography and photo editing software use Video and video editing software use Health and interpersonal relationships

If she is wanting to pursue a science or math related college major, it would be very good for her to take SAT II tests. Many colleges require these, especially in science majors. It can't hurt to take them. Most students take them after they complete a second year of the same science, so don't have her take one after completing Chemistry, for ex. Have her take the SAT II after she finishes Chemistry 2, unless you find that she is scoring very well on the practice SAT II tests after just one year.

Gold areas are not between LA and San Francisco, but they are within easy reach of San Francisco. You can go to Sutter's Mill, about an hour out of Sacramento. Then go back to Sacramento and see Sutter's Fort and the Old Town area, Railroad Museum, etc. Or go a bit farther south and go to Columbia, a gold-era town that is now a state park. Columbia is best on weekends, unless you are coming during summer. There are lots of restored buildings, shops, food, and gold panning. Nearby are mine tours and cave tours. If you go to Columbia, you can also go sown the road to Jamestown, site of the oldest steam engine roundhouse and railroad that serviced gold sites, ride the steam engines, etc., but Jamestown is best only on weekends. If you can possibly go to Yosemite, please go. Same with Sequoia. These are not directly on the highway between LA and San Francisco, but are within reach and worth the effort, even for one day. You may need chains, depending on weather. If you are in San Francisco, be sure to go to Muir Woods (about a one hour drive) and see the redwoods, especially if you are not making it to Yosemite or Sequoia. There are easy hiking paths, suitable for even very young children, and it is beautiful. Plan to spend only a couple hours here, so you can go somewhere else as well that day. Be sure to get advance tickets to Alcatraz (San Francisco) if you want to go there. The tours often sell out months in advance, so get on that as soon as you know for sure when you will be there. Don't pay any business to get you the tickets. Buy them from the Alcatraz tour website itself and save yourself the unnecessary fees. Santa Cruz has a fun boardwalk and beach area and is a nice place to stop and walk around. Near Santa Cruz is Natural Bridges State Park, a beach. There are excellent tide pools there. Just plan it to arrive at low tide. We have always seen starfish there, along with other sea creatures. Plan to wear shoes while tide pooling because the rocks can be slippery and sharp on bare feet. Monterey Aquarium (in Monterey, obviously) is another great place to spend the day, lots of sea creatures and excellent touch tanks, with starfish. You can also see sea lions and seals resting the rocks and swimming. You will need to decide whether to drive from LA to San Francisco on highway 5 (goes through the center of the state, fastest route and the way you will go if you want to go to Yosemite or Sequoia) or Highway 101, which winds along the coast. Highway 101 is a beautiful drive, but takes several hours longer and you will need to check to see if it is open the entire route because there are some areas in northern CA where there tend to be rock slides that close the highway if it has been rainy. It can be windy, so be warned in case anyone gets car sick.

Taking classes at a cc does increase the high school credits quickly. My dd is graduating high school after only 3 years because of all the cc courses. When she graduates she will have completed 12 college courses. This includes 5 credits in social studies, 4 in math and 4.5 in English, even though it will be only 3 years of high school. She will have more credits than required for high school graduation, plus will have met all college pre-requisites. She will be a transfer student to a university because of her college credits. We could choose to have her remain in high school, and if we did that she would graduate high school with a college AA degree. Put extra curricular activities where they will most benefit your dc. In some cases this may be as a course, listed on a transcript. In other cases, it is best left as extra curricular, listed in that area on college applications. My dd has plenty of music theory, piano, bell choir and bell quartet, and has help teach bell choir, and I could legitimately give her 3-4 credits of music, but I have chosen not to include this as music courses at all. It is all extra curricular, as are her years of swim team, speech and debate competitions. She completed a 75 hour police department teen citizen's academy, and the local high schools give .5 credit for it. This is listed as extra curricular for my dd. Having these things listed as outside activities shows who she is and what she is interested in and how she spends her time. It won't communicate that if I listed them as classes on a transcript.

I wonder if people who make comments like these realize how absurd they sound. Do they really believe what they are saying, or are they just parroting something they heard or read, but have never thought about? I suspect that if we asked them why they believe these statements are true, they would not have an answer.

There are a few things he has to do before he can go to the DMV. Your ds has to complete a Driver's Ed course and get his completion certificate. Once he has the certificate, he must sign up with a behind-the- wheel driver's school and they will also give him a certificate proving he has registered. He then takes both certificates to the DMV, and he will take his permit test. Next he takes one behind-the-wheel lesson (usually 2 hours), and then he can drive with you. He needs to complete the behind-the-wheel course (usually 3 2-hour lessons), get the completion certificate to prove it, wait at least 6 months from the date on his permit, and then he can take his driver's test. Most behind-the-wheel driver schools also offer the driver's ed course, so you can do it all at the same place. My dc wanted to do it online, so they used an online driver's ed course which is certified in CA, and they received their driver's ed completion certificate from them. I think the site was driversed.com. It also included many DMV permit tests for practice. Anyway, this is the procedure unless your ds is 17.5 years old. Then he doesn't need the driver's ed course or behind the wheel course, as long as he waits to take his driver's test until he turns 18. One of my dc chose this route.

One of the other problems is that it takes too long to complete a college degree at our state colleges because students can't get the required classes. It takes most students at our state colleges 5-6 years to complete an undergrad degree, even when they are willing and capable of finishing in 4 years. During that time the students end up taking courses they don't need just so they can remain full time students (to keep their health insurance, scholarships and loans), which increases the cost of college unnecessarily. But they have no choice if they want a degree. The college recruiters are telling high school students to plan on being at the 4 year college for 6 years. There are multiple reasons for this, including too many students, too few courses and a stated lack of school funding to hire more teachers or build new buildings to house an increased number of courses. After looking at this reality, many students are choosing to attend higher priced private colleges instead of the cheaper state colleges in order to finish their degree a couple years sooner. This also means they accrue more debt.

The other places have been listed, but here's another one that is interesting: The Taylor Guitar factory is there, and they gave us an amazing free tour. We saw the entire process of building a guitar, from the raw wood arriving to the finished product being played. My dc loved it.

I love the color and the wood. And please leave the banister the way it is! It is a nice contrast and looks great! You have a beautiful entry! I would place a console table where the plant is, then put a lamp on it and whatever other decor you like: vase, framed photos, etc. That will brighten up that area and give it interest. If there is room where the tree is now, you can put a mirror on the wall above the console table. The wall going up the stairs is a perfect place for framed family photos. The wall at the bottom of the stairs has room for either nothing, because the focal point would be on the framed photos going up the stairs, or for decal art. While there is room for a mirror there, I would not put one there because of the chance of children running down the stairs and running into the mirror. An area rug would look nice in front of the door, something much larger than the small rug you have at the base of the staircase. I am not sure how much room you have there, but maybe something that is 3x5 or 5x8. Then a matching stair runner would tie it all together. The wall opposite your door, the one that leads to the living room, is a good place for a mirror or artwork. If you can't do all that yet, you can get a nice, large vase to put your tree in instead of just the terra cotta type pot. That can add a lot of interest and color, which will change the look of the room.