Yes, I totally agree about reopening schools-- precautions do need to be taken and I'm afraid that it will be a disaster once K-12 opens in our area next month. I would also be glad to be wrong on this. I am frustrated with what seems to be lack of good information on what scientists have found to be true so far re: COVID-19. I think it is true what many on this forum have read about Vitamin D levels having a great influence on how a person's body reacts to COVID-19 (low Vit. D is not good!). But what about other vitamin levels like B-12 (I've read 40% of people have low B12 levels) and other vitamins humans need where low levels may have an impact on how a person's body deals with COVID-19? I am sure there is a lot of research going on and things scientists may know about COVID-19 that the general public doesn't know yet. I think social distancing works pretty well, and of course wearing a mask will help at least with people not touching their faces all the time. However, I am dismayed to see store employees wearing masks in our area and pulling the mask down to the chin level to better talk with fellow employees. Also, off topic, but I'm glad that I'm finally getting auto emails from this forum about topics I've asked for notification of replies! Now, about that pesky yellow Help button on the bottom right....will that be going away anytime soon?!

Mississippi State U will have most classes in person; we know someone attending as a freshman in the fall and his classes are all in person. A small LAC in our region is having most but not all classes in person.

I'm kind of in the same boat, except that DD's classes for fall semester just went all online only today, even the labs. So she will stay at home and do college and see if any classes are in person in the spring. Of course this is the last thing she thought would happen. It's a very strange time right now with the pandemic, but your DS will be fine! I'm sure you have prepared him well for going off to college. Goodbyes are always hard, but we are lucky to have lots of technology to keep connected in this day and age!

I just saw this after not logging in for a while. The title of the article actually originally was what I posted as the title of this thread, and sometime after that the article title was edited/changed by CNBC. I think it's interesting how things have evolved from when we first learned about the pandemic. https://time.com/5850256/who-asymptomatic-spread/ I still don't understand why some people get COVID-19 really badly while for some they experience few or no symptoms. I saw a college student post in the past week that they got COVID-19 and had no health problems prior, and had to be hospitalized for it. This is scary stuff.

University of Florida changed a lot of their courses to online only. DD's fall semester is online only, and even though I was expecting this to happen, our household is in shock right now. Chem 1 and the lab for it are online only. People who have more advanced labs may have it in person; things like Physics 2 lab and Chem 2 lab are in person. The rumor is that spring semester will be more of the same.

We have gotten a lot of conflicting information re: COVID-19, but I do wonder if the virus has mutated in a good way and if that’s what’s behind the recent WHO statement. I totally agree about WHO being political. Also, singing or being in a building with singing going on could still be a problem; we are still not attending church except for online. The California choir met on March 6. Here we are 3 months later and I wish more good information would come out on scientific findings about COVID-19.

I’m not a science person, but it seems to me those in the field of science are always learning new things — new evidence, new tech examining things etc. In this case, what the WHO seems to be saying is that “It’s very rare” for an asymptomatic COVID-19 person to spread COVID-19. They acknowledge more studies are needed, etc. But I think this is pretty interesting and a big development. First we were told we didn’t need masks, then everyone was told to mask and social distance etc. Of course COVID-19 continues to change/mutate from when it first appeared. Now WHO is saying “it’s very rare” for asymptomatic people to spread COVID-19. I see that CNBC changed their headline to better reflect the WHO statement. As far as the article saying “She acknowledged that some studies have indicated asymptomatic or presymptomatic spread in nursing homes and in household settings. More research and data are needed to “truly answer” the question of whether the coronavirus can spread widely through asymptomatic carriers, Van Kerkhove added.” - Scientists need to figure out in nursing homes especially — is it asymptomatic people that spread it the most or is it that the surfaces in nursing homes (and various offices) were/are not cleaned thoroughly? My suspicion is that it spreads via surfaces more than we know, and also in the air (eyes, not just nose/mouth). But what do I know... 😉 I took a look at the Annals of Internal Medicine June 3 article linked above, and it doesn’t seem to be a thorough study like the one done by the WHO.

WHO is now saying that asymptomatic COVID-19 patients aren’t spreading the virus, or at least rarely. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/08/asymptomatic-coronavirus-patients-arent-spreading-new-infections-who-says.html So, no masking for people without COVID-19 symptoms may be done? I hope so, because college life will be much easier for DD.

In this case, the mom and kid went to the eye doctor together because the kid is a minor and the eye doctor requires 1 parent with a minor patient, especially one not old enough to drive. The mom did not come down with COVID-19 symptoms but the kid did, probably from more exposure to various machines to check eyes. I do think eye exams are more risky right now than some other doctor's visits. Interestingly, this family had been staying in since the shutdown, using delivery or trunk orders for food and such until this eye exam, and didn't venture anywhere else. So, it seems to point to there being COVID-19 in the eye doctor's office (surface or masked employee) or some other masked patient there that morning was a carrier. Also of note, according to the mom, the eye doctor had the bathrooms closed. So I guess if you had to go to the bathroom there you'd have to go across the street to the grocery store. There is only so much cleaning that doctor's offices can do; I doubt they can clean it to the level the hospital hopefully does. And even (non N-95) masked people can transmit the COVID-19 virus in various places. But yes, I'm staying away from the eye doctor unless it's an emergency for the near future.

I agree with you, @athena1277! Considering COVID-19 can be contracted in a doctor’s office of any kind (ortho, dentist, eye doctor, family dr.), and the fact that many people are in big box stores shopping regularly, which likely are cleaned less well than the ortho’s office, I think the guardian/parent of a kid (or adult needing a helper) having to go to a doctor’s visit should be able to wait in the waiting room. Someone we know went to an eye doctor’s annual checkup (mom and kid both masked) and despite all in the office being masked, the kid got COVID-19 — 3 days later. Kid hadn’t been anywhere since the shutdown and went to this eye checkup and got COVID-19. Even if the mom hadn’t been in there the kid still would have gotten it. From what I’ve read, only the N-95 masks really protect from COVID-19 and even then, if you aren’t wearing goggles, it can get in through your eyes. As far as the bathroom situation, yes it’s ridiculous. Some medical offices have closed their bathrooms! Perhaps if there are no new COVID-19 big increases in hospitalizations from the protests and riots and businesses opening back up, we can finally get back to normal and end waiting in the vehicle this hot summer for an appointment. A girl can hope!

I’m sorry you’re having trouble sleeping, OP! Have you checked your thyroid levels? Not the TSH — your Free T3 levels and where you are on the range. If your Free T3 number is low in the range it could indicate low thyroid, which can cause sleep issues among other things. Free T3 is the readily available active T3 (energy) you have. Doctors love to check T3 Uptake, T3 Total etc. and those don’t show your active T3 like Free T3. Some use OTC Bovine supplements or of course scripts for low thyroid.

From what I can tell from reading various articles, hydroxichloroquine is an effective treatment and/or prophylactic against COVID-19. However, there are 4 different strains (I think) of COVID-19 in the USA, and because of that, another treatment might be a better fit. Back in March, I saw a post on a different forum by an ER doctor saying his patients were recovering faster with remsdevir, not hydroxichloroquine. As far as wearing a mask that is not N-95 to help prevent getting or giving COVID-19, my opinion is that such masks aren’t helpful. A close friend who had been sheltering in place since early March and getting food delivered (literally not going anywhere) recently went to a well (dr.) visit wearing a mask and 2 days later started having symptoms of COVID-19. Sadly, when we were told back in March that wearing masks won’t help, I think that was correct. I am sure everyone wealthy enough to get hydroxichloroquine probably already has it in their medicine cabinet if they want it, and I know I saw articles about doctors prescribing it for their families. I also saw an article about a study going on where medical personnel at a hospital are taking hydroxichloroquine as a preventative, and I’m glad that’s going on because it looks like COVID-19 will be around for a while. I would imagine more political leaders are taking hydroxichloroquine than Pres. Trump. In any case, I think this forum is best when it doesn’t get political. Regardless of whether there is a Republican or Democrat in the White House, I think taking preventative measures to try and prevent or mitigate getting COVID-19 is a good idea.

@JadeOrchidSong Sorry -- what I meant was we have used various online providers (TPS, Kolbe and others) with a few teachers at providers I've not named here just not being a good fit for my kids. For an English class, I'd ask what kind of work is expected. You can email the TPS teacher for the class you're interested in for your teen and they will get back to you. I did that last year. There was one English class (not taken at TPS) that was a bad fit for my daughter. It required lots of busy work in order to write a literary paper. The kind of work required was not needed for a good writer. I will say that just as there is no perfect curriculum, the class that is great for one student may not work well for another.

We had a great experience with PrepScholar's online prep package. It didn't have online classes in that package (just online access) but that was preferable for my daughter.

My kids have taken TPS classes but not that one. What I've found with various providers is the class name generally remains the same each year, but the teacher can change. It's very important to find out if the teacher scheduled to teach the class you're interested in for your teen is good at teaching. Some teachers give lots of busy work, some don't, some make terrible tests, some make great tests, some give great feedback, some give little, etc.

There are students on Twitter complaining about not being able to submit their AP Physics exams (with a screenshot). I would definitely have your DS let the College Board know there was a major problem with him taking the exam today.

I hope your DD is feeling much better! If it were me, I'd get the Friendly Chemistry package and compare that textbook with what she's already learned via Berean Builders Chemistry, and have her finish using Friendly Chemistry over the summer. My DD did Friendly Chemistry and loved it. It does a good job of making learning Chemistry fun. I'd look at your state requirements for high school, and also look at what requirements there are for science at colleges she's interested in -- you may find that she needs only 2 lab sciences (but 3 total sciences). This is the case in our state.

This sounds familiar — someone in my extended family has this issue. They take Betaine w/ HCL directly after eating something like chili and also take 600 mg NAC with 500 mg Vitamin C caplet right after breakfast w/ coffee. Digestive enzymes didn’t work for them at all. Now they have to have full-fat half and half instead of Coffeemate powder in coffee or whole milk in a latte (more protein in whole milk). They are now doing great. Forgot to add they also were deficient in Vitamin D and are supplementing w/ Vitamin D3 daily.

You are wise to start working on the transcript and course descriptions now! I just went through this last summer for my now high school senior, and relied a lot on great information I found on WTM. If a small fee for a transcript is OK with you, check out HSLDA’s online transcript service (about $25). It made my life so much easier; no need to try and make a Word or Excel sheet look good — you just type in the info. Classes are listed under the grade level; 9th grade (list of 6-7 classes), 10th grade (list of 6-7 classes etc.). 1. If you’re talking about the transcript, no, just put the name of the class and for dual enrollment only, abbreviate where it was taken. For instance, Spanish I (D.E. @USF) Fall 2019. At the bottom of the transcript in small type you can have a key but I don’t think it’s necessary w/ the course descriptions. D.E. = dual enrollment and university abbreviations=> full name of college. My DD had one online dual enrollment course and I did not indicate it was online on the transcript — only the abbreviation of the college/ university and the semester and year she took it. In the course descriptions I spelled out the university with the abbreviation in parentheses and thereafter used the abbreviation. 2. Only on the course descriptions (not the transcript) did I put the name of the professor and texts used (not needed on the transcript, which should be only 1 page). The DE courses were the shortest descriptions of classes on the course descriptions I made. Here is where you can list the course name, like College Algebra - CA 1005 (DE@USF) - start describing the course here with professor’s name and include texts used. I didn’t put the course code on the transcript — you can save that for the course descriptions. For example: Grade Level 9 (2017-18) Course Name Final Grade Credits Algebra 1 Honors (8th gr. 2016-17) A 1.0 Geometry Honors A 1.0 Biology (at USF - D.E.) Fall 2017 A 1.0 etc.... 5. Out of order for your question... Any classes to be taken in future in 12th grade can be listed under the heading 12th grade or Grade Level 12 and then put IP (In Progress) where the Final Grade typically goes if you send the transcript during fall semester and the ones to be taken in spring just have them listed under 12th grade on the transcript. In the course description for dual enrollment courses planned for spring of senior year, I noted that these were what she planned on but due to scheduling issues and class availability she might have to take different courses, and it ended up she took 2 totally different D.E. Classes than what she originally planned on. Students can update their classes in the Common App when that happens and I updated her transcript when that happened as well. For a few colleges she uploaded the updated transcript to her portal; some I had to snail mail. 3. List everything by grade level on the transcript. Imagine 4 boxes on the transcript with 9th grade top left, list of classes taken that year underneath. For classes she plans on taking in 12th grade, list them under Grade Level 12 or 12th grade on the transcript. Note how many credits they are (1/2 or 1). 4. Depending on how many high school level classes she took before 9th grade, you could list them in 9th grade and put (8th grade) in that line item. I did that for my DD. In the 9th grade list of classes on the transcript, I started with Algebra 1 Honors (8th grade). I don’t know why a college would mandate listing courses by semester; we didn’t have any trouble with listing by year and DD applied to some competitive universities. Maybe for D.E. Classes you could just list the semester and year like: Statistics (at USF - D.E.) Fall 2019

One of our friend’s daughters had a very similar problem. After doing simple bloodwork at the lab she was diagnosed hypothyroid at 13 y.o.; soon after they figured out she had a milk intolerance. Between avoiding dairy and taking thyroid medicine, she now only has once in a blue moon seasonal allergies — I think she uses generic Singulair and OTC Zyrtec when that happens. Who knew sometimes a major and ongoing sinus/allergy problem (combined w/ major fatigue, headaches and other stuff) is an indicator to check the thyroid?

I certainly am not in favor of students who pass an AP exam in 2020 to go into a college class unprepared for the next sequence/class in that subject. But I hope universities that decide not to accept (2020) AP exam credit have options for students to prove they know the material for the AP class(es) they completed, or as @regentrude suggested, encourage/require students to take a brief workshop covering material cut from the AP exams. Since my DD is starting college the latter part of summer, I know she'd be happy to take such a workshop at that time if needed.

My DD finished the work in the AP Calculus BC text in February and started reviewing in March for the AP exam. So for her and others who actually finished their AP text and work it’s quite unfair for colleges to not give credit for those who pass the AP exam. There is an ALEKS math placement test DD has to take online for her college but I’m pretty sure that doesn’t cover Calculus, and if it does I know it doesn’t cover Calc 2. Perhaps there is a math placement test other than that or colleges will make one for those who passed the AP Calc BC exam? There is no CLEP test for Calculus 2.

During a recent virtual admitted students Info Session, DD said the university is unsure if they will give any college credit to those taking the 2020 AP Exams (and passing them). After doing some looking, it seems some universities are doing a wait and see approach to the upcoming AP exams as far as giving credit. I really hope those who have been doing the hard work of AP classes this school year won't then suffer an additional loss in this uncertain COVID-19 time by not getting any college credit for passing the upcoming AP exams. From Compass Prep site: “The University is reviewing how we will evaluate AP scores for tests administered in May 2020. The change in AP test format, coverage, and administration this spring makes it necessary to reconsider the relationship between these tests and material covered and assessed in similar Princeton courses. While we continue to believe that these test scores will be helpful for placement purposes, students may be required to take an additional Princeton placement test to receive Advanced Placement credit.” – Princeton Admissions “There is no change for how AP credits are awarded for students entering in Fall 2020. However, since some of the 2020 Advanced Placement exams will not include all of the units typically covered on those exams, students who earn scores of 4 and 5 on some exams in the 2020 test administration may need to consult with faculty and professional advisors to determine if they have the prerequisite knowledge and background to be successful in more advanced coursework in the fall semester. Once AP scores are received in July, advisors will reach out to students as appropriate with more information and guidance.” – Rutgers Admissions

The university DD will be attending in the fall (only only for summer sadly) just emailed out giving students an out if they want to cancel their housing contract (dorms) but are still attending the college. While it's very convenient to live on campus, now I'm not sure if the pros outweigh the cons of living on campus, considering how rapidly COVID-19 spreads. The downside is the place I can find easily is one where she would room with a friend, and is about a 15 minute commute by car, but during rush hour could be 30 minutes, and a bus would take 35 minutes.

Your son sounds a bit like my DS. We tried using Saxon Algebra 1 during the summer (had the old text from my DD). Nope, it just didn’t click. Then on to Derek Owens Algebra for a semester — which wasn’t a good fit for him, so we switched to Foerster Algebra 1 (I purchased the answer key to make it easier on myself for checking his work— totally worth it). Initially we used the Derek Owens videos when needed. After a month or so we just used some Khan Academy and lately my husband has been explaining concepts over the weekend. It seems to be working really well. My son also gets concepts quickly. It seems he doesn’t want to watch all the videos and then do the math work. He just likes a physical math textbook better. Also, I never have my kids check their math work. I check it. As far as Shormann Algebra, I’m sure it’s good. But is it a good fit for your son’s math learning style? My DD used Shormann for the initial couple months of Calculus BC and she also used Shormann for prep for College Algebra CLEP last year, which she passed and got college credit for. She said the Shormann videos were good explanations. However, she never used Shormann an entire school year, just pieces of it. I don’t know anything about Videotext math, but if you’ve already paid for it, would it work to switch to a physical Algebra 1 text that’s a good fit for your DS and use the videos from Videotext math as needed?