Dd will be a senior next year and has taken AP Environmental, AP Bio and is taking AP Chem this year. She has gotten 5's on her exams and A's in the classes. She's very bright and a hard worker, but STEM is not her love. We're discussing classes for next year, and I'd like some advice regarding AP Physics. She would like to take AP Physics because she says that she'd like to have taken all the math and science that she could have and then have the choice not to pursue it in college, rather than not take AP Physics and then feel as if maybe she couldn't have handled the rigor of it, and feel afraid to tackle it in college. Someone told her that AP Physics is the most difficult of all the APs. Although she is getting an A in AP Chem this year, she isn't comfortable with the material the way that she'd like to be. This is her first pass at Chem, so I'm sure it's quite a lot to process all at once. That being said, if AP Physics is more difficult, I'm not sure it's worth efforts that she could place towards something she enjoys more. Although she isn't by nature drawn to STEM fields, we've talked about the possibility of her choosing a field in medicine because she would enjoy working with patients. Neither of us is very sure of the likelihood of this, but she's not wanted to cut off her options. So, although I know this is difficult to answer, how tough is AP Physics? Looking at PAH, I see that she has the option of taking Mechanics as a full year course. She will have completed ten APs by the end of this year and be taking several next year. I would like her to enjoy senior year, and I'm afraid AP Physics will push it over the edge. On the other hand, she'll also have to continue to show rigor and I'm not sure if a regular Physics class, Anatomy or Forensics will be enough. DE is not an option for us because of cost. I took Physics for Poets in college, so I'm really not sure how to judge the rigor. Thanks!

I started having migraines when I was 6. Once I hit puberty they were more frequent, more severe and I always vomited. I missed a ton of school. When I was in college I started going to migraine specialists without a great deal of help. I finally lucked out and found a doctor who treated me for hypothyroidism, even though I was only borderline low. That helped ever so slightly. I tried what seems like every medication. By the time I had graduated and was working I was missing several days of work a day and was taking heavy doses of muscle relaxants and steroids to make it through. The headache center where I was a patient recommended that I be filmed for a documentary on incurable migraine headaches. I had been hospitalized several times for diagnostics and treatment. After my first daughter was born I found out that she was allergic to several foods. I pulled those out of my diet because I was nursing. In the first year of her life, I think I had one migraine. This was after years of practically daily headaches. The migraines gradually increased but not nearly as severe as they'd been. Second daughter was more allergic than the first. I pulled out every common allergen and then some. The migraines disappeared. The girls are clearly not nursing any more! I cheat from time to time and pay the price. I'd recommend tracking your food diet and looking for more patterns. You could even post here and see if anyone recognizes anything. Each person is different, so clearly your triggers may not be mind. But, we may spot something you're missing. My heart goes out to you.

My dad agreed to have his dna tested and I sent it into Family Tree. I thought I had run a search about the best place to use for Y chromosome testing so picked Family Tree. Now, I upgraded to test his mtDNA and their Family Finder search and sent my mom's in for the same. Every post I see here mentions 23andme or Ancestry. Did I pick the wrong place? Should I send it to Ancestry, as well? My dad's y chromosome came back with no matches :( Both my parents' parents were immigrants, and I wanted to do this to know more about the families. I figured that for health issues, I could just test my own and our children's DNA. Am I wrong? Should I be considering my parents for 23andme? I've tried researching it but my brain just begins to swim with it all. Thanks!

Happy Birthday!

LOVE frog juice!! We bought two decks and put them together to make it last a little longer. You can modify for different ages by starting with addition and then opening up to other operations.

Another recommendation for Maya Inspector. Dd took her Lang course last year and was adamant about taking her Lit course this year. I knew that many only take one because they may only get credit for one English class at college, but dd has enjoyed having her so much. She also took her college essay class last summer. Like one of the other posters, I preferred the reading list of a different class, but dd had such a wonderful experience with Maya that there was no choice for her. There are daily messages and Maya is both encouraging and precise with her comments. Dd writes so much better than I do now and did get both an A in the class and a 5 on the exam. I wish Maya taught another English class for dd for next year! When researching Lang classes I had emailed Lilli Serbicki and she responded right away and had a very clear and open dialogue with me. She has a live component to her class which was at a time that dd would not be able to attend. I'm not sure if she's still teaching her online classes but many have recommended her, as well.

They're not board games. They're card games that involve math - The Clumsy Thief, The Clumsy Thief in the Candy Shop and Check the Fridge. They're all by the same company and involve adding to 25, 100 and 20, I think, lol! The games are fast paced and fun. We have Sum Swamp and barely used it. I think that if you liked Sum Swamp, you'll really enjoy these :)

We've become Splendor addicts!! Not difficult to learn and easy to play after opening the box. It's fun with basic strategy and only gets more fun as you develop your understanding of the game. We all love it!

We played Santorini. It was fun for both the kids and adults. It looked misleadingly simple. The game offers a higher level of play with power cards, and I was sure we'd be using them. So far, we find it challenging enough without adding the cards, lol! We also played Check the Fridge. We own the other two card games that this company has and have really enjoyed them. Dd2 needs math facts to be part of daily life and these games offer that while being really fun and fast for the rest of the family. Splendor us up next!!!

Glad to hear that things went well.

I haven't used them, but Cafepress will print custom shirts.

An app is ideal, but I'm just looking for something that will roll over like you mentioned. Thanks for the recommendation!

I'm looking for a calendar or lesson plan app that I can edit if the schedule changes. Our younger dd works really well off of a list and I would like to have her open up her calendar and see all her assignments listed for the day. I need something that I can edit as a group if our schedule changes because of illness, needing more time for something or something unexpected. I had tried google calendar, but once we vary from what I've already entered, I can't edit the assignment/lesson plan for the whole subject by a day. Please help!

Yes, you can definitely use them out of order. I can't tell you how long it will take as I used them with one who was an accelerated learner and have used them as supplements when teaching our second dd and other students. Your dd may just need a lot of repetition and confidence building. If your dd has difficulty with solving equations, there is an inexpensive book called Algebra Antics which I've found to be really helpful for practice. You can find it on amazon or Mindware, I believe. They break each puzzle down by the skills addressed.

I have a bunch of stuffed animals to donate. Where can I bring them?

Yes, things can progress quickly in puberty. Schroth therapy and the Cheneau Gensingen brace have been very effective in reducing the degree of curvature and rotation. Will PM you with more info.

Check in the pockets on the doors. I've had a book slide off the seat into the pocket on the door twice. I thought I was going crazy when I couldn't find it.

Check in the pockets on the doors. I've had a book slide off the seat into the pocket on the door twice. I thought I was going crazy when I couldn't find it.

I've done this for other homeschoolers and the success of the outcome depended upon the parents. I met weekly in person with the student and used google drive and email to monitor them daily. However, if the parents allowed a non-school issue to consistently take precedence over schoolwork, it was hard for me to be as successful as I would have liked.

Bumping up this thread to see if anyone has anything to add. I hate to pay for something that we don't need to pay for. OTOH, I'm afraid that Thinkwell won't be enough prep. I purchased the text that PAH uses for this course,and she likes it. I'm toying with having her do Thinkwell and then supplement. Just looking for something that I can easily outsource. She does very well with self-study. Is there anywhere else that offers a full syllabus she could follow that would prep her well? Or am I worrying over nothing?

Commonsensemedia might have what you're looking for.

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you'd like to label it AP, you'd have to submit a syllabus to the CB and have it approved. It's very simple to do, if having a course labelled AP is important to you.

Here's the link: https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/thinkwell/ It's $68.75.

HBC is having a group buy on the 15th for anyone who is interested.