I know the "Commended" students hear from NMS around the end of September. Somewhere I read the semifinalists hear from them at the beginning of September. Has anyone heard from them yet? Thanks.

Update: Stevia and Truvia gave my daughter heart palpitations. She had to get off them completely. Now she drinks the raspberry tea without any sweeteners and her heart is fine. Please be careful with these sweeteners.

As far as I can tell there are 4 types of acne: 1) White heads (this type does not leave scars) 2) Black heads (this type does not leave scars) 3) Lighter color red with nothing on the peak. (this type usually happens on the forehead and does not leave scars) 4) Darker color red with nothing on the peak. (this type usually happens between the cheekbones and ears, along the hairline and leaves small craters or holes in the skin after it is healed). The herbal raspberry tea has gotten rid of type 1,2,4 and (90% of type 3). Currently my dd doesn’t have any acne. I calculated that the tea costs $1.40 per month in addition to 8 gallons of distilled water ($1/gallon) = total of $9.40 per month. My dd and ds are very happy with it.

This post is dedicated to all the teenagers who have tried every acne medication under the sun with little success. My herbalist friend recommended Raspberry Herbal Tea which cleanses the liver. She says dairy foods such as cheese should be reduced or eliminated from a teen’s diet because cheese is a mucus producing food. After eliminating cheese and reducing the intake of ice cream, my dd’s skin improved somewhat. We noticed a tremendous difference after she started having the Raspberry Herbal Tea. The dosage is 3-4 cups per day. At first I was making it too strong and her heart was beating irregularly. Then I started to make it according to the directions below and her heart is doing really well. This is an herbal tea; you cannot buy it in the grocery stores. To order, call AmeriHerb at 1-800-267-6141. The name is Raspberry leaf c/s double cleaned (Rubus idaeus). One pound is $4.20 and lasted over 3 months. It is an inexpensive solution to acne problems. By the way, I do not own stock in this company, I am merely testifying to the fact that it is working for us. Here is the recipe: Bring 1 gallon of distilled water to a boil (distilled water is void of chemicals and minerals and absorbs the nutrients and healing components of the Raspberry leafs much more than the regular tap water. Tap water absorbs 3-5% of the strength of Rapberry leafs, whereas distilled water absorbs 50-70% of Rapberry leafs.) Turn off the heat. Pour 1/3 cup of Raspberry leafs into the hot water and stir. Let it sit for 30-45 minutes. It can sit longer if you wish to strain it after it cools off a bit. Strain leafs from the water. I use 3 packets of Stevia (in the raw, 0 calories) and 3 packets of Truevia (0 calories) as sweetener while the tea is warm. Pour it into a jar and keep refrigerated. Drink 3-4 cups per day (You can start gradually and work your way up to 3-4 cups/day). If you don’t want to make 1 gallon at a time, then use 1 teaspoon of Raspberry leaf for each cup of distilled water. There are 16 cups in 1 gallon of water. Currently we are using expired, 3-step-Proactive (on Ebay) and Neutrogena Acne Stress Control (from Walmart) to manage the stubborn acne. The tea has reduced the number and size of Acne on her face. We use less medication as a result of the tea. I read somewhere that it takes 6-9 months for the acne scars to go away. The red raspberry-leaf tea is high in a number of organic (natural and healing) minerals and vitamins and is a fine herbal liquid food for the body. This contains the wonderful nitrate of iron which has remarkable blood-making and regulating properties as well as astringent and contracting action on the internal tissues and membranes. It also contains pectin, malic and other organic acids, calcium, and potassium chloride, and sulphates. The tea is caffeine-free. I hope this is helpful.

My daughter has been swimming full-time (year-round) with a local swim team. Should I include it as 1 credit per year on her highschool transcript? If I were to give her 1 credit, for one year, should I do that for all four years? Thank you for replying.

How much does a Latin or any other academic tutor charge per half hour? Is it better to hire a graduate student as Latin tutor or would an under-graduate student do? Thank you in advance for your replies.

Letter of recommendation for National Merit Scholarship – does it have to be an academic letter of recommendation? Or can it be from a non-academic person such as a swim coach? I need to make a decision to sign up my dd in an online class or cc class, if the letter needs to be an academic letter of recommendation. Or maybe I can hire a Latin tutor. What do you think? Thanks in advance for your replies.

Just in case you get bored with your graphing calculator, take courage, my 13 yr old son has invented something exciting to do with it. He programmed it so that he can turn on/off the TV, change channels, switch to DVD/VCR player and run multitude of functions there as well. What will be next? The garage door opener? I won’t be surprised if someday he calls me to the living room and shows me how he turned on/off TV with the GD opener. Did your child do anything like this?

My friend's son was a National Merit finalist and recieved not only the NMSQT scholarship, but also received a full ride to his #1 college choice. He has taken both SAT and ACT many, many times because he needed to improve his scores and his NMSQT scholarship depended on his SAT and ACt scores as well as PSAT score.

Warriner's English Grammar and Composition is excellent and indepth. I use the 1977 edition. The older the better.

Thank you Lynne, It helps to know Apologia works! We will continue with Chemistry and Biology. After Biology, my son wants to move unto Advanced Biology and Marine Biology. I feel much better knowing that your son was well prepared for college. For AP Biology and AP Chemistry, does he need to complete the Advanced classes? If I recall correctly, that's what your son did for AP Biology. Didn't he take it after completing Apologia Advanced Biology? Thanks for posting this.

I absolutely agree with Laurie4b. If he is a fast learner, self motivated student, then he will be doing most of the work on his own. My 10th grader is doing most of the work on her own. She and I work on SAT and ACt preparation using Princeton Review's Cracking SAT and ACT. I check her exercies and tests. She does the rest. That's the way she likes it. A good score on the PSAT will open the door to all kinds of scholarships. A good score on ACt and/or SAT will open the door to many universities. You don't even have to worry about AP exams. Not everyone takes them. AP exams will save your son time and money in college, but they are not a necessity. I do believe that your son could do well on AP's if he chooses to go that route. For foreign language, my daughter does Artes Latinae on CD-Rom. I check her tests. I am not her Latin teacher. For example for French there is French in Action (many have spoken highly of it in highschool forum). A mother does not need to know French in order to grade french tests. The answer key will lay it out clearly. You can really do this. Be encouraged and go for it.

This morning one of the neighbor children, 13 yrs. old. rode his bike to another neighbor's house to play. When got there he laid it down on the driveway behind the neighbor's SUV. An hour later the neighbor lady told the boys she was going to the store. Before she backed out, she looked into the rear view mirror and didn't see anything. She looked into the side mirrors and did not see anything. When she left, she backed over the bike. The back wheel is bent out of shape, the frame appears to be fine. The chain holder or revolver is bent a little. The back wheel is not spinning. The Bike might be around $500! Should she pay for the damage? Thanks.

You might want to check these out: Potter's School has Greek and Hebrew along with many other languages: http://registration.pottersschool.org/w/771.jsp Veritas Online Academy: http://resources.veritaspress.com/Scholars_Online/Scholars_Online_Graduation_Requirements.html

Yes, I know it's pricey. However, once I realized that it is good for 8 years and how many standardized tests she will be taking, then I decided to make life a bit easier on all of us.

We got the photo ID from DMV for $28. It is good for 8 years. The proctor at the SAT and AP exam were satisfied with it.

A friend of mine whose son made 800 on the math portion of SAT using Saxon math and Alpha Omega Geometry told me that if she could do it over, she would have him do it in the following sequence: Saxon Algebra I Saxon Algebra II Alpha Omega Geometry Saxon Advanced Math Saxon Pre-Calculus Saxon Calculus She said the above sequence would have been good enough for PSAT and SAT because Saxon has plenty enough Geometry that he would have done well on those tests. She said by the time he moved to Algebra II after doing Geometry, he had forgotten some of his Algebra I. She also said the Geometry in Saxon would have helped him understand Alpha Omega's Geometry better. Just an added note: He was happy with his score on PSAT, SAT, ACT after he was done with Algebra II. The Advanced math he took for college prep, not for SAT and ACT. I know my daughter was sick and tired of proofs in TT Geometry and had to take a break. If you have stuck with Saxon all along, you have nothing to worry about come Oct. on PSAT. I hope this helps.

Thank you everyone for answering my questions. I have one more question: On the Collegeboard website among the list of books recommended are these two: 1) Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. The American Pageant: A History of the Republic. Boston: McDougal Littell/Houghton Mifflin. 2) Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. The American Pageant: Advanced Placement. Boston: McDougal Littell/Houghton Mifflin. Do you know which one my daughter needs to study for the AP US History, would it be option #2? Thanks, MBH

My son and daughter did 4 pages per day. On the days they had a chapter test, they reviewed with me and took the test (they did not do the test and 4 pages out of the student book on the same day.) We use the 1977 edition.

Alicia, Congratulations to you and your daughter for a job well done! May I ask which textbooks/prep-books she used for both exams? Thanks.

Thank you for the above website. It is absolutely awsome!

We would like to study AP US History on our own. 1) Which textbooks would you recommend for AP US History? 2) Should my daughter start reading this summer to prepare herself for AP US History next year? 3) How did you study for it? 4) Did you study the AP prep book(s) such as Princeton Review from the beginning with the textbook? or did you start studying the AP prep book later on in the year. Thanks.

If I remember correctly, SAT results will be available online June 25th if a student signed up online. If he/she did not sign-up online, then he/she will get results in the mail later on. I also read somewhere, that regardless of how he/she signed up, results will be available thru email. AP results are supposed to arrive in the mail by mid July.

Thank you Latinteach for taking the time to answer my question in depth. After reading your response, I feel much better about what we are doing.

Background: My children have completed Latin Primer I, II, and III. They are finishing up Artes Latinae I and most likely we will move on to Artes Latinae II. Both of them have done very well with these programs. They are 12 and 14 years old. Should I move them to Wheelock's Latin after we finish Artes Latinae II (since Wheelock is a college program, and Artes Latinae is a highschool program)? Or are they about the same as far as content is concerned? I read in the first WTM book that a student can choose either one. Would it be a waste of time to do Wheelock's latin after completing Artes Latinae II? Which one (Artes or Wheelock) would prepare them for AP Latin? Thanks.