He mostly did the things I mentioned. It wasn't an official gap year where he had been accepted to college and taken a year, rather it was a year after high school. He just didn't feel ready and I think that would have been the case regardless of the fact that the pandemic kept him home a lot during those prime high school years when kids turn more outward to the world. He worked and taught classes at the local dojo, volunteered and lead groups at the local aviation museum, took classes at a couple of local community colleges, and did all of his college applications. The last part he was really happy to have not done during fall of his senior year! He spent time in such varied conditions from teaching martial arts to 6-year olds to working on repairing airplanes with elderly volunteers, and from leading public tours to taking classes with people of many backgrounds than him gave him some good experiences.

I don't have any specifics except to say the biggest factors in DS's college readiness were having a job, volunteering, taking dual enrollment courses, and most importantly, brain development. When DS was finishing 10th grade like yours is now, I was really wondering how it was all going to come together in a way that he could thrive in college and have the right skills. But things really gelled his senior and gap years and I feel it was based on brain development and trying to get him to do things too early would have been counter productive. When he was young I tried to teach him how to tell time because it was the next lesson in Singapore so that must be when to do it, right? After days of those time-telling struggles I gave up and came back a while later and it took less than half an hour. Lesson learned!

DS and a friend got a room together for next year in the sophomore housing sign up. The actually started chatting last summer when they met on discord and did a Dungeons and Dragons campaign together. Still waiting to hear about what he's doing this summer; hopefully we will know in the next couple of weeks. He's done with finals in a little over 5 weeks so he's definitely cutting summer plans fine but it's out of his control as he waits to hear about possible research opportunities.

I think they recently added or upgraded their geometry calculator as well. My son loves Desmos and plays around with it quite a bit.

If you're trying to figure out levels, wrap your head around writing credits, etc, I would email the instructors or Mr. or Mrs. Barr and get some guidance.

We have someone do them. We started when we had complicated tax situations and although things are simpler now we still go there. It's good for us to not stress about it and we go to dinner afterwards as a treat. We like that they scan everything and save it so we always have copies of documents handy, and not just tax-related ones. That said, our tax person is in his late 60s, and when he retires we will likely do them ourselves rather than move our business to his younger business partner. We've been going to him since the 1990s; I'm guessing the DIY software options have improved since then.

Also, there's a blog here representing the kinds of items they send out: https://sassyperi.blogspot.com/2024/

No solid summer plans here. DS is applying for various research positions but no decisions until April. We may have to scramble for summer housing, depending. For next year, course registration is April 8. Fall housing sign-ups are coming soon too, and he and his friends have banded together by creating housing groups so one person can grab suites for the whole group. There's a lottery for when you get to choose your housing, and whoever in the group gets the earliest date will be the person choosing for everyone. They require sophomores to live on campus so I know he will get housing, but I know it means a lot to him to get to live with friends so fingers crossed. The control freak in me was definitely more comfortable last year when I was there as he chose housing, as opposed to whoever in his friend group gets the earliest access by lottery. I'll be glad when it's done. ETA: I can't believe there are only 8 weeks left for the first year. It went slowly but also quickly?!

I also don't have experience with those classes, but we've been with Lukeion for 7 or 8 years, starting with the pre-language classes and summer workshops and moving into Attic Greek and Latin. I agree with purpleowl that they are very well-organized and strict about deadlines. I like how they encourage students to plan ahead, and even give guidelines for things such as writing a proper email to the teachers directly instead of having parents do it. While they are strict about timing, they are never harsh nor sarcastic. The teachers are supportive, the work is rigorous, and the Barrs themselves are responsive. They also send out emails ("Peri's Points") that keep everyone informed about what's going on, but they also use those newsletters to do things like encourage students to try difficult things, let go of perfectionism, and work hard.

He's really happy with Case. It's not for everyone, but I think he's specifically the kind of kid it's for. He really enjoys the classes and there's a fair amount of hand holding and reminding as far as administration stuff, which is not his strong suit. He is also not a person who cares much about things like school spirit, sports, etc so while some kids miss it compared to say OH State, he does not. (A lot of kids are local-ish to Case, and so I think they tend to make that comparison more than he does.) He loves the maker space and how welcoming the clubs are. He's not a super social person and prefers to have a few close friends and he found a group fairly quickly, which was nice. The dorms are not that fancy compared to more modern dorms but he's not there much so it doesn't bother him. He hasn't had much time to explore off campus, although he did make a few trips here and there. He also likes that you don't apply to a specific major and he has lots of options, like a 3-2 program, double majors (which are encouraged), and strong possibilities for doing research. It's definitely a research-heavy school, I think the stat is 80+% of undergrads do some research. All in all, he feels he's where he belongs and is very happy. I agree the financials are steep, even with merit aid.

DS's first (partial) snow day. All classes that started before 10:00am were cancelled due to commute problems.

I think of you often and I'm happy to hear your wonderful news.

DS made it to his uncle's and is having a good time with everyone. I got some photos, which was nice. His hair has gotten really long!

Good idea!

DS is also negotiating his way to the airport by train. Luckily he train comes in at one of the airport levels. He's not coming home, he's heading to his uncle's house, which is closer and least doesn't involve a transfer on a busy travel day. I'm stressed about it. He's flown alone, but we've always taken advantage of homeschooling to avoid busy travel times. He sounds a bit doubtful when i emphasize how much extra time he needs at the airport. He's also never gotten to the airport alone, he's always been dropped off. I'll be relieved when he arrives at the other end.

If you are in the Bay Area, there's a Museum of International Propaganda. There's a virtual tour as well, although for me it's only working on Chrome. SFGate had an article about it recently. (There's a Nazi symbol in the article, fyi.)

I love your wins! You both did great.

DS has been to snow but has never seen it falling. He got to see falling flakes on Halloween and sent photos. They typically get 60-70 inches of snow per season; I wonder how exciting this is going to be after the first few times....

Thirding Derek Owens.

Got to have a long talk with DS tonight. Good stuff: He looks happy, thinks he did well on midterms. His major advisor and another of his profs have invited the students they advise out to lunch so he's happy about that. They offer tutor positions to students who do well in a class, and he's hoping to demonstrate some interest to his prof so he can be offered a position next semester if things finish well in this one. I also found out he's been teaching DD15 calculus via texting?! Not as good: He's thinking of switching up some activities and giving up one I think is really good for him, but it's up to him. A few roommate conflicts when roommate was doing some noisy stuff right before exams. Someone in his dorm drank too much and passed out. People couldn't get them to wake up so medics were called. They're okay, apparently, but scary stuff.

PM'd you. I found the counselor letter toolkit from fearless homeschoolers to be a big help.

Absolutely. Given that we're in a thread for people with kids in college, I'm sure we all have seen many instances of families doing things differently based on what works for them. There are literally billions of ways to raise good people, as evidenced by the billions of good people in the world!

Not a recipe, but I usually cut a thin slice from the non-stem end of the tomato, and just grate on a grater, which leaves behind the peel and stem in your hand.. Each tomato takes about 30 seconds. I then freeze the pulp for later use in the winter.

Are you cold calling the main number? It's often better to search the school's web site for the AP Coordinator or for AP sign-up instructions, which often have a contact name for students.

I'm from a similar culture and also talk to DS just about daily, as well as my brother and parents. I still don't do the phone tracking though. We wouldn't have liked that when we were at college and so we don't do it. We're two Gen X latchkey kids so it might come from there.