Hi Brenda-that's your son that's a junior, correct? I have the text already that they use for the Chalkdust PreCal, and solutions. It has a lot of info about the calculator. My older daughter had a little trouble since her HS courses did not allow Graphing calculators at all, neither did her college classes. (so she only learned the bare minimum, and that was from friends) In college, the homework goes faster with a GC, even though you're not allowed to use it on the tests. So I am looking to learn that also, so I can help her sister. Back to the PreCal-- I found the DVD's by the publisher with Dana Mosely on ebay, and its for the same text. (11 DVDS)(actually you get a choice of texts that you can use) There is a very good chart that tells you which DVD for which section since they seem to make it somewhat general, not specific for one text. He seems very good.Also the Calculus DVD (set of 12) works for several texts, and is about $50 for the set. I already had the books for my older daughter anyway. I sort of wondered how the publisher DVD's compare with Chalkdust, other than the support of course. I have watched snippets of both, and I caught my husband watching several hours of the Calculus. What a great opportunity to have a wonderful teacher, and you don't have to even get out of your favorite chair!! Brenda- do you think you could go into the precal after the Algebra 2 (Dolciani) Without doing some of the Saxon? Brenda-I answered your PM finally---check out that website and let my know what you think!

I'be been perusing a couple of the finite math books I have picked up at thrift stores, etc. The one by Lial is very large (900 pages) and includes some calculus topics at the end. Title is "F. M. with Calculus" In the introduction it says only algebra is needed. It sure seems like there is a lot of math, and the topics seem kind of interesting- Logic, probability, matrices, game theory plus more. Another one is just Finite Math (Rolf) and it is smaller and doesn't have the calculus applications. I wonder if you could do it after Algebra 2 before Calculus? I notice that the there isn't any trig at all, so you would have to do that from a different book. Would this kind of math be helpful at all? Or just go directly into PreCal-Cal. Is this kind of math good for anything? Thanks for your time everyone!

We are doing Dolciani's Algebra 1 also, and I do think the word problems are rigorous. I really like the book. (she is using it through U. of Miss. HS)I have the teachers text which is nice because then we can do the oral exercises each looking at our books! The back of the book doesn't have the answers for the oral exercises. (the TM has the answers right after the problem, so you don't have to lose your place) I also like all the self tests, chapter review, etc.. The tm has separate ch. tests for each chapter with answers. Even doing only odds you get plenty of math. This book has a lot of story problems throughout the book, and there are some that matched up to ones in the Saxon Alg. 2. There is also a fair amount of proof in the Algebra, and sprinkled through the TM are extra challenge work for examples. I haven't had luck with finding a solutions manual, but so far we are OK with just the answers. Alg.. 2 is coming next.

There are two issues here-1. Is to use accredited classes. and 2. To receive a HS diploma. Accredited courses really are an advantage, from my experience of 3 years ago. Several accredited programs don't bother with offering the diploma, only the courses. Actually, many colleges don't require the diploma, which usually arrives after they have been accepted to the college anyway. Two reasonably priced programs that have courses but no diploma are LSU and BYU. LSU has a nice selection of the basics with older books that are reasonably priced. (you have to buy your books on your own) They also have a nice selection of college courses. I myself am doing a math and Spanish course through them. You really can't beat the price for college tuition. (also they are semester credits) I like the book very much and am looking forward to the next course. My daughter got some credits in middle school but I'm not sure what will happen with those. I do believe however that it will be part of her GPA. Looking at my older daughter's transcript from Indiana, they are just listed in order of finishing date. I really recommend Indiana because the faculty are somewhat more helpful if you want to get a diploma, and the courses are more essay based. They have the smallest requirement for graduation at 40 credits. They are also good at accepting other accredited courses for posting on your transcript. We also used U. of Missouri HS, they are all multiple choice courses and instantly graded by the computer. So if you need a course fast, I would consider U. of Missouri. Actually, I my daughter is doing the Algebra 1 right now, and it uses the Dolciani book so I like it. I really liked the Indiana Alg. 1 from years past, (an old PH '93) that had lots of problems, and you had to show your work and send it in. However they have now changed to UCSMP. Also if you do register for a diploma with U. of Miss, they give you $20 off each course along the way. Lastly, speaking of the proctored tests, we use a library and it works well, or you can use the counseling office of your school district or a CC, etc. You may think this is unnecessary, but I would say that the proctored test experience really helped my daughter do well in college, because she took those 2 hour tests for 4 years. I helped her review for all the material, because a 2 hour test is a lot of information. The interesting thing is that just this year Indiana started a new program where you can ask to redo the first midterm (for a fee) because they said many kids were totally unprepared for these kind of tests. (most courses have 2 tests, one midterm which covers half the course, and the final which was the other half.) The foreign language finals are tough. For the math ie, the 2 tests would be 60% and your 8 homeworks would count for 40%. It's not easy doing tests like that, but it really helps for college!

It looks interesting-would you have any idea how much it would cost? Also are there more than one courses or only the one that this mentions?

My dd took 3 classes last year. SOL(her first with the program) I had never known about such programs and I thought the descriptions and so on were very interesting. Thumbs up with the Latin. The only thing is you have to send in a lot of different assignments with SASE. (went to the po and got the appropriate amount of postage (1 oz, I believe plus the envelope) for all of the assignments ahead of time. (so you don't have to keep going in) The tests were heavier. It is nice to live near the NW because she wants to see things arrive in a timely manner. Tests have a postmarked date. You have the summer to study for the final. Latin is all good. Literature-she was at the bottom of the age range for the course, but an excellent reader. (She still struggled, and didn't do all that well on the weekly quizzes.) Her writing isn't strong enough to be able to handle the essays required for the tests. I must say, however, was that the variety and information (World Lit) really spilled over into her other academic arenas. I read some of the assignments out loud so we tried to read them twice--(75 pages per week of text) There was no way she could take notes on all this information in one week. (but again, she was only 12, and she did have the three classes) However, her self confidence took quite a hit when she barely passed the course, and the feedback on the essays was accurate, but not complimentary. Her reading and vocab was challenged, but she didn't feel ready to continue with the next level. (she skipped this year) Now she doesn't want to return to SOL, because she will not be getting "credit" for the classes. She's doing an accredited program, either U. of Miss or Indiana. But I have told her that generally the classes at her grade level will have lots of writing, but not as interesting of reading. (she has read a lot of highschool books already)I feel that the SOL lit offers the best for readers, that don't want to have to do a paper every week! (more reading, less writing) = More enjoyable for me! Lastly-the science- our experience was similar to the other person. The problem was that there was no textbook to read, only web pages that you printed. For the final the stack was about 5 inches thick (single side) and when I took it to tennis where I was trying to organize it, the other parents couldn't believe it was for a 7th grader! I think in previous years they did have a text, but not at this time. It was very interesting how history and science combine, but again, her abilities were not enough to do well in the course. Again, the honest feedback can be tough on your self esteem. I must add however, that her reading and vocab really improved, but it was really too hard for a 7th grader to do 3 classes. And I was surprised when she did one of the prep tests for college, is that her reading puts her at college level! But she still wasn't ready! HTH!

If possible- find a biography about Barbara McClintock, the woman scientest who discovered the "jumping gene" theory using corn. She grew up locally in the Cornell area, and went to college there. Her dad believed that kids should go ice skating if the weather was nice, instead of going to school. He was a very respected doctor in the town, but unique. Her mom got her into Cornell, she said she never knew how! (I don't think she really finished high school) She always signed up for a double load of classes and then dropped many of them when she decided they were boring. My dad was a wheat geneticist who almost went to Cornell for his phD. (that was the number one school in this field)Evidently in the 1940's there was a major professor there who was nasty, but somehow he had heard about him, and enrolled at U. of Minnesota instead.(number 2 school) My dad's friend started at Cornell, ran into said professor and then transferred to Minnesota with the wife and two kids.They both worked during the war trying to increase the rubber content of locally grown plants. (rubber was not coming from Indonesia)(my dad did a small rubber plant in California, his friend worked on Russian Dandelion on the east coast and doubled the natural rubber content during his studies) However, artificial rubber was soon invented, and the studies were abandonned. My dad's friend consulted with Barbara McClintock on Long Is. during that time. He said she couldn't think of any thing different to do, to just continue with what he was doing. She led a very solitary life in her lab. Now they said that her theory is what explains bacteria's ability to transfer antibiotic resistance to subsequent generations. (all these people are gone-but their quiet, unsung work in plant genetics has been a foundation for the genetics of the future) I always sort of wondered who the professor at Cornell was! (the rest of the story....)

I was just looking into this --we have a consortium of several districts that offer a lot of the different tech programs. My daughter is a rising 9th grader and only the online courses are available for her. They have a lot of different courses that are taught in the high schools, and also in the community colleges. The website is called nevac.org. My daughter is allowed to take 2 classes at a ps, so I would assume these would count for her (either one or two) The signup for certain classes are competitive, first preference is to the home high school students, second is for in district at large students (where we would be) and third is for out of district classes. Pam who is head of the program was most welcoming. (our home school GC for the district was not initially, but Pam offered to sign us up directly) The classes are free and you do get credit. My daughter is more interested in the programs available for 11 and 12 grades, however that could be a problem if she enrolls at a CC. You can see what we have, they also have 2 years of state college scholarships to several kids each year. My friends daughter (not homeschooled ) won one of the scholarships for Teaching Academy. She is not a super strong student, but the TA was great for her and the back ground is giving her quite a boost now that she is in college. (I guess it helped her with learning plans etc) and she kept that information and uses it in college. The parents are thrilled with how she is doing, because her local school GC told her that no way was she "college material" --guess she showed them!

Regena- would you mind telling me which Indiana courses you selected and how you liked them? Did they give you advice or did you just pick them at random? We are doing some HS classes and they said you can also do dual credit through them. They actually let us use the same librarian that we always do, which is nice, because the CC testing center charges $30 per test. (other colleges are sticklers about the proctoring and really don't go along with the librarian idea.) My older daughter did the precal and trig, but having only the one 3 hour test for trig was hard as she was a senior and had a lot going on. I think I would prefer at least 2 tests per course if possible. I like the look of some of the lit and also history. I was wondering how hard the history would be. My daughter is turning 14 soon. Thanks so much!

Hi! I'm a OSU grad and grew up in Corvallis. My dad was a prof and walked to work, so I can assure you it is a real campus. (even has a nuclear reactor we had a tour of during Mid. school!) Anyway-when I went to an alumni event they announced that the distance ed has been very successful. Due to the difficulties in getting visas they are offering more classes for students around the world, that want to study but aren't in a position to actually come to Corvallis. It seems to be a niche for them, and I liked the look of the HS classes also. I have called and talked with them about how the classes work. I think they may even be used for some of the smaller schools in Oregon that may not cover certain topics. (HS) They also run Sat. programs, and summer teen programs.(residence) I can't speak from experience for my self, however. In my day, OSU took student education seriously and made sure that you had advising whether you wanted it or not! Most faculty seemed to work hard, at least all my dad's friends did. We do the U. of Missouri and you should know that everything is multiple choice! The finals might have only 30-40 questions and you can really blow it if you have a bad day. (you need to really try to maximize all the points you can get from the open book progress reports) so that the tests won't hurt as much. You can get courses done very quickly as they have instant grading, but its hard to make your student cover all the material , they just go for the progress questions. I seem to like Indiana as its essays, and if you do the homework, you will do well on the tests. The U. of Missouri can have tricky questions. (I have never seen the tests, of course, and you never get them back) My kids have done either really well, or really badly.

That's wonderful that your son wants to continue athletics in college. And how nice that the college coaches have been receptive. Having a sports team with other good students is a wonderful experience and they will probably feel more connected to the college, plus make a wider circle of friends. Hopefully, if the coaches are good, they will have expectations about the students grades as well as attending practices, etc. Really, its a good thing especially for the first year. (kids can suffer from homesickness, etc) My daughter could ask her other team mates for help with little questions informally and she said they were really helpful. (she mentioned one was a whiz with the graphing calc) I think the team environment is social and informal sometimes, and if you have some older kids that are great role models thats a very valuable contact. I think what I understand from the NCAA- over the phone the woman told me that my daughter could definitely take CC courses and use them as part of her high school. However, George at IUHS told me that you really need to get that advice in writing. He said that they can always fall back on the --"only approved courses are acceptable" and the verbal opinion given to me by someone who may not even be there two years later really won't carry any weight. We have to keep in mind that the NCAA is Huge--and people put a lot of money into getting around the rules, so they are really sticklers. We were so amazed that it seems so important when you have a wonderful SAT score--but trust me, they don't care about that. Just make sure you have enough "core classes" and if you need more like CC, try to get a letter authorizing this that you could submit with your packet. The NCAA has a lot of teeth, and kids do sit out if they aren't eligible. The NCAA decides who is eligible.

The stakes are high-the whole department gets a slap and they probably would lose their job if they broke these rules. I know it seems sort of silly for the Olympic sports, but there are Huge recruiting gray areas that are constantly getting pushed on for the big money sports. (such as text messaging--I guess some kids get 100's per day, since they weren't counted on as a phone call!) The rule may already be changing. The bigger programs' coaches assign an assistant coach to keep tabs on the recruits, and they do a lot of the calling. The other thing is you have to be "registered" (preliminary filing) before you can be recruited. July of Junior year (it was) They are serious about these rules. That's why they cancelled all the tennis instruction at UW for everyone after 8th grade--they didn't even want them on the court and watching the teams playing. (you are not allowed to play with college players either) A lot of the parents were sad because there aren't many indoor programs here. Lastly- is that Alumni definitely are not allowed to get involved. For example- the west point alums help the kids fill out their forms (even come to their house!) But for the recruited athletes they really couldn't even talk with them. (they were both attorneys and knew the rules) They said its OK for the student to walk up and ask a direct question and they could answer, but they are not allowed to call them. If we had any questions about forms, we were supposed to call the coach. (who knew the rules) They took no changes that an inadvertent alum would accidently buy the kid a hamburger or something!!! So yes- that's also in the rules (in the handbook) I'm really curious about the shooting. (my brother did biathlon (skiing) but had to have his gun converted to left handedness in Germany and it made it unreliable. He had to take a penalty lap for a misfire and lost out on the biathlon team trials. And my dad (baseball player) thought being left handed was good!! Which schools are the best?

You're very welcome and thanks for responding back. I really don't think I have generally that much experience, but trust me, going through the recruiting process is memorable. Just about the only thing to add is that if you have the opportunity to go watch a big college meet is to watch the team and the coaches to see if they look happy and if they are enjoying themselves. (this one set of parents said they would have learned so much if they would have done that) I guess the coach turned out to have pyschological problems, and the team kids learned to cope by being mean. When the girl decided she really didn't like the team, she realized then, that she not only didn't like the town, she really didn't like the college. (and came home) She had to wait a year to apply to the local state U. (as a new swimmer parent- ie, I thought the "camps" were just pushing the kids, and only the rich spoiled kids go. Well some of that is true, as in the Stanford camp you might say, but there are dozens of homegrown camps run all over the country and if the school really might be a potential fit, then its worth it. After listening to the other parents, I then sent my daughter to two, (I paid airfare, but I had a relative that could drive her to the camp) You need to make sure transportation isn't too hard. The coach called the head of one of the departments the day we left (he was eating his lunch) and he dropped everything to spend about 45 minutes with her. (my daughter didn't really appreciate it, but I sure did!) The other thing is that you get much better advising, registration, and weekly tutoring (in any subject you'd like) if you are an athlete. Generally free tutoring is not available to everyone unless you are flunking, he said. However, you will be tired and probably need more tutoring! Years later we ran into the coach at conferences (she went to a different team, same conference) and he said one of our (local) team had a great swimmer who he loved, but the AD wouldn't approve a scholarship because of his grades and test scores. So he would have been eligible, but other factors come into play. Oh and one of my daughters friends went off (way far away) and the team made the freshman get drunk and swallow gold fish. (He then called her to describe it) That was a real turn off, and you know someday that will get out after some unfortunate incident. Always a question that I asked (when kids weren't around). That infuriates me that the coaches condone that behavior! OK ---this is totally everything I know!!!

Once you are on the NCAA website- to the left it says Legislation and Governance- then the "Eligibility" is a subset of that topic. Then you go to Eligibility Center. I think its wonderful that people really are planning ahead. I was aided by more experienced parents at swim meets who freely admitted mistakes they had made along the way. I know that it gets real crazy the senior year with recruiting trips etc. Many admitted they learned the hard way. The homeschooling part has good and bad. A typical homeschooler that I might know would do the NARS,(for a minimal diploma) get terrific grades at CC, and stellar SAT's. This can bring in some great scholarships, but won't fly with NCAA. Other kids may actually attend school for 4 years and come out lacking in "Core classes" There can be some really good courses but if they aren't on the list, forget it. (I should add I think you have more leeway if you have a Documented Learning Disability) Then to answer a different question- yes you need to send a sealed transcript to the NCAA from Each School attended, so all classes show up. (we even had enough from only Indiana I think, but to follow the directions was to send four.) FYI Indiana would post any accredited class to your official transcript- so she had classes from U Miss. and also the local High School. Each school communicates to Indiana via a sealed transcript (either you mail it or the school does) We could pick up the local school ones for $5, and send it still sealed. For colleges, then Indiana would send off the one transcript because all classes would show up. And Indiana is wonderful about following through, they would get them off within a few hours! However for the NCAA they didn't believe that and wanted a transcript from EACH school themselves. (is this making sense?) So don't be surprised. Other random recommendations which may or may not be helpful-- The outside accountablity isn't all bad. The Indiana courses were big on essay tests (2 hours) for much of your final grade. Wasn't so fun at the time but a wonderful background for a tough college. Indiana has dual accredidation- meaning that every assignment has to have value. (Their prices have doubled since we started however!! Some other programs have TF or mult. choice and I didn't really like them. (you may find some cheaper, and mult. choice on the computer is always faster to be graded) For price I have been looking into LSU--less than $100 per course, and the books are reasonably priced. But they don't have any labs, and they don't offer a diploma. Get going right after 8th- we decided the date shows up when you finished the course and you can get some posted during 9th but some of the work could be completed in the summer after 8th. Try to get enough before senior year. We haven't found any accredited Latin that has been Fun. (on our second one) My dd loved Scholars online also. Maybe you might just go for Spanish, they seem to approve all foreign languages, but the Latin courses seem to be double the work. Again, my daughter is thankful now, but she complained greatly at the time. I kept calling and asking--"are you sure I got the HS course and not the college course!")Indiana uses Jenney, and she had to do 1/2 the book for 1 semester. (the funny thing is she said she has excelled in Russian at school) Another kid had had several years of Latin at his HS but wasn't excelling. I think some ps Latin courses must be watered down. (Not Indiana's) Pick the school first, then the program. Kids can get fooled by the recruiting process. The scholarship kids wil be expected to do the grunt work for recruiting, as well as attend every practice. If possible attend a sports camp, talk to the counselors about how they like the program. Ask which majors are NOT allowed, and if study abroad is allowed. (Its not for some sports) I had a list of questions that I wanted my daughter to ask for every program. I pasted them into her little notebook. I don't know if it helped, but she actually picked the school, not the program. She loves the school and only did the first year of swimming. (D1 isn't fun when you have to travel to a 5 day meet during school) It was a good experience for her, but she said those were her lowest grades for her easiest year. I love feedback--is this helpful?

I was looking into this once, and found a college course syllabus for Arabian Nights. All I can say is --(not appropriate for a minor!) It was interesting for me however, and it was really interesting to see into the Persian world. I might look into other forms of mythology from that area. From Dover you can get a lot of inexpensive little books about the middle east folklore, exploration etc. They aren't easy to read --but if you have any kind of interest in the middle east--encourage it! There are many scholarships that will come your way. Other areas--the Silk Road and ancient Chinese culture are also related to this area. Good movie--Road to Kandahar about a Canadian Journalist trying to get into Afghanistan to find her sister. My daughter found a college student (from Iran) to teach her some Farsi last summer, and it was quite interesting, even though we can't keep it up at the moment.

We went through the NCAA hoops the summer before my daughter entered college. One of the coaches told me that his last homeschool student was never able to get authorization for D1. (There's a possiblity that you could sit out the first year of college and then apply with your college transcript, but I wouldn't count on being able to do that) Additionally you wouldn't really be able to get sports scholarships if your eligibility was iffey. The other thing is that if your sport starts practicing in August (in college) you have to have approval FIRST, before you can attend practice. It is possible to get the evaluation done as homeschool, you do pay extra, but it may not come back as early as you want. We went through Indiana HS. You can go to the NCAA approved course list for THAT highschool and pick which courses are OK. (good to know ahead of time) For dd2, I was picking up some of the easier English as she's in 8th right now, (and prealgebra ie) but it was interesting to note that none of those are considered core, or "college prep" The required numbers of courses are now higher, also. So after you pay the fee you will get a list of how many of the core courses are counted, (subject area) and then a refigured GPA of only those courses. (they factor in your test scores, but the chart doesn't really go very high) If you have a super strong SAT score, it really doesn't help compared to just an OK one. (this program is designed to really decide who's under water and who's floating) Not who's above the water! The advisor at IUHS said they've had many many meetings with NCAA, they can promise one thing one meeting and deny it the next. He said you need to get it in writing. The issues I could be concerned with are 1. courses in 8th grade are not counted (but I guess you can petition) and 2 CC college courses may NOT be counted. (funny I know) So--your easiest route is to get something accredited at least for the minimum core courses (even Northstar academy now has approved courses, and they get approved for lab in addition) You will need to make sure you have a lab course. Anyway, the "umbrella schools" won't really work, because each course has to be approved and you will just as easily send them in to be approved for your self. That said, you may not be recruited if you don't demonstrate that you will be approved. The coaches won't waste time unless you are a true star. The homeschool portfolio can work, but it make take more than a few monthes to get your answer back, and the student will already be off to college. (you might consider finishing a year early to make sure you are done) The good news is that coaches generally like the homeschooled kids! (did this help anyone out?)

Oh this is terrific! I am interested in exactly the same thing (my daughter) We need to plan a college tour! My daughter wants to graduate with solid credentials because here in the Seattle area the top firms hire only from the top tier programs so if you go to a smaller program you may never even get the opportunity to have the job that you'd like. She also wants some opportunities in foreign language areas (and possibly literature) as a supplement. The tech schools do have minimal language/culture majors. We were just talking about this very thing. Some of the larger schools are in areas of poor safety (like U. of W) where there have been some terrible violent crimes on students just going about their business. Because we live here it gets in the paper, but that's an issue now adays. Do people like the 3 + 2 programs? I was reading about them when my older daughter was looking, but I haven't really heard of anyone actually completing that kind of program. It sounds like a nice blend of studies, but possibly disruptive. At the UW website they say that many of the happiest students are double majoring in something completely unrelated so they are able to have different subjects, friends, etc. Can someone start a nice thread of these schools and report back when you know more about them? (my daughter is a rising 9th grader, but when you have an older sib then you start thinking about your own future I think)

Biology is good for 9th grade. You might do some pre reading about the vocabulary earlier if possible. Biology is a lot of vocab. When you go to college if its required the odds are it will be quite a bit different material so you won't have to worry that you have "forgotten" it. The other subjects line up more closely to the college sciences, so once you start chemistry or physics the courses will build and then it will be similar to the college courses. It's a long time from 9th to college so you would want to do something that helps you, but you don't have to be fresh.

I also purchase the History of World literature, but haven't watched it yet. I really like the Geology one, and there is a NEW Earth Science one out on sale right now. I am tempted because I feel that Earth science topics are going to be important in the future.

Hi- I also purchased those used last spring. (PreCal and Calculus) I was always wondering if it was similar to Chalk Dust or if the lectures were different. (He does a wonderful job! ) But I started watching the PreCal and I was wondering if it would be too hard for a high school student? I was thinking maybe the CD was more watered down. My husband watched part of the Cal and said it was fabulous, but we don't know at what age a HS student would be able to tackle it. I would love some feedback, my daughter aims to do PreCal this next year (9th) to prep for Calculus as a 10th grader. ( I hope this isn't too early) I was looking at some Finite Math books because they look like they give extra math background but before Calculus. My older one was older when she did Calculus (a senior) and it was a struggle. She did fine her first year of college, when she repeated it. I'm thinking that you would forget your Calculus if you did it too early! Thanks for any info you can add to the puzzle.

One more thing is that I met a mom who works in CS and she highly recommended IUUC (or however). She said it had a great program. If you have any time we have a new CS Researcher here at UW. We heard her speak at Women's Day in Engineering. She was fascinating because she has gone her whole life trying to develop a robot to play tennis with. She showed a picture of her in high school covered with knee bandages playing tennis. She had so many injuries she had to try a new field (engineering) (instead of pro tennis!) She has continued this dream and is now developing prosethies that can be attached and wired to your brain so that the nerves can be connected. She said that her teachers told her if you wanted a tennis robot you should start with the legs. Anyway, I think they "enticed "her away from someplace near Boston where she had her lab. She said her position is in CS but she never does programming or coding, which is what people ask her all the time. She had 3 year old twins and a 4 month old in a front pack and stroller while she was speaking. She said women should not give up on their dreams to have a family along with work. (She was great)

Thanks Brenda- that's terrific of you to take the time to respond. (My first PM, too!) As you say, Carnegie Mellon is very highly ranked in that area. I had a friend on a board whose son was studying there at the time. She said he came home for vacation totally exhausted! She just said it was a tough program and you could get the liberal arts credits by being in the orchestra, which he did, and played all through college. He got a terrific job after graduation, lived in their basement, and got his loans paid off quickly! She saw the only problem there was the food.? Now I've heard the food at Cornell is fabulous! (I'm a dietitian, and we can be tunnel minded when it comes to food!) Thanks again, and best of luck to your son.

Brenda- would you have a moment to give me some pointers about CS? How can you determine which schools give a good education? How do you know that they will get the right kind of opportunities after they graduate? ie grad school or employment? It seems like many many schools do offer that as a major, but it's really hard to evaluate the kind of education provided. I was wondering if the smaller schools have to struggle to provide all the necessary technology- I'm sure its expensive-- or is that not really important? I know that the small schools may be more enjoyable, but how would you know if they offer the background you need> Also would it be too much to ask which schools would be on your short list? We are in WA and evidently the UW is pretty well ranked, but most all of the smaller schools also offer the same major. Thanks so much!

I think the odds for each section are plenty. You can do the chapter reviews and tests if you think they need more. We finished the Beginning Algebra but didn't want to do the intermediate, but the college algebra is too advanced. We have an old Lial--Algebra for the College Student--that we keep going back to... I like the paperback study guide that you work through in case you have trouble with the problems. They are very reasonable when they are older. We use it as a supplement because the end of the book gets into the harder concepts in preparation for College Algebra, but they are just so well written. I don't know why our local high schools just can't use these instead of the new reform math with extremely expensive textbooks.

This reminds me of what the teachers told me about the "Little House Books"--No one reads them, and they are too dull! (I felt very sad to hear that) On the nautical theme, I found a great book from the school library sale that is similar, but Very readable. "Adam Gray:Stowaway" A Story of the China Trade. by Herbert Arntson, 1961. It was written from the material from the peabody Museum "The Voyage of the New Hazard", 1938 Well worth the read, we all enjoyed it, and a little more interesting than Mr. Bowditch.