College Algebra is a very common next step after Algebra 2. My oldest 2 have gone through Mr D. Precalc -- older dd simultaneously completed college algebra with it and then went on to take DE Statistics and Precalc her senior year. DS is completing precalc this year and will do college algebra DE next year. If they aren't looking to get into highly competitive schools I don't think it would matter. Many majors don't require anything above college algebra. and if you do it on your own and clep it, no one would even know if you did it in one semester or a year. One thing we considered for ds was to do College Algebra "Prep" for fall and then take it DE in the spring. In the end he chose to take precalculus this year ...but it has been a struggle. On the transcript you don't delineate between college courses that are a semester for a credit and whole year high school credit

We have used a plethora of online classes over the years and I just take the grade they earned and put it on the transcript. But I find myself in a dilemma at the moment. DS just finished an elective (speech and debate) class in which he did excellent work as demonstrated by his grades (mostly) however this child has major executive functioning issues but is growing tremendously in maturity and with his EF challenges. He somehow failed to submit 5 assignments from November to December. During that time, my brother quickly declined in his battle to lung cancer and passed away just after Christmas. I obviously was not as present as I normally am, however, I don't usually check up much on online classes -- I let them own those. In the end, the missed assignments left him with an 89.3 in the class. Do I give him the B and tell him to get it together. He earned it. Be more responsible. Grant some grace and make sure those 5 assignments are completed and give him the grade he would have earned had he submitted those on time -- an A. He is a junior and thus far has 2 B's on his transcript -- one online class and one mom taught. It wouldn't be his only B but I hate for him to have a B in an elective and for something that had the chaos around us not been happening, wouldn't have happened. His work was A work but being responsible in submitting assignments on time is important as well.

Snow in the south has cause a snow/ice-mageddon. DD went home with a friend last Sunday and roads and school have been closed since. Over a week and she is so ready to be back on campus. I am just so sad she has been off of school and I didn't even get to be with her. ETA: dd just texted that they are FINALLY headed back to campus! Woohoo! Hope they are able to have classes tomorrow!

I am just now getting to requesting accommodations. I plan to request one alone half time, written copy of spoken instructions, and then I am not sure if I should request one to one testing. Is that difficult to get? The issue is with auditory distractions. If he is granted one and half time he would be in a smaller class size, but being alone would be best. Anyone get one to one approved? Any downside to requesting it? Also, on the Exceptions statement form, it asks homeschoolers to request a letter from a homeschool teacher, co-op or consortium to indicate types of accommodations used, how and when, and time used. None of this is applicable. We go to a co-op but he doesn't test there. All accommodations are from me at home. At first I assumed they were asking for a letter from someone other than homeschool mom, but perhaps I am overthinking this? I am homeschool teacher so I write a letter?

Sent dd back to school sick. She ended up with a 105 fever and had to go to urgent care. Flu and strep. Yuck had to miss some classes the first week back. Then they had a snow storm where they don't get snow so classes canceled today. She went to the boyfriends parents house an hour a way and is having fun with the white stuff (Florida here so not much of that experience). Her first semester went well, all A's but one B (she claims the prof didn't like her) oh well. last English class and on to mostly major and minor classes now. I can't fathom not seeing her until spring break in March so I'm going to see if I can work out a weekend trip before.

Currently sitting at my kitchen table while my college dd played piano, her boyfriend who came home with her for the week on guitar and younger dd singing. Man, I have missed her. The dynamic is so different with her gone. I am so proud of the life she is making for herself, but man I miss her! planning on soaking up every minute of Christmas break! ❤️

We did a mix. For my dd who had a lot of hours of piano/performance I counted it as a credit of fine arts each year. She also had a bunch of hours in sports extracurriculars that I counted one year as PE and the rest was just an activity.

My dd is in a weight category sport-- I think a bathroom scale might have been her first college purchase 😝

It was so sweet having dd home this week. I totally cried dropping her off at the airport (after she left). Only 2 more weeks until Christmas break . . . in which time she has finals and a competition in Nebraska so will be busy for her. Can't wait to have her home for 3 whole weeks!

ya'll! Thanksgiving is next week! I am headed to the midwest to watch dd compete in her collegiate meet this weekend, then I get to bring her home for a week! I am so excited! dd said she wants to spend the week watching Hallmark movies lol

No 504 or IEP. We have always homeschooled.

honestly, this kid is a mystery to me. He is super smart but has executive functioning and memory issues so I had no expectations. We are planning on having him work one on one with a tutor for spring semester to give him the maximum opportunity. He has a lot of work to do.

I actually have my kids complete MM 6 before Mr. D Prealgebra which they begin in 7th grade. They have been very prepared and Mr D pre algebra is not super challenging at first after MM6 and allows them to get used to the independence and new delivery style before it ramps up.

ds took the ACT last spring and said he had plenty of time. (yeah he did terrible but finished!) 😆

I am not super familiar with the accommodations available but from what I can tell -- the ones that would be helpful for ds would be 1) printed copy of verbal instructions and 2) setting -- either sitting somewhere alone or in a different area of the room as any noise/sounds are incredibly distracting for him.

I think as homeschool moms we always feel so much pressure to get it "right" and not mess up their whole life, ya know?!? lol I was thankful for some affirmation that we just may know what we are doing. 🙃

I will be calling the ACT accommodations hotline Monday but I was wondering if anyone had any experience. I cannot seem to find anything online about if APD would get accommodation or what they would be if they did. I have heard that getting accommodations is complicated so I am not looking forward to the process.

Had a bit of a homeschool mom win with my freshman this week. No one else would understand this irl but I knew you all would! dd registered for spring semester for the first time on her own. (DE and even Fall I was around to help and suggest). Her advisor told her that she had taken the wrong Biology course in DE and that she would have to take it again and take the "Biology for majors" class. When she told me about it I assured her that she did take the bio for majors and screen shot her the prerequisites for a PT program at a uni. near us with the course number for the bio she took. She emailed the advisor who in turn contacted the registrar. Lo and behold dd was right(read her mama/teacher/principal/guidance counselor/curriculum developer) 😜 The advisor said that because of dd they found a glitch in their system that defaults all biology DE to the general course and they now plan to fix that so she can better advise students for Graduate school prerequisites. She emailed dd and congratulated her on her proactiveness and said it was so great to see that in someone so young. 🫣🤣 I read that as, "good job mom" LOL

dd texted our family thread mildly freaking out that it is supposed to snow where she is tomorrow. We are from Florida and she is freezing. 🤣

I just wanted to update this thread for anyone else who may come looking for the unicorn chemistry we were looking for. I sat on it all summer waiting for magic to happen, lol. My non-commitment worked out for me and Excelsior Classes released a self paced chemistry with grading option. Woohoo! It has been PERFECT! As I thought, ds is needing to take his time through this course. I am able to help him but not be stressed but the time table but also he has access to a teacher to answer questions, grade labs, etc. It has been perfect!

I understand everyone has different relationships and boundaries with their kids. My kids are not upset about us having Life 360. They get it when they get a cell phone, it is a requirement for our kids when they start driving -- it allows us to see their driving habits and make sure they are being safe. We don't micromanage it. We have asked ds a few times to slow down. We don't make a big deal of it, police it to ground them but we expect responsible behavior and will call them on it if they aren't displaying that. As for my college age student -- I don't really look at her driving but she is still on my insurance so I won't say it was none of my business if I wanted to. I don't sit around staring at her location stalking her. And I don't ask anything of her that dh and I don't expect of each other. We mostly have Life360 for safety. It's not about tracking her or questioning her. We don't expect her to let us know or ask when she is going out, we are reasonable people. However, we are super close family. I miss her, I love her, I want to protect her in any way I can...so we have it and she knows. She is ok with it. Also, we are big about mutual accountability. Our teens are not asked to do anything my husband and I don't do. We have internet software that blocks certain things -- it's for everyone not just the kids. We all submit to biblical authority. We are parents that check our teens phones occasionally. I would be fine if my dh wanted to read mine and I can read his-- mutual accountability. We teach our kids that everyone should have someone that they are accountable to (our belief as Christians). I find it helpful for teens to see that we aren't expecting something of them that we don't expect of ourselves. Then it doesn't chaff-- it's just real life striving for holiness. I totally get this is not everyone's cuppa . . . but it works for us and no one is unhappy about it. dd calls every day. She FT's, calls, texts. When we dropped her off I held back and let her set the pace. I didn't want to text too often and cause homesickness. She called A LOT at first. She has backed off a good bit but we still communicate several times throughout the day. And I am thankful! She actually just called to say she got a summer job she had applied to at a Christian camp. I'm both thankful and sad-- she will have an amazing experience but I will miss her not being home for the summer. Definitely spreading her wings and I am proud of her.

My funny Life 360 story for this year -- I checked in on dd the first few days of college and I see her circle in the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere about a mile away from campus. I had a mini panic only to realize a few minutes later that the powerlifting facility is about a mile from campus . . . in the middle of a field 🫣 I am glad I didn't text or call in a panic and let my brain have a reasonable understanding after a hot minute.

Oh, I totally get that and I wouldn't change what we are doing -- I just get frustrated with the typical 18 year old attitude of thinking "I am an adult and don't need my parents" and it seeming like a hardship to be back "home" with familial relationships that actually expect something from you. (mind you I didn't ask her to lift a finger with a single chore while she was home) when in fact -- parents are paying for school, car insurance, health insurance, gas, medical bills, cell phone, meal plan etc. Paying for your own Chik fil A and Starbucks does not an adult make 😉 She is a great kid and will figure it all out, it's just an awkward stage. I have just been thinking a lot about the whole situation lately--we are Christians and this social construct of 18 being an "adult" is not in the Bible you know? lol The whole parental authority with an unmarried adult is a weird stage. We give a ton of freedom and always have. We are not controlling or super legalistic. We aren't helicopter parents . . . but navigating a healthy boundary/authority is the goal. Some of the stuff from this weekend rubs me wrong because it had. nothing to do with authority and everything to do with mutual respect and honor. We will work it out and honestly, she is doing amazing and we are so proud of her. Like every new stage of parenting she gets to be the trial and error since she is the oldest. Poor thing lol Like we always tell her, sorry, we are making this up as we go along. 😜

Well... dd had her first visit home this weekend. I remember well the chafing one feels when going from complete independence at college to back to a family, but I think I forgot about it. 🙃 DH had to have a gentle chat with her on the way to the airport. Dh will see her in 2 weeks at her first collegiate meet and I will see her in a month at another meet and then Thanksgiving break. It was hard to see her go but she is definitely enjoying expanding her wings (while we still pay all of the bills.) Trying to explain that paying for your coffee, extra groceries, eating out, and extras is not really a good picture of adult reality. She is planning to do a ministry job this summer that will not make any money and at the rate she is running through her savings, she will probably need to get an on campus job next semester. All part of growing up. Hope she learns it fast!

My large group go to's depending on the group: Chili, chicken fajitas, taco bar, baked potato bar, lasagna, baked ziti, pulled pork