Could you specify what type of backpack it was, or what brand, or link to a picture?

I nearly forgot about this one. My parents moved to a small town after I left home for college. When I was at their home for a visit, my dad asked me to stay home because there would be a delivery of furniture. I had been watching a lot of TV and recognized the name of the furniture store because it was local, and the brothers who ran the store were on TV all the time pitching their wares, the way small businesses do. To my surprise, showing up at my house to load in the stuff was one of the guys from the TV commercial, one of the owners of the furniture store! It about floored me because prior to this, there were 2 types of people in my universe: people you know in real life and people you see on TV. I couldn't believe it.

I agree with this. We could take the SCAT at a dedicated testing center, where all they do is administer tests. It was a lovely experience. We showed up early, so I was dreading a long wait before the exam was scheduled to begin, but in fact, the test monitor had space for my dd, so she could begin immediately! They offered a long break, which she didn't need, so she also finished the exam in record time. Why can't AP exams be this convenient? I briefly looked into the PSAT8/9 but as I recall, it's the type of test where you need to call individual schools and beg and plead to let your homeschooled student take it with their students. BTDT with the APs, and I don't want to repeat that miserable experience with an exam of little value.

If he's taking precalc, I doubt all his algebra knowledge will disappear. Math builds on prior knowledge, so he'll continue to use and practice his math, especially algebra. You can always do a quick prep with some books before the exam.

It may not be as bad as you think. Aren't college classes scheduled MWF and TTh? He may only need to bring in a few books at a time. Also, some departments may allow your student some office space. Or if he befriends an on campus student he could just start leaving his stuff in a corner of the dorm lounge. I learned a few years ago that you can take books to the back of the office supply store and for a few bucks they can cut off the binding and even 3 hole punch the pages for you. Then just bring the chapters you intend to use. (My DH used to do something similar...if he was reading a thick paperback, he'd periodically rip out the pages he'd already read to save packing space.)

True or ought-to-be-true. I'll start. This one is true. My mom gets in a minor fender bender, and the police officer is completing some paperwork for them at the side of the road. It's a blustery day and his paperwork gets blown out of his hands. Before running to collect his papers, the cop yells (at the paperwork), "Stop! Police!" Meanwhile, Mom and the other lady realize they have friends in common (It's a small town.) and start chatting animatedly. The office runs back to them, anxiously asking "What did I miss? What did I miss?" Most probably not true, but more like a joke from my dad: Dad calls the movie theater. "What time does the movie start?" Theater owner: "What time can you get here?"

To add insult to injury, if your student lives in India or China, you can sign up online at one of many different sites that will take all comers. Why can't we have that here?

This! This happened to me this year. Last year my dd took her AP at a local public high school, but the guy in charge of us outsiders moved to another job at the school. His replacement never responded to my multiple emails, so I had to look for another school this year.

This was also our mantra when we decided to homeschool. We'll do it for K and see how it goes. Public school isn't going away. It will always be there if you need/want to re-enroll him. Enjoy the rest of your year.

I also read aloud the material in the AoPS textbooks and often rewrite the equations and diagrams as they are presented in the textbook. If you are okay with this hands-on level of learning, then it should be fine. It's been a few years, but I don't remember my kids spending lots and lots of time on AoPS PreA. We don't do math tests except for MOEMS, AMCs and MathCounts. As the kids got older and moved into the intermediate level AoPS books, I give them the exams I took when I was in high school, mainly to remind them that their material is at a much higher level than a typical high school class. I don't believe that access to online books ever expires, so you can use it for multiple students. Also, the errors in the books are corrected in real time in the online versions, so you will always have the best version there.

I've used MCT's writing assessment. Because I'm not confident in evaluating writing, I was glad to have someone with a great deal of credibility provide an evaluation. I was especially pleased because the description of the class is: "Students will receive basic assessment of up to four papers of their choice." After asking, they said my 2 dd's could each submit 2 papers instead. This way I could select 2 papers they had written the previous school year and submit them for his evaluation. I appreciated their flexibility in this, and was happy to have MCT's input.

Maybe Julie can clarify, but I was under the impression that if a student takes Calculus AB and does well, then the next course could be Calculus C. Alternatively, the student could cover the material in both courses in a single year, by taking Calculus BC?

Tell her to turn off the comments NOW. Or make it so that only approved comments get posted. Many news sites do this. “If I was painting a picture of a site we were gonna have, and then at the end I said, ‘Oh, by the way, at the bottom of all our articles we’re going to prominently let any pseudonymous avatar do and say whatever they want with no moderation’ ... you would think that was a crazy idea,†said Ben Frumin, editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. Also, Say Goodbye to the Loudest Drunk in NPRs comments section. “I would regularly go into the comments to interact (or try to interact) with readers. I incentivized and deputized regular commenters to keep order,†he wrote in a column that extolled NPR’s decision. “Then I gave up. Because none of the tactics or strategies we tried ever had any real impact on the quality of the dialogue happening on The Fix. No matter what the original post was about, a handful of the loudest — or most committed — voices in the room hijacked the comments thread to push their own agendas.â€

Where you are, do they have a similar multi-step process as they have in the US: AMC to AIME to USAMO? Does he need to qualify to take the AMO every year?

Stanford Online High School. It's expensive and you need to complete and fairly extensive application, but it was worth it for us. Dd loves her class, they meet in person by video 2x a week, with some flexibility in that you can join another section of the class, or ask for an excused absence. She's learning a whole lot and just gave a presentation to the class at their last meeting.

I should add that my dh was totally supportive, I intimidate my own parents, and I let my dh handle my mil.

Agree with this wholeheartedly. When I decided that I was going to homeschool, when my kids were in preschool, I felt like I stumbled on the best. idea. ever. "Look at me!" I was saying to everyone who would listen. "I'm going to start homeschooling! You should homeschool too! We should homeschool together! Won't that be amazing!" I was seriously drunk on homeschooling, and I hadn't even gotten started. I was so enamored with it that I was genuinely surprised, no, really surprised, when none of the other moms at my preschool didn't join me. I couldn't believe it. I still announce to people that I'm a homeschooling mom, I love it, I wake up every morning excited to start the day, because that's the truth. I'm not normally a very positive person (quit cynical actually), but on this part of my life I'm just ecstatic that I've been allowed the opportunity to take the reins on something that is so very important to me. So keep your chin up, a smile on your face, and announce the world, "Hooray for me and my kids! I'm homeschooling! Aren't I awesome! (You should try it!)"

Long shot, but maybe you can come back to them and explain that it's putting you in an untenable position to cancel your registration this late in the year. If they wanted to exclude homeschoolers, the right thing would be to do it at the start of the year, not when it's nearly too late to locate another site. They should grandfather you in for this year, and make the policy change at the start of next year. Long shot, but this is grossly unfair.

This is the absolute worst part of homeschooling. My sympathies to Julie.

:hurray: :hurray: :hurray: cheering him on!

Wow, can I enroll? Right now I could really use an educational, nurturing environment with professors who are looking out for me. Why isn't there a small LAC for old people?

Yeah, so not arguing, but more like groveling, lol. jk. Actually, be super nice and grateful, tell them you will pay any fees, and that your student won't require accommodations (if true of course).

Yeah, I know it's a beginner class, but it is fast-moving and challenging for a beginner course. You might consider having her do one of the classes you mentioned (Khan or Code Academy) first and then when her schedule is more free, sign up for the AoPS class.

So the class isn't recorded because there is no audio or video to record. But you are provided with a transcript, including everything written by the instructors and students. Your student can read through the transcript and get all the info needed for the class. But. Does she want to? Reading a transcript isn't as fun as being there, but it's doable, certainly. As I recall she shouldn't skip reading the transcript entirely because there is some information provided that will help with the coding assignments. At least this was true for the 2nd advanced course. Yes, she can still submit homework for grading. And she will receive detailed feedback on each program. But asking for help outside of class, well, that experience varies it seems. Some instructors are always online and responding to student posts. Sometimes they just aren't. You might get a response from another student. You may need to PM the instructor directly. But you are guaranteed to have your questions answered during class, as you can post any question and there are many TAs who will respond. So if your student already has a lot of python experience (which I recommend before taking the AoPS class), and is fine with reading the transcript for the course, then it is doable. My students' paths to AoPS was to work with me from the book Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner by Michael Dawson before embarking on the AoPS class because the class does move fast. I don't know of any other online class that provides that level of individual feedback by an instructor. Maybe EIMACS?

The New York Times recently reported on the sentence given to a group of teenagers who had vandalized a historic black schoolhouse. They were ordered to read one book from the following list each month for 12 months. I've only read a handful, and there are some here I've not heard of before. THE READING LIST "The Color Purple," Alice Walker "Native Son," Richard Wright "Exodus," Leon Uris "Mila 18," Leon Uris "Trinity," Leon Uris "My Name Is Asher Lev," Chaim Potok "The Chosen," Chaim Potok "The Sun Also Rises," Ernest Hemingway "Night," Elie Wiesel "The Crucible," Arthur Miller "The Kite Runner," Khaled Hosseini "A Thousand Splendid Suns," Khaled Hosseini "Things Fall Apart," Chinua Achebe "The Handmaid’s Tale," Margaret Atwood "To Kill a Mockingbird," Harper Lee "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," Maya Angelou "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," Rebecca Skloot "Caleb’s Crossing," Geraldine Brooks "Tortilla Curtain," T.C. Boyle "The Bluest Eye," Toni Morrison "A Hope in the Unseen," Ron Suskind "Down These Mean Streets," Piri Thomas "Black Boy," Richard Wright "The Beautiful Struggle," Ta-Nehisi Coates "The Banality of Evil," Hannah Arendt "The Underground Railroad," Colson Whitehead "Reading Lolita in Tehran," Azar Nafisi "The Rape of Nanking," Iris Chang "Infidel," Ayaan Hirsi Ali "The Orphan Master’s Son," Adam Johnson "The Help," Kathryn Stockett "Cry the Beloved Country," Alan Paton "Too Late the Phalarope," Alan Paton "A Dry White Season," André Brink "Ghost Soldiers," Hampton Sides