My dd took the SAT subject test in biology while she was in 7th grade last June. Her scores have already been wiped from her record! Ugh. We wanted to use them for California a-g, and my dh was earlier on the phone with them to get her scores restored. :cursing: You have been warned. (Other dd who took the AP CS exam as an 8th grader a couple of years ago has her scores are on her record without any additional input from me.)

Thank you for the happy news about your son at UCB. You've addressed nearly all of the concerns I had about the UCs, particularly about budget impacts. I have one more question. When I arrived at college (about 1500 in a class), I found it difficult to find my tribe. There were students in various ethnic groups who quickly joined those organizations. There were the athletes and the people in Greek organizations. I wasn't any of these and felt socially lost. To be fair, I'm not really the best at cultivating friendships, but I still have concerns about social opportunities for my own kids. Does your have any insights about social opportunities at Berkeley? Is it easy to feel lost if you aren't a member of an ethnic group or an athlete or in a fraternity/sorority? Thank you for your insight.

Definitely I feel like sewing is a dying art. But knit/crochet? If anything it seems to be having a renaissance. I learned as an adult because so many other homeschooling moms were doing it during park day and playdates and such. Then there's all the cool young people on ravelry, the ones with the purple hair and tattoos, who post their projects. It seems like the "cool" hobby these days.

What a great thread. This should be pinned. I'll add a couple of ways to satisfy a-g: New to the scene is LanguageBird, approved for Spanish I-IV. We don't have personal experience except dd got a free trial which I thought was pretty good. She's opted to stay with current spanish teacher (not a-g approved) but planning to take spanish sat subject test. For performing arts, in the Bay Area, dd participates in Peninsula Youth Theater which offers a concurrent enrollment with Foothill for college credit without any additional work beyond what one would normally do to participate (evening rehearsals, performances in Mountain View). Wizard of Oz in November! I think that satisfies a-g? Stanford OHS. Pricey, but you can go for a single course or part time, and they offer a-g approved classes. I'm curious what experience people have had with Silicon Valley OHS?

The reports of Mr. Moskaluk's death have been greatly exaggerated. :lol: According to dd, it's a student, not a TA, who is making the flash cards. Sounds like a collaborative class!

Oh! Sorry I wasn't clear. Nothing's happened to him. Dd had him last year for AP chem, but this year she's taking other classes and so no longer has him as a teacher. In fact, he's still part of our lives as she continues as a TA for the course. But AFAIK, he's still around. He better be around next year because I plan to have dd#2 take AP chem next year.

I taught myself to crochet (pretty good at it) and knit (bleah) using library books and youtube. Seriously, youtube is your friend in this endeavor. It also helps to have friends whom you can call on for help.

DD15: The theme this year is missing Mr. Moskaluk. Math: AOPS pre calc with me, going well because I'm fairly familiar with the topic. AP stats on PAH: It's fine, but not as amazing as Mr. M. Science: AP bio at Stanford OHS. It's fine, lost of learning (not as amazing as Mr. M). We are learning that SOHS, like all institutions, is uneven, and we're glad to be part time so we can pick from the best of SOHS and leave the rest behind. History: renaissance from WTMA, so far so good Spanish: Ray Leven for year 2. She also had a trial with Language Bird, but it seems to be untested, so we're holding off for now English: reading classic novels, working with her English tutor. Same old same old. DD13: Math: AoPS Intermediate Counting and Probability. I decided to do this before Intermediate Algebra, because I thought IA was too much for my 8th grader. Turn out Inter. C&P is also pretty tough going, too. We're just finishing up PIE, the toughest chapter so far. The next chapter on 1-1 and pigeonhole looks to be the same. Main problem is I'm not that familiar with the material. Science: chemistry with a local group of students. Has not started yet. History: unschooling at home, now studying ancient greece using PBS/Natl Geographic resources AP CS: Edhesive, not too taxing English: skype tutor we've used for years.

Astronomy: In Quest of the Universe was recommended on this board, and I'm reading it for fun and it's really interesting.

If it makes you feel better, older dd started with Edhesive in January, and while she needed to work at it, it was no problem to get caught by the end of the year. She did have extensive experience in python and had been studying Java with another textbook, but we decided to move over to edhesive (then Amplify), and we're glad she did. If you want to stick to their calendar, it shouldn't be very hard to do an extra week's work. Then you'll have plenty of time in the last month for AP prep.

Is it an option to sign up for some coursera or udacity classes?

I like MyHomeschoolTranscripts I thought it was easy to use and serves as a nice way to keep records of all things like awards and test scores and extracurriculars. Not free though.

$90/hour and $100/hour. Yes, high COL here. And high cost of singing, apparently.

So I sprung for the edhesive teacher account, but I couldn't figure out exactly what I was paying for since I only had access to the course syllabus, same as my dd who is ostensibly my student. So I decided to call them because I thought something was wrong. Turns out they had given me a student account instead of a teacher account. That's the bad news. The good news is after I sent them a screen shot of my landing page, they had it fixed in minutes. Ah...now I see all the resources. Extra quizzes, solutions to assignments. Online discussions and Q&A for teachers. Good thing it's still early in the year!

Also: Home Science Tools Edvotek for DNA kits

Too bad my kids are too old to benefit. We used the Bill Nye videos in conjunction with BFSU, but always after we had learned the concepts thoroughly. His shows move very fast.

Is a thread where we can discuss our favorite post-apocalyptic novels? If so, I heartily recommend Riddley Walker. It's challenging reading, but the best in the genre, IMO. The author is Russell Hoban, who interestingly is also the author of the Frances the Badger books.

I use an online application generate transcripts for my dd's. It allows me to "assign a class" to a student, and then later I can check to indicate it's been completed and assign a grade. So last week I entered my dd's sophomore courses, but at the semester and at the end of the year I'll be assigning grades as she earns them.

Thank you for posting this, HG! Often in my life I feel like an odd one, and it is nice to hear that I'm not this time. Truly I felt like something was wrong with me, or I didn't love my children as others do. What is wrong with me that I don't cry? My oldest is still a few years away from college, but I suspect I'll be happy and excited as she embarks on her adventures as I did when I went off to college. What an adventure; I only feel unbridled joy for her. I'll miss homeschooling, but I have already begun some tutoring to retain some of that excitement and get on with my life.

If your students earns a grade in an AP class, do you add some amount to the grade point (0.3? 1.0?) or do you add an extra fraction of a unit or credit? Also, can someone explain the difference between weighted and unweighted GPA?

Would it be an option to make the required text an old edition, so students can just order it on Amazon?

Is anyone familiar with LanguageBird for high school Spanish? I'd love to read your reviews!

(1) Cultivate a growth mindset Many students get their first C of their lives in that introductory chemistry, physics, or calculus test freshman year. Many of those students then conclude that they aren't cut out for engineering or medicine or other STEM field. This may not necessarily be true. What may be true is that they need to reassess the amount of time they need to prepare for exams, or how to study more effectively. Warn your student that their future colleagues may be ducks: calm and happy on the outside, but underwater they are pedaling like crazy to keep up. (2) Warn your student that she will likely be working harder for lower grades (see above) than their friends in the liberal arts. Many professors in STEM fields tend to grade more harshly than in other departments. You may be tempted to switch to another department to take it easier in college. There's nothing wrong with that, but I think it's better to know what she's in for ahead of time. (As for me, I would find a liberal arts degree much more painful than a STEM degree.) Good luck to her! (I'll take a problem set over a paper any day.)

That's disappointing. If the class is cancelled, you might consider doing problems in the MOEMS books. I recommend either volumes 2 or 3.

dp