Mostly I want to know why do students talk so fast? Also: what are the different events and why would you participate in one over the other?

You might want to check out the recommendations on this thread.

Could you share what were the negatives of AP that you had read about, and what were the positives you discovered later that changed your mind?

Just curious: what are flagships in this context?

I just had our first mathcounts weekly meeting. We had 5 kids show up in addition to my own dd. I only have 3 kids who have committed to the team round, but I think I can recruit one more. Each week we cover an old sprint, chapter, or team round that I assign as homework. In January, a few weeks before chapter, I host a team party where we design our t shirts and do a mock countdown round. It's fun, especially for me! I've known several of these homeschooled kids since elementary. Last year, our chapter competition was in my hometown, with 15-20 schools participating. Sadly, NONE of the public middle schools in my hometown (with high underserved minority population) participate. I doubt the parents in this community are even aware of MC. (You can bet the parents in neighboring high-achieving suburbs are very aware.) I'm thinking about recruiting one or both of my dd's to coach a team from local public schools, if we can get our ducks in order. I agree that in some high pressure schools there are likely more than 10 students who want participate on the team. But students at other schools may find the school and chapter level problems are difficult for them, and math club is a way to reach students who aren't ready for official MC. ETA: I should point out that no one should following my example, because we always do TERRIBLY at chapter, and in the 3 years I've been coaching I've NEVER sent anyone to state. Humph.

We're on the same page. I want to pull her, but she and dh want to give it another week. I am irritated to no end because I feel like they are using dd for their little educational experiments. Oh, how I miss homeschooling her! I've often wondered how I would cope with regular school after always having so much freedom. I am literally not accustomed to negotiating or compromising on education and it really burns me up now that I have to. :angry: Actually that cute little angry emoji kind of makes me smile. :P

:iagree: Thank you so much for your detailed thoughts! It's funny how homeschoolers can be more even-handed about educational options than other folks. You've given me a lot to think about. And to be clear, dd is currently in private high school, in her 2nd week of school, having always been homeschooled prior.

DD14 has been always homeschooled. But now she's been admitted to a fancy private high school and is having second thoughts. As am I. She's met some new kids which is great for my social butterfly, but really there hasn't been a bump in her social life because they are all bogged down with homework. It's a new school with some experimental ideas about education. As a consequence they work on math problems in small groups, and then the tedium begins with each small group presenting their solution, even if it was identical to the previous group's presentation. Which was identical the group before that one. Even the students were embarrassed. In 2 weeks they've solved all of 2 problems together. This for my always-AoPS girl. She was put into a debate elective, but all the other kids have been doing debate in middle school, so she's the only one who doesn't really get why everyone is talking so fast. (What's with that anyway?) Chemistry is tough, but awesome, but only because I'm there, happy to teach her chemistry on the weekends. The rest of the kids in her class are sinking fast. She's in a cryptography elective that is nothing beyond the drudgery of trying to figure out rail and substitution ciphers with brute force and hours of letter-bashing. Instead she wrote a python program to figure it out automatically. The rest of the students pretended they couldn't find the homework assignment on the class website. English and Spanish are great, but aren't they always? History requires a lot of reading, more than I would have assigned. But she's doing well in all three. (Whew! She's had much less writing experience than her pals in regular school.) Finally, her younger sister has been offered a cool internship involving designing educational electronics projects for a new curriculum. DD14 had to turn it down because she's too busy with school work. I'm going to start looking up the paperwork for our tuition insurance. I'm glad to have her back, but things around the house are...quiet. Like all you an hear right now is the dishwasher hum, the tick tock of the clock, and the tapping on my laptop. All her other homeschooled girlfriends are in regular school now. Plus I get to join in the stress of college admissions. I was really happy to have made that someone else's responsibility. Meanwhile, do you have any thoughts on our situation?

You might also get some good responses by posting to the HS 2 college yahoogroup.

I should also sneak away. But I'm going to come out and say it: I haven't read WTM, and I only have a cursory understanding of classical education. But I find SO MANY people on this board who are using the same curricula I'm using. I find my own questions are being asked and answered by other members. I feel like a WTMer in spirit if not in reality. Maybe I'm an honorary member?

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Very sweet story. The prof sounds like a gem.

I haven't read all the PP's but often these adjunct professors (not full time professors) do not get their teaching assignments until the very last minute; they are poorly paid and are working at multiple campuses to earn a living. They do not have their own offices or even the keys to their lecture halls. There's a Doonesbury comic strip yesterday that shows adjuncts as day laborers, crowded around a bonfire when a university hiring manager shows up and loads a bunch of them into the back of a pick up truck. It's too bad these highly educated teachers are treated so poorly. Yes, I would complain to the administration. ETA: Here's a link to the Doonesbury strip.

Electronics/Arduino/Raspberry Pi competition math computer programming

Like me? Do you really think it's easier to qualify for the AIME via the AMC12 than the AMC 10? My dd is in 9th grade, and is taking AoPS intermediate algebra, and now I'm wondering if she should take the AMC12 this year, or maybe take both?

Like me. One time I was flying with the family over the holidays. There were plenty of examples of less-than-ideal parenting going on. Kids plugged into DVD players, phones, whatever. Parents not engaged with their kids. Then I saw one mom, reading out loud to her kids. At the airport. It was lovely to see. And what did I say to this lovely person? Me: "Oh! Do you homeschool?" Her: "No." Me: (embarrassed for some reason) "Oh, sorry, you looked like someone who cared." What was I thinking? I didn't really mean it that way at all, but I blurted it out. She really did look like a homeschooler to me, and I suppose I needed to explain why I thought that. Ugh.

You might consider reposting with a little more formatting to make it easier to read. In re-reading your original post, I realized I missed the computer science exam, which definitely looks interesting to me. Or since these are local events, you can try posting to your local homeschooling email lists? I've organized the MOEMS event for homeschoolers and I found they make it very easy to participate.

If he's interested in robotics, you might have him take a look at Servo magazine. Not really a trade magazine, more for the DIYer, but if he loves programming and EE, he might enjoy this one. If he's interested in AI, he can check out AAAI.

Take a look at those studies that trumpet the benefits of early childhood education. Keep in mind that these studies include a cross section of American families, including the part of America whose home life and parenting skills may be far from ideal. For many of these families, yes, pulling the young child out of toxic situation and into a more nurturing environment like an accredited preschool may be a benefit. But if your own student is being raised in a loving environment with some amount of financial stability, then there's nothing really all that special about preschool that you can't do at home. Attending preschool does not get you into the college of your choice. Having said that, I had my kids enrolled in preschool (I began homeschooling at kindergarten) and it was a lovely experience for them and me. Preschool and all educational options are just that: options.

:iagree: Stay away from NG Kids. Not only does it have ads, but also product placement which is more insidious. I'm sad to report that Kids Discover Magazine, which was lovely, no longer offers a print subscription. But it looks like it does sell its back issues which may be worth considering. I still miss my Kids Discover magazine.

Yes, that's the one. (I didn't read ahead before posting.)

I found it! Page down to post #11 for 8's comment. Particularly since my own dd has already finished middle school science and she has 2 more years of middle school to go, it is nice to think of these next couple of years as more flexible. While I've signed up my dd for an online biology class, I've also been telling her that if she wants she can ditch it and take a more student-directed approach to science. As I continue to think on it, I'm hoping she chooses the latter!

Some conferences publish the abstracts that were presented. Maybe you can try to obtain a copy?

I agree. 8 had some good middle school science advice for me on another thread about a month ago that still has me thinking.

Well it's certainly a relief to know that it's controversial on these boards. On the one hand, I was a November baby and nowhere near the oldest in my class; all the kids with September and October birthdays were older than me. But it's nice that know he could go either way. Doesn't the term "redshirting" now extend to academics as well as sports, particularly when it comes to delaying K?

I don't trust myself anymore to do simple math. If someone was born in November 2002, what grade does that put him in?