I'm somewhat familiar with human medicine, and I understand they fully use the metric system. So when my dd's and I started fostering kittens, we would record weight measurements in grams. For one thing, I wanted to reinforce their familiarity with metric measurements. For another, the little kitties are so darn small, I thought it would be reasonable to use grams rather than pounds and ounces. So they other day we brought our kitty to the humane society for shots and my dd's showed them our records of weight gain. The vet tech looked at our numbers like we were crazy. "I don't know what this means." She says she only measures in pounds and ounces, as if we were using some obscure units like...stones or...farthings, lol. My question is whether vets use metric measurements or American? And are vet techs the equivalent of nurses? Thanks for clarifying!

Also consider returning to your safety univ. for another visit, maybe next fall? Was your negative vibe reflecting a serious issue or was it just a meh? A second visit will give you more data and may just turn your meh into a smile. Or it will confirm your negative feelings and you'll be acting with greater certainty and confidence.

I'm glad it worked out for this person, but it's important to do your research first. At some schools it may be difficult to make a such drastic switch in majors. I've heard of students biding their time, waiting for a spot to open up in the computer science department, so they can begin their major studies.

Jealousy? Yes. And I for one was an excellent parent of teenagers when my kids were in preschool. Come to think of it, my kids aren't teens quite yet...so I can say with confidence that I'll do a fabulous job of raising teens. How hard can it be, LOL! ETA: I forgot to congratulate your son! Great job!

Object oriented programming. I took the Udacity course last weekend, but it wasn't meaty enough. So I signed up for the AoPS advanced python class that starts in June. (Anyone want to join me?) Electronics. Reading ahead of my dd's in Make: Electronics by Charles Platt. I just wired up a 555 timer last night. Piano. Mired in mediocrity and loving it. Trying to master Let It Go, LOL!

What a wonderful accomplishment! Congratulations to your daughter. Could someone give me a brief rundown of SO? Individual or team? Written test or making prototypes? Hands on or test of knowledge?

I've never used a graphing calculator. Do they typically use RPN?

There are no dissections in BFSU, but that doesn't mean you can't do it yourself. Specimens are available at Carolina Biological.

Ugh. Here is my WTM post about a similar experience with the SAT. These sites should really be audited.

Awesome. Do me a favor and check back with me on the WTM boards once you've done the first few experiments or so. I'd love to connect and see what you and DH think of it!

Are you using it? We're on the last experiment of chapter 3, the intrusion alarm revisited.

Just one: Continuing to work through Charles Platt's book: Make: Electronics.

Does anyone have a student attending Stanford PreCollege Summer Institute (formerly called EPGY)? My dd will be in Math, session 2. It'd be great to connect with someone who's attending.

Yes, I forgot to mention that you can avoid my pitfalls and buy a box of components that you need for the book's experiments. For some reason I prefer to do things the hard way. :confused1:

Here's a typical example of my sourcing ineptness. I needed some 220uF electrolytic capacitors for an experiment. I ordered them online, stashed them away, and checked it off my shopping list. Boom, boom, boom, done. Then when I needed them some weeks later, I opened up the package and noticed they looked a little strange. They didn't have long leads suitable for putting through breadboard holes. After I removed some weird plastic thing, I discovered its leads were probably 1-1.5mm long! I think I had bought the surface mount variety instead of through-hole. So I made a quick order via Amazon Prime, and got the right ones right away. I'm starting to prefer Amazon to RS or Mouser simply because they have better product descriptions (and photos!), so I'm less like to make a mistake. The Hands On Electronics blog. And this is Chris Ball's youtube channel. I can't say they are particularly helpful. (The youtube videos are long and boring.) But it is reassuring to see what others are doing. I should also mention that when you get the soldering chapter, if you want more practice with soldering, Jameco has a lot of small cute soldering kits that make flashing LEDs, etc. And Jameco has a fun email newsletter. The last issue included a video of the marketing VP learning to solder for the first time, which was pretty hilarious, and also relevant for us as we were going through the same thing!

I was wondering about this. Can one person coach 2 homeschooled teams?

Whatever happened to carrier pigeons anyway? It sounds your group has an amazing organizing resource. Being able to upload and share files is critical for me because that's how I assign homework without having to print out copies for everyone. I use Google Drive for this purpose. I do charge my MC students a nominal fee to participate. It helps a bit with my expenses and registration, but it's also about getting buy-in and commitment. For your situation, it's all about balance of power. Are there lots of students eager to join your club? Then you have a greater ability to call the shots. I'm in the position of trying to recruit and not having enough interested students, so I am more willing to bend over backward and meet their needs, even if it's less convenient for me. So far, though, email and google docs work for us.

Just to be clear, as far as MC is concerned, a homeschooled team can not have students who are enrolled in a regular school. Students and parents who join my team must sign an affidavit indicating they are legally homeschooling. It's probably fine for other math-related activities, though.

Here are a couple of tabs that my dd12 has open in her browser: this and this. Yikes. This had been my MO, but as it's been coming up more and more approaching summer, I've decided it would be more fair to have policies in place ahead of time, so I'm not constantly saying no, no, no to everything she shows me on the internet. Thank you, Hive!

Hi: I'd like to be more proactive about appropriate dress for my daughters instead of reacting. (I'm gearing up for the summer inseam wars now.) I would love to hear what sort of dress policies you have for your middle school girls. Thanks!

Does anyone use RPN anymore?

Make: Electronics by Charles Platt.

I think you recommended the Minis to me some weeks ago. I've been working through them in preparation for next year, and they are great. Thanks!

I was really begging parents to sign up their kids for my MC team. I had registered 7 kids and one dropped out. Two of them skipped all the practices since the material was just too difficult for them, but they showed up at the chapter competition anyway. I had my hard core team of 4, but it's always nice to have a larger crowd at chapter to support each other. Since I have a hard time recruiting, I'll take anyone who meets the age requirement.

Hooray for your dd! But as a MC coach myself, I have to ask: is your team already preparing for next year? :crying: I'd go to the MC online store and check out the books they have. (Many of these are also available on Amazon.) Also, this year's competitions are now being posted, along with solutions to previous years. Finally there are the MC Minis which are shorter problem sets on one topic with an aligning Rucszyk video. Good luck!