OMG, what ARE those things? We had homecoming in Iowa where I went to high school, but we did not have those. What are you supposed to do with them?

:iagree: with Road Runner.

If you have a student who is average in ability but willing to give it a try, it really helps to have a teacher/parent who is strong in math, or willing to study ahead and get to where they are solid. This depends on whether you are starting in Beast Academy, the Introduction series or the Intermediate series. BA is pretty easy to take the plunge into as the concepts are relatively elementary. There's a lot of overlap between BA and PreAlgebra, so you should have a smooth transition to the Introduction level books. If an Intermediate level text is your first exposure, you'll be jumping in the deep end.

Just want to reassure you. With this country's community college system, the US is fairly forgiving of students who need extra time before college. If he needs an extra year or two to get his act together, the CCs will still be there to help him on his way. ETA: And for that matter, so are 4 year colleges.

We school year round. We don't take breaks between levels. But for math only (I don't really know why except the levels are just better defined), I printed out certificates and hung them on the wall as we finished each level. There are lots of websites offering free printable certificates. It's a nice way to acknowledge their progress.

My dd16 is an example of this. She is fine with having her social life separate from her academic life. She has friends she can go to Zumba or the movies or the mall with. These are homeschooled students who are a a few years behind her academically. She takes asynchronous classes specifically because she prefers to study at her own pace without having to deal with students trying to earn participation points, leaving her waiting for everyone else to have their say in class. (She was just telling me how grateful she is to not have to take classes with other students, lol. And this is my social daughter.) And unexpectedly, in high school, she is expanding her friendships to more academically talented students due to her involvement in some activities and competitions. She seems to know and communicate with every gifted and talented high school girl in all the local schools.

I copy (by hand) my old fading purple mimeographed high school exams. Especially in the Intermediate level AoPS books it gives my kids a better understanding of what expectations are for a regular high school class (i.e., no Putnam problems). I also like to see improvements in their AMC scores, but sometimes the difficulty varies year to year so not always reliable.

If you are looking for resources about social interactions and dealing with bullies, I can recommend The Unwritten Rules of Friendship. It has a really interesting take on how friendly teasing by peers who actually are looking to develop a closer friendship can be misinterpreted as bullying. And it gives strategies for avoiding being the target of bullies and what one needs to do to cultivate new friendships. It is most applicable to kids in regular school, so I didn't make much use of it myself, but I still thought it was fascinating.

Your dd is spot on. Those Khan videos are boring and unwatchable, IMO. Why use the video-based medium, and then use that medium with a black background and squiggly lines? Whenever I need a video, I look online and search on the specific key words. There is much better material out there on youtube.

Here are a bunch of free PDFs with math circle topics. (Page down to "All Session Materials.") Some require noodling with pencil and paper, and some require cards and games and some require ropes and student cooperation! There's lots of good material here.

Yes, this. But if you end up making changes to senior year classes, at some point you'll need to inform your colleges, even after you submit the CA if necessary. I'm not sure if it's best to do it by mail or email or whether you need to provide a reason.

Silly question: did you bother to change the font to make it look italicized and cursive-y?

I remember the first few chapters had a bunch of tedious calculations. But don't skip the last half of the book that covers modular arithmetic. It's pretty tough stuff to get through, but it's the best introductory coverage of the subject I've been able to find.

I've heard it go both ways. You don't want to dilute more impressive accomplishments with a bunch of activities that have low commitment. On the other hand, I'm really moved by Yvonne's explanation of the value of even one year of debate. Particularly if the applicant appears to be pointy, like maybe very mathy, this could provide some balance to that.

Dd agrees with you. She's glad she took AP statistics last year.

OMG you guys, .

No kidding. I went to pick up dd and it looked like the fire was at the high school, not 100 miles away. The red light coming in through my windows looks eerie.

I also agree with making your own flash cards. I will take the additional step of recommending these half size cards. I use them for math and vocabulary.

Oh, yes I skipped over that part and went straight to the link: Valid government-issued photo ID. If unavailable, students can use a notarized College Board Student ID Form I should not look up these things last minute! :scared:

I just stumbled on this document from the College Board website. Do we need to bring it to the PSAT tomorrow? It says it needs to be notarized? It was linked from this website on their list of things homeschoolers need to bring on test day.

OH MY BAD. Yes, she finished precalculus, not intermediate algebra. My mistake. I will correct my original post. Thank you for pointing this out.

Dd just took Level 2 Math last weekend, after finishing intermediate algebra precalclus last spring. She told me she wished she had taken it at the end of last year, but it was not big deal taking it this fall. Especially since Level 2 has a more generous curve, she'll probably do fine.

My 16 yo daughter always works through the weekends, though on a slightly more relaxed schedule. Sunday mornings may include some reading of the Sunday New York Times as well as our local paper. Maybe it's because she's doing 4 APs and has an active extracurricular life, but she's pretty much working like it's a regular weekday, broken up with extracurriculars and attending college info sessions. One other difference is on the weekends, she's wearing her PJs most of the day. There are many occasions when she wears her PJs all day, then showers in the evening and changes into a fresh pair of PJs. (Who needs clothes?)

I think you are being too easy on recommenders. If they have any modicum of education, they should know how important these letters are. (Unless they've been living on Pluto the last 30 years.) They should also understand that writing letters is part of their job. I don't think any recommender should renege on a promise unless they have suffered some sort of personal catastrophe.

If she wants an elective, you might want to check out this MOOC on Dog behavior.