They must have been reading this thread.

I just learned about this workaround for competing for National Merit without the PSAT: If a Student Misses the PSAT/NMSQT® Administration A student who does not take the PSAT/NMSQT because of illness, an emergency, or other extenuating circumstance, but meets all other requirements for NMSC program participation, may still be able to enter the competition. The student or a school official must write to NMSC as soon as possible after the PSAT/NMSQT administration to request information about procedures for alternate entry to the National Merit Scholarship Program. To be considered, a request must be postmarked no later than April 1 following the PSAT/NMSQT administration that was missed. The alternate entry request should include the name and address of the student; the contact information of the person making the request; the name and address of the student's high school; and a brief explanation of why the student missed the PSAT/NMSQT. The earlier NMSC receives the written request, the greater the student's opportunities for meeting alternate entry requirements. Upon receiving and processing the request, NMSC will provide alternate entry materials, including instructions for program entry and a form that requires the signature of a school official. I'm not sure, but I've heard that being unable to find a testing center could meet this requirement. You'll need to contact them to verify your situation.

I also admire Farrar's non-judgmental approach. You may also want to describe the myriad other educational philosophies that so many other homeschoolers adopt for their families. I also agree with listening to your children. Ask them if there is anything about their homeschooling they would like to see changed. Is there something else they'd rather study? Is there an activity or sport they'd like to participate in? Would they like to unschool one day a month, one day where they can choose to study whatever they like? (Just brainstorming here.) We are dear friends with a bunch of Waldorf-inspired homeschoolers, and I can tell you that over the years, my dd's have really appreciated the rigor in their academics that their friends did not have. We did cancel our class every few months or so to join them in some Waldorfy activity like making candles for candlemas or some such. (We school year round, so we can afford a missed class for a special activity every once in a while.) So hang in there. Some day your kids will thank you. Unless they don't! :lol:

I was thinking the same thing. Specifically, I was reminded of this classic Onion article, Fun Toy Banned Because Of Three Stupid Dead Kids.

Muse Magazine?

Calculus Without Tears? (I haven't used it myself, but I believe it's for elementary students.)

If it makes you feel better, from what I understand about these athletes (not from personal experience), it's not like they are getting free money. They must continue to devote a lot of time to their sport while they are in college, more like a job. And it preclude all but the most accomplished students from pursuing demanding majors. But yeah, why can't academic merit match the sports scholarships?

I hate to be the boring one, but I really like flash cards.

Beast Academy is in comic book format, full color paper back guide with black and white practice workbook. The illustrations are droll, I would think for a pre-reader to enjoy.

Agree that Bozeman videos are helpful. Dd raves about the prep book bolded above.

I've read contradictory things about the Additional Information section: I've read that you should almost never leave it blank. Upload something, even if it's your student's resume, or a description of something that hasn't been described elsewhere, or an additional essay that wasn't asked for. I've also read that you should not upload a resume, essay or anything else unless you need to. Uploading your essay suggests their application structure is inadequate, and you should make every attempt to fit your information into their forms. What do you think?

Phones go into my bedroom to be recharged every night at 10pm. (Well, more or less.) My older dd decided her phone also remains in my room while she's studying in her own room.

I just found out that my dd wrote up her own test questions for AP biology for study. Another tactic is when we go for walks she would hand me a copy of her notes/outline and I would quiz her about it as we walked along.

I can't say whether continuing in BA or switching to AoPS is a better idea. But I can affirm via an email conversation I had with an AoPS author, that there is considerable overlap between AoPS PreA and BA level 5. So level 5 is skippable if you need that.

When submitting applications on the Common App, does a student: (1) Submit one time for all colleges at once? or (2) Submit each application individually. If you are applying to 5 colleges, then you would click the submit button 5 times, once for each college? or (3) Submit the common app essay one time and then submit each college's supplementary materials separately? Thank you. I'm trying to wrap my mind around the overall process, and while I'm poking around the CA, it isn't becoming obvious to me.

For preparing for any test, I feel the best preparation is to take older exams and study the solutions.

You might have better luck if you ask about specific areas. What sort of competitions and camps? Math? Debate? Greek mythology?

One dd took ap bio as a sophomore and took the SAT subject test right after, without waiting the extra month you describe. Other dd took the SAT subject test after WTMA biology she took in 7th grade. She did take the extra month b/c the wtma course didn't cover organ systems.

This reminds me of the 1989 earthquake. Many professors suffered no damage, and were quite unaware that many students were homeless, crashing in their friends' dorms, unable to even retrieve their belongings from their damaged buildings. Profs continued to expect students to turn in assignments when those students no longer even had access to their textbooks. What a mess that was.

I don't consider myself Waldorf, but I have several homeschooling friends whom I would describe as Waldorf-inspired. Like many of us homeschoolers, they take what they like about the approach and leave the the rest behind. I really liked having them as friends for my own kids, because we both shared a low-media approach to childhood. It allowed the whole cohort of friends to enjoy an extended childhood without iCarly ruining it for everyone. Over time, as my Waldorfy friends' kids aged, they gradually abandoned much of the material in favor of greater college-readiness.

Yeah, I always thought including the ISBN was a little weird.

Besides Uber/Lyft there is also Zipcar. You might want to crunch the numbers on that option, but dh and I were marveling at how many transportation choices students have nowadays that they no longer need cars on campus. I'm surprised there aren't Lyft drivers near campus. Don't college students work those jobs, and isn't there enough alcohol-fueled revelry to fuel a demand for sober drivers?

I don't know much about journalism except that I love to read it. You might suggest she get subscriptions to the Sunday NY Times, New Yorker and Atlantic magazines. If she's in So Cal, then the LA Times is also very good.

When you say it's an "AP equivalent" class, does that mean he took the AP exam?

Wow. First no wi-fi or tech support, and now no electricity? I would love to see some college names attached to some of these complaints for future reference. I don't want to write a huge check in return for no infrastructure. I agree with the strategy to knock on the door of some convenient dean or university president asking them for light and internet.