Resurrecting this thread for it's annual update. I wanted to add something I just learned. Contrary to my assumption, applying as an "Educational Professional" this does not turn you into a counselor in the eyes of the CA. In fact, it does nothing official. All it does is allow you see the student's application process, which is valuable, but not the same as seeing it from the counselor POV. You can only become a counselor when you are invited to become one by your student. And you can do that in advance by creating a fake student account first and then inviting yourself. HTH.

YouTube is your friend. I mainly used how to crochet books from the library, but later I discovered YouTube. Now I check it all the time before doing something unfamiliar, whether in knit or crochet. What really helped me was practicing using a multicolor yarn like this Red Heart, because every stitch or two it changes colors and it really helped me to distinguish one stitch from the next.

RadioLab

Here's our AP story 8th AP CS A 9th AP chem 10th AP bio & stats 11th (wait for it...) APUSH, AP comp, AP physics C, AP calc BC <-- I do not approve of this schedule, but it's what she wants 12th...hopefully nothing! We aren't applying to service academies, but I don't want her to look too much like an "AP grind" who doesn't do anything interesting her junior year. I warned her about this, but she wants to try it.

I think with either A or B, it will still be a learning curve. The best way to prep him for either class is to assign him some challenge problems on material he is already familiar with. If he's already familiar with factoring quadratic equations, go straight to the challenge problems in chapter 10. I don't think he'll find it to be review, and it will be the best introduction to the ways of AoPS.

I agree with 8, most AP classes (not all--it depends on the course) do not have any science prereq's, so you should use this time to enjoy any science before it "counts" in high school. But there are a couple of things I would encourage now in preparation for future AP success. Make sure your students have the skills to learn and read, preferably from dense textbooks. I'm not really sure how you would go about this, but I think this kind of independent study skill is so important. How to take notes, how to overcome any anxiety related to asking for help when needed. Students need to have the self-awareness to recognize when they do not understanding something, and make it a habit to fill that gap. Another thing I can recommend is to take AP computer science A in 8th grade. It's one of the easier APs, especially if your student already has some programming experience. They will gain exposure to FRQs, and an easy 4 or 5 will go a long way toward building confidence. Good luck!

Field trip idea: local bank at 2am!

Whatever comes up in the lay press like the New York Times is always interesting. They often cover news related to medicine, behavioral psychology, and other topics. Scientific American is also a good source of interesting research.

I hate to be caught up in lie, so rather than make up a story that isn't true, if she asks to carpool, tell her "I'm afraid it won't work for us this time." She doesn't need the details.

Really? I've been a newspaper reader and subscriber since I was a kid. Our local paper used to be so huge, with multiple multiple sections, a Sunday magazine, book review section, food section once a week, so many sections that don't even exist anymore. The coverage was astounding...you could read about controversies at the local school board meeting, goings on at the local university, all manner of traffic accidents and crimes. After the internet, my favorite columnists started writing their farewell columns, sections got folded into each other, so that the business section is now the last page of the sports section. No more Sunday magazine, no more book review section (now less than a page). I feel like my local world is passing me by and I have no idea what is going on. NY Times just had another layoff this year. Sorry, but you struck a nerve with me about the death of journalism. Yes, it is dying, if not already dead. I still mourn.

Does he like electronics and wiring things up? He can try Make: Electronics by Charles Platt, which takes you from beginner level step by step with projects that illustrate a different lesson.

Yeah, I don't know what the deal with Carolina not delivering things to residential addresses. It was a big hassle for me, too. Maybe of your spouse works in an office you can have it delivered there? (Wasn't an option for me at the time, so I haven't tried it.)

I also sat beside my kids in an effort to create a mini-me in them. I did not relish the thought of correcting bad notation habits. I wanted them to get it right from the start. And clear notation can make problem solving so much easier.

I didn't use colored pens, but I would exaggerate the size of parentheses and other "grouping" notation. I will insert paired parentheses between paired square brackets between paired curly braces, inside to out: 7+{3x+2[x-8(x+5)]} It helps if you are not using lined paper, but graph or plain paper instead. As you "collapse" each interior group (for example, distributing 8 over (x+5)), I underline the part of the expression that we replaced so that we can keep track of what remains. Many other people will cross out the terms that disappear, but I prefer underlining because you can more easily trace your work backwards. I also underline like terms that are combined, also to keep track of what has been replaced and what terms remain. I start to feel like an algebraic accountant, balancing my books.

G5 makes an excellent point here. Often, having solid technical skills can get your foot in the door of some great companies. Maybe you don't love coding, but if you can pay your dues for a year or two, you might be able to spot a lateral opportunity at the same company. And having the technical knowledge allows you to really understand the product you will later market or sell. Or it allows you to spot an opportunity to develop a new product at your own company...and hire other coders to do the work for you!

You might want to take a look at these SAT flash cards. I have the set, but it's hard for me to evaluate, though I can say that I pretty much know most of the words in the box. Since vocab is less emphasized on the SAT, these word would be a good check on the basics. But I'm really no SAT expert, and I don't know how helpful these would be for your student. We have used WWW, and I think it's good for more advanced vocab prep. We read the word definitions and the etymologies, but skip everything else. I put them onto flash cards, and my dd takes the exams in the parent manual at the end of the week. But some of the words in WWW are pretty obscure. My dd complained that she has learned no fewer than 3 synonyms for "tightrope walker." I have Worldly Wise sitting on my shelf and it looks really great, but I can't convince my dd to use it.

Wow, I don't know much about lifeguarding, but to my mind it seems way more dangerous than working in a retail store, where according to PPs you need to be 18 to work at.

The useful thing in the parent book for me were the exams. Since the exams are cumulative, I really liked not having to create them myself. What I didn't like was the the answer key was often on the facing page as the exam. Would it have killed them to put it at the back of the book? We didn't care for the analogies and classic words so we just ended up skipping them anyway.

I begin with any description from the course website, or maybe from the textbook description. I edit for brevity and to match the style of my other descriptions. My kids take voice lessons, and I didn't know how to describe those, so I looked online at another school's voice class and checked it with my kids and used a version of that.

Your dd sounds adorable. Welcome to the homeschooling lifestyle!

Agreed. I was at the mall and I just wondered what mall job could NOT be replaced by a robot? Sales? Security? I could not think of a single worker who really needed to be human.

If you are concerned about being able to meet yearly benchmarks for academic accomplishment, you can consider schooling year round as we do. If the kids aren't in camps or on vacation or entertaining visiting relatives, then we do school just like a regular day. It helps alleviate brain drain, and it buys you time during the school year for field trips and spontaneous outings. (I for one was always nervous about taking the day off from school, but schooling during the summer allowed me to relax a little.) You'll also move more quickly through the material without feeling like you are rushing.

Is Home Science Tools a vendor? Poke around on HST for projects that align with your curriculum or just things you want to do for fun. Our charter approved American Girl for items that weren't toys, and they have a lot of books and crafts. For high quality art supplied, check out Dick Blick, which was also approved by my charter.

I love Magic of Reality. Also to recommend: Guns Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond Sapiens by Yuval Harari Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

I agree. Let your 12 yo run the show! She might also enjoy teaching science history using materials from the Big History Project, as they also begin history with the Big Bang, continues to the formation of the solar system, life on earth, agriculture, to the modern world. It's a unique take on history, to be sure.