And conversely, whose parents thought they'd be shoo-ins who didn't even get close. [if you've done a practice test, you should have an idea if your kid is close to the cut off for your state.]

This is why I plan all my classes (for just my own kids) out in the summer - or they won't get done. I couldn't teach religious ed classes because I don't have time to plan them. If I have the plan (and photocopies all made in advance), I can open and go. Otherwise, it all goes proof!

Well, to each their own. Depends on where you click after googling. I am going through some woman's health stuff right now that started out pretty common but quickly went into something I've never heard of. Googling helped me understand the condition, risks,and prepare me with questions for my doctor. It is pretty scary anyway, so the articles and information helped reassure me that my risk factors are lower than what I assumed at the first mention from the nurse when she called. So, YMMV.

We use SOTW in elementary. Some kids get two full rounds, most get 1 1/2 times through. Oldest went from SOTW 1 to Light to the Nations (Catholic textbook) 1 in 7th & Light to the Nations 2 in 8th. Second kid did SOTW fully twice through, finishing SOTW4 in 7th. In 8th, she did Ancients again using K12's Human Odyssey. Third kid did SOTW1-4 through 5th grade. She's now in 6th (ish) and is doing Medieval with K12's Human Odyssey (end of vol 1, about half of vol 2) in a Pandia Press History Odyssey-type fashion, so lots of other resources with it. Plan to continue that in 7th - Early Modern. Will play 8th by ear.

Need ideas for morning sickness Getting pregnant would be a good start.

DH went the military route and I went on merit scholarships with working to fill the gaps. Before this board opened my eyes, I thought the kids could all do something similar (merit + work + college savings plans we've contributed (& Christmas/ birthday money) to since birth). I even told DH the kids were on their own other than the money we've already saved for them. He's never committed to that. I didn't want them to think they could just feel entitled to go to anywhere and we'd pick up the tab for their partying. (Many kids in our town do this - with $70,000 in debt for the parents per kid. These are kids who just assume they will get a car when they turn 16 and another one when they crash the first one.) My kids are obviously not being raised to be entitled rich kids, so of course they won't believe we'd foot the $$$$ bill/loans for just anywhere. Dd#1 is going for merit money and Dd#2 will likely live at home and go local (state college) to save $ if they have a major and classes she can stomach. I probably wouldn't have realized how out of touch my understanding of college costs were until next year. With help of this board, I'm better equipped for Dd#1's college apps next year. (Yipes! Next year already!)

What TracyP said. I agree with all of her post plus what Kiara.l said about science. Stick with 1 math up to pre-algebra if it is working. Supplement as necessary. Science - I've never used the same publisher two years running. Just can't find something that both works for me and my various kids. Switching writing and grammar can actually help fill gaps. Or not. Depends. I will probably continue to worry about my kids' academic preparation until they are through college. :)

This works for some. For some, it doesn't. I think some are natural writers and some have to work a lot harder to write well. I do believe that good writing starts with good thinking. I have one who doesn't like to think deeply because it is too much work. Her writing shows it. I have another that ruminates on things. She isn't as wide a reader (although she's listened to a LOT of audiobooks), but she thinks, writes, reflects, and rewrites. She leaves time to think & rewrite. It helps her rough drafts be much better than some of my last-minute-less-thinking kid's final drafts.

Nope. DD#1 loved Dumas. I'd like to blame it on the fact that I read a bad translation, but I don't know if that is really the problem. I should probably try it in French. I don't think I'll have time for that for several years, though! I had trouble getting through Les Misérables (unabr. in English) and thought the translation was terrible. It turns out that the translation I read is considered the best. :crying: The selections I read in French in school had such beautiful imagery. :drool:

This dude is a few weeks late. If he'd said this before Harvey, Irma, Marie, and a couple of earthquakes in Mexico, he'd probably be more palatable. I hadn't heard this before today, though. Such fun stuff I pick up on the Hive.

I admit to "cheating" with oldest. DH has read stuff I haven't, so I assign dd to discuss certain thing a with him. If I am not willing to read something, I generally won't assign a paper on it. If it is lit and easy, I usually read it. If not, DH is on the hook. It has worked so far. (Dd loved Three Musketeers or Count of Monte Cristo or some such. DH had a great discussion. I couldn't get through anything by that author (Dumas?).

Thanks to everyone for chiming in! It is okay to put "first impressions" of older kid classes in here as many of us will continue to use online classes as the kids get older & it is sometimes easier to see these here than to dip our toes into the high school board. (I have two high schoolers now, but I still remember first reading the high school board. I still feel like a 'poser' (fake) over there compared to the tried & true posters.) As an update, my email to MPOA was well-received. I got sent a recording of the first class with one of the alternate teachers (Jacobson) who fit our schedule. The difference was night & day (with day being the new teacher). All of us who watched the recording felt the breath of fresh air. DD was decided in the first three minutes. She got switched over and attended class with the new teacher Wednesday. (She'd already taken two quizzes with the old teacher & the switch meant she had to retake them. She felt it was worth the extra pain in order to get the better teacher.) This teacher is acceptable and DD, while not loving Latin, is fine with continuing the class with her. She incorporates bits of Roman history and background into the class, is enthusiastic and encouraging, and covers the material in a clear manner. Her control of the class is not overbearing, but the kids (well, except for a couple of boys) generally stay on topic. I'm much happier with her class situation now. h2b2 - What is the text for Logic 1? (Too lazy to go look) Which edition of Kreeft's book does Logic 2 use?

Weeeellll, this is true for the SAT, but PSATs are administered through the school. There is no registration on the CB website for the PSAT. We've never gotten an admission ticket for the PSAT. The CB certainly doesn't give them out. (The process for the SAT is, of course, what you laid out in your post. The PSAT is horribly, messily different.) So, your kid might have to humor the admin a bit. Likely, the admin won't double-check to make sure each student puts a SS in. Hopefully, anyway... Last year & again this year, the homeschool code isn't required anymore. They changed the process & sheets.

Ok, I looked at this today. Looks like it is at the start of Chapter 7 and it spends three sections on solving simultaneous equations by addition & subtraction. With a kid who was quick on the math uptake, you could cover all three sections in one sitting, IMO. Then, you could just pick & choose which problems from each section to do - or just do all of Ch 7-3 Set 1 & 2 (or 1 & 3, or 1, 2 & 4, or 1, 3, & 4). My dd#2 will need all three sections explained separately over three days. DD#1 probably could have handled it in one day with two days of practice before it went into rotation for continued practice & review. (She didn't use Jacobs.)

Goodness, I missed this the first time around. I blame it on the cute kitten pictures. If we wore baklava, our kitten would be all over us even more than he was when we first arrived. He goes for any type of human food he can find. He's way too good at opening wrappers. We can't leave anything out. He's tried to eat chocolate (opened the wrapper), bread (chewed through the plastic), corn (drying popcorn), oranges, apples, potatoes (uncooked), onions (uncooked), etc. He'd love us covered in sweet pastry. :drool:

This is why our kitten is named "Cy." Short for psycho. :laugh: (Well, not really, but we did find it fit.) He was removed from an unhealthy situation - that included separating him from his mom early on. It was better for his health. He was around his siblings for awhile after that. He's older now and has had his fixing doctor's visit. He's tamed down some in the last few weeks, but can still exhibit this behavior. I remind the children that they are still being trained to proper behavior (YEARS of work), so to be patient while we train Cy to not bite. We use the sharp "No" with a rap on the nose. Some of the puncture wounds are from him leaping and using a human and his claws to slow his descent. Yipes!

Since he's taken it already, I'd suggest Khan Academy. Have him take one of the practice tests. (Someone said 5 & 6 were real tests given at one point or another.) We download the physical version and when my dd is all done, we put in her answers. This tells Khan what the student needs to work on. Then, when they do the suggested practice, they can work on the stuff they have missed. There are also two PSAT tests on Khan, but only in paper version. So, taking these is good practice as the timing & # of questions is just like what he'll encounter on test days, but in terms of practice, it isn't as helpful. Since it is only on paper, Khan doesn't know what the student has missed & needs to work on. 30 minutes x 5 days a week is a good quick prep until the test in a month. You'll want more intense prep next year if you are close-but-not-quite-there on his PSAT score for National Merit. (FWIW, my dd#2 won't be taking the PSAT because she's not going to be close for NM. She will focus on the ACT.)

:iagree: I don't know who her Geo teacher at WHA is, but all the math teachers (well, I don't know the new ones) there are really helpful. Are there discussion threads set up for the kids to ask for help? I don't know how the geo class is set up, but there should be a way for the kids to ask questions outside of class and get some help. Other than proofs, are there specific things she's struggling with? I've used Jurgensen (the text) without WHA's class and it is a tough book. There are some videos on Youtube specifically for that textbook and I'd definitely have the solutions manual (although it is pricey) even if my kid was a math whiz.

DD's Spanish teacher sent a message to her students that she & her family are all fine. The planned business trip she was supposed to leave on has been cancelled because of the quake. Our prayers are with all those who still have family members missing or who are facing the worst.

Except in the OP, she said they ruled out Foerster. Would just a normal math book do? Does she need to do geometry or are you thinking straight to Alg 2? ETA: Saxon always starts out with review and builds up. You could have her take the tests until she gets to New material, back up 5 lessons and start there.

When quizzes are so small, sometimes the lowest few per quarter (or semester) are dropped. (We are used to Wilson Hill quizzes like this.) Last year, Dd's Alg 2 class (not Wilson Hill) only had ten questions on some of the tests. Doesn't take much at no partial credit to drop your grade. Dd spent time double checking her answers if she could.

DD#1 has had a couple of opportunities to take the test. So far, we've declined. It is certainly nice to have more options in standardized tests. It is definitely geared toward a certain type of student.

I so want to know what outsourced provider/teacher/assignment this is. :lurk5:

DD's Spanish teacher lives there. She sent out an email right before the quake (if I read the time zone correctly). We probably won't hear from her for awhile because DD had class today & their Thursday class was cancelled. I don't know if the teacher will take her planned business trip now, though. Our prayers are with all the people there!!

Do you have the TT Geometry physical book? After following the advice above, I'd make him work through the physical book problems (copy them out, work out solutions on paper), then enter his answer into the computer program. It is too easy to short-cut through the problems directly on the computer, IMO. If you don't have the physical book, absolutely make him write out the problems from the computer screen into the workbook you gave him.