My reference to an easy A was in response to a pp who was referring to community college classes. Many CC classes are dumbed down these days, partly in response to all of the dual enrolled kids sitting in the class. I agree, one can learn the material at home. The important thing is that there is no easy way to get into Med school. You need straight A's in college and stellar MCAT scores. ETA: That previous poster was you, Creekland, talking about CC science classes.

I think that I was assuming the OP was talking about HOMESCHOOLING calculus, rather than taking it at a CC. Any course work done at any college, even during high school, goes on a college transcript. Besides, taking a class to get an easy A, if one does not learn the material, is worthless. It will be reflected in the MCAT scores. It seems to me that this person who is advising her is misinformed.

Med schools look at college transcripts, not high school transcripts. I must be missing something here, but most universities require 2 math classes as part of their general education requirements anyway, so why not take calc in college? My daughter (now a physician), started with precalculus in college, then took thru calc 2 and statistics. I believe science is more important. A very high GPA is key, as well as high MCAT scores. Have you checked out the student doctor network? It's very informative. Oh, and by the way, from what I've read, lots of music majors go to Med school.

Congratulations! You must be so proud! :001_smile:

:iagree: You are the one who is ultimately responsible and accountable to God for raising up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Not the church youth group.

Homeschooldiploma.com. we have graduated 3 so far and have been very pleased with their products.

Exactly!

QUOTE=kiana;3594692]If the organizations wish to reduce divisiveness, it would help to not get involved in a host of other issues which many believe have little to do with homeschooling. (I'm aware of why they say these issues relate to homeschooling. I just disagree entirely with their reasoning.) :iagree: perhaps they have gotten off track and have gotten involved in these other issues BECAUSE homeschooling is now accepted, and the legal battles are not as frequent. They have to do something to stay in business.

:iagree:As one famous President once said,"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction." As another President said,"A house divided against itself cannot stand." Our freedom could very easily be taken away from us, and our divisiveness will only hasten the event! Many homeschoolers do take for granted the freedom they have, the opportunities their children have, and the ease with which their kids can now go to college without a public school diploma. It WASN'T always that way.

I'll be 54 when my youngest finishes high school. I'm just beginning to think about it, but I would like to learn to play the piano, play my flute more, sew, garden, paint...all those things that kind of got put on the back burner. I would like to pursue my own education (whether that means self educating or taking classes, I don't know), practice hospitality, and focus more on my husband.

We have a 25 year old, hand raised Indian ringneck, 5 hand raised lovebirds, and a budgie that was not hand raised. We used to have a flock of racing pigeons, too. The ringneck, although part of the family, can be quite noisy (much like the Quakers). He's very sweet and talks. The lovebirds are pretty messy. They throw seeds all over the place, but they are awfully cute. The budgie is sweet, moderately messy, and has a nice soft voice. He even learned to talk -- from the other birds! I'm sure you don't want to get into racing pigeons, but they were a lot of fun. A hand raised bird is definitely the best. If you could find a hand raised budgie, I would recommend that for your daughter.

Sea Cadets are awesome! The program is great for building leadership skills and developing discipline. Plus the kids get to do a lot of really cool things that most kids just never get the chance to do. Our division meets every Saturday from 8 to 1. It does take discipline on our part to get up every Saturday morning when we'd rather sleep in! They do PT (physical training), marching, learn boating safety, military protocol, etc. My son wants to be a Marine, so he loves the military aspect of it. They have a 2 week boot camp that they attend in the summer, and then there are lots of advanced trainings that they can go to - things like field ops, master at arms training, culinary arts, sailing - the list goes on. There is even the opportunity to go on an international exchange with Sea Cadets from all over the world. My son has flown in a Black Hawk helicopter, trained with the Coast Guard on patrol, and even sailed on the USS Iwo Jima from Norfolk, VA to Fort Lauderdale, FL! Of course, as with everything, you get out of it what you put into it. I would definitely check it out, if I were you! For more info go to http://www.seacadets.org

:lol: Oh, how true!

Mamaofblessings, it sounds like YOU should be writing a book! You have a way of describing what you have done that makes it fun and inspiring. Congratulations on your progress. As for me and my house, we need WAY more than 21 days to organize things! I'm on week 2 of my kitchen alone. I can't imagine my family seriously sitting down and writing a mission statement, but I can picture us all, with a big bowl of popcorn, having a riot answering the questions in that section. It could be almost as fun as when we all play a game of Scattergories! :001_smile: now on to find that blog about lemons!

Just started it, and so far it seems to be a bunch of fluff. We'll see if it gets any better. So far, I see why it's free.

:iagree: this is exactly the kind of thing that ticks me off about the youth groups. They get the kids all hyped up about an event before the parents even know what is going on, and then if the parents object, they're the bad guys! My family would not darken the door of that church again

:iagree: I am sick and tired of these church youth groups doing so many activities of questionable spiritual value just to have fun or to attract unchurched teens in order to "evangelize them". What usually happens is our own kids are exposed to things we may not want them exposed to. And when we make our objections known to the leadership, we are accused of not trusting God for the safety of our kids or some such nonsense. WE are the ones who are responsible for our children! Not some 20 or 30 something youth leader! There is NO WAY my kid would attend such an event!

My daughter used Conceptual Chemistry when the first edition came out, and loved it! The author made chemistry so interesting that it quickly became her favorite subject. She went on to college as a pre Med major, got straight A's in her chemistry classes there, and subsequently went to medical school. She is now a physician. CC can be a good choice for science minded high schoolers.

Absolutely! Dh is a teacher, so I follow the public schools schedule; when they have a TWD, I have a TWD. I use this time to keep up to date with my log, to plan ahead, and to get whatever else done that I seem to be behind on. If I don't do this, I get hopelessly behind by November!

Having homeschooled all my kids from K-12, with just 2 1/2 years to go, I have the satisfaction of knowing that I took my responsibility to "train up a child" seriously. You only get one chance. My husband and I have tried to give each one of our 5 children the opportunity to develop into the person he or she is meant to be. Each one of our kids is unique and has unique interests and talents. By homeschooling them, we were able to make the most of their individual personalities. Yes, there were some overwhelming years when they were young, but we have so many wonderful memories that we would not have had if the kids had gone to school.

Being with my children has been the biggest blessing. And seeing the close relationships between my kids as they have grown. It is a joy to see them as teens and young adults interact as close friends. Had they gone off to school, they would have been separated all day from each other. Homeschooling has made our family closer. There have been a gazillion other benefits over the past 21 years, but those are the best.

Does anyone have experience with testmasters online sat prep courses? It is rather expensive, but they claim that their course will raise one's SAT scores by 300 points. We are seriously considering it for DS whose schedule makes an on site course impossible.

Anything done by the Cambridge Singers directed by John Rutter

You have every right to be proud of him! That's great!:001_smile:

OK. I'll say it (though I'll probably get flamed). Yes, t-i-m-e is a big contributor to our children's success, but many of these experiences and accomplishments take alot of m-o-n-e-y. Music lessons, ballet, trips to Europe, and pilot's licenses don't come cheap. My husband and I have driven old used cars and have forgone many luxuries in order to provide educational experiences for our children. It baffles us when homeschoolers who are able, are not willing to invest in their children's education.