Ours is copyrighted 1977 (Pre-Algebra: New Edition), so I don't know how it compares to newer editions, or which edition you are interested in, but I can snap a few pics once my dh is home and I can use his phone. What is it about Dolciani Alg 2 that you don't like? I have a 1965 edition of it, and on the surface the main difference between the two is that there's a bit more white space in the 1977 Pre-Alg. Otherwise it looks similar-ish at a glance. (I've taught the Pre-Alg book, but not the Alg 2.) I did really like the Dolciani Pre-Alg, though - nice, thorough, rigorous review of arithmetic from the ground up, exactly what my dd needed.

Exactly. We moved back to TX a few years ago, after nearly a decade in IL, and three winter storms, in one week's time - it was *exactly* like being back in IL, only without plows and salt trucks. (Waking up to 0F temps on Tue? I didn't even know that was *possible* here - and it was over 15 degrees less than the already ridiculous low predicted.) We have a hill going out of our subdivision, and it was impassible for anything but 4x4s for a solid week. Up north I look at a hill like that as a liability wrt ice, but it never occurred to me it would matter here. I mean, last month's snow was a once-in-a-generation event for our area, and it all melted within a few days. We lost power for five days, and we also couldn't go anywhere but on foot - and thankfully we still had our good winter gear, so that was a live possibility. But where would we have even gone - for the first few days *all* the roads were impassible - would anything even be open? All we had was what we had in the house. And it turned out that was enough. But most of what we needed we had for other reasons, not for winter storm prep - we easily could have not had it. And the real kicker, for me, was that we also lost cell service for four days. Without an unpowered landline, we had no way to contact *anyone*, for any news about anything. I was ready for losing power, but not for an extended loss of cell service. But, yeah, this was insane - we never in living memory *ever* had anything like this. We mostly don't even get winter storms at all here. My sister's NY colleagues were asking her if it really was as apocalyptic as the news was making it sound, and she was like, "Yeah, it actually is rather like an apocalypse."

Not what quite you're talking about, but my knitted wide scarf/narrow shawl feels just like a blanket you can wear - so very warm and comforting. But it's also easy to put on and take off, and it's stylish enough to wear out. It's about 16" wide by 7-8' long (but the dimensions are flexible, as you can pull it wider or narrower - it easily pulls to 20" wide, which gives good coverage when sitting), made out of bulky yarn (a color-changing muted rainbow yarn, in my case - matches everything), knitted in a garter stitch ,with 2" tassels at the ends. When I'm sitting I can put the ends over each leg (reaches just past my knees) and it's just like a blanket. When I'm standing, it's just like a long scarf (I wear it as a scarf with my coat going out), ending just past my knees. If I want to do things without the ends getting in my way, I throw each end over the opposite shoulder and it's long enough to stay there. My mom bought mine at a craft fair, but it's an easy knit.

I pretty much never get gut feelings about people, but I did have the instant "would not be surprised at all if this person were a serial killer" gut-punch about exactly one person. Weirdest thing. It was at college and we were in the same major, so we had a lot of classes together. Minus the gut feeling, he was a pretty nice guy and we were friendly acquaintances, actually <shifty> - I mean, I'd not have gone anywhere alone with him (seemed like the bare minimum logical reaction given the gut feeling), but we tended to chat before/after class and such, usually with another acquaintance. I never really knew what to make of the sheer contrast between his generally likeable nature and that gut feeling, and mostly ignored it, albeit uncomfortably. The gut feeling never really went away, though; it dulled if we spent regular time together, but would hit with full strength after an absence. And it hit like a freight train at the thought of introducing him to my little sister. But I still have no idea if my feeling was actually justified - never saw or wondered about anything in particular, even with the feeling putting me on guard.

I think I'm going with something like this: https://www.etsy.com/listing/617478816/elven-dress-lord-of-the-rings-dress?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=galadriel+dress&ref=sr_gallery-1-3&cns=1 Barn, country-casual - that sounds nature-themed to me. And who's more in touch with nature than Tolkien's elves, right? But, of course, white *is* the color for a wedding, so maybe this would be a better choice: https://www.etsy.com/listing/734823103/lady-galadriel-lord-of-the-rings-white?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=galadriel+dress&ref=sr_gallery-1-2&cns=1

He was thinking more a hockey stick magic staff and blasting rod, but I bet it would be even more excellent if he combined the two looks into one.

DH thinks he needs an ankle-length black leather duster for the occasion.

I've been using the DuckDuckGo browser on my tablet, as an alternative to Firefox (because Firefox is a memory/battery hog). I like it well enough, although it appears that keeping multiple tabs open is just inherently a battery hog <sigh>. No search issues, in any case.

I've been using DuckDuckGo for a few years and thankfully haven't had any issues like that. I just tried your " kids sitting positions" search on my DuckDuckGo, and I had no problems - everything on the first page was just fine.

Well, using these links from IXL, Math 1 appears to have five geometry chapters (basics of geometry, reasoning & proofs, parallel & perpendicular lines, transformations, and congruent triangles), Math 2 appears to have six geometry chapters (relationships within triangles; quadrilaterals and other polygons; similarity; right triangles and trigonometry; circles; circumference, area, and volume), and Math 3 appears to have one (geometric modeling). So, assuming the links are accurate and your class did indeed cover all the chapters, it looks like you should have had almost all of geometry in the Math 1 and 2 courses you'll have taken.

FWIW, my dh took both geometry and alg 2 in the same year (in TX) to get back onto the accelerated track, so that's an option. WRT disadvantages of skipping geometry: I'm assuming the Math 1/2/3 sequence is integrated algebra and geometry. Wouldn't you have had 1/2-2/3 of geometry from taking Math 1&2? If so, then you might as well go into alg 2. Although if you feel shaky in Math 2, it's not a bad thing to move to the normal track and start wtih geometry. It's definitely better to master through Pre-Calc than to be shaky through Calc. Also, geometry would be on SAT/ACT, so that's a factor. What textbooks are you using in Math 1 and 2? ETA: I found these links for CA integrated math - do they match what your classes are doing? Math 1: http://www.mrmathblog.com/integrated-math-1.html Math 2: http://www.mrmathblog.com/integrated-math-2.html Math 3: http://www.mrmathblog.com/integrated-math-3.html

Looking at his mistakes, they both involve choosing the wrong vowel spelling for sounds which have a *lot* of options. (Plus he forgot to apply the phonics rule associated with hard 'c'/soft 'c' that would have narrowed down his options for the /er/ sound to "er" or "ir".) Is that his usual issue? I mean, he successfully hears all the sounds and picks a phonetically legit spelling for each of them, only he often picks the *wrong* spelling, especially for vowels with a lot of choices for the spelling? And does he tend to misspell words the same way in the same document, or does he have several different spellings for the same word in the same assignment? So he's done a workbook program and a studied dictation program. Both are pretty visual-centric, and he did fine with the programs, yet it sounds like he still has problems visualizing the words when he goes to write them "in the wild". I do see dictation recommended a lot for getting spelling skills to transfer to "in the wild" spelling - Spelling Wisdom didn't seem to help at all, though? IEW's program is more auditory-centric, so it would be a different thing to try. I know I read on here recently about someone who had spelling success with having their dc do spelling orally. Before you start another spelling program, perhaps you could try making a list of the words he misspells in the wild and have him spell them orally with you several times over the course of a week or something? Or does he misspell too many words? It might also help to have him do the Spell to Write and Read technique of "think to spell", where you don't schwa unaccented vowels when spelling, to help you remember the spelling. Like with "certain", think /ser-tAYn/ to remember the "ai" spelling. It might also help to have a chart with the most common spellings for a given sound listed in order, so when in doubt, he can go with the most common spelling; e.g. for /er/, "er" is the most common spelling, more common than "ur", and it would have helped him with "certain". ~*~ In terms of high school bootcamp spelling, most programs I know of take a morphographic approach (spelling by units of meaning, like "real + ize + ing"), which is also different from what you have tried. I've done Spelling through Morphographs, a year-long course, with my older two in middle school, and I do really like it; unfortunately it suffers from educational pricing and the price of used copies fluctuates a lot - sometimes it's about $40-50 for each of the two presentation books, and sometimes it is way more; right now it is $40 for book 2, but nearly $200 for book 1 <yikes>. Megawords is one I've seen people use for high schoolers and is supposed to be good, and it's in print. Apples and Pears is another program good for remedial spellers, that uses a *lot* of repetition to help cement spelling.

In the engineering college at my school (Texas A&M), every engineering major had to take two semesters of chemistry (also two semesters of physics). I was glad I wasn't seeing it for the first time in those classes. Might want to check the major requirements at the schools she's interested in.

This is kind of where we are, although in the grand scheme of things we are actually fairly similar. We are both serious about masking, and neither of us are terribly social people in the first place. We are more on the same page than it sometimes feels. Eta: We've had some sharp disagreements as we've come to our current near-consensus. Hugs. FWIW, for my own sanity I've decided that I can't let people's approach to Covid become a litmus test. People are complex - a failure in one area, even a huge failure, doesn't negate what is good about them (and likewise, what is good doesn't negate what is bad). I can love people who are wrong about things that matter - I can even like people who are wrong about things that matter. I can strongly disagree with them, be disappointed or even disillusioned about them in one area, even one that *matters*, without writing them off entirely. And I hope they can return the favor. (Why this is for my sanity is because the area I am in is, by and large, not taking things very seriously. I'm an outlier, and I thank God that both my dh and our immediate families are largely in agreement. Our church (where dh is pastor) is an outlier for insisting on masking and social distancing. Poor dh has been the second-most concerned person at our church (with me as most concerned) since the beginning, and feels caught between a rock and a hard place. I'm also thanking God that our state has a mask mandate, because most people are masking only where required and nowhere else. (And honestly, I respect that they are following the law even though they don't want to.) I don't want to write off the majority of people that I know, and I don't want them to write me off either. We can (and probably do) think each other is mutually insane over this, but we don't have to reject each other over it.)

Welcome to the board! I use Singapore Primary Math (aka elementary math; it covers grade 1 through grade 6) with my kids; my older two have finished it (my middle just recently). I think it is a strong conceptual program, and is especially good at developing mental math and problem solving skills; I've been pleased with the results. WRT potential mismatch issues between a Singaporean program and American exams, I have two thoughts. One is that it's mostly only an issue if you intend to test every year in elementary - it's possible that some US tests might cover some things a bit earlier than Singapore, and if you test a lot in the middle of the elementary math sequence you could get caught in a few of those. (As well, there are a few things that US schools tend to cover in elementary, such as introducing negative numbers, that Primary Math doesn't cover.) If that is a strong concern, then the solution would be to do the Common Core edition of Primary Math - it has added to and rearranged the original sequence to mesh with Common Core standards. But my other thought is that, for the most part, elementary math is elementary math. In the end, both US math and Singapore math cover all the standard elementary math topics - any little differences in sequence doesn't matter once you've finished. As well, one of the benefits of homeschooling is that we aren't tied to American school testing schedules, especially not in elementary. It doesn't *matter* that we do something ahead or behind of "the school norm" - we can fly through what our particular children find easy and spend extended time on what our particular children find hard. Singapore Math, while fairly low cost as far as it goes for math programs, isn't free (you can find it on singaporemath.com (the American distributer) and rainbowresource.com (a large online homeschooling bookstore)). If free is needed, two well-regarded free programs are MEP math and Ray's Arithmetic. MEP (Mathematics Enhancement Programme) is a UK program, and takes a very conceptual, puzzle-math kind of approach. (As an fyi, Reception is K4 and Year 1 is K.) Ray's Arithmetic, otoh, is a popular program from the 1800s that is in the public domain.

I used to be hardcore "there's no such thing as too many books, only insufficient bookshelves," but between moving and using up all the good and semi-good bookshelf placements - and realizing it might actually be nice to be able to put things *other* than bookshelves on a wall, such as large maps - I too have realized there is indeed such a thing as too many books <sigh>. Haven't done too much with that realization, yet, though <shifty>.

I like the reading experience of both physical books and e-readers. I do find it hard to pay real money for ebooks, though - when it comes to *owning* books, I strongly prefer physical (unless there is a really huge price difference). (There are several beloved series where we own *both* physical and e-copies, though, which is very convenient.) Mostly I use the kindle for reading library books and free online stuff (of which I have tons and tons - what's on my kindle is actually only a fraction of I have, scarily enough). Eta: My oldest says that she likes to read on the kindle, but that she likes having a lot of physical books, too. I think we just like having lots of books, in whatever form we can get them ;). I can say that both girls do really like the instant gratification part of library ebooks, lol.

I have quite a few that I put on over USB, so those aren't in my Amazon account. And I don't have wi-fi access when I'm out and about (no smartphone). On my old Kindle 3, though, I was really good about using collections - kept things organized and accessible. But I don't like how they do collections on my new kindle and the kindle app on my tablet - I mostly use the search function to find what I want. It's like keeping your email organized - once you give up on it (lol), it doesn't really matter if you have 50 or 5000 unread emails - it all looks and functions the same <shifty>. (My unread email count is currently 3,639, lol.) In theory I prefer a clutter-less life, but in practice I like having lots of available reading material, so I just aim for "comfortable clutter" ;).

Yes, exactly! 🤣 ETA: It's also making sure that, no matter what I'm in the mood for, I have it available ;). Somehow, Dh gets by with just his current book, maybe with one backup if he's nearly done <weird>.

I've paid for a few kindle books at full price during the pandemic (and paid full price for Harry Potter a few years ago), but mostly I'm similar to you. My library is full of free books and public domain books (and lots and lots of fanfiction).

Lol. It's not that I'm more of a tech person, and not even that dh is less of a reader, but that, unlike me, dh is not a book horder <shifty>.

Dh and I both got new kindles recently (paperwhites). Dh got his two months ago and has 28 items on it; I got mine three days ago and have 411 items on it, lol.

True, they aren't the same thing. All of us (me, my dds, my sis) have thin individual strands, but we all have quite a lot of them, my oldest and my sister having a *whole* lot of them. (My sis and I have straight hair, my girls' hair used to be curly but length/age has caused it to become straight (or at least to appear straight.)

They're pricey, but Ficcare clips are really excellent for long, thick hair - they are extremely strong and very pretty. Maximas are my favorites - I have nearly a dozen, mostly in large and medium, but one small. My sister isn't a hair person, but even she has made really good use of the one medium I got her a decade ago - it clips right to her bag when she travels, so whenever she wants her hair off her neck, it's available. Medium is a good all-around size for thick hair: it is good for both clipping back the top part of your hair and also for clipping up all your hair in styles where it just needs to hold one circumference of hair (as opposed to several twists of hair folded on themselves), such as bun styles where you don't need to hold the entire thing, but just a few of the outer coils; or making a ponytail by doing the first coil of a bun and letting the rest hang down; or just using it as a ponytail holder for a low ponytail. It's also good for twisting it up and clipping in on the back of your head, letting the rest hang down over it like a ponytail, though with a medium on long, thick hair it has to be redone every few hours, but since it's a casual 'do that is so amazingly simple to do, it hasn't been a problem for us. Large is good for when your hair is too thick to be held even in a ponytail by a medium and you want to use it to hold all your hair up, or if you want to use it to hold something like a French twist, where the hair is folded back on itself and the clip is doing almost all the work of holding it (unlike buns, where the style itself is holding up a lot of the weight). Although fyi, it takes me *two* larges to hold my thigh length medium thick hair in a French twist, but I'm not that good at French twists either. ~*~ The other clips I use (which are less expensive) are Lilla Rose hair clips. Most of mine are XLs, and I usually use them to hold up buns. I've successfully used a large and even a small (that I got accidentally) to hold buns, but XL is my preferred size. ~*~ ETA: Been experimenting on my girls. My oldest has thick hair that's past her waist, and the medium Ficcare Maximas was slipping out from the twist-up-and-clip-and-let-hang-down because it was a bit too *big* (and that style puts a *huge* amount of weight on the clip, too - gravity is really not in your favor). Trying again with a casual fake French twist (twist the hair, fold the twist over about a third down, put a finger at the fold and twist a few times, clip up on the head, with the remaining ends hanging down) - the medium clip is holding two coils of hair now, and seems happier for it; oldest dd says it feels much better. My middle wanted in one the fun (her hair is a little less thick and little shorter than oldest's), so I took out my XL Lilla Rose and tried to see what I could do there. The XL was too big for a fake French twist (with just two coils of hair to hold) so I tried a real French twist (added in another two coils of hair); it was still a bit too big, but seeing how long it will hold; 15min later, so far, so good. The XL holds my thigh length hair in a bun on top of my head very well, going through all the bun. For my oldest, whose hair is thicker than mine, an XL alone will hold a bun in general, but to hold a bun for dance it takes an XL plus two smallish claw clips keep it up. An XL doesn't hold her entire bun across the middle like it does for me; I have to clip just the top third, and dance is pretty hard on it.

"Many" is the simple subject => "Many are small."