My son did bio this year for 9th grade, and he went to a two-week residential marine science camp this summer. He spent two weeks participating in research projects and using the fancy lab equipment at the university research center. And the reason I am letting out my small sigh of relief? He felt like our 9th grade bio class prepared him well for the experience. :hurray: :hurray:

Yep, and it does not help teach the kids that deadlines are deadlines.

Great suggestions! Thank you :) He is on a swim team here in Denmark, and I hope he will continue that in the USA. I think he might like theater - the language barrier was just too big of a hurdle for that here. He also does a lot of volunteering, so hopefully that will also help him meet some people. I have moved teenagers before, but they were not homeschooled.

We are planning to move in October and my son will be in 10th grade. In my experience, some activities seem to have a better chance than others for leading to friendships. Things like theater or travel sports teams seem promising because you spend a lot of time together. What activities have your teens participated in and found friends there? I want to give him some fresh ideas. We have been living overseas and the choices have been quite different.

We have had a problem with instructors extending the class beyond the planned end date because the instructor got behind on the feedback. It has happened twice with two different instructors. Once we had an international flight scheduled the day after the planned end date, and the second time we were moving immediately after the planned end date. I have learned my lesson and will plan a buffer of time beyond the stated end. But it still bugs me because my kid stresses to meet his deadlines.

Not only can new people drop in, but previous drop-outs can come back, right? Critterfixer, thank you for the ongoing momentum of the accountability thread. At the moment, I am in dire need of accountability. We will be making an international move back to the USA in October. And I absolutely positively will not let my 10th grader's semester be a disaster. Can all of you hold my hand, please?!

Does anyone know if the MLA Research course is also typically available again in the winter or spring? It did not fit our schedule this round.

DS is taking Advanced Composition with Jean Hall. This will be his 5th Bravewriter course. Obviously, we are fans :)

I appreciate the suggestions, and will go through all of them. I get most of my vegan ideas from blogs and Pinterest. I bought Vegan Richa's cookbook because I loved her blog so much: http://www.veganricha.com/

I am also flexitarian, not so much with meat but I do willingly eat shellfish. But I love and prefer vegan food. I only eat mest If I am a guest or at a restaurant, and the vegan option is unavailable or seems gross to me.

I am so sorry. Our parents as our buffer against the world...what a beautiful and moving phrase. (BTW, I am 52, almost exactly your age - Hugs.)

I would like to buy two or three vegan cookbooks. What do you recommend? Details: Any sub-genre except Indian food. I love Indian food, but I already have two vegan Indian cookbooks :) I would really like to get at least one on vegan baking. Good photographs are desired, but not required.

We did not read the play, but I had my 9th grader watch the movie as part of a Lifespan Development Unit for Health. I thought it was a great film for a teen, and he found it very moving. Given your connection to the location / history, that play plus film sounds like it would be a great combo for you.

I am still following the thread and our move to MD is increasingly likely :) Not sure where we will land yet, but if anyone wants to comment on Frederick County please feel free to send me a PM. I don't want to hijack the thread. Enjoy the meetup! Hopefully, you will continue having them and I will get to attend one. Sounds like a great day is in the works!!

I think you have lots to think about :) I will point out that I talked about consuming phytoestrogens in moderation; notice that I did not say soy. Soy is well known as a phytoestrogen, but there are other phytoestrogens. flaxseed, hoppy beer, red wine, black licorice...Personally, I mostly avoid soy for a variety of reasons.

As a 10 yr survivor of an estrogen positive BC, I eat phytoestrogens in moderation. You can find research to back up both sides of the argument. I am not being much help, am I? Sorry :(

Can't wait to hear more, Amira. OneStep said it best - you rock! I admire you.

Glad you have an appointment. I had that happen and I had to have a bladder cancer screening. The best guess (and it was a guess) was tiny tiny kidney stones. I never did feel pain, but that was six years ago so I suppose that whatever it was, it was not cancer.

Well, who could blame you for being AWOL with so many changes going on?! We have moved several times, but it is never ever easy. So many emotions, so many details, so much STUFF. And I hear ya on the books. We live in Scandinavia, and I just recycled so many good books. It made me sick, but there is no local interest, and they were not valuable enough to ship across the ocean. We moved locally into a smaller apartment, and the deed had to be done. Good luck with your new adventure, and post some updates when you can manage it!

I am keeping every math book I have, even the ones we do not like, until my son graduates. Because I am paranoid like that :) After he graduates, I will take another look.

Are either or you nearsighted? If so, you may want to buy your own prescription masks. My friend just bought one from Amazon for about $50. Typing this out, I realize that I should get this for my son :blushing: .

No, I have not asked Clonlara yet. It would be premature at this point. I would be curious to know how repatriation / reverse culture shock impacted you and/or your kids, if you are willing to discuss it. That is a BIG concern of mine. Feel free to PM me :) Edited b/c I goofed up the quote function.

Thank you all for your thorough replies! I am still trying to wrap my head around how MD and Clonlara could fit together. Clonlara is most definitely not an online school. They provide neither materials nor instruction. The provide advising and an accredited diploma. I guess that if we ended up in MD, we would not need them, but...I now I like Clonlara and dislike the idea of MD forcing me away from them. I wonder what his final transcript would look like - 9th grade Clonlara, part of 10th grade Clonlara, then homemade from that point forward ? Well, at any rate, I think I have enough to go on until our possible relocation sorts itself out :)

Am I right that homeschool students are exempt from the end of course assessments?

Pardon my interruption, but: If any of you homeschool high school in MD, I have an exploratory query about the rules in MD on the high school board, and would love your input: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/617558-what-can-you-tell-me-about-the-rules-in-maryland/ (If you are wondering why I am stalking your thread here, I grew up in MD and lived in South Central PA for several years. On the off chance that I will be in the area when you have these meetups, I always check the date. Alas, not this time. But someday!!)