Congratulations! Thanks for sharing.

Fwiw, I don't like giving out my kids' SSN's. I have my kids leave the SSN field blank and that has never been a problem.

What local law did the parents break by permitting their kids to play at the park? From the articles I have read, there was no law broken.

This. Walking to school, riding bikes around the neighborhood, going to the grocery store to pick up a gallon of milk, etc. were normal everyday things kids began doing without adult supervision once they started K. If some consider normal, developmentally appropriate childhood activities as neglectful parenting, that is fine as long as those individuals don't try to impose their parenting beliefs onto those of us who disagree.

These children were not removed from a home - they were removed from a public playground, where they had every right legally to be. These particular CPS workers are on such a power trip that they didn't even have the human decency to notify the parents that they had taken their children into custody. The police officers and CPS workers involved in this disgusting event should all be fired.

You don't feel sorry for parents who were frantically searching for their children for hours because their children had been kidnapped by the police? :confused1: The mindset that a family should obey the warning of a government official when that warning is not supported by an actual law is terrifying to me. While you may not agree with their parenting choices, these parents are not breaking any laws and should have the freedom to raise their children without government interference.

The Boardwalk is my family's favorite. It is great being able to walk into Epcot from the hotel.

Why should anyone need to get permission from the police? This police department is out of control. I hope they are slammed with a huge lawsuit.

I don't think that you are envisioning this correctly. My 10th grader is currently taking Rhetoric I with Mr. Hummel. The kids do share their work in the online environment and comment on their classmates' writings. However, Mr. Hummel is actively involved in the critiques, and my son has gotten a lot out of the weekly discussions. My son incorporates the feedback/suggestions he receives when working on the next assignment. My kids have taken asynchronous writing/literature classes through both CTY and PA Homeschoolers. In every class, they were required to post comments on their peers' written submissions. Imo, my son has gotten way more out of the live classroom interactions in the Rhetoric I class than was possible in the asynchronous setting. Fwiw, I was thrilled when I saw that Mr. Hummel will be teaching the Rhetoric II class next year. Rhetoric I has been, by far, my son's favorite class ever. Imo, I would not sign a middle schooler up for the Rhetoric sequence as I think a student will get much more out of the class when he is more mature.

My kids also have a part of their programs that they do with my husband. The kids keep a log, and the advisor validates it.

:iagree: While I am sure that many of the 60+ colleges your daughter applied to did not require anything beyond submitting the Common Application, that would not be the case with the highly selective colleges your daughter applied to as those require multiple supplemental essays. Maybe your daughter should reread the supplemental essays she wrote for the highly selective schools that accepted her to see if she still feels the same way today about the school and its fit as she did when she wrote the essays.

"The U.S. has a math problem. Despite all the time, energy and money the country has thrown into finding better ways to teach the subject, American children keep scoring poorly and arriving at college woefully unprepared. Just as bad, if not worse, too many students think they hate math. I propose a solution: Stop requiring everyone to take math in school." I propose a different solution: Let's hire teachers proficient in math to teach our elementary aged students.

:iagree: There also seems to be a blurring of lines here between athletic scholarships and need-based aid. There is not as much money for athletes as some seem to think. The odds of getting merit money for high grades and test scores are exponentially higher than the odds of getting money as a recruited athlete.

Imo, I would not use AoPS with a student that was struggling with Alg. I. If you do decide to go with AoPS, I would start in the 2nd half of the Introduction to Algebra book since that book covers most of the topics in an Algebra II class as well as the Algebra I topics. Good luck!

My son's diploma arrived in the mail last week from homeschooldiploma.com. Like G5052, I was also very happy with the quality.

When is the ACT changing?

We do our own thing for some subjects and outsource other subjects.

The odds are definitely better in the ED round, but that statistic is misleading. The odds are better in the ED round because many of the kids in the ED round fall into one of the special admit categories - legacy or athlete. In order to use the legacy card, many schools require the student to apply ED. It is very common for athletes to commit to an Ivy or Stanford months before the start of senior year. The athletes have already gone through a pre-read with admissions and been given their financial aid numbers. In order to ensure acceptance, they must apply ED, but that is just a formality as their acceptance is already a foregone conclusion. So while the odds may look better if one applies ED, the "hooked" applicants are the reason for higher acceptance percentage in the ED round vs the Regular round.

We have a similar situation. My kids save their records of attendance, and their mentor has been the one that signs the form that is submitted to the Congressional Medal folks.

I wouldn't let the lack of homeschool groups discourage you. Homeschooling is not common in my area. My kids have never been involved in any activities exclusive to homeschoolers, but they still have a lot of friends through their extracurricular activities and are very happy homeschooling high school. Good luck with your decision.

This just in from CNN: The NCAA reports: "It's not our job to ensure quality education." http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/01/sport/ncaa-response-to-lawsuit/ In other breaking news: A team of scientist has just released a study that contends that the element Oxygen is vital for life as we know it on planet Earth.

Just for future reference, which colleges were giving away free chocolate?

The current SAT is incapable of discerning the top math students. As a result, many of the top schools ask students to also submit an SAT II Math score. If the reading section on the new SAT is not capable of discerning the top percentiles, I would not be surprised to see colleges begin asking students to submit an SAT II Literature score as well.

My guess is that the test will no longer separate out the top 1% and careless mistakes on the new test will be even more costly than they are now on the current SAT.

:hurray: :party: :hurray: