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I may be wrong, but....I think it is referring to some evidence that some kids who are forced to switch hands then develop other problems. I believe I've heard this as a possible link to some people who stutter.

I've had a 3 hole punch for years. Poor thing was rarely used. This year I decided to actually put all my random papers into binders. It's much better than my old folder system! (I was afraid that a hole punch might accidentally remove something very important from the paper):001_huh:

Once I put all my dd's piles of random stuff away. It. actually. stays. put. away. That makes me sad.

If it's a private class, that's a great price. It's a reasonable price for a group class. Either way, I would be all over that & begging for more than 1x/week.

At 10 or 11 yo, my ds was told by one orthodontist (who had a professional relationship with our pediatric dentist) that he would need them immediately. We sought a second opinion, and were told he may never need them at all. A year or two later we had a follow up with the second orthodontist and, nope he did not need them. As he grew, the potential issue became a non-issue. He could have opted for them for minor cosmetic issues, but they were not needed. When I was younger, I was told that I could get them to straighten my bottom teeth. I didn't really care then, and still don't now.

However, remember that the poll doesn't specify how many kids are allowed into the FL classes. I chose the option that FL is offered in elementary, junior, and high school. BUT, it is only available to approximately 50 out of 1150 kids per grade in K-7 (a dual immersion program). 8th Grade it is available only to those with above average reading scores. 9th-12th graders must use one of their scarce elective credits. Yeah, it's offered. But the school district makes it darn hard to access.

nm

Check the newspaper/craigslist and drive by other rentals in the area. That is how you can determine its true market value.

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Here is what I have/had paid for homeschool classes: Private Guitar Lessons: $15/half-hour. Group Food Management (cooking & science) class: $10 for 2 hours with 3-4 per class. Private Spanish Tutor: $30/hour. Group Mandarin Chinese: Approx. $10/hour with 3 per class. I think you would want to set it up by sessions - 4 weeks / 6 weeks, etc. A weekly commitment sounds great for the parent, but a huge hassle for the teacher.

Um, wow, I sure have learned a lot on this thread. DS is not circ'd. I just didn't see the overwhelming need for it. Still don't. He can choose to have it done as an adult. I never had a doctor tell me to pull, tug, retract, clean extra, or treat *it* in any manner. Not one doctor ever discussed DS's non-circ'd condition with me at all. He's now a teenager & never had an issue.

We had dabbled a bit in TT, but for several reasons I did not think it was a good program for DD. At the time she would have been doing TT 7, she placed into CLE 5. My DD also needs constant review, and CLE has been providing that. There is not as much conceptual teaching as I would like (but it does have more than TT), so I provide that to her. Overall, I have been very happy with CLE. I sometimes expand on their instructions, but I would be doing that with any math curriculum.

:D Too funny!

I just shed a few tears, too. What a special bond to have with her cat.:grouphug:

Homework load varies widely depending on the level of classes. AP classes could be 1+ hour each per day. My dd had an AP class her senior year that required 2-3 hours per night. (She dropped it at semester). Non-AP classes are anywhere from no homework - 20 minutes each per day on average. Many college bound students will have 1-4 AP's per year.

Cool. This is the first I have heard about Udacity. Thanks for posting.

I forgot another district requirement, 1 year of computer applications. Unless you have had a kid go all the way through our public high school, you don't realize how many constraints are placed on their "electives." So, actual district requirements are: Math (3) English (4) Science (2) History (3) Art (1) PE (2) Occupational Ed (1) Culminating Project (usually 2) Computer Applications (1) - (Can test out of this class) Above totals 19 credits. My college bound, public school kids will take 4 years of math and 4 years of science. That brings us to 22 credits. There are 6 periods/day for a total of 24 credits. Wow! Two whole credits left for foreign language or other individual interests. A few subjects can be taken at 0 hour, generally PE and Computer Applications. Of course, then you have very tired kiddos. Especially those with after school sports & activities. My DS is currently taking a district approved on-line PE class in order to free up room for foreign language. How absurd! His cross country and track coach, who also teaches science in the district, can't approve a PE waiver, but DS can submit running logs & take running quizes on-line for a teacher 1,000 miles away??

I guess it depends on the definition of "other incident." Do I think that Joe Paterno or Tiger Woods or ...... lost his prestige accidentally? No.

That's who popped into my head as well.

Here are our requirements: Math: State, 3 years...District, 3 years English: State, 3 years... District, 4 years Social Studies: State, 2.5 years...District, 3 years Science: State, 2 years... District, 2 years PE: State, 2 years (can waive).... District, 2 years (can not waive) Arts: State, 1 year.... District, 1 year Occupational Education: State, 1 year.... District, 1 year Electives: State, 5.5 years.... District, 5 years HOWEVER, some of the Electives must be used to satisfy the "Culminating Project" requirement. This is where "Fluff" classes really come to play. In our high school, the classes that are approved for Culminating Projects are a random smattering: Career & Consumer Connections Careers in Education Entrepreneurship Advanced Sports & Entertainment Marketing Horticulture Science Web Page Design Journalism Wellness For Life Shop, Design & Fabrication Leadership This class list varies from district to district, and even varies within the high schools in the same district. Making it worse, most of these above classes also have at least 1 year of prerequisites. So many students are spending 2 of their 5 elective credits on a required Culminating Project requirement. Also, they can't double dip: If one of these classes is also categorized as Occupation Education, it won't count to satisfy both Occ Ed and Culminating Project. As a home educated student receiving a home school diploma, we can satisfy these requirements however we see fit. The only required reporting we do is to notify our district of our intent to homeschool. The students are also required to annually take a standardized test of our choosing, but the results are not reported to anyone.

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I know, right? Shouldn't this be obvious? I am so glad that I don't have to go through this nonsense with my youngest, homeschooled, daughter. Who, OP, is 13yo and already has High School Spanish years 1, 2, and 3 completed with straight A's. Her classes were taught by prior public school teachers, who now are stay at home moms. She is also starting her 4th year of Mandarin, taught by a native speaker. How is this possible??? Through homeschooling. Not from the public school system.

Funding is not the issue for Spanish being slashed. It is an inadequate administration. The only "good" Spanish teacher retired last year. So, there may not be anyone left who could actually teach the kids at a higher level. Also, the administration frequently messes with the enrollment into various classes. This is done intentionally to force kids into classes they don't necessarily want, but the principal gets paid bonus (generally AP classes). We picked up my son's schedule and Spanish 3 was not on it. I asked the counselor, and she said that according to the computer system, he never enrolled in it last spring. I easily proved her wrong, because I had emailed her in the spring verifying his fall schedule, and yes, Spanish 3 was there. Although our school is a "top in the nation" according to AP tests taken, it is truly awful. As far as having enough credits available to take multiple languages: One of the biggest travesties right now is that all kids must take two years of physical education. This includes kids who participate in school sports year round. My sons is a multi sport varsity athlete for the school. He also plays in the highest club soccer available in the state year round. Up until a few years ago, our district let kids who participated in school sports waive p.e. A student could also waive p.e. if he had a rigorous course load and wanted to take additional math & science beyond the requirements. But, the p.e. teachers were unhappy because their class sizes went down and felt their jobs were threatened. These p.e. waivers are legal in our state, and most districts still allow them. Just not ours. There are also a multitude of other "fluff" classes that are required by either the state or the school district. My dd tried really hard to take two foreign languages in high school. The most she could do was 3.5 years of Spanish and 1 year of French. I suppose she could have dropped a year of math or science, to add an additional year of foreign language, but that really was her only option. There are just too many mandatory classes (art, pe, occupational education, etc.) that are required for a diploma.

K - 8th: Dual Immersion program offered. Spanish/English. HOWEVER, it is only for up to 50 students per grade. Our district has over 1,200 per grade, which leaves 1,150 kids per grade without this option. 8th: High School level, Year 1 Spanish is offered to those students with above average English reading scores 9th - 12th: There is supposed to be 5 years of Spanish, 4 years of German, and 4 years of French. HOWEVER, in my ds's high school (there are 3 in the district) we just learned that Spanish has been severely cut back this year. The highest level offered this year is just Year 3, and there is only 1 class of it, for a high school with total enrollment of 1,600 kids. I do not know if the German and French programs have been slashed, also. While it is technically possible to take more than one foreign language in high school, it is darn near impossible to fit them in your schedule due to all the other state/school district mandated requirements. Foreign Language is not required for a public school diploma. I'm guessing our district is around 30% hispanic. FWIW, one of the neighboring school districts offers Russian for 4 years. That school district also offers up to 3 choices (Spanish, French, German) for 8th graders. None offer Mandarin, but my dd13 is in her 4th year of studying it with a group of 3 homeschooled students and a native speaker who is originally from Taiwan.