Clinical strength Gillette is the only thing that works for my teen. It was recommended by a fellow football player's mom. Cathy

I found it very easy to use as well as thorough. So yes, I'd say it is everything you are looking for. I think we only had to print out a page or two at the end. Cathy

My oldest used it a couple of years ago, and my middle child finished the online part of it just this week. We thought it was very good. I have recommended it to others, and plan to use it for my youngest. Let me know if you have specific questions. Cathy

When my dd visited Texas A&M last year, one of the tour leaders recommended not taking more than 27 hours through dual enrollment because that would cause the student to have to declare a major almost immediately. The implication is that they not only accept dual credits, but that there is no limit to the number they will accept. Hope this helps, Cathy

I agree with all the things the other posters have said. The one that resonates the most with me is to find things that your student likes to do and use those as opportunities for leadership. My dd taught a speech class at our co-op, had a summer job with a mentally handicapped teen, and had a job at our local community college for three semesters as a supplemental instructor. She also formed a homeschool cheerleading squad for a six-man homeschool football team. All of these experiences were unforeseeable her sophomore year, yet the opportunities came and she grew from them, and later was able write about them in her college essays and scholarship applications. Good test scores are also very important. DD's college awarded her $4000 per year for her ACT score. She's going to a state school, and chose the one she did because she knew she would get more financial aid from it rather than the more prestigious state school where she had also been accepted. She will be in the honors college and live in the honors dorm, and is very comfortable with this choice. After adding in her academic/leadership scholarship that she also received, she should make it through college with very little if any debt. Cathy

For my oldest, it was physics--I let her take Conceptual Physics rather than a more math-based course. She did so with the understanding that she would take her last high school science class at our local community college. She opted to take geology and loved it. My youngest will probably follow the same path since she is so much like my oldest. The middle one loves science, though. :) Health is the one subject all three kids do just to get done.

Great news! So happy for your dd!

My kids do that with health between their 8th and 9th grade years, but health is only a 1/2 credit class, so that experience may not be helpful to you. I do have one other experience, when my oldest took a government class at the community college over the summer. It was the only credit already given for her senior year when I sent her transcripts to the colleges at which she was applying. It was never questioned. I say go for it if you have the time and the kids don't threaten to rebel. :) Cathy

When my teen repeatedly used all the hot water, and when using a timer failed, we enforced a new rule: we had her stop up the tub before starting the shower. Then, after her shower was over, she had to remove all the water from the tub using a five gallon bucket. The water was carried outside and poured on the flower beds. After a week of carrying several bucketfuls of water outside each day, her showers became remarkably shorter.

18 yo dd has worked as a U. S. history tutor at our local community college for the past three regular semesters. She had a job as a companion to a mentally handicapped teen last summer. 15 yo son just got a job as a lifeguard for this summer. Last summer he worked on a farm building fence, working cattle, and doing foundation work for a concrete slab.

I went through the same thing a couple of years ago, feeling like homeschooling had become the sum total of my life. Truly I was in a rut and needed something that was mine apart from homeschooling and parenting. After lots of prayer, two opportunities opened up: coaching a homeschool cheerleading squad for a six-man football team, and joining the pit crew of my brother's desert racing team. If someone had asked me what I expected as an answer to getting out of that rut, I never in a hundred years would have guessed these two activities. However, they both have been instrumental in bringing back my confidence and joy in life. So while you are looking for something to shake things up, don't forget to look outside the box as well as in it. And remember, sometimes a little change can make a big impact. The desert racing only happens a handful of weekends a year, but the excitement from those weekends lasts months. (For the record, I am the non-technical person on the pit crew. :) My job entails taking care of the driver and co-driver when the car pits, feeding the rest of the pit crew, and assembling the 30 foot antenna on the long chase races.)

I assign one lesson, odds only, over a two-day period. This works well because the first day involves reading over the lesson and so fewer problems are worked on that day. Cathy

My oldest is in the middle of applying. So far she has finished her application to Abilene Christian, and is working on essays and the common ap for Texas Tech and Texas A & M. She wants to get into the Honor's College at Texas Tech and major in English. She is feeling the pressure to get those applications in, work on raising her ACT score, and keep up with her DE classes and tutoring job at the community college. Tomorrow she starts co-op classes, as well. Add in cheerleading practice and Friday night football games, and her plate is very full. (She cheers for a homeschool 6-man tackle football team.) I've been pleasantly surprised at how she has assumed ownership of all of this. Last year I thought I would have to drag her through the applications kicking and screaming. Then we began visiting colleges and she found one she loved. Hooray! Cathy

Round steak~ smothered steak, swiss steak, chicken-fried steak, Chinese stir-fry (cut it into bite-size pieces, add marinade, and refreeze it without cooking it)

We used the 7th edition with great results.