Years ago I read an article on this topic but I must not have the right search terms because I'm having trouble pulling it up on Google. Basically it was a study that looked at errors when the price on the shelf doesn't match the price in the computer and found that the errors skew heavily in favor of stores. This resonated with me because I had repeated experience at Meijer with being overcharged for items and it didn't feel like random errors but that it was in the store's favor. I do think at any store it is a good idea to pay attention as they scan and to look over your receipt.

Huge help here too. I also might think about a punching bag for a kid who has a lot of "hitting" energy.

While I don't think it is the most fascinating thing ever, sometimes you are just happy you've found something that your teenager is equally happy to watch with you. That said if I never see people haggle over a gas or oil sign that would be just fine with me. But, overall, I really don't mind the show and I've found out about lots of kind of junk I never knew existed and about the whole culture of collector guys who have outbuildings full of stuff they've picked up over the years.

I had a gold station wagon. I really didn't want to buy that color. It turns out gold is great for not showing dirt and it doesn't get too hot in the sun. It was also easy to find in a parking lot because it is a less common color. It still is not one of my first choices but it was easy to live with.

I would suggest they each keep a portfolio of their work from these previous classes and a copy of the syllabus. Then when you move they should set up to meet with a professor in the department - art or computer science and ask for advice. They may help them sign up for credit or offer an audit situation. There may be other opportunities such as conferences or workshops as well. I wouldn't sweat the ACT. If it ends up being a requirement there probably won't be a minimum score attached to take classes as a nondegree student.

My thought is that you keep track of work once it is high school level and then you sort it out as time goes on. Don't graduate her until she is ready. I work with many homeschoolers who end up with more years of high school level work and it works out just fine to present it on the transcript. This really doesn't cause a problem. One thing you want to keep an eye on is that the PSAT for National Merit occurs typically in junior year, so that's a point where you may want to start making some decisions.

No it doesn't look at all bad to have more high school work and in fact the students who are really competitive for scholarships or admissions at highly selective schools often have more on the transcript. It is not at all uncommon for students (public, private, and homeschooled) to have more than four years of core classes in their areas of strongest interest. Students may go on to do more upper level work such as AP or dual enrollment courses. Or, they may pick up additional skills such as a second foreign language or pursue an interest such as computer programming. If a student goes very far in a particular subject they may drop off some of the earlier courses. So, for example if a student takes through calc 2 they probably won't include algebra 1 on the high school transcript even if for some students it is a high school level course. Some students will finish some of their introductory college credits (through AP, dual enrollment or CLEP) while still enrolled in high school and that can be a strategy to cut back on college costs.

Yes, for sure check ebay. Many students get them and use them just a handful of times. We've never paid more than a 1/3 of the new price.

Genuine emotion tends to come through in student essays. If they don't care about the activity it tends to come through. It may not be obvious to parents, but it is tends to be pretty obvious to people who read a lot of student essays. That doesn't mean that every kid who gets into a highly selective school wrote a genuine or deep essay, they may have been accepted for other reasons. It is to say that real emotion tends to come through in essays so it is never a good idea to try to contrive to make your child look like something they aren't. The best essays often aren't about the big deep save the world experiences but instead about stuff the student actually cares about.

Do self-published novelists hire freelance editors? If you haven't already done so it may be good to try to look at job listings. Also, try to talk to employers in the field where you'd like to work and to employees who have the job you want to have.

Yes, that's it. It may not be of interest, but just an example of how picking up some technical skills may improve employment prospects.

Without knowing more about the specifics of your situation, here's my very general bit of advice. Publishing is a very difficult industry right now. If you are a person who can bring in some technical aspect that a lot of people don't have (computer science skills, instructional design, etc.) you may have better prospects.

Glad you were on the ball. We have a similar system with homeschoolers in Kentucky. Students who attend public high school automatically appear in the state system. For homeschoolers colleges try to catch it and submit it but it is hit and miss. It is worth a lot less money here and while colleges try to catch it and submit it I'm sure there are homeschoolers who miss out and probably never realize it. That's a shame because while it isn't a lot of money it is without a lot of restrictions so even for kids with full scholarships it can be a nice add on for books.

Okay, without knowing her full situation I'll toss out a few general ideas that may be of some help. 1. If she attends a traditional school (not homeschooled) she could consider test optional colleges. http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional 2.Look at the average test scores for schools she might be interested in. You may have already done this, but just mentioning this in case it helps someone else. Sometimes parents overestimate the scores it takes to be competitive. 3. Look at Colleges that Change Lives type of liberal arts colleges. I have worked with a number of "uneven" or "lopsided" kids - such as high verbal and low math, and some schools are very open to that profile. Not every kid needs to be strong across the board. I worked with a student last year who had a 15 on her first math ACT and she ended up being accepted with scholarships to 7 of the 9 colleges she applied to and these were good schools. She had great extracurriculars and wrote fantastic essays. Plenty of people in admissions aren't good at math... there are schools who can understand not every kid is even in everything. 4. Keep it in perspective. Test scores are ONE thing admissions considers. They aren't the only thing and in fact they aren't the most important thing. Every year college admissions offices are surveyed and every year they say grades and strength of curriculum are the most important factors considered. 5. Try a sample SAT if she hasn't already done so. Some kids do better on the other test and maybe she's one of them. The ACT tends to favor students who work quickly. The SAT doesn't have science so she wouldn't have to worry about that. Overall, just want to say hang in there. This is a frustrating thing but it is a blip in the scheme of her life and it will work out.

Thank you for posting. I hope they make a speedy recovery. This texting in the car nonsense has got to stop!

Many classics departments are hurting for students. So particularly if your student wants to continue to study Latin at some colleges that can be an asset.

When I read your post I thought I bet he's around 14 or 15. In other words, yes, I think this is a not that uncommon phase. My approach would be to acknowledge it is important to him and support him in getting it taken care of.... but not to go way out of my way to feed into it.

Many schools you will just be submitting a PDF anyway. As a counselor I see lots of public, private and homeschool transcripts. Public and private transcripts are simple, no fancy fonts, no colors, not a lot of different point sizes. It should be about including the necessary information in an easy to read layout. You should know that if you are submitting on paper it will often be scanned and viewed on the screen. Some schools also work from the transcript to fill out their own form and calculate a new GPA. Embossing, fancy flecked paper, lots of fonts, fancy folders, etc. just get in the way. The most professional presentation is really simple. I'm also a fan of clear labeling and appreciate it if "homeschool" is included in the name of the school. Sometimes when homeschool isn't included it creates a hassle for financial aid with processing. At our state university if your homeschool is named something like Pine Street Academy financial aid assumes the school has submitted your paperwork for the scholarships that come directly from the state. If it is called Pine Street Homeschool Academy they know they need to do the extra step. That's not to say it is a disaster if it doesn't say homeschool, but I personally don't see any advantage in trying to make your homeschool look like a traditional private school. Own your difference and make the most of it.

Sigh... on the fonts. I guess we shouldn't be surprised that people who steal papers are lazy. On more than one occasion when I've suspected plagiarism, it was very obvious after talking to the student not only did they not write the paper they hadn't bothered to take ten minutes to even read it before they turned it in. Now that's lazy!

Not commenting on the particulars of anyone's situation because it is complex and there are many different factors that can happen. But, I did want to mention that in some of the situations I've seen where students transferred for financial reasons it isn't something I would personally consider a big surprise. Quite a lot of families go on the "wing and a prayer" approach to college financing. They know they only have savings for the first year or two at the higher priced option but it is where their student really wants to go and they don't want to say no so they figure after that somehow it will work out. Maybe they think their earnings will go up. Or maybe the student will find scholarships. Or, maybe once they don't have savings they will get more financial aid. "Whatever happens honey we'll work it out..." If you are a person who plans it can be hard to wrap your head around, but what I just described is really, really common for families to have no idea how they will pay past the first year or two. Also, sometimes people say the reason is financial because it is the quick and easy thing to say. Better than to say "he got homesick and wanted to be by his girlfriend" or "her grades were only so-so and we didn't want to pay more that school if she doesn't love it" or "we didn't like the choices he was making and thought he wasn't responsible enough to be away from home" stuff like that. I don't want students to be afraid to go out of state thinking that financial or merit offers are random. There is a lot that can be done to research the typical behavior of the financial aid office at the school and understand the conditions of the merit award and make sure they are realistic.

The numbers are on absolutely on track with that we see locally at our community college. Students are test in reading, writing, and math placement. The vast majority need math remediation and many need reading and writing remediation. They are placed into "developmental" courses. One thing a lot of people don't understand is that this has HUGE implications for student's chance of completing a degree. It isn't just that they need to take a single remedial course. For some students they need to take three math classes before they can even attempt a math course that will be required for their degree! They may need two or three English courses before they can take first year comp. Financial aid can be used toward remedial/developmental courses, but these courses don't help a student earn credits for their degree. So, what happens, again and again is that students hit up credit maximums and can't afford to finish their degrees. Some of these students graduated from high school with mostly As and Bs and didn't have any idea how far they were off being college ready. The chance of completing the degree goes down with each subject that requires remediation. Even for the students who are much better off and are going to the four year institution, needing math remediation can have pretty far reaching implications. It isn't just one extra math course, but it can throw a wrench in the whole plan because the math course may be a prerequisite for econ or chemistry or another courses the student might want to take the first year. Often this has students switching out their major to something less challenging and that's unfortunate.

I will I've been known to use a timer on myself - remember that from the Fly Lady. Set the timer for 15 minutes and get moving. Even though I know it won't take that long and I will feel better once it is done, I still struggle to get started sometimes too.

One thing that was helpful here especially ages 6-8 was providing something to think about. Kid's tree and bird identification guides that could easily be carried on walks provided some interest as well as back and forth story telling on walks. Having something to engage the mind can help make distract and build tolerance for some of the sensory stuff.

Few courses in our local public high schools (which are in many respects better than the national average) even have textbooks!

I agree parents need to understand that they aren't going to be able to pick and choose assignments and that it isn't a tutoring or babysitting service. Students need to be prepared to be responsible and independent. However I hate for anyone to get the impression that college is one gigantic R or X rated experience. In many years of dual enrollment and early college, we ran into nothing in the way of objectionable content at all. That said, we were very careful with course planning and particularly during the younger years avoided some courses that we knew might be problematic - such as psychology and creative writing or speech with peer grading. There is usually some degree of choice in the course options the student selects and students can think about a work around - for example taking AP psychology or CLEP psychology if the on campus course looks like the content will be age inappropriate. It can be a good idea ahead of time to visit the professor's website, look at a syllabus, and visit the bookstore to look at books. My bigger concern for dual enrollment is that parents really understand college grades are forever so the student really needs to be ready. Sometimes people opt for dual enrollment without understanding the implications of poor grades. The fact that your student took the course at a younger age isn't considered at all. The grade is the grade so enroll them when they are ready to pull good grades.