A few I've enjoyed. The Endless Steppe - Esther Hautzig When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbitt The Children of Battleship Row by Joan Zuber Earle (I think this is one of the best Pearl Harbor books; she lived on Ford Island. ) Not fiction but very engaging- Pegasus Bridge by Stephen Ambrose.

I guess in part I need to figure out what I'm trying to convey. I would like them to know that this is a kid who can spend ten weeks studying AP Comp Govt - one month of it while traveling cross country and one month of it living in a hotel room, and still get a 4 on the exam. I'd like them to know how fearless and flexible he is, willing to pack up and start over again and again. I'd like them to know that he got up for 0430 swim practices without needing to be nagged and that he swims 2 mile open ocean races for fun. He's not one to be particularly candid or effusive on paper. I think there will be a lot about him that doesn't come through. I may need to just lock myself in the office and write and write until I manage to convey some of this.

Same here. I would also find a way after the exam to express my frustration to the district.

It might partly help to think about it not as retaking a math he's already done, but as spending the time needed to master the material. I've seen postings from many people here that much of what gave their kids problems in higher math was an unsound foundation in algebra and that a lot of what their kids struggled with in algebra were the more demanding arithmetic skills like fractions, decimals and things like multiplying a(x+2) = ax + 2a So while the name you are using for this year and next year may be the same, if he is still mastering material, then he is still mastering it. And if this year builds a foundation for further coursework, then it isn't wasted. Algebra in 9th isn't the end of the world, especially if the student is in a position to do well in that algebra course (rather than having a frail foundation and sinking once they hit algebra 2). If you both commit to a 90 min block of math each day, fill it with solid time, then put the books away, would that help? The next day, start with the next problem and go for another 90 min. Some days that might mean that he does 15 problems from the previous lesson and 30-60 min working on the next lesson. What if he reads the lesson in the evening, but doesn't try to work any of the problems until class time the next day? I will encourage you that 9th grade was tough for two of my kids. It was an emotionally tiring time for all of us, and that was a year that we weren't moving. Patience and persistence got us through. I did (and do) end up sitting right with my kid during most of algebra, doing the problems with them. (I'm on my second trip through our current book.) We didn't use Saxon for algebra, because the spiral had started to be an issue for my kids. So I'm not saying you absolutely need to stick with Saxon. But for most kids, algebra is more of a mental stretch than early grade math was. I think my kids felt as worn out as they do after a hard workout. But they are also building math understanding, in the same way they build physical conditioning. FWIW, reading the Danica McKellar like Math Doesn't Suck and Eat my Math were also helpful for giving a completely different explanation of things. Most libraries seem to have at least the earlier books of this series.

This is one of the quandaries for military kids in general (and other global nomads and third culture kids). Would a description of their senior year school represent them? Does the community demographic for a school show what the student has had access to or what they have overcome or a bit of each?

I have been there, done that with the moving. Lived with family, spent a month on the road, lived in hotels and temp housing. It's definitely draining. My tactic is to try to get as much school done as possible when we can, because I know that days when we are actively unpacking will not be school days. I would encourage you to try to do all 30 problems. Here is my reasoning. Saxon is written specifically as a spiral, in which past lessons are reviewed and reinforced in the end of lesson problems. What isn't always evident is that the review often also stretches the student into making more connections that they build on when the concept is explicitly taught again. If you are skipping problems, it is easy to miss the problem in which something is reviewed (maybe for the only time in several lessons) or in which it is expanded upon. We were having some problems with Saxon 8/7 and Algebra 1/2. I had been doing just half the problems. I went back to doing the beginning of lesson review and warm-ups and all of the problems. After about a month of diligently doing it all (even if it took over an hour per math lesson), the boys were actually getting through a lesson faster than when we'd only been doing half. Sometimes I also played around with doing the warmups right around breakfast and then the actual lesson an hour later, just so if felt like there wasn't so much sitting and doing math. (My current algebra kid likes using a white board for parts of his lesson. ) There is a lot of review at the beginning of the Saxon books we used. But the most gentle introduction of a new concept is probably going to be when it is first introduced. So you might consider doing more of the end of the book and then going quickly through the review sections at the beginning of the new book. (Or that might not matter if you're not doing another Saxon book.) How long do you do math each day? We regularly go over an hour. I'd say 90 min would be a short math lesson. My kids doing pre-calc often spend 2+ hours a day on homework.

I'm trying to complete my school profile. I'm stuck on what to include for local community demographics. We moved twice during high school. We were in one area for three years (grades 8-spring of 10th), one state for 8 months ( end of 10th - Christmas of 11) and then to the third state (spring of 11 - all of senior year [i hope]). What would you include about the communities that you think would be meaningful? All areas were ethnically and culturally diverse. First place was higher income and much more educated. Current place is very diverse ethnically and has a generally poor school system. Just describing one area seems inadequate, while detailing all three gets long and unwieldy. In 2014 we spent 2.5 months on the road and in a hotel for one move and another 2 months in temp quarters at the beginning of 2015. I think that might be more significant but I don't really know how to express it. Tell me what you would want to know from a school profile.

Btw I get the hormone issue with teens. I still think that a school year is enough time to work through the algebra book. I found it helpful to be close at hand during math lessons and to inspect what was reported at complete.

Ds - I would encourage him to work at a steady pace that gets him through the whole algebra 1 book in one year. That should be a slow and steady pace that is achievable since the book is designed as a one year book. Dd - I don't really understand the testing out or waiting for books details, but I would not have her take a break until Nov. at our house Nov and Dec get busy and have enough breaks with holidays. It would be a challenge to start a new core subject then. And if you will have her testing through the new book then what she learns in the Saxon book should be quite helpful. Fwiw although the last couple lessons in Saxon seemed to be things we could skip, I wonder if stopping at lesson 100 creates a situation where you are missing several weeks worth of meaty lessons.

If you can find one for the combined volume (Structure Sound and Sense) won't it have most of what you'd need for Story and Structure?

Our cc bookstore is helpful in finding cheaper options. Their website has links to sites with less expensive used copies. The syllabus ds brought home from English suggested just using the access code and etext if wanted. The store does sell the access code alone. I was thrilled that ds 2 could use the same PreCalc book as ds 1.

People say thoughtless and poorly thought out stuff all the time. When we had short notice orders to move I got a lot of I don't know how you do it, but then you must be good at moving comments. I was thinking that if someone else suggested it wasn't as hard for doing it often I might lose it. I'm sure they were trying to commiserate but it felt annoying instead. Of course kids who go to college and go wild or fail stick in the mind. And students often need to learn how to juggle a lot. Homeschoolers aren't unique in that.

Ack. That would be ire inducing. One of the Academies is erratic about actually saving when ds hits save.

Possible responses That's why Daddy has me looking at convent schools. I'm hoping for a Beer Pong scholarship.

I did find it interesting that Carnegie Mellon was content to evaluate based on my transcript, his test scores, dual enrollment grades and AP exam results without needing to resort to a GED. Not to imply that he's a shoe in for CMU, because it is a long shot, even with his being in with the average enrolled student as far as scores goes. But at least in my mind they are evaluating things that relate to readiness for college work.

Did she give the other teen what for? To paraphrase a favorite line from Harry Potter: "I don't me to be rude . . ." "And yet, accidental rudeness happens quite frequently." Alas, there isn't a vaccination for rudeness.

I do understand. I taught an intro to lit class in coop and it was very frustrating to have a couple students who just didn't do assignments. Not only struggling with writing papers, but also not doing smaller exercises that were designed to equip them for larger assignments. Sorry you've had trouble with other families in the past. In a way I think everyone is better off to have the class just be quite clear up front. My intro to lit class had Mockingbird and Jane Eyre in it. I don't know if that turned anyone off. I didn't get any complaints from students who were actually in the class (or their parents). And of course, Mockingbird doesn't have a rape, which is part of the point of the story. When I taught an AP Government class to the same cadre of families, I was really upfront about what the reading level of the class would be. I didn't want to be frustrated by non-workers and I didn't want others frustrated that the class was more than they wanted to spend time on. On the other hand, there were also families in that same church based coop who were happy readers of Harry Potter and watchers of Firefly and Star Wars. So I'd probably still advertise. Even if you only get 1-2 more students from that group, it's 1-2 you wouldn't have if you don't ask. Have you considered doing it afterschool, evenings or on Sunday and advertising through the local library?

I understand that there is often flexibility. So far the email exchanges have been pretty positive, though somewhat confusing. For example, one person wasn't aware of any change in state homeschooling law. I tried to be positive and explain why a GED was a potential negative and why I would be hesitant to suggest that my kid take one just to apply to one college. Unfortunately their policy revision will be out sometime in late August (or later). That is well after when he needs to submit his NROTC application to be looked at on the first board. So it will be on the late end of things for him.

I think you have two paths you could go down. 1) Pick the books you want to go through with your dd. Plan a regular discussion group around those books. Put out a schedule. You may find like minded individuals if you cast your net widely. Do cast your net through the religious groups too. Don't assume that you can predict someone's reading habits or academic goals by their church or coop affiliations. You would need to be the driving force behind the schedule and the planning. You might get a good group of interested participants (especially if there is good food and company as well as discussion). But you might also have other families who sign on but don't make the group a priority. 2) To attract more people and get more emotional/intellectual buy in, be more flexible on what the group gets together to discuss. The same way that you want your time in the group to be meaningful for your dd, other families may want reading choices to fit their kids' personalities and academic goals. Our local adult ladies' book club has the location change monthly; the hostess picks the book for the month. I've read several that I never would have picked up on my own. Even if other families give input on the books, there may not be a prioritization from others. Book clubs can be sort of ticklish things. I had a month when I hosted and only three women came (one of whom hadn't read the book - which was one of my lifetime favorites). It was a summer meeting and the group was just getting off the ground. I wish there had been others there, but I chose to think of it as a wonderful evening tea with dear friends rather than a big bookclub that not many showed up to. We encourage people to come, even if they didn't read/finish the book. For our purposes, companionship and building the habit of attendance means more than just having people who finished reading. Sometimes having someone try to summarize the book to non-readers is a good exercise in isolating the significant parts of the book. I go even when I didn't enjoy the book. Some of the most rewarding conversations have been on books I didn't like, especially when I could listen to others explain why that particular book touched them deeply. Sometimes a book that moves people a lot is hard to discuss. We did Station Eleven recently and had a pretty flat discussion, even though it was an engaging and powerful story. I think it was just hard to reduce it to book club discussion level. Food, food, food. It gives people something to look forward to, something to be communal about. And it's tasty and reinforces happy feelings about book club. Have fun. I love my bookclub with a strong passion.

Maryalice Since you are local and have a background in the PA law you might want to reach out to them with suggestions for model language or practices. I'm not sure if my son will be applying and if he did it would be as an out of state student. If he doesn't apply I will not be following up with Drexel.

Would it be an option to take courses that would transfer into a standard education degree with the idea of getting two degrees or a dual major. Thinking this could lead to a standard teaching license as well as the special ed. For example our cc has math for elementary teachers. When I got my MS Ed I had to go back and do an earth science undergrad course just so I'd have science courses that were distributed correctly to support my middle school endorsement. Are there early childhood education courses that would be of value? But it would all depend on what works with her goals. Not every course of value will transfer. My son expects to take calculus at the CC and again at the Uni. But the experience will help him with his STEM degree. On the actual question I think you could reassign her grades or you could simply graduate her early.

Maybe Brother Caedfael mysteries by Ellis Peters.

We did a glorious 18 month study that covered 1850-Cold War. It integrated US history and world history. We mostly used memoirs, novels and secondary histories (like Battle Cry of Freedom) along with a massive number of Teaching Company lectures (bought several and our library had a lot). When I needed them to read a chapter of a textbook for background, we used Kagan's Western Heritage or Spielvogel's Western Civilization.

My ds's college uses gmail to drive their college email accounts. So we were able to set up automatic forwarding to their regular email accounts. Helps prevent missing emails.

I've written three AP syllabuses that have been approved by College Board. One son also did the Amplify/Edhesive AP Computer Science course online last year. I skimmed through the GVL AP Comp Gov pages. I'm sure that I'm missing some key parts of their program (like where you access the etext), but I would not use it to prepare for the AP Comp Gov exam. The activities are pretty juvenile, with drag and drop sorting activities, flashcards and crosswords. AP is supposed to be a college level course. Scoring criteria for the syllabus include items like repeated exposure to free response questions (which for Comp Gov are short paragraphs, frequently comparing how two countries deal with a topic) and AP style multiple choice. I don't see questions like this on the site. Comp Gov can be a one semester course. But I don't think the GVL site would help a student who was starting from scratch with the subject. ETA: It looks like the eText is available upon enrollment. I'm still wondering what you actually get access to when you enroll. It seems that the cost varies between free to the student (paid through a state pot of money) to $400 or more. For that cost, I would expect some weekly interaction with a live teacher as well as solid feedback on assignments. (This is particularly important with AP courses that require a strong free response section.) For what it's worth, anyone can access the sample syllabuses on the College Board website. In fact if you decide you want to adopt them for your own use, that can be the basis of having your course approved by College Board. (I've usually done quite a bit more work on mine, but I do keep looking at the samples as a reminder of how little they might have to say.)