So many scholarships want test scores, we thought it was worthwhile to do them anyway.

Both of my kids’ schools ended up doing disbursements based on FAFSA, and didn’t require applications. However, both schools made applications for additional funds available based on certain criteria for students who experienced additional need.

Great update, I hope he has a great first year!

If you go with AAS, I might try 2 lesson times instead of grouping them all together. Put the 3rd grader with the one he or she is closest to (2nd or 4th) or the one that student might work the best with. Sometimes a 1-year age gap is easier to bridge than 2 years, though I know people that would group them all together too. Here's more on teaching students together--that might help as you think through what will work for you.

Bless them, this is so heartening!

It's a "schwa" sound--here's more info if they are interested!

The levels don't correlate to specific grades, because the order of the words in AAR is not “grade-level” order. All About Reading groups words in a logical manner based on similar rules or patterns regardless of their supposed grade level. At the end of Level 4, students have the phonics and word attack skills necessary to sound out high school level words, though they may not know the meaning of all higher level words. (Word attack skills include things like dividing words into syllables, making analogies to other words, sounding out the word with the accent on different word parts, recognizing affixes, etc…) That doesn't mean a 3rd or 4th grader is ready to read high school level literature of course! But they are generally ready to read anything that's age-appropriate. Most of the stories in AAR 4 are written at a 5th-7th grade level, and many elementary students will test somewhere in that range (depending on their vocabulary knowledge, their fluency with the AAR 4 materials, etc.) Here's more information on What Happens after All About Reading. Marie has tons of chapter book reviews, magazine reviews & other reading ideas for after AAR. HTH some!

I will second having him closer by if you can. It is so nice that my son’s school is only an hour away. It makes it really easy to do a weekend! When my daughter goes, she will be three hours away. Still doable, but quite a bit more driving, especially if we have to be the ones to go get her! That’s 12 hours of driving instead of only 4!

I would take a closer look at the requirements for each one. When I was looking, back when my son had interest in this area, all the CS degrees required higher level math, so a person was at least halfway or more to meeting the BS requirements anyway. To do that but go with a BA and have to also do four semesters of foreign language seems like it would actually cut into the amount of electives a student could take. Either way though, he should have plenty of room to take philosophy and other courses, so don’t let that determine whether he does BS or BA. Things do vary a lot by school though so you may want to take a look at the degree paths offered by his top two or three favorite schools. See which ones might be the best fit for him that way. I hope you can get the scholarship thing figured out. That sounds very frustrating after finding out that he won!

I agree, he should go with the BS for a computer science major. He can totally take philosophy and other liberal arts classes. The main difference with the BA is that he would take less math and he would have to take foreign language. But both are going to give him room to take elective courses. If he’s ready and really just wants to go on to a four year school, I would try to narrow down from the ones he has already applied to and see if he can choose one. Sorry it’s a tough year to choose!

My son is a media studies major, which involves in class labs and working with the schools cameras and specialized software, and often teamwork. It was really difficult to have a class like that go to online only this spring. I think he would be disappointed if it was online again in the fall and might opt for a different class instead. I was waiting to discuss that with him until finals were over, but it’s definitely a consideration.

So glad it turned out OK! I hope you were all able to enjoy the vacation. Online learning can be such a difficult thing for some students, and I’m glad he was able to maintain his b.

Do you have their course catalog? Ours lists specifically what does and doesn’t count. I wonder if more would count if he did an AS instead of AA—Does he need the degree to be AA? If not, maybe check it the other way.

The problem with that though is what if two teachers move a test? They could then conflict with each other. Or what if the student already had a test then? There’s a reason that there is a schedule! I’ve actually never heard of a finals exam test time being moved. I’ve heard of instructors doing them earlier, like in class the week before finals week, but never later, and not announcing it at the last minute like this one did. I really don’t see how this is allowable, though I agree that of course the student really has no choice but to do it when asked, and that one just has to make the best of the situation.

Neither of my kids schools have posted details about dispersement yet—one says it is still looking into what to use for criteria. I’m hoping they’ll get some help, especially my dd who lost her student-worker job, but we’ll see. Jobs this summer will be tricky to come by... so much up in the air! Hopefully your dd gets help.

I think it looks just fine, but I also think a better question is, what is reasonable for your son? I had struggling writers, so each year I evaluated where we were and how I could gently nudge them up to the next steps of writing at a pace that worked for them. Sometimes you have to put "grade level" aside for a time as you scaffold them, and that's okay. We used copywork extensively for teaching grammar and sentence structure (and I also had them copy work I scribed for them as part of a "partnership writing" phase)--so I agree that copywork can be used for more than handwriting practice with some focused attention. Here are some posts on my blog that you might find helpful as you evaluate what he's been doing and what might be a good next step for him. Reluctant Writers - Part 1 6 Writing Mistakes - Reluctant Writers Part 2 Copywork and Dictation: Teaching Mechanics Copywork and Dictation: Teaching Literary Elements HTH some!

There are also extensive samples online--maybe looking inside would help you decide?

yes, 20 minutes is the recommendation, but you can go a bit shorter if you have a young student--adjust it to your child's needs. You can break the lesson up over as many or as few days as needed--here's an example of a "typical" day and week. HTH some! Have fun in Kindergarten, such a fun year with little ones!

My son's school is waiting to decide. I hope they wait until July also. Our “ Peak” was just moved to mid May, so it looks like a while before the stay at home order will be lifted here. I hope they give it as much time as they are able before deciding.

No, dorms are an artificial environment. Not that a student can’t gain some positive skills there, just that dorms don’t replicate general adult daily living. Living away from home in some way does have positives when a student is ready. My kids start at the cc and then transfer. So they get an independent experience (dorm or apartment) at some point.

One thing I would say is that you don’t have to make a decision now for all four years. He could commute the first semester or the first year and live in the dorms after that.

I understand! Mine started at the cc for just this reason. One didn’t decide, got a liberal arts associates degree and took a gap year before deciding. And one switched from pre-nursing to early childhood education—some very different requirements that lengthened the time, but at cc prices and while living at home. We just can’t afford for them to transfer until they have a solid plan. Each family has to look at what’s reasonable for them.

Yes, at my son’s school laundry, vending machines, and even some local restaurants that aren’t run by the school can all take the student ID. The kids choose how much money they want in school dollars, and use their ID just like a debit card. Is there a bus system at your daughter school? Usually there’s a way for kids to get to grocery or to Walmart and places like that where they can shop and get some cash back.

Done!

Does the entertainment budget include cable and Internet and eating out? And on the question of how much goes for streaming services, does she mean just add-on services like CBS All Access, or does she also want money for cable in there?