This...I have a new job working in college admissions. From what I can tell, the reason for the request for the SS# is probably because that's the best way to keep track of the student's file. The SS# will be required to do the FAFSA and if there is a previous record without a SS it can get confusing. The school has a way around it if you don't provide, I'm pretty sure, but it does make their job easier.

My son did a class from Potter's School called Computer Aided Drafting & Design for Mechanical Engineering. When we then enrolled in an International School they counted it as a fine arts credit since it's primarily computer aided drawing.

It's so sad. We don't know many details because we are currently living on the opposite side of the world, but we stayed with this family for a few days last year when we were visiting the Chicago area. They are such a great family! It's hard to imagine how much their lives have changed! And sorry to be a downer to the original poster. This was just so unexpected so when I saw the post I couldn't help but say something of a warning.

We just found out this morning that a friend of ours drowned in Costa Rica this past week while on vacation with her husband and 3 young boys. She was in her early 40s, good health. After hearing that news and doing some google searches I learned that drownings due to riptides is somewhat common there on some of the beaches. Most people that go are fine, but be aware of possible riptides and swimming at beaches. I think there are often signs posted at the beaches that have riptides, but often there is no lifeguard. Not to say you shouldn't go....but be aware!

I'm in KC! I've only been to IKEA in Asia, where I normally live. So excited to go!

My ds has been very compliant...he's 14 now. His teeth didn't have major problems, but at last his appointment he was told that he's done a great job with the rubber bands and he should have about 2 months left! He'll have had his braces for almost exactly a year, and rubber bands for about 9 months of that.

I agree, except I haven't actually been to Phuket...just the other 3 places. I know that Koh Samui has a monsoon season that affects when the best time is to travel, so check when that is. We went to Krabi 13 years ago and absolutely loved it! Took a day trip to Phi Phi island from there and that was great too. I know it's much more developed now but the scenery and snorkeling were fabulous!

Just wanted to let everyone know that Homeschool Buyer's Co-op is currently running a groupbuy on Thinkwell. We've purchased Thinkwell math through them for the last 2 years and it's worked great, and the price was 50% of the normal price! One nice thing is that you can purchase it now, but you don't have to activate your Thinkwell class right away, so you can buy it now and activate it when you are ready and then you'll get a year of access at that time. We've been really happy with Thinkwell math. Ds started with it after finishing Singapore 6B. So far he's done 7th grade math, 8th grade math, and is taking his final for Algebra 1 this week. Thinkwell also has some other classes like Economics, College Biology, and some others. I encourage you to check it out! Here's the link to the Thinkwell groupbuy https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/thinkwell/?source=113689

Mrs. Thomas is fabulous. I don't have a single complaint about her. The only factor to consider with her is that she lives overseas, so sometimes classes are disrupted because of required travel to meetings in other countries, or internet problems, or other things like that that are unique because of overseas living. My son took English 1 with Mrs. Frederick. She was a good teacher, but my problem with her was that she teaches so many classes, that she doesn't really get to know the students as well. Also, she uses graders for a good part of her grading. That is fine, except sometimes we'd get a suggestion from her after the first draft, and then a contradictory one after the second draft. My son, whose favorite class is NOT English, would get frustrated by that. So, to sum it up, she's a great teacher, but I think she's stretched too thin. I'm not sure but I think Ms. Geno is new this year so you may not get any feedback about her.

We started with Thinkwell after finishing Singapore 6B with my son. He is bright in math, and concepts come very easily to him...he doesn't need a lot of explanation. He's finished 7th and 8th grade math, and is almost done with Algebra with Thinkwell. I think it's been a very good fit for us. He almost always does is math early in the homeschool day because it's one of his favorite subjects. The videos are fun and engaging...Prof. Berger is enthusiastic about math and passes that on to his students. I was a little unhappy that most of the exercises are multiple choice, as sometimes I catch my son estimating and choosing the answer rather than working out the whole problem, but then I discovered that each subchapter has one or two printable worksheets (usually 40-50 problems) that he can work out by hand and then I can grade them. That really helped a lot and made Thinkwell much more effective for us.

I've been planning for our 9th grade year for DS. We live overseas, but will be spending this next school year in the US, so I'm not really sure how elective type things will be shaping up. Hopefully he'll be on a LEGO robotics team, but I want to be flexible to see what opportunities arise! English 3 Lit Survery Potter's School Apologia Biology (on our own) Thinkwell Geometry Sonlight 100 US History (not the LIt portion) CADD for Mechanical Engineering Potter's School And maybe Chinese, depending on how he does on the AP test in May

We went on to Thinkwell 7th grade math. We are now doing Algebra 1 now.

We really like the game Carcasonne. It takes about 30 minutes to play, is easy peasy to set up, and it's a little different every time. Our family all likes it (2 parents, a 13 yo boy and a just turned 12 year old girl).

My 5th grade daughter is using it this year. She's horse crazy so it's a good fit for her. She's doing it totally independantly and probably spends about 20 minutes a day on it. It comes with a 2 day schedule, but we just spread that out over 4 days a week. I think it's good enough for a year of science in the elementary grades so that's all we are doing for her science this year.

My ds is using Thinkwell for math and we really like it. There are usually 3 short videos to watch with each lesson, and then a 10 question multiple choice exercise. For each section there's worksheets to print out that usually have 20-30 questions. There are also practice tests and regular tests as well. It's all online, and there is no textbook. For my ds it's worked really well so far. He's finished 7th grade math and is half way through 8th grade math.