I want to buy this to make for my girls for Christmas: https://www.colettepatterns.com/sewing/dahlia

There is a way to check out AoPS for free, if you'd like. Go to the website: www.aops.com. Make an account with a user name you don't care about in case she wants to use AoPS eventually. :) Check out the Alcumus section... try the pre-alg problems. It's the type of thing that gives you a detailed solution, and it's doubly important to read the explanation when you get a problem wrong. (I get many problems on alcumus wrong, lol.) You can also check out the videos section ... my son thinks Richard Rusczyk is the funniest thing going. Good luck, wherever you land!

Ug! So sorry to hear that.

I'm not sure I would advise stopping reporting if your dc is still in high school .... and this is why. In order to be a matriculated student in our local NY Community College, and therefore become eligible for financial aid and graduation, a student must have a high school diploma (or the equiv.). That means: The TASC (new GED), a super's letter, 5 regents, 24 credit hours from the CC (which you would have to pay full price for), or one other thing that I can't recall... lol... it may just be regular old high school graduation! Anyway... nobody (that I know of) in my district has had a problem getting a letter from the super if they are compliant with the regs through graduation. Lots of other districts around are just as accommodating. It seems to me that the easiest way for my kids to get their HS equiv is just to get the letter... since there are no extra hoops to jump (exams, classes...etc) because I follow the regs. I would check carefully before deciding to stop reporting.... to make sure you're not making extra work for your dc later. Just my 2c. :)

I will relate this one story that I have told before.... (with the knowledge that many of my friends and their children have used and loved Saxon over the years......) In eighth grade, we did Saxon Algebra. My daughter *hated* it. There were tears. There were fits. It wasn't pretty. We agreed that she would finish exactly 80% of the pages and throw the thing out the window. Which we did. I heard (probably via this board) about the Art of Problem Solving. I gingerly asked dd #1 if she would be willing to give one of the short courses a try over the summer to see if she liked it, since so many people here loved it. She said, "okay." But not enthusiastically. She LOVED the class. It was Number Theory.... she found it absolutely fascinating and loved the atmosphere of the AoPS website. It made math like a game, in a way... a very challenging game. She signed up for Geometry in the fall, and then took every available AoPS class until she took APCalc senior year in high school. When she applied for college, she quoted that very first AoPS Number Theory text in her essay. And away she went. :) Don't get me wrong... I am not suggesting that AoPS is the answer for everyone... just that a math program can make it or break it with some kids. If we had continued with Saxon, I guarantee that my dd would not be an engineering major ... she would have given math up the second she had the chance. Keep looking. There's something out there that will be a better fit, for sure. Cheers, Jen

Yes, this exactly. Lots of storage bins...storage drawers.... wire shelving... tables....and a light box for the blogging (see sig)... all in my son's room. Pretty much Lego and a Bed. Good thing we do school here on the main floor. :)

Yeah... to be frank, Up to this point she has (mostly) paid for her college education herself. That will probably have to change next year... (that was the plan all along...) but yeah... she worked multiple jobs for many years in high school and hard over the summers to save up. And it worked!

Do I have thoughts about a young adult's behavior in college and the parental role? Yes, many. Before my daughter left for school, we really, really thought things would be a certain way. We had talked to her and all of our kids a million times about family... how we are all going to work as a team to get everyone through school... about how (financially and otherwise) it was really important to keep the lines of communication open... how much we loved them and want to support them emotionally if they need it... etc, etc. My heart has been broken in a number of ways, lately,.. but the biggest is just how dd went off to college and didn't want to rely on us or discuss almost anything at all with us. She gets almost all advice from her friends (that we don't know at all.... but I assume that they are about her age.... ). She gives us very little information and gets annoyed when we ask. Believe me when I tell you that we are not overbearing people. We are not angry parents. We are very low key, compared to so many other families we know and our FOO. So.... suffice it to say I am very surprised at this point in my mothering to know that I know nothing about what my daughter is doing... the company she keeps... the way she spends her money... or her plans for the future. Wow. Writing it out like that sounds and feels very stark, but this is the reality I have to accept at this point. We went from being a very happy, close knit family to virtually no meaningful contact. I try to be light and airy and keep in touch but it goes ignored most of the time. This of course might all backfire on her if we can't end up working together to figure out how things will get paid for etc. I am getting ready to launch dd#2 and we will have the same discussions ... hopefully with a better result. Some kids just want to cut ties and believe me, there's not a lot that can be done in some circumstances. There's no getting info out of someone that doesn't want to share it. So would it surprise me to know that the parent's didn't know? Not really.

A Coursera course started today called "Introduction to Key Constitutional Concepts and Supreme Court Cases." It's taught by none other than Kermit Roosevelt... great^n grandson of Teddy himself. I think it will be a nice addition to our Gov't course this semester. Thought I'd share.....

I super-duper-love this book. I can't tell from your post if you are talking guys or girls.... but honestly, I love it for both. Big puffy hearts and gratitude that it came into my life when it did. http://www.amazon.co... the teen years

I just realized you are writing from Denmark.... my son would do just about anything to get to Denmark at this point.... :)

Can he blog or podcast about his experiences? Maybe get a couple of books out of the library about blogging/podcasting to get some ideas about how to approach it in a unique way? Maybe he could use some of his interests to investigate the places to which you are traveling and write about those interests? ETA: Good Photography = Great Blog! That's a great interest to develop with a blog. My son has a blog.... at first I thought it was a bad idea, but he has followers and views from all over the world and it's kind of neat. He's young so it's a work in progress, but I can see how it could become more sophisticated as he grows older. (you can check it out to get an idea of what I mean... it's linked in my sig ...) Neat things ahead for your family! Wish I could come along!

I realized how much I enjoyed nmoira's posts and how much I can miss someone I never really "knew." There are others I miss, too. Going through my post history has made me even more grateful for this virtual place and the people who share things from the heart or just to brighten someone's day.

:grouphug: to all of you.

Encopresis can have physical and/or psychological causes. I would not hesitate to go to the doctor and talk it over if it has been an issue.

((abba)) I say this very gently... the last thing you probably need is someone else's uninformed opinion about your situation. But..... sometimes, people are just trying to talk things out. They are concerned for you and if you bring up what's going on they are going to try and connect with you and give voice to their concern. Would it be possible for you to reframe what is happening in these interactions with the people in your life that care about you? If you respond in a neutral way.... "hmmm, I'll have to think about what you said..." or "I hadn't thought of that" ... it may be easier to accept their concern without perceiving it as judgement. Then, just take it all in and make your own choices with your husband. (((hugs))) to you both.

Please Google Encopresis and visit the Dr ASAP. ETA: Here's a gentler link: http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/sick/encopresis.html Hugs to you both.

Seconding Sequence and especially Bananagrams. So fast.. So much fun

IMO, if your daughter has good grades in dual enrollment classes, high sat scores, a couple of demonstrable interests, and good letters of recommendation, she'll have as good a chance as most people. Her essays and LORs will mean a lot... Homeschooled or not. ETA: Barbara is right.... some more selective schools require SAT II scores from all of their applicants ... I forgot about that aspect. :)

Ayup.... my cousin just welcomed a Lyla.... the first I've ever met, and so adorable. :) I'd say Lie-ra.

Night Elf.... do you have a college hear you? Maybe you could get a job in their daycare center and get free tuition benefits. :) That's what I would do, if I could do anything.... after you know.... world peace, hunger, and women's rights around the world.... I would move onto a college campus (or right next door) and insinuate myself into the community in every way possible. I would go to every lecture, take every class that sounded interesting, have giant soup, salad and breadsticks nights and coffeehouse/music nights in my giant dining room for kids that needed somewhere to land and talk, and get the most interesting job I could get there so I could do it tuition free. Seriously considering how we can do this within the next year...... there are so many colleges here.

Have you ever seen Mrs. Twu Physics?? I want that, for Chemistry. She's awesome.

"Dressing conservatively as a personal choice of self respect is entirely different than dressing conservatively because you must save the men from themselves. That is emasculating for the men and insulting." :iagree:, Mandylubug.

This thread made me feel a lot better this morning, ladies. (Jen ramps down expectations of hearing from daughter regularly.) Thank you!

Seconding Derek Owens.... my ds loved it last year. I was sorry that I hadn't known about it for my dds.