So very glad it's over. Dd#2 took it for the second time (her wish to take it again.....) and I am exceedingly glad to see the college board recede in the rear view mirror for a while. Good riddance!

:grouphug:

Assuming your son will take the SAT later..... I believe any time he takes an SAT test in the future *all* of his scores will be sent unless you request otherwise.

LOL... I am not sure appealing to the credibility of a fictional paleontologist from a sitcom is the way to go here..... :) I think when considering theory vs fact it's helpful to think about where I fit in the discussion. I am not an evolutionary biologist, therefore I am satisfied to accept the generalized and simplified-enough-for-me-to-comprehend opinion of many (many!) scientists studying the topic deeply as 'fact'. There's no way I would be able to read/research/design my own experiments about it *all*. But if I were to enter into the actual scientific conversation (which would have to be at a very advanced level after intense study of the evidence gathered so far) I might attempt to enter the discussion at the theoretical level. But as it stands.... as a trumpet playing homeschooling mom and not a scientist.... I can't dismiss out of hand mountains of scientific evidence because I don't study these things deeply. As PP's have said... that thread linked just above is an awesome read about evolution. I think it's the most thoughtful thread I've ever read here.

:iagree: :( very sad, indeed. He was just the coolest.

Some thoughts... & our little family data point..... My girls have/will have both taken HSChem in 9th, APBio, APChem, APPhys. FWIW - APBio is nothing like it was when I took it lo those many years ago. It was much closer to a chem class than the bio I remember --- heavy on chemical cellular processes and experiment design. This guy has a great overview of the content. Maybe jump right into APBio in 10th grade? Or maybe run through a basic chem class this summer and tackle APBio in 9th grade? You can always decide to have ds skip the test at the end of the year... but he would have squeezed in a bio class. (I also have to admit that I have not been paying any attention at all to the APPhys changes.... my dd#2 took it this year to avoid being the first class of the new test for every single one of her sciences through high school. She'll take AP or CC Chem next year.) But I do agree that a kid as advanced as your DS in math probably won't need a whole lot of algebra based phys.... definitely not 2 years! :) ETA: As for colleges.... I think it's hard to tell at your ds's age what the final college outcome will be. I would check with a number of schools and then keep in mind that stated requirements are usually the minimum expectation, especially for selective schools. My dd had a particular school in mind - I was absolutely sure she would end up there - until the summer before senior year. (!) Nothing like scrambling to get those SAT II tests in before the application deadline. :oP

I can't recommend a book, but I can recommend a website. Your daughter can register for a free account at Art of Problem Solving and use Alcumus. It is math practice that you manage by topic. It keeps track of your progress and provides detailed teaching solutions. We love it! http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/liz/Alcumus/index.php?

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: Thinking of you and your dear family.

We own and love both of these.... gearing up for the June administration my dd has chosen to focus on the Grammar book. Ms. Meltzer provides very practical advice and challenging practice. Looking forward to June 7. We're definitely going out for ice cream Sundaes or something, because 2/3 of my kids will be done with standardized testing forever*! Yippee!! *Or until said kids decide to go for grad school.

Ayup. I've decided it's not something I want to squash in any way - and my kid is completely obsessed. (See blog in siggie.....) His room is completely overtaken with shelves, a table, large bins for random bricks and many, many of those hardware drawer thingies that people use to sort stuff in the garage. The dining room table is covered by his lightbox and whatever creations he's blogging about. The one lego free area I enforce is the kitchen counter. :) I'm with Creekland... I'm going to miss them when they're gone.

She's doing OK, thanks for asking. :) She dropped one course, took an inc. in another, and planned to give the three other classes a shot. She's not returning to college next year, but has some changes coming on the horizon which I am thinking are going to be very positive. I know she's going to be just fine in the long run.

I asked my Potter-loving dd and she recommended the book "Repotting Harry Potter" as her favorite of the after-market fare. We also own Harry Potter's Bookshelf: The Great Books Behind the Hogwarts Adventures, which steps through Four Layers of Meaning (John Granger fans will recognize this from his website )and draws parallels between great literary works and HP. And as an aside she thinks this is the greatest book ever made, excepting the entire HP Series, of course. If you have a Potter fan, it may be worth checking your library for it. Many happy hours were spent on this one here at our house.

*lurking* I'd love to hear what people have to say on this topic, too.

:iagree: Beautiful, beautiful girl... wishing you all good things!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

I have to leave and didn't read all the responses, but I will when I get in. This topic is extremely interesting to me! I was bullied mercilessly in middle school by one person in particular... to the point of misery. After about three years I decided to leave the school in 10th grade. I transferred to a private school in November of 10th grade. Imagine my surprise to find a friend request from this person on Facebook very recently, and after accepting, to find out that this person had left my original school in December of 10th grade because his family moved!!!!! Needless to say.... my life did change... graduated from a totally different high school.... met all new people ... some good, some bad.... all worked out in the end. But MAN! Wild not to know for all these years that If I had only stuck it out one more month things would have been completely different.

Eng Lang over... dd and her friend felt pretty good about it. :) Just going to repeat here how much we loved Mrs. Walker's class... so professional and encouraging! Just PhysB left to go...

(((Rosie))) Lots of love for you and your son.

EndofOrdinary said: 'Saxon is a love or hate program. It has nothing to do with ability or intelligence. It has everything to do with how your brain works. I LOVE Saxon. I am a total Saxon kid from day 1 of schooling. My son is an AoPS kid and hated Saxon. He showed no growth, disliked math, fought to stay focused. It was a total battle. Saxon doesn't work for him." :iagree: I almost hate to say it because I know so many people are happy with Saxon and have had great success with it.... We used it for my older dd's 8th grade year - it was the year of great math suffering around here. Crying every day. (Granted, she was 13....) Gnashing of teeth. Pulling of hair. We switched programs and never looked back. She wrote about the first book we used after that in her college applications, lol! I guess switching was a good thing. :)

Word Problems: Have you ever heard of Phillips Exeter School? They use a series of PDFs in their math program that is available online. Here's the first: https://www.exeter.edu/documents/math1all.pdf I don't think there are answer keys, but they are chock full of great questions, building one day from the skills learned the day before. I have a goal to work through all of them myself. :)

LOL that's funny... I have the 2nd ed... 701 pages. It's still small in comparison to all the giant texts surrounding it on the shelf. I never saw the first edition... but this one says it contains "44 readings that will provoke students to think - and write" with "rhetoric up front and readings in the back." You can probably see the contents of the 2nd ed here:http://www.amazon.com/They-Say-Academic-Writing-Readings/dp/0393912752/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1399484563&sr=1-2&keywords=they+say+i+say+2nd+edition

I finally broke down and bought this diminutive book I've been wanting for a while: http://www.amazon.com/They-Say-Academic-Writing-Edition/dp/0393935841/ref=dp_ob_title_bk and I love it. It is straightforward and practical. It gives explicit instructions about academic writing. If I had but one year to go through something with my daughter before she goes off to college (oh, wait... I *do* have one year!) this would be it. And it will be. LOL. We will choose writing topics having to do with what she is reading and studying. NO MORE AP's. That's our motto. Does your library system have it?

Just dropped dd off. CalcBC. I hope it goes well... this is her first and the test about which she is most confident ... just hoping the stage is set nicely, that's all. Ready, set..... wait! ETA: Picked her up... went to lunch... all is well. She said it was fine. :)

Good Luck! We love alcumus.... for fun! :) Students enrolled in AoPS classes are assigned Alcumus topics to go along with the textbook and homework... and there have been a few times when the extra practice was beneficial to my son's progress in the class. It's also good as a stand alone game. Not sure about your question #2... I can see our progress in Alcumus by clicking on the "Report Tab" when we are signed in (we have three people that have three different sign-ins) and also watch any video at any time. I think if you have an AoPS user name all of those perks are available to you... teacher or not. :)

Chocolate, Ice Cream, and Nuts all in one bite. Yum. This is a once a year treat, and this was the night! Good thread timing. :)

:iagree: