DD16 took the AP Art History and APUSH. DS18 took AP Chem, AP Lit and Comp, and APUSH. Generally, they seemed confident and happy to have them done.

I will be starting Aesop for the fifth time in the fall. I really think Classical Writing is excellent...it does have a bit of a learning curve, but it is so thorough and, in my experience, produces really great writers and thinkers. I have completed up through the Diogenes level with my high schoolers who then transition to AP writing at the local Classical charter school. So far, they have all transitioned seamlessly and received 5's on the tests. What I appreciate most about CW is the method of building copia through synonyms and grammar change. (Most of this takes place in Homer, and is when I see amazing growth in my kids' writing ability.) There is plenty of built in review through the workbooks, which I love. I initially intended to choose my own models, but with five children soon realized that was more work than I was willing to do. The models in the workbook are varied and interesting. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Still waiting here, too. Thankfully, I am not too stressed...yet.

My husband's 11 year old Dodge pick-up is Carl. My Kia minivan is Carmen. My old minivan was named Bessie.

Praying right now.

Adding University of Utah for my son. Also, Honors College for University of Arizona. Thanks!

OK, we can add an acceptance to University of Utah. But, unfortunately a rejection from USNA. My son is handling it really well. It has proven to me just how much he has learned and matured through this stressful process. At this time he plans to re-apply next year. Now to decide what the best choice is for the 2015-16 school year :-) So, to update: Accepted: Texas A&M University of Colorado at Boulder University of Arizona (Honors College) Virginia Tech. University of Utah Rejected: USNA

Classical Writing - it has produced really, really great writers around here.

Wow! Being a finalist is still quite an accomplishment. Congrats!

Just adding an acceptance to Virginia Tech for my son.

My son received an acceptance to Virginia Tech yesterday. Still no word on USNA. Boo.

I'm going to bump this as my junior-year daughter is interested in a Canadian school. Looking forward to the answers you get!

We do formal grammar from grades 1-7. We begin a separate writing program (Classical Writing) in grade 3 or 4 depending on when they are ready for it.

Update on my son: acceptance to University of Colorado at Boulder STILL waiting to hear from USNA. ::Sigh::

I definitely take more shortcuts now with three teens and an 11 and 8 year old...but it is primarily because we have more money now. It was not financially possible to purchase packaged foods and take-out when the kids were little. It is much more so now. I still make most things from scratch (soups, chilis, roasted chickens four at a time, and even homemade waffles - I cook them once a month and freeze), but I stock up on granola bars and cheese sticks and yogurts and things that can be grabbed and stored in a backpack during long practices, all-day track meets, horse shows, etc.

Domestically, no. We have never been asked and we fly 4-5 times per year.

Agreeing wholeheartedly with SilverMoon here. My oldest two are exceedingly competent readers (perfect scores on the critical reading portions of both the ACT and the SAT) and learned a TON from SWB's "History of..." books, because the objective was learning history, not being challenged by the reading level. I expected intelligent conversation regarding the reading, and thorough, intelligent writing about the reading, but I didn't require the reading be complicated in and of itself. That is what literature is for. Also, only one of the six colleges my son applied to this year required course descriptions and they asked that they be "brief." So we have never needed the TOC for any school.

Update on my son: Received a National Merit scholarship to Texas A&M Accepted to University of Arizona with merit scholarship

I just finished Phonics Pathways for the fifth time! It is a fantastic feeling when that last word is read!!

My husband flies 2-4x per week and we fly as a family 5-6x per year. Southwest gets our business almost all the time. We prefer the open seating, and their customer service is unparalleled in our opinion. I always just assumed that people who didn't want open seating chose one of the many more expensive airlines with reserved seating.

10-20 minutes with a quick writer.

Can I join you?!?

My daughter felt good about English and Math but thought she did poorly on Science. She said she just felt "brain dead" by then. She's also hoping to beat 30...we shall see!

Yes, it is the only phonics program I've ever used. Picked it up in 2001 and took five kids through it from start to finish. It is open and go, thorough, simple, and cheap. I love it.

Permission granted here. I have five kids who are all natural spellers. After completing a thorough phonics program none of them have needed further spelling instruction.