Creek...thanks so much for all of that info. on Eckerd. My dd will be looking into it further after she gets home from the ACT. Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions and first hand experience! This has been so helpful to her!

Thanks, Creekland! I hadn't even thought of U Miami, which is crazy since I attended there for a semester! (I was there for Hurricane Andrew and decided that tropical storms were not for me, so I transferred out :-) Eckerd is one we haven't looked into, so thanks for that rec, as well.

We moved into JAG after FLL 1-4. Yes, it was on the easier side, but it was a wonderful, gentle review of what had been learned in previous years. My son moved into AG this year as a 6th grader and has continued to improve. I am glad we did JAG first. I think he could have done AG right after FLL 4, but it was a slower, gentler progression to complete JAG first.

Oooo...thanks! Lots of ideas. We hadn't considered Canada, so the Vancouver options were new to us...thanks hornblower! I sent my daughter all of the links and she is currently perusing. Thanks again so much!

My daughter is a very driven 11th grader this year. She was homeschooled until last year and is currently attending a great Classical charter here in town. She is already beginning to panic because she doesn't know what college she wants to attend and "everyone" in her class already seems to know. (I know this is not true, but she can be a bit tightly wound :-) She has great grades, is very successfully taking a number of AP's, and enjoys biology. She thinks she wants to get a biology degree...maybe go pre-med, maybe research. She also has a lot of interest in marine biology - she is an avid scuba diver and would like to be able to continue adding certifications as she gets older. She likes the idea of being close to a city, but is not sure about living IN the city. She doesn't want harsh winters or lots of humidity in the warmer months. She's pretty conservative but can hold her own in just about any conversation. What schools should we look into? I told her that I would ask the hive's advice and see what comes up. So far, she is considering Johns Hopkins as a reach. University of Arizona is appealing since her grandmother is a professor at the medical school there. We both get so overwhelmed just googling, and she says all of the college visits she's been to at school seem great, but she understands it's the presenter's job to make them seem great. What says the hive? Any suggestions? Thanks!!

OK, waiting (very anxiously!!) to hear back from USNA, but happy to announce an acceptance to Texas A&M for my son! Waiting to hear about merit (it's his first choice for National Merit) but it's nice to have something in the yes column.

Thanks, everyone, for your help.

Generally speaking, 10 has been the average age with our kids. Of course, lots of variables can change that ... are they watching other kids? usually trustworthy? live in a good neighborhood? But, yes, 10 seems the right age for an hour or two. By 12, they have all stayed for a few hours alone.

Is it a requirement for most schools that the FAFSA be completed BEFORE they will announce merit aid packages?

Yes, our HSA is pre-tax.

Young Marines every Saturday morning, community service projects (through Young Marines and Key Club), reading, running, watching movies (both at the theater and at home), XBox, walking the dogs, homework, getting together with friends, meeting friends at the climbing gym, TED videos (my 17 year old watches a few every week - usually on weekends) No one here has their licence yet.

How we have done it here over the years (this got colossally long - sorry!): We really focus on reading stories aloud in this family. It is just something that is a very important part of our family culture. It has always been something that we do primarily in the morning. The time has fluctuated throughout the years. We used to have outdoor time at 10AM every morning. We would spend 30-40 minutes riding bikes, taking a walk, jumping on the trampoline, scootering, etc. and then would come in for a snack and read aloud time...typically for 60 minutes or so. It was the perfect time because we had accomplished about 90 minutes of sit-down work and had just had a large dose of exercise, sunshine, and fresh air. Everyone was very content to sit and listen - even with a 10 year age difference between the oldest and youngest. When my little guy was a baby/toddler he would have a snack in his high chair followed by either a morning nap or quiet puzzle/paint/craft time still in his high chair while I read. He would sometimes interrupt, but he could usually be pretty quiet and eventually got used to it as part of our routine. If he got too loud he would be moved to his pack and play in his room for quiet play time. We have always varied the books we have read - we have completed almost all of the Young Folks Shelf of Books and My Book House, all of the fairy tales of Perrault, Andersen, and Grimm, Hawthorne's A Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales, all of Burgess, Anne of Green Gables, White Company, lots of James Daugherty, Herman Melville ("Bartleby" and "Benito Cerino"), lots of George MacDonald and Dickens (Old Curiosity Shop, A Christmas Carol), Lewis, Tolkien, and lots of Andrew Lang. Some things would go over the heads of my little ones, but The Old Curiosity Shop became my 5 year old's favorite story for quite a while!! The point is, I found that doing read aloud time in the morning when my kids were fresh - well fed, exercised, and coming off of a burst of fresh air - worked well for focus. I have never been a big reader at bedtime. I'm just too tired. My husband travels for work, so I'm usually on my own during the week and I am an early riser. Splitting up kids has never been an option for me. Audiobooks are HUGE here at bedtime. We have almost all of Jim Weiss's CD's, as well as Harry Potter, Narnia, and Lord of the Rings. My younger kids always fall asleep listening to the same beloved stories, over and over. When I had small ones (under 4 or so), I always started our day by filling their cup. When the olders headed off to do chores after breakfast they could choose a few books and I would read to them. Also, I would always read a picture book before nap time or afternoon quiet time, so they got their fill of the classic board books and picture books. We read aloud throughout the day for school - lots of books for history and science, but nothing touches our family read aloud time in the morning. My 17 year old senior still joins us for read-aloud time if his schedule permits. He told me recently that it will be his favorite thing to remember about homeschooling (sniff - sniff!)

I learned that bald eagles mate for life and will not allow fellow eagle "couples" to make nests anywhere near theirs. They will roost together in large groups (there are 12-16 currently roosting at our local reservoir) but only one couple will nest there.

Yes, I was certified two years ago because my husband is a diving fanatic. It was the hardest thing I have ever done...slayed many inner demons in the process. I am happy to stay at the basic certification. My husband will likely become a master diver one day. Our oldest two (17 and 16) are also certified and it is fun to go out together. We have dived off Ventura and throughout the Channel Islands, as well as Hawaii. We particularly love the kelp forests off Ventura.

I will second (third, fourth?) Plan to Eat. I've been using it for 3 years now. I won't say meal planning is something I enjoy, but it's much faster and easier and it gets done with Plan to Eat. I actually plan the whole month at once. I leave quite a few open days where we eat up leftovers. I also frequently move meals around as things come up. I then go on one huge Costco trip for meats, pantry items, and frozen foods. Then I split perishables up into 3-4 quick grocery trips throughout the month.

That is just fantastic, Claire! Congrats to your son and to you!

Not an official acceptance, but we found out yesterday that my son received TWO Congressional nominations for the US Naval Academy!! The sad and ironic part is that he doesn't know yet, since he is away at leadership school for Young Marines and they were required to relinquish their phones until Monday night. He will be so relieved!

Thanks so much, Margaret...we are off shortly for our 2nd Congressional nomination interview. Just wish it weren't snowing so hard! I'm already stressed enough (my son, of course, is cool as a cucumber!)

Well around here that would almost always be turned into chicken corn chowder.

Does she have any interest in becoming a large-animal vet? My dd14 really wants to run a ranch and has been mentored extensively by two great, successful ranch/stable owners. She's learned everything from dosing medicine to training to running birthday parties. She has decided that IF she decides to go to college she will become a large animal vet. That way she can support herself while she is starting a ranch/boarding business.

In this case I would simply shorten the sentence and talk about the meaning of the words before dictating. If you explained what a hay-mow and stock was, and left off the second part of the sentence, might he have success? Then maybe the next day you could explain how the sentence has an additional part, show him where the comma will go, and dictate the second part. Definitely meet him where he is. Dictation should be challenging, but not demoralizing. Lots of practice with shorter sentences will enable him to be more successful down the road with longer ones. Definitely set him up for success! As to the specific circumstances of a child on the spectrum I cannot speak and would leave that advice to those with experience. But I have muddled through dictation with a couple of kids who find it very difficult. Shortening the dictation, explaining strange or new vocabulary, and being REALLY obvious about punctuation helped. Just because he is unable, at this point, to retain the sentence does not mean you, or WWE, are failing him!

We have been consistently doing copywork and dictation for years. Here is my take: Copywork is active input - seeing well-constructed sentences including proper spelling, grammatical construction, punctuation, interesting and varied word-choice, new vocabulary, etc. It has the added benefit, in my opinion, of interjecting lofty thoughts and ideas into our day, if well-chosen. Dictation is active output. It requires active listening and writing skills, yes. It expands the memory and requires more and more attention to hold all of the facts, words, and ideas intact. But it is also the proving ground for copywork because it requires the child to dig deep and remember the spelling, grammatical constructions, punctuation, vocabulary, etc. without seeing it. It requires the recall of all that has been taught and practiced. It causes them to own it. And as dictated passages become longer and more complicated it requires the child to order events and interpret complex thoughts more quickly and efficiently. I have seen the benefits in my own children and would not personally ever give it up.

Done!

I like the Junior League cookbooks...especially those from Colorado. (Creme de Colorado is an all-time fave) Thomas Keller's Bouchon cookbook is awesome, albeit full of excruciatingly time-intensive recipes.

My senior got his scores back. This was a qualifying test for NMS. He did great. Perfect on Critical Reading (as he also did on the ACT). Math was his best yet, but lower than he wanted. All in all, well above the required qualifying score he needed, so we are happy. He has an application in progress for the US Naval Academy, as well as NROTC, so confirming the NMS score was key. Man, this is all so stressful!