My kids started working summers @ 16, at which point they began paying for their own phones, clothes, and fees--and discovering the joys of the thrift store and K-mart shopping. We've tried to keep the promise that as long as they are f/t students with a B average or better we will pay for car insurance (they pay repairs and gas). My son makes very good money at his p/t job and works f/t over summers, so he is now paying his own car insurance (thank God), and oldest dd is paying us for her insurance. Hopefully she will soon transition to her own car insurance. They are all still on our medical policy. Middle daughter is driving the beat-up "teen car" until she can save enough for her own vehicle, and she has a ways to go. She inherited the car from her brother when he bought his own....much nicer than anything his parents own, by the way, LOL. The older 3 now basically pay everything but insurance on their own. Nobody got a license until they turned 18, because we just couldn't swing it. Hopefully we'll get a bit of a break before #4 child hits driving age. It's the long-term financial planning stuff that I have the most trouble getting them to think about. Middle dd has a retirement plan because she's working p/t for the city, which automatically set it up. The other two really need to get started on some long-term savings, though.

Putting these ideas on my list, too.

Thanks for this. It's encouraging me to just ditch the books for my upcoming trip with dd (12) to Spain where we are visiting family. I'm having a hard time letting go of the books, but the thought of carting them to & from is stifling. We will just learn from travel....and maybe review latin vocabulary?

Often art schools offer weekend life drawing classes to high schoolers--be prepared for nudity. Private art lesson places may offer a portfolio design workshop that helps kids sort thru their work and choose pieces that will enhance their appeal to an art school. We spent some $$ on such a class, but it more than paid off in terms of scholarship $$. If you're looking for art schools, check out the listings for National Portfolio Day in your area, then go to the school web sites and see what kind of art their instructors and/or students have on display. That will give your student a feel for whether they and the school have a good "fit." If your student can participate in or volunteer at a local juried art show (meaning they pre-select only the best entries to judge and hang for display) sponsored by a local school, it's a great opportunity to get to know some people @ the college and ask questions. My dd was able to do a 1-week summer program for high school students that helped her figure out whether or not she wanted to pursue animation. Again, a great opportunity. Game design, graphic design, industrial design (from toys to stationary to automobiles) and animation are all areas that tend to have full-time jobs attached, and often the schools will offer internships with corporate partners in these areas. Not so much for illustration or studio art (guess what my dd's major was?), where you really have to learn to promote yourself. Another consideration is that in art school you do art from day 1; at a state school you typically do general ed for 2 years and then go into specialized art classes. When we toured our local state school the tour guide knew next to nothing about the art major tracks and we had trouble getting specific information. State schools have higher SAT/ACT expectations, whereas art schools are often less concerned with academics and more concerned with creativity and portfolios. The school my dd went to, you just had to have taken the SAT; no score expectations. They also didn't have the same expectations with regard to a high school transcript or gpa....although not all art schools are that laid back and some offer scholarships that include academic considerations.

My now-18yo took the CC beta test as a junior in her charter school....she hated it, said the questions were quite confusing and she ended up just guessing out of frustration. We never got to see the scores. With my 7th gr. student....we are happily skipping all that testing stuff for a looonng time to come.

No prob. Glad you found a solution. If you know anybody else who's look, though, I'd love to get these out of the "for sale" box and into someone's hands that can use them!

Score results never were very informative, even with the CAT. Those tests are mostly about gathering stats for the school districts, not helping teachers teach (as the scores don't come until the school year is over) or help parents remediate (as the scores actually don't even come until the new school year is starting).

I have two different versions, used, on the for sale board. If you're interested, pm me.

I see there''s a cathedral in Sevilla and a mosque in Cordoba. Any other suggestions? DD wants to know if there are any Roman ruins.

We're going the end of Oct/beg. of Nov. - coincides with my husband's training in Switzerland, so that we can meet up when he's done. Looking for places within driving distance of my brother's house to avoid hotel costs. Is Halloween or Day of the Dead a big thing in Spain? I thought it was mostly a Mexican holiday.

My dd and I have a chance to go visit my brother, who lives in Andalucia. We're looking for places, cultural events, natural beauty, historical things to see. Would love to have the Hive's input!!

Since I have two BAs and a technical writing cert........well, I don't fit the poll very well. Hope you'll post the comparison statistics when the poll is done.

Second essay assignment....tears, impossibility, panick (driven by procrastination and anxiety). A bit too much help from me....after an hour of discussion of how to arrange, what might be main points. I went to bed @ midnight and have no idea when she finished. Took the rough draft in for peer review....fear and trembling replaced by amazement at peer's positive comments. Seriously, I think I need to go out of town when her next assignment is due. Still hasn't gotten into the center for any LD testing. Oh how I wish she would!! OTOH, she has full-day classes T/Th and is working M/W/F/Sat. Can't complain about her work ethic, only her procrastination.

Our local CC has a nationally recognized culinary program...at very reasonable community college style prices. It's not the CIA, but it's pretty darn good and definitely in foodie land (Sonoma County, CA). If she is really interested, have her take some kids' culinary classes and talk with the instructors, network, maybe have her job shadow at a nice restaurant. Look into 4H food-related projects (food preservation, farming, farm-to-table, meat animals, food safety, cake decorating, etc.). You can definitely get high school basic culinary arts textbooks and work through the recipes now, have her memorize basic or master recipes, etc. As she gets older maybe she can work for a caterer to get a feel for high volume, deadline pressure work. Don't say no to the possibilities until you let her test the waters. My dd was interested in agriculture, but after a summer spent volunteering on a family farm, she decided to go another direction. As long as my kid was interested in cooking, I'd be happy to support someone other than me making dinner, but I would include planning quantities, balanced nutrition and budgeting, using leftovers, etc.

DS has the largest LL Bean backpack, which has a computer sleeve section (he carries an ipad), large book capacity, and a bottom zip-around compartment where he carries his basketball shoes/athletic gear. This means he only needs one bag, but oh the aroma when he unzips it at the end of the day.... DD has the next size down Bean backpack, recommended for high schoolers, I think. She doesn't usually carry a computer or tablet but she has two PE classes on campus on the same day -- she goes dressed for swimming and changes into yoga clothes after, putting the wet swim stuff in a separate (waterproofed on the inside) bag. Your son could probably look at one of those "dry bags" that they sell for used cloth diapers. They keep in wet and smell remarkably well. I think you could treat either backpack to be waterproof. That hasn't been much of an issue here in fairly sunny California. Although if the El Nino happens this year (we pray), things could get wetter.

An hour or two a day; more on Mondays. On Monday we go over the plan for the week, review WWS instructions (we won't need to do this as much when she gets into it), quiz new latin vocabulary and schedule those exercises for the week. I watch the MUS DVD with her and am available while she does the first page of the new unit. The rest of the week she grades her own math and reports it to me so I can see if she needs extra practice. We're starting off lit this year with As You Like It (MP study guide), so two days a week we read aloud and discuss; the other two days she does the SG and we correct together. When we move to our other study guides I don't think she'll need the read-aloud step but we will still correct the SG together; we're really working toward more complete short answers instead of a phrase here, a phrase there. I also look at her history outlines and we mutually decide on a topic for further exploration. I try to correct science and latin, english and logic every other day, with latin vocab. drill daily if we can. We also read a chapter of the bible together every morning....usually....when we get up in a timely fashion.

You can take the CHSPE and use it as a high school diploma OR you can take the CHSPE and use it to back up your enrollment in CC while in high school (our lowest age to take classes here is 14). If you take the CHSPE, you aren't a dual enrollment student to the CC....they will charge you like a regular student AND (the biggie) you will accumulate seniority so as to register earlier and have a better chance of getting the classes you want. Dual enrollment students may not pay and always have to wait until last to register so they have less chance of getting the classes they want. We were very fortunate that our area CC offered a fee waiver from a well-funded reserve so, in effect, ds paid only for books and parking during his whole time @ CC. That's unusual, I think, at least here in CA, but we are thrilled with our CC.

Actually, I've been told that kids can take the CHSPE (so as to go f/t to the CC and collect seniority/units so they can register earlier w/better chance to get classes) while still enrolled in your private homeschool or a psp. If you do that, you do have to pay full price @ CC...and we didn't file the FAFSA until he was an official college student, not a dual enrollment guy. They aren't "graduates" of high school until you say they are. So you could go to the CC f/t while still enrolled in private homeschool. As long as it's less than then 60-unit limit for transfer units (I do think that's the right #) they're still freshman to the accepting university. My son chose to get the AA because he wasn't sure he'd want to go on and get a BA. We did finally talk him into it, but he wanted a completed AA rather than a "transfer AA" to hedge his bets.

Here are some things to consider: How many credits can he take @ CC and still apply as a freshman to Cal Poly or UC Davis? This is the best way to be eligible for freshman scholarship money. What's the total cost for all those SAT tests vs. taking the CHSPE? My understanding is the SAT II tests don't earn you college credit either; with CC classes as long as you stick to the agreed course of study you take the credits with you. If he applies as a transfer student, there is more work and less money out there to find and apply for scholarships. Cal Poly SLO and Pomona are the two most selective of the CSU schools -- I do know of homeschool students who've gone to both as well as UC Davis. My son took the CHSPE (twice because he didn't finish the math section the first time) and went to CC @ 16. He was there 3.5 years....partly because he applied spring semester for transfer and there wasn't space. He's starting at SSU this week, actually, with an AA and a certificate under his belt. We decided the savings at our CC more than balanced out the relative inaccessibility of scholarships. In fact, he'll be living @ home, paying most of his own tuition and graduating debt-free. Blessings on your decision process!

Kay in Cal -- who was a pastor and whose husband had such a medical battle....didn't they move? Julie in SD -- whose living math web site I still recommend to people KCpub Stacy in Canada with the boybarians I'm adding to Patty Joanna's list.

Our family had a bad case of flu -- over in a week for everybody else but I had persistent diarrhea. I delayed all summer seeing the dr., trying OTC meds that didn't work. When I saw my gp, she tried several different antibiotics with no help; even had me go off my metformin to see if that was causing the problem. No joy. Finally had a colonoscopy, which ruled out lots of bad stuff but didn't give a confirmed diagnosis, so they called in spontaneous collitis. Basically, my body just never got back to regularity out of that bad bout of diarrhea. I now take a daily medication that controls this...budesonide. It is, however, hideously expensive; less so at the maintenance dosage, but still $$$. It is also a god-send....I literally couldn't leave the house without it.

Thanks for the info on the pen. The prof said she needed to go thru the Disability dept. I will have dd check on a buddy for notes and whether audios of lectures are available. I think she should talk to the prof again, let her know she's talked to disability services and is going to pursue testing but needs a solution to help her for this semester. We will see what comes of it. Thanks so much for all your advice.

Thank you, Pegasus. This is a great idea, and one that will motivate dd to make friends in her class, which is not so big as to be intimidating! Especially useful since dd talked with the Disability dept. and they would need to do testing to confirm before offering any accommodation. Testing will take some time, as it's already difficult to find a time she's not working or in class when their office is open, let alone scheduling testing. An interim solution is a wonderful thought! PS -- Payment in cookies is something she already knows a lot about doing, LOL.

Janice VanCleave. Her books are usually topically organized, but there are also a couple that discuss a variety of science fair possibilities.

OK, then. Sounds like she will need to get on top of this and have a speech prepared as her high school grades (for the easier diploma) are high, but all done independent self-study, not in a lecture format. Hoping they will simply give her permission to record!!