I was thinking about something like this for a couple of my teen nephews. Are they one-time games, or is there any option to replay with different puzzles?

Learn Me Good and Learn Me Gooder by Jack Woodson

Sigh. Remember the good ol' days when all we had to worry about in candy was razor blades and injected mystery drugs? Now it's demons AND calories? ;)

Thanks for all the opinions. :) I think it's funny that there were a lot of assumptions that I am parent 2 and dh is parent 1, because I tried to word it as neutrally as I could, to not cause bias. It does sound like something many dads would tend to do, though. Overall I'm getting the impression that most people don't jump to, "parent 1 is clearly lacking in judgment and should not be trusted alone with children," which was the bigger (unspoken) question when this was discussed at my house. I did update the OP to clarify more about the peanuts in question, because it does make a difference in some replies.

OK, here's the scenario: It is past bedtime for a 3yo. Parent 1 says, "If you come with me before I count to five, I'll give you a surprise." The surprise is a couple of honey roasted peanuts (not in their shells) that parent has put in pants pocket, intending to give them to child at story time (after toothbrushing). Parent 2 thinks this is a bad idea, because peanuts is a really lame surprise, food from a pants pocket is gross and fuzzy, and food after toothbrushing is missing the point of bedtime toothbrushing. So the issues involve bribery, food storage, and toothbrushing. What do you think? Is either parent totally right/wrong? How would this (ideally) play out in your house?

I just printed out the table of contents for a few things for my preschooler, and stuck those papers in with her sticker books - hopefully then when I'm in there looking for something I'll also look at those and be able to pull things together. I've done it for lesson planning for my older kids before too - print just the contents & keep it with the checklists. Otherwise it gets overlooked.

This was the case when I went to Hillsdale 20-some years ago. I was very unhappily surprised when my grades got mailed to my parents, though I was the one paying the bills. I was angry that my parents opened the envelope (addressed "to the parents of"), but it didn't occur to me at the time that other colleges didn't do this. At least they put it where I'd get it when I got home, or I would never have known what happened to my report card, because it would not have occurred to me to ask my parents. I think after that I either convinced the registrar to mail stuff in my name or convinced my parents to not open stuff from my college - can't remember which. I hate that it is just assumed that parents are paying.

I am making more soups lately, and I think I really want one. Ladling soup into the blender & pouring it back in the pot is making a huge mess and taking a long time. Any recommendations? Any to stay away from? Any reason to avoid the whole idea? Why are some $20 and some $200 - is there really that big a difference?

Here it's automatic: kid gets a shot, doctor files it with the state. I'm not a fan, but it does make it easier when your doctor retires (ours recently did) or you have to get a waiver for school (health dept and school office can look them up). We selectively vax. I do have privacy concerns but I don't think there's any way to opt out in my state (MI) because the doctor's office just submits it and I don't remember ever giving them permission.

Because Vikings are the natural enemy of clowns? This idea seems equally weird to me. Then will people have to come out dressed as cats or something to get rid of the Vikings? Where does it end??

This may be it. She rarely uses the calculator because she's faster by hand on most things, but I did get her the one she can use on the test, so she's familiar with it and I don't think that's the problem. We haven't done any standardized testing all along, and she did the PSAT9 last year with no prep, because I wanted to see where she was. So I bet things like using the multiple choices to plug back in just hasn't occurred to her. I don't think there's a ton of time to benefit from a book before mid-October, but the one that "counts" is next year, so I'll look for a book with more explanation/advice, not just practice tests. The prep book that they gave the kids when they registered just had one practice test, and it was from the College Board, so advice was not really on how to "game" the questions.

My 10th grader is partway through Saxon Advanced Math. She took the PSAT9 with the local school last spring, and didn't finish the math section (ran out of time). She is taking the PSAT in a couple weeks, and on the practice test had the same problem (ran out of time). Her Saxon (30 problems per lesson) takes her forever, no matter how comfortable she is with the material. I was having her do evens or odds, but that wasn't getting mastery, so we've changed to fewer lessons per week because of the time involved. She's pretty good with her calculator, and really fast on arithmetic facts, so I know that's not the problem. Is there anything she can work on to help her with speed?

I was just coming on here to post what geniuses these PP are. I tried this today, and it was awesome. I put it in and actually forgot about it until I smelled it, then a minute later the timer dinged. They were done and flat and so good. The kitchen did smell like bacon, but in a good, non-smoky way, and I did not! I don't know if that would increase if I did subsequent batches, but for just one it was not a problem at all. The last time I tried baking bacon (years ago) was a disaster, but today I cut the strips in half (same as I do for a pan) and put them in about 375 for 20 minutes, and it was amazing. The baking sheet still had to be washed despite using foil, but it wasn't the scrubbing that a frying pan needs.

So apparently it wasn't as accurate a replica as you thought? ;) Count me in the "learned something new" crowd today.

We're actually in the opposite boat, researching farther studios to leave one we love. My dd is also looking at a possible dance career, but realizes those don't last long so she's prepping for college with her eye on physical therapy (also a strong STEM kid). She's starting 10th grade, figuring this is probably the last year she can dance at our small town studio. We love them so much but she's just outgrowing what they can teach her here and needs a bigger school with a preprofessional track. There are two, both 45-60 minutes away, and I'm trying to figure out how to compare them, and also balance the rest of the family's needs. For summer programs, dd researched them, applied, auditioned, and won a couple of good-sized scholarships, but none of this came from her studio. Her teacher did write a letter of recommendation for one but dd had to be the driving force. From talking to other parents, that seems pretty common, so I wouldn't wait around for your teacher to push things along. Right now would be the best time to visit other studios if they offer summer classes. There will be other kids who aren't in the full program, so yours won't be the only newcomer, and then you can have a decision made before fall enrollment fees are due. Some places around us expect a full year commitment to be made in September. It won't hurt to check out the other schools, even though you checked them out a few years ago. Things may have changed. If you find a better fit, that would be great and your ds will get over the pin. It doesn't sound like there's much positive at your current studio except that your son enjoys it, so if there are positives at other places (like heat!), he can probably come to like those too. You might even consider starting classes at two studios (old and new) in the fall if there isn't a full year commitment required. My dd will be dancing at our local plus one 20 minutes away (another small town). She tried this last year but didn't make it past October because it was just too much time with other activities, but this year she is skipping some of the other stuff instead. She thinks it's important to have experience with some different teaching styles, which she doesn't get with our small place.

Yes. I take it as a challenge, but some people hate it. We don't do baseball here, but competitive soccer & dance (which takes surprising amounts of time & money for a 4-minute routine). My answer has been to not let them play at that level until past age 10. My 11yo just made the tournament soccer team for the first time this summer, and oldest wasn't allowed to join dance team until this past fall at age 13. Before that, it's just not worth the commitment. They try out tons of things when they're little, and it keeps them (us) plenty busy, and once they decide what they are really passionate about then it's finally worth rearranging everybody else's lives around it. My 2yo pretty much has known nothing different than watching her sisters' activities most weekends, and driving them to practices every evening - it's very different than when the others were that age and we could do things focused on toddler interests. Not better or worse, but different. The OP's triplets are big enough to have some say in the decision too. If the other two hate going to games, together time isn't going to happen (and pushing it will make you all miserable). But how much of the year is it? I know for us, dance practices all year but only competes in the spring; soccer is spring/fall, but this team is only July-October. So if tournaments happen every week for 3 months, that leaves you 9 other months to do family stuff. I'm thankful for homeschooling because they have that time together. If they were away from each other all day, then did their activities every night/weekend, how can they get to know their family?

Yes, that's a good idea, BUT consider that a class may give you our your kids a dangerous overconfidence. The best advice, for all kids and for adults who don't use guns regularly, is from Eddie Eagle: "Stop, don't touch, leave the area, tell an adult." Drill that into your kids' heads for free. Please do not ever try to put the safety on a strange gun you might come across. Please tell your kids to not touch and run for help, even if they think they know how. A class is a good idea to demystify the whole thing, and get over any nervousness. There's a good one for handguns called "First Steps" and most (all?) states offer hunters' safety classes that would address long guns. But neither is a substitute for just getting out of there.

This is how I feel. When middle dd tried public school, about a mile away, she walked both ways most of the time (age 9-10). It's no coincidence her personal best 5K time was that winter, after "training" that way for three months. Same kid rides her bike to soccer (2 miles each way) and tennis (1 mile). Older dd walked to/from her classes most days, unless I happened to be out around that time and I'd drive. But we start when they're tiny. My 2.5yo has no problem going a mile or more around town (with me, of course). We live in a small town, so as soon as they're able to cross streets alone (around 7yo) they love being able to go to the playground or library on their own. It makes them feel very grown up.

That hasn't been our experience in 3 studios - classes always go to the week before recital, dress rehearsal the day before. Hopefully it's a typo (like someone cut & pasted from last year's newsletter).

Thanks, this is very helpful! It says the law (based on Supreme Court decision) is that schools may not "Make inquiries of students or parents that may expose their undocumented status." It seems like any paperwork request "may expose" that status. OK, it never occurred to us that they could show a foreign birth cert. :huh: That totally makes sense. But it seems like it would then run into the same law as above - showing a non-US birth cert but not a valid visa would "expose their status." Or do schools just not ask for the visa when they see any foreign birth certificate?

My dd is doing research for debate & asked me, if someone doesn't have a birth certificate how do they sign up for public schools? I know they can and do go to school, but when I enrolled her even as a part-timer I had to bring in paperwork to prove age & residency. How does this work if someone doesn't have the papers?

This is true. DD13 took the first semester of honors English 9 at our local PS (as a part-timer), and we were SO disappointed in the expectations there. They did a lot of excerpts (like 5-10 pages of a longer work), zero of the "early world" works that are in the class name, and a YA novel, plus two "independent novels" where you have to read on your own & meet with the teacher to discuss. Her friends who are in the second semester now said they're supposed to read Medea, Romeo & Juliet, and one other full work, but we'll see if that happens. At conferences, the teacher said this is about double the pace of the "regular" English 9. :001_unsure: She's doing the second semester at home, and we'll cover 6 full works, plus commentary on them. We're already behind, because I had planned one of the Oedipus plays and she wanted to do all 3, so she didn't get as much analysis on those because just reading them is so time consuming. I think I could call this honors, but won't weight her GPA anyway because anything off the 4-point scale is too complicated for me - I'm already somewhat intimidated by the transcript process!

Thanks, that's the kind of list I was thinking (and had a couple I hadn't considered). I wanted 20th Century to include a few world authors who don't fit other places (like Solzhenitsyn), but I could probably fit that into a semester and plays for a semester. If anyone has any resources for non-European drama, I'd love to include some of that but am really not familiar with any.

Did I just imagine that someone here had done this? Searching isn't getting me anywhere. I'm considering designing a class for my theatre kid, for English/Literature credit, based on mostly (entirely) plays - starting with the Greeks or possibly Chinese if I can find anything, and working up chronologically to modern works. Kind of like a "great books" of the stage. I really thought I remembered reading about someone else doing this, so if it was you, please help me out! If it wasn't you, I'd still love to hear any suggestions. What plays must I include? Where can I find study guides and/or where can I find a recording of a performance? We live in a small town, so not much chance of live performances but maybe we could swing a trip somewhere for one or two shows. Of the three remaining years of English for her, I had planned BritLit, American Lit, and 20th Century Lit - which should I skip or combine? She's halfway through a drama class at the local PS, but it's mostly learning to be comfortable on stage, now they're starting some stagecraft, they've watched two movies made from plays, but not really analyzed them much (more comprehension, "were you actually watching" type questions). Thanks!

My sister got this book for my teen, and it's surprisingly appropriate. It focuses on bringing out your natural beauty, though there are some super-painted styles in it for big occasions.