OMG. The sharp pointy stick on a treadmill image cracked me up. This is how I am with my oldest as well. And it is not fun. But then when he does make it through something difficult he is very happy about it. Yes, the sharp pointy stick is till in use. He is 18 now.

HA! For this particular ds these issues were never overcome completely. He graduated from high school this spring and is now taking classes at the community college. Sadly, we had so much friction when he was in 9th grade that I had to let almost everything go. He went to a high school for 10th-12th. For our relationship this was the best decision we made. However, in regards to academics it was disappointing. He did fine, but always just doing the very minimum and so had mostly B's. We all know (including him) know that he could have done better, but wasn't interested at all. Now he is at the community college carrying a full load including Math and Chemistry. He still wants to study Chemistry. He is just now realizing the work load and the effort needed to succeed. We shall see. So not much help at this point. We did get him to graduate high school with reasonable grades. I have come to the conclusion, however, that what he is really lacking aren't actually study skills. Instead he needs to build up a lot of gumption. I am sorry that I am not much help. :-(

Yes, this turned out to be our best option as well. If you can find something DE at the community college that might be best. Ds has taken four graphics courses at our local CC and he loved them all. Three of them were online courses.

Maybe there is a community college option in your area? My son has taken all his graphics courses at the local college and loved them. Three of the courses were actually online courses, so he didn't even have to go on campus for those.

Well, my boys got their phones at 15. This seemed a reasonable age and that is also when they started to do many things out of the home and needed to contact someone for ride etc. That said. I wish that smart phones didn't exist. They have been way more trouble in our house than they are worth. Personally, I think that it is sad that such a huge portion of social connectedness depends on having one today. Many of the teens we know and see are literally attached to a digital device all day long. What to do about this? No idea.

HAHA! Totally agree! I am taking classes right now and I am thinking 'Why do I have listen to a whole hour lecture on the syllabus?' Maybe I would be one of very few who actually look at it.

Yep. Just went through the same thing. We already own the Math book but the school only lists the bundle of the book (loose leaf) plus access code for $ 160. On Webassign website we could only find a bundle with e-book plus access code for $ 100. Well, we don't need an e-book. Went to college book store to see if we can get the access code only. Yes, but we have to special order it for $71 dollars. Are you for your real? Is what I am thinking in my head. But we need it; so had to order it. What a racket!

If you could make the above work maybe you can switch to California in-state tuition after one year. I seem to remember that you are considered a California residence after one year. Maybe you could ask about that and see if you could have take NC online classes for one year and then switch to California classes.

Ds is starting his college classes today! But he'll be at home for @ 2 years and then we'll see where he ends up. So for now we still get to have dinner with him. :-)

My two cents.... From personal experience I have not found that an AA or AS is of much use at all. I would suggest that she research her CC options and what type of agreements the CC has with state universities. Then I would browse through the CC catalog of courses and programs. Hopefully, something would strike her as intriguing and go from there. She then needs to get the General Education requirements for transfer. They tend to be quite similar for most state schools (at least in our area). Once I have that I would find out which courses I should take to satisfy major requirements. In California, you can go to http://www.assist.org/web-assist/welcome.html type in your CC and then check out the requirements for all the state university and all the majors they offer. Maybe her state has something similar. I would do all of this on my own to prepare AND make an appointment with a counselor at the CC to make sure I am covering all my bases. I have done all this for myself and for our dss. I then made an Excel spread sheet for each person in our case with the courses we need to take scheduled out. Make sure to be careful to cover pre-requisites also. That could add a course here and there. For us it has so far been easier to take a class at the CC rather than to test out. In our case, the CC is very affordable. Maybe this is not the case for her. We would take the Math at the CC. College Algebra is pretty much required for all degrees; there are some were you can get away with statistics instead. As far as the moving is concerned: Maybe she can finish her transfer schedule in two years in the same area and choose a university were she may be moving to; and use their transfer requirements to start. If things change she may just need to change a few things. If the move is within the same state she should be okay; if she moves out of state all bets are off. LOL

Friday is a good day this week. Spend a couple of hours on my Statistics Class work on my photo album yard work I really want to set aside purposeful time to read (i hour this afternoon) Lunch (for my birthday) with a dear friend Yoga It will be a good day. Hope all goes well, Jean.

I just happened upon this thread because.....you guessed it....I am bored. My time has finally come. One is starting college and ds 2 is a senior and doesn't really need much from me anymore. And he, too, has his license and a car now. The amount of time I suddenly have available is unbelievable. On top of this I got laid off from my part-time job this spring. This also happened to be the first summer in years we didn't spend travelling. Everyone is happy about being home this summer; not I. I am so bored. I also found that all my friends have no time to do anything. Some I know are truly working, but many I have no idea what they are all busy with. I think I need MUCH more interaction with people. I try to work it out. I have signed up to go back to school; in my case to finish my degree. I already took 2 summer courses...and it was very easy. Fall semester starts in a week. I am so happy about this. I work out 4 times a week taking various classes (yoga, body pump, TRX, CX Works). Each time I work out I am at the gym for at least 2 hours; often more. I am part of a book club. Over the summer we stopped meeting. Hopefully, we'll start up again. I go to a scrapbook meeting every other month which takes up a whole day. But I think I need more....not sure what. Somebody suggest new friends. I think that's exactly it. I need new/new friends, but somehow I am stumped on how to proceed. Regentrude, I hope you got out of this slump. I sure hope I'll be out of it soon. :-)

English "SAT 550 or higher on EBRW section ACT 22 or higher on the English section AP 3 or higher on the Language & Composition or Literature & Composition EAP Standard Exceeded (Level 4) in CAASPP English CLEP 50 or higher on College Composition, or College Composition Modular" Math "SAT 570 or higher on the Mathematics section SAT subject 550 or higher on the Mathematics IC or ICC ACT 23 or higher on the Mathematics section AP 3 or higher on the Calculus AB or Calculus BC or Statistics EAP Standard Exceeded (Level 4) in CAASPP Mathematics CLEP 50 or higher on Calculus, College Algebra, College Mathematics, or Pre-Calculus" Yes. The tests above in blue are the ones given at the high school level. If the score is a Level 3 then the student is still exempt from placement tests and the Early Start Program if the student takes an approved English and/or Math class in 12th grade. All that aside I find it interesting that over-reliance on standardized test scores is criticized. In reality this is really all the same. Just different tests and different standards.

This goes along with the lowering of standards all across the board. We have seen this in high schools already and now the colleges have to deal with students who are unable to do basic math and complete entry level writing assignments. It's a sad state of affairs. That said I know that the new standardized high school tests for English and Math are now used to replace the placement tests at colleges. I know California Community Colleges place the student in the college level courses based on a specific score on the tests in high school. I am not sure how I feel about this as both my kids have said that these standardized tests are really easy.

Thank you so much for sharing! I needed to hear something like this today as I am listening to my son tell everyone that he wants to be surgeon. My son who just would not study. Ever. I shall be supportive and let him pursue his dream. :-)

That's so good to hear! I hope to report something similar in a few years. Congrats to him! And you.

I have to say I too miss all of those conversation. Many of them were a huge help and definitively inspiring! :-)

Margaret, I love your post from way above. It seems that your family 'automatically' pursues interests which do tell a story about them in the end. I think that this book just helps some families see how much one can accomplish. I agree that it doesn't and shouldn't be 'just' do produce a list. It should be because it is of interest. Some people just need direction, ideas etc. To me that's what some of these types of books accomplish. :-)

I have read this book some time ago. While the author does indeed suggest to create cohesive narrative she also says that it is okay to switch interests. Yes, college admission is important; but so is finding your interests. This book helped me in having a conversation with my kids about things they may like to try. In the beginning of the book is a chapter about this including a list of possible 'interests'. We did actually go through this list to help us get started thinking about this. Just this year we wrote resumes with the boys. And they did in fact turn out to tell a story quite well. In our case, we actually had several stories we could focus on for one son. Over four years or more it turns out one can accomplish a lot. DS1: Summer 1: Beach Jr. Lifeguarding Camp Summer 2: traveled in Europe and practiced German (one month); Beach Jr. Lifeguarding Camp Summer 3: Beach Jr. Lifeguarding Camp Assistant (community service) Summer 4: traveled in Europe and practiced German (one month) Summer 5: Internship at the Aquarium; Deep Sea Diving Course in Progress (this is all lined up for this coming summer) As you can see it turned out pretty focused on Marine related activities. He has always liked the Ocean and is now starting his path toward Marine Science or Oceanography. DS 2: Summer 1: traveled in Europe and practiced German; one week camp at the Wild Animal Park; one week camp Computer Programming Summer 2: working with Dad on some Graphic Arts using Photoshop (he has just taken his first Photoshop course at the CC) Summer 3: traveled in Europe and practiced German (one month) Summer 4: still deciding on this summer Important here is that our summers don't have to be as packed because we have always had more time to tailor the courses during the school year toward interests. DS 1 has taken tons of Science courses including the standard Biology, Chemistry, and Physics but also Marine Science and a Biology Lab Science Course. DS 2 has taken a course in Python Programming as well as at the CC: Photoshop I, II and III and Motion Graphics courses. As you can see a lot of specialization can happen throughout the year as well. Hope this helps.

Hi, I know this may seem strange, but it seems we could review some important character qualities at our house. Does anyone have ideas in this area? I am not necessarily looking for a curriculum; although that would be fine if it's a good one. I am thinking more about books, movies, magazines, outings etc. Any and all ideas are appreiciated. qualities we are looking at specifically are loyalty and empathy Though we will visit others as well. Thanks.

Wow, Margaret! I just wanted to chime in and tell you these courses sound so much fun. I want to do them myself.

When my boys were in 3rd and 4th grade we did finish our serious school work by noon. The afternoon was usually open for projects, park days, library, art etc. This is what our general schedule looked like: Math: 1 hour a day English: 1 hour a day (Spelling Workout, WWE, FLL, Literature read alouds) We did not do everything everyday except literature. I did read aloud @ 30 min every day aloud to them. History: 1 1/2 twice a week This was fun for us. We read the chapter in SOTW aloud and did lots of projects as well as read additional related books. Science : 1 1/2 hours twice a week. This was also fun. We did tons of experiments and read related books. German: 30 min a day Often we watched documentaries related to what we were learning in the evenings. Fridays we essentially took off to go on field trips or do art and music. The boys learned so much during this time. We all miss it.

I think this may vary by state and even individual community colleges. I know in my area some cc's do not allow kids under 15 years old at all. However, we have one nearby which does allow younger students. My younger ds was only 13 when he took his first DE class (a young high school freshman). But even in my geographic location many people are under the impression that you have to wait until you are a junior. This is not correct. It depends mostly on the colleges policies.

Well, to be honest I am not sure. I'll be happy to report back to you after ds has taken the AP test in May. I did look through the AP exam information on the College Board and compared it with what the course covers. I do believe that the course does indeed make sure the kids practice things that the exam asks them to do. I.e. write a short essay, give a report comparing something art related between German and American culture. The course also covers not only language but also a lot of German culture and history. All the directions are written in German which is a good thing,imo. The course also uses a lot of different writers, poets, musicians, etc. throughout the course. Ds is learning a lot. All that said I am not sure he could make it through the course without someone who speaks German. It would be much more difficult for him. I speak German so that helps. The tutoring sessions for the AP course are far better and more beneficial than the other courses because they are actually held by Sabine who I believe started the program. She gives excellent feedback on what they need to improve on the essays as well as answers any questions. The course overall, I think, is pretty good. The online set-up can be a bit cumbersome and could use to be updated to function more smoothly. However, that is something we can overlook and overcome. Hope this helps.

We have been using it for a few years. Ds 17 is currently taking AP German through OSU. It is working fairly well.