I dare say it depends on the student and the situation as to what situation would work best for any given family. When my children were young we preferred group classes because the main focus was for them in a group activity and the level we were looking for was on an introductory basis. We wished them to be exposed to a variety of instruments, learn some basics such as rhythm, basic note reading and so forth. Once they moved into actually playing an instrument, they moved into private classes because they were supposed to focus on the lesson and not the other kids. For three of my children music was only an extracurricular activity, part of a general education. My youngest though is a serious musician (was just accepted into university as a music (composition) major) and music was always part of her curriculum. For her we preferred classes during school hours, for my boys afternoons would have been better because elective school time was spent on math/science/technology classes.

Not my wedding gift but when I moved out in 1987, my mother gave me the towels she had received as a wedding gift in 1964. "Made in USA" and still going strong (no holes, frayed edges, thinning...) even though they are our everyday towels.

Blueberry Pineapple and Strawberry Guava

We don't limit our kids' music choices but between 70/80's pop music, elevator jazz, some Japanese/Korean and classical music there isn't much to object to.

How about cat diapers? She may or may not keep them on but it might be worth a try.

No, I was a homebody and had no interest and as my mother was very permissible, I had no reason. My kiddos also have no interest and are free to come and go as they please.

Maize, thank you, this is awesome, I love the Narnia books. Luckily my hubby has just talked me into subscribing to Audible again.

Lawyer&Mom Thank you for the link, I was not familiar with it. When I started hiragana and katakana, I read children's books that I knew in a different language and was going to start on those that also have kanji. I think I will do the readers first as they really do look like a lot of fun. I am okay with recognizing kanji if I can link them to a picture or see them in context so these readers will be very helpful. For some reason writing them is another story.

Tell me about it 🙂 We spent a couple of years in Japan and are planning to go back. I was tired of not being able to read signs in public spaces, ingredient lists or whatever because it would have made life much easier. I work with native speakers for both languages and took classes at the university because once I was past hiragana, katakana (Hangul characters) and basic grammar I did not trust myself to continue on my own. All our Japanese friends are fluent in English, French or German and love practicing their skills with me. Outside of that group I do not interact frequently enough with people to have conversations other than ordering food, asking for directions, items or something similarly basic. My Korean endeavor came out of watching Korean shows on TV and wondering how close the subtitles are to what is actually being said. As with Japanese, I would prefer to be able to read signs in public spaces myself rather than keep asking. I do acquire conversational skills but they are not my priority.

I am studying Japanese and Korean. My primary goal is reading but I am not opposed to mastering the conversational part as well 😉 My French and Ancient Greek are dusty but I have recently started to read and listen again and particularly the French is coming back rather quickly. I used to be fluent but have neither spoken nor listened nor read it for the last 35 years.

#3 son will follow his brother to the University of Hawaii for Mechanical Engineering.

My son does not have a smart phone, neither does he take a laptop to class. Now what? If he attended one of these schools, would he automatically fail because he could not be tracked? Would the school pay for a smart phone? Can a student only successfully study in the library? Needless to say, I have a major problem with tracking students like that.

AOPS math books, Giancoli for physics, Chang and Zumdahl for chemistry, Genki for Japanese, Campbell&Reece, Miller Levine for biology, not sure about others yet.

My first year at Purdue in 1991 cost $2324 in-state tuition and now stands at $9992; it has more than quadrupled.

When my husband and I went to college ('91-'97) we had his GI Bill of $350 a month for 9 or 10 months out of the year, we each worked 40 hours a week, I once had a Pell Grant and we had some student loans. In grad school, he was a TA and I an RA and worked 20 hours each in addition to that. We did not want that for our kids so started saving early and will pay their tuition and expenses as they go. They live at home so no extra boarding cost and their school is great about using free or low cost books and other materials. Edit: #2 son also has a scholarship and hubby's MIT degrees later on were paid for by the Navy.

I would probably do both. Go on vacation now and keep saving money until I have made up what we spent on the vacation and renovate the kitchen a couple of years down the road.

We pretty much got the same as always.

My Korean from Zero book.

My son took Latin, history and literature through Lukeion when we lived in Japan. He had permission to take the class watching the recordings. He did not take AP, but it might be worth asking.

English - community college Pre-Calc - community college Japanese 3- local tutor Econ - ? Government - ? Elective - ? Elective - ? I am still looking for an engineering elective but come up empty, he has no idea what he wants to do for his second elective. I don't know if the community college will work out, we will see.

English Honors 2 - Blue Tent Algebra 2 - ? Biology - ? Japanese 2 - local tutor US History - ? Psychology - ? Music - 1/2 credit - local Ice skating, Venture Crew

Nooo, please do not make the course easier. I wish I had received a solid grounding in chemistry given my later inclinations. My daughter is finally accepting that something less than a perfect score does not mean abject failure and while she may not be on top of the class, she is rather proud that she is not only doing something that exceeds anything her brothers have done (ll her brothers had Honors Chem) but that she is able to hold a decent grade. Just like with Blue Tent, I feel a B or "Good" really means that and it is an accomplishment (that was my only bone of contention with Lukeion, that a B was rather considered a failure). A "B" in Clover Valley means she has far more and more solid knowledge than an "A" at the local high school. I have come across the attitude though that participating in an Honors class should mean that only an A is a valid grade because otherwise the student apparently isn't able to follow the material. I have a different opinion, but there it is.

An internal heater

Blue Tent

My daughter is in the Honors Class for chemistry. I personally find the workload roughly the same, Connie gives more time to do it and there are no quizzes in chemistry. Chemistry in my opinion is more abstract and can be harder to grasp to begin with and Connie seems to go into more detail than physics did (Maybe it just seems that way because chemistry takes place on a smaller scale; it is very hard to visualize what is happening on an atomic scale.) I don't think the math in chemistry is any harder and Jetta certainly provided plenty of problems that were not just conceptual in nature. I would call it a very solid foundational physics class but not honors. Having said that, my boys took honors chemistry classes and I come across plenty of things I have not heard of before (or maybe just not under that name but I had plenty of "Aha" moments) myself so even comparing it to other honors classes, Connie's class is a step up when it comes to difficulty. While my daughter is not the science fiend her brothers are, she is considering going into clinical psychology which requires a sequence of calc, several semesters of chemistry and biology and thus we opted for the honors level for chem and bio. My inkling is that Connie's basic class is like Jetta's physics class, a solid foundation for anyone to build on. What I appreciate about both classes is the lack of busy work, especially in an honors class. I have come across too many honors or advanced classes that have a very high workload and in the end the retention is low because the student is more concerned with turning work in rather than actually processing it. Connie's class seems to be less broad but deeper (or Connie assumes that some topics have been dealt with in prior physics. For example, my sons spend a lot more time on unit conversions, the spectrum, the history of the periodic table...) I am glad she had Jetta's class before chem because there are times she directly relates chem to physics (particularly energy and forces) and reasons based on her physics knowledge. I don't think you can go wrong with Connie's class but if I had a student who is not interested in science or struggled with conceptual understanding, I would sign him/her up for the regular class based on my experience. Edited for grammar