I think it's around Dec. 10th..... Anyone else know for sure?

Spend some time this year exploring careers. Try to come up with an objective so that you can direct your daughter's high school experience accordingly. One suggestion would be to sign up for MyRoad.com (part of the collegeboard's offerings) and take the personality test under "ID me". The test will highlight some compatible careers. Another tab in the MyRoad program allows you to explore careers - and yet another tab helps you find appropriate colleges. https://myroad.collegeboard.com/myroad/navigator.jsp This program is free to PSAT-takers. We paid $20/year for it. It's well worth the money. If college isn't appealing, then look into Vo-Tech certifications. Maybe your daughter would like to be a paralegal...or a dental hygienist.... Knowing the overall objective will help you design a compatible homeschool program and it will give you confidence that you are on track for your daughter's goals.

Rosetta Stone Level 1 is worth 2 high school credits. Level 2 is worth 2 more credits. Without a grammar supplement, however, your students won't be able to pass any exams to test out of a foreign language requirement in college. But they'll have the high school credit, and that counts as far as your diploma requirements go. If you want them to be able to test out of a foreign language, then I'd use a different program.

We have had good experience with PA Homeschool online AP classes http://www.pahomeschoolers.com/courses/index.html WriteAtHome.com has good online writing courses -- encouraging coaches. Stanford EPGY has excellent online English classes (for strong writers) A couple years ago, my son started Chemistry with APEX Learning, but I asked for a refund - very disappointing class. That's our experience!

Specifically, Scholastics http://www.artandwriting.org/ There is no prize money, but it's a good way to start! Have your students register (homeschool students register directly- parents DON'T register as teachers) and then click on the rules for your region. Our deadline is usually end of Nov./early Dec. for writing. My son won a National Gold Key last year in the personal essay category! Sandra

More thoughts on this subject.... Have your children attend academic summer camps at state universities (or other schools). This is a good way to visit colleges early and also to have your children build experience working with others, away from home. Also, plan to have them take the SAT II subject tests throughout high school -- don't save them until senior year. (That is, unless you are 100% sure your child will go to a school that doesn't require them.) Participate in math clubs, science olympiad, and other nationally recognized groups.

Writing --not only composition but the physical skill of handwriting-- is important as is the SAT. My older son refused to do SAT prep and he ended up with very average scores. My younger son worked on SAT prep daily (just an ave of 15 min a day) for a year and ended up with very high scores. People say the SAT is becoming less relevant, but I don't think so. Big schools use it as an easy screening tool. My older son's good friend got an automatic scholarship based on her SAT and grades. There was no scholarship interview or any other "work" for her to do. My son didn't get that and as a consequence, we're paying $1000/month MORE than his friend who is going to the same school. Aack. I should have insisted my older son do SAT prep. The other thing I wish we had done is spent the summers preparing/taking CLEP exams. It's costing us about $1000/credit for my son (out-of-state tuition) and he could've earned many credits by doing CLEP. It would've been more productive than a summer job in terms of money saved. CLEP wouldn't help my younger son, who will probably go to a school that doesn't accept CLEP credits, but my older son who is an average school, would have been bettter off.... (Why is he out of state? Because VCU has the best public-university art program in the country. It's cheaper than private art colleges.)

Do you remember the devastating fires in the San Diego area about 4 or 5 years ago? Cheap Joe's offered to replace, for free, art supplies lost in the fire....it's a good company! http://www.cheapjoes.com/

Many members at CollegeConfidential.com are obsessed with the SAT - I would think there would be a buzz about this site if it were worthwhile, but I didn't see any comments. Has anyone here evaluated Mystery Tutor?

https://myroad.collegeboard.com/myroad/navigator.jsp This site is free for PSAT test takers. Otherwise, I think it's about $20/yr. It's a great tool for finding majors compatible with your personality and for researching colleges. I highly recommend it.

You have the option to print results. It lists the entire log up to the point of the award. For interim reports, I think you'd have do a "Print Screen", paste it into Word or Paint, and then print it out. Here was my award status: (I never ordered awards or printed out results.) Award Start Date End Date Order Award President's Champions - Bronze 08-28-2006 04-30-2007 [print results] order award Here's a sample of the log: Date Activity Description Duration Points 04-30-2007 Walking Moderate, 2.5-5 mph 0 Hr. 40 Min. 147 04-26-2007 Walking Moderate, 2.5-5 mph 0 Hr. 40 Min. 147 Gee, that's kind of hard to decipher. Trust me, the log is much easier to read/user friendly.

We used this site to keep a log. http://www.presidentschallenge.org/the_challenge/index.aspx

Thanks Hillary -- It looks like students can use SAT scores that were earned prior to taking the PSAT. That's good news.

My son did very well on his SAT test last year. This year, he'll take the PSAT and I'm wondering if it's a requirement for National Merit status that he take the SAT again. Will they use any scores they have on file for the SAT, whether they were taken before or after the PSAT?

When my son took Stanford EPGY geometry, their recommended order for math classes was Alg. I, Alg. II, Geometry, Pre-Calc., Calc. The geometry class through EPGY was incredibly difficult/challenging. I think they wanted a certain level of maturity before students attempted that class.

Thanks for all your advice. I'm testing the toilets now...it's been 30 minutes and no dye has leaked from the tank to the bowl, so it looks like they're ok. My neighbor suggested turning off the whole-house water-cutoff valve and checking to see if the meter is still running. If it is, we could have a leak outside (although I doubt it because our yard definitey is a drought poster-yard. There are no wet areas anywhere. ) Our neighbor said the meter might be bad. His went bad 10 years ago and he says that since then, he's had a faulty gas meter, too. I'm hoping it's just a problem with the meter. Again, thanks for all the advice!

Our water bill was shockingly high this month. I thought, surely there was a mistake, but my husband went out to check the meter and said no. In fact, we've used 15 days worth of water (based on our normal usage) in the 5 days that have passed since the last billing cycle. I mowed the lawn today and didn't see any lush, wet spots. I inspected under the house, too, and the soil there is all dry. Any ideas? Do you think the meter could be faulty?

Nissi, I PMed you.

We did it by doing one module per week. Someone on this board once posted a link that proved to be very helpful to us in understanding Chemistry. The tutorials were worthwhile. You might want to bookmark this for future reference. We found that with Apologia, it was sometimes helpful to have a different (video) explanation. http://www.wwnorton.com/college/chemistry/gilbert/index/site_map.htm

I am using "The Missing Manual" series and the MCAS Study Guide. I hope to take the test at the end of August. The tricky part for me is finding out where/how to take the test. I signed up on the Certiport site, and I imagine I'll just need to buy a "ticket" for the test and then go to a testing center in the area. This process is new to me!

My son took AP US Govt w/PA Homeschool this past year and scored a 4 on the AP exam. Pro: The class prepares students well for the test by having many hand-written, timed essay exercises. He received detailed feedback from the instructor on his essays. Con: My son was frustrated by the assigned quizzes not being current - having to be redone - or not available to do until Friday. He preferred to get his work done for that class early in the week because of his schedule. Often, it wasn't possible because the quiz wasn't ready. Be aware: The grade given for this class weights participation heavily. I think it was 20%. That's the reason my son got a B in the class instead of an A. He didn't post a lot to the forum, but he did good work on everything else. The work load is reasonable. It's much less work that the US History AP. I'd recommend the class. Be sure to use AP prep books in conjunction with it to get more experience with the multiple choice questions. The quizzes given in the class relate to information in the textbook; your student will need experience with the AP exam-type questions, too.

I bought a 13 pc bedding/towel set on sale today ($60) at Target and I'm currently in the process of washing the sheets and towels. I washed them once already but the towels shed so much that the sheets are now covered in pills. I'm washing everything again. Ok, I just took the sheets out of the wash and they're still covered in towel pills. I'll try drying them separately to see if the lint catcher will get those. Does anyone have experience with shedding towels? Does it get better with time or do they shed for life?

The gastroenterolgist checked my husband's insurance and said we had to pay $600 before he would do the surgery. Then, when insurance ended up paying more, we had to wait about a year to get a refund from the dr. I think they were hoping we'd forget about it!

Summer of My German Soldier is good and so is Under the Blood Red Sun. (The latter is one of my son's favorites.) There are lots of good reviews for these books at Amazon.com.

We hosted a boy from Japan who didn't want to be here! His parents wanted him to come and, in rebellion, he came but decided he wasn't going to participate or enjoy the experience. It was disappointing (heartbreaking) to me because I had planned all kinds of fun excursions and interesting day trips. He came along like a detached ghost - unappreciative, uninterested, and sulky. We even went to a Japanese festival where he brought a book to read and sat on a bench outside. I thought he'd enjoy seeing/talking to other Japanese people and eating Japanese food. But like I said, he decided not to enjoy his month in the US -- probably to spite his parents. My older son was taking Japanese at the time and had hoped to practice with our guest. Our guest said, "Don't speak Japanese. You have a bad accent." My son's tutor said many parents send their kids abroad to "build character." They start early, saving money and signing kids up for clubs where they have the opportunity for foreign exchange. The parents hope their child will encounter adversity on the trip that will help them "grow up."