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Sandra in NC

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Everything posted by Sandra in NC

  1. We use annualcreditreport.com to get a free credit report. Since you can order one from each of the three credit bureaus, we order one every 3 or 4 months -- using a different credit bureau for the report each time. Did you know you can opt-out of prescreened credit card offers permanently? https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t We did this and now we don't get any credit card offers at home! Yay! And of course, there's the Do Not Call list at https://www.donotcall.gov/register/Reg.aspx. Registration lasts only 5 years, so it wouldn't hurt to re-register all your phone numbers now and be set until 2013!
  2. http://www.nationalww2museum.org/education/studentessays.html http://holocaust.hklaw.com/2007/index.asp
  3. Sleep with a pillow under your knees if you sleep on your back, or between your knees if you sleep on your side. This has helped me tremendously!
  4. My 15 yo son is in the 10th grade and spends from 8:30 a.m. until 6:00 pm Monday-Friday on school work, with a break for lunch. He has 2 Stanford EPGY courses and a Pennsylvania Homeschool AP class. These take a lot of time! We are doing Apologia Chemistry and Rosetta Stone German together. He usually works on all 5 classes each day. He's "free" after 6 pm during the week and on weekends. He's only had to do school work on one or two Saturdays so far this year. Sandra in NC
  5. A homeschool mom who used to live in our neighborhood has been cutting our family's hair for 8 years. She now lives in a neighboring town, but she still comes over once a month to cut our hair. In one evening, everyone in the family who wants a haircut gets one. (Sometimes my older teen doesn't want a haircut.) We pay her $55 regardless of how many in the family decide to get a haircut - most of the time 3 people do, sometimes 4, sometimes 2. It's a huge timesaver having her come to our house! And she's does a great job!
  6. I was amazed that the whole thing took only an hour -- w/IV anesthesia! He was on strong pain meds for a week (Oxycotin), and after that he was fine. By the end of the summer he had forgotten all about the surgery. I'm relieved he had them all out. My husband has wisdom tooth pain intermittently and the dr. won't touch the bottom ones - too risky to remove. My husband had the top ones out a few years ago. He wishes he had had them all out earlier. They get harder to remove the older you get.
  7. There are so many references to this book, as well as others like 1984 and Brave New World, that I consider it a must-read.
  8. We've been in Charlotte almost 9 years now.
  9. My 15 yo is a big Ron Paul fan and he still thinks Dr. Paul has a chance at the Republican nomination. "Are you going to vote for Ron Paul?" he asks, and I tell him I'll have to see how we're doing in May (we have a late primary in NC). If Obama is the clear choice at that point, then I can vote in the Republican primary for Ron Paul. I just finished reading The Bulldozer and the Big Tent about the decline of the Democratic party and how it can be reinvigorated. Very interesting book. I think Obama is the best hope for the Democrats. For all the respondents to this post who say "none of the above", please visit this site to help you find the candidate who most matches your views. We've got to work with what we've got. http://www.vajoe.com/candidate_calculator.html
  10. My older son, who had been homeschooled all his life, went to PS for high school. He really wanted instruction in art, and I couldn't give it to him at home, so he went to school. It was a mixed bag. In his artistic endeavors he excelled. He learned a lot and won a lot of contests. Eventually, he was able to get into our state's residential high school for artists and that's where he is now. My son is very average academically. His SAT total of CR and Math is just over 1000. He has a less-than-3.0 average. In 9th and 10th grade, he took all the "Honors" courses he could and he discovered that in his school, Honors classes meant students could read. He thought they were "normal" classes. Sometimes he had to take "regular" classes because there weren't Honors alternatives. In those classes, he said the students couldn't read or write. He was appalled. Yes, he could've made straight A's, but the funny thing is, having easy classes demotivated him. An A wasn't worth anything. And, being highly social, he didn't care about grades. He enjoyed the social aspects of HS so much, that there would be no getting him back to homeschool, ever. He learned some things that I wish he hadn't and he became more cynical. Here's something he said in 9th grade....I wrote it down after he said it. "When I was was homeschooled, I used to look around and think people were the most creative, inventive creatures. Now that I’ve been to ScoolName, I’m amazed at how primitive people really are. They are selfish and inconsiderate. They need to teach morals at SchoolName." Overall, I'd say it's a mixed bag. My younger son is still homeschooled and my older son thinks it's awful. He thinks I'm ruining him for life by doing so and that his brother needs to get out in the real world and toughen up. Well, I don't know. But there are some things about my older son that are worse now that he's been to PS....there are some things that are better.
  11. I think we'll get it before June. The paper today says checks would be mailed 60 days from approval. We'll probably get it just in time to pay our taxes!
  12. We are doing both Apologia Chem and Adv. Chem in one year. I think the two books together make a rigorous college prep class.
  13. The Hundred Secret Senses is my favorite Amy Tan book! I had to read it twice to "get it" but I enjoyed both times! Isn't Kwan funny? (I met Amy Tan and she autographed my copy!) Saving Fish from Drowning is a good Amy Tan book, too, and is especially interesting reading in light of Burma's recent re-emergence in the news. I think it's a shame that so many high schools have their students read the Joy Luck Club when Tan has superior books out....
  14. My 15 yo is taking PA Homeschool AP US Govt. this year. He enjoys the class. It's especially fun taking this class during the presidential campaigns!
  15. My son attended a summer program at Duke TIP and enjoyed it. It was incredibly expensive, but we felt it was worth it for the residential experience as well as for the academic challenge. Being homeschooled, my 15 yo acts like a little adult. It was a bit of a culture shock, being in the midst of high school students who, granted were bright, but more immature than the homeschoolers we associate with. My son's teacher remarked that he was, "Very polite and more mature than his peers." He was not the brightest one there and at times he struggled with the coursework, but he learned a lot about himself and others. The previous year, my son had spent 1 week at a residential summer program that had no prerequisites. It was not a talent search program. It turned out to be more of a babysitting service. Based on our experience, the talent search program was superior. It was worth the money. That being said, we won't do it again because it's so expensive. Once is enough.
  16. Several years ago, we started a Toastmasters Gavel Club in our area. There are now 40 students, ages 11-17, in the club. Here's a link to info about starting a group. The meetings are run just like Toastmasters meetings. http://www.freewebs.com/charlottegavelclubs/startagavelclub.htm
  17. My teen read about 1/2 of The Things They Carried. It's intense/disturbing. Such is war. Which reminds me of the movie "Why We Fight"...."when war becomes profitable, there will be more of it."
  18. I've been a regular visitor to the WTM boards for a year now. I have a 15 yo son who I've homeschooled since age 4. This year, he is taking Stanford EPGY and PA Homeschool classes online; we're doing Apologia Chem and Adv. Chemistry together at home and we use Rosetta Stone for German. Next year, he will take classes at the community college + online classes and I will have to get a job to help pay for college for my older son! My almost-18 yo son was homeschooled until high school when he decided he needed "real" art classes. For 11th and 12th grade, he's been at North Carolina School of the Arts where he enjoys a somewhat independent life. We're waiting to find out what the next step for him is....which college will give him the best art merit scholarship.
  19. Here's and interesting site. You pick the issues that are most important to you and the candidate who matches your views most is displayed. http://www.vajoe.com/candidate_calculator.html
  20. It's painful to rent, but it's better than being rushed into a major purchase. My husband has an employee whose family moved up here for the job and bought a home after looking for one weekend. They love the home; the problem is the neighborhood is new and investors are scooping up lots of properties. It will be a rental-heavy neighborhood soon. They have regrets. My vote would be to rent for 6 months and take your time finding the neighborhood you want to live in. Once you've done that, you can start looking at homes in that neighborhood as they come on the market. With the economy softening and home sales slowing, prices will probably get even better for you. Also, you want to make sure your husband likes his new position. One time we moved, my husband found out within the first 3 months that the job was not for him. It's nice to have some flexibility until you're certain.
  21. Here are the books he's read recently. He is an avid reader, reading 2 books outside school assignments, each week. He prefers nonfiction - mostly from the 300's of the Dewey decimal system. The prince / by Machiavelli, Niccolo Life's a Campaign by Matthews, Chris (good book-- I read it too!) What WE Say Goes by Chomsky, Noam Freedom from Oil by Sandalow, David Violent Politics by Polk, William Roe (dense book...I tried to read it but it put me to sleep.) For school, he's reading Julius Caesar by Shakespeare. (Part of the Stanford EPGY English series).
  22. It will be easier for me to find topics of interest if I don't visit for a few days.
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