I'm glad I sent my son to Engineering summer camps. UNC Charlotte as a rising 9th grader NC State University Wolfpack Motorsports as a rising sophomore Summer Ventures in Science and Math at East Carolina University as a rising junior. They have affirmed his interest in engineering and have kept him motivated toward that goal!

University of NC School of the Arts offers a degree in Wig/Makeup design http://www.ncarts.edu/designandproduction/programs.htm#WigandMakeup

Ok, I just walked into the den to watch 60 Minutes and there's a report about the FDIC taking over a failed bank. The FDIC official says of the loyal bank employees, "They feel like they put their whole life into it (the bank)." That's what I mean by the media confusing me...sometimes it's the people interviewed by the media that make me doubt grammar rules.

So the lessons I learned long ago still hold. That's a relief. I start doubting myself when I hear rules broken. Have you noticed no one says "lie" anymore, as in, "The dog lies on the floor." In North Carolina, "The dog lays on the floor."

Picture a room full of people, all wearing hats. They are cheering and throwing their hats in the air. Long ago, when I was in school, I learned that if there is more than one hat (that is, each person is wearing a hat) you say, "They threw their hats in the air." If there is only one hat, collectively owned by all the people in the room, it would be "They threw their hat in the air." Using the same rule, these sentence would be correct, even though it sounds like each soldier has more than one life, tourists have more than one mouth, and children waved both hands in the air. The soldiers gave their lives for our country. The tourists afraid of Swine Flu covered their mouths. The children waved good-bye. They waved their hands. In the media I hear "They gave their life...they covered their mouth, and they waved their hand." Well, that doesn't sound right either. Now it sounds like they collectively have only one life, one mouth, one hand.... Grammar experts, please help.

Here is a link to a college algebra course online: http://www.wtamu.edu/academic/anns/mps/math/mathlab/col_algebra/index.htm

Jane in NC posted the link to Academic Earth earlier this year. It's an incredible resource for college lectures. Here's a link to one for Psychology: http://www.academicearth.org/courses/introduction-to-psychology

Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden are two of my all-time favorites.

I agree that the peer group and overall college standards matter. Being surrounded by intellectual peers is probably the most important variable in whether or not class discussions are interesting/stimulating. Having lively discussions would make doing it all over again bearable. When I read your post, I thought of Charles Murray's book, Real Education. He says that only the top 10-15% of students should go to universities. Everyone needs post-secondary education, but most students should focus on career-specific certifications. And what about liberal arts? He says they should be taught in high school. I like his model. My older son probably would have had a different experience at VCU if he had gotten into the honors program, but he didn't. When he was in high school, he was convinced that academics didn't matter - only art. As much as we tried to convince him otherwise, it was just last year that he agreed. "I HAVE TO get into the honors program." My younger son is thriving at a very challenging high school. He wants to major in engineering and I am desperate for him to test out of as many introductory courses as possible so he won't be bored and disenchanted. We know which school he wants to attend, so we're able to choose AP/CLEP accordingly. The school also exempts students with a high SAT CR score from Freshman English.

I've heard that Thomas Edison State College accepts almost all credit-by-exam credits and is generous with CLEP and AP (granting 6 credits where many grant only 3). It's quite possible to get an AA degree entirely with CLEP, AP, Dantes. The school is accredited. When my kids were in 8th grade, if I knew what I know now, I'd have them CLEP every subject possible and work on an AA from Thomas Edison along with our high school program. I'm sorry that we didn't do CLEP along with SAT II prep. It only takes about 18 tests to get an AA degree. Of course, they both ended up going to public boarding schools in 11th grade, but they could have accumulated a lot of credits before then. They'll each take a CLEP exam this summer. That will help. With a Masters degree being the new Bachelors, I hate for them to waste any time in college. They'll be there a long time as it is!

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Art. It's a highly regarded art school in an average university.

My son recently completed his freshman year in college. "I never thought it would be like high school-continued, but it is." My son was homeschooled until 8th grade and then entered public high school. His comment then was, "This is all a repeat of middle school." Now college is a repeat of high school which is just a repeat of middle school..... I am becoming more and more convinced that students should try to earn college credits while in high school -- through AP, CLEP or dual enrollment in community college-- to avoid the repeat. AP and CLEP are efficient because there is no age requirement and students can self-study. Biology, Freshman English, Math....it's all the same information from high school to college. Why do it over?

(I just ordered the free kit - maybe my Lego-maniac son will help me with this!) http://www.legoeducation.com/forms/activitycontest.asp Now through August 2009, LEGO® Education is hosting an activity challenge for educators of all grades and subject areas! The LEGO® Smart™ Creativity Contest begins with your imagination and ends with great prizes, online recognition, and the chance to share your activity with thousands of students across the nation! The task is simple. Create an activity using only the bricks included in a LEGO Smart Kit Educators are being challenged to use the kits’ contents to develop a hands-on activity for their students. This can range from a simple build to a more advanced mathematical problem. You’re the creator, so let your imagination lead you! Eligibility Requirements To be eligible for the LEGO Smart Creativity Contest you must be a teacher or working in the education field. This includes administrators, coaches, home school educators, and classroom aides!

I'd recommend covering both the beginning and advanced levels of each subject in one year. It's doable if you schedule a lesson each week instead of every other week. Your student should be prepared for the SAT Subject test, but sure to supplement with test prep books to be sure!

I read the following article yesterday: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124278685697537839.html?mod=googlenews_wsj It posits that test prep companies give tougher-than-actual SAT mock tests to boost their results. One student commented that he took a mock test and scored 2060....he didn't sign up for test-prep, but took the SAT anyway and got a perfect score, 2400. I have found Xiggi's test prep advice on CollegeConfidential to be very effective. Here is his thread: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/68210-xiggis-sat-prep-advice.html You can find all the math problems from the CollegeBoard's Official blue book worked out on http://www.khanacademy.org/sat.jsp.

I went to the Univ. of Rochester my freshman year (1977). I think your son would love it - esp. if he had an opportunity to continue violin at Eastman. I liked Univ. of Rochester - beautiful campus, good teachers, nice size, tunnels connecting many of the classrooms. I only attended one year and then returned to a state school because of finances. The negative features of the school are obvious: It snows a lot, so it's cold and gloomy.

Last week, many of you helped my son with an online survey for his lint-roller/iron project. He called last night after class and said that his team had gone from dead-last in # of responses to first place and that they "won" extra points. I asked him how many responses they got and he said, "I don't know, but it was enough to win!" He said another team member has the log-in to the survey and is responsible for that part of the project. If it were me, I'd insist on having daily updates from the team member in charge of surveys, but no. This group assigns roles and then each member focuses on his own assignment. Anyway, thanks again for all your help! I know-- and he knows-- that at least 60 of the responses came from WTM friends. You all get extra points!

I read a positive review of this movie in February. The next week, I looked for it in the movie listings and didn't see it. Now I know why -- it's not coming out until June! I definitely want to see it.

My son took Write At Home classes from 2005-2007. Overall, we were happy with the classes, although they did not take my son as much time/attention as I'd hoped. For instance, he'd write an essay one week, receive comments the next, and have a whole week to revise the essay. It didn't take him long to incorporate suggestions/corrections, so basically he had every other week off! The Stanford EPGY W11A class was FAR more demanding and rigorous. I'd like to send you an example of one of his Write At Home essay assignments and the feedback he received, but I can't find an option for attachments in PM or email. If you PM me with an email address, I'll send it to you!

I did a quick search on CollegeBoard's MyRoad for colleges within 100 miles of Dallas, offering a Fine Arts/Studio Arts degree, with in-state tuition less than $10,000/yr..... Tarleton State University Stephenville, Texas Texas College Tyler, Texas University of North Texas Denton, Texas University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, Texas

If you do take the ACT again, it might be worth checking out these links, posted a while back by a WTM member. The following is a link to the first video in a series of eight (I believe) in which the instructor goes through a science reasoning section in real time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef7rX...eature=related The following link is the practice test which is being addressed in the videos: http://www.act.org/aap/pdf/preparing.pdf

I'd recommend searching the CLEP prep forum for comments. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ClepForHomeschool/ From what I've read, College Plus is expensive ($3000/yr.) Some people have benefited greatly from their coaching and advice; some have said that it focuses on "pushing through" the tests in a short amount of time-- too much pressure, too accelerated. The CLEP route can be a lonely journey for many homeschoolers, so it's nice to find small group facilitators for CLEPs to bring students together who have a common goal, e.g. http://www.freewebs.com/officesolutions/clepprep.htm

I think a credit card, debit card, and ATM info class for parents w/kids going off to school would be helpful. The college-bound youth could attend too. Some kids are responsible and naturally "smart" about such things. Others aren't. Here are some things we've experienced: ATM fees are charged by our bank at the end of the month. There's a one-time big bill of all accumulated ATM fees. Fees are even charged for checking your balance at another bank's ATM. Fees can be charged by the other bank's ATM as well as your own bank, making it cost about $5 for any withdrawal. ATM cards can be used at many merchants - any with the swipe/insert PIN machine will do. ATM cards require a PIN, so if you lose them, no one else can use them (unless of course, you've done something stupid like write the PIN on the back of the card). Debit cards look like credit cards and, if lost, can be picked up and used by a thief easily. A PIN is not required. Money is taken automatically out of checking and (the worst part) is that a merchant can put a "hold" on funds that can cause your account to be overdrawn. The merchant doesn't have to tell you about this hold and you often don't find out about it until it's too late and you have an overdraft fee! I can tell you stories about my son and his debit card. He now has an ATM card. Credit cards are convenient. Don't take cash out with a credit card. If you lose the card, report it right away. Realize that the merchant controls when the charge is posted, so don't charge anything big (like tuition) if it will cause you to exceed your credit limit and it's near the cycle closing date. Check your online transactions regularly to make sure there are no unexpected charges. Often, credit cards leave our control temporarily (i.e. when given to a waiter) and you never know who might write down the number or use a skimmer to collect info off the card. Another finance related topic: If your student is going to school out of state or at a private school where credits cost $1000 each (I'm raising my hand here)-- consider earning transferrable credits from community college or CLEP tests over the summer. This can save 1000's of dollars in tuition and actually be a better use of time than most summer jobs.

I don't think CLEPs are falling into disfavor at all! In fact I see demand for them growing. Over 2900 colleges and universities accept CLEP - usually, the same colleges that accept "3's" on APs also accept CLEP. The schools that only accept 4's and 5's on APs usually don't. There is no age requirement for CLEP and scores are valid for 20 years. With few exceptions they are multiple choice exams -- 90 minutes long. They are offered throughout the year and generally do not take as much prep as AP. My 16yo is going to study for the Sociology CLEP (seems to be one of the most accepted CLEP subjects) this summer. NC State - a competitive school - accepts this CLEP as well as Microeconomics. I hope my son can CLEP out of both of these before starting college. He wants to be an engineer and I'd like him to get as many of the extraneous credits out of the way so he can have a lighter course load and focus on the engineering-related subjects. If your student subscribes to College Board's MyRoad program, there is an SAT/AP/CLEP page for each school that shows the CLEPs accepted. Feel free to PM me and I'll look up the school's policy for you if you don't have MyRoad. As the cost of college increases, CLEP will become more popular. Already, our testing center appointments fill up within days of being posted. In many cases, 3 college credits is 3 college credits whether it's AP or CLEP. My son will have done both. Now that I know he's interested/committed to a state school that accepts CLEP, I'm excited about the prospect of his being able to earn credits during the summer in addition to his year-long AP classes.

I print shipping labels at USPS.com - delivery confirmation is free for priority mail packages.