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Sandra in NC

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Posts posted by Sandra in NC

  1. "Maxed Out" is a documentary with heart-wrenching stories about college kids and credit cards. One student, a National Merit scholar, signed up for multiple cards -- initially just to get the freebie t-shirts and other incentives offered by the credit card companies. He committed suicide after running up huge balances on the cards. Another mother has a similar story about her daughter. The parents question why the credit card companies extended so much credit to students who had only part time jobs.

  2. I know nothing about Munchkins, but I looked at them on Google images and they remind of dachshunds. I wonder if they'd be prone to back problems like dachshunds?

     

    We have two cats. One is persian-esque with long black fur. I have learned NEVER to get another cat with long fur...when she has digestive problems, poop sticks in it. She sheds everywhere. Yuck

     

    Our short haired tabby is no problem.

     

    When we were first married, my husband and I bought two pure-bred cats. One died before the age of two with cardio myopathy. The other died of FIP. Neither cat lived past 2. After that, we chose "free to good home" kitties!

  3. When I had a molar extracted, the dentist's concern was that my other teeth would eventually shift. It might feel fine now (although, to me, the hole felt HUGE), but you're looking at 30+ years of a big gap in your mouth. I'd rather deal with it now than later.

     

    I did try for the implant, which was about $3k w/bridge, etc, but I was one of the few failures. The success rate is really high, though, over 90%, and I would recommend it for most people.

     

    He did the bridge instead. A few months later, it still feels a little odd sometimes, but much less so than the gaping hole that used to be there!

     

    I know the answer is probably "yes", but did you have to pay $3000 for a failed implant?

     

    Another question.....what do they bridge to with a back molar? There's only a tooth on one side...I thought you needed a tooth on either side.

  4. It's funny. 7 years ago when I had the root canal, I asked my endodontist about options. When he mentioned losing the tooth, he said, "but that's an awfully large gap to have," and when I look in my mouth, he's right. Gee, that's a big tooth!

     

    Fast forward to yesterday. He said he had the exact same thing happen to him this year - root canal, crown, crack, lost tooth. Yes, the dentist himself!

     

    He didn't have an implant - he has an empty spot. But he said that you can have an implant done at any time if you change your mind. There's no rush.

     

    With that in mind, I'm still leaning toward trying to live without it.

     

    If he doesn't see a crack and thinks it can be retreated, I'll do that.

  5. Whatever you do, don't let them talk you into progressive lens. I made that mistake and I can't stand to wear my glasses. I think some people have done ok with them, but I sure didn't.

     

    I recommend this site. http://www.visionover40.com/ The "discuss" section is interesting.

     

    I've been happy with my lineless bifocals from Costco. Since I turned 40, I've had 3 prescriptions with the reading portion getting stronger and stronger. (About once every 3 years.)

  6. Option 4. Go safe because not all tea drinkers like flavored teas but tea drinkers who like flavored teas will often like plain. The performance teas are pretty, good tasting but not great. They are about the performance not the brew. Even if they are not tea drinkers themselves, maybe they have guests who are, and they will enjoy offering them something nice. Most people who are not tea drinkers, don't have nice teas laying around for guests, so that will still be a nice present.

     

    I agree. I don't drink tea but I have it on hand for guests. And speaking from experience (sort of related), I LOVE coffee and people often get me coffee as a gift but I can't stand flavored coffees and guess what I usually get....

    So I agree with the recommendation to avoid flavored teas.

  7. I don't know what they were thinking when they adopted the policy tenure. How was that supposed to improve anything?

     

    Tenure is a handicap for schools.

     

    What other workplace grants tenure?

     

    Part of the reason we're homeschooling today has to do with a teacher who had 30 years of service. She was my son's kindegarten teacher.

     

    "Do you know what your son said to me? ...... I don't care to do puzzles."

     

    "Well, that's right. He doesn't like to do puzzles."

     

    "But he has to do them! He can't just stay in the writing center. He has to visit all the centers. I had another one like him -- from a Montessori school -- but I broke her of that."

     

    (This same teacher told my son (the one now in art school!) to color the Indians red on a Thanksgiving coloring sheet. My 5 yo son asked, "Why did she say that? People aren't red." She also put a big red X when he colored pears red. I don't think she paid attention in the grocery store.)

     

    Broken children and misinformation with impunity. No, teachers shouldn't have tenure and some definitely shouldn't be teaching at all!

  8. I agree with you that some online high school courses can be more rigorous and worthwhile than community college courses. But I think there are several different views of college including "a degree is a degree" and it doesn't matter where you get it. In that case, building credits at CC is efficient and helps financially. There are many state schools that are like CC - not rigorous - and transfer of the credits shouldn't be a problem. The level of work expected will be similar and the student will do just fine.

     

    Having a son who wants to be an artist has given me an appreciation for "how can we earn college credits cheaply and quickly." He wants a degree for no other reason than it's so expected/necessary for ANYONE nowadays who is not in a skilled trade. We're paying out of state tuition and I'd love for him to take CLEP tests or get ACE credit -- especially for the non-art courses he needs like sociology, ethics, and math.

     

    So, I can appreciate why homeschoolers would want to earn maximum college credits during high school. And I think the students aspiring to competitive colleges will do what they need to do to get in. They'll research at College Confidential and learn what scores they need...what volunteer work...AP courses, SAT II, etc.

  9. My question really only referred to the math portion of EPGY. Any class that has an actual teacher that provides feedback on writing' date=' etc., will always benefit from having the best possible program.

     

    As far as geometry goes, though, does doing it through EPGY help complete the coursework more than doing it yourself? Especially if you have access to a free tutor (hubby :001_smile:!)

     

    I am interested in EPGY and CTY for courses that are actually taught be teachers, but paying for a software program, a plug-and-chug, just to have their name attached it it ...... not so much:tongue_smilie:[/quote']

    EPGY's Geometry course is very difficult. I think it was written by Stanford teachers - it's not a Thinkwell product.

     

    When I signed my son up for Geometry last September, I thought he'd be done with the course by February. It took him until June! It's the most difficult course he's ever taken. Each homework assignment must be completed correctly before the student is allowed to take the final exam. My son sometimes submitted homework 3 times before it was deemed correct! As I said before, the tutors were excellent and my son met with them weekly in the Centra classroom to go over problems. He couldn't have done it without their help. (The tutors give only one small clue at a time, so you can't get your homework solved all at once by meeting with the tutor.)

     

    EPGY Geometry was recommended to follow Alg. II. I think the reason is maturity...it's rigorous and requires persistence, patience, and commitment. I would only recommend it to very strong students -- a prior logic course would be helpful too.

  10. For the EPGY Geometry course, the tutor was excellent and invaluable. My son couldn't have done it without the tutor!

     

    I've looked at college admission requirements for homeschoolers and some specifically mention EPGY courses (positive connotation). The Franklin Olin College of Engineering, for instance, has EPGY highlighted in blue.

     

    http://www.olin.edu/admission/home_school.asp

     

    My 16 yo son was accepted to the NC School of Science and Math. I believe having EPGY courses on his transcript helped. The English courses are expensive but worthwhile -- although it might be easy to get into EPGY, successfully completing the coursework is another matter. From what I've seen in Geometry and English, it's college-level work.

  11. We bought rucksacks from Rick Steves about 20 years ago and we use them all the time! One of our best purchases ever!

     

    It looks like they've renamed the bag and it's a little squarer than ours, but in spirit this is it.

     

    http://travelstore.ricksteves.com/catalog/index.cfm?fuseaction=product&theParentId=8&id=346

     

    My husband and I each took a rucksack to England - our "one bag" each. It was a 10 day trip. We did laundry once.

     

    We also used the rucksacks on a week-long trip to Paris. Again, one bag each worked fine.

  12. I highly recommend puchasing a stereo microscope. We purchased one many years ago and we still use it every once in while! It's great for looking at mushrooms, rocks, leaves, bug wings, etc. Who wants to mess with slides? It's so much more fun to bring something home from a walk in the woods and put it under the microscope for a better look.

     

    It's very kid-friendly.

     

    On the other hand, we had a telescope and after one summer, we never used it again.

  13. http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/about.html

     

    Check out the link above for general information.

     

    We found a small Christian school in town that administers AP exams to homeschoolers. Not every school offers every exam, so you have to hunt around ahead of time. Some of the exams are less common (the economics ones in particular) than others.

     

    It costs around $85-90 per exam (I can't remember the exact amount.)

     

    Exams are taken in May and scores come out in July.

  14. From what I've heard, colleges like to see AP courses on the transcript. It doesn't matter them if you take the AP exam or not. Even if you take the AP exam and qualify for college credit, you can still take the introductory college course.

     

    For instance, my son is taking AP Chemistry this year. He HATES chemistry and doesn't plan to major in anything that would require more than an introductory course in it. For that, he'll apply his AP test scores (if they're good enough) and hopefully not have to take Chemistry at the college level.

     

    On the other hand, he might want to take the introductory Government courses in college and not use his AP test scores to skip this level.

     

    It will be up to him. Colleges don't mind if you take their class rather than apply your CLEP or AP credits. You only get credit for the class once though. So if you take it in college it's like forfeiting the credits earned through testing.

     

    Regarding Subject Tests: Some colleges are inflexible about requiring Subject tests, and that's why I'd recommend taking them -- just in case you need them. Your reasoning is sensible, but sometimes college admission departments aren't.

     

    As far as listing a class as AP on your transcript, I think you have to have your syllabus approved by the College Board for that. I'm not sure of the process. We used PA Homeschool Classes which were AP approved.

  15. Don't forget to schedule SAT Subject Tests. These cannot be taken the same time as the SAT, so you need another date set aside for those. I'd recommend taking one a year from 9th grade on. Many schools don't require the subject test, but some do and you don't want to get caught having to take 3 or 4 in one year.

     

    In NC, the ACT fulfills our annual testing requirement. Likewise the SAT along with SAT Subject test scores does. So the ideal schedule, for me, would be

     

    9th spring semester: AP, ACT and an SAT Subject Test

    10th spring semester: AP, ACT and an SAT Subject Test

    11th October PSAT; spring semester AP, SAT and an SAT Subject Test

    12th (as needed, depending on college choice) ACT or SAT and an SAT Subject Test plus AP.

     

    I added an AP exam each May in the list above, assuming your student would start taking AP classes in 9th grade.

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