I'd switch her over to Singapore math. Have her take their placement test found on singaporemath.com site. Just my 0.02 cents worth.

That's what I would suggest too --- call the admissions office and ask. The colleges I asked replied they wanted the transcript from either our umbrella school --- we aren't part of one --- or from the person who oversees our homeschool program. When I said that that was me they were OK with that. Each college did ask for a school profile and a course descriptioin document. The schools that 'fussed' about wanting an official transcript have accepted my DS with his mommy-transcript. BTW, we do have a school seal. The transcripts that went out snail mail did have the seal on them. It cost about $35 from homeschool diploma.com Carole

IMO = In My Opinion Carole, IMHO & YMMV IMHO = In My Humble Opinion YMMV = Your Mile May Vary (meaning your experience may vary from my experience)

Susan, I've read positive things on this board from folks who used Chalkdust's program. We didn't. When DS wanted to raise his SAT math score he did SAT practice tests using tests from College Board, Barrons, Kaplan, Princeton... 1 hr/day, 3 or 4 days a week from May to Sept. Speed was his issue---he was scoring a perfect 800 on practice tests if he had as much time as he wanted. Of course that wasn't what happens in a real test. In a real test he was getting about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way through before time was called :( DS decided that he could spend about 50 seconds per problem so at his request I sat with him with a timer and let him know approximately how much time he was spending on each problem. He gained a sense of how long 10 seconds was verses 40 seconds. On problems where he took a long time we sometimes discussed strategy, and sometimes he would come up with a new strategy for working the problem faster. What he found though was that as he did these problems his speed increased, immensely. Keep in mind how much time he was spending though. It was over the summer months so he was taking time away from 'play' and not from some other subject. He was thrilled when he came out of the SAT test in October and told me that he not only finished each math section but he had time to spare and to re-check his work. He came close to scoring a perfect 800 in math on the SAT, about 160 point jump, which is just about what he wanted.

:party: Congratulations!!! :party: :party: Let us know when his interview happens. Best of luck to him.

This year, high school senior, was expensive. DS took three online classes and is finishing up his Industrial Arts project (building a sea kayak--the fiberglass alone cost $400). I would guess we've spent $2,500 on his online classes & materials this year. Last year was similiar for him. Next year my youngest will be a 9th grader. We have most of the materials (books & lab supplies) on hand for his 9th grade although I might enroll him in an online class and would estimate the total expense at under $500. Carole

Congratulations! Happiest of New Year too! Carole

Thanks Val. He has four other schools to hear from: 1 should arrive mid-Jan and the other 3 in late Feb / early March time frame. We need to see where the financial aid comes in and like many other families weigh the cost. He applied to schools he could see himself attending and they are all great choices. I wanted to mention that we have friends whose DD attends Messiah College. She's now a Jr and loves the school. English/writing major. Very friendly to homeschoolers too. Carole

Nice New Year's Eve present. Congrats to your DD and you. I was right there with you today pulling all the financial stuff together for FAFSA. I was told that we can only edit a post for 7 days. One reason this thread has become so lengthy.

I used NEM 1 - 3 with my oldest and have my younger son using it now. The older is a mathy kid while the younger detests math. My older son jumped right into NEM 1 but then found it moved too quickly. I pulled him out of NEM for a month while he worked through the first four books of Key to Algebra. When he went back to NEM 1 he flew through the book and finished it in 4 or 5 months without help from mom. Like I said, he is a mathy kid. Since it was only February--and he was finished with his 'math' program I pulled out Mary Dolciani's Algebra 1 book and he worked through that. In the following two years he worked through Keys to Algebra books 5 - 8, NEM 2 & 3 and Mary Dolciani's Algebra 2 with Trig. He finds math relaxing and fun (takes after me in that respect). DS #2 started in NEM 1 in 7th but was far from ready for it. We used Mary Dolciani's Pre-Algebra book, Key to Algebra books 1 - 4 along with some other math books. This fall he worked through NEM 1 and found it easy stuff although he will also tell you he detests math. :) At least he is finding it easy. After the new year he'll start in with NEM 2 and complete NEM 3 in 9th grade. If he finds it difficult or if he suddenly moves quickly through it I will fall back on Mary Dolciani's Algebra 1 and her Algebra 2 w/ trig books. NEM 1 - 3 covers Algebra 1, Geometry and some of Algebra 2. NEM does a great job covering Trig however there were other topics in Dolciani's Alg 2 w/ trig book that it did not cover. Carole

My pet peeve --- folks who have stopped spending with the excuse that the economy is bad. I asked my neighbors if everything was OK at their home since their house wasn't lighting up the entire development has it has in years past --- their reply: Oh, the economy is so bad they were not spending: no Christmas party, no lights, no. So I asked if they were worried about losing their jobs. No, there wasn't any chance of that and in fact both had received nice pay raises. This is not the only person I know who has tightened their belt in fear of what might be. I'm not suggesting that we go out and spend like there is no tomorrow but living in fear is not appropriate either IMHO.

Melanie, that's why I started to blog about 4 years ago. I couldn't find any homeschool high schooler blogs so I started mine. I'm not a faithful blogger and often do just do it just to rid my brain of all those words and stories floating around in there. The topic I just started is our application to college process. Maybe you'll find something of interest / help to you. I also started to blog as a letter to a friend --- me. I never told my extended family about my blog since they are all so anti-homeschooling. Better for me not to have toxic folks in my life or reading my blog. Even now going back to read some of my early posts has helped me to remember some of the fun things we have done as homeschoolers. It is my journal of our journey. Carole

What a riot this song is. I don't know if this has already made its rounds on this board. Homeschooling-moms-sing-hilarious-Christmas-satire-of-The-14-Days-of-Homeschool

Sitting on my shelf I have: Paper Patty Geometry Discovering Geometry Harold Jacobs Geometry and I'm not sure which I'll use or if I'll have DS obtain his geometry skills by working through NEM 2 & 3, just like his older brother did. Carole

DH called Garmin. There is NO product key! :rolleyes: The man did apologize after DH told him that we went through our trash twice searching for the yellow piece of paper that held the product key. "Sorry" We were told to just close the window that asks the question and proceed. :angry: Carole

Deviled Eggs Olive Bites (olives wrapped in a cheese-dough) Pigs-in-a-blanket Wrap Little Smokies in Crescent roll dough, then roll in parmesan cheese, bake at 400 for 12 - 15 min Easy Liver Pate 1# Liverwurst 1/2# Cream Cheese 6 Bacon Strips, cooked, chopped very fine 1/2 onion, chopped very fine 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce Mix in food processor so it is really smooth. Serve with crackers.

We've gone through ALL the wrapping paper, boxes, searched from the floor to the ceiling. I'll call Garmin on Monday. :)

DH gave me a GPS today :) Just what I asked for. We'll have fun using it for geocaching and on hikes. After all the presents were opened DH checked with the boys and seemed no one brought in yesterday's mail. The Topo map package, an extra for the gps had arrived. DS walked in with the mail, excited to see a letter from a college he was accepted at and DH excited that my topo map package arrived----and in all the excitment the 'PRODUCT KEY' that unlocks the maps so they can be read by the GPS disappeared. In years past I followed the rule that software and electronics were not opened until it had 100% of my attention. One slip and now we're looking at this software and a missing 8-digit product key. :eek:

Ummm that sounds really good and easy. I'll keep that in mind. Carole

Merry Christmas! I love your description of feeling like you are in the eye of a hurricane. That's a good way to describe our house this year too. Provided our present snow sticks around one more day we'll be having our first white Christmas in years. Carole

You have come to the right place! :) Many here have been through it before and hearing their stories have inspired those of us who are still in this journey. My oldest is a senior, has been accepted to five colleges so far and received three scholarships from so far. Selective colleges too: Case Western Reserve, Colorado School of Mines, Drexel Univeristy, Tulane University and Rose-Hulman Institute. He has four other colleges he will hear from this winter. M*** has a mommy-made transcript, AP test scores, SAT II Subject Test scores and SAT scores to back-up the mommy-grades on his transcript. From my visits here and also from being part of the yahoo group HS2COLL I learned how to put together his package. (Thanks to Kareni & Brenda for letting me see their kids stuff too). Yes, some folks have their kids take classes at the CC. It wasn't an option for us. Since my DS was wanting a challenge we turned to online AP courses (I do teach AP Statistics for PA HS'ers). Some kids take a course or two at the local public school. Our PS won't even permit a hs'er to take an AP test with their students let alone take a class. Some kids never take a class at the CC, or an AP course or test and are readily accepted into college too. Welcome to the high school board! Carole

My DS has taken both AP Eng Comp and AP Eng Lit exams. At the nine colleges he has applied to all will accept these test scores and grant a 3 credit English Elective course for each one. They still require that he take their Freshman English Composition course which he isn't too thrilled about. We'll see how it all turns out next fall. His AP English Composition course required so much writing, tons and tons of writing, which is what he needed. I hope that all that writing will make the freshman composition class an easier course for him. Carole

:party: :party: :party: That is great news! Congratulations to your DD and you. How sweet and right before Christmas. Carole

Thank you for the ideas. Fondue --- umm, sounds good. It is one kitchen gadget I don't have but I could change that. :) And I do like the idea of a beef tenderloin. I'll see what I can find when I go to the market to pick up the shrimp and scallops. Maybe skewered beef tenderloin for me---that would be quick on the grill while the shrimp are grilling. Merry Christmas! Carole

Yes, I know it is Christmas eve but we are all quite undecided about what to have for Christmas Dinner. We used to have turkey with all the fixins', the past three years we did a standing rib roast which I really enjoyed but DSs said they really don't care for that. My oldest has suggested crabcakes, grilled shrimp and scallops however youngest DS doesn't like seafood. DH is indifferent about what we eat. It will be the four of us and I'm looking for ideas. Oh, I have an apple and a pumpkin pie made and we'll be having apple strudel for breakfast. What would you suggest for dinner? Merry Christmas! Carole