I really don't think jumping into Saxon after Algebra I is a good idea. TT is workable. She could also look into Chalkdust, which also includes a fair amount of algebra 1 review at the beginning of the course and provides video instruction. I would prefer Chalkdust for a strong and accelerated math student although many have also had good success with TT.

Protect them from what? From death? Yes. From robbery? No.

I agree 100%.

For the low-tech solution: Use wide-ruled paper, and turn it sideways. If this is still not large enough, rule every other line or every third line with a dark pen and photocopy the sheets. IOW, give him physical markers for where his numbers line up.

In response: http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1989/08/04

Additionally: A less rigorous curriculum, well understood, is superior to the most rigorous curriculum, poorly understood. Now, of course, the ideal would be a rigorous curriculum, well understood. But not every student has the ability and the desire to accomplish this.

No, but if he might transfer into a public school I would keep records, so that if possible you can fight to have him exempted from science courses he has already had. For example, the local school here makes all 9th graders take physical science unless they already had it. This IMO would fall into a 'better safe than sorry' plan.

Honestly, if I badly needed that specific job and didn't want to go through a lawsuit, I'd start wearing high heels and practice jumping backwards with a startled shriek.

I would only choose this route for dual enrollment if I were quite sure dc would attend only a conservative Christian university.

The amusing thing is that the people I know who've worn the same black belt forever have a belt that is nearly white through age.

ok, I'm not sure what qualifies as rather large, but mine are 36DD and I really like the 18 hour comfort ones from playtex. It has nice wide shoulder straps, no underwires, but still does a great job of holding them in. Also, they're relatively inexpensive, especially if you go to an outlet mall.

Trigonometry is usually included in a precalculus class. Precalculus usually follows college algebra. She may or may not lose ground -- in a college algebra class, the first part of the course is usually review, as students come in with exceptionally varied backgrounds. Did she take a placement test? If she did, I would assume there were topics she did not yet know on the college algebra syllabus, although they may be covered towards the end of the class.

IMO, the instructor matters far more than the art. I do Aikido, and I've been lucky enough to find some phenomenal teachers in the area. But if I moved and found myself unhappy with the local Aikido instructors, I would look for another art. I would look for - A school that will let you observe classes before you sign up. - A school that when you observe the classes, the children are on-task but not intimidated. - A school that doesn't want you to buy expensive things like uniforms immediately. - A school that doesn't solely focus on pre-planned kata (some kata is fine, but if that's all there is many people break down when faced with something that's not in the kata). - Honestly, a school that includes falling as part of the curriculum. Most of the people I know in Aikido have used the falling skills to escape from injury far more often than they've used any self-defense skills. I would avoid: - A school that offers time guarantees as to when you'll get a black belt. This usually indicates that students will get promoted regardless as to whether they actually possess the required skills, and is a frequent sign of a McDojo. - A school that requires you to sign up for multiple months. If you can't back out, it often indicates that they have frequent issues with students dropping out and are relying on that to bankroll their operation. - A school that has the same teachers doing many different martial arts. Doing two, sure. Doing three, maybe, if he's been training for a long long time. Doing too many usually indicates that some of them are not done well. Now, a school may have several different arts and have different teachers doing them. This is dandy and indicates that your student will probably be able to change styles if he finds something else he likes better. - A school teaching a self-founded martial art. (Unless maybe his name is Gracie.) I would ask about: - How frequently mats and equipment are cleaned. The last thing you need is a staph infection. It's okay if there's things like dust in the corners of the ceiling or something, but the actual working area should be clean. - How frequent belt tests are and how much they cost. Decide in advance if you can actually afford it. - The instructor's training and lineage. If he's not willing to tell you, this is a bad sign. Is he affiliated with a recognized organization? If not, this may cause issues further down the road if you move -- your child may need to start from scratch elsewhere. Does he attend training to further his own education? Best of luck finding a place that will work for you. Starting a martial art was the best decision I've ever made in my life, and I only wish I'd done it younger. :)

100%. Things like -- you might not know exactly what the square root of 27 is, but you should be able to say 'five and a bit' with confidence.

:iagree: I can't tell you how many students I've seen during our quantitative literacy class, who plug the numbers into their calculator, make a trivial error, and end up with a ridiculous answer like $9.13 as a monthly payment for a $400,000 mortgage. They circle the answer and move on, because ... well, that's what the calculator said, even though anyone here who's ever made a mortgage payment (and many who haven't) would say 'huh? that's ridiculous!' Somehow, the 'that's ridiculous' part of the brain seems to get disengaged during math class.

It would depend on the age of the child and whether I strongly suspected the relationship with the parents was abusive. In almost all cases I would be more likely to let the parents know so that they could seek help for the child first. The exception might be if I were fairly certain that the parental reaction would be punishing the teen and not seeking help. Even in those cases, I would be more inclined to offer local assistance (i.e. these people can talk to you and specialize in that, talk to them) before I'd call CPS. CPS would be my last resort.

Personally, if I have breakfast, I have leftover meat/veg, because a) I don't want to cook in the morning and b) it's there. Thinking outside the 'breakfast foods' box might help.

Responding specifically to the OP: The only issue is that 75% of the grade is coming from open-book stuff. If you have a student who does well with open-book stuff and fails to remember it or be able to apply it without seeing the examples, they could still be passing even with getting 0s on the exams. If they had perfect homework and lab grades, they could fail every exam (assuming 60% is the minimum passing mark) and still get up to a B+. That doesn't sound right.

I would 100% agree with regentrude. As a pre-medical student, she will need to carry a demanding courseload and make very strong grades all the way through. This courseload will not prepare her to do that. I would say American School would probably be a good choice if a student wanted a diploma to enter a vocational program at a community college, but not for one who's going to enter and do a serious academic major. Since she is already in 11th grade, I would strongly advise against accelerating her into 12th (which is what you would be looking at doing) unless she has completed or is taking at least senior-level courses in all disciplines. In math and science, this means she should AT LEAST be in precalc/trig and be doing the third one of bio/chem/phys (she will need to take courses in all 3 of these for pre-medical). It would actually be far more advisable to take some AP courses senior year. UTSA's policy is here: http://utsa.edu/testing/ap.html -- she could get some credits, and if she fumbles and does NOT do well, the records won't follow her when she applies to med school.

I was also told that this applies especially to courses which are required or strongly recommended for med school -- i.e. taking ecology and meterology would be fine, but not organic chemistry.

Some colleges are. Many are not. If the local state college said not to worry, *don't worry*. Focus on getting through with a SOLID understanding of the courses he DOES take. I would NOT bank on this. It is possible -- I know someone who scored in the 600s on the SAT having only taken algebra 1 -- but it is pretty improbable and usually happens to kids who are very talented and just didn't study, had life get in the way, etc. If Math U See is working, I wouldn't change now. I don't think I'd try to do a full lesson twice a day, but possibly saving 5 problems to be worked later in the day would help with retention.

Brake checking just means there are two people doing dangerous and illegal actions that could cause an accident, instead of one.

Boy, I bet she tried that on the judge too. I'd have loved to be a fly on the wall of THAT courtroom.

I absolutely would not heap more work on her at the same level. You could let her enjoy the free time -- you could enrich with more topics or some extra challenges at this level (like an extra history/science/music/art/sports/foreign language) -- you could let her move faster. All of these are valid options and specific advice would depend on her areas of interest.

Doesn't make any sense if you're driving ten under because everyone in front of you is driving ten under as well.