http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/05/magazine/05FREAK.html?pagewanted=all An economist taught a group of monkeys to use money to see what they'd do. Interesting read.

Divide the number of grade points she would have gotten for a 1-credit course by 2. For example, if she gets an A in a 1-credit course and a B in a .5 credit course, her GPA would be (4*1 + 3*.5) / (1.5), where the 1.5 comes from the fact that she completed 1.5 credits.

Must have Beyonce.

Sunlight, also if this is a recent breakout check and see if you've added anything recently to your diet. My uncle had psoriasis and for some reason tomatoes made him break out BADLY.

:lol::lol: This reminds me -- a roommate of mine told me once that she threw tantrums when she wanted things until she was 11, and her parents often gave in. Then one day her mother did a parenting workshop -- the next time they were at the mall, my roommate asked for something, her mother said no, my roommate threw herself on the floor and threw a tantrum -- and her mother threw herself on the floor next to her and threw a bigger tantrum. My roommate picked herself up and started trying to get her mother off the floor, like "mom! mom! stop it! PEOPLE ARE LOOKING! MOM! STOP IT!" ... but the tantrum went on for a few minutes. Roommate said the next time she started to throw a tantrum, she thought about that ... and stopped herself. Didn't throw another :P

Imagine if your surname were Ferrell. :P How about Jane, Joan or Joanna (Libby Jo sounds cute), Jeanne, Jill, Jocelyn?

Orpingtons are a nice breed. We had them for a while (right now ours are mostly semi-feral mutts). They will rip up a garden if allowed. If they get fresh ground and/or beddings regularly they won't stink, but if you let them crap somewhere without checking it often enough the stench can be ungodly. They can drop dead of the most bizarre stuff. Be aware and expect it. It's a good idea to decide what you want to do with the aging and non-laying hens. If you can keep them for pets, fine. If you can't -- well, locating someone locally who will do stewing hens may work. If you are new to the livestock life, it is easier to eat something you knew as a soup rather than a roast. You can also just find someone else who'll eat them (my mother will happily take aging stewing hens for her pot). You can also just put them down (this is pretty easy if you find someone who knows how to do it). After a while, though, your 'chicken graveyard' will get awfully big. :P They're also really vicious to each other. As previously stated, if one is wounded, they'll peck her to death. Don't get a rooster unless you have enough hens to keep him, ahem, occupied without excessive overuse of any one in particular. You don't need one anyway unless you're planning on hatching eggs.

:bigear: My SO has psoriasis w/skin/arthritis involvement, so I'd love to hear any success stories. Right now he's taking some horrendously expensive and nasty medications and they still only enable him to reach 'hurting, but not crippled.'

1) There is a difference between bashing them and saying 'Before you pay your membership, you should make sure you're okay with the rest of their agenda.' I am not okay with their non-homeschooling agenda, and I will never pay them money. 2) Being a public organization means exposing oneself to criticism and comments, both positive and negative. Why should criticism be hidden? Why is it not okay to say 'I disagree with their stance on x, and I think they are excessively alarmist' on a message board? What good would it do to tell them this? They have their reasons for their beliefs, and I have mine. They are not going to change because of what I say, and I'm not going to adhere to their viewpoint either. 3) This is not a black-and-white issue. It's not 'either you trust HSLDA, or you trust the government'. I assure you that it's completely possible to distrust more than one group at the same time. :)

I notice they have both versions linked there (the other link is near the top). Makes an interesting comparison between the two.

There are only 4 states and the DC which have a cutoff date set Nov 1 or later, and one of those (California) is moving it to Sep 1 in 2014. There are 3 more with an October cutoff, and one of those (Nebraska) is moving to July 31 in 2012. http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/rpt/2011-R-0024.htm

Having looked through some of the TM's: Algebra is labelled for 9th grade. Geometry is labelled for 10th grade. The courses on Elementary Functions and Matrix Algebra are both labelled as half-year courses for 12th graders. I don't see a label on the Intermediate Mathematics, but process of elimination and the fact that nothing else is labelled for 11th grade suggests 11th.

I'm a real mix of Western European types; what should I eat? :( (I do actually think the idea has a lot of merit.)

I would like to thank Dawn for saying what I've been thinking, except more eloquently. :)

This is not necessarily true. If you can get it narrowed down to between a few things (like maybe music OR biology, or music OR history, something like that) it would be absolutely possible to design your first two years so that you can choose either. (For example, first semester, take music theory/applied music of your choice, biology, chemistry, and american history.) Also, I changed my major several times at university (from agriculture, to a modern language, to chemistry, to math) -- picking something now has no guarantee that you'll keep it. Whatever you do, don't narrow your choices too early. Even after you pick something, (since you're unsure), pick and do the fun gen eds early in your program so that if you change your mind, you'll be able to complete the requirements with a minimum of fuss.

Are you sure? We used to get our vaccines at the county clinic, and I used to see some Amish kids there as well. I did some quick googling and found a few articles: http://www.aspergillus.org.uk/secure/articles/pdfs/17133169.pdf This one found an 84% vaccinated rate among an Illinois community. It seems that it varies by community, with some having pretty high vaccination rates and some having very low. In response to the other part of the article: I wouldn't be at all surprised if they also had a reduced risk factor due to less travelling and interaction with random people. Their schools are significantly smaller, so an infected child will come in contact with fewer children. Furthermore, there have been outbreaks among Amish communities. Perhaps not in your local area, but they've provided some interesting studies reported in your medical journals. (P.S. This isn't meant as an attack, just a note. I agree with the rest of what you said.)

I should just follow regentrude around and hit 'I agree' :P I had someone in a college algebra class who couldn't multiply. Her method of finding 5x8 would be to draw a 5x8 grid of dots and count the dots. She understood it conceptually and could set up word problems correctly. But the fact that she had absolutely no way to do single-digit multiplication other than this extremely tedious way meant that she never finished an exam on time (departmental policy doesn't permit calculators) and ended up withdrawing from the course.

If you want poetry, you could go with Old Possum's book of Practical cats :D Also, this list may give you some ideas, although they aren't all children's books: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_cats_and_other_felines

My siblings and I were all homeschooled, and got into quite good universities with mom-generated transcripts, some external courses, and SAT scores.

CP is lighter on math in that it only uses algebra 1 as opposed to algebra 2/trig. If he wants to do physics that badly, is he possibly willing to work ahead in alg 1 in order to get to the physics? Maybe start physics a few months into the year after working ahead in alg 1? Otherwise I really would do something like physical science or possibly geology or astronomy and do physics next year.

This thread is a year old; the case in question was resolved 2nd July, 2010. After the court found out about a $500,000 severance payment he had received and stashed in Saudi Arabia, he fled the country, and the court ruled for the wife. Further details here: http://www.bossinlaw.com/CM/Custom/Enquirer%20third%20article.pdf

They offer these disparate section numbers because that's where the need is. It sucks for students who need those classes, but it'd be silly to have 5 sections of calc 1 with 5-7 students each, when people need to take pre-algebra and can't register for it.

When I got my CNA, the nursing home ran the class and trained us, and we got paid minimum wage (5.15 at the time) for training. Immediately after training, they bumped us to 7. I had all the shifts I wanted and they were very flexible with my scheduling. I got my bachelor's with 5k debt and all of that was from one semester of study abroad.

Clearly, give it to me and I will find it a good home. :D

Well, sometimes yes and sometimes no. At my current university, for example, we have a linear algebra class. It is taught in a heavily theoretical manner. Most of the transfer schools teach the course in a computational manner; as such, students who have taken the course will need to retake it because they have not had ALL of the course material. The course material that they have not had is a prerequisite for upper-division courses.