The small city I live in is walkable. I can walk to at least one of each kind of "thing" I would need...grocery, post office, work, library, restaurants, hardware store, etc..... In fact, I often do. I happen to go to a dentist and doctor that requires driving but could switch to one within walking distance. Some people fence their yards, some don't. It is certainly allowed. I do like that dd can walk just about anywhere she wants to go. We do, however, have 6 months of snow so there is that. The walking comes in handy when I am either too snowed in to shovel quickly or feel the roads are too treacherous for driving.

I use veggie stock almost daily. I make and can my own but it is readily available in stores too. I actually make different stocks for different uses so they all taste different. Mushroom stock is especially "meaty" tasting IMO. I'm not sure what the official research is on protein at the moment but last I checked, Americans were getting WAY more than they need. I don't think about it myself. I was vegan during my pregnancy and two years of breastfeeding with no issue at all...unless you count my backup doctor (I had a home birth with a midwife) freaking out about it. He actually said, "pregnant women cannot be vegetarian." Uh, yes they can, watch me. Of course he also said they should not exercise either so....... I pretty much quit listening to him after that. My dd is quite athletic and I also workout daily and again, the protein thing just does not seem to be an issue. She has a few older and even more athletic teammates that are vegetarian. The coaches have weekly mini-sessions about proper sports nutrition and they include recommendations for the vegetarians without suggesting that it is an unusual issue. I do like legumes and we often snack on nuts, whole grains, and other high-protien foods but I would also guess there are days when I eat far less protein than what I "should" with no ill effect. I get more concerned about fat as there will be strings of days, especially when it is hot and the produce is abundant, that I do not consume much fat. Each person is so different that I do not doubt that there are people who needs to be careful about getting enough protein or whatever else, but unless you suspect you are one of those people, I would not let that concern you too much.

We live on soup all winter. Soup with a crusty bread is on the menu at least 3 times a week and occasionally every day. Most of our soups are based on legumes. Lots of black bean, white bean, lentils, split peas, etc.... I stopped using recipes years ago. I just add whatever veggies we have or whatever looks good at the store. There is often a grain component as well. If I have two cups of rice leftover from a stir fry, I'll toss it in the tomato soup right before serving. If I need to protein up a soup, I'll crack an egg person in 5 minutes before serving or top with chopped up avocado or even chopped nuts. Stuff like that. No two soups are ever the same. My personal favorite is a tomato-based black-eyed pea and kale soup with a handful of small whole wheat pasta tossed in during the last 10 minutes.

I have been vegetarian my entire adult life (over 20 years) and vegan for parts of that time. Dh is also vegetarian for roughly the same span of time and dd has been her entire life. Again, both have been vegan at times. Having been veggie for so long, what to eat is not even something I think about. Everything except meat. Most foods do not contain meat so it does not seem limiting to me at all. Vegetarians are everywhere so there are always things to eat in every social situation I can think of. Same with restaurants. We did find it far more difficult to navigate social situations when vegan and to be honest, it was the biggest factor in our decision to go back to regular vegetarian. At home, we mostly eat vegan. I do not cook meat for anyone. I cannot imagine a guest would be "uncomfortable" about eating a single meat-free meal as a guest in my home. I cook whatever I normally would, taking dietary needs and preferences into account, and call it good. In potluck situations, our guests refrain from bringing meat dishes just out of respect but if someone did, that would not be a problem.....as long as they take the leftovers home with them. No one has asked to grill meat on our BBQ at a potluck but that would be one line I would not cross. It really isn't a big deal. At all. I put about zero thought into it on a daily basis. Unless asked about it, it is not even something I think of as unusual or think it even an "interesting fact" about my family. I might need to get better about this. Multiple times now, I have forgotten to mention it on sleep-away camp forms for dd or to her coaches for sport travel situations. Luckily, it is so common now that measures were in place by default so it was not a problem. Dd does usually have at least one high-calorie snack bar of some type on her at all times just in case.

I would set the tents up in the yard and see how you all fit. Our two-man tents are plenty big enough for two adults as long as we leave the bags and stuff in the car. While they are set up, take the hose to them to see if they are waterproof. If not, seek new tents or a tarp plan and if so, no worries about rain. Another option would be to look into renting tents from REI. If you would be traveling through an area with a store, this would be one way to get a big tent without buying. We find umbrellas really handy for getting in and out of small tents in heavy rain.

We bring one of these and that right there is hours of entertainment for teens and adults alike. On our last trip, we had an all-teen-and-adult nerf gun war. That was great fun and took up a great deal of time since we had to find and collect all of the bullets. The hammocks are a huge hit with our teens. They even camped out of the tents in them one night. They like to hang them double decker or really high up for fun. Again, hours of entertainment.

We camp alone as a family with one teen and also often with a group of families with lots of kids from babies to teens. No need to entertain at all. When it is just our family, we go hiking, paddling, see local sights, etc.... During downtime, my teen is happy to while away hours reading in a hammock. When with a group, we tend to stay at campgrounds that have a lot for the kids to do on their own so the adults can relax and socialize. The teens play lawn games, swim, paddle, hike, read in hammocks, build forts in the woods, climb trees, walk/ride to get ice cream, cards in tents during rain, elaborate chalk drawing, etc.... All of our teens are musical so they will spend hours composing songs, practicing them together, and performing them for the group. When they are feeling charitable, they will pull the littles in to make up plays or games. We have stayed in one spot for as long at a week and have seldom heard the dreaded B word from any of the kids. The few times we have, they get put on fire-building, dish washing, ice/wood fetching, or babysitting duty.

I will do so. I was just looking for some inside info before knowing exactly what my concerns might be or if it looks insurmountable to reconsider the course for next year.

NM

I have a question. Dd is registered for this next year. She has not taken any online classes other than Lukeion Latin 1-3 and DO Physical Science. I think biology is going to be a challenge, but a good one. Since registering, an opportunity for my family to travel overseas has come up. It will require dd to miss the last week of the fall semester class (the week before exam week). It is unlikely that we will have reliable access to WIFI and our travel during that week will be hectic making any study difficult. Can anyone chime in with anything that would help us decide/prepare? It would be helpful to know what happens during that last week of class (after holiday break and before exams). It would also help to know if students are typically given a lot of work over the holiday break as we will be traveling during that time as well. How much flexibility is given for this sort of situation?

As others have said, yes. Ours are on for more of the year than off because we have snow for more than 50% of the year. However, they seem to last longer than all-season tires. We are just now replacing the pair we bought 12 years ago with about 75K miles on them. The other benefit of snow tires is that you can buy true "summer" tires during non-snowy months which not only last longer than all-weather but also yield better gas mileage. IMO, a FWD car with good snow tires is almost as effective as 4WD or AWD. If cost is a factor, I would consider that option.

I would not dismiss Honda CR-V. I have had one for 12 years, live on a steep cliff, and drive through snow for 6 months of the year. I have driven through every imaginable snow-related condition in it and have not had a single snow/ice related issue with it. We have snow tires on every car we own. We also always own a second car that is FWD. Currently that is a Focus. With good snow tires, we can drive it 99% of the time. The only times we cannot drive it is when ground clearance is an issue. CR-Vs seem to be the car of choice for the local college students. They are cheap and reliable.

We have an old one and it has been by far our easiest car. We bought it new and it is now 12 years old and at 150K+ miles. We have only had two non-routine issues and both were inexpensive fixes. I am sure the newer ones are different but our biggest complaint is that it is rough and loud. We knew this when we bought it. We were looking for reliability, inexpensive, and gas mileage first and were willing to sacrifice creature comfort for it. It has plenty of life yet so we plan to pass it along to dd when she gets her license in two years. It is rusting badly but we live in a brutal location for cars so that is no surprise.

I am one who grades quickly and posts all grades for all assignments within a week and usually much quicker. My grades (and assignments) are all online so students can check and have access to all grade information at all times. However, I do meet with any student to discuss grades in whatever aspect they want. I cannot think of any of my colleagues that would not. Unless I felt I was in some sort of danger, I would never deny a meeting with a student for any reason. I do prefer to address grade issues by email so there is a paper trail so I will often summarize a meeting by email. This also give the student a chance to clear up anything that might differ from what they thought they heard during the meeting. I also find the lack of feedback inexcusable. In all of my years as a student, I never took a class where I did not have a pretty good idea of where I stood at any given time. There were instructors that took longer than others to grade and hand back work but none that gave no graded feedback. Nor is this something I can imagine happening in classes where I teach now. If this is seems to be a widespread, institutional issue, I would triple check that feedback is not somewhere that the student is missing. As for comments on evaluations, I am the only one who reads mine. As far as I know they are not read by anyone else although they could be should there be a reason to. I do read mine and take note of useful feedback but I know many instructors do not. Honestly, most of mine is predictable and often is not "addressable." There are always the "this class was too hard, too boring, too much work, too early in the morning, etc....." comments that really mean nothing. Our evaluations include a question asking students to rate feedback turnaround. I think I have about the fastest turnaround humanly possible but I still get a few students that rate me as "poor" in this category. Clearly, they have an axe to grind that has nothing to do with my grading timeline. So I can somewhat understand why some instructors don't even bother to read them anymore.

How do you assign letter grades for transcripts? Is mastery an A? Do you feel compelled to have some way to "prove" this should you need to?

I started with a search before making this post. My search skills on this board are poor. I just did the search again using your user name and found it in the Logic Stage board (I was only looking in the High School forum). Thanks!

I am interested in info, options, and opinions on math testing, specifically for home-taught AoPS. Dd will be in 9th grade next year and I am staring the daunting task of figuring out some shorter and longer term high school plans. Dd has always been homeschooled and aside from four online classes over the last two years, we have not utilized testing nor have I "graded" her work. Dd has been expected to work to mastery rather than given a grade and moving on. She has earned an A in all of her online classes. Now that dd is moving into high school, I know I need to figure out how to assess the work she is doing for her transcript. She will be taking some online classes that will be graded. For her remaining coursework, I need to work out a grading plan. I am starting with math. My preliminary plan is to have dd work through AoPS as she has for the last two years then using the end-of chapter review problems as the "graded assessment." What I don't know is how to actually grade that work. I will still require dd to rework incorrect problems until they are correct. Do I grade strictly on the first try? Do I give back points for corrected attempts? Partial credit for problems that had the correct approach but a simple arithmetic error? What about a compressive midterm or final exam? What are people doing and what do you see as the pros and cons? The AoPS Challenge Problems have always been too challenging for dd. This was also true of the Singapore Math, which is what we used prior to AoPS. Dd sometimes works through those problems but has needed my help working through many and sometimes most of the problems. I only mention this to give an idea of dd's math aptitude. She typically can do the review problems with little or no help but does often need more than one attempt for some problems. What are good sources for tests and/or test questions outside of AoPS? Is there a source for tests that align with this curriculum? Or a good source for generic tests? I see a million options online but have trouble gaging which would be suitable for use with AoPS. For my own information, I would really like to give dd a "final exam" for Intro to Algebra just to see how closely my idea of "mastery" aligns with the "A" I think she is working at. If I am way off base, the earlier I know that, the better. I'm not even sure this needs to be AoPS-specific. What I would really like to know is how she would be assessed should she take a high school placement exam. Are there grading options I am missing altogether? More like a pass/fail or "Achieved Mastery" or something else that differs from the traditional letter grades. And how does one handle those when computing GPA? Dd is not elite-university bound so her transcript is important but we are not up against super selective schools nor are we expecting that merit-based scholarships are a realistic possibility.

Thanks. I have some food for thought. I think we will start with Geometry as planned then figure out if we want to add the electives at the same time or switch to those exclusively afterwards.

To try to address all of the above: I know that Counting and Probability and Number Theory are semester electives. My theory was to slow things down a little and broaden dd's math background rather than lengthen. I have noticed that math especially seems to "click" for dd during breaks or when we switch from a math subject then revisit it later. It is not so much that I think those subjects are essential to a solid math foundation but more that experience working through different math topics in general could help to strengthen dd's math "grit" which in her case may be more beneficial than progressing further in high school. My freshman students are indeed struggling with foundational aspects of math and I am often perplexed as to how they could have completed the level of math that they have without these basic understandings. The bigger thing I notice is a complete inability to chip away at a math problem if they do not know the "procedure." This is why AoPS in general is appealing to me. And dd likes it. But I am concerned that dd might not be a good candidate to take a program as challenging as AoPS all the way through Calculus. Really, I am thinking out loud and trying to weigh what I see as the benefits of the curriculum against the rigor. And possible ways to reduce the stress while not leaving holes in dd's transcript. I'm not even sure it is an educational goal of ours for dd to complete calculus in high school although I also agree that seeing it for the first time in college can be challenging for some students.

I am looking for opinions and options. Dd is currently in 8th grade and finishing up AoPS Intro to Algebra. She likes AoPS (she also used it for pre-algebra) and wants to continue using that curriculum but she is not naturally "gifted" in math (meaning that I am helping her a lot more than I think many AoPS students require). We do not have any idea what direction she may want to take career-wise at the moment but she has expressed some interest in STEM fields. It is highly likely that she will at least start out any college she might pursue at our local STEM-oriented university even if she is not seeking a STEM path as we get a significant financial discount. My original plan was to have her follow the traditional STEM math path of Geometry in 9th ending with Calculus in 12th. I would like to avoid outsourcing math as I have a strong math background while there are other subjects we will have to outsource. I am starting to think a more slow-and-thorough approach might be better for my dd if she indeed does want to stick the course with AoPS. I teach freshman engineering students and am finding that their math skills are far shakier than their high school transcripts suggest they should be. I would like to avoid this with dd. As I was mulling this over, I glanced at the back of dd's math book which happened to be sitting nearby where the AoPS Introduction Series is listed. It includes Algebra, Counting & Probability, Geometry, and Number Theory. My understanding is that these can be taken in any order? I am now considering spending dd's 9th and 10th grade years completing that series in whatever order make the most sense for us then following up with Intermediate Algebra, (maybe) Intermediate Counting and Probability, and Pre-Calc her 11th and 12th grade years. Anyone do this? Pros and cons? If you have done this, what order do you recommend and how much time did each book actually take?

My dd just finished Physical Science. I think that particular class requires a lower time commitment. Dd accelerated the syllabus and finished in about 24 weeks spending roughly 1-1.5 hours a day, 3 times a week.

We have also been experiencing uncharacteristic delays. My dd is ready to take the mid-year exam in a course and I have emailed twice requesting a copy with no response yet.

I have degrees in both and I teach at a STEM university. While the very basic building blocks are going to be the same in the two programs, the coursework in the 3rd and 4th year are going to be quite different, even with a materials concentration. Both have very high and varied employment prospects so I would not limit based on that. In fact, if anything, MSE might be in higher demand, if that is even possible. If she is indeed interested in research of materials, an MSE degree will be a better fit. Those programs also tend to be a great deal smaller than ME programs which on one hand limit the choice of schools but on the other hand often means more undergraduate research opportunities and smaller classes, which I think is invaluable. It is also true that most MSE graduate programs take students from other BS programs. ME to MSE is very common. Not so much the other way, but certainly not unheard of.

Thanks for the replies. She finally did finish the assignment. It took forever. I'm glad to hear that next semester is not necessarily more time-consuming. Dd was worried that this was a sign of things to come. There are so many things to love about dd's experience in these classes. She has developed great study skills and some serious grit. Dd really wants to finish up with AP Latin next year despite my deep reservations. I know she will do well. I just don't know that I can scrape up the necessary time slots if there is a significant chance that the time commitment will increase. But I am grateful to know that other struggled with this assignment. I would have had deeper concerns if dd were the only one who found it long and difficult.

I knew we should have started that support group..... Anyone else have a student struggling with the end of this semester? I am trying to get a reality check. The homework assignments have been taking my dd a great deal of time. I would say probably ten hours a week. This final translation assignment has taken even more time. Much more time. I am facing the reality that it might not be wise to have dd continue for the second semester. She is earning an A and has learned a great deal but her stress level and the sheer amount of time required has me concerned. She is, and always has been, a student who will not be rushed. All subjects take more time than I expect them to so this is no surprise. But I fear that next semester's translations will continue to ramp up in length and difficulty and I am really not sure that dd can handle it. Is there anyone there now (or in the past) that wants to chime in? Is this just a really hard assignment or a precursor to what is to come?