I am thinking perhaps I should invest in a bunch of round metal cake pans. That is probably the only safe option for heating when dd is home alone. Most come with a non-stick finish so the food would have to be transferred to eat. I don't like having he extra dishes and the transfer would be a potential burn risk time, but might be mo only option. I was hoping ceramic was an option because our house is very cold in the winter and the plate keeps the food warmer while eating. But I am nervous about pyrex because I have had it shatter and it is a much bigger deal than a cracked plate. I was also hoping to use this as an excuse to buy the Fiestaware I have been pining over for years:)

Hmmmm..... I have never had a break when I do this but have also been told multiple times that putting plates in the oven before it is pre-heated is a breakage danger because the elements/flame are highest when pre-heating. Maybe this is incorrect?

Ater scraping yet another meal off of the bottom of my oven while black smoke fills my house and I'm calling for pizza delivery, I am ready to find another way. Dh works two full time jobs. I work two part-time jobs and homeschool. We eat a great deal of leftovers and often 12 yo dd is home alone heating up her own food. We do not have a microwave and do not plan to get one. We reheat most leftovers in the oven. This is my preferred method because things can be reheating while I am doing other things like cleaning, showering, school, etc.... And it works best for most of the types of leftovers we eat like casseroles or combos of multiple types of food on one plate. I have "oven safe" Lenox "every day" china. One by one, we have picked off the plates because they break in the oven. Not only does the plate break but the food spills onto the bottom of the oven and makes a big smokey mess. This happened again tonight. I was reheating two plates of Indian food.....stir fry cabbage, rice, and dal. One broke. Before I realized it, I had smoke billowing out of the kitchen. The broken-plate-food was all over the bottom of the oven and the non-broken-plate-food is a smoky mess. My was-this-really-a-good-idea(?) networked fire alarms blared for 20 minutes straight, despite me whacking them with a broom. Every window is open even though it is 20 degrees. Pizza is on its way. Oven was pre-heated to 350 before I put the plates in. Thank goodness I was home and dd did not have to deal with this on her own. What am I doing wrong? What sort of vessels should I procure for this application? Granted, my Lenox is 20 years old and has likely cycled through the oven at least once weekly during that time. I have had Pyrex shatter, more than once and in a way I do not ever want to experience again, so unless we are talking full-on casserole or pie, I do not use that. Is Fiestaware a good choice? Or are plates in general not really ever "oven safe?"

Counter. Nothing bugs me more than having to remove a pile of dishes in order to wash my hands or otherwise use the sink. Actually, something does.....when someone else does not remove the dishes and uses the sink leaving a pile of dishes now covered in gross water from washing hands or otherwise using the sink that I have to dump out to put in the dishwasher.

My opinion is that the only way to get the number of people into a tent at the rated number is to melt them down and pour them in.....with no gear. You will need multiple tents. I would go with smaller tents because they are much less expensive, will be more durable, and will afford the most flexibility in the future. If you are anywhere near an REI store, check into renting tents. Even if you think you might want to camp again in the future, this will give you chance to check out a tent or two to see what works best for your family. If they are cost effective enough, you could even rent more than you need so you can try out different configurations.

Good to know.

The only way I could see to drag it out would be to do it ourselves. We currently outsource with Lukeion which is live. I am looking into other programs and slowing it down might be on option but it has to be with someone else teaching as I got left WAY behind somewhere in the middle of Latin I. We will have to outsource any language as that is probably my weakest area.

Absolutely. If only I could get dd to have a realistic grasp on time. She wants to study it ALL.

That is a correct assessment. Although I generally do not think a whole lot of advanced planning will do us much good, I do want an eye to the future so we don't do anything now that will make it unnecessarily difficult to leave more time free than a typical high school student might have.

Dd is only really "advanced" in Latin. She is a bright but typical 7th grader is every other subject. The Latin thing was a result in my own poor planning. We started it at home in 3rd grade and I took her as far as I could. She really liked it and I knew I had to outsource. I did not think ahead to the ramifications of her having high school credit before high school. Dd very much wants to continue in Latin but is struggling with the time commitment so I feel compelled to lay out all of her options and the potential issues those may or may not cause in a couple of years. I have not really given much thought to the other high school subjects or plans at this point since she is still solidly middle school in her other subjects. The 4x5 plans sounds about like what we will do. The language part alone concerns me because we kind of "used up" Latin ahead of the game and my perfectionist child will spend WAY more time than she needs to or really should on certain subjects....language being one of them. That, of course, might change significantly in the next couple of years but I do suspect it is part of her personality. It is currently eating up more of her time than I would like to see, especially as I see her outside interests also ramping up in time commitment. There are only so many hours in a day and above all I want to be sure there is time left to be a kid, even in high school. Maybe even more in high school. Dual enrollment is another option on the table for fulfilling the language requirement should we decide to. I know it is early. I do not typically think ahead to college or even high school much. But we are currently making registration decisions for next year and it crept up on me that this particular decision could have longer-term ramifications. It is exactly my own not thinking ahead that got us into this spot to begin with. So I feel compelled to pay a little more attention to the future.

To avoid quoting all of your very appreciated posts, I will address common themes. Dd did take the NLE last year and plans to this year as well. She will take it any year that she takes Latin. I didn't even think of that as another "marker" for deeming her pre-high school language as "legitimate." So, that will help should we need it. I am exploring different Latin programs if we/she decides to continue. Lukeion is not even off the table at this point, we are just exploring our options. I do worry about having her sit out of Latin for a year and pick up at Latin III in 9th grade. But with home study, that is yet another possibility. With the SAT, that might be our best bet at this point.

In my college searches, I am finding language like "two years recommended" but not specifically required for admission. It seems like that if one were applying to a school like this, one could list high school level language courses taken prior to high school on the transcript (with a note that they are not included in the GPA or total credit count). Thoughts? That is still a little too shaky for my taste as I want to be sure to not unintentionally close any future doors. But worth noting as we continue to ponder our options.

This is one of several options we are currently considering. I worry though, that it still will only be one year of language taken during high school.

I have not found any in my initial searches either. I have been looking primarily at public universities.

I'm pretty sure Lukeion Latin would be considered high school level. We are looking into the SAT option. But even with an "standardized evaluation," it is sounding like trying to count the classes towards high school language is going to be problematic. That is obviously not what I wanted to hear but I would rather know now than after it is too late.

This is all very helpful. I do plan to ask our local university whether they accept Latin as the language requirement and about when it was taken but I realize that is only one college and while there is a good chance this could be where dd starts out, there are no guarantees. It did not even occur to me that Latin would not fulfill the requirement at some schools so I am very glad I asked! That would be a huge factor is how we play to precede. One of her interests could very well develop into a career but if it did it is also unlikely she would attend college at all so this would all be a moot point. Of course, we have to plan for that to not be the case.

This is a more detailed S/O question about language classes taken before high school and transcripts. I have read all of the stickies on this and am hoping to get some feedback about our specific situation. From past posts I see that many colleges do not want to see high school level coursework completed before high school on the transcript or if it is there to not be included in the credit count or GPA. For many students, that is fine because they are taking the next progression in the subject area so it is obvious that they took the earlier coursework. For example, if a student took Algebra I in 8th grade, there is no real need to list it on the high school transcript since Geometry, Algebra II, etc... will be listed. I have a specific situation involving foreign language that I am not sure how best to address. How I handle it on a transcript will be a big factor in how we plan high school coursework in general so it is something I need to decide and understand now. My state does not require foreign language for graduation, although some specific schools do including our local public school. I expect that any college dd applies to will require two years of foreign language. So one way to another, we need that to be on dd's transcript. Dd will have taken Lukeion Latin I and II as a 6th and 7th grader. We originally planned for her to take III and AP in 8th and 9th. The idea being that even if I did not list I, II, and III, the presence of AP Latin on her 9th grade transcript would be enough to "fulfill" the two-year language requirement for college admissions. Dd also planned to take another language in high school anyway so even more reason not to worry about pre-high school classes. But. Now we are not sure dd will continue on in Latin. We are exploring several different options at this point. Even if she does, there is a significant chance she will not take AP Latin which means ALL of her Latin credits would be pre-high school. If she does indeed take another language in high school, this still is not an issue since that language would presumably fulfill her language requirement. Another but. One of the main reasons we homeschool to begin with is that dd has two very time-consuming interests that are not directly school-related. Homeschooling has given her the flexibility needed to pursue these interests. Both are ramping up in involvement much more than we originally anticipated. This may not continue but I feel the need to plan accordingly. If dd does indeed get more involved in one or both of the interests, we will need to pare down our plans for high school. Worst case scenario is that dd discontinues Latin having completed Latin I and II (with high As) and does not take any more foreign language. This is where my question comes in: Is there any way we can legitimately call dd's Latin I and II her "two year foreign language" requirement for college admissions purposes? I know the answer is not black and white. This will vary from college to college. Has anyone done this or know of anyone who has? Anyone try to do this unsuccessfully? I am really looking for any input anyone can give.

I have never seen them in sizes. I also cannot imagine any Suzuki teacher encouraging a switch until the fundamentals of the instrument are very solid. That said, my 12 yo has been a Suzuki kid since she was 4. She has finished the books but still takes lessons from our local Suzuki teacher. She also plays in a band and has a pick-up for amplification. It clips to her normal violin and can be moved when she moves up to a full size instrument some day (soon, we hope). She uses the pick-up to plug into stage sound or to plug into her own little amp for rehearsals. She also likes to plug into her computer and play around with Garage Band which might be an appealing alternative to your child.

My guess is because eventually the women are going to feel uncomfortable having a now-man in their bathroom. Someone is going to feel uncomfortable. And I am almost 100% sure that in all cases the transitioning person is going to feel the most uncomfortable no matter what.

No kidding. Why not just ask the employee to wear a diaper? That is about as ridiculous.

Good recs so far! Thanks! Nothing in mind, really. Just looking for a way to pass a very cold, windy night.

Help me find a movie tonight that meets the following criteria: 1. Available on Netflix or Amazon Prime 2. Appropriate for a 12 yo girl (up to PG-13 probably OK) 3. Not animated 4. Does not make me (an adult woman) want to stab myself with a fork 5. No dumb comedy (like potty humor or slap stick)

I tried explaining that they were each under 3oz (and not really liquid) but was told that since they were not labeled with the weight and not in a quart-sized plastic bag, we could not bring them on. I considered getting creative with a Sharpie and tucking them in my bag with my toiletries, but decided against it. Ironically, it was well after we arrived at our destination and I was unpacking when I discovered I had accidentally carried a lighter and liquid hand sanitizer (NOT in the quart-sized bag) deep in my purse that did not get flagged.

I just count. But I have observed my lane-mates doing a couple of different things. You can get these little counters that are large plastic beads on a string. You move a bead at each lap (or 100 or whatever). They are sold at any swim website. There is also a guy at the pool that has some sort of system with kickboards. He has two side by side and rotates them in some way that is meaningful to him to keep count. Despite studying his system for months (yes, I get bored while swimming), I have yet to crack his code but I can imagine different ways I would do it. I would probably use my flip flops instead of kickboards. That would be free. There is yet abbot woman who uses her i-pad in a waterproof case. It has some sort of app that she just smacks it at each lap. It also has a nice big running clock that she uses to pace. I sometimes use it too:)

Lurking over here.... Anyone know how difficult it would be to move into the Harvey Center classes from Lukeion (or other Wheelocks based Latin)? I have a child finishing Lukeion Latin 2 that might benefit from a repeat of Latin 2 from a different provider or perhaps moving to Latin 3.