Absolutely! One should start looking in early fall of the school year that the student will take the exam (if not sooner!) -- and certainly have a site lined up no later than January, if at all possible.

No. It looks like you contact CollegeBoard via one of those above phone or email contact methods, let them know where you are located and how far you're willing to drive to go to an AP test site, and they will provide you with a list of the AP coordinators (i.e. overseers at the schools that will be hosting the AP tests), and then you contact the coordinators to find out which tests they will be offering, and if they will have room for your student. The legwork is largely up to you, the homeschooler, to contact and sign up with the AP coordinator at the school that is holding the AP tests.

Here's the College Board steps & dates for what to do as a homeschooler to sign up for AP tests. The upshot for finding a testing location is in this pdf file: "Contact AP Services for Students to get information about nearby AP coordinators: phone: 888-225-5427 (toll free in U.S. and Canada) phone: 212-632-1780 email: apstudents@info.collegeboard.org By March 15, contact those AP coordinators to see if one of them can arrange testing for you. Let the coordinator know that you’re trying to find a school willing to administer AP Exams to outside students. Not all schools administer every AP Exam, so also tell the coordinator which exams you’d like to take."

Very true! Although if the student is at least 1/4 Latino, a 97% (rather than 99%) score can qualify the student for the National Hispanic Recognition Program (which is also based on PSAT scores in 11th grade).

Yes. It's a great way to also double up with your discussion and analysis, as well as making great memories of enjoying meaningful literature together. :) We had a load of fun doing Shakespeare as "reader's theater", with each of us taking several roles to read aloud for the scene or scenes we were covering in a day.

A card with a short, heart-felt note of congratulations is perfect. If your DS and/or your family is especially close to the friend, then a gift of cash in the card is nice. If giving a gift, cash is much more traditional for graduations than a physical item (at least where I live). And the amount of a cash gift for high school graduation totally depends on your budget and level of closeness with the graduate -- here, I see anywhere from $10 to $25 as pretty standard for gift giving to a grad who is friends with a family. (We have a lot of single-income homeschool families on tight budgets in our area, so YMMV.)

Correct -- 10th gr. (or earlier) is practice, while the score in 11th grade "counts", as it is what is used by National Merit for determining semi-finalist and finalist status, which can lead to scholarships. You can also have DS practice at home with PSAT prep and practice tests. CollegeBoard also created the PSAT-10 a few years ago, specifically for 10th graders, given in the spring of 10th grade, as practice for the original PSAT. If the school also offers the PSAT-10, then they probably don't allow students under grade 11 to take the regular PSAT. (There is also the PSAT 8/9 specifically for grade 8-9 students, also given in the spring.)

Any fans of the original series of Doctor who, and you have a Twitch account? For the months of June/July, they are running 3 old episodes a day, and will be broadcasting most episodes, with the exception of a handful of Dalek episodes that the BBC us choosing to keep in storage, from Doctor 1 (William Hartnell), up through Doctor 7 (Sylvestor McCoy). The first 2 seasons of Doctor 1 are running right now (1963-64), and while it's totally hokey, it's also pretty amazing what they could pull off with a very limited budget and the very primitive video technology of the day...

Maybe one or more of these very visual books to go alongside the Complete Book of Marvels: Natural Wonders of the World (DK publishers) Life Magazine Collection: Wonders of the World National Geographic: Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 of the World's Greatest Trips Wonders of the World: 100 Great Man-Made Treasures of Civilization (Burton) Visual Explorers: Wonders of the World (Reynolds) Eyewitness: Wonders of the World Or possibly one or more of the Lonely Planet books: The World's Great Wonders: How They Were Made & Why They Are Amazing The Travel Book: A Journey Through Every Country of the World The Travel Book: Mind-Blowing Stuff on Every Country in the World

Ug -- access codes! (:0 I do have to say that DS#1 just had a once-in-a-lifetime positive experience with access codes -- the "good for 1 year" expensive code (almost $200) that DS had to purchase last summer worked not only for BOTH of his Pre-Calc. summer school classes, but it was also good for last fall semester for Calc. 1 -- AND was STILL good this spring for Calc. 2 !! Woo-hoo! Four classes off of one access code price! (:D Of course, that doesn't off-set the 4x as much tuition price that DS will have next spring when he transfers from the community college to the 4-year university...

Adding what interests YOU to a timeline is great. and I love the idea memorizing 5 key dates in each round of history! That is very do-able.

Hmmmm -- Your public high schools are using this expansion program of the SAT to the very OPPOSITE of CollegeBoard's stated purpose for the SAT School Day program (see below for a quotation from your link). Wonder how THAT would go over, if this was brought to the attention of the exclusionary schools by homeschoolers and by CollegeBoard... "SAT School Day lets schools, districts, and states offer the SAT to juniors and seniors in school, on a weekday, expanding access to a globally recognized college admission test that's accepted at all U.S. colleges. By breaking down barriers to access, SAT School Day can have a profound impact on a community—opening doors to college, scholarships, and financial aid for every student.

Mystery-loving DS#1 enjoyed: - Hercule Poirot's Casebook -- a fat volume of 50 short stories, Hercule Poirot - Murder on the Orient Express -- novel, Hercule Poirot - Death on the Nile -- novel, Hercule Poirot - And Then There Were None -- a stand-alone short novel, one-time characters DS and I enjoyed seeing a live local theatrical performance of The Mousetrap -- stand-alone story, one-time characters. Try and watch a live or film version, as it was written to be watched as a performance. And try not to read/hear anything about it in advance so you can enjoy the twist ending. Perhaps I just tried a "dud" story, but I did not care for the one Tommy & Tuppence novel I read (M or N) -- it was a slog, and at the end, I felt ripped off, as there would have been NO way of figuring out "whodunnit" -- the clue was so subtle and required special knowledge I did not have. Very disappointing, which is really odd, as the storyline has spy intrigue aspects which is a type of mystery I DO like... : ( ________________________ Other books/authors that mystery-loving DS#1 enjoyed in the tween/early teen years: - Sherlock Holmes short mystery stories, by Doyle - Case of the Baker Street Irregulars (Newman) -- and others in this series by Newman - Samurai mystery series by Hoobler - mini mystery collections (by Sobel, Conrad, and others) I adore the gentle No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. Book 1 is a little rougher in writing and a bit darker in content, as the author was trying to get his feet under him. After that, the series smooths out and is charming and kind -- virtually all of the mysteries are NOT murders. :) And the very unique setting of Botswana Africa, with the major characters being native Botswanan people, with peoples of neighboring African nations showing up from time to time as clients of our wonderful detective heroine, Mma Precious Ramotswe.

The school guidance counselor is mistaken -- if the school is offering the PSAT test to their own students, then they will be abiding by the official PSAT testing rules as far as room size, desk distances, and number of adults to be test monitors -- which automatically makes them an "official PSAT test location". She is possibly confusing the PSAT with the SAT or ACT, which is NOT offered at all schools, but only at specific official sites (and for those tests, students register online, so the school has no say over who is coming to their location to take the test.) Or, she may mean that their school has a policy of not working with homeschoolers, either for tests, single class enrollment, sports, or other extracurriculars (and some high schools do have a no-homeschooler policy). Or, she may mean that the school does not have the physical room and test monitor capacity to accommodate additional students and still meet the PSAT's "facility testing requirements". But none of those situations is a legal "insurance" issue for someone not enrolled in the school to be able to take the test. Even if you were somehow not covered under the school's "guest liability" or "public" insurance, you could actually purchase "event insurance" for a single day for under $100, which would remove the school's "insurance excuse" for denying your student entrance. Agreeing with previous posters that it might be easier to just work with a different school first. But if you do have to work with this school, I recommend by-passing the guidance counselor, and calling to make an appointment to talk to the school administrator in person. Be polite. Explain that College Board permits homeschoolers to take the PSAT with public or private school students and actually instructs homeschoolers to contact a local high school in order to register through the high school. BEST of luck in quickly getting this resolved! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Previous posters have done a great job of laying out things to think about: - you can't (and shouldn't) try to drag an unwilling teen through homeschooling - if you're going to enter the high school, best to do so at 9th grade, because it can be either very difficult or impossible to enter partway through, depending on the high school's policy about accepting/not accepting credits - in contrast, if a high school is not working, you can always return to homeschooling - there is no guarantee that a boy who hasn't made close friends in the years at a homeschool co-op will do so in public school classes; all there is a guarantee of is that, for good or for ill, he will see the same group of students daily for 4 years of high school - in many areas, homeschoolers can participate in public or private school sports, extracurriculars, or even attend 1-2 classes -- so you might look in to the policies of this public charter about partial participation, or if it is "all or nothing" decision - have you looked into what community activities are available for social options for your DS -- again, high school might not be the only option to fill social needs; what about: * Model Legislation/Judicial programs -- YMCA Youth & Gov't; Model UN; Mock Trial * Speech & Debate team * Civil Air Patrol -- NOT just for kids thinking of going into the military * community youth/teen theater, or band, orchestra, or chorus * community classes in art, jewelry-making, wood-working, welding, etc. * after school club -- robotics, book club, electronics, bowling league, etc. * involvement in classes or group for martial arts, fencing, dance, horseback riding, or other unique physical activity * all-ages community group centered on a mutual interest, such as hiking, model railroad, community gradening, etc. * community physical activity group, such as paint-balling, skateboarding, rock climbing, etc I will just add: Be kind to yourself. There is naturally going to be a grieving process when meaningful work you've been engaged in comes to an end -- even if you homeschool through high school graduation. And there is esp. a shock when that meaningful work unexpectedly ends sooner than you thought it would, as it doesn't allow you transition time of figuring out your next/new stage and be moving into it, which helps "cushion the blow" a little bit. I will also add the following related to your thought which I quoted: Encouragement that homeschooling can be just as competitive if not more so than a public high school that offers honors and college courses. Based on the materials you choose to use, you CAN make your own Honors level courses. You CAN do AP, either at home or with an online class. Or take it as a single class with the public school (if permitted by your school district). You CAN do dual enrollment and have college courses/credits on the high school transcript. And it's not difficult to calculate a "weighted" GPA for the transcript if doing these options through your homeschool. But even better -- you're able to tailor your homeschool coursework to your student's interests and strengths to better prepare your student for post-high school college/career, and give your student a unique high school experience that really shines in college admissions and on scholarship applications. And another thought to encourage you: many, many, many students get into college -- and get scholarships -- just fine with NO honors, NO AP tests and NO dual enrollment/college classes. "Honors" courses, and even GPA to some extent, are rather meaningless because class material and assignments vary so widely from one school to another, that there's really no way to accurately compare. As a side note, and my own little rant (lol): right now, our culture has been whipped into a frenzy about high school test scores, honors classes / "rigor" / GPA, and worries about "getting into college." Those things are actually blinding people to the real concerns, which are things like: - high college costs / student debt - college students on average needing more than 4 years to complete a 4-year degree -- some are students who were "honors" and AP students in high school - high number of honors / over-achieving students who got burned out on rigorous academics and are dropping out of college after 1-2 years - high number of students (even some who were "honors" and AP high schoolers) dropping out of college because it's not a good fit for them and their actual interests/strengths -- and now enslaved in entry-level jobs trying to pay back college loans - high number of college graduates with degrees who struggle to find a decent job In other words, a 4.0+ GPA and honors courses and AP tests is NO guarantee about the student's future post-high school experiences. Wishing you and your student all the BEST, as together you explore your options and decide what direction the high school stage of education will go in. Warmest regards, Lori D.

That's a great set of 4 Soc. Studies credits that will be very acceptable for college admissions. She'll be fine. : ) And for the name of your course, just go with "World Geography" or "Cultural Geography" and then in the course description you would explain that the focus of the course was cultural and physical geography, plus comparative religions.

Just my opinion, here... I think key dates can be very helpful as "mental timeline". It comes down to what the individual considers to be a "key date" -- for me, that would be things like knowing roughly when major civilizations began/ended, when key people lived, and dates of key events (like, the year of the fall or Rome or the first man on the moon, or the years for WW2). Again, just my opinion, but I find that knowing dates for people/events to be more important for modern history (because those events are still directly impacting current events and me personally), and the further back you go, just a few major people/event dates are needed to keep history "lined up". So in your example, for me, specific dates of invention of silk or Phoenician glass-blowing would not be important, but rather an overall sense of progression and connection (which cultures preceded which or were contemporaneous with which) would be more important. And YMMV, as the other component here is what best works for the individual in remembering and making connections. For abstract/sequential thinkers, dates are most helpful; for visual/concrete thinkers, a "general progression" may be more helpful. ETA: PS -- I tend to do dates like Blue Goat -- centuries, and then when you get to Modern History (1900 to present), by decades. And for US History, connecting key events with key Presidents.

Well, we could have *tried* to school year-round, but in the end, the path of least resistance was to follow the traditional school year schedule. When DSs were young, it was the only way to be able to see some of their friends who were in a B&M school. When DSs were in middle/high school, they were involved in some extracurriculars and programs that were attached to the traditional school schedule, so again, it just made it easier to participate if we were schooling mostly during the traditional 9-month school year. And, *I* needed the summer break -- to recharge and relax, and to research, plan, and prepare for the next year. We spread out our school year from mid-Aug through end of May, which allowed us a full week at Thanksgiving, 3 weeks at Christmas, a week of spring break, and a number of "let's take a day off" days during the school year. Two years during the high school years, we took extended special family trips (3 weeks) during the school year, so we went a few weeks into June to finish up the Math, English, and Science credits those 2 years. BEST of luck in finding what works best for YOUR family! Warmest regards, Lori D.

No, but I have a 2002 Miller Levine (dragonfly cover) Biology textbook you could have for postage! (:D

The crates we used (I linked above) are *heavy-duty* and, when books are stacked on edge with spines facing up, each crate easily held 5-6 thick textbooks, several teacher guides, several spiral-bound notebooks, and the several reading books (for Lit. & History). One crate per student, even when they were in high school, held everything except the Science supplies and kits, which I do recall now that we kept in a separate plastic bin. We only keep books and materials we were currently using in the crates, so once we were done with a book or resource, it was put away, and the next needed resource was rotated off of the shelves or storage and into the crate. : ) But, I only had 2 students, not 5, so a "crate system" and prepping checklists once a week might not be what works best for you. BEST of luck in finding what IS the best fit for organizing your family! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Esp. when reading a work from a very different culture and from a different time period, hopefully, there was a TON of background support information and guided analysis provided in class, in order to make the work accessible to the students, and enable them to "dig deeper" into it.

I notice this about a lot of HOMESCHOOL reading lists, and through all the ages. It seems like there are SO many classical homeschoolers who mistakenly think "rigor" means shoving higher level thinking, or adult-level reading material into every-younger grades. Which often leads to missing out on those "windows of opportunity" of enjoying the HUGE amount of GREAT reading material that's a perfect fit for certain ages. But I find that I must be becoming a crotchy old fist-waving lady any more (LOL), as I seem to be out of sync with so many things. (Okay, maybe not fist-waving, as that suggests that I rant about all of those things, and I don't think I do. Hope I don't, anyways... (:D )

Not the most elegant of solutions, but each DS had a heavy-duty stackable plastic crate which stored everything in it needed for the week. That included two plastic pencil boxes -- one for pencils/pens, and one for miscellaneous small supply items. We stacked the crates in the laundry room, and DSs carried them out in the morning. They slowly emptied the crate during the school day, pulling out whatever they were working on, and stacked it in a pile when done. At the end of the day, they returned it all into their crate and carried it back to the laundry room. As far as advance planning, I worked very similarly to Peter Pan above. Sunday evenings I printed out the blank checklist for the week that I designed on the computer, and filled it out, and assembled any unique science or history items we were going to need that week. That took about 1 - 1.5 hours, and helped cement in my mind an overview of what we were shooting to cover that week. When DSs were in elementary grades, I was also creating their copywork, dictation, and spelling, so that was another hour. So for 2 students it took me about 2 - 2.5 hours once a week to pull everything together. BEST of luck! Getting organized is such a help for getting through the school days! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Texts Street Law: A Course in Practical Law (9th ed.) -- table of contents -- 8th edition at Amazon McGraw Hill: Business and Personal Law Online courses Law & Order: Intro to Legal System (1 semester) -- Laurel Springs School (accredited online high school) Hands-On programs Mock Trial Wikipedia article about the program National Championship website -- see the state coordinator info page to find a program near you practice with past mock trials: Classroom Law Project - Oregon State Mock Trial archive; Street Law - D.C. practice cases Teen Court -- see Wikipedia article; a peer-juried juvenile crime court justice system option available in some states Summer Programs American Bar - Law Programs for Middle and High School Students Blueprint - Summer Law Course for High School Students Envision - Summer Intensive Law & Trial at Stanford Law School Resources College Vine article - "Summer Activity Ideas for the Hopeful Future Lawyer"

JMO: But I would start with capturing the images and ideas, the *sound* and rhyme, and the *joy and beauty* that DD is trying to express, before trying to write in forms (rhyming patterns), as that can result in stifling the imagination and "voice" at this early stage. Just a thought -- is there a local children's workshop on writing poetry, perhaps through the local library, or Parks & Rec classes? It can be very helpful to explore poetry writing with other young writers. Together, read poetry BY children for inspiration -- here is a list of children's poetry contests, with some poems published online. Perhaps get a subscription to Stone Soup, which publishes creative fiction and poetry, nonfiction, and art by children up to age 13. The Stone Soup website also has a series of clickable links to the far right of the main page under the heading "Story Subjects", that take you to pages where you can read online for FREE some of the poetry (and other) submissions. Also, read a lot of different poets at this stage -- playful poets and children's poems and free verse poems (and enjoy the imagery and listening for the lovely sounds and rhymes and use of language!), as well as traditional, older, classic poems/poets. The more you can develop your OWN appreciation and enjoyment of poetry, the more it will help you help your DD in her goal to write poems. FREE poetry lesson plans Kenn Nesbitt's Poetry 4 Kids NCTE / Read Write Think -- Poetry Lesson Plans Online Classes Brave Writer: Playing with Poetry Workshop -- appreciation AND writing of poetry Books/Curricula Evan-Moore: Writing Poetry with Children and Poetry Patterns & Themes Poetry Writing Handbook (Lison) Create a Poem (Hoomes) Write Your Own Poetry (Salas) Poetry Starters: Write Abouts (McDonald) -- idea prompts Poetry Matters: Writing a Poem from the Inside Out (Fletcher) A Crow Doesn't Need a Shadow: A Guide to Writing Poetry From Nature (Ferra) -- guide for TEACHERS to help their students write poetry Additional Resources - Poetry Foundation: Articles About Children's Poetry -- 4 lovely articles that help adults help their children explore and appreciate poetry, but also that stress the importance of keeping alive the wonder and imagination in children *writing* their own poetry - Seeing the Blue Between (Janeczko) -- advice and inspiration for young poets - How To Read A Poem (Runyan) -- a resource for YOU to help you perhaps enjoy poetry more - How to Write A Poem (Runyan) -- a resource for your DD for when she's in high school, or has been writing poetry for a few years Books of "fun" poetry to enjoy - Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reverso Poems (Singer) -- free verse poems on fairy tale characters that when the wording is read from top to bottom, expresses one idea, but when read from bottom to top, reveals a completely different idea - Opposites, More Opposites, and a Few Extras (Wilbur) -- clever jokes and observations written so deftly that you don't even realize that Richard Wilbur is writing in a rhymed form - Poetry Speaks to Children (Paschen) -- whimsical and fun, while full of rhyme, rhythm, and wonderful sound devices - At the Sign of the Seahorse (Base) -- lovely older elementary/middle school picture book, with the story told in rhymed verse - humorous poems by Lewis Carroll, Ogden Nash, Roald Dahl, etc. Stories told in a series of free verse poems Love That Dog (Creech) Brown Girl Dreaming (Woodson) Out of the Dust (Hesse) Prose stories that are poetically written or are playful with language (prose writing that makes a lot of use of sound devices, and imagery and metaphors to describe/make connections) The Thirteen Clocks (Thurber) The Search for Delicious (Babbitt) The Wind in the Willows (Grahame) The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Tolkien)