My husband grew up in London, and didn't get a driver's license until he moved to the States. We lived there for a couple years later in our marriage, and got by fine without a car while we were there.

Sometimes a "follow your dream" plan works. My oldest majored in music. Initially, my husband expected him to double major in something practical, but biology and the accompanying math and chemistry required for it were taking up all of his time. He was miserable because neither math nor science were strong points for him, but really tried to stick it out. My husband finally told him to drop the math and chem, and do what he really went to college for. He later added a second major in English. He is very very fortunate to have a full piano studio, be in 3 bands, play for a church, play a couple times per month at a piano bar, and in the last year he and his fiance have been performing as a duet (she sings) and picking up lots of gigs. He LOVES all those things, and loves being that busy. It doesn't always work that way. But he is fortunate to enjoy all kinds of music, which opens up more ways of earning money. He lives in an area with a pretty extensive live music scene which makes all that possible. And as a bonus, his fiance is a lawyer (they met in undergrad.) My youngest, on the other hand, is a math and chemistry major doing pre-med, and he is about to get engaged to a Dance and French major with history minor. So that kind of evens things out I guess;)

Thank you everyone for your help and comments! I have submitted everything to the Common App and Coalition, and am "finished" until the Mid-Year Report, which should be straightforward.

Thank you Kai - your timing is perfect! I am just starting to work through the course descriptions. Thankfully I have worked on them from year to year, and I took the time to copy the outside courses from the college catalogs. I kept outside course descriptions separate from the home administered courses, and was just thinking maybe I could scrap the outside descriptions when I got an email notification and read your post;) The only "description" I've left on the transcript is the educational institution for outsourced classes (four different schools), mainly so it will connect more easily with the official transcripts that will come in. I'm starting the School Report on the Common App next week, and will also need to do one for the Coalition - so I may be back with more questions!

Thank you all so much! I appreciate the responses, and have made some adjustments. I have done this twice before, but this one is more complex - more outsourced classes, more out-of-the-box classes . My other two applied to one school each, whereas youngest has reaches, matches, and safeties. I'm just a bit more nervous about this one!

My current transcript for my son is arranged by subject (no plans to change that), and has four columns for course name, class info, credits and grade. Under course info, I have either listed the focus of the course, the text/resources used, or if it was an outsourced class I list where it was taken along with the college's course number. I currently do not have test results on the transcript, because I'm at a full page right now. Here are my questions: Should the class info be left off the transcript? I would prefer to leave it on, because it makes it easier to match his high school transcript with the transcripts coming from the other schools. It also helps me distinguish our foreign language to better show levels we have covered. (Last year was a college level German grammar review book, and this year is German film, also using a college textbook. Would it be important to list test scores on the transcript? We have ACT, SAT, SAT subject, and AP scores that could be included. But these will generally be either self reported on the common app or sent to the school, with the exception of AP scores. For course descriptions, do I need to include them for courses I did not teach at home? I have descriptions from the course catalog, but since we have to send college transcripts anyway, maybe it's best to leave those descriptions off my list? I am leaning toward leaving the transcript as it stands, with the class info but without the test scores, and only providing course descriptions for courses done at home. Are my instincts right?

I have a collection of German materials that I plan to list on the for sale board soon, but thought I would put something on here first. I have lots of books, including the following: Klett books - Grundschule: Diktate, Aufsatzübungen, Grammatikübungen (nonconsumable). Textaufgaben for 5.-10. Klasse a couple Kinderlexikon, Sachbuch and Sprachbuch for 3. Klasse, a book of experiments (Grundschulwissen Experimente) Readers - multiple levels, from Ragazzi Lesespass, Leselöwen, Leserabe; Sonne Mond und Sterne books, some books by Kästner and Lindgren. Most of these are in like new condition. If you are interested in details, please send me a message.

Well, years of improv came in handy for my son when he was accompanying a choir and the page-turner was not paying attention. So he nodded for her to turn the page...then again...then one more time...then he just kept going with things that fit, and the audience didn't even know anything went wrong (though of course the choir director was aware, and eventually the page turner realized it!) But I wouldn't expect that situation to come up too often:) I think for some people it is relaxing and freeing, but for others it is intimidating. I also think it's harder to improv for a teacher. My son just messed around on the piano to wind down when he wasn't practicing for his lessons. If he'd been required to do it, it wouldn't have been winding down or relaxing anymore!

My son is going to self-study AP Biology this year and take the AP test in May. I would like to set out a schedule with Campbell and Reece, but I would like something that gives him feedback. For anyone who has followed a similar route, what did you use? I don't have a big budget, and was hoping to rent the textbook on amazon because it's so much cheaper than buying! Thanks so much!

Thanks so much! I will look into all of these:)

Does anyone have a recommendation for a book to read before Animal Farm, that is a brief and simple history of the Russian Revolution, or early Soviet days... If you have a longer one, I'd still be interested for a little later this year, so share that too if you have one you like! But in the next few weeks I'd like to have something manageable. Thanks so much! -Trish

Well, I shared my idea with ds, who didn't like it at all. He wants free time to be just that - free. He doesn't need to write his goals down because he already knows what they are. And he won't need to refer back to see what he worked on, or to pick up a project later with a fresh idea, because he won't forget what he was thinking about or working on. And honestly, he does keep all that stuff in his head already. So he'll still do a bunch of stuff, but we'll keep it off the transcript. Thanks for the brainstorming help, and from what some of you said, this may be the better option anyway!

Sorry, JoJosMom, I only just saw your reply! I am guessing you have the information by now. My son didn't find out until the awards banquet. Hope your daughter was pleased with her results! It was a hard test this year (except, apparently, for the 1 St place winner with the perfect sprint round!)

What if he delves into a lot of different topics rather than 1-2 specific areas? He's interested in math (he has a proof he's working on now, plus wants to go further on number theory), programming, various science areas, and I don't know what else he'd do if allowed time... Maybe just expand his own knowledge, or maybe try out ideas that may or may not work..

I just heard a talk by Richard Ruszyck, and he mentioned the importance of students having time to explore academic learning apart from high school curriculum. I have been weighing in high school options for ds, and we have a rigorous 9th grade ahead. I am brainstorming a way to build in time for him to study, experiment, build, invent, explore in an ungraded way. My idea is to have an annual credit in which the only requirements are (1) to spend a set number of hours per week, (2) do brief monthly write-ups so he can track what he's done over the years and set down goals for the next month, and (3) write a paper at the end of the year with a personal evaluation of his learning, and goals for the following year. I would like to give credit academically without assigning a grade. Would this look inappropriate? He is a very motivated student, but I want to let him keep his energy and excitement in a non restricted way, but still have his remaining credits stay more traditional. I am looking for feedback, both positive and negative welcomed (but please be tactful if you are telling me how stupid the idea is!) I would also appreciate advice on how to structure an unstructured course. Thank you!

Thanks for posting this! I get to see it in person this year, though my student didn't make countdown round. But he gets to run in when they announce our state, and Nationals has been a fantastic experience! 😊

My son is at St Olaf! But in a different choir. I just now saw this - but my son posted on FB how much he enjoyed the concert:)

English: WWS2, MCT Magic Lens & WWW1; reading list (still compiling) and essays to read and discuss (various authors) Math: Calculus 2 (outsourced locally) Science: AP Chem (PA Homeschoolers online) Geography: BJU Press - skipping the tests and instead having an oral presentation each month on selected topics. Hope to record these so he can self-evaluate. German: Logisch 2, plus various readings & movie watching Is it okay to have just 5 credits? Or do I need to find something else to add? I think it will already be pretty intense...

When my kids were younger, we went to an upscale fabric score and found some beautiful choices for silks. We found more variety in color and texture were available there.

I will give it a try! My biggest problem comes from my part time job - there are always lots of yummy treats in the breakroom. Any suggestions for how to cope when temptation is unavoidable?

We will have to finish Lord of the Rings first, which will be early next year, and WWS he will finish around the end of February - so maybe we could start this school year so we have time to stretch it out...

Thank you both! IEW recommended WttW before using the American or British units that they sell: I'm glad to hear we don't need to do that! I already feel like there is too much to do in too little time! I will have to see how best to pace it once we start. He currently does 3 days of WWS1 each week, but he spends a lot of time doing the writing, and making sure he's done a good job. I would rather he is putting his best effort forward and doing 3 days rather than rushing through and finishing the course without mastery. He is in his last year of piano now, so next year when we start EiL he will be able to apply that timeeach day to reading instead, which should make it doable. I hope I can find the time to read the books as well!

Ds is finishing WWS1 and LL-LOTR this year for 8th grade. Next summer I am hoping to do a brief (read: inadequate) run-through of MCT Voyage level before high school. I am really interested in using EiL, but I am wondering if it is essential to do WttW first? He will also be doing WWS2 next year, so we would pick and choose the writing in EiL to do, and possibly stretch it out to summer. But WttW would make things more rushed. Could we skip it? Also, will it be too much to do both WWS2 and EiL? He is more of a STEM kid, and is not a fast reader.

I always look on college navigator. (https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator) It is a government site with statistics on the following: General information Tuition & fees Financial aid Net price (by income level) Enrollment (gender, race, age, in/out state, full/part time) Admissions (#applicants, acceptance rate, 25th & 75th percentile SAT/ACT scores) Retention & graduation rates (% students who return after 1st year; % students who graduate within 6 years) Programs/Majors (#graduates in each major) Campus Security (# violations & arrests for various crimes) Cohort default rate (% students in default of loans, #students currently in repayment)

Is it still possible to see if you didn't pre-register?