I'm pretty stressed by this. I'm struggling getting DS through the basics, so electives have not been on the radar, other than orchestra. So... Math - 3 (maybe 3.5) English - 4 History/Govt/Econ - 4 Science - 3 (maybe 3.5) Orchestra (done through Houston Youth Symphony) - 4 Health - .5 Drivers Ed - .5 Foreign Language - 2 That's a total of 21. He's a junior, so we gotta get creative at this point. Sigh... DD will have the 24-28 range.

I walked out of Boat Trip. I went with some girlfriends. We knew it was going to be risque, but liked Cuba Gooding, Jr., so we decided to see it. It was awful. Really, really awful. We all walked out, talked to the manager, and got our money back.

We tried DIVE Biology last year and it just wasn't a good fit for my kids. I switched to BJU distance learning at Christmas (they were having the $99 special) and absolutely loved it. My kids needed more instruction than they were getting from DIVE. You've gotten some great advice. I just thought I would add my experience.

No, I don't get angry. I had an adequate education with good teachers, for the most part. I would have loved learning history with whole books, but other than that, I'm good. And even that, I'm not angry about. I'm not sure I would have appreciated it then, just like my kids didn't appreciate it. There's a reason we now use textbooks. :tongue_smilie:

High school is about to do me in. If I had to do it (high school) all over again, I'm not sure I would. Ugh.

I never have, but I have a college-aged nephew who does. His parents are NOT happy about it. They've noticed a change in him since he started, and it's not a good one. I don't personally know anybody else that does, that I'm aware of. I have a friend who gets together with her high school friends once a year. (she's in her early 40's) She's the only one of the group that doesn't smoke pot.

As others have said, it can often depend on your weather. It's brutally hot here in August, so I would rather do school now, then get out mid-May when it's nice. Schools start in a couple of weeks (we started today), but they don't get out until early June. If I lived somewhere where August was cooler than 100s, I would absolutely wait until after Labor Day. :)

Thanks for the ideas. Anyone else?

I watched that as well. Loved it! It was really well done. And yes, gut wrenching. I shed a few tears.

A friend's DH is now working in Saudi Arabia, and she leaves next week to live there as well. A group is getting together and giving her a gift basket of things she will not be able to find there. I have no idea what to add. Any ideas would be appreciated. :)

A friend gave me a one-semester Forensic Science course her son used. He started public high school and they gave him an elective 1/2 credit in it, so I'm going to use it. DS seems very interested, which is good. He may or may not start Chemistry in the spring. We'll see how things go. Thanks for all the advice!

I had not even thought of doing Geometry later. That is an excellent suggestion. I also like the idea of doing another science this year to give him some time to get math-ready for Chemistry.

Kind of what I was thinking. Sigh... I guess I'll be looking for something to add this fall.

DS (will be 11th grader this year) struggled with the second half of geometry last year, so I've decided he's going to repeat it. However, I've bought Chemistry for him this year. He will not be in Algebra 2 until after Christmas, but I really hate to put Chemistry off until then. I'm thinking that might be for the best, however. He's done IPC and Biology the past 2 years. He's not a really strong math/science student. What do y'all suggest? Doing 2 math programs at once (Alg 2 and Geom) is not reasonable for him. If it matters, he will be using the BJU Chemistry DVDs.

I voted "standard" because that was the first thing that popped in my head. However, I would recognize/understand "stick" and "manual" as well. I've never heard the term "straight drive".

Thanks for the info. That one is out of stock on Amazon, but it's the same edition as the one sold by Hewitt, so maybe it's the same. I'll have to investigate some more.

I got this from the library to look at. The book is so small! Thick, but small. All of the artwork is in a section in the back of the book. I also got the syllabus from Hewitt. I notice their page numbers are different from the copy I have, so I'm wondering if the copy you can purchase from them is physically larger, maybe with the artwork within the chapters. Anybody familiar with it?

We have 2 cats that were feral. We got one when she was 3 weeks old, so I'm not sure how "feral" she could have been at that age. :) She's about 2 now. Sweet, but feisty. She has definite ideas of when she wants to be left alone. That could just be her natural temperament, though. She is a cat, after all. The second was a stray, probably a little under a year old, that DH befriended about a year ago. It took him several months to get that cat to trust him. He finally got him indoors so that he could put him in a carrier to take him up and get him fixed. The cat freaked out at that point. The vet had to sedate him to get him out of the carrier! However, within a relatively short period time, he became the sweet, most affectionate cat I've ever seen. It's really amazing. He did have problems integrating with our other cats, and still has problems with the older one. He's a bit of a bully with them. With us, though, he's as sweet as can be.

B.S. in math. I started out in accounting, but found it incredibly boring. Love my Calc I class, so I changed my major. :)

You're right. Sigh... It's stupid, though, that medical materials can go in a binder, but curriculum can't. I don't understand that at all. If I had taken it down to Staples and had it spiral bound, I could have sent it media mail with no problem.

She's right. :) From what I understand, every Ace Hardware has a USPS station in their store. Very handy!

Next time I won't go to the post office. I usually go to the Ace Hardware store and mail from there. They never question what I'm sending. I'm not trying to get away with something, but honestly, it's a book!

I went to mail some curriculum and wanted to send it media mail. It was in a 3-ring binder (the way it came from the company), so she wouldn't let me send it media. She didn't see it, but when she asked what was in the box, I told her. Should I have pushed it? I was tired, and really didn't want to mess with it, so I went ahead and paid the difference.

I'm 5' 3". DD passed me up at age 10. She's now 15 and 5' 6". DS didn't pass me up until he was 14. His happiest day, though, was passing his sister up a year later. He's 17 months older than her, but she had been taller than him for years. DH is 6' 2", so I'm not surprised at all that my children are taller than me.

I have to say, we love "Waterworld". We know it's universally hated, but we really like it. :) The movie DH and I both despise is "Moon 44". Awful. Just awful. Oh, and "Random Hearts". We saw it with some friends. At the end of the movie, Harrison Ford says something like, "Maybe we can go see a movie." We heard someone say, "Don't go see this one." We all started laughing. It was the highlight of the movie. I personally hate the original "Footloose". The girl is a whiny twit. Kevin Bacon is awesome, but the girl ruins it for me.