Even if you never do anything beyond high school, I would not have any problem issuing a "mom diploma" and transcript assuming my student met the requirements for graduation from "our" school. My home is my student's school and a diploma issued by me is for high school graduation. I know some that are not college bound also have less rigourous high school years, but it they meet the requirements for graduation, then I'd have no problem issuing the diploma.

I think a mom diploma is fine. I'm buying a more official looking diploma but it will have our homeschool name and be signed my me. I am a private school here in KY and my child has met all the requirements for graduation so I"m issuing him a diploma. If you print your own, I know you can make it look official and print it on nice paper. Here's where I am buying mine from (as well as lots of others on this board). https://www.homeschooldiploma.com/ I would not recommend a GED as it has a sigma of being for people who did not graduate and your student IS a high school graduate from your school. I have been asked for copied of my high school diploma even though I have a college degree. It also mentally helps your child to be able to check the box YES when asked if graduated or has a high school diploma.

I would say Calc BC with a good score will certainly look stronger, but I see no problem with taking AB. I would guess that vast majority of students will only have AB and many of those will have it as 12th grade. Especially if he's headed toward economics/business, I see no reason to push for BC unless you think it will make him more competitive for something specific.

Personally, I just call it English 9 (or 10,11, or 12). Usually we do 2-3 Brave Writer classes as well as about a book a month and any other writing, grammar, discussions. I lump it all together as English 9. I spell out what we did in our course descriptions. My oldest did English 9,10,11,12. My second will do English 9,10, AP English and then another English (AP Lit or Eng. 12). My daughter will do English 9,10,11,12 and then have some additional literature specific classes and creative writing classes. She goes over and above a normal English credit.

My tax adviser says I have to report the 1099Q on my son's taxes as non-taxable income. He does not pay taxes on it, but it does show up as income. I'm not personally versed well enough in tax law to know if this is true, but I trust her as she has worked taxes for many, many years.

My son gets a 1099Q for qualified educational funds paid with him as a beneficiary of 529 funds - it doesn't matter if they are paid to the college or him (he's still the beneficiary). He's not taxed on the income, but it is reported as non-taxable income. This is very different than non-529 money that is paid as a gift. As far as gift taxes, if greater than $14,000 is gifted to someone then it occurs a gift tax. If you contribute more than $14,000 to one beneficiary in a 529 plan per year then it has a gift tax. I think you can withdraw any amount from the 529 without gift taxes if it is used for qualified educational expenses.

My mathy boy took BC (instead of AB) because he likes to live and breathe math. Thought the AP exam was easy and made a 5. He did multivariable calc along with AoPS Int. Counting and Probability for his senior year. He'll start with an integrated linear algebra/multivariable calculus class next year at college. My second son would not like the schedule of BC on top of other AP classes. He's very good at math (perfect math ACT score), but would be inclined to crank out answers to problems rather than to take any time to understand the theory. I've struggled with what is the best math route for him. He will do Calculus AB next year with me poking at some of his precalc skills with AoPS Precalc. He has already done Derek Owens Precalc, but the AoPS Precalc "feels" so much like a lot of my engineering classes. I am somewhat undecided on what he will do for his senior year math, but it will be a progression in the calculus - either Calc BC at home with me or possibly dual enrolled Calculus 2. If you start the calculus series early, then have a plan on where you are going as it is not good to take a year off from calculus.

It varies by school and situation. 529's should not affect merit scholarships. If you are not getting need-based money - grants, scholarships - then the 529 money only decreases the amount of loans that you'd have to take out. Parental 529's show up on assets. Grandparent 529's do not show up at all until used and then only show up later in college since prior, prior year taxes are used. The 529 money will show up as untaxed income for the student. If you delay taking out the funds until JR/SR year then they may never show up on any FAFSA/Profile. I don't think grandparent 529's reduce aid dollar for dollar. It does show up as untaxed student income. Students are actually "expected" to have some income so how much it impacts the student depends somewhat on the rest of their income. Generally, student's are expected to contribute about 20-25% of their income toward college. For some schools, that give large need-based grants, I've read that they may expect you to have as much as 50% of that income again the next year. At the school my son is attending, I've played around with their net price calculator quite a bit with grandparent 529 money. Assuming their calculator is correct, it depends greatly on how much income my son also is making from a job before there is an impact from the 529 money. It also depends on how much money is given. The difference between receiving, $1000, $10000 or $20,000 is not linear. The more money given, the more impact it has.

In reference to taking a job once your kids start college - yes the schools will want a PORTION of that income. However, I think it is certainly worthwhile to increase income, pay some of that to schools and pocket the rest. You can get an idea of what increasing your income will do if you play around with net price calculators. Put in your numbers with current income and assets and then go back and change the income number to an expected two-parent income and see how much of it you'd have to contribute. This won't give you absolute numbers, but will give you a ballpark idea of what to expect. Also it might vary by school.

Well, saying that Calc BC is just an extra three topics doesn't do it justice. At many universities, Calculus AB is equivalent to one semester and Calculus BC is equivalent to two semesters of calculus. BC is definitely a much tougher schedule. My mathy boy took BC just after precalc and did fine. My very good in math, but doesn't like math, boy will take AB in 11th and likely follow it with BC or dual enrollment in 12th.

I used a mix of Singapore and Miquon so it was easy for us to transition from Miquon. I would not worry about becoming reliant on manipulatives. Some kids have a hard time linking an abstract squiggle of a number three to real life and the manipulatives help make this transition. It also really helps kids gain a better understanding of math. Seeing that four - five rods is the same as five - four rods helps make connections that memorizing facts don't always do. As kids get better at math then it becomes more of a nuisance to use rods and they just do it in their head, but as long as the rods are helping then I'd let kids keep using them. I will let you make your own decision about whether to use MIquon, but I would encourage you to use some manipulatives like Cuisenaire rods for any program as it helps so many kids understand math better.

Yes the common app essay topics for next year are out. They are the same as this year (with slight rewording) plus I think two new ones.

For a lot of schools that don't use the common app, you can look at this year's application. For some schools, essay questions will change yearly, but for others the application will not change at all. As others have said, you can see the Common App info now and the essay topics have been released.

As far as Bob Jones, we'd suffer massive burnout if we tried to do all that. I wouldn't toss out the BJU dvds altogether, but sit down and discuss with your kids what pieces might work. They might simply watch the dvds in a subject and do nothing else. Maybe watch the dvd and read the book without any extra busywork. I'd either toss out more subjects or just pare way back in the subjects. You've already switched the math. LIbraries are great to just pick books and read literature and history. On the Center for Literature site there is one sample class for each age group. You might have your kids read the Hobbit and then listen to the Center for Lit class on that one book.

TGC - Chemistry is a great overview of the math of introductory chemistry. It's good, but best suited for someone that needs a little more math instruction and not for a student that is already strong in math. Haven't ever looked at the other, but I will have to do so because it looks interesting.

Agreeing with the above. Putting her in public school won't solve the problem at all. If PS is what you need to do for your family, then that's fine, but I think it's a bad decision as a reaction to this situation. I agree with backing way up on math. Obviously she doesn't understand the math. If the fundamentals are shaky, then she'll never be able to move on. It's not a punishment to back up, it's just what she needs to learn. Also, I'd remove any ability to cheat if possible. Have her do it in a room that you can watch her if needed. Copy the page out of the book so she can't look up answers. Don't allow her access to a computer. Give her work that she SHOULD be able to do to start with. Make the goal to realize if she can do the problem and to ask for help if she can't. Simply knowing which problems you can or can't do goes a long ways to learning the work correctly. Do a lot of the work buddy-style where you sit next to her and work together. In this way she can get instant feedback and you can figure out better where she is struggling. This is based on the assumption that it sounds like she's cheating because she doesn't understand the material. This is different that the student that mostly understands but cheats to finish quicker or so not to miss a single problem.

My best advice would be to keep reading stories of how people pay for college. Ask lots of questions. Run the net price calculators on the college websites as it'll give you an idea of automathic grants and scholarships (sometimes). Look around at all sorts of options. Apply for scholarships.

Common fraction is a FRACTION with the numerator and denominator as integers and it is simplified. It could be 2/3 or it could be 21/5. A simplified improper fraction is also called a common fraction. If you change 21/5 to 4 1/5 then it is a mixed number.

In answering questions, I would be honest. It is so obvious when someone is holding back and guarding their words and it makes you wonder what they are keeping from you. Choose to tell about 1 or 2 schools (or more) that she's been admitted to, but then follow it up with - I'd really like to go here, but I"m waiting on finances, etc. Yes, I'd definitely assume the entire weekend is the interview. I know when I was in residency, candidates would come it and "interview" with the attendings, but then get to go out to lunch with us. So often they'd let their real selves shine through and it wasn't always pretty. We had a little power to sway decisions positively, but we had a huge influence on saying that we didn't want someone for a specific reason.

Yes, the culture puts way too much emphasis on sports, and for most it will never pay off financially in scholarsihps or jobs, but that doesn't mean sports are all bad. When young, my kids did sports off and on - gymnastics, basketball, soccer. I thought too much pressure was put on young kids to compete. Now I have high schoolers on a nationally ranked ultimate frisbee team. My oldest started three years ago and now his siblings do it also. It's been a fun family sport. It's a homeschool team so it provides a lot of outdoor activity and friendships outside of doing schoolwork at home. It provides a terrific outlet for physical activity and being outdoors in the sun which I think is important. A few years ago it was a loosely formed team that had goals to improve and become competitive locally. They have worked crazy hard and now they are competitive nationally. Of course when we started, I just thought we'd be playing a little ultimate around town and not travelling so much for Ultimate. Oh well. The group is accepting of anyone new and any time commitment you want to put in. For my kids, ultimate is likely to be a passion that continues into college and as an adult.

I know of others who have gotten into schools without the "required" SAT2s.

I don't think you should misrepresent anything on your transcript, but I know it happens sometimes. Ultimately, it's the students that have to live with the consequences of not having learned certain material or to a certain level.

I don't think colleges know for sure. They know some do fudge, just as some brick and mortar high schools fudge. Ultimately, I think colleges rely on test scores to validate that the kids have learned and are capable of continuing to learn in college. If it's important to your degree, the student will learn it at some point.

The live component classes that I know of also record the classes so that students can watch them at anytime even if they can't do it live.

I used Center for Lit (discussion only) for the literature component. We did two 6 week Brave Writer courses and otherwise did our own writing. Very happy with these choices.