The interview at nationals is pretty specific and requires the student to show that they have mastery of their topic. I think, at that level, kids that are there as a result of too much help are vetted and eliminated. My daughter was asked questions for about five minutes by a panel of three "experts" at the national competition. And in any case, the process is what is important and not the winning. My daughter learned so much by doing her project. She stayed up all night one night more nights than one working on her project. She learned how to use iMovie. She learned about primary and secondary sources in a real hands-on way. She developed an annotated bibliography for the first time. And of course, besides the amazing learning that took place regarding the process, she learned a ton about her subject matter. Rather you're in it to win it or not, the process is what is important. It is the first time many students begin to understand what it is to analyze, research, and synthesize information into a cohesive project. Focusing on the outcome of winning and not participating because you fear others might cheat robs the student of what I think is a deeply rich experience.

My daughter participated in 7th grade and made it to Nationals where she won the "Best of State" award for the Department of Defense schools. She participated through the DODEA school since she took German there part-time. We had a fabulous time. It was a great learning experience! I'd recommend going beyond your district sponsor and trying to connect with the state coordinator. Click on your state and you should get a contact name: http://www.nhd.org/Coordinators.htm

Have you read this? http://www.amazon.com/Homeschooling-Excellence-David-Colfax/dp/0446389862

Why do adult children expect their parents to bail them out, loan them money, babysit for them, give them things, etc and at the same time want their parents to treat them as "adults"? :001_huh: I think that is the source of some parents inability to view their children as grown. A lot of grown children still expect their parents to help them a lot but at the same time they want the respect their parents give to other independent adults.

Just be warned that if you don't find something for them to eat, they will begin to eat each other! Ask me how I know....:scared::ack2:

Most high schools use carnegie units: http://www.suny.edu/facultysenate/TheCarnegieUnit.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_Unit_and_Student_Hour This is an interesting table: http://www.lavc.edu/vccc/documents/carnegieunits.html

Well, if you've always doubted yourself (presumably for the younger grades) why do you have more confidence when it comes to high school? While it certainly can be done, it is not the time to put a toe in the water unless you are committed to jumping in regardless. If you start home schooling high school and it doesn't go well, what will you do? Often public high schools (and many private schools) won't grant credit for non accredited home school classes. This means it is an all or nothing proposition. If you aren't confident that you can/will see it to the end, I would be careful. I would do my homework and ask the school about their policy for granting credit should you change your mind.

First, go here: http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/ Play around with location, GPA, scores, and the other fun things you can put in as search criteria. You'll find lots and lots of schools she can get into with a 1680. I would figure out where she is most likely to go and work backwards from their requirements to your plan for rather or not she retakes. And, a 1680 still works out to be a better score than almost 70% of all test takers (taken from 2006 data). She did well and should be proud! Check this out: http://www.satscores.us/sat_scores_by_score.asp?score=1680 I wanted to add, you can cancel and reschedule testing fairly easily. We had to reschedule due to travel and it wasn't a problem.

Sounds like your children will fit into the "or are living the life of...." category. Really, we all might do a great job or a not so great job. The goal, in my mind, is to end up with good well-educated citizens. From my perspective, no school (home, private, or public) can tout their effectiveness until they've effectively produced the type of citizen I want to live next door to.

I would wait to respond after you've home schooled through high school and one or more of your kids have been accepted to universities or are living the life of good educated employed citizens. Really, the only proof that you will do a good job educating your kids is in the pudding itself. Just do the work. Patience with the world and dedication to your job as a home schooler is what you will need to weather the long storm ahead. The naysayers can get on board later when they notice your boat isn't the one sinking.

I am going to be honest, here. I understand that your son dropped the ball, but I think you may have given him too much rope with which to hang himself. (How's that for mixed metaphors! :D) I have a 15 year old and a 13 year old (and three younger sibs). For the first time this year, my older two have been enrolled in the school. I am fortunate that all of their grades are online and easily checked by me at any given time. And I do check. Almost obsessively. If they are doing well, I don't say anything. The second I see trouble (like an assignment that appears missing because the date was last week and there is no grade or some such) I am on it. I ask them where the assignment is and why it's not done. I have made my son turn around and ride his bike right back to school (over a mile) to hand in assignments he didn't turn in. I have him staying after school to clear up questionable grades and ask questions about his assignments if he appears to be having trouble. I think young teens (that's all I've dealt with so far) still need hand holding. I think it is our responsibility as parents to make sure they are getting the job done as we wish to have it done. And fwiw, this system works really well at my house. My kids get excellent grades and are thought of highly by their teachers. In your case, I would let my son continue in the program. However, I would be all over him and his grades. At the first sign of his slacking, I'd be there watching him re-do or finish work and handing it in. I would talk to his teachers and ask that they send home frequent progress reports or I would go to the school every Friday and go door to door to all of my child's classes. I would not let my son fail because I would be so involved making sure he did what was expected that he couldn't. And likely if your son knows you're going to be that involved, he'll get his act together.... Trust but verify. Good luck to you. This is a hard gig.

Thanks for the calculator and encouraging words, Brigid! This is the first AP exam she's taken so she's a little rattled. We are feeling much better after playing around with the calculator!

Thanks for the detailed information! Just what we were looking for! My daughter really felt the essays were her strength in the exam, so I hope the multiple choice doesn't bog her down. Thanks again!

My daughter was very much the same. I finally put her in high school mid-way through ninth grade. She had home schooled up until that point. She now is flourishing. My daughter always felt out of the loop. She is very sweet and kind, but she lacked confidence. She actually is pretty outgoing in many ways and is able to perform in front of hundreds, but when it came to making friends she had such a tough time. In her case, she was becoming depressed and I was worried. In my opinion, when kids are high school age, they need a say in their schooling. If a student is able to self direct and has strong connections and relationships, home school is such a great choice. For students like my daughter, I think school is the best choice at her age. I am so glad I home schooled her all of the years prior. I would do it again in a minute. In our situation, though, with frequent moving and uprooting, my daughter at now 15 needs the easy choice for friend making which where we live now happens to be the school. The other upside is I don't have to figure out how to teach AP classes! :D I'd say take it one year at a time. Follow your instincts and consider all of your options. Be open minded and listen to your daughter and what she wants.

My daughter took the AP Language and Composition exam yesterday. She felt very confident about her essays which is awesome. However, she said she started coughing during the multiple choice and in an attempt to not bother other testers, she wasted time. She ended up leaving five blank at the end. She feels she did well on the rest, but she's worried about not answering the last five. Any suggestions of how that might impact her overall score? In other words, is there a limit you must get right to pass with a 3? She took the test as a young sophomore, so I think she can retest next year if she's not happy with her score? She'll be so disappointed if she does well on the essays and not the multiple choice. She figured she'd ace that section....

As we prepare to move for the umpteenth time, I am again wrestling with a good way to organize our library. How do you organize your books? Do you label them? Do you use a spreadsheet or other software to keep track of what you have? Do you store books/curriculum resources in tubs by subject or are they all out all the time? Since we are moving, I am again faced with trying to figure out where to put the books in our new house. I am considering storing books in tubs by subject, but if they were really well organized, maybe I could easily reshelve them in a neater way if we have the space. Any ideas/tips/methods you find especially useful besides rough systems of throwing similar topics together and cramming them onto many shelves of varying quality (that's the current system!:D) ?

IMO, we all get to decide what our life is going to be about and how authentically we want to experience our own life. Life is challenging, painful, scary.... Who am I do judge someone else's ability to cope when I might not understand their struggle? I listened to this lecture this morning which I think connects to your question. http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html

I would push for gifted testing. Some of your daughter's negative behaviors are common in gifted learners. You can go to the gifted representative at the school to request your daughter be evaluated for services. The outlet offered by the gifted program might help your daughter resolve her other challenges. Regarding the classroom teacher, I will tell you what I would do. I would arrange a conference with your dd's teacher. I would be very humble and ask the teacher what solutions she has for what she perceives as your dd's shortcomings. I would not be defensive, but instead I would work with the teacher as much as possible. Also, I wouldn't pull my dd out. The only way I would consider pulling her is if she is miserable or not learning.

Turkish apple (elma) tea is Çok Güzel (very beautiful) and delicious! I highly recommend it! Also, just Turkish chai is fabulous. It's all about the process, too. A double tea kettle and learning to make tea like the Turks is a great way to enjoy tea even more than you do already. I have developed a whole new appreciation for tea since I learned how to make it properly.

If there is a chance that your stepson won't stay beyond one year and will want to return to public high school, I would first call his current high school. Explain the situation and ask what requirements they'll have to put his next year's credits onto their transcript. Some high schools require that transfer credits be from an accredited school. Also, find out what is required for a diploma from his current school. Choose classes which will meet the requirements of the school he is currently attending for graduation. Then, if accreditation is required in order to transfer credits to his current school (and it often is) I would look into accredited online schools. There are a number to choose from and they will preserve options for your stepson. I would be careful to preserve options, but that's my nature.

We have prepaid accounts for our children. We've done this for the following reasons: 1. Reciprocity- It is possible to attend an out of state university or private university even with a prepaid plan. (You might have to pay extra to make up the difference.) 2. Certainty/Insurance- Even if we die, our children have locked-in avenues to pursue higher education. If we left money or more liquid resources, the money might not go to where we desire in the event of our untimely demise. :D 3. Skyrocketing Costs- We bought our eldest's plan in 1996. The cost for our most recent child born in 2008 is almost quadruple what we paid for our oldest. We believe costs will continue to rise at least for the foreseeable future. We feel secure knowing we've already paid and tuition uncertainty won't mess with our retirement plan. 4. Transferrable- Our program can be transferred to a cousin or other relative. If our children decide to attend college without our help via scholarships or military academies, we can transfer the money to one of my nieces or our child can use the money for grad school/medical school/law school/etc.

Turkey! gobble gobble

Thanks to everyone so far! I am wondering how healthy they are and if they'll live. Animals here tend to have short life spans. They are young. One is very tiny and one is bigger. They both will eat vegetables so I am assuming they are capable of living without their mother. I will look more into what to feed them. I think I can find hay locally and I'm assuming they'll eat that. It's great to know that they are chewers. I have them in a big laundry basket right now. I guess I'll cover it with a wire baking rack to keep them contained overnight.

I just brought home two baby bunnies. I saved them from their fate as rabbit stew! Can anyone tell me how to take care of them? Where I live (Turkey) I can't get "rabbit food" in a box very easily. We've given them a little water, a little lettuce, and a couple baby carrots. I don't want to overfeed them. I put a bit of water in a bowl. I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on special unnecessary equipment. Advice is very appreciated!

Not only military as active duty, but also if you have a professional degree/skill desired by the military, you can be hired as a contractor and work at bases/posts overseas. You don't have to be active duty in order to get these types of jobs. You do have to be in a career field needed and undermanned.