If you want it not crowded, no matter what day, I would suggest getting tickets for when they open in the morning. At least in Chicago, your tickets were for a half hour time slot. We went at the opening time on a Sunday morning (I think it was Father's Day) and we really took our time and could stand looking at things for however long we wanted without feeling like we should move to get out of the way. And some things are on pedestals which we had no problem looking at all sides of the object. Back in the 70's, our time was like 4:30 and it was packed. That was when you had to stand in line that day to get tickets for later in the day. We got in line about 4:30 am, watched the sun come up on Lake Michigan, then shopped all day before going back. Hope this helps.

We got a pair of free tickets on any one of 7 dates. If it is good, we may consider another one next year. Ds has a friend that plays in the Youth Symphony and he will attend that concert next month.

I saw the exhibition in Chicago in the 70's and then again the last round in Chicago. Make sure you read each description and really look hard at some of the pieces. Like the OP said, the detail is amazing.

Last week, I talked with an admissions officer at a more selective LAC (avg. ACT 28, SAT 1280). I mentioned the book The Gatekeepers, and he did say he was a gatekeeper. They don't get nearly the number of apps and they do all their work in the office but there are quite a few things that are exactly dead on.

Mine is just finishing his 3rd year of a 6 year program. So many times I have had to bite my tongue and I think he knows now when I am doing it. :lol: Not only do you know them very well, they know you just as well and your probable reactions to decisions they make. Hang in there. We are here to support you.

When at a college fair, gee it was 5 years ago, the rep from Truman was very nice. They are homeschool friendly too. It sounded like a great place. Too bad you weren't planning to visit SLU this weekend. I am going to a St. Louis Symphony concert at Powell Hall on Sunday. Maybe one of these days we will get to meet. :001_smile:

For science, you could do Considering God's Creation for all of them together. For math, just some worksheets that are skill and drill. They don't take long to do and will keep their math skills fresh. Pick out some books from the TWTM on subjects that might be interesting to them so they like to read, not forced to read something they don't like. Ask them to write book reports and then present the report to the family ask a speech type thing. Make whatever you do short but fun and more famly oriented. Don't burn them out with too much we pressure to school. Try to do things that don't burn you out trying to teach many different levels.

Ignore her comments. Stop beating yourself up. I have a neighbor who has 3 children. #1 is a fighter pilot who went to one of the service academies, #2 is at Yale, #3 is at Harvard. When she moved here, she kept making a point about it. #3 and my ds1 are friends. Anyway, none of the Ivy's offer the program my ds wanted, regardless of whether or not he could get in, or how many APs he took. Why go someplace and spend all that money if it can't give you want you want, regardless of the prestige factor? I know kids who would flourish at MIT but had absolutely no desire to go there, much less apply. She has since toned it down because none of the neighborhood moms, whether their child was in ps or hs, was too impressed.

The Twentieth Century: A Brief Global History by Richard Goff. I found a syllabus online and there were study questions on that site too. It is a college level text but not too hard. Ds1 really liked this book and ds2 (10th) has read it for fun. For lit, I just added some books that were relavant, like The Jungle, Farienheit 451, The Greatest Generation, etc. that ds would like. Hope this helps.

I have never cleaned mine in the 4 years that I have had it (Whirlpool Duet). I don't use bleach. I use liquid Tide HE original scent (and don't use as much as they say to). I use liquid Downey April Fresh. I do leave the door open a crack when not in use. No problems (knock on wood) with it.

Homeschool Journal and Homeschool High School Journal. Loved them both. They also have places to write in books read, videos, extracurricular things, etc. It was a good way to go back and answer questions others asked when they were looking for advice or suggestions.

Ds1 was pulled out after 6th grade with the plan to hs for jr. high then back to ps for high school. He had many poor teachers, terrible curriculum, in a school that catered to well...I'm not going to go into that here...at the expense of average and gifted. His experience is a whole rant in itself. Ds1 decided he liked being hsed so in high school, he asked to go part-time, taking 2 classes a year and doing the rest at home. He did this for 4 years since he did not want to go to the local cc for classes. He is now a jr. in college. Ds2 started at the same school many years later. I hand-picked his teachers, the curriculum had changed, but the other problems still reamained. We were redistricted to a new school when he started 3rd. If we had not been, I would have pulled him out, no questions asked. I would love to hs him since he has such a love of learning. I almost did towards the end of 3rd. Ds2 and I had long discussions about it and he decided to stick it out. Ds2 has never wanted to be hsed. He is more social and more importantly, he is involved with music. Not something I can provide for him or enough of outside of school. But, he knew that if things were not good at school, or if he ever wanted, I would pull him out in a minute. He is now in 10th grade and very active in school activites (not sports). I have afterschooled/summer schooled him from the beginning and will till he graduates. Totally different children, totally different needs. Finances had nothing to do with it. Hope this helps.

from my MIL who was moving, we had a pro move it. It was a 1 piece slate top and that alone weighed 300 lbs. and it was going into a basement. If they broke it, they would have to pay for it. The rails came off and the base/legs were several parts too. When we retire and move, it is going to stay with the house. Good luck.

In the late 60's early 70's and in college I came across her works. I read them on my own (along with things like F-451). I liked some things, didn't like others. Like others have posted, there are some interesting parallels to some of the things happening in current events. And, yes, skip the speech the first time through. If you do go back and read it, skim. :D

:iagree: Exactly what I do.

Why can't you go to mass, and he can go to the UM church? I have friends who are in "mixed" marriages who do that kind of thing. You just need to figure out what denomination you want your kids to belong to.

I highly recommend Megawords. We tried Spelling Power first and it didn't seem to stick with him. My ds was a terrible speller - they taught invented spelling in school. He started reading at a normal time then was a great reader. A good reader does not necessarily mean a good speller and vice versa. When I pulled him out of school after 6th grade, we started with book 1 (you need to start at book 1) and went through all 8. He is a fairly good speller now. The level of Meagwords is 4th - adult so it is not something she can say is for little kids. Let her write an essay then circle all the misspelled words and tell her to correct it by rewriting (not erasing). If she uses the same phrase over and over, or the same wording, let the first one pass then circle the others and tell her to pick other words. Just a couple ideas.

I think ds's college required it if you were going to live in the dorm. Ds2 was vaccinated for his high school physical.

I would allow 2 hours if it is really dense and rock hard. Maybe more. I make really dense lasagna in a 15x11x3.5 in. pan (about 5-6 layers of noodles). The times I made it ahead and froze it, it took days to thaw and about 3 hours to cook. Kind of like a turkey.

They are quite pricey and the retrofit can be very expensive too. I thought about that when the water heater in the condo needed to be replaced. It would have been 3 times as much as a conventional. $3000 vs. $1000 installed.

We don't have lots of honors or AP choices. Last year (9th) English 1 World Studies Honors Biology Geometry Spanish 1 Orchestra PE This year (10th) English 2 US History Honors Chemistry Honors Alg. 2 Spanish 2 Orchestra PE Next year (11th) Honors Eng. Lit. Physics International Studies/Economics (1 sem. each) Finite Math/Probability&Statistics (1 sem. each) Spanish 3 Orchestra PE Plan for 12th AP Eng. Lit. AP Chemistry Sociology/AP Psychology (1 sem. each) Pre-calc. Spanish IV Orchestra PE I have been afterschooling with great books and starting some ACT test prep.

at the high school in 9th, he was picky about friends too. He saw through all the drama, social posturing, BMOC syndrome, etc. and wanted nothing to do with it. This was in honors classes too. By the time he was in 11th, he finally found some like minded male and female friends to hang out with. They are still the ones he hangs with when home from college. Give him time.

Most likely, they will thank you. Ds (almost 21 - in college), still does it. And you will have the self-satisfaction of knowing they are right when they do. Another mean mom.

The biggest drinkers were the swimmers and the biggest potheads were the gymnasts. Almost all of them were in the upper 10% academically (of a very rigorous school), many were leaders in Young Life or their churches, cheerleaders, the most popular kids in school, etc. That was not considered to be the "wrong" crowd. My parents (both now deceased) had no clue about what I did on weekends. They trusted me and thought that since I hung out with the above mentioned kids, everything was fine. I really don't think much has changed in 30+ years.

When ds was in geometry and now in Alg. 2, he would take the online quizzes and tests after each section and chapter to check his knowledge (and part of my way to afterschool him-LOL!). His geometry teacher gave extra credit if you printed it off the chapter test with a score of 80% or more. Some chapters the first try he would not get 80% so he would do it again. There were questions he knew he was right about but the "computer" said it was wrong. So, he would then take it again, and sometimes the same question would come up that he missed. He marked the answer they told him was right and then he would get it wrong on that try - telling him it was the answer he marked in the first place. This happened in every single chapter. We printed some examples off for his teacher. I do not know if he did anything with that information or not. Just my $.02